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diff --git a/old/20040811-1639.txt b/old/20040811-1639.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 427e77b..0000000 --- a/old/20040811-1639.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8443 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eve and David, by Honore de Balzac - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net - - -Title: Eve and David - -Author: Honore de Balzac - -Release Date: August 11, 2004 [EBook #1639] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVE AND DAVID *** - - - - -Produced by Dagny; and John Bickers - - - - - EVE AND DAVID - (Lost Illusions Part III) - - BY - - HONORE DE BALZAC - - - - Translated By - Ellen Marriage - - - -PREPARER'S NOTE - - Eve and David is part three of a trilogy. Eve and David's story - begins in part one, Two Poets. Part one also introduces Eve's - brother, Lucien. Part two, A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, - centers on Lucien's life in Paris. For part three the action once - more returns to Eve and David in Angouleme. In many references parts - one and three are combined under the title Lost Illusions and A - Distinguished Provincial at Paris is given its individual title. - Following this trilogy Lucien's story is continued in another book, - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life. - - - - EVE AND DAVID - - - -Lucien had gone to Paris; and David Sechard, with the courage and -intelligence of the ox which painters give the Evangelist for -accompanying symbol, set himself to make the large fortune for which -he had wished that evening down by the Charente, when he sat with Eve -by the weir, and she gave him her hand and her heart. He wanted to -make the money quickly, and less for himself than for Eve's sake and -Lucien's. He would place his wife amid the elegant and comfortable -surroundings that were hers by right, and his strong arm should -sustain her brother's ambitions--this was the programme that he saw -before his eyes in letters of fire. - -Journalism and politics, the immense development of the book trade, of -literature and of the sciences; the increase of public interest in -matters touching the various industries in the country; in fact, the -whole social tendency of the epoch following the establishment of the -Restoration produced an enormous increase in the demand for paper. The -supply required was almost ten times as large as the quantity in which -the celebrated Ouvrard speculated at the outset of the Revolution. -Then Ouvrard could buy up first the entire stock of paper and then the -manufacturers; but in the year 1821 there were so many paper-mills in -France, that no one could hope to repeat his success; and David had -neither audacity enough nor capital enough for such speculation. -Machinery for producing paper in any length was just coming into use -in England. It was one of the most urgent needs of the time, -therefore, that the paper trade should keep pace with the requirements -of the French system of civil government, a system by which the right -of discussion was to be extended to every man, and the whole fabric -based upon continual expression of individual opinion; a grave -misfortune, for the nation that deliberates is but little wont to act. - -So, strange coincidence! while Lucien was drawn into the great -machinery of journalism, where he was like to leave his honor and his -intelligence torn to shreds, David Sechard, at the back of his -printing-house, foresaw all the practical consequences of the -increased activity of the periodical press. He saw the direction in -which the spirit of the age was tending, and sought to find means to -the required end. He saw also that there was a fortune awaiting the -discoverer of cheap paper, and the event has justified his -clearsightedness. Within the last fifteen years, the Patent Office has -received more than a hundred applications from persons claiming to -have discovered cheap substances to be employed in the manufacture of -paper. David felt more than ever convinced that this would be no -brilliant triumph, it is true, but a useful and immensely profitable -discovery; and after his brother-in-law went to Paris, he became more -and more absorbed in the problem which he had set himself to solve. - -The expenses of his marriage and of Lucien's journey to Paris had -exhausted all his resources; he confronted the extreme of poverty at -the very outset of married life. He had kept one thousand francs for -the working expenses of the business, and owed a like sum, for which -he had given a bill to Postel the druggist. So here was a double -problem for this deep thinker; he must invent a method of making cheap -paper, and that quickly; he must make the discovery, in fact, in order -to apply the proceeds to the needs of the household and of the -business. What words can describe the brain that can forget the cruel -preoccupations caused by hidden want, by the daily needs of a family -and the daily drudgery of a printer's business, which requires such -minute, painstaking care; and soar, with the enthusiasm and -intoxication of the man of science, into the regions of the unknown in -quest of a secret which daily eludes the most subtle experiment? And -the inventor, alas! as will shortly be seen, has plenty of woes to -endure, besides the ingratitude of the many; idle folk that can do -nothing themselves tell them, "Such a one is a born inventor; he could -not do otherwise. He no more deserves credit for his invention than a -prince for being born to rule! He is simply exercising his natural -faculties, and his work is its own reward," and the people believe -them. - -Marriage brings profound mental and physical perturbations into a -girl's life; and if she marries under the ordinary conditions of lower -middle-class life, she must moreover begin to study totally new -interests and initiate herself in the intricacies of business. With -marriage, therefore, she enters upon a phase of her existence when she -is necessarily on the watch before she can act. Unfortunately, David's -love for his wife retarded this training; he dared not tell her the -real state of affairs on the day after their wedding, nor for some -time afterwards. His father's avarice condemned him to the most -grinding poverty, but he could not bring himself to spoil the -honeymoon by beginning his wife's commercial education and prosaic -apprenticeship to his laborious craft. So it came to pass that -housekeeping, no less than working expenses, ate up the thousand -francs, his whole fortune. For four months David gave no thought to -the future, and his wife remained in ignorance. The awakening was -terrible! Postel's bill fell due; there was no money to meet it, and -Eve knew enough of the debt and its cause to give up her bridal -trinkets and silver. - -That evening Eve tried to induce David to talk of their affairs, for -she had noticed that he was giving less attention to the business and -more to the problem of which he had once spoken to her. Since the -first few weeks of married life, in fact, David spent most of his time -in the shed in the backyard, in the little room where he was wont to -mould his ink-rollers. Three months after his return to Angouleme, he -had replaced the old fashioned round ink-balls by rollers made of -strong glue and treacle, and an ink-table, on which the ink was evenly -distributed, an improvement so obvious that Cointet Brothers no sooner -saw it than they adopted the plan themselves. - -By the partition wall of this kitchen, as it were, David had set up a -little furnace with a copper pan, ostensibly to save the cost of fuel -over the recasting of his rollers, though the moulds had not been used -twice, and hung there rusting upon the wall. Nor was this all; a solid -oak door had been put in by his orders, and the walls were lined with -sheet-iron; he even replaced the dirty window sash by panes of ribbed -glass, so that no one without could watch him at his work. - -When Eve began to speak about the future, he looked uneasily at her, -and cut her short at the first word by saying, "I know all that you -must think, child, when you see that the workshop is left to itself, -and that I am dead, as it were, to all business interests; but see," -he continued, bringing her to the window, and pointing to the -mysterious shed, "there lies our fortune. For some months yet we must -endure our lot, but let us bear it patiently; leave me to solve the -problem of which I told you, and all our troubles will be at an end." - -David was so good, his devotion was so thoroughly to be taken upon his -word, that the poor wife, with a wife's anxiety as to daily expenses, -determined to spare her husband the household cares and to take the -burden upon herself. So she came down from the pretty blue-and-white -room, where she sewed and talked contentedly with her mother, took -possession of one of the two dens at the back of the printing-room, -and set herself to learn the business routine of typography. Was it -not heroism in a wife who expected ere long to be a mother? - -During the past few months David's workmen had left him one by one; -there was not enough work for them to do. Cointet Brothers, on the -other hand, were overwhelmed with orders; they were employing all the -workmen of the department; the alluring prospect of high wages even -brought them a few from Bordeaux, more especially apprentices, who -thought themselves sufficiently expert to cancel their articles and go -elsewhere. When Eve came to look into the affairs of Sechard's -printing works, she discovered that he employed three persons in all. - -First in order stood Cerizet, an apprentice of Didot's, whom David had -chosen to train. Most foremen have some one favorite among the great -numbers of workers under them, and David had brought Cerizet to -Angouleme, where he had been learning more of the business. Marion, as -much attached to the house as a watch-dog, was the second; and the -third was Kolb, an Alsacien, at one time a porter in the employ of the -Messrs. Didot. Kolb had been drawn for military service, chance -brought him to Angouleme, and David recognized the man's face at a -review just as his time was about to expire. Kolb came to see David, -and was smitten forthwith by the charms of the portly Marion; she -possessed all the qualities which a man of his class looks for in a -wife--the robust health that bronzes the cheeks, the strength of a man -(Marion could lift a form of type with ease), the scrupulous honesty -on which an Alsacien sets such store, the faithful service which -bespeaks a sterling character, and finally, the thrift which had saved -a little sum of a thousand francs, besides a stock of clothing and -linen, neat and clean, as country linen can be. Marion herself, a big, -stout woman of thirty-six, felt sufficiently flattered by the -admiration of a cuirassier, who stood five feet seven in his -stockings, a well-built warrior, strong as a bastion, and not -unnaturally suggested that he should become a printer. So, by the time -Kolb received his full discharge, Marion and David between them had -transformed him into a tolerably creditable "bear," though their pupil -could neither read nor write. - -Job printing, as it is called, was not so abundant at this season but -that Cerizet could manage it without help. Cerizet, compositor, -clicker, and foreman, realized in his person the "phenomenal -triplicity" of Kant; he set up type, read proof, took orders, and made -out invoices; but the most part of the time he had nothing to do, and -used to read novels in his den at the back of the workshop while he -waited for an order for a bill-head or a trade circular. Marion, -trained by old Sechard, prepared and wetted down the paper, helped -Kolb with the printing, hung the sheets to dry, and cut them to size; -yet cooked the dinner, none the less, and did her marketing very early -of a morning. - -Eve told Cerizet to draw out a balance-sheet for the last six months, -and found that the gross receipts amounted to eight hundred francs. On -the other hand, wages at the rate of three francs per day--two francs -to Cerizet, and one to Kolb--reached a total of six hundred francs; -and as the goods supplied for the work printed and delivered amounted -to some hundred odd francs, it was clear to Eve that David had been -carrying on business at a loss during the first half-year of their -married life. There was nothing to show for rent, nothing for Marion's -wages, nor for the interest on capital represented by the plant, the -license, and the ink; nothing, finally, by way of allowance for the -host of things included in the technical expression "wear and tear," a -word which owes its origin to the cloths and silks which are used to -moderate the force of the impression, and to save wear to the type; a -square of stuff (the _blanket_) being placed between the platen and the -sheet of paper in the press. - -Eve made a rough calculation of the resources of the printing office -and of the output, and saw how little hope there was for a business -drained dry by the all-devouring activity of the brothers Cointet; for -by this time the Cointets were not only contract printers to the town -and the prefecture, and printers to the Diocese by special appointment ---they were paper-makers and proprietors of a newspaper to boot. That -newspaper, sold two years ago by the Sechards, father and son, for -twenty-two thousand francs, was now bringing in eighteen thousand -francs per annum. Eve began to understand the motives lurking beneath -the apparent generosity of the brothers Cointet; they were leaving the -Sechard establishment just sufficient work to gain a pittance, but not -enough to establish a rival house. - -When Eve took the management of the business, she began by taking -stock. She set Kolb and Marion and Cerizet to work, and the workshop -was put to rights, cleaned out, and set in order. Then one evening -when David came in from a country excursion, followed by an old woman -with a huge bundle tied up in a cloth, Eve asked counsel of him as to -the best way of turning to profit the odds and ends left them by old -Sechard, promising that she herself would look after the business. -Acting upon her husband's advice, Mme. Sechard sorted all the remnants -of paper which she found, and printed old popular legends in double -columns upon a single sheet, such as peasants paste on their walls, -the histories of _The Wandering Jew_, _Robert the Devil_, _La Belle -Maguelonne_ and sundry miracles. Eve sent Kolb out as a hawker. - -Cerizet had not a moment to spare now; he was composing the naive -pages, with the rough cuts that adorned them, from morning to night; -Marion was able to manage the taking off; and all domestic cares fell -to Mme. Chardon, for Eve was busy coloring the prints. Thanks to -Kolb's activity and honesty, Eve sold three thousand broad sheets at a -penny apiece, and made three hundred francs in all at a cost of thirty -francs. - -But when every peasant's hut and every little wine-shop for twenty -leagues round was papered with these legends, a fresh speculation must -be discovered; the Alsacien could not go beyond the limits of the -department. Eve, turning over everything in the whole printing house, -had found a collection of figures for printing a "Shepherd's -Calendar," a kind of almanac meant for those who cannot read, -letterpress being replaced by symbols, signs, and pictures in colored -inks, red, black and blue. Old Sechard, who could neither read nor -write himself, had made a good deal of money at one time by bringing -out an almanac in hieroglyph. It was in book form, a single sheet -folded to make one hundred and twenty-eight pages. - -Thoroughly satisfied with the success of the broad sheets, a piece of -business only undertaken by country printing offices, Mme. Sechard -invested all the proceeds in the _Shepherd's Calendar_, and began it -upon a large scale. Millions of copies of this work are sold annually -in France. It is printed upon even coarser paper than the _Almanac of -Liege_, a ream (five hundred sheets) costing in the first instance -about four francs; while the printed sheets sell at the rate of a -halfpenny apiece--twenty-five francs per ream. - -Mme. Sechard determined to use one hundred reams for the first -impression; fifty thousand copies would bring in two thousand francs. -A man so deeply absorbed in his work as David in his researches is -seldom observant; yet David, taking a look round his workshop, was -astonished to hear the groaning of a press and to see Cerizet always -on his feet, setting up type under Mme. Sechard's direction. There was -a pretty triumph for Eve on the day when David came in to see what she -was doing, and praised the idea, and thought the calendar an excellent -stroke of business. Furthermore, David promised to give advice in the -matter of colored inks, for an almanac meant to appeal to the eye; and -finally, he resolved to recast the ink-rollers himself in his -mysterious workshop, so as to help his wife as far as he could in her -important little enterprise. - -But just as the work began with strenuous industry, there came letters -from Lucien in Paris, heart-sinking letters that told his mother and -sister and brother-in-law of his failure and distress; and when Eve, -Mme. Chardon, and David each secretly sent money to their poet, it -must be plain to the reader that the three hundred francs they sent -were like their very blood. The overwhelming news, the disheartening -sense that work as bravely as she might, she made so little, left Eve -looking forward with a certain dread to an event which fills the cup -of happiness to the full. The time was coming very near now, and to -herself she said, "If my dear David has not reached the end of his -researches before my confinement, what will become of us? And who will -look after our poor printing office and the business that is growing -up?" - -The _Shepherd's Calendar_ ought by rights to have been ready before the -1st of January, but Cerizet was working unaccountably slowly; all the -work of composing fell to him; and Mme. Sechard, knowing so little, -could not find fault, and was fain to content herself with watching -the young Parisian. - -Cerizet came from the great Foundling Hospital in Paris. He had been -apprenticed to the MM. Didot, and between the ages of fourteen and -seventeen he was David Sechard's fanatical worshiper. David put him -under one of the cleverest workmen, and took him for his copy-holder, -his page. Cerizet's intelligence naturally interested David; he won -the lad's affection by procuring amusements now and again for him, and -comforts from which he was cut off by poverty. Nature had endowed -Cerizet with an insignificant, rather pretty little countenance, red -hair, and a pair of dull blue eyes; he had come to Angouleme and -brought the manners of the Parisian street-boy with him. He was -formidable by reason of a quick, sarcastic turn and a spiteful -disposition. Perhaps David looked less strictly after him in -Angouleme; or, perhaps, as the lad grew older, his mentor put more -trust in him, or in the sobering influences of a country town; but be -that as it may, Cerizet (all unknown to his sponsor) was going -completely to the bad, and the printer's apprentice was acting the -part of a Don Juan among little work girls. His morality, learned in -Paris drinking-saloons, laid down the law of self-interest as the sole -rule of guidance; he knew, moreover, that next year he would be "drawn -for a soldier," to use the popular expression, saw that he had no -prospects, and ran into debt, thinking that soon he should be in the -army, and none of his creditors would run after him. David still -possessed some ascendency over the young fellow, due not to his -position as master, nor yet to the interest that he had taken in his -pupil, but to the great intellectual power which the sometime -street-boy fully recognized. - -Before long Cerizet began to fraternize with the Cointets' workpeople, -drawn to them by the mutual attraction of blouse and jacket, and the -class feeling, which is, perhaps, strongest of all in the lowest ranks -of society. In their company Cerizet forgot the little good doctrine -which David had managed to instil into him; but, nevertheless, when -the others joked the boy about the presses in his workshop ("old -sabots," as the "bears" contemptuously called them), and showed him -the magnificent machines, twelve in number, now at work in the -Cointets' great printing office, where the single wooden press was -only used for experiments, Cerizet would stand up for David and fling -out at the braggarts. - -"My gaffer will go farther with his 'sabots' than yours with their -cast-iron contrivances that turn out mass books all day long," he -would boast. "He is trying to find out a secret that will lick all the -printing offices in France and Navarre." - -"And meantime you take your orders from a washer-woman, you snip of a -foreman, on two francs a day." - -"She is pretty though," retorted Cerizet; "it is better to have her to -look at than the phizes of your gaffers." - -"And do you live by looking at his wife?" - -From the region of the wineshop, or from the door of the printing -office, where these bickerings took place, a dim light began to break -in upon the brothers Cointet as to the real state of things in the -Sechard establishment. They came to hear of Eve's experiment, and held -it expedient to stop these flights at once, lest the business should -begin to prosper under the poor young wife's management. - -"Let us give her a rap over the knuckles, and disgust her with the -business," said the brothers Cointet. - -One of the pair, the practical printer, spoke to Cerizet, and asked -him to do the proof-reading for them by piecework, to relieve their -reader, who had more than he could manage. So it came to pass that -Cerizet earned more by a few hours' work of an evening for the -brothers Cointet than by a whole day's work for David Sechard. Other -transactions followed; the Cointets seeing no small aptitude in -Cerizet, he was told that it was a pity that he should be in a -position so little favorable to his interests. - -"You might be foreman some day in a big printing office, making six -francs a day," said one of the Cointets one day, "and with your -intelligence you might come to have a share in the business." - -"Where is the use of my being a good foreman?" returned Cerizet. "I am -an orphan, I shall be drawn for the army next year, and if I get a bad -number who is there to pay some one else to take my place?" - -"If you make yourself useful," said the well-to-do printer, "why -should not somebody advance the money?" - -"It won't be my gaffer in any case!" said Cerizet. - -"Pooh! Perhaps by that time he will have found out the secret." - -The words were spoken in a way that could not but rouse the worst -thoughts in the listener; and Cerizet gave the papermaker and printer -a very searching look. - -"I do not know what he is busy about," he began prudently, as the -master said nothing, "but he is not the kind of man to look for -capitals in the lower case!" - -"Look here, my friend," said the printer, taking up half-a-dozen -sheets of the diocesan prayer-book and holding them out to Cerizet, -"if you can correct these for us by to-morrow, you shall have eighteen -francs to-morrow for them. We are not shabby here; we put our -competitor's foreman in the way of making money. As a matter of fact, -we might let Mme. Sechard go too far to draw back with her _Shepherd's -Calendar_, and ruin her; very well, we give you permission to tell her -that we are bringing out a _Shepherd's Calendar_ of our own, and to call -her attention too to the fact that she will not be the first in the -field." - -Cerizet's motive for working so slowly on the composition of the -almanac should be clear enough by this time. - -When Eve heard that the Cointets meant to spoil her poor little -speculation, dread seized upon her; at first she tried to see a proof -of attachment in Cerizet's hypocritical warning of competition; but -before long she saw signs of an over-keen curiosity in her sole -compositor--the curiosity of youth, she tried to think. - -"Cerizet," she said one morning, "you stand about on the threshold, -and wait for M. Sechard in the passage, to pry into his private -affairs; when he comes out into the yard to melt down the rollers, you -are there looking at him, instead of getting on with the almanac. -These things are not right, especially when you see that I, his wife, -respect his secrets, and take so much trouble on myself to leave him -free to give himself up to his work. If you had not wasted time, the -almanac would be finished by now, and Kolb would be selling it, and -the Cointets could have done us no harm." - -"Eh! madame," answered Cerizet. "Here am I doing five francs' worth of -composing for two francs a day, and don't you think that that is -enough? Why, if I did not read proofs of an evening for the Cointets, -I might feed myself on husks." - -"You are turning ungrateful early," said Eve, deeply hurt, not so much -by Cerizet's grumbling as by his coarse tone, threatening attitude, -and aggressive stare; "you will get on in life." - -"Not with a woman to order me about though, for it is not often that -the month has thirty days in it then." - -Feeling wounded in her womanly dignity, Eve gave Cerizet a withering -look and went upstairs again. At dinner-time she spoke to David. - -"Are you sure, dear, of that little rogue Cerizet?" - -"Cerizet!" said David. "Why, he was my youngster; I trained him, I -took him on as my copy-holder. I put him to composing; anything that -he is he owes to me, in fact! You might as well ask a father if he is -sure of his child." - -Upon this, Eve told her husband that Cerizet was reading proofs for -the Cointets. - -"Poor fellow! he must live," said David, humbled by the consciousness -that he had not done his duty as a master. - -"Yes, but there is a difference, dear, between Kolb and Cerizet--Kolb -tramps about twenty leagues every day, spends fifteen or twenty sous, -and brings us back seven and eight and sometimes nine francs of sales; -and when his expenses are paid, he never asks for more than his wages. -Kolb would sooner cut off his hand than work a lever for the Cointets; -Kolb would not peer among the things that you throw out into the yard -if people offered him a thousand crowns to do it; but Cerizet picks -them up and looks at them." - -It is hard for noble natures to think evil, to believe in ingratitude; -only through rough experience do they learn the extent of human -corruption; and even when there is nothing left them to learn in this -kind, they rise to an indulgence which is the last degree of contempt. - -"Pooh! pure Paris street-boy's curiosity," cried David. - -"Very well, dear, do me the pleasure to step downstairs and look at -the work done by this boy of yours, and tell me then whether he ought -not to have finished our almanac this month." - -David went into the workshop after dinner, and saw that the calendar -should have been set up in a week. Then, when he heard that the -Cointets were bringing out a similar almanac, he came to the rescue. -He took command of the printing office, Kolb helped at home instead of -selling broadsheets. Kolb and Marion pulled off the impressions from -one form while David worked another press with Cerizet, and -superintended the printing in various inks. Every sheet must be -printed four separate times, for which reason none but small houses -will attempt to produce a _Shepherd's Calendar_, and that only in the -country where labor is cheap, and the amount of capital employed in -the business is so small that the interest amounts to little. -Wherefore, a press which turns out beautiful work cannot compete in -the printing of such sheets, coarse though they may be. - -So, for the first time since old Sechard retired, two presses were at -work in the old house. The calendar was, in its way, a masterpiece; -but Eve was obliged to sell it for less than a halfpenny, for the -Cointets were supplying hawkers at the rate of three centimes per -copy. Eve made no loss on the copies sold to hawkers; on Kolb's sales, -made directly, she gained; but her little speculation was spoiled. -Cerizet saw that his fair employer distrusted him; in his own -conscience he posed as the accuser, and said to himself, "You suspect -me, do you? I will have my revenge," for the Paris street-boy is made -on this wise. Cerizet accordingly took pay out of all proportion to -the work of proof-reading done for the Cointets, going to their office -every evening for the sheets, and returning them in the morning. He -came to be on familiar terms with them through the daily chat, and at -length saw a chance of escaping the military service, a bait held out -to him by the brothers. So far from requiring prompting from the -Cointets, he was the first to propose the espionage and exploitation -of David's researches. - -Eve saw how little she could depend upon Cerizet, and to find another -Kolb was simply impossible; she made up her mind to dismiss her one -compositor, for the insight of a woman who loves told her that Cerizet -was a traitor; but as this meant a deathblow to the business, she took -a man's resolution. She wrote to M. Metivier, with whom David and the -Cointets and almost every papermaker in the department had business -relations, and asked him to put the following advertisement into a -trade paper: - - -"FOR SALE, as a going concern, a Printing Office, with License and -Plant; situated at Angouleme. Apply for particulars to M. Metivier, -Rue Serpente." - - -The Cointets saw the advertisement. "That little woman has a head on -her shoulders," they said. "It is time that we took her business under -our own control, by giving her enough work to live upon; we might find -a real competitor in David's successor; it is in our interest to keep -an eye upon that workshop." - -The Cointets went to speak to David Sechard, moved thereto by this -thought. Eve saw them, knew that her stratagem had succeeded at once, -and felt a thrill of the keenest joy. They stated their proposal. They -had more work than they could undertake, their presses could not keep -pace with the work, would M. Sechard print for them? They had sent to -Bordeaux for workmen, and could find enough to give full employment to -David's three presses. - -"Gentlemen," said Eve, while Cerizet went across to David's workshop -to announce the two printers, "while my husband was with the MM. Didot -he came to know of excellent workers, honest and industrious men; he -will choose his successor, no doubt, from among the best of them. If -he sold his business outright for some twenty thousand francs, it -might bring us in a thousand francs per annum; that would be better -than losing a thousand yearly over such trade as you leave us. Why did -you envy us the poor little almanac speculation, especially as we have -always brought it out?" - -"Oh, why did you not give us notice, madame? We would not have -interfered with you," one of the brothers answered blandly (he was -known as the "tall Cointet"). - -"Oh, come gentlemen! you only began your almanac after Cerizet told -you that I was bringing out mine." - -She spoke briskly, looking full at "the tall Cointet" as she spoke. He -lowered his eyes; Cerizet's treachery was proven to her. - -This brother managed the business and the paper-mill; he was by far -the cleverer man of business of the two. Jean showed no small ability -in the conduct of the printing establishment, but in intellectual -capacity he might be said to take colonel's rank, while Boniface was a -general. Jean left the command to Boniface. This latter was thin and -spare in person; his face, sallow as an altar candle, was mottled with -reddish patches; his lips were pinched; there was something in his -eyes that reminded you of a cat's eyes. Boniface Cointet never excited -himself; he would listen to the grossest insults with the serenity of -a bigot, and reply in a smooth voice. He went to mass, he went to -confession, he took the sacrament. Beneath his caressing manners, -beneath an almost spiritless look, lurked the tenacity and ambition of -the priest, and the greed of the man of business consumed with a -thirst for riches and honors. In the year 1820 "tall Cointet" wanted -all that the _bourgeoisie_ finally obtained by the Revolution of 1830. -In his heart he hated the aristocrats, and in religion he was -indifferent; he was as much or as little of a bigot as Bonaparte was a -member of the Mountain; yet his vertebral column bent with a -flexibility wonderful to behold before the noblesse and the official -hierarchy; for the powers that be, he humbled himself, he was meek and -obsequious. One final characteristic will describe him for those who -are accustomed to dealings with all kinds of men, and can appreciate -its value--Cointet concealed the expression of his eyes by wearing -colored glasses, ostensibly to preserve his sight from the reflection -of the sunlight on the white buildings in the streets; for Angouleme, -being set upon a hill, is exposed to the full glare of the sun. Tall -Cointet was really scarcely above middle height; he looked much taller -than he actually was by reason of the thinness, which told of overwork -and a brain in continual ferment. His lank, sleek gray hair, cut in -somewhat ecclesiastical fashion; the black trousers, black stockings, -black waistcoat, and long puce-colored greatcoat (styled a _levite_ in -the south), all completed his resemblance to a Jesuit. - -Boniface was called "tall Cointet" to distinguish him from his -brother, "fat Cointet," and the nicknames expressed a difference in -character as well as a physical difference between a pair of equally -redoubtable personages. As for Jean Cointet, a jolly, stout fellow, -with a face from a Flemish interior, colored by the southern sun of -Angouleme, thick-set, short and paunchy as Sancho Panza; with a smile -on his lips and a pair of sturdy shoulders, he was a striking contrast -to his older brother. Nor was the difference only physical and -intellectual. Jean might almost be called Liberal in politics; he -belonged to the Left Centre, only went to mass on Sundays, and lived -on a remarkably good understanding with the Liberal men of business. -There were those in L'Houmeau who said that this divergence between -the brothers was more apparent than real. Tall Cointet turned his -brother's seeming good nature to advantage very skilfully. Jean was -his bludgeon. It was Jean who gave all the hard words; it was Jean who -conducted the executions which little beseemed the elder brother's -benevolence. Jean took the storms department; he would fly into a -rage, and propose terms that nobody would think of accepting, to pave -the way for his brother's less unreasonable propositions. And by such -policy the pair attained their ends, sooner or later. - -Eve, with a woman's tact, had soon divined the characters of the two -brothers; she was on her guard with foes so formidable. David, -informed beforehand of everything by his wife, lent a profoundly -inattentive mind to his enemies' proposals. - -"Come to an understanding with my wife," he said, as he left the -Cointets in the office and went back to his laboratory. "Mme. Sechard -knows more about the business than I do myself. I am interested in -something that will pay better than this poor place; I hope to find a -way to retrieve the losses that I have made through you----" - -"And how?" asked the fat Cointet, chuckling. - -Eve gave her husband a look that meant, "Be careful!" - -"You will be my tributaries," said David, "and all other consumers of -papers besides." - -"Then what are you investigating?" asked the hypocritical Boniface -Cointet. - -Boniface's question slipped out smoothly and insinuatingly, and again -Eve's eyes implored her husband to give an answer that was no answer, -or to say nothing at all. - -"I am trying to produce paper at fifty per cent less than the present -cost price," and he went. He did not see the glances exchanged between -the brothers. "That is an inventor, a man of his build cannot sit with -his hands before him.--Let us exploit him," said Boniface's eyes. "How -can we do it?" said Jean's. - -Mme. Sechard spoke. "David treats me just in the same way," she said. -"If I show any curiosity, he feels suspicious of my name, no doubt, -and out comes that remark of his; it is only a formula, after all." - -"If your husband can work out the formula, he will certainly make a -fortune more quickly than by printing; I am not surprised that he -leaves the business to itself," said Boniface, looking across the -empty workshop, where Kolb, seated upon a wetting-board, was rubbing -his bread with a clove of garlic; "but it would not suit our views to -see this place in the hands of an energetic, pushing, ambitious -competitor," he continued, "and perhaps it might be possible to arrive -at an understanding. Suppose, for instance, that you consented for a -consideration to allow us to put in one of our own men to work your -presses for our benefit, but nominally for you; the thing is sometimes -done in Paris. We would find the fellow work enough to enable him to -rent your place and pay you well, and yet make a profit for himself." - -"It depends on the amount," said Eve Sechard. "What is your offer?" -she added, looking at Boniface to let him see that she understood his -scheme perfectly well. - -"What is your own idea?" Jean Cointet put in briskly. - -"Three thousand francs for six months," said she. - -"Why, my dear young lady, you were proposing to sell the place -outright for twenty thousand francs," said Boniface with much suavity. -"The interest on twenty thousand francs is only twelve hundred francs -per annum at six per cent." - -For a moment Eve was thrown into confusion; she saw the need for -discretion in matters of business. - -"You wish to use our presses and our name as well," she said; "and, as -I have already shown you, I can still do a little business. And then -we pay rent to M. Sechard senior, who does not load us with presents." - -After two hours of debate, Eve obtained two thousand francs for six -months, one thousand to be paid in advance. When everything was -concluded, the brothers informed her that they meant to put in Cerizet -as lessee of the premises. In spite of herself, Eve started with -surprise. - -"Isn't it better to have somebody who knows the workshop?" asked the -fat Cointet. - -Eve made no reply; she took leave of the brothers, vowing inwardly to -look after Cerizet. - -"Well, here are our enemies in the place!" laughed David, when Eve -brought out the papers for his signature at dinner-time. - -"Pshaw!" said she, "I will answer for Kolb and Marion; they alone -would look after things. Besides, we shall be making an income of four -thousand francs from the workshop, which only costs us money as it is; -and looking forward, I see a year in which you may realize your -hopes." - -"You were born to be the wife of a scientific worker, as you said by -the weir," said David, grasping her hand tenderly. - -But though the Sechard household had money sufficient that winter, -they were none the less subjected to Cerizet's espionage, and all -unconsciously became dependent upon Boniface Cointet. - -"We have them now!" the manager of the paper-mill had exclaimed as he -left the house with his brother the printer. "They will begin to -regard the rent as regular income; they will count upon it and run -themselves into debt. In six months' time we will decline to renew the -agreement, and then we shall see what this man of genius has at the -bottom of his mind; we will offer to help him out of his difficulty by -taking him into partnership and exploiting his discovery." - -Any shrewd man of business who should have seen tall Cointet's face as -he uttered those words, "taking him into partnership," would have -known that it behooves a man to be even more careful in the selection -of the partner whom he takes before the Tribunal of Commerce than in -the choice of the wife whom he weds at the Mayor's office. Was it not -enough already, and more than enough, that the ruthless hunters were -on the track of the quarry? How should David and his wife, with Kolb -and Marion to help them, escape the toils of a Boniface Cointet? - -A draft for five hundred francs came from Lucien, and this, with -Cerizet's second payment, enabled them to meet all the expenses of -Mme. Sechard's confinement. Eve and the mother and David had thought -that Lucien had forgotten them, and rejoiced over this token of -remembrance as they rejoiced over his success, for his first exploits -in journalism made even more noise in Angouleme than in Paris. - -But David, thus lulled into a false security, was to receive a -staggering blow, a cruel letter from Lucien:-- - - - _Lucien to David._ - - "MY DEAR DAVID,--I have drawn three bills on you, and negotiated - them with Metivier; they fall due in one, two, and three months' - time. I took this hateful course, which I know will burden you - heavily, because the one alternative was suicide. I will explain - my necessity some time, and I will try besides to send the amounts - as the bills fall due. - - "Burn this letter; say nothing to my mother and sister; for, I - confess it, I have counted upon you, upon the heroism known so - well to your despairing brother, - - "LUCIEN DE RUBEMPRE." - - -By this time Eve had recovered from her confinement. - -"Your brother, poor fellow, is in desperate straits," David told her. -"I have sent him three bills for a thousand francs at one, two, and -three months; just make a note of them," and he went out into the -fields to escape his wife's questionings. - -But Eve had felt very uneasy already. It was six months since Lucien -had written to them. She talked over the news with her mother till her -forebodings grew so dark that she made up her mind to dissipate them. -She would take a bold step in her despair. - -Young M. de Rastignac had come to spend a few days with his family. He -had spoken of Lucien in terms that set Paris gossip circulating in -Angouleme, till at last it reached the journalist's mother and sister. -Eve went to Mme. de Rastignac, asked the favor of an interview with -her son, spoke of all her fears, and asked him for the truth. In a -moment Eve heard of her brother's connection with the actress Coralie, -of his duel with Michel Chrestien, arising out of his own treacherous -behavior to Daniel d'Arthez; she received, in short, a version of -Lucien's history, colored by the personal feeling of a clever and -envious dandy. Rastignac expressed sincere admiration for the -abilities so terribly compromised, and a patriotic fear for the future -of a native genius; spite and jealousy masqueraded as pity and -friendliness. He spoke of Lucien's blunders. It seemed that Lucien had -forfeited the favor of a very great person, and that a patent -conferring the right to bear the name and arms of Rubempre had -actually been made out and subsequently torn up. - -"If your brother, madame, had been well advised, he would have been on -the way to honors, and Mme. de Bargeton's husband by this time; but -what can you expect? He deserted her and insulted her. She is now Mme. -la Comtesse Sixte du Chatelet, to her own great regret, for she loved -Lucien." - -"Is it possible!" exclaimed Mme. Sechard. - -"Your brother is like a young eagle, blinded by the first rays of -glory and luxury. When an eagle falls, who can tell how far he may -sink before he drops to the bottom of some precipice? The fall of a -great man is always proportionately great." - -Eve came away with a great dread in her heart; those last words -pierced her like an arrow. She had been wounded to the quick. She said -not a word to anybody, but again and again a tear rolled down her -cheeks, and fell upon the child at her breast. So hard is it to give -up illusions sanctioned by family feeling, illusions that have grown -with our growth, that Eve had doubted Eugene de Rastignac. She would -rather hear a true friend's account of her brother. Lucien had given -them d'Arthez's address in the days when he was full of enthusiasm for -the brotherhood; she wrote a pathetic letter to d'Arthez, and received -the following reply:-- - - - _D'Arthez to Mme. Sechard._ - - "MADAME,--You ask me to tell you the truth about the life that - your brother is leading in Paris; you are anxious for - enlightenment as to his prospects; and to encourage a frank answer - on my part, you repeat certain things that M. de Rastignac has - told you, asking me if they are true. With regard to the purely - personal matter, madame, M. de Rastignac's confidences must be - corrected in Lucien's favor. Your brother wrote a criticism of my - book, and brought it to me in remorse, telling me that he could - not bring himself to publish it, although obedience to the orders - of his party might endanger one who was very dear to him. Alas! - madame, a man of letters must needs comprehend all passions, since - it is his pride to express them; I understood that where a - mistress and a friend are involved, the friend is inevitably - sacrificed. I smoothed your brother's way; I corrected his - murderous article myself, and gave it my full approval. - - "You ask whether Lucien has kept my friendship and esteem; to this - it is difficult to make an answer. Your brother is on a road that - leads him to ruin. At this moment I still feel sorry for him; - before long I shall have forgotten him, of set purpose, not so - much on account of what he has done already as for that which he - inevitably will do. Your Lucien is not a poet, he has the poetic - temper; he dreams, he does not think; he spends himself in - emotion, he does not create. He is, in fact--permit me to say it - --a womanish creature that loves to shine, the Frenchman's great - failing. Lucien will always sacrifice his best friend for the - pleasure of displaying his own wit. He would not hesitate to sign - a pact with the Devil to-morrow if so he might secure a few years - of luxurious and glorious life. Nay, has he not done worse - already? He has bartered his future for the short-lived delights - of living openly with an actress. So far, he has not seen the - dangers of his position; the girl's youth and beauty and devotion - (for she worships him) have closed his eyes to the truth; he - cannot see that no glory or success or fortune can induce the - world to accept the position. Very well, as it is now, so it will - be with each new temptation--your brother will not look beyond the - enjoyment of the moment. Do not be alarmed: Lucien will never go - so far as a crime, he has not the strength of character; but he - would take the fruits of a crime, he would share the benefit but - not the risk--a thing that seems abhorrent to the whole world, - even to scoundrels. Oh, he would despise himself, he would repent; - but bring him once more to the test, and he would fail again; for - he is weak of will, he cannot resist the allurements of pleasure, - nor forego the least of his ambitions. He is indolent, like all - who would fain be poets; he thinks it clever to juggle with the - difficulties of life instead of facing and overcoming them. He - will be brave at one time, cowardly at another, and deserves - neither credit for his courage, nor blame for his cowardice. - Lucien is like a harp with strings that are slackened or tightened - by the atmosphere. He might write a great book in a glad or angry - mood, and care nothing for the success that he had desired for so - long. - - "When he first came to Paris he fell under the influence of an - unprincipled young fellow, and was dazzled by his companion's - adroitness and experience in the difficulties of a literary life. - This juggler completely bewitched Lucien; he dragged him into a - life which a man cannot lead and respect himself, and, unluckily - for Lucien, love shed its magic over the path. The admiration that - is given too readily is a sign of want of judgment; a poet ought - not to be paid in the same coin as a dancer on the tight-rope. We - all felt hurt when intrigue and literary rascality were preferred - to the courage and honor of those who counseled Lucien rather to - face the battle than to filch success, to spring down into the - arena rather than become a trumpet in the orchestra. - - "Society, madame, oddly enough, shows plentiful indulgence to - young men of Lucien's stamp; they are popular, the world is - fascinated by their external gifts and good looks. Nothing is - asked of them, all their sins are forgiven; they are treated like - perfect natures, others are blind to their defects, they are the - world's spoiled children. And, on the other hand, the world is - stern beyond measure to strong and complete natures. Perhaps in - this apparently flagrant injustice society acts sublimely, taking - a harlequin at his just worth, asking nothing of him but - amusement, promptly forgetting him; and asking divine great deeds - of those before whom she bends the knee. Everything is judged by - laws of its being; the diamond must be flawless; the ephemeral - creation of fashion may be flimsy, bizarre, inconsequent. So - Lucien may perhaps succeed to admiration in spite of his mistakes; - he has only to profit by some happy vein or to be among good - companions; but if an evil angel crosses his path, he will go to - the very depths of hell. 'Tis a brilliant assemblage of good - qualities embroidered upon too slight a tissue; time wears the - flowers away till nothing but the web is left; and if that is poor - stuff, you behold a rag at the last. So long as Lucien is young, - people will like him; but where will he be as a man of thirty? - That is the question which those who love him sincerely are bound - to ask themselves. If I alone had come to think in this way of - Lucien, I might perhaps have spared you the pain which my plain - speaking will give you; but to evade the questions put by your - anxiety, and to answer a cry of anguish like your letter with - commonplaces, seemed to me alike unworthy of you and of me, whom - you esteem too highly; and besides, those of my friends who knew - Lucien are unanimous in their judgment. So it appeared to me to be - a duty to put the truth before you, terrible though it may be. - Anything may be expected of Lucien, anything good or evil. That is - our opinion, and this letter is summed up in that sentence. If the - vicissitudes of his present way of life (a very wretched and - slippery one) should bring the poet back to you, use all your - influence to keep him among you; for until his character has - acquired stability, Paris will not be safe for him. He used to - speak of you, you and your husband, as his guardian angels; he has - forgotten you, no doubt; but he will remember you again when - tossed by tempest, with no refuge left to him but his home. Keep - your heart for him, madame; he will need it. - - "Permit me, madame, to convey to you the expression of the sincere - respect of a man to whom your rare qualities are known, a man who - honors your mother's fears so much, that he desires to style - himself your devoted servant, - - "D'ARTHEZ." - - -Two days after the letter came, Eve was obliged to find a wet-nurse; -her milk had dried up. She had made a god of her brother; now, in her -eyes, he was depraved through the exercise of his noblest faculties; -he was wallowing in the mire. She, noble creature that she was, was -incapable of swerving from honesty and scrupulous delicacy, from all -the pious traditions of the hearth, which still burns so clearly and -sheds its light abroad in quiet country homes. Then David had been -right in his forecasts! The leaden hues of grief overspread Eve's -white brow. She told her husband her secret in one of the pellucid -talks in which married lovers tell everything to each other. The tones -of David's voice brought comfort. Though the tears stood in his eyes -when he knew that grief had dried his wife's fair breast, and knew -Eve's despair that she could not fulfil a mother's duties, he held out -reassuring hopes. - -"Your brother's imagination has let him astray, you see, child. It is -so natural that a poet should wish for blue and purple robes, and -hurry as eagerly after festivals as he does. It is a bird that loves -glitter and luxury with such simple sincerity, that God forgives him -if man condemns him for it." - -"But he is draining our lives!" exclaimed poor Eve. - -"He is draining our lives just now, but only a few months ago he saved -us by sending us the first fruits of his earnings," said the good -David. He had the sense to see that his wife was in despair, was going -beyond the limit, and that love for Lucien would very soon come back. -"Fifty years ago, or thereabouts, Mercier said in his _Tableau de Paris_ -that a man cannot live by literature, poetry, letters, or science, by -the creatures of his brain, in short; and Lucien, poet that he is, -would not believe the experience of five centuries. The harvests that -are watered with ink are only reaped ten or twelve years after the -sowing, if indeed there is any harvest after all. Lucien has taken the -green wheat for the sheaves. He will have learned something of life, -at any rate. He was the dupe of a woman at the outset; he was sure to -be duped afterwards by the world and false friends. He has bought his -experience dear, that is all. Our ancestors used to say, 'If the son -of the house brings back his two ears and his honor safe, all is -well----'" - -"Honor!" poor Eve broke in. "Oh, but Lucien has fallen in so many -ways! Writing against his conscience! Attacking his best friend! -Living upon an actress! Showing himself in public with her. Bringing -us to lie on straw----" - -"Oh, that is nothing----!" cried David, and suddenly stopped short. -The secret of Lucien's forgery had nearly escaped him, and, unluckily, -his start left a vague, uneasy impression on Eve. - -"What do you mean by nothing?" she answered. "And where shall we find -the money to meet bills for three thousand francs?" - -"We shall be obliged to renew the lease with Cerizet, to begin with," -said David. "The Cointets have been allowing him fifteen per cent on -the work done for them, and in that way alone he has made six hundred -francs, besides contriving to make five hundred francs by job -printing." - -"If the Cointets know that, perhaps they will not renew the lease. -They will be afraid of him, for Cerizet is a dangerous man." - -"Eh! what is that to me!" cried David, "we shall be rich in a very -little while. When Lucien is rich, dear angel, he will have nothing -but good qualities." - -"Oh! David, my dear, my dear; what is this that you have said -unthinkingly? Then Lucien fallen into the clutches of poverty would -not have the force of character to resist evil? And you think just as -M. d'Arthez thinks! No one is great unless he has strength of -character, and Lucien is weak. An angel must not be tempted--what is -that?" - -"What but a nature that is noble only in its own region, its own -sphere, its heaven? I will spare him the struggle; Lucien is not meant -for it. Look here! I am so near the end now that I can talk to you -about the means." - -He drew several sheets of white paper from his pocket, brandished them -in triumph, and laid them on his wife's lap. - -"A ream of this paper, royal size, would cost five francs at the -most," he added, while Eve handled the specimens with almost childish -surprise. - -"Why, how did you make these sample bits?" she asked. - -"With an old kitchen sieve of Marion's." - -"And are you not satisfied yet?" asked Eve. - -"The problem does not lie in the manufacturing process; it is a -question of the first cost of the pulp. Alas, child, I am only a late -comer in a difficult path. As long ago as 1794, Mme. Masson tried to -use printed paper a second time; she succeeded, but what a price it -cost! The Marquis of Salisbury tried to use straw as a material in -1800, and the same idea occurred to Seguin in France in 1801. Those -sheets in your hand are made from the common rush, the _arundo -phragmites_, but I shall try nettles and thistles; for if the material -is to continue to be cheap, one must look for something that will grow -in marshes and waste lands where nothing else can be grown. The whole -secret lies in the preparation of the stems. At present my method is -not quite simple enough. Still, in spite of this difficulty, I feel -sure that I can give the French paper trade the privilege of our -literature; papermaking will be for France what coal and iron and -coarse potter's clay are for England--a monopoly. I mean to be the -Jacquart of the trade." - -Eve rose to her feet. David's simple-mindedness had roused her to -enthusiasm, to admiration; she held out her arms to him and held him -tightly to her, while she laid her head upon his shoulder. - -"You give me my reward as if I had succeeded already," he said. - -For all answer, Eve held up her sweet face, wet with tears, to his, -and for a moment she could not speak. - -"The kiss was not for the man of genius," she said, "but for my -comforter. Here is a rising glory for the glory that has set; and, in -the midst of my grief for the brother that has fallen so low, my -husband's greatness is revealed to me.--Yes, you will be great, great -like the Graindorges, the Rouvets, and Van Robais, and the Persian who -discovered madder, like all the men you have told me about; great men -whom nobody remembers, because their good deeds were obscure -industrial triumphs." - - - -"What are they doing just now?" - -It was Boniface Cointet who spoke. He was walking up and down outside -in the Place du Murier with Cerizet watching the silhouettes of the -husband and wife on the blinds. He always came at midnight for a chat -with Cerizet, for the latter played the spy upon his former master's -every movement. - -"He is showing her the paper he made this morning, no doubt," said -Cerizet. - -"What is it made of?" asked the paper manufacturer. - -"Impossible to guess," answered Cerizet; "I made a hole in the roof -and scrambled up and watched the gaffer; he was boiling pulp in a -copper pan all last night. There was a heap of stuff in a corner, but -I could make nothing of it; it looked like a heap of tow, as near as I -could make out." - -"Go no farther," said Boniface Cointet in unctuous tones; "it would -not be right. Mme. Sechard will offer to renew your lease; tell her -that you are thinking of setting up for yourself. Offer her half the -value of the plant and license, and, if she takes the bid, come to me. -In any case, spin the matter out. . . . Have they no money?" - -"Not a sou," said Cerizet. - -"Not a sou," repeated tall Cointet.--"I have them now," said he to -himself. - -Metivier, paper manufacturers' wholesale agent, and Cointet Brothers, -printers and paper manufacturers, were also bankers in all but name. -This surreptitious banking system defies all the ingenuity of the -Inland Revenue Department. Every banker is required to take out a -license which, in Paris, costs five hundred francs; but no hitherto -devised method of controlling commerce can detect the delinquents, or -compel them to pay their due to the Government. And though Metivier -and the Cointets were "outside brokers," in the language of the Stock -Exchange, none the less among them they could set some hundreds of -thousands of francs moving every three months in the markets of Paris, -Bordeaux, and Angouleme. Now it so fell out that that very evening -Cointet Brothers had received Lucien's forged bills in the course of -business. Upon this debt, tall Cointet forthwith erected a formidable -engine, pointed, as will presently be seen, against the poor, patient -inventor. - -By seven o'clock next morning, Boniface Cointet was taking a walk by -the mill stream that turned the wheels in his big factory; the sound -of the water covered his talk, for he was talking with a companion, a -young man of nine-and-twenty, who had been appointed attorney to the -Court of First Instance in Angouleme some six weeks ago. The young -man's name was Pierre Petit-Claud. - -"You are a schoolfellow of David Sechard's, are you not?" asked tall -Cointet by way of greeting to the young attorney. Petit-Claud had lost -no time in answering the wealthy manufacturer's summons. - -"Yes, sir," said Petit-Claud, keeping step with tall Cointet. - -"Have you renewed the acquaintance?" - -"We have met once or twice at most since he came back. It could hardly -have been otherwise. In Paris I was buried away in the office or at -the courts on week-days, and on Sundays and holidays I was hard at -work studying, for I had only myself to look to." (Tall Cointet nodded -approvingly.) "When we met again, David and I, he asked me what I had -done with myself. I told him that after I had finished my time at -Poitiers, I had risen to be Maitre Olivet's head-clerk, and that some -time or other I hoped to make a bid for his berth. I know a good deal -more of Lucien Chardon (de Rubempre he calls himself now), he was Mme. -de Bargeton's lover, our great poet, David Sechard's brother-in-law, -in fact." - -"Then you can go and tell David of your appointment, and offer him -your services," said tall Cointet. - -"One can't do that," said the young attorney. - -"He has never had a lawsuit, and he has no attorney, so one can do -that," said Cointet, scanning the other narrowly from behind his -colored spectacles. - -A certain quantity of gall mingled with the blood in Pierre -Petit-Claud's veins; his father was a tailor in L'Houmeau, and his -schoolfellows had looked down upon him. His complexion was of the -muddy and unwholesome kind which tells a tale of bad health, late -hours and penury, and almost always of a bad disposition. The best -description of him may be given in two familiar expressions--he was -sharp and snappish. His cracked voice suited his sour face, meagre -look, and magpie eyes of no particular color. A magpie eye, according -to Napoleon, is a sure sign of dishonesty. "Look at So-and-so," he -said to Las Cases at Saint Helena, alluding to a confidential servant -whom he had been obliged to dismiss for malversation. "I do not know -how I could have been deceived in him for so long; he has a magpie -eye." Tall Cointet, surveying the weedy little lawyer, noted his face -pitted with smallpox, the thin hair, and the forehead, bald already, -receding towards a bald cranium; saw, too, the confession of weakness -in his attitude with the hand on the hip. "Here is my man," said he to -himself. - -As a matter of fact, this Petit-Claud, who had drunk scorn like water, -was eaten up with a strong desire to succeed in life; he had no money, -but nevertheless he had the audacity to buy his employer's connection -for thirty thousand francs, reckoning upon a rich marriage to clear -off the debt, and looking to his employer, after the usual custom, to -find him a wife, for an attorney always has an interest in marrying -his successor, because he is the sooner paid off. But if Petit-Claud -counted upon his employer, he counted yet more upon himself. He had -more than average ability, and that of a kind not often found in the -provinces, and rancor was the mainspring of his power. A mighty hatred -makes a mighty effort. - -There is a great difference between a country attorney and an attorney -in Paris; tall Cointet was too clever not to know this, and to turn -the meaner passions that move a pettifogging lawyer to good account. -An eminent attorney in Paris, and there are many who may be so -qualified, is bound to possess to some extent the diplomate's -qualities; he had so much business to transact, business in which -large interests are involved; questions of such wide interest are -submitted to him that he does not look upon procedure as machinery for -bringing money into his pocket, but as a weapon of attack and defence. -A country attorney, on the other hand, cultivates the science of -costs, _broutille_, as it is called in Paris, a host of small items that -swell lawyers' bills and require stamped paper. These weighty matters -of the law completely fill the country attorney's mind; he has a bill -of costs always before his eyes, whereas his brother of Paris thinks -of nothing but his fees. The fee is a honorarium paid by a client over -and above the bill of costs, for the more or less skilful conduct of -his case. One-half of the bill of costs goes to the Treasury, whereas -the entire fee belongs to the attorney. Let us admit frankly that the -fees received are seldom as large as the fees demanded and deserved by -a clever lawyer. Wherefore, in Paris, attorneys, doctors, and -barristers, like courtesans with a chance-come lover, take very -considerable precautions against the gratitude of clients. The client -before and after the lawsuit would furnish a subject worthy of -Meissonier; there would be brisk bidding among attorneys for the -possession of two such admirable bits of genre. - -There is yet another difference between the Parisian and the country -attorney. An attorney in Paris very seldom appears in court, though he -is sometimes called upon to act as arbitrator (_refere_). Barristers, -at the present day, swarm in the provinces; but in 1822 the country -attorney very often united the functions of solicitor and counsel. As -a result of this double life, the attorney acquired the peculiar -intellectual defects of the barrister, and retained the heavy -responsibilities of the attorney. He grew talkative and fluent, and -lost his lucidity of judgment, the first necessity for the conduct of -affairs. If a man of more than ordinary ability tries to do the work -of two men, he is apt to find that the two men are mediocrities. The -Paris attorney never spends himself in forensic eloquence; and as he -seldom attempts to argue for and against, he has some hope of -preserving his mental rectitude. It is true that he brings the balista -of the law to work, and looks for the weapons in the armory of -judicial contradictions, but he keeps his own convictions as to the -case, while he does his best to gain the day. In a word, a man loses -his head not so much by thinking as by uttering thoughts. The spoken -word convinces the utterer; but a man can act against his own bad -judgment without warping it, and contrive to win in a bad cause -without maintaining that it is a good one, like the barrister. Perhaps -for this very reason an old attorney is the more likely of the two to -make a good judge. - -A country attorney, as we have seen, has plenty of excuses for his -mediocrity; he takes up the cause of petty passions, he undertakes -pettifogging business, he lives by charging expenses, he strains the -Code of procedure and pleads in court. In a word, his weak points are -legion; and if by chance you come across a remarkable man practising -as a country attorney, he is indeed above the average level. - -"I thought, sir, that you sent for me on your own affairs," said -Petit-Claud, and a glance that put an edge on his words fell upon tall -Cointet's impenetrable blue spectacles. - -"Let us have no beating about the bush," returned Boniface Cointet. -"Listen to me." - -After that beginning, big with mysterious import, Cointet set himself -down upon a bench, and beckoned Petit-Claud to do likewise. - -"When M. du Hautoy came to Angouleme in 1804, on his way to his -consulship at Valence, he made the acquaintance of Mme. de Senonches, -then Mlle. Zephirine, and had a daughter by her," added Cointet for -the attorney's ear----"Yes," he continued, as Petit-Claud gave a -start; "yes, and Mlle. Zephirine's marriage with M. de Senoches soon -followed the birth of the child. The girl was brought up in my -mother's house; she is the Mlle. Francoise de la Haye in whom Mme. de -Senoches takes an interest; she is her godmother in the usual style. -Now, my mother farmed land belonging to old Mme. de Cardanet, Mlle. -Zephirine's grandmother; and as she knew the secret of the sole -heiress of the Cardanets and the Senonches of the older branch, they -made me trustee for the little sum which M. Francois du Hautoy meant -for the girl's fortune. I made my own fortune with those ten thousand -francs, which amount to thirty thousand at the present day. Mme. de -Senonches is sure to give the wedding clothes, and some plate and -furniture to her goddaughter. Now, I can put you in the way of -marrying the girl, my lad," said Cointet, slapping Petit-Claud on the -knee; "and when you marry Francoise de la Haye, you will have a large -number of the aristocracy of Angouleme as your clients. This -understanding between us (under the rose) will open up magnificent -prospects for you. Your position will be as much as any one could -want; in fact, they don't ask better, I know." - -"What is to be done?" Petit-Claud asked eagerly. "You have an -attorney, Maitre Cachan----" - -"And, moreover, I shall not leave Cachan at once for you; I shall only -be your client later on," said Cointet significantly. "What is to be -done, do you ask, my friend? Eh! why, David Sechard's business. The -poor devil has three thousand francs' worth of bills to meet; he will -not meet them; you will stave off legal proceedings in such a way as -to increase the expenses enormously. Don't trouble yourself; go on, -pile on items. Doublon, my process-server, will act under Cachan's -directions, and he will lay on like a blacksmith. A word to the wise -is sufficient. Now, young man?----" - -An eloquent pause followed, and the two men looked at each other. - -"We have never seen each other," Cointet resumed; "I have not said a -syllable to you; you know nothing about M. du Hautoy, nor Mme. de -Senonches, nor Mlle. de la Haye; only, when the time comes, two months -hence, you will propose for the young lady. If we should want to see -each other, you will come here after dark. Let us have nothing in -writing." - -"Then you mean to ruin Sechard?" asked Petit-Claud. - -"Not exactly; but he must be in jail for some time----" - -"And what is the object?" - -"Do you think that I am noodle enough to tell you that? If you have -wit enough to find out, you will have sense enough to hold your -tongue." - -"Old Sechard has plenty of money," said Petit-Claud. He was beginning -already to enter into Boniface Cointet's notions, and foresaw a -possible cause of failure. - -"So long as the father lives, he will not give his son a farthing; and -the old printer has no mind as yet to send in an order for his funeral -cards." - -"Agreed!" said Petit-Claud, promptly making up his mind. "I don't ask -you for guarantees; I am an attorney. If any one plays me a trick, -there will be an account to settle between us." - -"The rogue will go far," thought Cointet; he bade Petit-Claud -good-morning. - -The day after this conference was the 30th of April, and the Cointets -presented the first of the three bills forged by Lucien. Unluckily, -the bill was brought to poor Mme. Sechard; and she, seeing at once -that the signature was not in her husband's handwriting, sent for -David and asked him point-blank: - -"You did not put your name to that bill, did you?" - -"No," said he; "your brother was so pressed for time that he signed -for me." - -Eve returned the bill to the bank messenger sent by the Cointets. - -"We cannot meet it," she said; then, feeling that her strength was -failing, she went up to her room. David followed her. - -"Go quickly to the Cointets, dear," Eve said faintly; "they will have -some consideration for you; beg them to wait; and call their attention -besides to the fact that when Cerizet's lease is renewed, they will -owe you a thousand francs." - -David went forthwith to his enemies. Now, any foreman may become a -master printer, but there are not always the makings of a good man of -business in a skilled typographer; David knew very little of business; -when, therefore, with a heavily-beating heart and a sensation of -throttling, David had put his excuses badly enough and formulated his -request, the answer--"This is nothing to do with us; the bill has been -passed on to us by Metivier; Metivier will pay us. Apply to M. -Metivier"--cut him short at once. - -"Oh!" cried Eve when she heard the result, "as soon as the bill is -returned to M. Metivier, we may be easy." - -At two o'clock the next day, Victor-Ange-Hermenegilde Doublon, -bailiff, made protest for non-payment at two o'clock, a time when the -Place du Murier is full of people; so that though Doublon was careful -to stand and chat at the back door with Marion and Kolb, the news of -the protest was known all over the business world of Angouleme that -evening. Tall Cointet had enjoined it upon Master Doublon to show the -Sechards the greatest consideration; but when all was said and done, -could the bailiff's hypocritical regard for appearances save Eve and -David from the disgrace of a suspension of payment? Let each judge for -himself. A tolerably long digression of this kind will seem all too -short; and ninety out of every hundred readers shall seize with -avidity upon details that possess all the piquancy of novelty, thus -establishing yet once again the trust of the well-known axiom, that -there is nothing so little known as that which everybody is supposed -to know--the Law of the Land, to wit. - -And of a truth, for the immense majority of Frenchmen, a minute -description of some part of the machinery of banking will be as -interesting as any chapter of foreign travel. When a tradesman living -in one town gives a bill to another tradesman elsewhere (as David was -supposed to have done for Lucien's benefit), the transaction ceases to -be a simple promissory note, given in the way of business by one -tradesman to another in the same place, and becomes in some sort a -letter of exchange. When, therefore, Metivier accepted Lucien's three -bills, he was obliged to send them for collection to his -correspondents in Angouleme--to Cointet Brothers, that is to say. -Hence, likewise, a certain initial loss for Lucien in exchange on -Angouleme, taking the practical shape of an abatement of so much per -cent over and above the discount. In this way Sechard's bills had -passed into circulation in the bank. You would not believe how greatly -the quality of banker, united with the august title of creditor, -changes the debtor's position. For instance, when a bill has been -passed through the bank (please note that expression), and transferred -from the money market in Paris to the financial world of Angouleme, if -that bill is protested, then the bankers in Angouleme must draw up a -detailed account of the expenses of protest and return; 'tis a duty -which they owe to themselves. Joking apart, no account of the most -romantic adventure could be more mildly improbable than this of the -journey made by a bill. Behold a certain article in the Code of -commerce authorizing the most ingenious pleasantries after -Mascarille's manner, and the interpretation thereof shall make -apparent manifold atrocities lurking beneath the formidable word -"legal." - -Master Doublon registered the protest and went himself with it to MM. -Cointet Brothers. The firm had a standing account with their bailiff; -he gave them six months' credit; and the lynxes of Angouleme -practically took a twelvemonth, though tall Cointet would say month by -month to the lynxes' jackal, "Do you want any money, Doublon?" Nor was -this all. Doublon gave the influential house a rebate upon every -transaction; it was the merest trifle, one franc fifty centimes on a -protest, for instance. - -Tall Cointet quietly sat himself down at his desk and took out a small -sheet of paper with a thirty-five centime stamp upon it, chatting as -he did so with Doublon as to the standing of some of the local -tradesmen. - -"Well, are you satisfied with young Gannerac?" - -"He is not doing badly. Lord, a carrier drives a trade----" - -"Drives a trade, yes; but, as a matter of fact, his expenses are a -heavy pull on him; his wife spends a good deal, so they tell me----" - -"Of _his_ money?" asked Doublon, with a knowing look. - -The lynx meanwhile had finished ruling his sheet of paper, and now -proceeded to trace the ominous words at the head of the following -account in bold characters:-- - - - ACCOUNT OF EXPENSES OF PROTEST AND RETURN. - - _To one bill for_ one thousand francs, _bearing date of February the - tenth, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, drawn by_ Sechard junior _of - Angouleme, to order of_ Lucien Chardon, _otherwise_ de Rubempre, - _endorsed to order of_ Metivier, _and finally to our order, matured - the thirtieth of April last, protested by_ Doublon, _process-server, - on the first of May, eighteen hundred and twenty-two._ - fr. c. - Principal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1000 -- - Expenses of Protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 35 - Bank charges, one-half per cent. . . . . . . 5 -- - Brokerage, one-quarter per cent. . . . . . . 2 50 - Stamp on re-draft and present account. . . . 1 35 - Interest and postage . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 -- - ____ ____ - 1024 20 - Exchange at the rate of one and a quarter - per cent on 1024 fr. 20 c.. . . . . . . . 13 25 - ____ ____ - Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - - _One thousand and thirty-seven francs forty-five centimes, for - which we repay ourselves by our draft at sight upon M. Metivier, - Rue Serpente, Paris, payable to order of M. Gannerac of L'Houmeau._ - - ANGOULEME, May 2, 1822 COINTET BROTHERS. - - -At the foot of this little memorandum, drafted with the ease that -comes of long practice (for the writer chatted with Doublon as he -wrote), there appeared the subjoined form of declaration:-- - - - "We, the undersigned, Postel of L'Houmeau, pharmaceutical chemist, - and Gannerac, forwarding agent, merchant of this town, hereby - certify that the present rate of exchange on Paris is one and a - quarter per cent. - - "ANGOULEME, May 2, 1822." - - -"Here, Doublon, be so good as to step round and ask Postel and -Gannerac to put their names to this declaration, and bring it back -with you to-morrow morning." - -And Doublon, quite accustomed as he was to these instruments of -torture, forthwith went, as if it were the simplest thing in the -world. Evidently the protest might have been sent in an envelope, as -in Paris, and even so all Angouleme was sure to hear of the poor -Sechards' unlucky predicament. How they all blamed his want of -business energy! His excessive fondness for his wife had been the ruin -of him, according to some; others maintained that it was his affection -for his brother-in-law; and what shocking conclusions did they not -draw from these premises! A man ought never to embrace the interests -of his kith and kin. Old Sechard's hard-hearted conduct met with -approval, and people admired him for his treatment of his son! - -And now, all you who for any reason whatsoever should forget to "honor -your engagements," look well into the methods of the banking business, -by which one thousand francs may be made to pay interest at the rate -of twenty-eight francs in ten minutes, without breaking the law of the -land. - -The thousand francs, the one incontestable item in the account, comes -first. - -The second item is shared between the bailiff and the Inland Revenue -Department. The six francs due to the State for providing a piece of -stamped paper, and putting the debtor's mortification on record, will -probably ensure a long life to this abuse; and as you already know, -one franc fifty centimes from this item found its way into the -banker's pockets in the shape of Doublon's rebate. - -"Bank charges one-half per cent," runs the third item, which appears -upon the ingenious plea that if a banker has not received payment, he -has for all practical purposes discounted a bill. And although the -contrary may be the case, if you fail to receive a thousand francs, it -seems to be very much the same thing as if you had paid them away. -Everybody who has discounted a bill knows that he has to pay more than -the six per cent fixed by law; for a small percentage appears under -the humble title of "charges," representing a premium on the financial -genius and skill with which the capitalist puts his money out to -interest. The more money he makes out of you, the more he asks. -Wherefore it would be undoubtedly cheaper to discount a bill with a -fool, if fools there be in the profession of bill-discounting. - -The law requires the banker to obtain a stock-broker's certificate for -the rate of exchange. When a place is so unlucky as to boast no stock -exchange, two merchants act instead. This is the significance of the -item "brokerage"; it is a fixed charge of a quarter per cent on the -amount of the protested bill. The custom is to consider the amount as -paid to the merchants who act for the stock-broker, and the banker -quietly puts the money into his cash-box. So much for the third item -in this delightful account. - -The fourth includes the cost of the piece of stamped paper on which -the account itself appears, as well as the cost of the stamp for -re-draft, as it is ingeniously named, viz., the banker's draft upon -his colleague in Paris. - -The fifth is a charge for postage and the legal interest due upon the -amount for the time that it may happen to be absent from the banker's -strong box. - -The final item, the exchange, is the object for which the bank exists, -which is to say, for the transmission of sums of money from one place -to another. - -Now, sift this account thoroughly, and what do you find? The method of -calculation closely resembles Polichinelle's arithmetic in Lablache's -Neapolitan song, "fifteen and five make twenty-two." The signatures of -Messieurs Postel and Gannerac were obviously given to oblige in the -way of business; the Cointets would act at need for Gannerac as -Gannerac acted for the Cointets. It was a practical application of the -well-known proverb, "Reach me the rhubarb and I will pass you the -senna." Cointet Brothers, moreover, kept a standing account with -Metivier; there was no need of a re-draft, and no re-draft was made. A -returned bill between the two firms simply meant a debit or credit -entry and another line in a ledger. - -This highly-colored account, therefore, is reduced to the one thousand -francs, with an additional thirteen francs for expenses of protest, -and half per cent for a month's delay, one thousand and eighteen -francs it may be in all. - -Suppose that in a large banking-house a bill for a thousand francs is -daily protested on an average, then the banker receives twenty-eight -francs a day by the grace of God and the constitution of the banking -system, that all powerful invention due to the Jewish intellect of the -Middle Ages, which after six centuries still controls monarchs and -peoples. In other words, a thousand francs would bring such a house -twenty-eight francs per day, or ten thousand two hundred and twenty -francs per annum. Triple the average of protests, and consequently of -expenses, and you shall derive an income of thirty thousand francs per -annum, interest upon purely fictitious capital. For which reason, -nothing is more lovingly cultivated than these little "accounts of -expenses." - -If David Sechard had come to pay his bill on the 3rd of May, that is, -the day after it was protested, MM. Cointet Brothers would have met -him at once with, "We have returned your bill to M. Metivier," -although, as a matter of fact, the document would have been lying upon -the desk. A banker has a right to make out the account of expenses on -the evening of the day when the bill is protested, and he uses the -right to "sweat the silver crowns," in the country banker's phrase. - -The Kellers, with correspondents all over the world, make twenty -thousand francs per annum by charges for postage alone; accounts of -expenses of protest pay for Mme. la Baronne de Nucingen's dresses, -opera box, and carriage. The charge for postage is a more shocking -swindle, because a house will settle ten matters of business in as -many lines of a single letter. And of the tithe wrung from misfortune, -the Government, strange to say! takes its share, and the national -revenue is swelled by a tax on commercial failure. And the Bank? from -the august height of a counting-house she flings an observation, full -of commonsense, at the debtor, "How is it?" asks she, "that you cannot -meet your bill?" and, unluckily, there is no reply to the question. -Wherefore, the "account of expenses" is an account bristling with -dreadful fictions, fit to cause any debtor, who henceforth shall -reflect upon this instructive page, a salutary shudder. - -On the 4th of May, Metivier received the account from Cointet -Brothers, with instructions to proceed against M. Lucien Chardon, -otherwise de Rubempre, with the utmost rigor of the law. - -Eve also wrote to M. Metivier, and a few days later received an answer -which reassured her completely:-- - - - _To M. Sechard, Junior, Printer, Angouleme._ - - "I have duly received your esteemed favor of the 5th instant. From - your explanation of the bill due on April 30th, I understand that - you have obliged your brother-in-law, M. de Rubempre, who is - spending so much that it will be doing you a service to summons - him. His present position is such that he is likely to delay - payment for long. If your brother-in-law should refuse payment, I - shall rely upon the credit of your old-established house.--I sign - myself now, as ever, your obedient servant, - "Metivier." - - -"Well," said Eve, commenting upon the letter to David, "Lucien will -know when they summons him that we could not pay." - -What a change wrought in Eve those few words meant! The love that grew -deeper as she came to know her husband's character better and better, -was taking the place of love for her brother in her heart. But to how -many illusions had she not bade farewell? - -And now let us trace out the whole history of the bill and the account -of expenses in the business world of Paris. The law enacts that the -third holder, the technical expression for the third party into whose -hands the bill passes, is at liberty to proceed for the whole amount -against any one of the various endorsers who appears to him to be most -likely to make prompt payment. M. Metivier, using this discretion, -served a summons upon Lucien. Behold the successive stages of the -proceedings, all of them perfectly futile. Metivier, with the Cointets -behind him, knew that Lucien was not in a position to pay, but -insolvency in fact is not insolvency in law until it has been formally -proved. - -Formal proof of Lucien's inability to pay was obtained in the -following manner: - -On the 5th of May, Metivier's process-server gave Lucien notice of the -protest and an account of the expense thereof, and summoned him to -appear before the Tribunal of Commerce, or County Court, of Paris, to -hear a vast number of things: this, among others, that he was liable -to imprisonment as a merchant. By the time that Lucien, hard pressed -and hunted down on all sides, read this jargon, he received notice of -judgment against him by default. Coralie, his mistress, ignorant of -the whole matter, imagined that Lucien had obliged his brother-in-law, -and handed him all the documents together--too late. An actress sees -so much of bailiffs, duns, and writs, upon the stage, that she looks -on all stamped paper as a farce. - -Tears filled Lucien's eyes; he was unhappy on Sechard's account, he -was ashamed of the forgery, he wished to pay, he desired to gain time. -Naturally he took counsel of his friends. But by the time Lousteau, -Blondet, Bixiou, and Nathan had told the poet to snap his fingers at a -court only established for tradesmen, Lucien was already in the -clutches of the law. He beheld upon his door the little yellow placard -which leaves its reflection on the porter's countenance, and exercises -a most astringent influence upon credit; striking terror into the -heart of the smallest tradesman, and freezing the blood in the veins -of a poet susceptible enough to care about the bits of wood, silken -rags, dyed woolen stuffs, and multifarious gimcracks entitled -furniture. - -When the broker's men came for Coralie's furniture, the author of the -_Marguerites_ fled to a friend of Bixiou's, one Desroches, a barrister, -who burst out laughing at the sight of Lucien in such a state about -nothing at all. - -"That is nothing, my dear fellow. Do you want to gain time?" - -"Yes, as much possible." - -"Very well, apply for stay of execution. Go and look up Masson, he is -a solicitor in the Commercial Court, and a friend of mine. Take your -documents to him. He will make a second application for you, and give -notice of objection to the jurisdiction of the court. There is not the -least difficulty; you are a journalist, your name is well known -enough. If they summons you before a civil court, come to me about it, -that will be my affair; I engage to send anybody who offers to annoy -the fair Coralie about his business." - -On the 28th of May, Lucien's case came on in the civil court, and -judgment was given before Desroches expected it. Lucien's creditor was -pushing on the proceedings against him. A second execution was put in, -and again Coralie's pilasters were gilded with placards. Desroches -felt rather foolish; a colleague had "caught him napping," to use his -own expression. He demurred, not without reason, that the furniture -belonged to Mlle. Coralie, with whom Lucien was living, and demanded -an order for inquiry. Thereupon the judge referred the matter to the -registrar for inquiry, the furniture was proved to belong to the -actress, and judgment was entered accordingly. Metivier appealed, and -judgment was confirmed on appeal on the 30th of June. - -On the 7th of August, Maitre Cachan received by the coach a bulky -package endorsed, "Metivier _versus_ Sechard and Lucien Chardon." - -The first document was a neat little bill, of which a copy (accuracy -guaranteed) is here given for the reader's benefit:-- - - - _To Bill due the last day of April, drawn by_ - Sechard, junior, _to order of_ Lucien de - Rubempre, _together with expenses of fr. c. - protest and return_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - May 5th--Serving notice of protest and - summons to appear before the - Tribunal of Commerce in - Paris, May 7th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - " 7th--Judgment by default and - warrant of arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 -- - " 10th--Notification of judgment . . . . . . . . . 8 50 - " 12th--Warrant of execution . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 - " 14th--Inventory and appraisement - previous to execution. . . . . . . . . . . 16 -- - " 18th--Expenses of affixing placards. . . . . . . 15 25 - " 19th--Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 -- - " 24th--Verification of inventory, and - application for stay of execution - on the part of the said - Lucien de Rubempre, objecting - to the jurisdiction of the Court. . . . . . 12 -- - " 27th--Order of the Court upon application - duly repeated, and transfer of - of case to the Civil Court. . . . . . . . . 35 -- - ____ ____ - Carried forward. . . . . . . . . . . . 1177 45 - - fr. c. - Brought forward 1177 45 - May 28th--Notice of summary proceedings in - the Civil Court at the instance - of Metivier, represented by - counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 50 - June 2nd--Judgment, after hearing both - parties, condemning Lucien for - expenses of protest and return; - the plaintiff to bear costs - of proceedings in the - Commercial Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 -- - " 6th--Notification of judgment. . . . . . . . . . 10 -- - - " 15th--Warrant of execution. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 - " 19th--Inventory and appraisement preparatory - to execution; interpleader summons by - the Demoiselle Coralie, claiming goods - and chattels taken in execution; demand - for immediate special inquiry before - further proceedings be taken . . . . . . . 20 -- - " " --Judge's order referring matter to - registrar for immediate special inquiry. . 40 -- - " " --Judgment in favor of the said - Mademoiselle Coralie . . . . . . . . . . . 250 -- - " 20th--Appeal by Metivier . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 -- - " 30th--Confirmation of judgment . . . . . . . . . 250 -- - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1926 45 - __________ - - Bill matured May 31st, with expenses of fr. c. - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 - - Bill matured June 30th, with expenses of - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 - __________ - - -This document was accompanied by a letter from Metivier, instructing -Maitre Cachan, notary of Angouleme, to prosecute David Sechard with -the utmost rigor of the law. Wherefore Maitre Victor-Ange-Hermenegilde -Doublon summoned David Sechard before the Tribunal of Commerce in -Angouleme for the sum-total of four thousand and eighteen francs -eighty-five centimes, the amount of the three bills and expenses -already incurred. On the morning of the very day when Doublon served -the writ upon Eve, requiring her to pay a sum so enormous in her eyes, -there came a letter like a thunderbolt from Metivier:-- - - - _To Monsieur Sechard, Junior, Printer, Angouleme._ - - "SIR,--Your brother-in-law, M. Chardon, is so shamelessly - dishonest, that he declares his furniture to be the property of an - actress with whom he is living. You ought to have informed me - candidly of these circumstances, and not have allowed me to go to - useless expense over law proceedings. I have received no answer - to my letter of the 10th of May last. You must not, therefore, - take it amiss if I ask for immediate repayment of the three bills - and the expenses to which I have been put.--Yours, etc., - "METIVIER." - - -Eve had heard nothing during these months, and supposed, in her -ignorance of commercial law, that her brother had made reparation for -his sins by meeting the forged bills. - -"Be quick, and go at once to Petit-Claud, dear," she said; "tell him -about it, and ask his advice." - -David hurried to his schoolfellow's office. - -"When you came to tell me of your appointment and offered me your -services, I did not think that I should need them so soon," he said. - -Petit-Claud studied the fine face of this man who sat opposite him in -the office chair, and scarcely listened to the details of the case, -for he knew more of them already than the speaker. As soon as he saw -Sechard's anxiety, he said to himself, "The trick has succeeded." - -This kind of comedy is often played in an attorney's office. "Why are -the Cointets persecuting him?" Petit-Claud wondered within himself, -for the attorney can use his wit to read his clients' thoughts as -clearly as the ideas of their opponents, and it is his business to see -both sides of the judicial web. - -"You want to gain time," he said at last, when Sechard had come to an -end. "How long do you want? Something like three or four months?" - -"Oh! four months! that would be my salvation," exclaimed David. -Petit-Claud appeared to him as an angel. - -"Very well. No one shall lay hands on any of your furniture, and no -one shall arrest you for four months----But it will cost you a great -deal," said Petit-Claud. - -"Eh! what does that matter to me?" cried Sechard. - -"You are expecting some money to come in; but are you sure of it?" -asked Petit-Claud, astonished at the way in which his client walked -into the toils. - -"In three months' time I shall have plenty of money," said the -inventor, with an inventor's hopeful confidence. - -"Your father is still above ground," suggested Petit-Claud; "he is in -no hurry to leave his vines." - -"Do you think that I am counting on my father's death?" returned -David. "I am on the track of a trade secret, the secret of making a -sheet of paper as strong as Dutch paper, without a thread of cotton in -it, and at a cost of fifty per cent less than cotton pulp." - -"There is a fortune in that!" exclaimed Petit-Claud. He knew now what -the tall Cointet meant. - -"A large fortune, my friend, for in ten years' time the demand for -paper will be ten times larger than it is to-day. Journalism will be -the craze of our day." - -"Nobody knows your secret?" - -"Nobody except my wife." - -"You have not told any one what you mean to do--the Cointets, for -example?" - -"I did say something about it, but in general terms, I think." - -A sudden spark of generosity flashed through Petit-Claud's rancorous -soul; he tried to reconcile Sechard's interests with the Cointet's -projects and his own. - -"Listen, David, we are old schoolfellows, you and I; I will fight your -case; but understand this clearly--the defence, in the teeth of the -law, will cost you five or six thousand francs! Do not compromise your -prospects. I think you will be compelled to share the profits of your -invention with some one of our paper manufacturers. Let us see now. -You will think twice before you buy or build a paper mill; and there -is the cost of the patent besides. All this means time, and money too. -The servers of writs will be down upon you too soon, perhaps, although -we are going to give them the slip----" - -"I have my secret," said David, with the simplicity of the man of -books. - -"Well and good, your secret will be your plank of safety," said -Petit-Claud; his first loyal intention of avoiding a lawsuit by a -compromise was frustrated. "I do not wish to know it; but mind this -that I tell you. Work in the bowels of the earth if you can, so that -no one may watch you and gain a hint from your ways of working, or -your plank will be stolen from under your feet. An inventor and a -simpleton often live in the same skin. Your mind runs so much on your -secrets that you cannot think of everything. People will begin to have -their suspicions at last, and the place is full of paper manufacturers. -So many manufacturers, so many enemies for you! You are like a beaver -with the hunters about you; do not give them your skin----" - -"Thank you, dear fellow, I have told myself all this," exclaimed -Sechard, "but I am obliged to you for showing so much concern for me -and for your forethought. It does not really matter to me myself. An -income of twelve hundred francs would be enough for me, and my father -ought by rights to leave me three times as much some day. Love and -thought make up my life--a divine life. I am working for Lucien's sake -and for my wife's." - -"Come, give me this power of attorney, and think of nothing but your -discovery. If there should be any danger of arrest, I will let you -know in time, for we must think of all possibilities. And let me tell -you again to allow no one of whom you are not so sure as you are of -yourself to come into your place." - -"Cerizet did not care to continue the lease of the plant and premises, -hence our little money difficulties. We have no one at home now but -Marion and Kolb, an Alsacien as trusty as a dog, and my wife and her -mother----" - -"One word," said Petit-Claud, "don't trust that dog----" - -"You do not know him," exclaimed David; "he is like a second self." - -"May I try him?" - -"Yes," said Sechard. - -"There, good-bye, but send Mme. Sechard to me; I must have a power of -attorney from your wife. And bear in mind, my friend, that there is a -fire burning in your affairs," said Petit-Claud, by way of warning of -all the troubles gathering in the law courts to burst upon David's -head. - -"Here am I with one foot in Burgundy and the other in Champagne," he -added to himself as he closed the office door on David. - -Harassed by money difficulties, beset with fears for his wife's -health, stung to the quick by Lucien's disgrace, David had worked on -at his problem. He had been trying to find a single process to replace -the various operations of pounding and maceration to which all flax or -cotton or rags, any vegetable fibre, in fact, must be subjected; and -as he went to Petit-Claud's office, he abstractedly chewed a bit of -nettle stalk that had been steeping in water. On his way home, -tolerably satisfied with his interview, he felt a little pellet -sticking between his teeth. He laid it on his hand, flattened it out, -and saw that the pulp was far superior to any previous result. The -want of cohesion is the great drawback of all vegetable fibre; straw, -for instance, yields a very brittle paper, which may almost be called -metallic and resonant. These chances only befall bold inquirers into -Nature's methods! - -"Now," said he to himself, "I must contrive to do by machinery and -some chemical agency the thing that I myself have done unconsciously." - -When his wife saw him, his face was radiant with belief in victory. -There were traces of tears in Eve's face. - -"Oh! my darling, do not trouble yourself; Petit-Claud will guarantee -that we shall not be molested for several months to come. There will -be a good deal of expense over it; but, as Petit-Claud said when he -came to the door with me, 'A Frenchman has a right to keep his -creditors waiting, provided he repays them capital, interest, and -costs.'--Very well, then, we shall do that----" - -"And live meanwhile?" asked poor Eve, who thought of everything. - -"Ah! that is true," said David, carrying his hand to his ear after the -unaccountable fashion of most perplexed mortals. - -"Mother will look after little Lucien, and I can go back to work -again," said she. - -"Eve! oh, my Eve!" cried David, holding his wife closely to him.--"At -Saintes, not very far from here, in the sixteenth century, there lived -one of the very greatest of Frenchmen, for he was not merely the -inventor of glaze, he was the glorious precursor of Buffon and Cuvier -besides; he was the first geologist, good, simple soul that he was. -Bernard Palissy endured the martyrdom appointed for all seekers into -secrets but his wife and children and all his neighbors were against -him. His wife used to sell his tools; nobody understood him, he -wandered about the countryside, he was hunted down, they jeered at -him. But I--am loved----" - -"Dearly loved!" said Eve, with the quiet serenity of the love that is -sure of itself. - -"And so may well endure all that poor Bernard Palissy suffered ---Bernard Palissy, the discoverer of Ecouen ware, the Huguenot -excepted by Charles IX. on the day of Saint-Bartholomew. He lived to -be rich and honored in his old age, and lectured on the 'Science of -Earths,' as he called it, in the face of Europe." - -"So long as my fingers can hold an iron, you shall want for nothing," -cried the poor wife, in tones that told of the deepest devotion. "When -I was Mme. Prieur's forewoman I had a friend among the girls, Basine -Clerget, a cousin of Postel's, a very good child; well, Basine told me -the other day when she brought back the linen, that she was taking -Mme. Prieur's business; I will work for her." - -"Ah! you shall not work there for long," said David; "I have found -out----" - -Eve, watching his face, saw the sublime belief in success which -sustains the inventor, the belief that gives him courage to go forth -into the virgin forests of the country of Discovery; and, for the -first time in her life, she answered that confident look with a -half-sad smile. David bent his head mournfully. - -"Oh! my dear! I am not laughing! I did not doubt! It was not a sneer!" -cried Eve, on her knees before her husband. "But I see plainly now -that you were right to tell me nothing about your experiments and your -hopes. Ah! yes, dear, an inventor should endure the long painful -travail of a great idea alone, he should not utter a word of it even -to his wife. . . . A woman is a woman still. This Eve of yours could -not help smiling when she heard you say, 'I have found out,' for the -seventeenth time this month." - -David burst out laughing so heartily at his own expense that Eve -caught his hand in hers and kissed it reverently. It was a delicious -moment for them both, one of those roses of love and tenderness that -grow beside the desert paths of the bitterest poverty, nay, at times -in yet darker depths. - -As the storm of misfortune grew, Eve's courage redoubled; the -greatness of her husband's nature, his inventor's simplicity, the -tears that now and again she saw in the eyes of this dreamer of dreams -with the tender heart,--all these things aroused in her an unsuspected -energy of resistance. Once again she tried the plan that had succeeded -so well already. She wrote to M. Metivier, reminding him that the -printing office was for sale, offered to pay him out of the proceeds, -and begged him not to ruin David with needless costs. Metivier -received the heroic letter, and shammed dead. His head-clerk replied -that in the absence of M. Metivier he could not take it upon himself -to stay proceedings, for his employer had made it a rule to let the -law take its course. Eve wrote again, offering this time to renew the -bills and pay all the costs hitherto incurred. To this the clerk -consented, provided that Sechard senior guaranteed payment. So Eve -walked over to Marsac, taking Kolb and her mother with her. She braved -the old vinedresser, and so charming was she, that the old man's face -relaxed, and the puckers smoothed out at the sight of her; but when, -with inward quakings, she came to speak of a guarantee, she beheld a -sudden and complete change of the tippleographic countenance. - -"If I allowed my son to put his hand to the lips of my cash box -whenever he had a mind, he would plunge it deep into the vitals, he -would take all I have!" cried old Sechard. "That is the way with -children; they eat up their parents' purse. What did I do myself, eh? -_I_ never cost my parents a farthing. Your printing office is standing -idle. The rats and the mice do all the printing that is done in -it. . . . You have a pretty face; I am very fond of you; you are a -careful, hard-working woman; but that son of mine!--Do you know what -David is? I'll tell you--he is a scholar that will never do a stroke -of work! If I had reared him, as I was reared myself, without knowing -his letters, and if I had made a 'bear' of him, like his father before -him, he would have money saved and put out to interest by now. . . . -Oh! he is my cross, that fellow is, look you! And, unluckily, he is -all the family I have, for there is never like to be a later edition. -And when he makes you unhappy----" - -Eve protested with a vehement gesture of denial. - -"Yes, he does," affirmed old Sechard; "you had to find a wet-nurse for -the child. Come, come, I know all about it, you are in the county -court, and the whole town is talking about you. I was only a 'bear,' -_I_ have no book learning, _I_ was not foreman at the Didots', the -first printers in the world; but yet I never set eyes on a bit of -stamped paper. Do you know what I say to myself as I go to and fro -among my vines, looking after them and getting in my vintage, and -doing my bits of business?--I say to myself, 'You are taking a lot of -trouble, poor old chap; working to pile one silver crown on another, -you will leave a fine property behind you, and the bailiffs and the -lawyers will get it all; . . . or else it will go in nonsensical -notions and crotchets.'--Look you here, child; you are the mother of -yonder little lad; it seemed to me as I held him at the font with Mme. -Chardon that I could see his old grandfather's copper nose on his -face; very well, think less of Sechard and more of that little rascal. -I can trust no one but you; you will prevent him from squandering my -property--my poor property." - -"But, dear papa Sechard, your son will be a credit to you, you will -see; he will make money and be a rich man one of these days, and wear -the Cross of the Legion of Honor at his buttonhole." - -"What is he going to do to get it?" - -"You will see. But, meanwhile, would a thousand crowns ruin you? A -thousand crowns would put an end to the proceedings. Well, if you -cannot trust him, lend the money to me; I will pay it back; you could -make it a charge on my portion, on my earnings----" - -"Then has some one brought David into a court of law?" cried the -vinedresser, amazed to find that the gossip was really true. "See what -comes of knowing how to write your name! And how about my rent! Oh! -little girl, I must go to Angouleme at once and ask Cachan's advice, -and see that I am straight. You did right well to come over. -Forewarned is forearmed." - -After two hours of argument Eve was fain to go, defeated by the -unanswerable _dictum_, "Women never understand business." She had come -with a faint hope, she went back again almost heartbroken, and reached -home just in time to receive notice of judgment; Sechard must pay -Metivier in full. The appearance of a bailiff at a house door is an -event in a country town, and Doublon had come far too often of late. -The whole neighborhood was talking about the Sechards. Eve dared not -leave her house; she dreaded to hear the whispers as she passed. - -"Oh! my brother, my brother!" cried poor Eve, as she hurried into the -passage and up the stairs, "I can never forgive you, unless it -was----" - -"Alas! it was that, or suicide," said David, who had followed her. - -"Let us say no more about it," she said quietly. "The woman who -dragged him down into the depths of Paris has much to answer for; and -your father, my David, is quite inexorable! Let us bear it in -silence." - -A discreet rapping at the door cut short some word of love on David's -lips. Marion appeared, towing the big, burly Kolb after her across the -outer room. - -"Madame," said Marion, "we have known, Kolb and I, that you and the -master were very much put about; and as we have eleven hundred francs -of savings between us, we thought we could not do better than put them -in the mistress' hands----" - -"Die misdress," echoed Kolb fervently. - -"Kolb," cried David, "you and I will never part. Pay a thousand francs -on account to Maitre Cachan, and take a receipt for it; we will keep -the rest. And, Kolb, no power on earth must extract a word from you as -to my work, or my absences from home, or the things you may see me -bring back; and if I send you to look for plants for me, you know, no -human being must set eyes on you. They will try to corrupt you, my -good Kolb; they will offer you thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of -francs, to tell----" - -"Dey may offer me millions," cried Kolb, "but not ein vort from me -shall dey traw. Haf I not peen in der army, and know my orders?" - -"Well, you are warned. March, and ask M. Petit-Claud to go with you as -witness." - -"Yes," said the Alsacien. "Some tay I hope to be rich enough to dust -der chacket of dat man of law. I don't like his gountenance." - -"Kolb is a good man, madame," said Big Marion; "he is as strong as a -Turk, and as meek as a lamb. Just the one that would make a woman -happy. It was his notion, too, to invest our savings this way ---'safings,' as he calls them. Poor man, if he doesn't speak right, he -thinks right, and I understand him all the same. He has a notion of -working for somebody else, so as to save us his keep----" - -"Surely we shall be rich, if it is only to repay these good folk," -said David, looking at his wife. - -Eve thought it quite simple; it was no surprise to her to find other -natures on a level with her own. The dullest--nay, the most -indifferent--observer could have seen all the beauty of her nature in -her way of receiving this service. - -"You will be rich some day, dear master," said Marion; "your bread is -ready baked. Your father has just bought another farm, he is putting -by money for you; that he is." - -And under the circumstances, did not Marion show an exquisite delicacy -of feeling by belittling, as it were, her kindness in this way? - -French procedure, like all things human, has its defects; -nevertheless, the sword of justice, being a two-edged weapon, is -excellently adapted alike for attack or defence. Procedure, moreover, -has its amusing side; for when opposed, lawyers arrive at an -understanding, as they well may do, without exchanging a word; through -their manner of conducting their case, a suit becomes a kind of war -waged on the lines laid down by the first Marshal Biron, who, at the -siege of Rouen, it may be remembered, received his son's project for -taking the city in two days with the remark, "You must be in a great -hurry to go and plant cabbages!" Let two commanders-in-chief spare -their troops as much as possible, let them imitate the Austrian -generals who give the men time to eat their soup though they fail to -effect a juncture, and escape reprimand from the Aulic Council; let -them avoid all decisive measures, and they shall carry on a war for -ever. Maitre Cachan, Petit-Claud, and Doublon, did better than the -Austrian generals; they took for their example Quintus Fabius -Cunctator--the Austrian of antiquity. - -Petit-Claud, malignant as a mule, was not long in finding out all the -advantages of his position. No sooner had Boniface Cointet guaranteed -his costs than he vowed to lead Cachan a dance, and to dazzle the -paper manufacturer with a brilliant display of genius in the creation -of items to be charged to Metivier. Unluckily for the fame of the -young forensic Figaro, the writer of this history is obliged to pass -over the scene of his exploits in as great a hurry as if he trod on -burning coals; but a single bill of costs, in the shape of the -specimen sent from Paris, will no doubt suffice for the student of -contemporary manners. Let us follow the example set us by the -Bulletins of the Grande Armee, and give a summary of Petit-Claud's -valiant feats and exploits in the province of pure law; they will be -the better appreciated for concise treatment. - -David Sechard was summoned before the Tribunal of Commerce at -Angouleme for the 3rd of July, made default, and notice of judgment -was served on the 8th. On the 10th, Doublon obtained an execution -warrant, and attempted to put in an execution on the 12th. On this -Petit-Claud applied for an interpleader summons, and served notice on -Metivier for that day fortnight. Metivier made application for a -hearing without delay, and on the 19th, Sechard's application was -dismissed. Hard upon this followed notice of judgment, authorizing the -issue of an execution warrant on the 22nd, a warrant of arrest on the -23rd, and bailiff's inventory previous to the execution on the 24th. -Metivier, Doublon, Cachan & Company were proceeding at this furious -pace, when Petit-Claud suddenly pulled them up, and stayed execution -by lodging notice of appeal on the Court-Royal. Notice of appeal, duly -reiterated on the 25th of July, drew Metivier off to Poitiers. - -"Come!" said Petit-Claud to himself, "there we are likely to stop for -some time to come." - -No sooner was the storm passed over to Poitiers, and an attorney -practising in the Court-Royal instructed to defend the case, than -Petit-Claud, a champion facing both ways, made application in Mme. -Sechard's name for the immediate separation of her estate from her -husband's; using "all diligence" (in legal language) to such purpose, -that he obtained an order from the court on the 28th, and inserted -notice at once in the _Charente Courier_. Now David the lover had -settled ten thousand francs upon his wife in the marriage contract, -making over to her as security the fixtures of the printing office and -the household furniture; and Petit-Claud therefore constituted Mme. -Sechard her husband's creditor for that small amount, drawing up a -statement of her claims on the estate in the presence of a notary on -the 1st of August. - -While Petit-Claud was busy securing the household property of his -clients, he gained the day at Poitiers on the point of law on which -the demurrer and appeals were based. He held that, as the court of the -Seine had ordered the plaintiff to pay costs of proceedings in the -Paris commercial court, David was so much the less liable for expenses -of litigation incurred upon Lucien's account. The Court-Royal took -this view of the case, and judgment was entered accordingly. David -Sechard was ordered to pay the amount in dispute in the Angouleme -Court, less the law expenses incurred in Paris; these Metivier must -pay, and each side must bear its own costs in the appeal to the -Court-Royal. - -David Sechard was duly notified of the result on the 17th of August. -On the 18th the judgment took the practical shape of an order to pay -capital, interest, and costs, followed up by notice of an execution -for the morrow. Upon this Petit-Claud intervened and put in a claim -for the furniture as the wife's property duly separated from her -husband's; and what was more, Petit-Claud produced Sechard senior upon -the scene of action. The old vinegrower had become his client on this -wise. He came to Angouleme on the day after Eve's visit, and went to -Maitre Cachan for advice. His son owed him arrears of rent; how could -he come by this rent in the scrimmage in which his son was engaged? - -"I am engaged by the other side," pronounced Cachan, "and I cannot -appear for the father when I am suing the son; but go to Petit-Claud, -he is very clever, he may perhaps do even better for you than I should -do." - -Cachan and Petit-Claud met at the Court. - -"I have sent you Sechard senior," said Cachan; "take the case for me -in exchange." Lawyers do each other services of this kind in country -towns as well as in Paris. - -The day after Sechard senior gave Petit-Claud his confidence, the tall -Cointet paid a visit to his confederate. - -"Try to give old Sechard a lesson," he said. "He is the kind of man -that will never forgive his son for costing him a thousand francs or -so; the outlay will dry up any generous thoughts in his mind, if he -ever has any." - -"Go back to your vines," said Petit-Claud to his new client. "Your son -is not very well off; do not eat him out of house and home. I will -send for you when the time comes." - -On behalf of Sechard senior, therefore, Petit-Claud claimed that the -presses, being fixtures, were so much the more to be regarded as tools -and implements of trade, and the less liable to seizure, in that the -house had been a printing office since the reign of Louis XIV. Cachan, -on Metivier's account, waxed indignant at this. In Paris Lucien's -furniture had belonged to Coralie, and here again in Angouleme David's -goods and chattels all belonged to his wife or his father; pretty -things were said in court. Father and son were summoned; such claims -could not be allowed to stand. - -"We mean to unmask the frauds intrenched behind bad faith of the most -formidable kind; here is the defence of dishonesty bristling with the -plainest and most innocent articles of the Code, and why?--to avoid -repayment of three thousand francs; obtained how?--from poor -Metivier's cash box! And yet there are those who dare to say a word -against bill-discounters! What times we live in! . . . Now, I put it -to you--what is this but taking your neighbor's money? . . . You will -surely not sanction a claim which would bring immorality to the very -core of justice!" - -Cachan's eloquence produced an effect on the court. A divided judgment -was given in favor of Mme. Sechard, the house furniture being held to -be her property; and against Sechard senior, who was ordered to pay -costs--four hundred and thirty-four francs, sixty-five centimes. - -"It is kind of old Sechard," laughed the lawyers; "he would have a -finger in the pie, so let him pay!" - -Notice of judgment was given on the 26th of August; the presses and -plant could be seized on the 28th. Placards were posted. Application -was made for an order empowering them to sell on the spot. -Announcements of the sale appeared in the papers, and Doublon -flattered himself that the inventory should be verified and the -auction take place on the 2nd of September. - -By this time David Sechard owed Metivier five thousand two hundred and -seventy-five francs, twenty-five centimes (to say nothing of -interest), by formal judgment confirmed by appeal, the bill of costs -having been duly taxed. Likewise to Petit-Claud he owed twelve hundred -francs, exclusive of the fees, which were left to David's generosity -with the generous confidence displayed by the hackney coachman who has -driven you so quickly over the road on which you desire to go. - -Mme. Sechard owed Petit-Claud something like three hundred and fifty -francs and fees besides; and of old Sechard, besides four hundred and -thirty-four francs, sixty-five centimes, the little attorney demanded -a hundred crowns by way of fee. Altogether, the Sechard family owed -about ten thousand francs. This is what is called "putting fire into -the bed straw." - -Apart from the utility of these documents to other nations who thus -may behold the battery of French law in action, the French legislator -ought to know the lengths to which the abuse of procedure may be -carried, always supposing that the said legislator can find time for -reading. Surely some sort of regulation might be devised, some way of -forbidding lawyers to carry on a case until the sum in dispute is more -than eaten up in costs? Is there not something ludicrous in the idea -of submitting a square yard of soil and an estate of thousands of -acres to the same legal formalities? These bare outlines of the -history of the various stages of procedure should open the eyes of -Frenchmen to the meaning of the words "legal formalities, justice, and -costs," little as the immense majority of the nations know about them. - -Five thousand pounds' weight of type in the printing office were worth -two thousand francs as old metal; the three presses were valued at six -hundred francs; the rest of the plant would fetch the price of old -iron and firewood. The household furniture would have brought in a -thousand francs at most. The whole personal property of Sechard junior -therefore represented the sum of four thousand francs; and Cachan and -Petit-Claud made claims for seven thousand francs in costs already -incurred, to say nothing of expenses to come, for the blossom gave -promise of fine fruits enough, as the reader will shortly see. Surely -the lawyers of France and Navarre, nay, even of Normandy herself, will -not refuse Petit-Claud his meed of admiration and respect? Surely, -too, kind hearts will give Marion and Kolb a tear of sympathy? - -All through the war Kolb sat on a chair in the doorway, acting as -watch-dog, when David had nothing else for him to do. It was Kolb who -received all the notifications, and a clerk of Petit-Claud's kept -watch over Kolb. No sooner were the placards announcing the auction -put up on the premises than Kolb tore them down; he hurried round the -town after the bill-poster, tearing the placards from the walls. - -"Ah, scountrels!" he cried, "to dorment so goot a man; and they calls -it chustice!" - -Marion made half a franc a day by working half time in a paper mill as -a machine tender, and her wages contributed to the support of the -household. Mme. Chardon went back uncomplainingly to her old -occupation, sitting up night after night, and bringing home her wages -at the end of the week. Poor Mme. Chardon! Twice already she had made -a nine days' prayer for those she loved, wondering that God should be -deaf to her petitions, and blind to the light of the candles on His -altar. - -On the 2nd of September, a letter came from Lucien, the first since -the letter of the winter, which David had kept from his wife's -knowledge--the announcement of the three bills which bore David's -signature. This time Lucien wrote to Eve. - -"The third since he left us!" she said. Poor sister, she was afraid to -open the envelope that covered the fatal sheet. - -She was feeding the little one when the post came in; they could not -afford a wet-nurse now, and the child was being brought up by hand. -Her state of mind may be imagined, and David's also, when he had been -roused to read the letter, for David had been at work all night, and -only lay down at daybreak. - - - _Lucien to Eve._ - - "PARIS, August 29th. - - "MY DEAR SISTER,--Two days ago, at five o'clock in the morning, - one of God's noblest creatures breathed her last in my arms; she - was the one woman on earth capable of loving me as you and mother - and David love me, giving me besides that unselfish affection, - something that neither mother nor sister can give--the utmost - bliss of love. Poor Coralie, after giving up everything for my - sake, may perhaps have died for me--for me, who at this moment - have not the wherewithal to bury her. She could have solaced my - life; you, and you alone, my dear good angels, can console me for - her death. God has forgiven her, I think, the innocent girl, for - she died like a Christian. Oh, this Paris! Eve, Paris is the glory - and the shame of France. Many illusions I have lost here already, - and I have others yet to lose, when I begin to beg for the little - money needed before I can lay the body of my angel in consecrated - earth. - "Your unhappy brother, - "Lucien." - - "P. S. I must have given you much trouble by my heedlessness; some - day you will know all, and you will forgive me. You must be quite - easy now; a worthy merchant, a M. Camusot, to whom I once caused - cruel pangs, promised to arrange everything, seeing that Coralie - and I were so much distressed." - - -"The sheet is still moist with his tears," said Eve, looking at the -letter with a heart so full of sympathy that something of the old love -for Lucien shone in her eyes. - -"Poor fellow, he must have suffered cruelly if he has been loved as he -says!" exclaimed Eve's husband, happy in his love; and these two -forgot all their own troubles at this cry of a supreme sorrow. Just at -that moment Marion rushed in. - -"Madame," she panted, "here they are! Here they are!" - -"Who is here?" - -"Doublon and his men, bad luck to them! Kolb will not let them come -in; they have come to sell us up." - -"No, no, they are not going to sell you up, never fear," cried a voice -in the next room, and Petit-Claud appeared upon the scene. "I have -just lodged notice of appeal. We ought not to sit down under a -judgment that attaches a stigma of bad faith to us. I did not think it -worth while to fight the case here. I let Cachan talk to gain time for -you; I am sure of gaining the day at Poitiers----" - -"But how much will it cost to win the day?" asked Mme. Sechard. - -"Fees if you win, one thousand francs if we lose our case." - -"Oh, dear!" cried poor Eve; "why, the remedy is worse than the -disease!" - -Petit-Claud was not a little confused at this cry of innocence -enlightened by the progress of the flames of litigation. It struck him -too that Eve was a very beautiful woman. In the middle of the -discussion old Sechard arrived, summoned by Petit-Claud. The old man's -presence in the chamber where his little grandson in the cradle lay -smiling at misfortune completed the scene. The young attorney at once -addressed the newcomer with: - -"You owe me seven hundred francs for the interpleader, Papa Sechard; -but you can charge the amount to your son in addition to the arrears -of rent." - -The vinedresser felt the sting of the sarcasm conveyed by -Petit-Claud's tone and manner. - -"It would have cost you less to give security for the debt at first," -said Eve, leaving the cradle to greet her father-in-law with a kiss. - -David, quite overcome by the sight of the crowd outside the house (for -Kolb's resistance to Doublon's men had collected a knot of people), -could only hold out a hand to his father; he did not say a word. - -"And how, pray, do I come to owe you seven hundred francs?" the old -man asked, looking at Petit-Claud. - -"Why, in the first place, I am engaged by you. Your rent is in -question; so, as far as I am concerned, you and our debtor are one and -the same person. If your son does not pay my costs in the case, you -must pay them yourself.--But this is nothing. In a few hours David -will be put in prison; will you allow him to go?" - -"What does he owe?" - -"Something like five or six thousand francs, besides the amounts owing -to you and to his wife." - -The speech roused all the old man's suspicions at once. He looked -round the little blue-and-white bedroom at the touching scene before -his eyes--at a beautiful woman weeping over a cradle, at David bowed -down by anxieties, and then again at the lawyer. This was a trap set -for him by that lawyer; perhaps they wanted to work upon his paternal -feelings, to get money out of him? That was what it all meant. He took -alarm. He went over to the cradle and fondled the child, who held out -both little arms to him. No heir to an English peerage could be more -tenderly cared for than this little one in that house of trouble; his -little embroidered cap was lined with pale pink. - -"Eh! let David get out of it as best he may. I am thinking of this -child here," cried the old grandfather, "and the child's mother will -approve of that. David that knows so much must know how to pay his -debts." - -"Now I will just put your meaning into plain language," said -Petit-Claud ironically. "Look here, Papa Sechard, you are jealous of -your son. Hear the truth! you put David into his present position by -selling the business to him for three times its value. You ruined him -to make an extortionate bargain! Yes, don't you shake your head; you -sold the newspaper to the Cointets and pocketed all the proceeds, and -that was as much as the whole business was worth. You bear David a -grudge, not merely because you have plundered him, but because, also, -your own son is a man far above yourself. You profess to be -prodigiously fond of your grandson, to cloak your want of feeling for -your son and his wife, because you ought to pay down money _hic et nunc_ -for them, while you need only show a posthumous affection for your -grandson. You pretend to be fond of the little fellow, lest you should -be taxed with want of feeling for your own flesh and blood. That is -the bottom of it, Papa Sechard." - -"Did you fetch me over to hear this?" asked the old man, glowering at -his lawyer, his daughter-in-law, and his son in turn. - -"Monsieur!" protested poor Eve, turning to Petit-Claud, "have you -vowed to ruin us? My husband had never uttered a word against his -father." (Here the old man looked cunningly at her.) "David has told -me scores of times that you loved him in your way," she added, looking -at her father-in-law, and understanding his suspicions. - -Petit-Claud was only following out the tall Cointet's instructions. He -was widening the breach between the father and son, lest Sechard -senior should extricate David from his intolerable position. "The day -that David Sechard goes to prison shall be the day of your -introduction to Mme. de Senonches," the "tall Cointet" had said no -longer ago than yesterday. - -Mme. Sechard, with the quick insight of love, had divined -Petit-Claud's mercenary hostility, even as she had once before felt -instinctively that Cerizet was a traitor. As for David, his -astonishment may be imagined; he could not understand how Petit-Claud -came to know so much of his father's nature and his own history. -Upright and honorable as he was, he did not dream of the relations -between his lawyer and the Cointets; nor, for that matter, did he know -that the Cointets were at work behind Metivier. Meanwhile old Sechard -took his son's silence as an insult, and Petit-Claud, taking advantage -of his client's bewilderment, beat a retreat. - -"Good-bye, my dear David; you have had warning, notice of appeal -doesn't invalidate the warrant for arrest. It is the only course left -open to your creditors, and it will not be long before they take it. -So, go away at once----Or, rather, if you will take my advice, go to -the Cointets and see them about it. They have capital. If your -invention is perfected and answers the purpose, go into partnership -with them. After all, they are very good fellows----" - -"Your invention?" broke in old Sechard. - -"Why, do you suppose that your son is fool enough to let his business -slip away from him without thinking of something else?" exclaimed the -attorney. "He is on the brink of the discovery of a way of making -paper at a cost of three francs per ream, instead of ten, he tells -me." - -"One more dodge for taking me in! You are all as thick as thieves in a -fair. If David has found out such a plan, he has no need of me--he is -a millionaire! Good-bye, my dears, and a good-day to you all," and the -old man disappeared down the staircase. - -"Find some way of hiding yourself," was Petit-Claud's parting word to -David, and with that he hurried out to exasperate old Sechard still -further. He found the vinegrower growling to himself outside in the -Place du Murier, went with him as far as L'Houmeau, and there left him -with a threat of putting in an execution for the costs due to him -unless they were paid before the week was out. - -"I will pay you if you will show me how to disinherit my son without -injuring my daughter-in-law or the boy," said old Sechard, and they -parted forthwith. - -"How well the 'tall Cointet' knows the folk he is dealing with! It is -just as he said; those seven hundred francs will prevent the father -from paying seven thousand," the little lawyer thought within himself -as he climbed the path to Angouleme. "Still, that old slyboots of a -paper-maker must not overreach us; it is time to ask him for something -besides promises." - - - -"Well, David dear, what do you mean to do?" asked Eve, when the lawyer -had followed her father-in-law. - -"Marion, put your biggest pot on the fire!" called David; "I have my -secret fast." - -At this Eve put on her bonnet and shawl and walking shoes with -feverish haste. - -"Kolb, my friend, get ready to go out," she said, "and come with me; -if there is any way out of this hell, I must find it." - -When Eve had gone out, Marion spoke to David. "Do be sensible, sir," -she said, "or the mistress will fret herself to death. Make some money -to pay off your debts, and then you can try to find treasure at your -ease----" - -"Don't talk, Marion," said David; "I am going to overcome my last -difficulty, and then I can apply for the patent and the improvement on -the patent at the same time." - -This "improvement on the patent" is the curse of the French patentee. -A man may spend ten years of his life in working out some obscure -industrial problem; and when he has invented some piece of machinery, -or made a discovery of some kind, he takes out a patent and imagines -that he has a right to his own invention; then there comes a -competitor; and unless the first inventor has foreseen all possible -contingencies, the second comer makes an "improvement on the patent" -with a screw or a nut, and takes the whole thing out of his hands. The -discovery of a cheap material for paper pulp, therefore, is by no -means the conclusion of the whole matter. David Sechard was anxiously -looking ahead on all sides lest the fortune sought in the teeth of -such difficulties should be snatched out of his hands at the last. -Dutch paper as flax paper is still called, though it is no longer made -in Holland, is slightly sized; but every sheet is sized separately by -hand, and this increases the cost of production. If it were possible -to discover some way of sizing the paper in the pulping-trough, with -some inexpensive glue, like that in use to-day (though even now it is -not quite perfect), there would be no "improvement on the patent" to -fear. For the past month, accordingly, David had been making -experiments in sizing pulp. He had two discoveries before him. - -Eve went to see her mother. Fortunately, it so happened that Mme. -Chardon was nursing the deputy-magistrate's wife, who had just given -the Milauds of Nevers an heir presumptive; and Eve, in her distrust of -all attorneys and notaries, took into her head to apply for advice to -the legal guardian of widows and orphans. She wanted to know if she -could relieve David from his embarrassments by taking them upon -herself and selling her claims upon the estate, and besides, she had -some hope of discovering the truth as to Petit-Claud's unaccountable -conduct. The official, struck with Mme. Sechard's beauty, received her -not only with the respect due to a woman but with a sort of courtesy -to which Eve was not accustomed. She saw in the magistrate's face an -expression which, since her marriage, she had seen in no eyes but -Kolb's; and for a beautiful woman like Eve, this expression is the -criterion by which men are judged. When passion, or self-interest, or -age dims that spark of unquestioning fealty that gleams in a young -man's eyes, a woman feels a certain mistrust of him, and begins to -observe him critically. The Cointets, Cerizet, and Petit-Claud--all -the men whom Eve felt instinctively to be her enemies--had turned -hard, indifferent eyes on her; with the deputy-magistrate, therefore, -she felt at ease, although, in spite of his kindly courtesy, he swept -all her hopes away by his first words. - -"It is not certain, madame, that the Court-Royal will reverse the -judgment of the court restricting your lien on your husband's -property, for payment of moneys due to you by the terms of your -marriage-contract, to household goods and chattels. Your privilege -ought not to be used to defraud the other creditors. But in any case, -you will be allowed to take your share of the proceeds with the other -creditors, and your father-in-law likewise, as a privileged creditor, -for arrears of rent. When the court has given the order, other points -may be raised as to the 'contribution,' as we call it, when a schedule -of the debts is drawn up, and the creditors are paid a dividend in -proportion to their claims. - -"Then M. Petit-Claud is bringing us to bankruptcy," she cried. - -"Petit-Claud is carrying out your husband's instructions," said the -magistrate; "he is anxious to gain time, so his attorney says. In my -opinion, you would perhaps do better to waive the appeal and buy in at -the sale the indispensable implements for carrying on the business; -you and your father-in-law together might do this, you to the extent -of your claim through your marriage contract, and he for his arrears -of rent. But that would be bringing the matter to an end too soon -perhaps. The lawyers are making a good thing out of your case." - -"But then I should be entirely in M. Sechard's father's hands. I -should owe him the hire of the machinery as well as the house-rent; -and my husband would still be open to further proceedings from M. -Metivier, for M. Metivier would have had almost nothing." - -"That is true, madame." - -"Very well, then we should be even worse off than we are." - -"The arm of the law, madame, is at the creditor's disposal. You have -received three thousand francs, and you must of necessity repay the -money." - -"Oh, sir, can you think that we are capable----" Eve suddenly came to -a stop. She saw that her justification might injure her brother. - -"Oh! I know quite well that it is an obscure affair, that the debtors -on the one side are honest, scrupulous, and even behaving handsomely; -and the creditor, on the other, is only a cat's-paw----" - -Eve, aghast, looked at him with bewildered eyes. - -"You can understand," he continued, with a look full of homely -shrewdness, "that we on the bench have plenty of time to think over -all that goes on under our eyes, while the gentlemen in court are -arguing with each other." - -Eve went home in despair over her useless effort. That evening at -seven o'clock, Doublon came with the notification of imprisonment for -debt. The proceedings had reached the acute stage. - -"After this, I can only go out after nightfall," said David. - -Eve and Mme. Chardon burst into tears. To be in hiding was for them a -shameful thing. As for Kolb and Marion, they were more alarmed for -David because they had long since made up their minds that there was -no guile in their master's nature; so frightened were they on his -account, that they came upstairs under pretence of asking whether they -could do anything, and found Eve and Mme. Chardon in tears; the three -whose life had been so straightforward hitherto were overcome by the -thought that David must go into hiding. And how, moreover, could they -hope to escape the invisible spies who henceforth would dog every -least movement of a man, unluckily so absent-minded? - -"Gif montame vill vait ein liddle kvarter hour, she can regonnoitre -der enemy's camp," put in Kolb. "You shall see dot I oonderstand mein -pizness; for gif I look like ein German, I am ein drue Vrenchman, and -vat is more, I am ver' conning." - -"Oh! madame, do let him go," begged Marion. "He is only thinking of -saving his master; he hasn't another thought in his head. Kolb is not -an Alsacien, he is--eh! well--a regular Newfoundland dog for rescuing -folk." - -"Go, my good Kolb," said David; "we have still time to do something." - -Kolb hurried off to pay a visit to the bailiff; and it so fell out -that David's enemies were in Doublon's office, holding a council as to -the best way of securing him. - -The arrest of a debtor is an unheard-of thing in the country, an -abnormal proceeding if ever there was one. Everybody, in the first -place, knows everybody else, and creditor and debtor being bound to -meet each other daily all their lives long, nobody likes to take this -odious course. When a defaulter--to use the provincial term for a -debtor, for they do not mince their words in the provinces when -speaking of this legalized method of helping yourself to another man's -goods--when a defaulter plans a failure on a large scale, he takes -sanctuary in Paris. Paris is a kind of City of Refuge for provincial -bankrupts, an almost impenetrable retreat; the writ of the pursuing -bailiff has no force beyond the limits of his jurisdiction, and there -are other obstacles rendering it almost invalid. Wherefore the Paris -bailiff is empowered to enter the house of a third party to seize the -person of the debtor, while for the bailiff of the provinces the -domicile is absolutely inviolable. The law probably makes this -exception as to Paris, because there it is the rule for two or more -families to live under the same roof; but in the provinces the bailiff -who wishes to make forcible entry must have an order from the Justice -of the Peace; and so wide a discretion is allowed the Justice of the -Peace, that he is practically able to give or withhold assistance to -the bailiffs. To the honor of the Justices, it should be said, that -they dislike the office, and are by no means anxious to assist blind -passions or revenge. - -There are, besides, other and no less serious difficulties in the way -of arrest for debt--difficulties which tend to temper the severity of -legislation, and public opinion not infrequently makes a dead letter -of the law. In great cities there are poor or degraded wretches -enough; poverty and vice know no scruples, and consent to play the -spy, but in a little country town, people know each other too well to -earn wages of the bailiff; the meanest creature who should lend -himself to dirty work of this kind would be forced to leave the place. -In the absence of recognized machinery, therefore, the arrest of a -debtor is a problem presenting no small difficulty; it becomes a kind -of strife of ingenuity between the bailiff and the debtor, and matter -for many pleasant stories in the newspapers. - -Cointet the elder did not choose to appear in the affair; but the fat -Cointet openly said that he was acting for Metivier, and went to -Doublon, taking Cerizet with him. Cerizet was his foreman now, and had -promised his co-operation in return for a thousand-franc note. Doublon -could reckon upon two of his understrappers, and thus the Cointets had -four bloodhounds already on the victim's track. At the actual time of -arrest, Doublon could furthermore count upon the police force, who are -bound, if required, to assist a bailiff in the performance of his -duty. The two men, Doublon himself, and the visitors were all closeted -together in the private office, beyond the public office, on the -ground floor. - -A tolerably wide-paved lobby, a kind of passage-way, led to the public -office. The gilded scutcheons of the court, with the word "Bailiff" -printed thereon in large black letters, hung outside on the house wall -on either side the door. Both office windows gave upon the street, and -were protected by heavy iron bars; but the private office looked into -the garden at the back, wherein Doublon, an adorer of Pomona, grew -espaliers with marked success. Opposite the office door you beheld the -door of the kitchen, and, beyond the kitchen, the staircase that -ascended to the first story. The house was situated in a narrow street -at the back of the new Law Courts, then in process of construction, -and only finished after 1830.--These details are necessary if Kolb's -adventures are to be intelligible to the reader. - -It was Kolb's idea to go to the bailiff, to pretend to be willing to -betray his master, and in this way to discover the traps which would -be laid for David. Kolb told the servant who opened the door that he -wanted to speak to M. Doublon on business. The servant was busy -washing up her plates and dishes, and not very well pleased at Kolb's -interruption; she pushed open the door of the outer office, and bade -him wait there till her master was at liberty; then, as he was a -stranger to her, she told the master in the private office that "a -man" wanted to speak to him. Now, "a man" so invariably means "a -peasant," that Doublon said, "Tell him to wait," and Kolb took a seat -close to the door of the private office. There were voices talking -within. - -"Ah, by the by, how do you mean to set about it? For, if we can catch -him to-morrow, it will be so much time saved." It was the fat Cointet -who spoke. - -"Nothing easier; the gaffer has come fairly by his nickname," said -Cerizet. - -At the sound of the fat Cointet's voice, Kolb guessed at once that -they were talking about his master, especially as the sense of the -words began to dawn upon him; but, when he recognized Cerizet's tones, -his astonishment grew more and more. - -"Und dat fellow haf eaten his pread!" he thought, horror-stricken. - -"We must do it in this way, boys," said Doublon. "We will post our -men, at good long intervals, about the Rue de Beaulieu and the Place -du Murier in every direction, so that we can follow the gaffer (I like -that word) without his knowledge. We will not lose sight of him until -he is safe inside the house where he means to lie in hiding (as he -thinks); there we will leave him in peace for awhile; then some fine -day we will come across him before sunrise or sunset." - -"But what is he doing now, at this moment? He may be slipping through -our fingers," said the fat Cointet. - -"He is in his house," answered Doublon; "if he left it, I should know. -I have one witness posted in the Place du Murier, another at the -corner of the Law Courts, and another thirty paces from the house. If -our man came out, they would whistle; he could not make three paces -from his door but I should know of it at once from the signal." - -(Bailiffs speak of their understrappers by the polite title of -"witnesses.") - -Here was better hap than Kolb had expected! He went noiselessly out of -the office, and spoke to the maid in the kitchen. - -"Meestair Touplon ees encaged for som time to kom," he said; "I vill -kom back early to-morrow morning." - -A sudden idea had struck the Alsacien, and he proceeded to put it into -execution. Kolb had served in a cavalry regiment; he hurried off to -see a livery stable-keeper, an acquaintance of his, picked out a -horse, had it saddled, and rushed back to the Place du Murier. He -found Madame Eve in the lowest depths of despondency. - -"What is it, Kolb?" asked David, when the Alsacien's face looked in -upon them, scared but radiant. - -"You have scountrels all arount you. De safest way ees to hide de -master. Haf montame thought of hiding the master anywheres?" - -When Kolb, honest fellow, had explained the whole history of Cerizet's -treachery, of the circle traced about the house, and of the fat -Cointet's interest in the affair, and given the family some inkling of -the schemes set on foot by the Cointets against the master,--then -David's real position gradually became fatally clear. - -"It is the Cointet's doing!" cried poor Eve, aghast at the news; -"_they_ are proceeding against you! that accounts for Metivier's -hardness. . . . They are paper-makers--David! they want your secret!" - -"But what can we do to escape them?" exclaimed Mme. Chardon. - -"If de misdress had some liddle blace vere the master could pe -hidden," said Kolb; "I bromise to take him dere so dot nopody shall -know." - -"Wait till nightfall, and go to Basine Clerget," said Eve. "I will go -now and arrange it all with her. In this case, Basine will be like -another self to me." - -"Spies will follow you," David said at last, recovering some presence -of mind. "How can we find a way of communicating with Basine if none -of us can go to her?" - -"Montame kan go," said Kolb. "Here ees my scheme--I go out mit der -master, ve draws der vischtlers on our drack. Montame kan go to -Montemoiselle Clerchet; nopody vill vollow her. I haf a horse; I take -de master oop behint; und der teufel is in it if they katches us." - -"Very well; good-bye, dear," said poor Eve, springing to her husband's -arms; "none of us can go to see you, the risk is too great. We must -say good-bye for the whole time that your imprisonment lasts. We will -write to each other; Basine will post your letters, and I will write -under cover to her." - -No sooner did David and Kolb come out of the house than they heard a -sharp whistle, and were followed to the livery stable. Once there, -Kolb took his master up behind him, with a caution to keep tight hold. - -"Veestle avay, mind goot vriends! I care not von rap," cried Kolb. -"You vill not datch an old trooper," and the old cavalry man clapped -both spurs to his horse, and was out into the country and the darkness -not merely before the spies could follow, but before they had time to -discover the direction that he took. - -Eve meanwhile went out on the tolerably ingenious pretext of asking -advise of Postel, sat awhile enduring the insulting pity that spends -itself in words, left the Postel family, and stole away unseen to -Basine Clerget, told her troubles, and asked for help and shelter. -Basine, for greater safety, had brought Eve into her bedroom, and now -she opened the door of a little closet, lighted only by a skylight in -such a way that prying eyes could not see into it. The two friends -unstopped the flue which opened into the chimney of the stove in the -workroom, where the girls heated their irons. Eve and Basine spread -ragged coverlets over the brick floor to deaden any sound that David -might make, put in a truckle bed, a stove for his experiments, and a -table and a chair. Basine promised to bring food in the night; and as -no one had occasion to enter her room, David might defy his enemies -one and all, or even detectives. - -"At last!" Eve said, with her arms about her friend, "at last he is in -safety." - -Eve went back to Postel to submit a fresh doubt that had occurred to -her, she said. She would like the opinion of such an experienced -member of the Chamber of Commerce; she so managed that he escorted her -home, and listened patiently to his commiseration. - -"Would this have happened if you had married me?"--all the little -druggist's remarks were pitched in this key. - -Then he went home again to find Mme. Postel jealous of Mme. Sechard, -and furious with her spouse for his polite attention to that beautiful -woman. The apothecary advanced the opinion that little red-haired -women were preferable to tall, dark women, who, like fine horses, were -always in the stable, he said. He gave proofs of his sincerity, no -doubt, for Mme. Postel was very sweet to him next day. - -"We may be easy," Eve said to her mother and Marion, whom she found -still "in a taking," in the latter's phrase. - -"Oh! they are gone," said Marion, when Eve looked unthinkingly round -the room. - - - -One league out of Angouleme on the main road to Paris, Kolb stopped. - -"Vere shall we go?" - -"To Marsac," said David; "since we are on the way already, I will try -once more to soften my father's heart." - -"I would rader mount to der assault of a pattery," said Kolb, "your -resbected fader haf no heart whatefer." - -The ex-pressman had no belief in his son; he judged him from the -outside point of view, and waited for results. He had no idea, to -begin with, that he had plundered David, nor did he make allowance for -the very different circumstances under which they had begun life; he -said to himself, "I set him up with a printing-house, just as I found -it myself; and he, knowing a thousand times more than I did, cannot -keep it going." He was mentally incapable of understanding his son; he -laid the blame of failure upon him, and even prided himself, as it -were on his superiority to a far greater intellect than his own, with -the thought, "I am securing his bread for him." - -Moralists will never succeed in making us comprehend the full extent -of the influence of sentiment upon self-interest, an influence every -whit as strong as the action of interest upon our sentiments; for -every law of our nature works in two ways, and acts and reacts upon -us. - -David, on his side, understood his father, and in his sublime charity -forgave him. Kolb and David reached Marsac at eight o'clock, and -suddenly came in upon the old man as he was finishing his dinner, -which, by force of circumstances, came very near bedtime. - -"I see you because there is no help for it," said old Sechard with a -sour smile. - -"Und how should you and mein master meet? He soars in der shkies, and -you are always mit your vines! You bay for him, that's vot you are a -fader for----" - -"Come, Kolb, off with you. Put up the horse at Mme. Courtois' so as to -save inconvenience here; fathers are always in the right, remember -that." - -Kolb went off, growling like a chidden dog, obedient but protesting; -and David proposed to give his father indisputable proof of his -discovery, while reserving his secret. He offered to give him an -interest in the affair in return for money paid down; a sufficient sum -to release him from his present difficulties, with or without a -further amount of capital to be employed in developing the invention. - -"And how are you going to prove to me that you can make good paper -that costs nothing out of nothing, eh?" asked the ex-printer, giving -his son a glance, vinous, it may be, but keen, inquisitive, and -covetous; a look like a flash of lightning from a sodden cloud; for -the old "bear," faithful to his traditions, never went to bed without -a nightcap, consisting of a couple of bottles of excellent old wine, -which he "tippled down" of an evening, to use his own expression. - -"Nothing simpler," said David; "I have none of the paper about me, for -I came here to be out of Doublon's way; and having come so far, I -thought I might as well come to you at Marsac as borrow of a -money-lender. I have nothing on me but my clothes. Shut me up somewhere -on the premises, so that nobody can come in and see me at work, and----" - -"What? you will not let me see you at your work then?" asked the old -man, with an ugly look at his son. - -"You have given me to understand plainly, father, that in matters of -business there is no question of father and son----" - -"Ah! you distrust the father that gave you life!" - -"No; the other father who took away the means of earning a -livelihood." - -"Each for himself, you are right!" said the old man. "Very good, I -will put you in the cellar." - -"I will go down there with Kolb. You must let me have a large pot for -my pulp," said David; then he continued, without noticing the quick -look his father gave him,--"and you must find artichoke and asparagus -stalks for me, and nettles, and the reeds that you cut by the stream -side, and to-morrow morning I will come out of your cellar with some -splendid paper." - -"If you can do that," hiccoughed the "bear," "I will let you have, -perhaps--I will see, that is, if I can let you have--pshaw! -twenty-five thousand francs. On condition, mind, that you make as -much for me every year." - -"Put me to the proof, I am quite willing," cried David. "Kolb! take -the horse and go to Mansle, quick, buy a large hair sieve for me of a -cooper, and some glue of the grocer, and come back again as soon as -you can." - -"There! drink," said old Sechard, putting down a bottle of wine, a -loaf, and the cold remains of the dinner. "You will need your -strength. I will go and look for your bits of green stuff; green rags -you use for your pulp, and a trifle too green, I am afraid." - -Two hours later, towards eleven o'clock that night, David and Kolb -took up their quarters in a little out-house against the cellar wall; -they found the floor paved with runnel tiles, and all the apparatus -used in Angoumois for the manufacture of Cognac brandy. - -"Pans and firewood! Why, it is as good as a factory made on purpose!" -cried David. - -"Very well, good-night," said old Sechard; "I shall lock you in, and -let both the dogs loose; nobody will bring you any paper, I am sure. -You show me those sheets to-morrow, and I give you my word I will be -your partner and the business will be straightforward and properly -managed." - -David and Kolb, locked into the distillery, spent nearly two hours in -macerating the stems, using a couple of logs for mallets. The fire -blazed up, the water boiled. About two o'clock in the morning, Kolb -heard a sound which David was too busy to notice, a kind of deep -breath like a suppressed hiccough. Snatching up one of the two lighted -dips, he looked round the walls, and beheld old Sechard's empurpled -countenance filling up a square opening above a door hitherto hidden -by a pile of empty casks in the cellar itself. The cunning old man had -brought David and Kolb into his underground distillery by the outer -door, through which the casks were rolled when full. The inner door -had been made so that he could roll his puncheons straight from the -cellar into the distillery, instead of taking them round through the -yard. - -"Aha! thees eies not fair blay, you vant to shvindle your son!" cried -the Alsacien. "Do you kow vot you do ven you trink ein pottle of vine? -You gif goot trink to ein bad scountrel." - -"Oh, father!" cried David. - -"I came to see if you wanted anything," said old Sechard, half sobered -by this time. - -"Und it was for de inderest vot you take in us dot you brought der -liddle ladder!" commented Kolb, as he pushed the casks aside and flung -open the door; and there, in fact, on a short step-ladder, the old man -stood in his shirt. - -"Risking your health!" said David. - -"I think I must be walking in my sleep," said old Sechard, coming down -in confusion. "Your want of confidence in your father set me dreaming; -I dreamed you were making a pact with the Devil to do impossible -things." - -"Der teufel," said Kolb; "dot is your own bassion for de liddle -goldfinches." - -"Go back to bed again, father," said David; "lock us in if you will, -but you may save yourself the trouble of coming down again. Kolb will -mount guard." - -At four o'clock in the morning David came out of the distillery; he -had been careful to leave no sign of his occupation behind him; but he -brought out some thirty sheets of paper that left nothing to be -desired in fineness, whiteness, toughness, and strength, all of them -bearing by way of water-mark the impress of the uneven hairs of the -sieve. The old man took up the samples and put his tongue to them, the -lifelong habit of the pressman, who tests papers in this way. He felt -it between his thumb and finger, crumpled and creased it, put it -through all the trials by which a printer assays the quality of a -sample submitted to him, and when it was found wanting in no respect, -he still would not allow that he was beaten. - -"We have yet to know how it takes an impression," he said, to avoid -praising his son. - -"Funny man!" exclaimed Kolb. - -The old man was cool enough now. He cloaked his feigned hesitation -with paternal dignity. - -"I wish to tell you in fairness, father, that even now it seems to me -that paper costs more than it ought to do; I want to solve the problem -of sizing it in the pulping-trough. I have just that one improvement -to make." - -"Oho! so you are trying to trick me!" - -"Well, shall I tell you? I can size the pulp as it is, but so far I -cannot do it evenly, and the surface is as rough as a burr!" - -"Very good, size your pulp in the trough, and you shall have my -money." - -"Mein master will nefer see de golor of your money," declared Kolb. - -"Father," he began, "I have never borne you any grudge for making over -the business to me at such an exorbitant valuation; I have seen the -father through it all. I have said to myself--'The old man has worked -very hard, and he certainly gave me a better bringing up than I had a -right to expect; let him enjoy the fruits of his toil in peace, and in -his own way.--I even gave up my mother's money to you. I began -encumbered with debt, and bore all the burdens that you put upon me -without a murmur. Well, harassed for debts that were not of my making, -with no bread in the house, and my feet held to the flames, I have -found out the secret. I have struggled on patiently till my strength -is exhausted. It is perhaps your duty to help me, but do not give _me_ -a thought; think of a woman and a little one" (David could not keep -back the tears at this); "think of them, and give them help and -protection.--Kolb and Marion have given me their savings; will you do -less?" he cried at last, seeing that his father was as cold as the -impression-stone. - -"And that was not enough for you," said the old man, without the -slightest sense of shame; "why, you would waste the wealth of the -Indies! Good-night! I am too ignorant to lend a hand in schemes got up -on purpose to exploit me. A monkey will never gobble down a bear" -(alluding to the workshop nicknames); "I am a vinegrower, I am not a -banker. And what is more, look you, business between father and son -never turns out well. Stay and eat your dinner here; you shan't say -that you came for nothing." - -There are some deep-hearted natures that can force their own pain down -into inner depths unsuspected by those dearest to them; and with them, -when anguish forces its way to the surface and is visible, it is only -after a mighty upheaval. David's nature was one of these. Eve had -thoroughly understood the noble character of the man. But now that the -depths had been stirred, David's father took the wave of anguish that -passed over his son's features for a child's trick, an attempt to "get -round" his father, and his bitter grief for mortification over the -failure of the attempt. Father and son parted in anger. - -David and Kolb reached Angouleme on the stroke of midnight. They came -back on foot, and steathily, like burglars. Before one o'clock in the -morning David was installed in the impenetrable hiding-place prepared -by his wife in Basine Clerget's house. No one saw him enter it, and -the pity that henceforth should shelter David was the most resourceful -pity of all--the pity of a work-girl. - -Kolb bragged that day that he had saved his master on horseback, and -only left him in a carrier's van well on the way to Limoges. A -sufficient provision of raw material had been laid up in Basine's -cellar, and Kolb, Marion, Mme. Sechard, and her mother had no -communication with the house. - -Two days after the scene at Marsac, old Sechard came hurrying to -Angouleme and his daughter-in-law. Covetousness had brought him. There -were three clear weeks ahead before the vintage began, and he thought -he would be on the look-out for squalls, to use his own expression. To -this end he took up his quarters in one of the attics which he had -reserved by the terms of the lease, wilfully shutting his eyes to the -bareness and want that made his son's home desolate. If they owed him -rent, they could well afford to keep him. He ate his food from a -tinned iron plate, and made no marvel at it. "I began in the same -way," he told his daughter-in-law, when she apologized for the absence -of silver spoons. - -Marion was obliged to run into debt for necessaries for them all. Kolb -was earning a franc for daily wage as a brick-layer's laborer; and at -last poor Eve, who, for the sake of her husband and child, had -sacrificed her last resources to entertain David's father, saw that -she had only ten francs left. She had hoped to the last to soften the -old miser's heart by her affectionate respect, and patience, and -pretty attentions; but old Sechard was obdurate as ever. When she saw -him turn the same cold eyes on her, the same look that the Cointets -had given her, and Petit-Claud and Cerizet, she tried to watch and -guess old Sechard's intentions. Trouble thrown away! Old Sechard, -never sober, never drunk, was inscrutable; intoxication is a double -veil. If the old man's tipsiness was sometimes real, it was quite -often feigned for the purpose of extracting David's secret from his -wife. Sometimes he coaxed, sometimes he frightened his -daughter-in-law. - -"I will drink up my property; _I will buy an annuity_," he would -threaten when Eve told him that she knew nothing. - -The humiliating struggle was wearing her out; she kept silence at -last, lest she should show disrespect to her husband's father. - -"But, father," she said one day when driven to extremity, "there is a -very simple way of finding out everything. Pay David's debts; he will -come home, and you can settle it between you." - -"Ha! that is what you want to get out of me, is it?" he cried. "It is -as well to know!" - -But if Sechard had no belief in his son, he had plenty of faith in the -Cointets. He went to consult them, and the Cointets dazzled him of set -purpose, telling him that his son's experiments might mean millions of -francs. - -"If David can prove that he has succeeded, I shall not hesitate to go -into partnership with him, and reckon his discovery as half the -capital," the tall Cointet told him. - -The suspicious old man learned a good deal over nips of brandy with -the work-people, and something more by questioning Petit-Claud and -feigning stupidity; and at length he felt convinced that the Cointets -were the real movers behind Metivier; they were plotting to ruin -Sechard's printing establishment, and to lure him (Sechard) on to pay -his son's debts by holding out the discovery as a bait. The old man of -the people did not suspect that Petit-Claud was in the plot, nor had -he any idea of the toils woven to ensnare the great secret. A day came -at last when he grew angry and out of patience with the -daughter-in-law who would not so much as tell him where David was -hiding; he determined to force the laboratory door, for he had -discovered that David was wont to make his experiments in the workshop -where the rollers were melted down. - -He came downstairs very early one morning and set to work upon the -lock. - -"Hey! Papa Sechard, what are you doing there?" Marion called out. (She -had risen at daybreak to go to her papermill, and now she sprang -across to the workshop.) - -"I am in my own house, am I not?" said the old man, in some confusion. - -"Oh, indeed, are you turning thief in your old age? You are not drunk -this time either----I shall go straight to the mistress and tell her." - -"Hold your tongue, Marion," said Sechard, drawing two crowns of six -francs each from his pocket. "There----" - -"I will hold my tongue, but don't you do it again," said Marion, -shaking her finger at him, "or all Angouleme shall hear of it." - -The old man had scarcely gone out, however, when Marion went up to her -mistress. - -"Look, madame," she said, "I have had twelve francs out of your -father-in-law, and here they are----" - -"How did you do it?" - -"What was he wanting to do but to take a look at the master's pots and -pans and stuff, to find out the secret, forsooth. I knew quite well -that there was nothing in the little place, but I frightened him and -talked as if he were setting about robbing his son, and he gave me -twelve francs to say nothing about it." - -Just at that moment Basine came in radiant, and with a letter for her -friend, a letter from David written on magnificent paper, which she -handed over when they were alone. - - - "MY ADORED EVE,--I am writing to you the first letter on my first - sheet of paper made by the new process. I have solved the problem - of sizing the pulp in the trough at last. A pound of pulp costs - five sous, even supposing that the raw material is grown on good - soil with special culture; three francs' worth of sized pulp will - make a ream of paper, at twelve pounds to the ream. I am quite - sure that I can lessen the weight of books by one-half. The - envelope, the letter, and samples enclosed are all manufactured in - different ways. I kiss you; you shall have wealth now to add to - our happiness, everything else we had before." - - -"There!" said Eve, handing the samples to her father-in-law, "when the -vintage is over let your son have the money, give him a chance to make -his fortune, and you shall be repaid ten times over; he has succeeded -at last!" - -Old Sechard hurried at once to the Cointets. Every sample was tested -and minutely examined; the prices, from three to ten francs per ream, -were noted on each separate slip; some were sized, others unsized; -some were of almost metallic purity, others soft as Japanese paper; in -color there was every possible shade of white. If old Sechard and the -two Cointets had been Jews examining diamonds, their eyes could not -have glistened more eagerly. - -"Your son is on the right track," the fat Cointet said at length. - -"Very well, pay his debts," returned old Sechard. - -"By all means, if he will take us into partnership," said the tall -Cointet. - -"You are extortioners!" cried old Sechard. "You have been suing him -under Metivier's name, and you mean me to buy you off; that is the -long and the short of it. Not such a fool, gentlemen----" - -The brothers looked at one another, but they contrived to hide their -surprise at the old miser's shrewdness. - -"We are not millionaires," said fat Cointet; "we do not discount bills -for amusement. We should think ourselves well off if we could pay -ready money for our bits of accounts for rags, and we still give bills -to our dealer." - -"The experiment ought to be tried first on a much larger scale," the -tall Cointet said coldly; "sometimes you try a thing with a saucepan -and succeed, and fail utterly when you experiment with bulk. You -should help your son out of difficulties." - -"Yes; but when my son is at liberty, would he take me as his partner?" - -"That is no business of ours," said the fat Cointet. "My good man, do -you suppose that when you have paid some ten thousand francs for your -son, that there is an end of it? It will cost two thousand francs to -take out a patent; there will be journeys to Paris; and before going -to any expense, it would be prudent to do as my brother suggests, and -make a thousand reams or so; to try several whole batches to make -sure. You see, there is nothing you must be so much on your guard -against as an inventor." - -"I have a liking for bread ready buttered myself," added the tall -Cointet. - -All through that night the old man ruminated over this dilemma--"If I -pay David's debts, he will be set at liberty, and once set at liberty, -he need not share his fortune with me unless he chooses. He knows very -well that I cheated him over the first partnership, and he will not -care to try a second; so it is to my interest to keep him shut up, the -wretched boy." - -The Cointets knew enough of Sechard senior to see that they should -hunt in couples. All three said to themselves--"Experiments must be -tried before the discovery can take any practical shape. David Sechard -must be set at liberty before those experiments can be made; and David -Sechard, set at liberty, will slip through our fingers." - -Everybody involved, moreover, had his own little afterthought. - -Petit-Claud, for instance, said, "As soon as I am married, I will slip -my neck out of the Cointets' yoke; but till then I shall hold on." - -The tall Cointet thought, "I would rather have David under lock and -key, and then I should be master of the situation." - -Old Sechard, too, thought, "If I pay my son's debts, he will repay me -with a 'Thank you!'" - -Eve, hard pressed (for the old man threatened now to turn her out of -the house), would neither reveal her husband's hiding-place, nor even -send proposals of a safe-conduct. She could not feel sure of finding -so safe a refuge a second time. - -"Set your son at liberty," she told her father-in-law, "and then you -shall know everything." - -The four interested persons sat, as it were, with a banquet spread -before them, none of them daring to begin, each one suspicious and -watchful of his neighbor. A few days after David went into hiding, -Petit-Claud went to the mill to see the tall Cointet. - -"I have done my best," he said; "David has gone into prison of his own -accord somewhere or other; he is working out some improvement there in -peace. It is no fault of mine if you have not gained your end; are you -going to keep your promise?" - -"Yes, if we succeed," said the tall Cointet. "Old Sechard was here -only a day or two ago; he came to ask us some questions as to -paper-making. The old miser has got wind of his son's invention; he -wants to turn it to his own account, so there is some hope of a -partnership. You are with the father and the son----" - -"Be the third person in the trinity and give them up," smiled -Petit-Claud. - -"Yes," said Cointet. "When you have David in prison, or bound to us by -a deed of partnership, you shall marry Mlle. de la Haye." - -"Is that your _ultimatum_?" - -"My _sine qua non_," said Cointet, "since we are speaking in foreign -languages." - -"Then here is mine in plain language," Petit-Claud said drily. - -"Ah! let us have it," answered Cointet, with some curiosity. - -"You will present me to-morrow to Mme. de Sononches, and do something -definite for me; you will keep your word, in short; or I will clear -off Sechard's debts myself, sell my practice, and go into partnership -with him. I will not be duped. You have spoken out, and I am doing the -same. I have given proof, give me proof of your sincerity. You have -all, and I have nothing. If you won't do fairly by me, I know your -cards, and I shall play for my own hand." - -The tall Cointet took his hat and umbrella, his face at the same time -taking its Jesuitical expression, and out he went, bidding Petit-Claud -come with him. - -"You shall see, my friend, whether I have prepared your way for you," -said he. - -The shrewd paper-manufacturer saw his danger at a glance; and saw, -too, that with a man like Petit-Claud it was better to play above -board. Partly to be prepared for contingencies, partly to satisfy his -conscience, he had dropped a word or two to the point in the ear of -the ex-consul-general, under the pretext of putting Mlle. de la Haye's -financial position before that gentleman. - -"I have the man for Francoise," he had said; "for with thirty thousand -francs of _dot_, a girl must not expect too much nowadays." - -"We will talk it over later on," answered Francis du Hautoy, -ex-consul-general. "Mme. de Senonches' positon has altered very much -since Mme. de Bargeton went away; we very likely might marry Francoise -to some elderly country gentleman." - -"She would disgrace herself if you did," Cointet returned in his dry -way. "Better marry her to some capable, ambitious young man; you could -help him with your influence, and he would make a good position for -his wife." - -"We shall see," said Francis du Hautoy; "her godmother ought to be -consulted first, in any case." - -When M. de Bargeton died, his wife sold the great house in the Rue du -Minage. Mme. de Senonches, finding her own house scarcely large -enough, persuaded M. de Senonches to buy the Hotel de Bargeton, the -cradle of Lucien Chardon's ambitions, the scene of the earliest events -in his career. Zephirine de Senonches had it in mind to succeed to -Mme. de Bargeton; she, too, would be a kind of queen in Angouleme; she -would have "a salon," and be a great lady, in short. There was a -schism in Angouleme, a strife dating from the late M. de Bargeton's -duel with M. de Chandour. Some maintained that Louise de Negrepelisse -was blameless, others believed in Stanislas de Chandour's scandals. -Mme. de Senonches declared for the Bargetons, and began by winning -over that faction. Many frequenters of the Hotel de Bargeton had been -so accustomed for years to their nightly game of cards in the house -that they could not leave it, and Mme. de Senonches turned this fact -to account. She received every evening, and certainly gained all the -ground lost by Amelie de Chandour, who set up for a rival. - -Francis du Hautoy, living in the inmost circle of nobility in -Angouleme, went so far as to think of marrying Francoise to old M. de -Severac, Mme. du Brossard having totally failed to capture that -gentleman for her daughter; and when Mme. de Bargeton reappeared as -the prefect's wife, Zephirine's hopes for her dear goddaughter waxed -high, indeed. The Comtesse du Chatelet, so she argued, would be sure -to use her influence for her champion. - -Boniface Cointet had Angouleme at his fingers' ends; he saw all the -difficulties at a glance, and resolved to sweep them out of the way by -a bold stroke that only a Tartuffe's brain could invent. The puny -lawyer was not a little amused to find his fellow-conspirator keeping -his word with him; not a word did Petit-Claud utter; he respected the -musings of his companion, and they walked the whole way from the -paper-mill to the Rue du Minage in silence. - -"Monsieur and madame are at breakfast"--this announcement met the -ill-timed visitors on the steps. - -"Take in our names, all the same," said the tall Cointet; and feeling -sure of his position, he followed immediately behind the servant and -introduced his companion to the elaborately-affected Zephirine, who -was breakfasting in company with M. Francis du Hautoy and Mlle. de la -Haye. M. de Senonches had gone, as usual, for a day's shooting over M. -de Pimentel's land. - -"M. Petit-Claud is the young lawyer of whom I spoke to you, madame; he -will go through the trust accounts when your fair ward comes of age." - -The ex-diplomatist made a quick scrutiny of Petit-Claud, who, for his -part, was looking furtively at the "fair ward." As for Zephirine, who -heard of the matter for the first time, her surprise was so great that -she dropped her fork. - -Mlle. de la Haye, a shrewish young woman with an ill-tempered face, a -waist that could scarcely be called slender, a thin figure, and -colorless, fair hair, in spite of a certain little air that she had, -was by no means easy to marry. The "parentage unknown" on her birth -certificate was the real bar to her entrance into the sphere where her -godmother's affection stove to establish her. Mlle. de la Haye, -ignorant of her real position, was very hard to please; the richest -merchant in L'Houmeau had found no favor in her sight. Cointet saw the -sufficiently significant expression of the young lady's face at the -sight of the little lawyer, and turning, beheld a precisely similar -grimace on Petit-Claud's countenance. Mme. de Senonches and Francis -looked at each other, as if in search of an excuse for getting rid of -the visitors. All this Cointet saw. He asked M. du Hautoy for the -favor of a few minutes' speech with him, and the pair went together -into the drawing-room. - -"Fatherly affection is blinding you, sir," he said bluntly. "You will -not find it an easy thing to marry your daughter; and, acting in your -interest throughout, I have put you in a position from which you -cannot draw back; for I am fond of Francoise, she is my ward. Now ---Petit-Claud knows _everything_! His overweening ambition is a -guarantee for our dear child's happiness; for, in the first place, -Francoise will do as she likes with her husband; and, in the second, -he wants your influence. You can ask the new prefect for the post of -crown attorney for him in the court here. M. Milaud is definitely -appointed to Nevers, Petit-Claud will sell his practice, you will have -no difficulty in obtaining a deputy public prosecutor's place for him; -and it will not be long before he becomes attorney for the crown, -president of the court, deputy, what you will." - -Francis went back to the dining-room and behaved charmingly to his -daughter's suitor. He gave Mme. de Senonches a look, and brought the -scene to a close with an invitation to dine with them on the morrow; -Petit-Claud must come and discuss the business in hand. He even went -downstairs and as far as the corner with the visitors, telling -Petit-Claud that after Cointet's recommendation, both he and Mme. de -Senonches were disposed to approve all that Mlle. de la Haye's trustee -had arranged for the welfare of that little angel. - -"Oh!" cried Petit-Claud, as they came away, "what a plain girl! I have -been taken in----" - -"She looks a lady-like girl," returned Cointet, "and besides, if she -were a beauty, would they give her to you? Eh! my dear fellow, thirty -thousand francs and the influence of Mme. de Senonches and the -Comtesse du Chatelet! Many a small landowner would be wonderfully glad -of the chance, and all the more so since M. Francis du Hautoy is never -likely to marry, and all that he has will go to the girl. Your -marriage is as good as settled." - -"How?" - -"That is what I am just going to tell you," returned Cointet, and he -gave his companion an account of his recent bold stroke. "M. Milaud is -just about to be appointed attorney for the crown at Nevers, my dear -fellow," he continued; "sell your practice, and in ten years' time you -will be Keeper of the Seals. You are not the kind of a man to draw -back from any service required of you by the Court." - -"Very well," said Petit-Claud, his zeal stirred by the prospect of -such a career, "very well, be in the Place du Murier to-morrow at -half-past four; I will see old Sechard in the meantime; we will have a -deed of partnership drawn up, and the father and the son shall be -bound thereby, and delivered to the third person of the trinity ---Cointet, to wit." - - - -To return to Lucien in Paris. On the morrow of the loss announced in -his letter, he obtained a _visa_ for his passport, bought a stout holly -stick, and went to the Rue d'Enfer to take a place in the little -market van, which took him as far as Longjumeau for half a franc. He -was going home to Angouleme. At the end of the first day's tramp he -slept in a cowshed, two leagues from Arpajon. He had come no farther -than Orleans before he was very weary, and almost ready to break down, -but there he found a boatman willing to bring him as far as Tours for -three francs, and food during the journey cost him but forty sous. -Five days of walking brought him from Tours to Poitiers, and left him -with but five francs in his pockets, but he summoned up all his -remaining strength for the journey before him. - -He was overtaken by night in the open country, and had made up his -mind to sleep out of doors, when a traveling carriage passed by, -slowly climbing the hillside, and, all unknown to the postilion, the -occupants, and the servant, he managed to slip in among the luggage, -crouching in between two trunks lest he should be shaken off by the -jolting of the carriage--and so he slept. - -He awoke with the sun shining into his eyes, and the sound of voices -in his ears. The carriage had come to a standstill. Looking about him, -he knew that he was at Mansle, the little town where he had waited for -Mme. de Bargeton eighteen months before, when his heart was full of -hope and love and joy. A group of post-boys eyed him curiously and -suspiciously, covered with dust as he was, wedged in among the -luggage. Lucien jumped down, but before he could speak two travelers -stepped out of the caleche, and the words died away on his lips; for -there stood the new Prefect of the Charente, Sixte du Chatelet, and -his wife, Louise de Negrepelisse. - -"Chance gave us a traveling-companion, if we had but known!" said the -Countess. "Come in with us, monsieur." - -Lucien gave the couple a distant bow and a half-humbled half-defiant -glance; then he turned away into a cross-country road in search of -some farmhouse, where he might make a breakfast on milk and bread, and -rest awhile, and think quietly over the future. He still had three -francs left. On and on he walked with the hurrying pace of fever, -noticing as he went, down by the riverside, that the country grew more -and more picturesque. It was near mid-day when he came upon a sheet of -water with willows growing about the margin, and stopped for awhile to -rest his eyes on the cool, thick-growing leaves; and something of the -grace of the fields entered into his soul. - -In among the crests of the willows, he caught a glimpse of a mill -near-by on a branch stream, and of the thatched roof of the mill-house -where the house-leeks were growing. For all ornament, the quaint -cottage was covered with jessamine and honeysuckle and climbing hops, -and the garden about it was gay with phloxes and tall, juicy-leaved -plants. Nets lay drying in the sun along a paved causeway raised above -the highest flood level, and secured by massive piles. Ducks were -swimming in the clear mill-pond below the currents of water roaring -over the wheel. As the poet came nearer he heard the clack of the -mill, and saw the good-natured, homely woman of the house knitting on -a garden bench, and keeping an eye upon a little one who was chasing -the hens about. - -Lucien came forward. "My good woman," he said, "I am tired out; I have -a fever on me, and I have only three francs; will you undertake to -give me brown bread and milk, and let me sleep in the barn for a week? -I shall have time to write to my people, and they will either come to -fetch me or send me money." - -"I am quite willing, always supposing that my husband has no -objection.--Hey! little man!" - -The miller came up, gave Lucien a look over, and took his pipe out of -his mouth to remark, "Three francs for a weeks board? You might as -well pay nothing at all." - -"Perhaps I shall end as a miller's man," thought the poet, as his eyes -wandered over the lovely country. Then the miller's wife made a bed -ready for him, and Lucien lay down and slept so long that his hostess -was frightened. - -"Courtois," she said, next day at noon, "just go in and see whether -that young man is dead or alive; he has been lying there these -fourteen hours." - -The miller was busy spreading out his fishing-nets and lines. "It is -my belief," he said, "that the pretty fellow yonder is some starveling -play-actor without a brass farthing to bless himself with." - -"What makes you think that, little man?" asked the mistress of the -mill. - -"Lord, he is not a prince, nor a lord, nor a member of parliament, nor -a bishop; why are his hands as white as if he did nothing?" - -"Then it is very strange that he does not feel hungry and wake up," -retorted the miller's wife; she had just prepared breakfast for -yesterday's chance guest. "A play-actor, is he?" she continued. "Where -will he be going? It is too early yet for the fair at Angouleme." - -But neither the miller nor his wife suspected that (actors, princes, -and bishops apart) there is a kind of being who is both prince and -actor, and invested besides with a magnificent order of priesthood ---that the Poet seems to do nothing, yet reigns over all humanity when -he can paint humanity. - -"What can he be?" Courtois asked of his wife. - -"Suppose it should be dangerous to take him in?" queried she. - -"Pooh! thieves look more alive than that; we should have been robbed -by this time," returned her spouse. - -"I am neither a prince nor a thief, nor a bishop nor an actor," Lucien -said wearily; he must have overheard the colloquy through the window, -and now he suddenly appeared. "I am poor, I am tired out, I have come -on foot from Paris. My name is Lucien de Rubempre, and my father was -M. Chardon, who used to have Postel's business in L'Houmeau. My sister -married David Sechard, the printer in the Place du Murier at -Angouleme." - -"Stop a bit," said the miller, "that printer is the son of the old -skinflint who farms his own land at Marsac, isn't he?" - -"The very same," said Lucien. - -"He is a queer kind of father, he is!" Courtois continued. "He is -worth two hundred thousand francs and more, without counting his -money-box, and he has sold his son up, they say." - -When body and soul have been broken by a prolonged painful struggle, -there comes a crisis when a strong nature braces itself for greater -effort; but those who give way under the strain either die or sink -into unconsciousness like death. That hour of crisis had struck for -Lucien; at the vague rumor of the catastrophe that had befallen David -he seemed almost ready to succumb. "Oh! my sister!" he cried. "Oh, -God! what have I done? Base wretch that I am!" - -He dropped down on the wooden bench, looking white and powerless as a -dying man; the miller's wife brought out a bowl of milk and made him -drink, but he begged the miller to help him back to his bed, and asked -to be forgiven for bringing a dying man into their house. He thought -his last hour had come. With the shadow of death, thoughts of religion -crossed a brain so quick to conceive picturesque fancies; he would see -the cure, he would confess and receive the last sacraments. The moan, -uttered in the faint voice by a young man with such a comely face and -figure, went to Mme. Courtois' heart. - -"I say, little man, just take the horse and go to Marsac and ask Dr. -Marron to come and see this young man; he is in a very bad way, it -seems to me, and you might bring the cure as well. Perhaps they may -know more about that printer in the Place du Murier than you do, for -Postel married M. Marron's daughter." - -Courtois departed. The miller's wife tried to make Lucien take food; -like all country-bred folk, she was full of the idea that sick folk -must be made to eat. He took no notice of her, but gave way to a -violent storm of remorseful grief, a kind of mental process of -counter-irritation, which relieved him. - -The Courtois' mill lies a league away from Marsac, the town of the -district, and the half-way between Mansle and Angouleme; so it was not -long before the good miller came back with the doctor and the cure. -Both functionaries had heard rumors coupling Lucien's name with the -name of Mme. de Bargeton; and now when the whole department was -talking of the lady's marriage to the new Prefect and her return to -Angouleme as the Comtesse du Chatelet, both cure and doctor were -consumed with a violent curiosity to know why M. de Bargeton's widow -had not married the young poet with whom she had left Angouleme. And -when they heard, furthermore, that Lucien was at the mill, they were -eager to know whether the poet had come to the rescue of his -brother-in-law. Curiosity and humanity alike prompted them to go at -once to the dying man. Two hours after Courtois set out, Lucien heard -the rattle of old iron over the stony causeway, the country doctor's -ramshackle chaise came up to the door, and out stepped MM. Marron, for -the cure was the doctor's uncle. Lucien's bedside visitors were as -intimate with David's father as country neighbors usually are in a -small vine-growing township. The doctor looked at the dying man, felt -his pulse, and examined his tongue; then he looked at the miller's -wife, and smiled reassuringly. - -"Mme. Courtois," said he, "if, as I do not doubt, you have a bottle of -good wine somewhere in the cellar, and a fat eel in your fish-pond, -put them before your patient, it is only exhaustion; there is nothing -the matter with him. Our great man will be on his feet again -directly." - -"Ah! monsieur," said Lucien, "it is not the body, it is the mind that -ails. These good people have told me tidings that nearly killed me; I -have just heard the bad news of my sister, Mme. Sechard. Mme. Courtois -says that your daughter is married to Postel, monsieur, so you must -know something of David Sechard's affairs; oh, for heaven's sake, -monsieur, tell me what you know!" - -"Why, he must be in prison," began the doctor; "his father would not -help him----" - -"_In prison_!" repeated Lucien, "and why?" - -"Because some bills came from Paris; he had overlooked them, no doubt, -for he does not pay much attention to his business, they say," said -Dr. Marron. - -"Pray leave me with M. le Cure," said the poet, with a visible change -of countenance. The doctor and the miller and his wife went out of the -room, and Lucien was left alone with the old priest. - -"Sir," he said, "I feel that death is near, and I deserve to die. I am -a very miserable wretch; I can only cast myself into the arms of -religion. I, sir, _I_ have brought all these troubles on my sister and -brother, for David Sechard has been a brother to me. I drew those -bills that David could not meet! . . . I have ruined him. In my -terrible misery, I forgot the crime. A millionaire put an end to the -proceedings, and I quite believed that he had met the bills; but -nothing of the kind has been done, it seems." And Lucien told the tale -of his sorrows. The story, as he told it in his feverish excitement, -was worthy of the poet. He besought the cure to go to Angouleme and to -ask for news of Eve and his mother, Mme. Chardon, and to let him know -the truth, and whether it was still possible to repair the evil. - -"I shall live till you come back, sir," he added, as the hot tears -fell. "If my mother, and sister, and David do not cast me off, I shall -not die." - -Lucien's remorse was terrible to see, the tears, the eloquence, the -young white face with the heartbroken, despairing look, the tales of -sorrow upon sorrow till human strength could no more endure, all these -things aroused the cure's pity and interest. - -"In the provinces, as in Paris," he said, "you must believe only half -of all that you hear. Do not alarm yourself; a piece of hearsay, three -leagues away from Angouleme, is sure to be far from the truth. Old -Sechard, our neighbor, left Marsac some days ago; very likely he is -busy settling his son's difficulties. I am going to Angouleme; I will -come back and tell you whether you can return home; your confessions -and repentance will help to plead your cause." - -The cure did not know that Lucien had repented so many times during -the last eighteen months, that penitence, however impassioned, had -come to be a kind of drama with him, played to perfection, played so -far in all good faith, but none the less a drama. To the cure -succeeded the doctor. He saw that the patient was passing through a -nervous crisis, and the danger was beginning to subside. The -doctor-nephew spoke as comfortably as the cure-uncle, and at length -the patient was persuaded to take nourishment. - -Meanwhile the cure, knowing the manners and customs of the -countryside, had gone to Mansle; the coach from Ruffec to Angouleme -was due to pass about that time, and he found a vacant place in it. He -would go to his grand-nephew Postel in L'Houmeau (David's former -rival) and make inquiries of him. From the assiduity with which the -little druggist assisted his venerable relative to alight from the -abominable cage which did duty as a coach between Ruffec and -Angouleme, it was apparent to the meanest understanding that M. and -Mme. Postel founded their hopes of future ease upon the old cure's -will. - -"Have you breakfasted? Will you take something? We did not in the -least expect you! This is a pleasant surprise!" Out came questions -innumerable in a breath. - -Mme. Postel might have been born to be the wife of an apothecary in -L'Houmeau. She was a common-looking woman, about the same height as -little Postel himself, such good looks as she possessed being entirely -due to youth and health. Her florid auburn hair grew very low upon her -forehead. Her demeanor and language were in keeping with homely -features, a round countenance, the red cheeks of a country damsel, and -eyes that might almost be described as yellow. Everything about her -said plainly enough that she had been married for expectations of -money. After a year of married life, therefore, she ruled the house; -and Postel, only too happy to have discovered the heiress, meekly -submitted to his wife. Mme. Leonie Postel, _nee_ Marron, was nursing her -first child, the darling of the old cure, the doctor, and Postel, a -repulsive infant, with a strong likeness to both parents. - -"Well, uncle," said Leonie, "what has brought you to Angouleme, since -you will not take anything, and no sooner come in than you talk of -going?" - -But when the venerable ecclesiastic brought out the names of David -Sechard and Eve, little Postel grew very red, and Leonie, his wife, -felt it incumbent upon her to give him a jealous glance--the glance -that a wife never fails to give when she is perfectly sure of her -husband, and gives a look into the past by way of a caution for the -future. - -"What have yonder folk done to you, uncle, that you should mix -yourself up in their affairs?" inquired Leonie, with very perceptible -tartness. - -"They are in trouble, my girl," said the cure, and he told the Postels -about Lucien at the Courtois' mill. - -"Oh! so that is the way he came back from Paris, is it?" exclaimed -Postel. "Yet he had some brains, poor fellow, and he was ambitious, -too. He went out to look for wool, and comes home shorn. But what does -he want here? His sister is frightfully poor; for all these geniuses, -David and Lucien alike, know very little about business. There was -some talk of him at the Tribunal, and, as judge, I was obliged to sign -the warrant of execution. It was a painful duty. I do not know whether -the sister's circumstances are such that Lucien can go to her; but in -any case the little room that he used to occupy here is at liberty, -and I shall be pleased to offer it to him." - -"That is right, Postel," said the priest; he bestowed a kiss on the -infant slumbering in Leonie's arms, and, adjusting his cocked hat, -prepared to walk out of the shop. - -"You will dine with us, uncle, of course," said Mme. Postel; "if once -you meddle in these people's affairs, it will be some time before you -have done. My husband will drive you back again in his little -pony-cart." - -Husband and wife stood watching their valued, aged relative on his way -into Angouleme. "He carries himself well for his age, all the same," -remarked the druggist. - -By this time David had been in hiding for eleven days in a house only -two doors away from the druggist's shop, which the worthy ecclesiastic -had just quitted to climb the steep path into Angouleme with the news -of Lucien's present condition. - -When the Abbe Marron debouched upon the Place du Murier he found three -men, each one remarkable in his own way, and all of them bearing with -their whole weight upon the present and future of the hapless -voluntary prisoner. There stood old Sechard, the tall Cointet, and his -confederate, the puny limb of the law, three men representing three -phases of greed as widely different as the outward forms of the -speakers. The first had it in his mind to sell his own son; the -second, to betray his client; and the third, while bargaining for both -iniquities, was inwardly resolved to pay for neither. It was nearly -five o'clock. Passers-by on their way home to dinner stopped a moment -to look at the group. - -"What the devil can old Sechard and the tall Cointet have to say to -each other?" asked the more curious. - -"There was something on foot concerning that miserable wretch that -leaves his wife and child and mother-in-law to starve," suggested -some. - -"Talk of sending a boy to Paris to learn his trade!" said a provincial -oracle. - -"M. le Cure, what brings you here, eh?" exclaimed old Sechard, -catching sight of the Abbe as soon as he appeared. - -"I have come on account of your family," answered the old man. - -"Here is another of my son's notions!" exclaimed old Sechard. - -"It would not cost you much to make everybody happy all round," said -the priest, looking at the windows of the printing-house. Mme. -Sechard's beautiful face appeared at that moment between the curtains; -she was hushing her child's cries by tossing him in her arms and -singing to him. - -"Are you bringing news of my son?" asked old Sechard, "or what is more -to the purpose--money?" - -"No," answered M. Marron, "I am bringing the sister news of her -brother." - -"Of Lucien?" cried Petit-Claud. - -"Yes. He walked all the way from Paris, poor young man. I found him at -the Courtois' house; he was worn out with misery and fatigue. Oh! he -is very much to be pitied." - -Petit-Claud took the tall Cointet by the arm, saying aloud, "If we are -going to dine with Mme. de Senonches, it is time to dress." When they -had come away a few paces, he added, for his companion's benefit, -"Catch the cub, and you will soon have the dam; we have David now----" - -"I have found you a wife, find me a partner," said the tall Cointet -with a treacherous smile. - -"Lucien is an old school-fellow of mine; we used to be chums. I shall -be sure to hear something from him in a week's time. Have the banns -put up, and I will engage to put David in prison. When he is on the -jailer's register I shall have done my part." - -"Ah!" exclaimed the tall Cointet under his breath, "we might have the -patent taken out in our name; that would be the thing!" - -A shiver ran through the meagre little attorney when he heard those -words. - -Meanwhile Eve beheld her father-in-law enter with the Abbe Marron, who -had let fall a word which unfolded the whole tragedy. - -"Here is our cure, Mme. Sechard," the old man said, addressing his -daughter-in-law, "and pretty tales about your brother he has to tell -us, no doubt!" - -"Oh!" cried poor Eve, cut to the heart; "what can have happened now?" - -The cry told so unmistakably of many sorrows, of great dread on so -many grounds, that the Abbe Marron made haste to say, "Reassure -yourself, madame; he is living." - -Eve turned to the vinegrower. - -"Father," she said, "perhaps you will be good enough to go to my -mother; she must hear all that this gentleman has to tell us of -Lucien." - -The old man went in search of Mme. Chardon, and addressed her in this -wise: - -"Go and have it out with the Abbe Marron; he is a good sort, priest -though he is. Dinner will be late, no doubt. I shall come back again -in an hour," and the old man went out. Insensible as he was to -everything but the clink of money and the glitter of gold, he left -Mme. Chardon without caring to notice the effect of the shock that he -had given her. - -Mme. Chardon had changed so greatly during the last eighteen months, -that in that short time she no longer looked like the same woman. The -troubles hanging over both of her children, her abortive hopes for -Lucien, the unexpected deterioration in one in whose powers and -honesty she had for so long believed,--all these things had told -heavily upon her. Mme. Chardon was not only noble by birth, she was -noble by nature; she idolized her children; consequently, during the -last six months she had suffered as never before since her widowhood. -Lucien might have borne the name of Lucien de Rubempre by royal -letters patent; he might have founded the family anew, revived the -title, and borne the arms; he might have made a great name--he had -thrown the chance away; nay, he had fallen into the mire! - -For Mme. Chardon the mother was a harder judge than Eve the sister. -When she heard of the bills, she looked upon Lucien as lost. A mother -is often fain to shut her eyes, but she always knows the child that -she held at her breast, the child that has been always with her in the -house; and so when Eve and David discussed Lucien's chances of success -in Paris, and Lucien's mother to all appearance shared Eve's -illusions, in her inmost heart there was a tremor of fear lest David -should be right, for a mother's consciousness bore a witness to the -truth of his words. So well did she know Eve's sensitive nature, that -she could not bring herself to speak of her fears; she was obliged to -choke them down and keep such silence as mothers alone can keep when -they know how to love their children. - -And Eve, on her side, had watched her mother, and saw the ravages of -hidden grief with a feeling of dread; her mother was not growing old, -she was failing from day to day. Mother and daughter lived a live of -generous deception, and neither was deceived. The brutal old -vinegrower's speech was the last drop that filled the cup of -affliction to overflowing. The words struck a chill to Mme. Chardon's -heart. - -"Here is my mother, monsieur," said Eve, and the Abbe, looking up, saw -a white-haired woman with a face as thin and worn as the features of -some aged nun, and yet grown beautiful with the calm and sweet -expression that devout submission gives to the faces of women who walk -by the will of God, as the saying is. Then the Abbe understood the -lives of the mother and daughter, and had no more sympathy left for -Lucien; he shuddered to think of all that the victims had endured. - -"Mother," said Eve, drying her eyes as she spoke, "poor Lucien is not -very far away, he is at Marsac." - -"And why is he not here?" asked Mme. Chardon. - -Then the Abbe told the whole story as Lucien had told it to him--the -misery of the journey, the troubles of the last days in Paris. He -described the poet's agony of mind when he heard of the havoc wrought -at home by his imprudence, and his apprehension as to the reception -awaiting him at Angouleme. - -"He has doubts of us; has it come to this?" said Mme. Chardon. - -"The unhappy young man has come back to you on foot, enduring the most -terrible hardships by the way; he is prepared to enter the humblest -walks in life--if so he may make reparation." - -"Monsieur," Lucien's sister said, "in spite of the wrong he has done -us, I love my brother still, as we love the dead body when the soul -has left it; and even so, I love him more than many sisters love their -brothers. He has made us poor indeed; but let him come to us, he shall -share the last crust of bread, anything indeed that he has left us. -Oh, if he had never left us, monsieur, we should not have lost our -heart's treasure." - -"And the woman who took him from us brought him back on her carriage!" -exclaimed Mme. Chardon. "He went away sitting by Mme. de Bargeton's -side in her caleche, and he came back behind it." - -"Can I do anything for you?" asked the good cure, seeking an -opportunity to take leave. - -"A wound in the purse is not fatal, they say, monsieur," said Mme. -Chardon, "but the patient must be his own doctor." - -"If you have sufficient influence with my father-in-law to induce him -to help his son, you would save a whole family," said Eve. - -"He has no belief in you, and he seemed to me to be very much -exasperated against your husband," answered the old cure. He retained -an impression, from the ex-pressman's rambling talk, that the -Sechards' affairs were a kind of wasps' nest with which it was -imprudent to meddle, and his mission being fulfilled, he went to dine -with his nephew Postel. That worthy, like the rest of Angouleme, -maintained that the father was in the right, and soon dissipated any -little benevolence that the old gentleman was disposed to feel towards -the son and his family. - -"With those that squander money something may be done," concluded -little Postel, "but those that make experiments are the ruin of you." - -The cure went home; his curiosity was thoroughly satisfied, and this -is the end and object of the exceeding interest taken in other -people's business in the provinces. In the course of the evening the -poet was duly informed of all that had passed in the Sechard family, -and the journey was represented as a pilgrimage undertaken from -motives of the purest charity. - -"You have run your brother-in-law and sister into debt to the amount -of ten or twelve thousand francs," said the Abbe as he drew to an end, -"and nobody hereabouts has that trifling amount to lend a neighbor, my -dear sir. We are not rich in Angoumois. When you spoke to me of your -bills, I thought that a much smaller amount was involved." - -Lucien thanked the old man for his good offices. "The promise of -forgiveness which you have brought is for me a priceless gift." - -Very early the next morning Lucien set out from Marsac, and reached -Angouleme towards nine o'clock. He carried nothing but his -walking-stick; the short jacket that he wore was considerably the worst -for his journey, his black trousers were whitened with dust, and a pair -of worn boots told sufficiently plainly that their owner belonged to the -hapless tribe of tramps. He knew well enough that the contrast between -his departure and return was bound to strike his fellow-townsmen; he -did not try to hide the fact from himself. But just then, with his -heart swelling beneath the oppression of remorse awakened in him by -the old cure's story, he accepted his punishment for the moment, and -made up his mind to brave the eyes of his acquaintances. Within -himself he said, "I am behaving heroically." - -Poetic temperaments of this stamp begin as their own dupes. He walked -up through L'Houmeau, shame at the manner of his return struggling -with the charm of old associations as he went. His heart beat quickly -as he passed Postel's shop; but, very luckily for him, the only -persons inside it were Leonie and her child. And yet, vanity was still -so strong in him, that he could feel glad that his father's name had -been painted out on the shop-front; for Postel, since his marriage, -had redecorated his abode, and the word "Pharmacy" now alone appeared -there, in the Paris fashion, in big letters. - -When Lucien reached the steps by the Palet Gate, he felt the influence -of his native air, his misfortunes no longer weighed upon him. "I -shall see them again!" he said to himself, with a thrill of delight. - -He reached the Place du Murier, and had not met a soul, a piece of -luck that he scarcely hoped for, he who once had gone about his native -place with a conqueror's air. Marion and Kolb, on guard at the door, -flew out upon the steps, crying out, "Here he is!" - -Lucien saw the familiar workshop and courtyard, and on the staircase -met his mother and sister, and for a moment, while their arms were -about him, all three almost forgot their troubles. In family life we -almost always compound with our misfortunes; we make a sort of bed to -rest upon; and, if it is hard, hope to make it tolerable. If Lucien -looked the picture of despair, poetic charm was not wanting to the -picture. His face had been tanned by the sunlight of the open road, -and the deep sadness visible in his features overshadowed his poet's -brow. The change in him told so plainly of sufferings endured, his -face was so worn by sharp misery, that no one could help pitying him. -Imagination had fared forth into the world and found sad reality at -the home-coming. Eve was smiling in the midst of her joy, as the -saints smile upon martyrdom. The face of a young and very fair woman -grows sublimely beautiful at the touch of grief; Lucien remembered the -innocent girlish face that he saw last before he went to Paris, and -the look of gravity that had come over it spoke so eloquently that he -could not but feel a painful impression. The first quick, natural -outpouring of affection was followed at once by a reaction on either -side; they were afraid to speak; and when Lucien almost involuntarily -looked round for another who should have been there, Eve burst into -tears, and Lucien did the same, but Mme. Chardon's haggard face showed -no sign of emotion. Eve rose to her feet and went downstairs, partly -to spare her brother a word of reproach, partly to speak to Marion. - -"Lucien is so fond of strawberries, child, we must find some -strawberries for him." - -"Oh, I was sure that you would want to welcome M. Lucien; you shall -have a nice little breakfast and a good dinner, too." - -"Lucien," said Mme. Chardon when the mother and son were left alone, -"you have a great deal to repair here. You went away that we all might -be proud of you; you have plunged us into want. You have all but -destroyed your brother's opportunity of making a fortune that he only -cared to win for the sake of his new family. Nor is this all that you -have destroyed----" said the mother. - -There was a dreadful pause; Lucien took his mother's reproaches in -silence. - -"Now begin to work," Mme. Chardon went on more gently. "You tried to -revive the noble family of whom I come; I do not blame you for it. But -the man who undertakes such a task needs money above all things, and -must bear a high heart in him; both were wanting in your case. We -believed in you once, our belief has been shaken. This was a -hard-working, contented household, making its way with difficulty; you -have troubled their peace. The first offence may be forgiven, but it -must be the last. We are in a very difficult position here; you must be -careful, and take your sister's advice, Lucien. The school of trouble -is a very hard one, but Eve has learned much by her lessons; she has -grown grave and thoughtful, she is a mother. In her devotion to our -dear David she has taken all the family burdens upon herself; indeed, -through your wrongdoing she has come to be my only comfort." - -"You might be still more severe, my mother," Lucien said, as he kissed -her. "I accept your forgiveness, for I will not need it a second -time." - -Eve came into the room, saw her brother's humble attitude, and knew -that he had been forgiven. Her kindness brought a smile for him to her -lips, and Lucien answered with tear-filled eyes. A living presence -acts like a charm, changing the most hostile positions of lovers or of -families, no matter how just the resentment. Is it that affection -finds out the ways of the heart, and we love to fall into them again? -Does the phenomenon come within the province of the science of -magnetism? Or is it reason that tells us that we must either forgive -or never see each other again? Whether the cause be referred to -mental, physical, or spiritual conditions, everyone knows the effect; -every one has felt that the looks, the actions or gestures of the -beloved awaken some vestige of tenderness in those most deeply sinned -against and grievously wronged. Though it is hard for the mind to -forget, though we still smart under the injury, the heart returns to -its allegiance in spite of all. Poor Eve listened to her brother's -confidences until breakfast-time; and whenever she looked at him she -was no longer mistress of her eyes; in that intimate talk she could -not control her voice. And with the comprehension of the conditions of -literary life in Paris, she understood that the struggle had been too -much for Lucien's strength. The poet's delight as he caressed his -sister's child, his deep grief over David's absence, mingled with joy -at seeing his country and his own folk again, the melancholy words -that he let fall,--all these things combined to make that day a -festival. When Marion brought in the strawberries, he was touched to -see that Eve had remembered his taste in spite of her distress, and -she, his sister, must make ready a room for the prodigal brother and -busy herself for Lucien. It was a truce, as it were, to misery. Old -Sechard himself assisted to bring about this revulsion of feeling in -the two women--"You are making as much of him as if he were bringing -you any amount of money!" - -"And what has my brother done that we should not make much of him?" -cried Eve, jealously screening Lucien. - -Nevertheless, when the first expansion was over, shades of truth came -out. It was not long before Lucien felt the difference between the old -affection and the new. Eve respected David from the depths of her -heart; Lucien was beloved for his own sake, as we love a mistress -still in spite of the disasters she causes. Esteem, the very -foundation on which affection is based, is the solid stuff to which -affection owes I know not what of certainty and security by which we -live; and this was lacking between Mme. Chardon and her son, between -the sister and the brother. Mother and daughter did not put entire -confidence in him, as they would have done if he had not lost his -honor; and he felt this. The opinion expressed in d'Arthez's letter -was Eve's own estimate of her brother; unconsciously she revealed it -by her manner, tones, and gestures. Oh! Lucien was pitied, that was -true; but as for all that he had been, the pride of the household, the -great man of the family, the hero of the fireside,--all this, like -their fair hopes of him, was gone, never to return. They were so -afraid of his heedlessness that he was not told where David was -hidden. Lucien wanted to see his brother; but this Eve, insensible to -the caresses which accompanied his curious questionings, was not the -Eve of L'Houmeau, for whom a glance from him had been an order that -must be obeyed. When Lucien spoke of making reparation, and talked as -though he could rescue David, Eve only answered: - -"Do not interfere; we have enemies of the most treacherous and -dangerous kind." - -Lucien tossed his head, as one who should say, "I have measured myself -against Parisians," and the look in his sister's eyes said -unmistakably, "Yes, but you were defeated." - -"Nobody cares for me now," Lucien thought. "In the home circle, as in -the world without, success is a necessity." - -The poet tried to explain their lack of confidence in him; he had not -been at home two days before a feeling of vexation rather than of -angry bitterness gained hold on him. He applied Parisian standards to -the quiet, temperate existence of the provinces, quite forgetting that -the narrow, patient life of the household was the result of his own -misdoings. - -"They are _bourgeoises_, they cannot understand me," he said, setting -himself apart from his sister and mother and David, now that they -could no longer be deceived as to his real character and his future. - -Many troubles and shocks of fortune had quickened the intuitive sense -in both the women. Eve and Mme. Chardon guessed the thoughts in -Lucien's inmost soul; they felt that he misjudged them; they saw him -mentally isolating himself. - -"Paris has changed him very much," they said between themselves. They -were indeed reaping the harvest of egoism which they themselves had -fostered. - -It was inevitable but that the leaven should work in all three; and -this most of all in Lucien, because he felt that he was so heavily to -blame. As for Eve, she was just the kind of sister to beg an erring -brother to "Forgive me for your trespasses;" but when the union of two -souls had been as perfect since life's very beginnings, as it had been -with Eve and Lucien, any blow dealt to that fair ideal is fatal. -Scoundrels can draw knives on each other and make it up again -afterwards, while a look or a word is enough to sunder two lovers for -ever. In the recollection of an almost perfect life of heart and heart -lies the secret of many an estrangement that none can explain. Two may -live together without full trust in their hearts if only their past -holds no memories of complete and unclouded love; but for those who -once have known that intimate life, it becomes intolerable to keep -perpetual watch over looks and words. Great poets know this; Paul and -Virginie die before youth is over; can we think of Paul and Virginie -estranged? Let us know that, to the honor of Lucien and Eve, the grave -injury done was not the source of the pain; it was entirely a matter -of feeling upon either side, for the poet in fault, as for the sister -who was in no way to blame. Things had reached the point when the -slightest misunderstanding, or little quarrel, or a fresh -disappointment in Lucien would end in final estrangement. Money -difficulties may be arranged, but feelings are inexorable. - -Next day Lucien received a copy of the local paper. He turned pale -with pleasure when he saw his name at the head of one of the first -"leaders" in that highly respectable sheet, which like the provincial -academies that Voltaire compared to a well-bred miss, was never talked -about. - - - "Let Franche-Comte boast of giving the light to Victor Hugo, to - Charles Nodier, and Cuvier," ran the article, "Brittany of - producing a Chateaubriand and a Lammenais, Normandy of Casimir - Delavigne, and Touraine of the author of _Eloa_; Angoumois that - gave birth, in the days of Louis XIII., to our illustrious - fellow-countryman Guez, better known under the name of Balzac, - our Angoumois need no longer envy Limousin her Dupuytren, nor - Auvergne, the country of Montlosier, nor Bordeaux, birthplace of - so many great men; for we too have our poet!--The writer of the - beautiful sonnets entitled the _Marguerites_ unites his poet's fame - to the distinction of a prose writer, for to him we also owe the - magnificent romance of _The Archer of Charles IX._ Some day our - nephews will be proud to be the fellow-townsmen of Lucien Chardon, - a rival of Petrarch!!!" - - -(The country newspapers of those days were sown with notes of -admiration, as reports of English election speeches are studded with -"cheers" in brackets.) - - - "In spite of his brilliant success in Paris, our young poet has - not forgotten the Hotel de Bargeton, the cradle of his triumphs; - nor the fact that the wife of M. le Comte du Chatelet, our - Prefect, encouraged his early footsteps in the pathway of the - Muses. He has come back among us once more! All L'Houmeau was - thrown into excitement yesterday by the appearance of our Lucien - de Rubempre. The news of his return produced a profound sensation - throughout the town. Angouleme certainly will not allow L'Houmeau - to be beforehand in doing honor to the poet who in journalism and - literature has so gloriously represented our town in Paris. Lucien - de Rubempre, a religious and Royalist poet, has braved the fury of - parties; he has come home, it is said, for repose after the - fatigue of a struggle which would try the strength of an even - greater intellectual athlete than a poet and a dreamer. - - "There is some talk of restoring our great poet to the title of - the illustrious house of de Rubempre, of which his mother, Madame - Chardon, is the last survivor, and it is added that Mme. la - Comtesse du Chatelet was the first to think of this eminently - politic idea. The revival of an ancient and almost extinct family - by young talent and newly won fame is another proof that the - immortal author of the Charter still cherishes the desire - expressed by the words 'Union and oblivion.' - - "Our poet is staying with his sister, Mme. Sechard." - - -Under the heading "Angouleme" followed some items of news:-- - - - "Our Prefect, M. le Comte du Chatelet, Gentleman in Ordinary to - His Majesty, has just been appointed Extraordinary Councillor of - State. - - "All the authorities called yesterday on M. le Prefet. - - "Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet will receive on Thursdays. - - "The Mayor of Escarbas, M. de Negrepelisse, the representative of - the younger branch of the d'Espard family, and father of Mme. du - Chatelet, recently raised to the rank of a Count and Peer of - France and a Commander of the Royal Order of St. Louis, has been - nominated for the presidency of the electoral college of Angouleme - at the forthcoming elections." - - -"There!" said Lucien, taking the paper to his sister. Eve read the -article with attention, and returned with the sheet with a thoughtful -air. - -"What do you say to that?" asked he, surprised at a reserve that -seemed so like indifference. - -"The Cointets are proprietors of that paper, dear," she said; "they -put in exactly what they please, and it is not at all likely that the -prefecture or the palace have forced their hands. Can you imagine that -your old rival the prefect would be generous enough to sing your -praises? Have you forgotten that the Cointets are suing us under -Metivier's name? and that they are trying to turn David's discovery to -their own advantage? I do not know the source of this paragraph, but -it makes me uneasy. You used to rouse nothing but envious feeling and -hatred here; a prophet has no honor in his own country, and they -slandered you, and now in a moment it is all changed----" - -"You do not know the vanity of country towns," said Lucien. "A whole -little town in the south turned out not so long ago to welcome a young -man that had won the first prize in some competition; they looked on -him as a budding great man." - -"Listen, dear Lucien; I do not want to preach to you, I will say -everything in a very few words--you must suspect every little thing -here." - -"You are right," said Lucien, but he was surprised at his sister's -lack of enthusiasm. He himself was full of delight to find his -humiliating and shame-stricken return to Angouleme changed into a -triumph in this way. - -"You have no belief in the little fame that has cost so dear!" he said -again after a long silence. Something like a storm had been gathering -in his heart during the past hour. For all answer Eve gave him a look, -and Lucien felt ashamed of his accusation. - -Dinner was scarcely over when a messenger came from the prefecture -with a note addressed to M. Chardon. That note appeared to decide the -day for the poet's vanity; the world contending against the family for -him had won. - - -"M. le Comte Sixte du Chatelet and Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet -request the honor of M. Lucien Chardon's company at dinner on the -fifteenth of September. R. S. V. P." - - -Enclosed with the invitation there was a card-- - - - LE COMTE SIXTE DU CHATELET, - Gentleman of the Bedchamber, Prefect of the Charente, - Councillor of State. - - -"You are in favor," said old Sechard; "they are talking about you in -the town as if you were somebody! Angouleme and L'Houmeau are -disputing as to which shall twist wreaths for you." - -"Eve, dear," Lucien whispered to his sister, "I am exactly in the same -condition as I was before in L'Houmeau when Mme. de Bargeton sent me -the first invitation--I have not a dress suit for the prefect's -dinner-party." - -"Do you really mean to accept the invitation?" Eve asked in alarm, and -a dispute sprang up between the brother and sister. Eve's provincial -good sense told her that if you appear in society, it must be with a -smiling face and faultless costume. "What will come of the prefect's -dinner?" she wondered. "What has Lucien to do with the great people of -Angouleme? Are they plotting something against him?" but she kept -these thoughts to herself. - -Lucien spoke the last word at bedtime: "You do not know my influence. -The prefect's wife stands in fear of a journalist; and besides, Louise -de Negrepelisse lives on in the Comtesse du Chatelet, and a woman with -her influence can rescue David. I am going to tell her about my -brother's invention, and it would be a mere nothing to her to obtain a -subsidy of ten thousand francs from the Government for him." - -At eleven o'clock that night the whole household was awakened by the -town band, reinforced by the military band from the barracks. The -Place du Murier was full of people. The young men of Angouleme were -giving Lucien Chardon de Rubempre a serenade. Lucien went to his -sister's window and made a speech after the last performance. - -"I thank my fellow-townsmen for the honor that they do me," he said in -the midst of a great silence; "I will strive to be worthy of it; they -will pardon me if I say no more; I am so much moved by this incident -that I cannot speak." - -"Hurrah for the writer of _The Archer of Charles IX._! . . . Hurrah for -the poet of the _Marguerites_! . . . Long live Lucien de Rubempre!" - -After these three salvos, taken up by some few voices, three crowns -and a quantity of bouquets were adroitly flung into the room through -the open window. Ten minutes later the Place du Murier was empty, and -silence prevailed in the streets. - -"I would rather have ten thousand francs," said old Sechard, fingering -the bouquets and garlands with a satirical expression. "You gave them -daisies, and they give you posies in return; you deal in flowers." - -"So that is your opinion of the honors shown me by my fellow-townsmen, -is it?" asked Lucien. All his melancholy had left him, his face was -radiant with good humor. "If you knew mankind, Papa Sechard, you would -see that no moment in one's life comes twice. Such a triumph as this -can only be due to genuine enthusiasm! . . . My dear mother, my good -sister, this wipes out many mortifications." - -Lucien kissed them; for when joy overflows like a torrent flood, we -are fain to pour it out into a friend's heart. "When an author is -intoxicated with success, he will hug his porter if there is nobody -else on hand," according to Bixiou. - -"Why, darling, why are you crying?" he said, looking into Eve's face. -"Ah! I know, you are crying for joy!" - -"Oh me!" said her mother, shaking her head as she spoke. "Lucien has -forgotten everything already; not merely his own troubles, but ours as -well." - -Mother and daughter separated, and neither dared to utter all her -thoughts. - -In a country eaten up with the kind of social insubordination -disguised by the word Equality, a triumph of any kind whatsoever is a -sort of miracle which requires, like some other miracles for that -matter, the co-operation of skilled labor. Out of ten ovations offered -to ten living men, selected for this distinction by a grateful -country, you may be quite sure that nine are given from considerations -connected as remotely as possible with the conspicuous merits of the -renowned recipient. What was Voltaire's apotheosis at the -Theatre-Francais but the triumph of eighteenth century philosophy? A -triumph in France means that everybody else feels that he is adorning -his own temples with the crown that he sets on the idol's head. - -The women's presentiments proved correct. The distinguished -provincial's reception was antipathetic to Angoumoisin immobility; it -was too evidently got up by some interested persons or by enthusiastic -stage mechanics, a suspicious combination. Eve, moreover, like most of -her sex, was distrustful by instinct, even when reason failed to -justify her suspicions to herself. "Who can be so fond of Lucien that -he could rouse the town for him?" she wondered as she fell asleep. -"The _Marguerites_ are not published yet; how can they compliment him on -a future success?" - -The ovation was, in fact, the work of Petit-Claud. - -Petit-Claud had dined with Mme. de Senonches, for the first time, on -the evening of the day that brought the cure of Marsac to Angouleme -with the news of Lucien's return. That same evening he made formal -application for the hand of Mlle. de la Haye. It was a family dinner, -one of the solemn occasions marked not so much by the number of the -guests as by the splendor of their toilettes. Consciousness of the -performance weighs upon the family party, and every countenance looks -significant. Francoise was on exhibition. Mme. de Senonches had -sported her most elaborate costume for the occasion; M. du Hautoy wore -a black coat; M. de Senonches had returned from his visit to the -Pimentels on the receipt of a note from his wife, informing him that -Mme. du Chatelet was to appear at their house for the first time since -her arrival, and that a suitor in form for Francoise would appear on -the scenes. Boniface Cointet also was there, in his best maroon coat -of clerical cut, with a diamond pin worth six thousand francs -displayed in his shirt frill--the revenge of the rich merchant upon a -poverty-stricken aristocracy. - -Petit-Claud himself, scoured and combed, had carefully removed his -gray hairs, but he could not rid himself of his wizened air. The puny -little man of law, tightly buttoned into his clothes, reminded you of -a torpid viper; for if hope had brought a spark of life into his -magpie eyes, his face was icily rigid, and so well did he assume an -air of gravity, that an ambitious public prosecutor could not have -been more dignified. - -Mme. de Senonches had told her intimate friends that her ward would -meet her betrothed that evening, and that Mme. du Chatelet would -appear at the Hotel de Senonches for the first time; and having -particularly requested them to keep these matters secret, she expected -to find her rooms crowded. The Comte and Comtesse du Chatelet had left -cards everywhere officially, but they meant the honor of a personal -visit to play a part in their policy. So aristocratic Angouleme was in -such a prodigious ferment of curiosity, that certain of the Chandour -camp proposed to go to the Hotel de Bargeton that evening. (They -persistently declined to call the house by its new name.) - -Proofs of the Countess' influence had stirred up ambition in many -quarters; and not only so, it was said that the lady had changed so -much for the better that everybody wished to see and judge for -himself. Petit-Claud learned great news on the way to the house; -Cointet told him that Zephirine had asked leave to present her dear -Francoise's betrothed to the Countess, and that the Countess had -granted the favor. Petit-Claud had seen at once that Lucien's return -put Louise de Negrepelisse in a false position; and now, in a moment, -he flattered himself that he saw a way to take advantage of it. - -M. and Mme. de Senonches had undertaken such heavy engagements when -they bought the house, that, in provincial fashion, they thought it -imprudent to make any changes in it. So when Madame du Chatelet was -announced, Zephirine went up to her with--"Look, dear Louise, you are -still in your old home!" indicating, as she spoke, the little -chandelier, the paneled wainscot, and the furniture, which once had -dazzled Lucien. - -"I wish least of all to remember it, dear," Madame la Prefete answered -graciously, looking round on the assemblage. - -Every one admitted that Louise de Negrepelisse was not like the same -woman. If the provincial had undergone a change, the woman herself had -been transformed by those eighteen months in Paris, by the first -happiness of a still recent second marriage, and the kind of dignity -that power confers. The Comtesse du Chatelet bore the same resemblance -to Mme. de Bargeton that a girl of twenty bears to her mother. - -She wore a charming cap of lace and flowers, fastened by a -diamond-headed pin; the ringlets that half hid the contours of her face -added to her look of youth, and suited her style of beauty. Her foulard -gown, designed by the celebrated Victorine, with a pointed bodice, -exquisitely fringed, set off her figure to advantage; and a silken -lace scarf, adroitly thrown about a too long neck, partly concealed -her shoulders. She played with the dainty scent-bottle, hung by a -chain from her bracelet; she carried her fan and her handkerchief with -ease--pretty trifles, as dangerous as a sunken reef for the provincial -dame. The refined taste shown in the least details, the carriage and -manner modeled upon Mme. d'Espard, revealed a profound study of the -Faubourg Saint-Germain. - -As for the elderly beau of the Empire, he seemed since his marriage to -have followed the example of the species of melon that turns from -green to yellow in a night. All the youth that Sixte had lost seemed -to appear in his wife's radiant countenance; provincial pleasantries -passed from ear to ear, circulating the more readily because the women -were furious at the new superiority of the sometime queen of -Angouleme; and the persistent intruder paid the penalty of his wife's -offence. - -The rooms were almost as full as on that memorable evening of Lucien's -readings from Chenier. Some faces were missing: M. de Chandour and -Amelie, M. de Pimental and the Rastignacs--and M. de Bargeton was no -longer there; but the Bishop came, as before, with his vicars-general -in his train. Petit-Claud was much impressed by the sight of the great -world of Angouleme. Four months ago he had no hope of entering the -circle, to-day he felt his detestation of "the classes" sensibly -diminished. He thought the Comtesse du Chatelet a most fascinating -woman. "It is she who can procure me the appointment of deputy public -prosecutor," he said to himself. - -Louise chatted for an equal length of time with each of the women; her -tone varied with the importance of the person addressed and the -position taken up by the latter with regard to her journey to Paris -with Lucien. The evening was half over when she withdrew to the -boudoir with the Bishop. Zephirine came over to Petit-Claud, and laid -her hand on his arm. His heart beat fast as his hostess brought him to -the room where Lucien's troubles first began, and were now about to -come to a crisis. - -"This is M. Petit-Claud, dear; I recommend him to you the more warmly -because anything that you may do for him will doubtless benefit my -ward." - -"You are an attorney, are you not, monsieur?" said the august -Negrepelisse, scanning Petit-Claud. - -"Alas! yes, _Madame la Comtesse_." (The son of the tailor in L'Houmeau -had never once had occasion to use those three words in his life -before, and his mouth was full of them.) "But it rests with you, -Madame la Comtesse, whether or no I shall act for the Crown. M. Milaud -is going to Nevers, it is said----" - -"But a man is usually second deputy and then first deputy, is he not?" -broke in the Countess. "I should like to see you in the first deputy's -place at once. But I should like first to have some assurance of your -devotion to the cause of our legitimate sovereigns, to religion, and -more especially to M. de Villele, if I am to interest myself on your -behalf to obtain the favor." - -Petit-Claud came nearer. "Madame," he said in her ear, "I am the man -to yield the King absolute obedience." - -"That is just what _we_ want to-day," said the Countess, drawing back a -little to make him understand that she had no wish for promises given -under his breath. "So long as you satisfy Mme. de Senonches, you can -count upon me," she added, with a royal movement of her fan. - -Petit-Claud looked toward the door of the boudoir, and saw Cointet -standing there. "Madame," he said, "Lucien is here, in Angouleme." - -"Well, sir?" asked the Countess, in tones that would have put an end -to all power of speech in an ordinary man. - -"Mme. la Comtesse does not understand," returned Petit-Claud, bringing -out that most respectful formula again. "How does Mme. la Comtesse -wish that the great man of her making should be received in Angouleme? -There is no middle course; he must be received or despised here." - -This was a dilemma to which Louise de Negrepelisse had never given a -thought; it touched her closely, yet rather for the sake of the past -than of the future. And as for Petit-Claud, his plan for arresting -David Sechard depended upon the lady's actual feelings towards Lucien. -He waited. - -"M. Petit-Claud," said the Countess, with haughty dignity, "you mean -to be on the side of the Government. Learn that the first principle of -government is this--never to have been in the wrong, and that the -instinct of power and the sense of dignity is even stronger in women -than in governments." - -"That is just what I thought, madame," he answered quickly, observing -the Countess meanwhile with attention the more profound because it was -scarcely visible. "Lucien came here in the depths of misery. But if he -must receive an ovation, I can compel him to leave Angouleme by the -means of the ovation itself. His sister and brother-in-law, David -Sechard, are hard pressed for debts." - -In the Countess' haughty face there was a swift, barely perceptible -change; it was not satisfaction, but the repression of satisfaction. -Surprised that Petit-Claud should have guessed her wishes, she gave -him a glance as she opened her fan, and Francoise de la Haye's -entrance at that moment gave her time to find an answer. - -"It will not be long before you are public prosecutor, monsieur," she -said, with a significant smile. That speech did not commit her in any -way, but it was explicit enough. Francoise had come in to thank the -Countess. - -"Oh! madame, then I shall owe the happiness of my life to you," she -exclaimed, bending girlishly to add in the Countess' ear, "To marry a -petty provincial attorney would be like being burned by slow fires." - -It was Francis, with his knowledge of officialdom, who had prompted -Zephirine to make this set upon Louise. - -"In the very earliest days after promotion," so the ex-consul-general -told his fair friend, "everybody, prefect, or monarch, or man of -business, is burning to exert his influence for his friends; but a -patron soon finds out the inconveniences of patronage, and then turns -from fire to ice. Louise will do more now for Petit-Claud than she -would do for her husband in three months' time." - -"Madame la Comtesse is thinking of all that our poet's triumph -entails?" continued Petit-Claud. "She should receive Lucien before -there is an end of the nine-days' wonder." - -The Countess terminated the audience with a bow, and rose to speak -with Mme. de Pimentel, who came to the boudoir. The news of old -Negrepelisse's elevation to a marquisate had greatly impressed the -Marquise; she judged it expedient to be amiable to a woman so clever -as to rise the higher for an apparent fall. - -"Do tell me, dear, why you took the trouble to put your father in the -House of Peers?" said the Marquise, in the course of a little -confidential conversation, in which she bent the knee before the -superiority of "her dear Louise." - -"They were all the more ready to grant the favor because my father has -no son to succeed him, dear, and his vote will always be at the -disposal of the Crown; but if we should have sons, I quite expect that -my oldest will succeed to his grandfather's name, title, and peerage." - -Mme. de Pimentel saw, to her annoyance, that it was idle to expect a -mother ambitious for children not yet in existence to further her own -private designs of raising M. de Pimentel to a peerage. - -"I have the Countess," Petit-Claud told Cointet when they came away. -"I can promise you your partnership. I shall be deputy prosecutor -before the month is out, and Sechard will be in your power. Try to -find a buyer for my connection; it has come to be the first in -Angouleme in my hands during the last five months----" - -"Once put _you_ on the horse, and there is no need to do more," said -Cointet, half jealous of his own work. - -The causes of Lucien's triumphant reception in his native town must -now be plain to everybody. Louise du Chatelet followed the example of -that King of France who left the Duke of Orleans unavenged; she chose -to forget the insults received in Paris by Mme. de Bargeton. She would -patronize Lucien, and overwhelming him with her patronage, would -completely crush him and get rid of him by fair means. Petit-Claud -knew the whole tale of the cabals in Paris through town gossip, and -shrewdly guessed how a woman must hate the man who would not love when -she was fain of his love. - -The ovation justified the past of Louise de Negrepelisse. The next day -Petit-Claud appeared at Mme. Sechard's house, heading a deputation of -six young men of the town, all of them Lucien's schoolfellows. He -meant to finish his work, to intoxicate Lucien completely, and to have -him in his power. Lucien's old schoolfellows at the Angouleme -grammar-school wished to invite the author of the _Marguerites_ and -_The Archer of Charles IX._ to a banquet given in honor of the great -man arisen from their ranks. - -"Come, this is your doing, Petit-Claud!" exclaimed Lucien. - -"Your return has stirred our conceit," said Petit-Claud; "we made it a -point of honor to get up a subscription, and we will have a tremendous -affair for you. The masters and the headmaster will be there, and, at -the present rate, we shall, no doubt, have the authorities too." - -"For what day?" asked Lucien. - -"Sunday next." - -"That is quite out of the question," said Lucien. "I cannot accept an -invitation for the next ten days, but then I will gladly----" - -"Very well," said Petit-Claud, "so be it then, in ten days' time." - -Lucien behaved charmingly to his old schoolfellows, and they regarded -him with almost respectful admiration. He talked away very wittily for -half an hour; he had been set upon a pedestal, and wished to justify -the opinion of his fellow-townsmen; so he stood with his hands thrust -into his pockets, and held forth from the height to which he had been -raised. He was modest and good-natured, as befitted genius in -dressing-gown and slippers; he was the athlete, wearied by a wrestling -bout with Paris, and disenchanted above all things; he congratulated -the comrades who had never left the dear old province, and so forth, -and so forth. They were delighted with him. He took Petit-Claud aside, -and asked him for the real truth about David's affairs, reproaching -him for allowing his brother-in-law to go into hiding, and tried to -match his wits against the little lawyer. Petit-Claud made an effort -over himself, and gave his acquaintance to understand that he -(Petit-Claud) was only an insignificant little country attorney, with -no sort of craft nor subtlety. - -The whole machinery of modern society is so infinitely more complex -than in ancient times, that the subdivision of human faculty is the -result. The great men of the days of old were perforce universal -geniuses, appearing at rare intervals like lighted torches in an -antique world. In the course of ages the intellect began to work on -special lines, but the great man still could "take all knowledge for -his province." A man "full cautelous," as was said of Louis XI., for -instance, could apply that special faculty in every direction, but -to-day the single quality is subdivided, and every profession has its -special craft. A peasant or a pettifogging solicitor might very easily -overreach an astute diplomate over a bargain in some remote country -village; and the wiliest journalist may prove the veriest simpleton in -a piece of business. Lucien could but be a puppet in the hands of -Petit-Claud. - -That guileful practitioner, as might have been expected, had written -the article himself; Angouleme and L'Houmeau, thus put on their -mettle, thought it incumbent upon them to pay honor to Lucien. His -fellow-citizens, assembled in the Place du Murier, were Cointets' -workpeople from the papermills and printing-house, with a sprinkling -of Lucien's old schoolfellows and the clerks in the employ of -Messieurs Petit-Claud and Cachan. As for the attorney himself, he was -once more Lucien's chum of old days; and he thought, not without -reason, that before very long he should learn David's whereabouts in -some unguarded moment. And if David came to grief through Lucien's -fault, the poet would find Angouleme too hot to hold him. Petit-Claud -meant to secure his hold; he posed, therefore, as Lucien's inferior. - -"What better could I have done?" he said accordingly. "My old chum's -sister was involved, it is true, but there are some positions that -simply cannot be maintained in a court of law. David asked me on the -first of June to ensure him a quiet life for three months; he had a -quiet life until September, and even so I have kept his property out -of his creditors' power, for I shall gain my case in the Court-Royal; -I contend that the wife is a privileged creditor, and her claim is -absolute, unless there is evidence of intent to defraud. As for you, -you have come back in misfortune, but you are a genius."--(Lucien -turned about as if the incense were burned too close to his face.) ---"Yes, my dear fellow, a _genius_. I have read your _Archer of -Charles IX._; it is more than a romance, it is literature. Only two -living men could have written the preface--Chateaubriand and Lucien." - -Lucien accepted that d'Arthez had written the preface. Ninety-nine -writers out of a hundred would have done the same. - -"Well, nobody here seemed to have heard of you!" Petit-Claud -continued, with apparent indignation. "When I saw the general -indifference, I made up my mind to change all that. I wrote that -article in the paper----" - -"What? did you write it?" exclaimed Lucien. - -"I myself. Angouleme and L'Houmeau were stirred to rivalry; I arranged -for a meeting of your old schoolfellows, and got up yesterday's -serenade; and when once the enthusiasm began to grow, we started a -committee for the dinner. 'If David is in hiding,' said I to myself, -'Lucien shall be crowned at any rate.' And I have done even better -than that," continued Petit-Claud; "I have seen the Comtesse du -Chatelet and made her understand that she owes it to herself to -extricate David from his position; she can do it, and she ought to do -it. If David had really discovered the secret of which he spoke to me, -the Government ought to lend him a hand, it would not ruin the -Government; and think what a fine thing for a prefect to have half the -credit of the great invention for the well-timed help. It would set -people talking about him as an enlightened administrator.--Your sister -has taken fright at our musketry practice; she was scared of the -smoke. A battle in the law-courts costs quite as much as a battle on -the field; but David has held his ground, he has his secret. They -cannot stop him, and they will not pull him up now." - -"Thanks, my dear fellow; I see that I can take you into my confidence; -you shall help me to carry out my plan." - -Petit-Claud looked at Lucien, and his gimlet face was a point of -interrogation. - -"I intend to rescue Sechard," Lucien said, with a certain importance. -"I brought his misfortunes upon him; I mean to make full -reparation. . . . I have more influence over Louise----" - -"Who is Louise?" - -"The Comtesse du Chatelet!" - -Petit-Claud started. - -"I have more influence over her than she herself suspects," said -Lucien; "only, my dear fellow, if I can do something with your -authorities here, I have no decent clothes."--Petit-Claud made as -though he would offer his purse. - -"Thank you," said Lucien, grasping Petit-Claud's hand. "In ten days' -time I will pay a visit to the Countess and return your call." - -The shook hands like old comrades, and separated. - -"He ought to be a poet" said Petit-Claud to himself; "he is quite -mad." - -"There are no friends like one's school friends; it is a true saying," -Lucien thought at he went to find his sister. - -"What can Petit-Claud have promised to do that you should be so -friendly with him, my Lucien?" asked Eve. "Be on your guard with him." - -"With _him_?" cried Lucien. "Listen, Eve," he continued, seeming to -bethink himself; "you have no faith in me now; you do not trust me, so -it is not likely you will trust Petit-Claud; but in ten or twelve days -you will change your mind," he added, with a touch of fatuity. And he -went to his room, and indited the following epistle to Lousteau:-- - - - _Lucien to Lousteau._ - - "MY FRIEND,--Of the pair of us, I alone can remember that bill for - a thousand francs that I once lent you; and I know how things will - be with you when you open this letter too well, alas! not to add - immediately that I do not expect to be repaid in current coin of - the realm; no, I will take it in credit from you, just as one - would ask Florine for pleasure. We have the same tailor; - therefore, you can order a complete outfit for me on the shortest - possible notice. I am not precisely wearing Adam's costume, but I - cannot show myself here. To my astonishment, the honors paid by - the departments to a Parisian celebrity awaited me. I am the hero - of a banquet, for all the world as if I were a Deputy of the Left. - Now, after that, do you understand that I must have a black coat? - Promise to pay; have it put down to your account, try the - advertisement dodge, rehearse an unpublished scene between Don - Juan and M. Dimanche, for I must have a gala suit at all costs. I - have nothing, nothing but rags: start with that; it is August, the - weather is magnificent, ergo see that I receive by the end of the - week a charming morning suit, dark bronze-green jacket, and three - waistcoats, one a brimstone yellow, one a plaid, and the third - must be white; furthermore, let there be three pairs of trousers - of the most fetching kind--one pair of white English stuff, one - pair of nankeen, and a third of thin black kerseymere; lastly, - send a black dress-coat and a black satin waistcoat. If you have - picked up another Florine somewhere, I beg her good offices for - two cravats. So far this is nothing; I count upon you and your - skill in these matters; I am not much afraid of the tailor. But - the ingenuity of poverty, assuredly the most active of all poisons - at work in the system of man (_id est_ the Parisian), an ingenuity - that would catch Satan himself napping, has failed so far to - discover a way to obtain a hat on credit!--How many a time, my - dear friend, have we deplored this! When one of us shall bring a - hat that costs one thousand francs into fashion, then, and not - till then, can we afford to wear them; until that day comes we are - bound to have cash enough in our pockets to pay for a hat. Ah! - what an ill turn the Comedie-Francaise did us with, 'Lafleur, you - will put gold in my pockets!' - - "I write with a profound sense of all the difficulties involved by - the demand. Enclose with the above a pair of boots, a pair of - pumps, a hat, half a dozen pairs of gloves. 'Tis asking the - impossible; I know it. But what is a literary life but a - periodical recurrence of the impossible? Work the miracle, write a - long article, or play some small scurvy trick, and I will hold - your debt as fully discharged--this is all I say to you. It is a - debt of honor after all, my dear fellow, and due these twelve - months; you ought to blush for yourself if you have any blushes - left. - - "Joking apart, my dear Lousteau, I am in serious difficulties, as - you may judge for yourself when I tell you that Mme. de Bargeton - has married Chatelet, and Chatelet is prefect of Angouleme. The - precious pair can do a good deal for my brother-in-law; he is in - hiding at this moment on account of that letter of exchange, and - the horrid business is all my doing. So it is a question of - appearing before Mme. la Prefete and regaining my influence at all - costs. It is shocking, is it not, that David Sechard's fate should - hang upon a neat pair of shoes, a pair of open-worked gray silk - stockings (mind you, remember them), and a new hat? I shall give - out that I am sick and ill, and take to my bed, like Duvicquet, to - save the trouble of replying to the pressing invitations of my - fellow-townsmen. My fellow-townsmen, dear boy, have treated me to - a fine serenade. _My fellow-townsmen_, forsooth! I begin to wonder - how many fools go to make up that word, since I learned that two - or three of my old schoolfellows worked up the capital of the - Angoumois to this pitch of enthusiasm. - - "If you could contrive to slip a few lines as to my reception in - among the news items, I should be several inches taller for it - here; and besides, I should make Mme. la Prefete feel that, if I - have not friends, I have some credit, at any rate, with the - Parisian press. I give up none of my hopes, and I will return the - compliment. If you want a good, solid, substantial article for - some magazine or other, I have time enough now to think something - out. I only say the word, my dear friend; I count upon you as you - may count upon me, and I am yours sincerely. - - "LUCIEN DE R. - - "P. S.--Send the things to the coach office to wait until called - for." - - -Lucien held up his head again. In this mood he wrote the letter, and -as he wrote his thoughts went back to Paris. He had spent six days in -the provinces, and the uneventful quietness of provincial life had -already entered into his soul; his mind returned to those dear old -miserable days with a vague sense of regret. The Comtesse du Chatelet -filled his thoughts for a whole week; and at last he came to attach so -much importance to his reappearance, that he hurried down to the coach -office in L'Houmeau after nightfall in a perfect agony of suspense, -like a woman who has set her last hopes upon a new dress, and waits in -despair until it arrives. - -"Ah! Lousteau, all your treasons are forgiven," he said to himself, as -he eyed the packages, and knew from the shape of them that everything -had been sent. Inside the hatbox he found a note from Lousteau:-- - - - FLORINE'S DRAWING-ROOM. - - "MY DEAR BOY,--The tailor behaved very well; but as thy profound - retrospective glance led thee to forbode, the cravats, the hats, - and the silk hosen perplexed our souls, for there was nothing in - our purse to be perplexed thereby. As said Blondet, so say we; - there is a fortune awaiting the establishment which will supply - young men with inexpensive articles on credit; for when we do not - pay in the beginning, we pay dear in the end. And by the by, did - not the great Napoleon, who missed a voyage to the Indies for want - of boots, say that, 'If a thing is easy, it is never done?' So - everything went well--except the boots. I beheld a vision of thee, - fully dressed, but without a hat! appareled in waistcoats, yet - shoeless! and bethought me of sending a pair of moccasins given to - Florine as a curiosity by an American. Florine offered the huge - sum of forty francs, that we might try our luck at play for you. - Nathan, Blondet, and I had such luck (as we were not playing for - ourselves) that we were rich enough to ask La Torpille, des - Lupeaulx's sometime 'rat,' to supper. Frascati certainly owed us - that much. Florine undertook the shopping, and added three fine - shirts to the purchases. Nathan sends you a cane. Blondet, who won - three hundred francs, is sending you a gold chain; and the gold - watch, the size of a forty-franc piece, is from La Torpille; some - idiot gave the thing to her, and it will not go. 'Trumpery - rubbish,' she says, 'like the man that owned it.' Bixiou, who came - to find us up at the _Rocher de Cancale_, wished to enclose a bottle - of Portugal water in the package. Said our first comic man, 'If - this can make him happy, let him have it!' growling it out in a - deep bass voice with the _bourgeois_ pomposity that he can act to - the life. Which things, my dear boy, ought to prove to you how - much we care for our friends in adversity. Florine, whom I have - had the weakness to forgive, begs you to send us an article on - Nathan's hat. Fare thee well, my son. I can only commiserate you - on finding yourself back in the same box from which you emerged - when you discovered your old comrade. - - "ETIENNE L." - - -"Poor fellows! They have been gambling for me," said Lucien; he was -quite touched by the letter. A waft of the breeze from an unhealthy -country, from the land where one has suffered most, may seem to bring -the odors of Paradise; and in a dull life there is an indefinable -sweetness in memories of past pain. - -Eve was struck dumb with amazement when her brother came down in his -new clothes. She did not recognize him. - -"Now I can walk out in Beaulieu," he cried; "they shall not say it of -me that I came back in rags. Look, here is a watch which I shall -return to you, for it is mine; and, like its owner, it is erratic in -its ways." - -"What a child he is!" exclaimed Eve. "It is impossible to bear you any -grudge." - -"Then do you imagine, my dear girl, that I sent for all this with the -silly idea of shining in Angouleme? I don't care _that_ for Angouleme" -(twirling his cane with the engraved gold knob). "I intend to repair -the wrong I have done, and this is my battle array." - -Lucien's success in this kind was his one real triumph; but the -triumph, be it said, was immense. If admiration freezes some people's -tongues, envy loosens at least as many more, and if women lost their -heads over Lucien, men slandered him. He might have cried, in the -words of the songwriter, "I thank thee, my coat!" He left two cards at -the prefecture, and another upon Petit-Claud. The next day, the day of -the banquet, the following paragraph appeared under the heading -"Angouleme" in the Paris newspapers:-- - - - "ANGOULEME. - - "The return of the author of _The Archer of Charles IX._ has been - the signal for an ovation which does equal honor to the town and - to M. Lucien de Rubempre, the young poet who has made so brilliant - a beginning; the writer of the one French historical novel not - written in the style of Scott, and of a preface which may be - called a literary event. The town hastened to offer him a - patriotic banquet on his return. The name of the - recently-appointed prefect is associated with the public - demonstration in honor of the author of the _Marguerites_, whose - talent received such warm encouragement from Mme. du Chatelet at - the outset of his career." - - -In France, when once the impulse is given, nobody can stop. The -colonel of the regiment offered to put his band at the disposal of the -committee. The landlord of the _Bell_ (renowned for truffled turkeys, -despatched in the most wonderful porcelain jars to the uttermost parts -of the earth), the famous innkeeper of L'Houmeau, would supply the -repast. At five o'clock some forty persons, all in state and festival -array, were assembled in his largest ball, decorated with hangings, -crowns of laurel, and bouquets. The effect was superb. A crowd of -onlookers, some hundred persons, attracted for the most part by the -military band in the yard, represented the citizens of Angouleme. - -Petit-Claud went to the window. "All Angouleme is here," he said, -looking out. - -"I can make nothing of this," remarked little Postel to his wife (they -had come out to hear the band play). "Why, the prefect and the -receiver-general, and the colonel and the superintendent of the powder -factory, and our mayor and deputy, and the headmaster of the school, -and the manager of the foundry at Ruelle, and the public prosecutor, -M. Milaud, and all the authorities, have just gone in!" - -The bank struck up as they sat down to table with variations on the -air _Vive le roy, vive la France_, a melody which has never found -popular favor. It was then five o'clock in the evening; it was eight -o'clock before dessert was served. Conspicuous among the sixty-five -dishes appeared an Olympus in confectionery, surmounted by a figure of -France modeled in chocolate, to give the signal for toasts and -speeches. - -"Gentlemen," called the prefect, rising to his feet, "the King! the -rightful ruler of France! To what do we owe the generation of poets -and thinkers who maintain the sceptre of letters in the hands of -France, if not to the peace which the Bourbons have restored----" - -"Long live the King!" cried the assembled guests (ministerialists -predominated). - -The venerable headmaster rose. - -"To the hero of the day," he said, "to the young poet who combines the -gift of the _prosateur_ with the charm and poetic faculty of Petrarch in -that sonnet-form which Boileau declares to be so difficult." - -Cheers. - -The colonel rose next. "Gentlemen, to the Royalist! for the hero of -this evening had the courage to fight for sound principles!" - -"Bravo!" cried the prefect, leading the applause. - -Then Petit-Claud called upon all Lucien's schoolfellows there present. -"To the pride of the grammar-school of Angouleme! to the venerable -headmaster so dear to us all, to whom the acknowledgment for some part -of our triumph is due!" - -The old headmaster dried his eyes; he had not expected this toast. -Lucien rose to his feet, the whole room was suddenly silent, and the -poet's face grew white. In that pause the old headmaster, who sat on -his left, crowned him with a laurel wreath. A round of applause -followed, and when Lucien spoke it was with tears in his eyes and a -sob in his throat. - -"He is drunk," remarked the attorney-general-designate to his -neighbor, Petit-Claud. - -"My dear fellow-countrymen, my dear comrades," Lucien said at last, "I -could wish that all France might witness this scene; for thus men rise -to their full stature, and in such ways as these our land demands -great deeds and noble work of us. And when I think of the little that -I have done, and of this great honor shown to me to-day, I can only -feel confused and impose upon the future the task of justifying your -reception of me. The recollection of this moment will give me renewed -strength for efforts to come. Permit me to indicate for your homage my -earliest muse and protectress, and to associate her name with that of -my birthplace; so--to the Comtesse du Chatelet and the noble town of -Angouleme!" - -"He came out of that pretty well!" said the public prosecutor, nodding -approval; "our speeches were all prepared, and his was improvised." - -At ten o'clock the party began to break up, and little knots of guests -went home together. David Sechard heard the unwonted music. - -"What is going on in L'Houmeau?" he asked of Basine. - -"They are giving a dinner to your brother-in-law, Lucien----" - -"I know that he would feel sorry to miss me there," he said. - -At midnight Petit-Claud walked home with Lucien. As they reached the -Place du Murier, Lucien said, "Come life, come death, we are friends, -my dear fellow." - -"My marriage contract," said the lawyer, "with Mlle. Francoise de la -Haye will be signed to-morrow at Mme. de Senonches' house; do me the -pleasure of coming. Mme. de Senonches implored me to bring you, and -you will meet Mme. du Chatelet; they are sure to tell her of your -speech, and she will feel flattered by it." - -"I knew what I was about," said Lucien. - -"Oh! you will save David." - -"I am sure I shall," the poet replied. - -Just at that moment David appeared as if by magic in the Place du -Murier. This was how it had come about. He felt that he was in a -rather difficult position; his wife insisted that Lucien must neither -go to David nor know of his hiding-place; and Lucien all the while was -writing the most affectionate letters, saying that in a few days' time -all should be set right; and even as Basine Clerget explained the -reason why the band played, she put two letters into his hands. The -first was from Eve. - - - "DEAREST," she wrote, "do as if Lucien were not here; do not - trouble yourself in the least; our whole security depends upon the - fact that your enemies cannot find you; get that idea firmly into - your head. I have more confidence in Kolb and Marion and Basine - than in my own brother; such is my misfortune. Alas! poor Lucien - is not the ingenuous and tender-hearted poet whom we used to know; - and it is simply because he is trying to interfere on your behalf, - and because he imagines that he can discharge our debts (and this - from pride, my David), that I am afraid of him. Some fine clothes - have been sent from Paris for him, and five gold pieces in a - pretty purse. He gave the money to me, and we are living on it. - - "We have one enemy the less. Your father has gone, thanks to - Petit-Claud. Petit-Claud unraveled his designs, and put an end to - them at once by telling him that you would do nothing without - consulting him, and that he (Petit-Claud) would not allow you to - concede a single point in the matter of the invention until you - had been promised an indemnity of thirty thousand francs; fifteen - thousand to free you from embarrassment, and fifteen thousand more - to be yours in any case, whether your invention succeeds or no. I - cannot understand Petit-Claud. I embrace you, dear, a wife's kiss - for her husband in trouble. Our little Lucien is well. How strange - it is to watch him grow rosy and strong, like a flower, in these - stormy days! Mother prays God for you now, as always, and sends - love only less tender than mine.--Your - "EVE." - - -As a matter of fact, Petit-Claud and the Cointets had taken fright at -old Sechard's peasant shrewdness, and got rid of him so much the more -easily because it was now vintage time at Marsac. Eve's letter -enclosed another from Lucien:-- - - - "MY DEAR DAVID,--Everything is going well. I am armed _cap-a-pie_; - to-day I open the campaign, and in forty-eight hours I shall have - made great progress. How glad I shall be to embrace you when you - are free again and my debts are all paid! My mother and sister - persist in mistrusting me; their suspicion wounds me to the quick. - As if I did not know already that you are hiding with Basine, for - every time that Basine comes to the house I hear news of you and - receive answers to my letters; and besides, it is plain that my - sister could not find any one else to trust. It hurts me cruelly - to think that I shall be so near you to-day, and yet that you will - not be present at this banquet in my honor. I owe my little - triumph to the vainglory of Angouleme; in a few days it will be - quite forgotten, and you alone would have taken a real pleasure in - it. But, after all, in a little while you will pardon everything - to one who counts it more than all the triumphs in the world to be - your brother, - "LUCIEN." - - -Two forces tugged sharply at David's heart; he adored his wife; and if -he held Lucien in somewhat less esteem, his friendship was scarcely -diminished. In solitude our feelings have unrestricted play; and a man -preoccupied like David, with all-absorbing thoughts, will give way to -impulses for which ordinary life would have provided a sufficient -counterpoise. As he read Lucien's letter to the sound of military -music, and heard of this unlooked-for recognition, he was deeply -touched by that expression of regret. He had known how it would be. A -very slight expression of feeling appeals irresistibly to a sensitive -soul, for they are apt to credit others with like depths. How should -the drop fall unless the cup were full to the brim? - -So at midnight, in spite of all Basine's entreaties, David must go to -see Lucien. - -"Nobody will be out in the streets at this time of night," he said; "I -shall not be seen, and they cannot arrest me. Even if I should meet -people, I can make use of Kolb's way of going into hiding. And -besides, it is so intolerably long since I saw my wife and child." - -The reasoning was plausible enough; Basine gave way, and David went. -Petit-Claud was just taking leave as he came up and at his cry of -_"Lucien!"_ the two brothers flung their arms about each other with -tears in their eyes. - -Life holds not many moments such as these. Lucien's heart went out in -response to this friendship for its own sake. There was never question -of debtor and creditor between them, and the offender met with no -reproaches save his own. David, generous and noble that he was, was -longing to bestow pardon; he meant first of all to read Lucien a -lecture, and scatter the clouds that overspread the love of the -brother and sister; and with these ends in view, the lack of money and -its consequent dangers disappeared entirely from his mind. - -"Go home," said Petit-Claud, addressing his client; "take advantage of -your imprudence to see your wife and child again, at any rate; and you -must not be seen, mind you!--How unlucky!" he added, when he was alone -in the Place du Murier. "If only Cerizet were here----" - -The buildings magniloquently styled the Angouleme Law Courts were then -in process of construction. Petit-Claud muttered these words to -himself as he passed by the hoardings, and heard a tap upon the -boards, and a voice issuing from a crack between two planks. - -"Here I am," said Cerizet; "I saw David coming out of L'Houmeau. I was -beginning to have my suspicions about his retreat, and now I am sure; -and I know where to have him. But I want to know something of Lucien's -plans before I set the snare for David; and here are you sending him -into the house! Find some excuse for stopping here, at least, and when -David and Lucien come out, send them round this way; they will think -they are quite alone, and I shall overhear their good-bye." - -"You are a very devil," muttered Petit-Claud. - -"Well, I'm blessed if a man wouldn't do anything for the thing you -promised me." - -Petit-Claud walked away from the hoarding, and paced up and down in -the Place du Murier; he watched the windows of the room where the -family sat together, and thought of his own prospects to keep up his -courage. Cerizet's cleverness had given him the chance of striking the -final blow. Petit-Claud was a double-dealer of the profoundly cautious -stamp that is never caught by the bait of a present satisfaction, nor -entangled by a personal attachment, after his first initiation into -the strategy of self-seeking and the instability of the human heart. -So, from the very first, he had put little trust in Cointet. He -foresaw that his marriage negotiations might very easily be broken -off, saw also that in that case he could not accuse Cointet of bad -faith, and he had taken his measures accordingly. But since his -success at the Hotel de Bargeton, Petit-Claud's game was above board. -A certain under-plot of his was useless now, and even dangerous to a -man with his political ambitions. He had laid the foundations of his -future importance in the following manner:-- - -Gannerac and a few of the wealthy men of business in L'Houmeau formed -a sort of Liberal clique in constant communication (through commercial -channels) with the leaders of the Opposition. The Villele ministry, -accepted by the dying Louis XVIII., gave the signal for a change of -tactics in the Opposition camp; for, since the death of Napoleon, the -liberals had ceased to resort to the dangerous expedient of -conspiracy. They were busy organizing resistance by lawful means -throughout the provinces, and aiming at securing control of the great -bulk of electors by convincing the masses. Petit-Claud, a rabid -Liberal, and a man of L'Houmeau, was the instigator, the secret -counselor, and the very life of this movement in the lower town, which -groaned under the tyranny of the aristocrats at the upper end. He was -the first to see the danger of leaving the whole press of the -department in the control of the Cointets; the Opposition must have -its organ; it would not do to be behind other cities. - -"If each one of us gives Gannerac a bill for five hundred francs, he -would have some twenty thousand francs and more; we might buy up -Sechard's printing-office, and we could do as we liked with the -master-printer if we lent him the capital," Petit-Claud had said. - -Others had taken up the idea, and in this way Petit-Claud strengthened -his position with regard to David on the one side and the Cointets on -the other. Casting about him for a tool for his party, he naturally -thought that a rogue of Cerizet's calibre was the very man for the -purpose. - -"If you can find Sechard's hiding-place and put him in our hands, -somebody will lend you twenty thousand francs to buy his business, and -very likely there will be a newspaper to print. So, set about it," he -had said. - -Petit-Claud put more faith in Cerizet's activity than in all the -Doublons in existence; and then it was that he promised Cointet that -Sechard should be arrested. But now that the little lawyer cherished -hopes of office, he saw that he must turn his back upon the Liberals; -and, meanwhile, the amount for the printing-office had been subscribed -in L'Houmeau. Petit-Claud decided to allow things to take their -natural course. - -"Pooh!" he thought, "Cerizet will get into trouble with his paper, and -give me an opportunity of displaying my talents." - -He walked up to the door of the printing-office and spoke to Kolb, the -sentinel. "Go up and warn David that he had better go now," he said, -"and take every precaution. I am going home; it is one o'clock." - -Marion came to take Kolb's place. Lucien and David came down together -and went out, Kolb a hundred paces ahead of them, and Marion at the -same distance behind. The two friends walked past the hoarding, Lucien -talking eagerly the while. - -"My plan is extremely simple, David; but how could I tell you about it -while Eve was there? She would never understand. I am quite sure that -at the bottom of Louise's heart there is a feeling that I can rouse, -and I should like to arouse it if it is only to avenge myself upon -that idiot the prefect. If our love affair only lasts for a week, I -will contrive to send an application through her for the subvention of -twenty thousand francs for you. I am going to see her again to-morrow -in the little boudoir where our old affair of the heart began; -Petit-Claud says that the room is the same as ever; I shall play my -part in the comedy; and I will send word by Basine to-morrow morning -to tell you whether the actor was hissed. You may be at liberty by -then, who knows?--Now do you understand how it was that I wanted -clothes from Paris? One cannot act the lover's part in rags." - -At six o'clock that morning Cerizet went to Petit-Claud. - -"Doublon can be ready to take his man to-morrow at noon, I will answer -for it," he said; "I know one of Mlle. Clerget's girls, do you -understand?" Cerizet unfolded his plan, and Petit-Claud hurried to -find Cointet. - -"If M. Francis du Hautoy will settle his property on Francoise, you -shall sign a deed of partnership with Sechard in two days. I shall not -be married for a week after the contract is signed, so we shall both -be within the terms of our little agreement, tit for tat. To-night, -however, we must keep a close watch over Lucien and Mme. la Comtesse -du Chatelet, for the whole business lies in that. . . . If Lucien -hopes to succeed through the Countess' influence, I have David -safe----" - -"You will be Keeper of the Seals yet, it is my belief," said Cointet. - -"And why not? No one objects to M. de Peyronnet," said Petit-Claud. He -had not altogether sloughed his skin of Liberalism. - -Mlle. de la Haye's ambiguous position brought most of the upper town -to the signing of the marriage contract. The comparative poverty of -the young couple and the absence of a _corbeille_ quickened the interest -that people love to exhibit; for it is with beneficence as with -ovations, we prefer the deeds of charity which gratify self-love. The -Marquise de Pimentel, the Comtesse du Chatelet, M. de Senonches, and -one or two frequenters of the house had given Francoise a few wedding -presents, which made great talk in the city. These pretty trifles, -together with the trousseau which Zephirine had been preparing for the -past twelve months, the godfather's jewels, and the usual wedding -gifts, consoled Francoise and roused the curiosity of some mothers of -daughters. - -Petit-Claud and Cointet had both remarked that their presence in the -Angouleme Olympus was endured rather than courted. Cointet was -Francoise's trustee and quasi-guardian; and if Petit-Claud was to sign -the contract, Petit-Claud's presence was as necessary as the -attendance of the man to be hanged at an execution; but though, once -married, Mme. Petit-Claud might keep her right of entry to her -godmother's house, Petit-Claud foresaw some difficulty on his own -account, and resolved to be beforehand with these haughty personages. - -He felt ashamed of his parents. He had sent his mother to stay at -Mansle; now he begged her to say that she was out of health and to -give her consent in writing. So humiliating was it to be without -relations, protectors, or witnesses to his signature, that Petit-Claud -thought himself in luck that he could bring a presentable friend at -the Countess' request. He called to take up Lucien, and they drove to -the Hotel de Bargeton. - -On that memorable evening the poet dressed to outshine every man -present. Mme. de Senonches had spoken of him as the hero of the hour, -and a first interview between two estranged lovers is the kind of -scene that provincials particularly love. Lucien had come to be the -lion of the evening; he was said to be so handsome, so much changed, -so wonderful, that every well-born woman in Angouleme was curious to -see him again. Following the fashion of the transition period between -the eighteenth century small clothes and the vulgar costume of the -present day, he wore tight-fitting black trousers. Men still showed -their figures in those days, to the utter despair of lean, -clumsily-made mortals; and Lucien was an Apollo. The open-work gray -silk stockings, the neat shoes, and the black satin waistcoat were -scrupulously drawn over his person, and seemed to cling to him. His -forehead looked the whiter by contrast with the thick, bright curls -that rose above it with studied grace. The proud eyes were radiant. -The hands, small as a woman's, never showed to better advantage than -when gloved. He had modeled himself upon de Marsay, the famous -Parisian dandy, holding his hat and cane in one hand, and keeping the -other free for the very occasional gestures which illustrated his -talk. - -Lucien had quite intended to emulate the famous false modesty of those -who bend their heads to pass beneath the Porte Saint-Denis, and to -slip unobserved into the room; but Petit-Claud, having but one friend, -made him useful. He brought Lucien almost pompously through a crowded -room to Mme. de Senonches. The poet heard a murmur as he passed; not -so very long ago that hum of voices would have turned his head, to-day -he was quite different; he did not doubt that he himself was greater -than the whole Olympus put together. - -"Madame," he said, addressing Mme. de Senonches, "I have already -congratulated my friend Petit-Claud (a man with the stuff in him of -which Keepers of the Seals are made) on the honor of his approaching -connection with you, slight as are the ties between godmother and -goddaughter----" (this with the air of a man uttering an epigram, by -no means lost upon any woman in the room, for every woman was -listening without appearing to do so.) "And as for myself," he -continued, "I am delighted to have the opportunity of paying my homage -to you." - -He spoke easily and fluently, as some great lord might speak under the -roof of his inferiors; and as he listened to Zephirine's involved -reply, he cast a glance over the room to consider the effect that he -wished to make. The pause gave him time to discover Francis du Hautoy -and the prefect; to bow gracefully to each with the proper shade of -difference in his smile, and, finally, to approach Mme. du Chatelet as -if he had just caught sight of her. That meeting was the real event of -the evening. No one so much as thought of the marriage contract lying -in the adjoining bedroom, whither Francoise and the notary led guest -after guest to sign the document. Lucien made a step towards Louise de -Negrepelisse, and then spoke with that grace of manner now associated, -for her, with memories of Paris. - -"Do I owe to you, madame, the pleasure of an invitation to dine at the -Prefecture the day after to-morrow?" he said. - -"You owe it solely to your fame, monsieur," Louise answered drily, -somewhat taken aback by the turn of a phrase by which Lucien -deliberately tried to wound her pride. - -"Ah! Madame la Comtesse, I cannot bring you the guest if the man is in -disgrace," said Lucien, and, without waiting for an answer, he turned -and greeted the Bishop with stately grace. - -"Your lordship's prophecy has been partially fulfilled," he said, and -there was a winning charm in his tones; "I will endeavor to fulfil it -to the letter. I consider myself very fortunate since this evening -brings me an opportunity of paying my respects to you." - -Lucien drew the Bishop into a conversation that lasted for ten -minutes. The women looked on Lucien as a phenomenon. His unexpected -insolence had struck Mme. du Chatelet dumb; she could not find an -answer. Looking round the room, she saw that every woman admired -Lucien; she watched group after group repeating the phrases by which -Lucien crushed her with seeming disdain, and her heart contracted with -a spasm of mortification. - -"Suppose that he should not come to the Prefecture after this, what -talk there would be!" she thought. "Where did he learn this pride? Can -Mlle. des Touches have taken a fancy for him? . . . He is so handsome. -They say that she hurried to see him in Paris the day after that -actress died. . . . Perhaps he has come to the rescue of his -brother-in-law, and happened to be behind our caleche at Mansle by -accident. Lucien looked at us very strangely that morning." - -A crowd of thoughts crossed Louise's brain, and unluckily for her, she -continued to ponder visibly as she watched Lucien. He was talking with -the Bishop as if he were the king of the room; making no effort to -find any one out, waiting till others came to him, looking round about -him with varying expression, and as much at his ease as his model de -Marsay. M. de Senonches appeared at no great distance, but Lucien -still stood beside the prelate. - -At the end of ten minutes Louise could contain herself no longer. She -rose and went over to the Bishop and said: - -"What is being said, my lord, that you smile so often?" - -Lucien drew back discreetly, and left Mme. du Chatelet with his -lordship. - -"Ah! Mme. la Comtesse, what a clever young fellow he is! He was -explaining to me that he owed all he is to you----" - -"_I_ am not ungrateful, madame," said Lucien, with a reproachful -glance that charmed the Countess. - -"Let us have an understanding," she said, beckoning him with her fan. -"Come into the boudoir. My Lord Bishop, you shall judge between us." - -"She has found a funny task for his lordship," said one of the -Chandour camp, sufficiently audibly. - -"Judge between us!" repeated Lucien, looking from the prelate to the -lady; "then, is one of us in fault?" - -Louise de Negrepelisse sat down on the sofa in the familiar boudoir. -She made the Bishop sit on one side and Lucien on the other, then she -began to speak. But Lucien, to the joy and surprise of his old love, -honored her with inattention; her words fell unheeded on his ears; he -sat like Pasta in _Tancredi_, with the words _O patria!_ upon her lips, -the music of the great cavatina _Dell Rizzo_ might have passed into his -face. Indeed, Coralie's pupil had contrived to bring the tears to his -eyes. - -"Oh! Louise, how I loved you!" he murmured, careless of the Bishop's -presence, heedless of the conversation, as soon as he knew that the -Countess had seen the tears. - -"Dry your eyes, or you will ruin me here a second time," she said in -an aside that horrified the prelate. - -"And once is enough," was Lucien's quick retort. "That speech from -Mme. d'Espard's cousin would dry the eyes of a weeping Magdalene. Oh -me! for a little moment old memories, and lost illusions, and my -twentieth year came back to me, and you have----" - -His lordship hastily retreated to the drawing-room at this; it seemed -to him that his dignity was like to be compromised by this sentimental -pair. Every one ostentatiously refrained from interrupting them, and a -quarter of an hour went by; till at last Sixte du Chatelet, vexed by -the laughter and talk, and excursions to the boudoir door, went in -with a countenance distinctly overclouded, and found Louise and Lucien -talking excitedly. - -"Madame," said Sixte in his wife's ear, "you know Angouleme better -than I do, and surely you should think of your position as Mme. la -Prefete and of the Government?" - -"My dear," said Louise, scanning her responsible editor with a -haughtiness that made him quake, "I am talking with M. de Rubempre of -matters which interest you. It is a question of rescuing an inventor -about to fall a victim to the basest machinations; you will help us. -As to those ladies yonder, and their opinion of me, you shall see how -I will freeze the venom of their tongues." - -She came out of the boudoir on Lucien's arm, and drew him across to -sign the contract with a great lady's audacity. - -"Write your name after mine," she said, handing him the pen. And -Lucien submissively signed in the place indicated beneath her name. - -"M. de Senonches, would you have recognized M. de Rubempre?" she -continued, and the insolent sportsman was compelled to greet Lucien. - -She returned to the drawing-room on Lucien's arm, and seated him on -the awe-inspiring central sofa between herself and Zephirine. There, -enthroned like a queen, she began, at first in a low voice, a -conversation in which epigram evidently was not wanting. Some of her -old friends, and several women who paid court to her, came to join the -group, and Lucien soon became the hero of the circle. The Countess -drew him out on the subject of life in Paris; his satirical talk -flowed with spontaneous and incredible spirit; he told anecdotes of -celebrities, those conversational luxuries which the provincial -devours with such avidity. His wit was as much admired as his good -looks. And Mme. la Comtesse Sixte du Chatelet, preparing Lucien's -triumph so patiently, sat like a player enraptured with the sound of -his instrument; she gave him opportunities for a reply; she looked -round the circle for applause so openly, that not a few of the women -began to think that their return together was something more than a -coincidence, and that Lucien and Louise, loving with all their hearts, -had been separated by a double treason. Pique, very likely, had -brought about this ill-starred match with Chatelet. And a reaction set -in against the prefect. - -Before the Countess rose to go at one o'clock in the morning, she -turned to Lucien and said in a low voice, "Do me the pleasure of -coming punctually to-morrow evening." Then, with the friendliest -little nod, she went, saying a few words to Chatelet, who was looking -for his hat. - -"If Mme. du Chatelet has given me a correct idea of the state of -affairs, count on me, my dear Lucien," said the prefect, preparing to -hurry after his wife. She was going away without him, after the Paris -fashion. "Your brother-in-law may consider that his troubles are at an -end," he added as he went. - -"M. le Comte surely owes me so much," smiled Lucien. - -Cointet and Petit-Claud heard these farewell speeches. - -"Well, well, we are done for now," Cointet muttered in his -confederate's ear. Petit-Claud, thunderstruck by Lucien's success, -amazed by his brilliant wit and varying charm, was gazing at Francoise -de la Haye; the girl's whole face was full of admiration for Lucien. -"Be like your friend," she seemed to say to her betrothed. A gleam of -joy flitted over Petit-Claud's countenance. - -"We still have a whole day before the prefect's dinner; I will answer -for everything." - -An hour later, as Petit-Claud and Lucien walked home together, Lucien -talked of his success. "Well, my dear fellow, I came, I saw, I -conquered! Sechard will be very happy in a few hours' time." - -"Just what I wanted to know," thought Petit-Claud. Aloud he said--"I -thought you were simply a poet, Lucien, but you are a Lauzun too, that -is to say--twice a poet," and they shook hands--for the last time, as -it proved. - -"Good news, dear Eve," said Lucien, waking his sister, "David will -have no debts in less than a month!" - -"How is that?" - -"Well, my Louise is still hidden by Mme. du Chatelet's petticoat. She -loves me more than ever; she will send a favorable report of our -discovery to the Minister of the Interior through her husband. So we -have only to endure our troubles for one month, while I avenge myself -on the prefect and complete the happiness of his married life." - -Eve listened, and thought that she must be dreaming. - -"I saw the little gray drawing-room where I trembled like a child two -years ago; it seemed as if scales fell from my eyes when I saw the -furniture and the pictures and the faces again. How Paris changes -one's ideas!" - -"Is that a good thing?" asked Eve, at last beginning to understand. - -"Come, come; you are still asleep. We will talk about it to-morrow -after breakfast." - -Cerizet's plot was exceedingly simple, a commonplace stratagem -familiar to the provincial bailiff. Its success entirely depends upon -circumstances, and in this case it was certain, so intimate was -Cerizet's knowledge of the characters and hopes of those concerned. -Cerizet had been a kind of Don Juan among the young work-girls, ruling -his victims by playing one off against another. Since he had been the -Cointet's extra foreman, he had singled out one of Basine Clerget's -assistants, a girl almost as handsome as Mme. Sechard. Henriette -Signol's parents owned a small vineyard two leagues out of Angouleme, -on the road to Saintes. The Signols, like everybody else in the -country, could not afford to keep their only child at home; so they -meant her to go out to service, in country phrase. The art of -clear-starching is a part of every country housemaid's training; and -so great was Mme. Prieur's reputation, that the Signols sent Henriette -to her as apprentice, and paid for their daughter's board and lodging. - -Mme. Prieur was one of the old-fashioned mistresses, who consider that -they fill a parent's place towards their apprentices. They were part -of the family; she took them with her to church, and looked -scrupulously after them. Henriette Signol was a tall, fine-looking -girl, with bold eyes, and long, thick, dark hair, and the pale, very -fair complexion of girls in the South--white as a magnolia flower. For -which reasons Henriette was one of the first on whom Cerizet cast his -eyes; but Henriette came of "honest farmer folk," and only yielded at -last to jealousy, to bad example, and the treacherous promise of -subsequent marriage. By this time Cerizet was the Cointet's foreman. -When he learned that the Signols owned a vineyard worth some ten or -twelve thousand francs, and a tolerably comfortable cottage, he -hastened to make it impossible for Henriette to marry any one else. -Affairs had reached this point when Petit-Claud held out the prospect -of a printing office and twenty thousand francs of borrowed capital, -which was to prove a yoke upon the borrower's neck. Cerizet was -dazzled, the offer turned his head; Henriette Signol was now only an -obstacle in the way of his ambitions, and he neglected the poor girl. -Henriette, in her despair, clung more closely to her seducer as he -tried to shake her off. When Cerizet began to suspect that David was -hiding in Basine's house, his views with regard to Henriette underwent -another change, though he treated her as before. A kind of frenzy -works in a girl's brain when she must marry her seducer to conceal her -dishonor, and Cerizet was on the watch to turn this madness to his own -account. - -During the morning of the day when Lucien had set himself to reconquer -his Louise, Cerizet told Basine's secret to Henriette, giving her to -understand at the same time that their marriage and future prospects -depended upon the discovery of David's hiding-place. Thus instructed, -Henriette easily made certain of the fact that David was in Basine -Clerget's inner room. It never occurred to the girl that she was doing -wrong to act the spy, and Cerizet involved her in the guilt of -betrayal by this first step. - -Lucien was still sleeping while Cerizet, closeted with Petit-Claud, -heard the history of the important trifles with which all Angouleme -presently would ring. - -The Cointets' foreman gave a satisfied nod as Petit-Claud came to an -end. "Lucien surely has written you a line since he came back, has he -not?" he asked. - -"This is all that I have," answered the lawyer, and he held out a note -on Mme. Sechard's writing-paper. - -"Very well," said Cerizet, "let Doublon be in wait at the Palet Gate -about ten minutes before sunset; tell him to post his gendarmes, and -you shall have our man." - -"Are you sure of _your_ part of the business?" asked Petit-Claud, -scanning Cerizet. - -"I rely on chance," said the ex-street boy, "and she is a saucy huzzy; -she does not like honest folk. - -"You must succeed," said Cerizet. "You have pushed me into this dirty -business; you may as well let me have a few banknotes to wipe off the -stains."--Then detecting a look that he did not like in the attorney's -face, he continued, with a deadly glance, "If you have cheated me, -sir, if you don't buy the printing-office for me within a week--you -will leave a young widow;" he lowered his voice. - -"If we have David on the jail register at six o'clock, come round to -M. Gannerac's at nine, and we will settle your business," said -Petit-Claud peremptorily. - -"Agreed. Your will shall be done, governor," said Cerizet. - -Cerizet understood the art of washing paper, a dangerous art for the -Treasury. He washed out Lucien's four lines and replaced them, -imitating the handwriting with a dexterity which augured ill for his -own future:-- - - - "MY DEAR DAVID,--Your business is settled; you need not fear to go - to the prefect. You can go out at sunset. I will come to meet you - and tell you what to do at the prefecture.--Your brother, - "LUCIEN." - - -At noon Lucien wrote to David, telling him of his evening's success. -The prefect would be sure to lend his influence, he said; he was full -of enthusiasm over the invention, and was drawing up a report that -very day to send to the Government. Marion carried the letter to -Basine, taking some of Lucien's linen to the laundry as a pretext for -the errand. - -Petit-Claud had told Cerizet that a letter would in all probability be -sent. Cerizet called for Mlle. Signol, and the two walked by the -Charente. Henriette's integrity must have held out for a long while, -for the walk lasted for two hours. A whole future of happiness and -ease and the interests of a child were at stake, and Cerizet asked a -mere trifle of her. He was very careful besides to say nothing of the -consequences of that trifle. She was only to carry a letter and a -message, that was all; but it was the greatness of the reward for the -trifling service that frightened Henriette. Nevertheless, Cerizet -gained her consent at last; she would help him in his stratagem. - -At five o'clock Henriette must go out and come in again, telling -Basine Clerget that Mme. Sechard wanted to speak to her at once. -Fifteen minutes after Basine's departure she must go upstairs, knock -at the door of the inner room, and give David the forged note. That -was all. Cerizet looked to chance to manage the rest. - - - -For the first time in twelve months, Eve felt the iron grasp of -necessity relax a little. She began at last to hope. She, too, would -enjoy her brother's visit; she would show herself abroad on the arm of -a man feted in his native town, adored by the women, beloved by the -proud Comtesse du Chatelet. She dressed herself prettily, and proposed -to walk out after dinner with her brother to Beaulieu. In September -all Angouleme comes out at that hour to breathe the fresh air. - -"Oh! that is the beautiful Mme. Sechard," voices said here and there. - -"I should never have believed it of her," said a woman. - -"The husband is in hiding, and the wife walks abroad," said Mme. -Postel for young Mme. Sechard's benefit. - -"Oh, let us go home," said poor Eve; "I have made a mistake." - -A few minutes before sunset, the sound of a crowd rose from the steps -that lead down to L'Houmeau. Apparently some crime had been committed, -for persons coming from L'Houmeau were talking among themselves. -Curiosity drew Lucien and Eve towards the steps. - -"A thief has just been arrested no doubt, the man looks as pale as -death," one of these passers-by said to the brother and sister. The -crowd grew larger. - -Lucien and Eve watched a group of some thirty children, old women and -men, returning from work, clustering about the gendarmes, whose -gold-laced caps gleamed above the heads of the rest. About a hundred -persons followed the procession, the crowd gathering like a storm -cloud. - -"Oh! it is my husband!" Eve cried out. - -_"David!"_ exclaimed Lucien. - -"It is his wife," said voices, and the crowd made way. - -"What made you come out?" asked Lucien. - -"Your letter," said David, haggard and white. - -"I knew it!" said Eve, and she fainted away. Lucien raised his sister, -and with the help of two strangers he carried her home; Marion laid -her in bed, and Kolb rushed off for a doctor. Eve was still insensible -when the doctor arrived; and Lucien was obliged to confess to his -mother that he was the cause of David's arrest; for he, of course, -knew nothing of the forged letter and Cerizet's stratagem. Then he -went up to his room and locked himself in, struck dumb by the -malediction in his mother's eyes. - -In the dead of night he wrote one more letter amid constant -interruptions; the reader can divine the agony of the writer's mind -from those phrases, jerked out, as it were, one by one:-- - - - "MY BELOVED SISTER,--We have seen each other for the last time. My - resolution is final, and for this reason. In many families there - is one unlucky member, a kind of disease in their midst. I am that - unlucky one in our family. The observation is not mine; it was - made at a friendly supper one evening at the _Rocher de Cancale_ by - a diplomate who has seen a great deal of the world. While we - laughed and joked, he explained the reason why some young lady or - some other remained unmarried, to the astonishment of the world - --it was 'a touch of her father,' he said, and with that he unfolded - his theory of inherited weaknesses. He told us how such and such a - family would have flourished but for the mother; how it was that a - son had ruined his father, or a father had stripped his children - of prospects and respectability. It was said laughingly, but we - thought of so many cases in point in ten minutes that I was struck - with the theory. The amount of truth in it furnished all sorts of - wild paradoxes, which journalists maintain cleverly enough for - their own amusement when there is nobody else at hand to mystify. - I bring bad luck to our family. My heart is full of love for you, - yet I behave like an enemy. The blow dealt unintentionally is the - cruelest blow of all. While I was leading a bohemian life in - Paris, a life made up of pleasure and misery; taking good - fellowship for friendship, forsaking my true friends for those who - wished to exploit me, and succeeded; forgetful of you, or - remembering you only to cause you trouble,--all that while you - were walking in the humble path of hard work, making your way - slowly but surely to the fortune which I tried so madly to snatch. - While you grew better, I grew worse; a fatal element entered into - my life through my own choice. Yes, unbounded ambition makes an - obscure existence simply impossible for me. I have tastes and - remembrances of past pleasures that poison the enjoyments within - my reach; once I should have been satisfied with them, now it is - too late. Oh, dear Eve, no one can think more hardly of me than I - do myself; my condemnation is absolute and pitiless. The struggle - in Paris demands steady effort; my will power is spasmodic, my - brain works intermittently. The future is so appalling that I do - not care to face it, and the present is intolerable. - - "I wanted to see you again. I should have done better to stay in - exile all my days. But exile without means of subsistence would be - madness; I will not add another folly to the rest. Death is better - than a maimed life; I cannot think of myself in any position in - which my overweening vanity would not lead me into folly. - - "Some human beings are like the figure 0, another must be put - before it, and they acquire ten times their value. I am nothing - unless a strong inexorable will is wedded to mine. Mme. de - Bargeton was in truth my wife; when I refused to leave Coralie for - her I spoiled my life. You and David might have been excellent - pilots for me, but you are not strong enough to tame my weakness, - which in some sort eludes control. I like an easy life, a life - without cares; to clear an obstacle out of my way I can descend to - baseness that sticks at nothing. I was born a prince. I have more - than the requisite intellectual dexterity for success, but only by - moments; and the prizes of a career so crowded by ambitious - competitors are to those who expend no more than the necessary - strength, and retain a sufficient reserve when they reach the - goal. - - "I shall do harm again with the best intentions in the world. Some - men are like oaks, I am a delicate shrub it may be, and I - forsooth, must needs aspire to be a forest cedar. - - "There you have my bankrupt's schedule. The disproportion between - my powers and my desires, my want of balance, in short, will bring - all my efforts to nothing. There are many such characters among - men of letters, many men whose intellectual powers and character - are always at variance, who will one thing and wish another. What - would become of me? I can see it all beforehand, as I think of - this and that great light that once shone on Paris, now utterly - forgotten. On the threshold of old age I shall be a man older than - my age, needy and without a name. My whole soul rises up against - the thought of such a close; I will not be a social rag. Ah, dear - sister, loved and worshiped at least as much for your severity at - the last as for your tenderness at the first--if we have paid so - dear for my joy at seeing you all once more, you and David may - perhaps some day think that you could grudge no price however high - for a little last happiness for an unhappy creature who loved you. - Do not try to find me, Eve; do not seek to know what becomes of - me. My intellect for once shall be backed by my will. - Renunciation, my angel, is daily death of self; my renunciation - will only last for one day; I will take advantage now of that - day. . . . - - "_Two o'clock_. - - "Yes, I have quite made up my mind. Farewell for ever, dear Eve. - There is something sweet in the thought that I shall live only in - your hearts henceforth, and I wish no other burying place. Once - more, farewell. . . . That is the last word from your brother - - "LUCIEN." - - -Lucien read the letter over, crept noiselessly down stairs, and left -it in the child's cradle; amid falling tears he set a last kiss on the -forehead of his sleeping sister; then he went out. He put out his -candle in the gray dusk, took a last look at the old house, stole -softly along the passage, and opened the street door; but in spite of -his caution, he awakened Kolb, who slept on a mattress on the workshop -floor. - -"Who goes there?" cried Kolb. - -"It is I, Lucien; I am going away, Kolb." - -"You vould haf done better gif you at nefer kom," Kolb muttered -audibly. - -"I should have done better still if I had never come into the world," -Lucien answered. "Good-bye, Kolb; I don't bear you any grudge for -thinking as I think myself. Tell David that I was sorry I could not -bid him good-bye, and say that this was my last thought." - -By the time the Alsacien was up and dressed, Lucien had shut the house -door, and was on his way towards the Charente by the Promenade de -Beaulieu. He might have been going to a festival, for he had put on -his new clothes from Paris and his dandy's trinkets for a drowning -shroud. Something in Lucien's tone had struck Kolb. At first the man -thought of going to ask his mistress whether she knew that her brother -had left the house; but as the deepest silence prevailed, he concluded -that the departure had been arranged beforehand, and lay down again -and slept. - -Little, considering the gravity of the question, has been written on -the subject of suicide; it has not been studied. Perhaps it is a -disease that cannot be observed. Suicide is one effect of a sentiment -which we will call self-esteem, if you will, to prevent confusion by -using the word "honor." When a man despises himself, and sees that -others despise him, when real life fails to fulfil his hopes, then -comes the moment when he takes his life, and thereby does homage to -society--shorn of his virtues or his splendor, he does not care to -face his fellows. Among atheists--Christians being without the -question of suicide--among atheists, whatever may be said to the -contrary, none but a base coward can take up a dishonored life. - -There are three kinds of suicide--the first is only the last and acute -stage of a long illness, and this kind belongs distinctly to -pathology; the second is the suicide of despair; and the third the -suicide based on logical argument. Despair and deductive reasoning had -brought Lucien to this pass, but both varieties are curable; it is -only the pathological suicide that is inevitable. Not infrequently you -find all three causes combined, as in the case of Jean-Jacques -Rousseau. - -Lucien having made up his mind fell to considering methods. The poet -would fain die as became a poet. At first he thought of throwing -himself into the Charente and making an end then and there; but as he -came down the steps from Beaulieu for the last time, he heard the -whole town talking of his suicide; he saw the horrid sight of a -drowned dead body, and thought of the recognition and the inquest; -and, like some other suicides, felt that vanity reached beyond death. - -He remembered the day spent at Courtois' mill, and his thoughts -returned to the round pool among the willows that he saw as he came -along by the little river, such a pool as you often find on small -streams, with a still, smooth surface that conceals great depths -beneath. The water is neither green nor blue nor white nor tawny; it -is like a polished steel mirror. No sword-grass grows about the -margin; there are no blue water forget-me-nots, nor broad lily leaves; -the grass at the brim is short and thick, and the weeping willows that -droop over the edge grow picturesquely enough. It is easy to imagine a -sheer precipice beneath filled with water to the brim. Any man who -should have the courage to fill his pockets with pebbles would not -fail to find death, and never be seen thereafter. - -At the time while he admired the lovely miniature of a landscape, the -poet had thought to himself, "'Tis a spot to make your mouth water -for a _noyade_." - -He thought of it now as he went down into L'Houmeau; and when he took -his way towards Marsac, with the last sombre thoughts gnawing at his -heart, it was with the firm resolve to hide his death. There should be -no inquest held over him, he would not be laid in earth; no one should -see him in the hideous condition of the corpse that floats on the -surface of the water. Before long he reached one of the slopes, common -enough on all French highroads, and commonest of all between Angouleme -and Poitiers. He saw the coach from Bordeaux to Paris coming up at -full speed behind him, and knew that the passengers would probably -alight to walk up the hill. He did not care to be seen just then. -Turning off sharply into a beaten track, he began to pick the flowers -in a vineyard hard by. - -When Lucien came back to the road with a great bunch of the yellow -stone-crop which grows everywhere upon the stony soil of the -vineyards, he came out upon a traveler dressed in black from head to -foot. The stranger wore powder, there were silver buckles on his shoes -of Orleans leather, and his brown face was scarred and seamed as if he -had fallen into the fire in infancy. The traveler, so obviously -clerical in his dress, was walking slowly and smoking a cigar. He -turned as Lucien jumped down from the vineyard into the road. The deep -melancholy on the handsome young face, the poet's symbolical flowers, -and his elegant dress seemed to strike the stranger. He looked at -Lucien with something of the expression of a hunter that has found his -quarry at last after long and fruitless search. He allowed Lucien to -come alongside in nautical phrase; then he slackened his pace, and -appeared to look along the road up the hill; Lucien, following the -direction of his eyes, saw a light traveling carriage with two horses, -and a post-boy standing beside it. - -"You have allowed the coach to pass you, monsieur; you will lose your -place unless you care to take a seat in my caleche and overtake the -mail, for it is rather quicker traveling post than by the public -conveyance." The traveler spoke with extreme politeness and a very -marked Spanish accent. - -Without waiting for an answer, he drew a cigar-case from his pocket, -opened it, and held it out to Lucien. - -"I am not on a journey," said Lucien, "and I am too near the end of my -stage to indulge in the pleasure of smoking----" - -"You are very severe with yourself," returned the Spaniard. "Though I -am a canon of the cathedral of Toledo, I occasionally smoke a -cigarette. God gave us tobacco to allay our passions and our pains. -You seem to be downcast, or at any rate, you carry the symbolical -flower of sorrow in your hand, like the rueful god Hymen. Come! all -your troubles will vanish away with the smoke," and again the -ecclesiastic held out his little straw case; there was something -fascinating in his manner, and kindliness towards Lucien lighted up -his eyes. - -"Forgive me, father" Lucien answered stiffly; "there is no cigar that -can scatter my troubles." Tears came to his eyes at the words. - -"It must surely be Divine Providence that prompted me to take a little -exercise to shake off a traveler's morning drowsiness," said the -churchman. "A divine prompting to fulfil my mission here on earth by -consoling you.--What great trouble can you have at your age?" - -"Your consolations, father, can do nothing for me. You are a Spaniard, -I am a Frenchman; you believe in the commandments of the Church, I am -an atheist." - -"_Santa Virgen del Pilar_! you are an atheist!" cried the other, laying -a hand on Lucien's arm with maternal solicitude. "Ah! here is one of -the curious things I promised myself to see in Paris. We, in Spain, do -not believe in atheists. There is no country but France where one can -have such opinions at nineteen years." - -"Oh! I am an atheist in the fullest sense of the word. I have no -belief in God, in society, in happiness. Take a good look at me, -father; for in a few hours' time life will be over for me. My last sun -has risen," said Lucien; with a sort of rhetorical effect he waved his -hand towards the sky. - -"How so; what have you done that you must die? Who has condemned you -to die?" - -"A tribunal from which there is no appeal--I myself." - -"You, child!" cried the priest. "Have you killed a man? Is the -scaffold waiting for you? Let us reason together a little. If you are -resolved, as you say, to return to nothingness, everything on earth is -indifferent to you, is it not?" - -Lucien bowed assent. - -"Very well, then; can you not tell me about your troubles? Some little -affair of the heart has taken a bad turn, no doubt?" - -Lucien shrugged his shoulders very significantly. - -"Are you resolved to kill yourself to escape dishonor, or do you -despair of life? Very good. You can kill yourself at Poitiers quite as -easily as at Angouleme, and at Tours it will be no harder than at -Poitiers. The quicksands of the Loire never give up their prey----" - -"No, father," said Lucien; "I have settled it all. Not three weeks ago -I chanced upon the most charming raft that can ferry a man sick and -tired of this life into the other world----" - -"The other world? You are not an atheist." - -"Oh! by another world I mean my next transformation, animal or plant." - -"Have you some incurable disease?" - -"Yes, father." - -"Ah! now we come to the point. What is it?" - -"Poverty." - -The priest looked at Lucien. "The diamond does not know its own -value," he said, and there was an inexpressible charm, and a touch of -something like irony in his smile. - -"None but a priest could flatter a poor man about to die," exclaimed -Lucien. - -"You are not going to die," the Spaniard returned authoritatively. - -"I have heard many times of men that were robbed on the highroad, but -I have never yet heard of one that found a fortune there," said -Lucien. - -"You will hear of one now," said the priest, glancing towards the -carriage to measure the time still left for their walk together. -"Listen to me," he continued, with his cigar between his teeth; "if -you are poor, that is no reason why you should die. I need a -secretary, for mine has just died at Barcelona. I am in the same -position as the famous Baron Goertz, minister of Charles XII. He was -traveling toward Sweden (just as I am going to Paris), and in some -little town or other he chanced upon the son of a goldsmith, a young -man of remarkable good looks, though they could scarcely equal yours. -. . . Baron Goertz discerned intelligence in the young man (just as I -see poetry on your brow); he took him into his traveling carriage, as -I shall take you very shortly; and of a boy condemned to spend his -days in burnishing spoons and forks and making trinkets in some little -town like Angouleme, he made a favorite, as you shall be mine. - -"Arrived at Stockholm, he installed his secretary and overwhelmed him -with work. The young man spent his nights in writing, and, like all -great workers, he contracted a bad habit, a trick--he took to chewing -paper. The late M. de Malesherbes use to rap people over the knuckles; -and he did this once, by the by, to somebody or other whose suit -depended upon him. The handsome young secretary began by chewing blank -paper, found it insipid for a while, and acquired a taste for -manuscript as having more flavor. People did not smoke as yet in those -days. At last, from flavor to flavor, he began to chew parchment and -swallow it. Now, at that time a treaty was being negotiated between -Russia and Sweden. The States-General insisted that Charles XII. -should make peace (much as they tried in France to make Napoleon treat -for peace in 1814) and the basis of these negotiations was the treaty -between the two powers with regard to Finland. Goertz gave the -original into his secretary's keeping; but when the time came for -laying the draft before the States-General, a trifling difficulty -arose; the treaty was not to be found. The States-General believed -that the Minister, pandering to the King's wishes, had taken it into -his head to get rid of the document. Baron Goertz was, in fact, -accused of this, and the secretary owned that he had eaten the treaty. -He was tried and convicted and condemned to death.--But you have not -come to that yet, so take a cigar and smoke till we reach the -caleche." - -Lucien took a cigar and lit it, Spanish fashion, at the priest's -cigar. "He is right," he thought; "I can take my life at any time." - -"It often happens that a young man's fortunes take a turn when despair -is darkest," the Spaniard continued. "That is what I wished to tell -you, but I preferred to prove it by a case in point. Here was the -handsome young secretary lying under sentence of death, and his case -the more desperate because, as he had been condemned by the -States-General, the King could not pardon him, but he connived at his -escape. The secretary stole away in a fishing-boat with a few crowns -in his pocket, and reached the court of Courland with a letter of -introduction from Goertz, explaining his secretary's adventures and -his craze for paper. The Duke of Courland was a spendthrift; he had a -steward and a pretty wife--three several causes of ruin. He placed the -charming young stranger with his steward. - -"If you can imagine that the sometime secretary had been cured of his -depraved taste by a sentence of death, you do not know the grip that a -man's failings have upon him; let a man discover some satisfaction for -himself, and the headsman will not keep him from it.--How is it that -the vice has this power? Is it inherent strength in the vice, or -inherent weakness in human nature? Are there certain tastes that -should be regarded as verging on insanity? For myself, I cannot help -laughing at the moralists who try to expel such diseases by fine -phrases.--Well, it so fell out that the steward refused a demand for -money; and the Duke taking fright at this, called for an audit. Sheer -imbecility! Nothing easier than to make out a balance-sheet; the -difficulty never lies there. The steward gave his secretary all the -necessary documents for compiling a schedule of the civil list of -Courland. He had nearly finished it when, in the dead of night, the -unhappy paper-eater discovered that he was chewing up one of the -Duke's discharges for a considerable sum. He had eaten half the -signature! Horror seized upon him; he fled to the Duchess, flung -himself at her feet, told her of his craze, and implored the aid of -his sovereign lady, implored her in the middle of the night. The -handsome young face made such an impression on the Duchess that she -married him as soon as she was left a widow. And so in the mid- -eighteenth century, in a land where the king-at-arms is king, the -goldsmith's son became a prince, and something more. On the death of -Catherine I. he was regent; he ruled the Empress Anne, and tried to be -the Richelieu of Russia. Very well, young man; now know this--if you -are handsomer than Biron, I, simple canon that I am, am worth more -than a Baron Goertz. So get in; we will find a duchy of Courland for -you in Paris, or failing the duchy, we shall certainly find the -duchess." - -The Spanish priest laid a hand on Lucien's arm, and literally forced -him into the traveling carriage. The postilion shut the door. - -"Now speak; I am listening," said the canon of Toledo, to Lucien's -bewilderment. "I am an old priest; you can tell me everything, there -is nothing to fear. So far we have only run through our patrimony or -squandered mamma's money. We have made a flitting from our creditors, -and we are honor personified down to the tips of our elegant little -boots. . . . Come, confess, boldly; it will be just as if you were -talking to yourself." - -Lucien felt like that hero of an Eastern tale, the fisher who tried to -drown himself in mid-ocean, and sank down to find himself a king of -countries under the sea. The Spanish priest seemed so really -affectionate, that the poet hesitated no longer; between Angouleme and -Ruffec he told the story of his whole life, omitting none of his -misdeeds, and ended with the final catastrophe which he had brought -about. The tale only gained in poetic charm because this was the third -time he had told it in the past fortnight. Just as he made an end they -passed the house of the Rastignac family. - -"Young Rastignac left that place for Paris," said Lucien; "he is -certainly not my equal, but he has had better luck." - -The Spaniard started at the name. "Oh!" he said. - -"Yes. That shy little place belongs to his father. As I was telling -you just now, he was the lover of Mme. de Nucingen, the famous -banker's wife. I drifted into poetry; he was cleverer, he took the -practical side." - -The priest stopped the caleche; and was so far curious as to walk down -the little avenue that led to the house, showing more interest in the -place than Lucien expected from a Spanish ecclesiastic. - -"Then, do you know the Rastignacs?" asked Lucien. - -"I know every one in Paris," said the Spaniard, taking his place again -in the carriage. "And so for want of ten or twelve thousand francs, -you were about to take your life; you are a child, you know neither -men nor things. A man's future is worth the value that he chooses to -set upon it, and you value yours at twelve thousand francs! Well, I -will give more than that for you any time. As for your -brother-in-law's imprisonment, it is the merest trifle. If this dear -M. Sechard has made a discovery, he will be a rich man some day, and a -rich man has never been imprisoned for debt. You do not seem to me to -be strong in history. History is of two kinds--there is the official -history taught in schools, a lying compilation _ad usum delphini_; and -there is the secret history which deals with the real causes of events ---a scandalous chronicle. Let me tell you briefly a little story which -you have not heard. There was, once upon a time, a man, young and -ambitious, and a priest to boot. He wanted to enter upon a political -career, so he fawned on the Queen's favorite; the favorite took an -interest in him, gave him the rank of minister, and a seat at the -council board. One evening somebody wrote to the young aspirant, -thinking to do him a service (never do a service, by the by, unless -you are asked), and told him that his benefactor's life was in danger. -The King's wrath was kindled against his rival; to-morrow, if the -favorite went to the palace, he would certainly be stabbed; so said -the letter. Well, now, young man, what would you have done?" - -"I should have gone at once to warn my benefactor," Lucien exclaimed -quickly. - -"You are indeed the child which your story reveals!" said the priest. -"Our man said to himself, 'If the King is resolved to go to such -lengths, it is all over with my benefactor; I must receive this letter -too late;' so he slept on till the favorite was stabbed----" - -"He was a monster!" said Lucien, suspecting that the priest meant to -sound him. - -"So are all great men; this one was the Cardinal de Richelieu, and his -benefactor was the Marechal d'Ancre. You really do not know your -history of France, you see. Was I not right when I told you that -history as taught in schools is simply a collection of facts and -dates, more than doubtful in the first place, and with no bearing -whatever on the gist of the matter. You are told that such a person as -Jeanne Darc once existed; where is the use of that? Have you never -drawn your own conclusions from that fact? never seen that if France -had accepted the Angevin dynasty of the Plantagenets, the two peoples -thus reunited would be ruling the world to-day, and the islands that -now brew political storms for the continent would be French provinces? -. . . Why, have you so much as studied the means by which simple -merchants like the Medicis became Grand Dukes of Tuscany?" - -"A poet in France is not bound to be 'as learned as a Benedictine,'" -said Lucien. - -"Well, they became Grand-Dukes as Richelieu became a minister. If you -had looked into history for the causes of events instead of getting -the headings by heart, you would have found precepts for your guidance -in this life. These real facts taken at random from among so many -supply you with the axiom--'Look upon men, and on women most of all, -as your instruments; but never let them see this.' If some one higher -in place can be useful to you, worship him as your god; and never -leave him until he has paid the price of your servility to the last -farthing. In your intercourse with men, in short, be grasping and mean -as a Jew; all that the Jew does for money, you must do for power. And -besides all this, when a man has fallen from power, care no more for -him than if he had ceased to exist. And do you ask why you must do -these things? You mean to rule the world, do you not? You must begin -by obeying and studying it. Scholars study books; politicians study -men, and their interests and the springs of action. Society and -mankind in masses are fatalists; they bow down and worship the -accomplished fact. Do you know why I am giving you this little history -lesson? It seems to me that your ambition is boundless----" - -"Yes, father." - -"I saw that myself," said the priest. "But at this moment you are -thinking, 'Here is this Spanish canon inventing anecdotes and -straining history to prove to me that I have too much virtue----'" - -Lucien began to smile; his thoughts had been read so clearly. - -"Very well, let us take facts that every schoolboy knows. One day -France is almost entirely overrun by the English; the King has only a -single province left. Two figures arise from among the people--a poor -herd girl, that very Jeanne Darc of whom we were speaking, and a -burgher named Jacques Coeur. The girl brings the power of virginity, -the strength of her arm; the burgher gives his gold, and the kingdom -is saved. The maid is taken prisoner, and the King, who could have -ransomed her, leaves her to be burned alive. The King allows his -courtier to accuse the great burgher of capital crime, and they rob -him and divide all his wealth among themselves. The spoils of an -innocent man, hunted down, brought to bay, and driven into exile by -the Law, went to enrich five noble houses; and the father of the -Archbishop of Bourges left the kingdom for ever without one sou of all -his possessions in France, and no resource but moneys remitted to -Arabs and Saracens in Egypt. It is open to you to say that these -examples are out of date, that three centuries of public education -have since elapsed, and that the outlines of those ages are more or -less dim figures. Well, young man, do you believe in the last demi-god -of France, in Napoleon? One of his generals was in disgrace all -through his career; Napoleon made him a marshal grudgingly, and never -sent him on service if he could help it. That marshal was Kellermann. -Do you know the reason of the grudge? . . . Kellermann saved France -and the First Consul at Marengo by a brilliant charge; the ranks -applauded under fire and in the thick of the carnage. That heroic -charge was not even mentioned in the bulletin. Napoleon's coolness -toward Kellermann, Fouche's fall, and Talleyrand's disgrace were all -attributable to the same cause; it is the ingratitude of a Charles -VII., or a Richelieu, or ----" - -"But, father," said Lucien, "suppose that you should save my life and -make my fortune, you are making the ties of gratitude somewhat -slight." - -"Little rogue," said the Abbe, smiling as he pinched Lucien's ear with -an almost royal familiarity. "If you are ungrateful to me, it will be -because you are a strong man, and I shall bend before you. But you are -not that just yet; as a simple 'prentice you have tried to be master -too soon, the common fault of Frenchmen of your generation. Napoleon's -example has spoiled them all. You send in your resignation because you -have not the pair of epaulettes that you fancied. But have you -attempted to bring the full force of your will and every action of -your life to bear upon your one idea?" - -"Alas! no." - -"You have been inconsistent, as the English say," smiled the canon. - -"What I have been matters nothing now," said Lucien, "if I can be -nothing in the future." - -"If at the back of all your good qualities there is power _semper -virens_," continued the priest, not averse to show that he had a little -Latin, "nothing in this world can resist you. I have taken enough of a -liking for you already----" - -Lucien smiled incredulously. - -"Yes," said the priest, in answer to the smile, "you interest me as -much as if you had been my son; and I am strong enough to afford to -talk to you as openly as you have just done to me. Do you know what it -is that I like about you?--This: you have made a sort of _tabula rasa_ -within yourself, and are ready to hear a sermon on morality that you -will hear nowhere else; for mankind in the mass are even more -consummate hypocrites than any one individual can be when his -interests demand a piece of acting. Most of us spend a good part of -our lives in clearing our minds of the notions that sprang up -unchecked during our nonage. This is called 'getting our -experience.'" - -Lucien, listening, thought within himself, "Here is some old intriguer -delighted with a chance of amusing himself on a journey. He is pleased -with the idea of bringing about a change of opinion in a poor wretch -on the brink of suicide; and when he is tired of his amusement, he -will drop me. Still he understands paradox, and seems to be quite a -match for Blondet or Lousteau." - -But in spite of these sage reflections, the diplomate's poison had -sunk deeply into Lucien's soul; the ground was ready to receive it, -and the havoc wrought was the greater because such famous examples -were cited. Lucien fell under the charm of his companion's cynical -talk, and clung the more willingly to life because he felt that this -arm which drew him up from the depths was a strong one. - -In this respect the ecclesiastic had evidently won the day; and, -indeed, from time to time a malicious smile bore his cynical anecdotes -company. - -"If your system of morality at all resembles your manner of regarding -history," said Lucien, "I should dearly like to know the motive of -your present act of charity, for such it seems to be." - -"There, young man, I have come to the last head of my sermon; you will -permit me to reserve it, for in that case we shall not part company -to-day," said the canon, with the tact of the priest who sees that his -guile has succeeded. - -"Very well, talk morality," said Lucien. To himself he said, "I will -draw him out." - -"Morality begins with the law," said the priest. "If it were simply a -question of religion, laws would be superfluous; religious peoples -have few laws. The laws of statecraft are above civil law. Well, do -you care to know the inscription which a politician can read, written -at large over your nineteenth century? In 1793 the French invented the -idea of the sovereignty of the people--and the sovereignty of the -people came to an end under the absolute ruler in the Emperor. So much -for your history as a nation. Now for your private manners. Mme. -Tallien and Mme. Beauharnais both acted alike. Napoleon married the -one, and made her your Empress; the other he would never receive at -court, princess though she was. The sans-culotte of 1793 takes the -Iron Crown in 1804. The fanatical lovers of Equality or Death conspire -fourteen years afterwards with a Legitimist aristocracy to bring back -Louis XVIII. And that same aristocracy, lording it to-day in the -Faubourg Saint-Germain, has done worse--has been merchant, usurer, -pastry-cook, farmer, and shepherd. So in France systems political and -moral have started from one point and reached another diametrically -opposed; and men have expressed one kind of opinion and acted on -another. There has been no consistency in national policy, nor in the -conduct of individuals. You cannot be said to have any morality left. -Success is the supreme justification of all actions whatsoever. The -fact in itself is nothing; the impression that it makes upon others is -everything. Hence, please observe a second precept: Present a fair -exterior to the world, keep the seamy side of life to yourself, and -turn a resplendent countenance upon others. Discretion, the motto of -every ambitious man, is the watchword of our Order; take it for your -own. Great men are guilty of almost as many base deeds as poor -outcasts; but they are careful to do these things in shadow and to -parade their virtues in the light, or they would not be great men. -Your insignificant man leaves his virtues in the shade; he publicly -displays his pitiable side, and is despised accordingly. You, for -instance, have hidden your titles to greatness and made a display of -your worst failings. You openly took an actress for your mistress, -lived with her and upon her; you were by no means to blame for this; -everybody admitted that both of you were perfectly free to do as you -liked; but you ran full tilt against the ideas of the world, and the -world has not shown you the consideration that is shown to those who -obey the rules of the game. If you had left Coralie to this M. -Camusot, if you had hidden your relations with her, you might have -married Mme. de Bargeton; you would now be prefect of Angouleme and -Marquis de Rubempre. - -"Change your tactics, bring your good looks, your charm, your wit, -your poetry to the front. If you indulge in small discreditable -courses, let it be within four walls, and you will never again be -guilty of a blot on the decorations of this great theatrical scene -called society. Napoleon called this 'washing dirty linen at home.' -The corollary follows naturally on this second precept--Form is -everything. Be careful to grasp the meaning of that word 'form.' There -are people who, for want of knowing better, will help themselves to -money under pressure of want, and take it by force. These people are -called criminals; and, perforce, they square accounts with Justice. A -poor man of genius discovers some secret, some invention as good as a -treasure; you lend him three thousand francs (for that, practically, -the Cointets have done; they hold your bills, and they are about to -rob your brother-in-law); you torment him until he reveals or partly -reveals his secret; you settle your accounts with your own conscience, -and your conscience does not drag you into the assize court. - -"The enemies of social order, beholding this contrast, take occasion -to yap at justice, and wax wroth in the name of the people, because, -forsooth, burglars and fowl-stealers are sent to the hulks, while a -man who brings whole families to ruin by a fraudulent bankruptcy is -let off with a few months' imprisonment. But these hypocrites know -quite well that the judge who passes sentence on the thief is -maintaining the barrier set between the poor and the rich, and that if -that barrier were overturned, social chaos would ensue; while, in the -case of the bankrupt, the man who steals an inheritance cleverly, and -the banker who slaughters a business for his own benefit, money merely -changes hands, that is all. - -"Society, my son, is bound to draw those distinctions which I have -pointed out for your benefit. The one great point is this--you must be -a match for society. Napoleon, Richelieu, and the Medicis were a match -for their generations. And as for you, you value yourself at twelve -thousand francs! You of this generation in France worship the golden -calf; what else is the religion of your Charter that will not -recognize a man politically unless he owns property? What is this but -the command, 'Strive to be rich?' Some day, when you shall have made a -fortune without breaking the law, you will be rich; you will be the -Marquis de Rubempre, and you can indulge in the luxury of honor. You -will be so extremely sensitive on the point of honor that no one will -dare to accuse you of past shortcomings if in the process of making -your way you should happen to smirch it now and again, which I myself -should never advise," he added, patting Lucien's hand. - -"So what must you put in that comely head of yours? Simply this and -nothing more--propose to yourself a brilliant and conspicuous goal, -and go towards it secretly; let no one see your methods or your -progress. You have behaved like a child; be a man, be a hunter, lie in -wait for your quarry in the world of Paris, wait for your chance and -your game; you need not be particular nor mindful of your dignity, as -it is called; we are all of us slaves to something, to some failing of -our own or to necessity; but keep that law of laws--secrecy." - -"Father, you frighten me," said Lucien; "this seems to me to be a -highwayman's theory." - -"And you are right," said the canon, "but it is no invention of mine. -All _parvenus_ reason in this way--the house of Austria and the house of -France alike. You have nothing, you say? The Medicis, Richelieu, and -Napoleon started from precisely your standpoint; but _they_, my child, -considered that their prospects were worth ingratitude, treachery, and -the most glaring inconsistencies. You must dare all things to gain all -things. Let us discuss it. Suppose that you sit down to a game of -_bouillotte_, do you begin to argue over the rules of the game? There -they are, you accept them." - -"Come, now," thought Lucien, "he can play _bouillotte_." - -"And what do you do?" continued the priest; "do you practise openness, -that fairest of virtues? Not merely do you hide your tactics, but you -do your best to make others believe that you are on the brink of ruin -as soon as you are sure of winning the game. In short, you dissemble, -do you not? You lie to win four or five louis d'or. What would you -think of a player so generous as to proclaim that he held a hand full -of trumps? Very well; the ambitious man who carries virtue's precepts -into the arena when his antagonists have left them behind is behaving -like a child. Old men of the world might say to him, as card-players -would say to the man who declines to take advantage of his trumps, -'Monsieur, you ought not to play at _bouillotte_.' - -"Did you make the rules of the game of ambition? Why did I tell you to -be a match for society?--Because, in these days, society by degrees -has usurped so many rights over the individual, that the individual is -compelled to act in self-defence. There is no question of laws now, -their place has been taken by custom, which is to say grimacings, and -forms must always be observed." - -Lucien started with surprise. - -"Ah, my child!" said the priest, afraid that he had shocked Lucien's -innocence; "did you expect to find the Angel Gabriel in an Abbe loaded -with all the iniquities of the diplomacy and counter-diplomacy of two -kings? I am an agent between Ferdinand VII. and Louis XVIII., -two--kings who owe their crowns to profound--er--combinations, let us -say. I believe in God, but I have a still greater belief in our Order, -and our Order has no belief save in temporal power. In order to -strengthen and consolidate the temporal power, our Order upholds the -Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church, which is to say, the doctrines -which dispose the world at large to obedience. We are the Templars of -modern times; we have a doctrine of our own. Like the Templars, we have -been dispersed, and for the same reasons; we are almost a match for the -world. If you will enlist as a soldier, I will be your captain. Obey -me as a wife obeys her husband, as a child obeys his mother, and I -will guarantee that you shall be Marquis de Rubempre in less than six -months; you shall marry into one of the proudest houses in the -Faubourg Saint-Germain, and some day you shall sit on a bench with -peers of France. What would you have been at this moment if I had not -amused you by my conversation?--An undiscovered corpse in a deep bed -of mud. Well and good, now for an effort of imagination----" - -Lucien looked curiously at his protector. - -"Here, in this caleche beside the Abbe Carlos Herrera, canon of -Toledo, secret envoy from His Majesty Ferdinand VII. to his Majesty -the King of France, bearer of a despatch thus worded it may be--'When -you have delivered me, hang all those whom I favor at this moment, -more especially the bearer of this despatch, for then he can tell no -tales'--well, beside this envoy sits a young man who has nothing in -common with that poet recently deceased. I have fished you out of the -water, I have brought you to life again, you belong to me as the -creature belongs to the creator, as the efrits of fairytales belong to -the genii, as the janissary to the Sultan, as the soul to the body. I -will sustain you in the way to power with a strong hand; and at the -same time I promise that your life shall be a continual course of -pleasure, honors, and enjoyment. You shall never want for money. You -shall shine, you shall go bravely in the eyes of the world; while I, -crouching in the mud, will lay a firm foundation for the brilliant -edifice of your fortunes. For I love power for its own sake. I shall -always rejoice in your enjoyment, forbidden to me. In short, my self -shall become your self! Well, if a day should come when this pact -between man and the tempter, this agreement between the child and the -diplomatist should no longer suit your ideas, you can still look about -for some quiet spot, like that pool of which you were speaking, and -drown yourself; you will only be as you are now, or a little more or a -little less wretched and dishonored." - -"This is not like the Archbishop of Granada's homily," said Lucien as -they stopped to change horses. - -"Call this concentrated education by what name you will, my son, for -you are my son, I adopt you henceforth, and shall make you my heir; it -is the Code of ambition. God's elect are few and far between. There is -no choice, you must bury yourself in the cloister (and there you very -often find the world again in miniature) or accept the Code." - -"Perhaps it would be better not to be so wise," said Lucien, trying to -fathom this terrible priest. - -"What!" rejoined the canon. "You begin to play before you know the -rules of the game, and now you throw it up just as your chances are -best, and you have a substantial godfather to back you! And you do not -even care to play a return match? You do not mean to say that you have -no mind to be even with those who drove you from Paris?" - -Lucien quivered; the sounds that rang through every nerve seemed to -come from some bronze instrument, some Chinese gong. - -"I am only a poor priest," returned his mentor, and a grim expression, -dreadful to behold, appeared for a moment on a face burned to a -copper-red by the sun of Spain, "I am only a poor priest; but if I had -been humiliated, vexed, tormented, betrayed, and sold as you have been -by the scoundrels of whom you have told me, I should do like an Arab -of the desert--I would devote myself body and soul to vengeance. I -might end by dangling from a gibbet, garroted, impaled, guillotined in -your French fashion, I should not care a rap; but they should not have -my head until I had crushed my enemies under my heel." - -Lucien was silent; he had no wish to draw the priest out any further. - -"Some are descended from Cain and some from Abel," the canon -concluded; "I myself am of mixed blood--Cain for my enemies, Abel for -my friends. Woe to him that shall awaken Cain! After all, you are a -Frenchman; I am a Spaniard, and, what is more, a canon." - -"What a Tartar!" thought Lucien, scanning the protector thus sent to -him by Heaven. - -There was no sign of the Jesuit, nor even of the ecclesiastic, about -the Abbe Carlos Herrera. His hands were large, he was thick-set and -broad-chested, evidently he possessed the strength of a Hercules; his -terrific expression was softened by benignity assumed at will; but a -complexion of impenetrable bronze inspired feelings of repulsion -rather than attachment for the man. - -The strange diplomatist looked somewhat like a bishop, for he wore -powder on his long, thick hair, after the fashion of the Prince de -Talleyrand; a gold cross, hanging from a strip of blue ribbon with a -white border, indicated an ecclesiastical dignitary. The outlines -beneath the black silk stockings would not have disgraced an athlete. -The exquisite neatness of his clothes and person revealed an amount of -care which a simple priest, and, above all, a Spanish priest, does not -always take with his appearance. A three-cornered hat lay on the front -seat of the carriage, which bore the arms of Spain. - -In spite of the sense of repulsion, the effect made by the man's -appearance was weakened by his manner, fierce and yet winning as it -was; he evidently laid himself out to please Lucien, and the winning -manner became almost coaxing. Yet Lucien noticed the smallest trifles -uneasily. He felt that the moment of decision had come; they had -reached the second stage beyond Ruffec, and the decision meant life or -death. - -The Spaniard's last words vibrated through many chords in his heart, -and, to the shame of both, it must be said that all that was worst in -Lucien responded to an appeal deliberately made to his evil impulses, -and the eyes that studied the poet's beautiful face had read him very -clearly. Lucien beheld Paris once more; in imagination he caught again -at the reins of power let fall from his unskilled hands, and he -avenged himself! The comparisons which he himself had drawn so lately -between the life of Paris and life in the provinces faded from his -mind with the more painful motives for suicide; he was about to return -to his natural sphere, and this time with a protector, a political -intriguer unscrupulous as Cromwell. - -"I was alone, now there will be two of us," he told himself. And then -this priest had been more and more interested as he told of his sins -one after another. The man's charity had grown with the extent of his -misdoings; nothing had astonished this confessor. And yet, what could -be the motive of a mover in the intrigues of kings? Lucien at first -was fain to be content with the banal answer--the Spanish are a -generous race. The Spaniard is generous! even so the Italian is -jealous and a poisoner, the Frenchman fickle, the German frank, the -Jew ignoble, and the Englishman noble. Reverse these verdicts and you -shall arrive within a reasonable distance of the truth! The Jews have -monopolized the gold of the world; they compose _Robert the Devil_, act -_Phedre_, sing _William Tell_, give commissions for pictures and build -palaces, write _Reisebilder_ and wonderful verse; they are more powerful -than ever, their religion is accepted, they have lent money to the -Holy Father himself! As for Germany, a foreigner is often asked -whether he has a contract in writing, and this is in the smallest -matters, so tricky are they in their dealings. In France the spectacle -of national blunders has never lacked national applause for the past -fifty years; we continue to wear hats which no mortal can explain, and -every change of government is made on the express condition that -things shall remain exactly as they were before. England flaunts her -perfidy in the face of the world, and her abominable treachery is only -equaled by her greed. All the gold of two Indies passed through the -hands of Spain, and now she has nothing left. There is no country in -the world where poison is so little in request as in Italy, no country -where manners are easier or more gentle. As for the Spaniard, he has -traded largely on the reputation of the Moor. - -As the Canon of Toledo returned to the caleche, he had spoken a word -to the post-boy. "Drive post-haste," he said, "and there will be three -francs for drink-money for you." Then, seeing that Lucien hesitated, -"Come! come!" he exclaimed, and Lucien took his place again, telling -himself that he meant to try the effect of the _argumentum ad hominem_. - -"Father," he began, "after pouring out, with all the coolness in the -world, a series of maxims which the vulgar would consider profoundly -immoral----" - -"And so they are," said the priest; "that is why Jesus Christ said -that it must needs be that offences come, my son; and that is why the -world displays such horror of offences." - -"A man of your stamp will not be surprised by the question which I am -about to ask?" - -"Indeed, my son, you do not know me," said Carlos Herrera. "Do you -suppose that I should engage a secretary unless I knew that I could -depend upon his principles sufficiently to be sure that he would not -rob me? I like you. You are as innocent in every way as a -twenty-year-old suicide. Your question?" - -"Why do you take an interest in me? What price do you set on my -obedience? Why should you give me everything? What is your share?" - -The Spaniard looked at Lucien, and a smile came over his face. - -"Let us wait till we come to the next hill; we can walk up and talk -out in the open. The back seat of a traveling carriage is not the -place for confidences." - -They traveled in silence for sometime; the rapidity of the movement -seemed to increase Lucien's moral intoxication. - -"Here is a hill, father," he said at last awakening from a kind of -dream. - -"Very well, we will walk." The Abbe called to the postilion to stop, -and the two sprang out upon the road. - -"You child," said the Spaniard, taking Lucien by the arm, "have you -ever thought over Otway's _Venice Preserved_? Did you understand the -profound friendship between man and man which binds Pierre and Jaffier -each to each so closely that a woman is as nothing in comparison, and -all social conditions are changed?--Well, so much for the poet." - -"So the canon knows something of the drama," thought Lucien. "Have you -read Voltaire?" he asked. - -"I have done better," said the other; "I put his doctrine in -practice." - -"You do not believe in God?" - -"Come! it is I who am the atheist, is it?" the Abbe said, smiling. -"Let us come to practical matters, my child," he added, putting an arm -round Lucien's waist. "I am forty-six years old, I am the natural son -of a great lord; consequently, I have no family, and I have a heart. -But, learn this, carve it on that still so soft brain of yours--man -dreads to be alone. And of all kinds of isolation, inward isolation is -the most appalling. The early anchorite lived with God; he dwelt in -the spirit world, the most populous world of all. The miser lives in a -world of imagination and fruition; his whole life and all that he is, -even his sex, lies in his brain. A man's first thought, be he leper or -convict, hopelessly sick or degraded, is to find another with a like -fate to share it with him. He will exert the utmost that is in him, -every power, all his vital energy, to satisfy that craving; it is his -very life. But for that tyrannous longing, would Satan have found -companions? There is a whole poem yet to be written, a first part of -_Paradise Lost_; Milton's poem is only the apology for the revolt." - -"It would be the Iliad of Corruption," said Lucien. - -"Well, I am alone, I live alone. If I wear the priest's habit, I have -not a priest's heart. I like to devote myself to some one; that is my -weakness. That is my life, that is how I came to be a priest. I am not -afraid of ingratitude, and I am grateful. The Church is nothing to me; -it is an idea. I am devoted to the King of Spain, but you cannot give -affection to a King of Spain; he is my protector, he towers above me. -I want to love my creature, to mould him, fashion him to my use, and -love him as a father loves his child. I shall drive in your tilbury, -my boy, enjoy your success with women, and say to myself, 'This fine -young fellow, this Marquis de Rubempre, my creation whom I have -brought into this great world, is my very Self; his greatness is my -doing, he speaks or is silent with my voice, he consults me in -everything.' The Abbe de Vermont felt thus for Marie-Antoinette." - -"He led her to the scaffold." - -"He did not love the Queen," said the priest. "HE only loved the Abbe -de Vermont." - -"Must I leave desolation behind me?" - -"I have money, you shall draw on me." - -"I would do a great deal just now to rescue David Sechard," said -Lucien, in the tone of one who has given up all idea of suicide. - -"Say but one word, my son, and by to-morrow morning he shall have -money enough to set him free." - -"What! Would you give me twelve thousand francs?" - -"Ah! child, do you not see that we are traveling on at the rate of -four leagues an hour? We shall dine at Poitiers before long, and -there, if you decide to sign the pact, to give me a single proof of -obedience, a great proof that I shall require, then the Bordeaux coach -shall carry fifteen thousand francs to your sister----" - -"Where is the money?" - -The Spaniard made no answer, and Lucien said within himself, "There I -had him; he was laughing at me." - -In another moment they took their places. Neither of them said a word. -Silently the Abbe groped in the pocket of the coach, and drew out a -traveler's leather pouch with three divisions in it; thence he took a -hundred Portuguese moidores, bringing out his large hand filled with -gold three times. - -"Father, I am yours," said Lucien, dazzled by the stream of gold. - -"Child!" said the priest, and set a tender kiss on Lucien's forehead. -"There is twice as much still left in the bag, besides the money for -traveling expenses." - -"And you are traveling alone!" cried Lucien. - -"What is that?" asked the Spaniard. "I have more than a hundred -thousand crowns in drafts on Paris. A diplomatist without money is in -your position of this morning--a poet without a will of his own!" - - - -As Lucien took his place in the caleche beside the so-called Spanish -diplomatist, Eve rose to give her child a draught of milk, found the -fatal letter in the cradle, and read it. A sudden cold chilled the -damps of morning slumber, dizziness came over her, she could not see. -She called aloud to Marion and Kolb. - -"Has my brother gone out?" she asked, and Kolb answered at once with, -"Yes, Montame, pefore tay." - -"Keep this that I am going to tell you a profound secret," said Eve. -"My brother has gone no doubt to make away with himself. Hurry, both -of you, make inquiries cautiously, and look along the river." - -Eve was left alone in a dull stupor, dreadful to see. Her trouble was -at its height when Petit-Claud came in at seven o'clock to talk over -the steps to be taken in David's case. At such a time, any voice in -the world may speak, and we let them speak. - -"Our poor, dear David is in prison, madame," so began Petit-Claud. "I -foresaw all along that it would end in this. I advised him at the time -to go into partnership with his competitors the Cointets; for while -your husband has simply the idea, they have the means of putting it -into practical shape. So as soon as I heard of his arrest yesterday -evening, what did I do but hurry away to find the Cointets and try to -obtain such concessions as might satisfy you. If you try to keep the -discovery to yourselves, you will continue to live a life of shifts -and chicanery. You must give in, or else when you are exhausted and at -the last gasp, you will end by making a bargain with some capitalist -or other, and perhaps to your own detriment, whereas to-day I hope to -see you make a good one with MM. Cointet. In this way you will save -yourselves the hardships and the misery of the inventor's duel with -the greed of the capitalist and the indifference of the public. Let us -see! If the MM. Cointet should pay your debts--if, over and above your -debts, they should pay you a further sum of money down, whether or no -the invention succeeds; while at the same time it is thoroughly -understood that if it succeeds a certain proportion of the profits of -working the patent shall be yours, would you not be doing very well? ---You yourself, madame, would then be the proprietor of the plant in -the printing-office. You would sell the business, no doubt; it is quite -worth twenty thousand francs. I will undertake to find you a buyer at -that price. - -"Now if you draw up a deed of partnership with the MM. Cointet, and -receive fifteen thousand francs of capital; and if you invest it in -the funds at the present moment, it will bring you in an income of two -thousand francs. You can live on two thousand francs in the provinces. -Bear in mind, too, madame, that, given certain contingencies, there -will be yet further payments. I say 'contingencies,' because we must -lay our accounts with failure. - -"Very well," continued Petit-Claud, "now these things I am sure that I -can obtain for you. First of all, David's release from prison; -secondly, fifteen thousand francs, a premium paid on his discovery, -whether the experiments fail or succeed; and lastly, a partnership -between David and the MM. Cointet, to be taken out after private -experiment made jointly. The deed of partnership for the working of -the patent should be drawn up on the following basis: The MM. Cointet -to bear all the expenses, the capital invested by David to be confined -to the expenses of procuring the patent, and his share of the profits -to be fixed at twenty-five per cent. You are a clear-headed and very -sensible woman, qualities which are not often found combined with -great beauty; think over these proposals, and you will see that they -are very favorable." - -Poor Eve in her despair burst into tears. "Ah, sir! why did you not -come yesterday evening to tell me this? We should have been spared -disgrace and--and something far worse----" - -"I was talking with the Cointets until midnight. They are behind -Metivier, as you must have suspected. But how has something worse than -our poor David's arrest happened since yesterday evening?" - -"Here is the awful news that I found when I awoke this morning," she -said, holding out Lucien's letter. "You have just given me proof of -your interest in us; you are David's friend and Lucien's; I need not -ask you to keep the secret----" - -"You need not feel the least anxiety," said Petit-Claud, as he -returned the letter. "Lucien will not take his life. Your husband's -arrest was his doing; he was obliged to find some excuse for leaving -you, and this exit of his looks to me like a piece of stage business." - -The Cointets had gained their ends. They had tormented the inventor -and his family, until, worn out by the torture, the victims longed for -a respite, and then seized their opportunity and made the offer. Not -every inventor has the tenacity of the bull-dog that will perish with -his teeth fast set in his capture; the Cointets had shrewdly estimated -David's character. The tall Cointet looked upon David's imprisonment -as the first scene of the first act of the drama. The second act -opened with the proposal which Petit-Claud had just made. As -arch-schemer, the attorney looked upon Lucien's frantic folly as a bit -of unhoped-for luck, a chance that would finally decide the issues of -the day. - -Eve was completely prostrated by this event; Petit-Claud saw this, and -meant to profit by her despair to win her confidence, for he saw at -last how much she influenced her husband. So far from discouraging -Eve, he tried to reassure her, and very cleverly diverted her thoughts -to the prison. She should persuade David to take the Cointets into -partnership. - -"David told me, madame, that he only wished for a fortune for your -sake and your brother's; but it should be clear to you by now that to -try to make a rich man of Lucien would be madness. The youngster would -run through three fortunes." - -Eve's attitude told plainly enough that she had no more illusions left -with regard to her brother. The lawyer waited a little so that her -silence should have the weight of consent. - -"Things being so, it is now a question of you and your child," he -said. "It rests with you to decide whether an income of two thousand -francs will be enough for your welfare, to say nothing of old -Sechard's property. Your father-in-law's income has amounted to seven -or eight thousand francs for a long time past, to say nothing of -capital lying out at interest. So, after all, you have a good prospect -before you. Why torment yourself?" - -Petit-Claud left Eve Sechard to reflect upon this prospect. The whole -scheme had been drawn up with no little skill by the tall Cointet the -evening before. - -"Give them the glimpse of a possibility of money in hand," the lynx -had said, when Petit-Claud brought the news of the arrest; "once let -them grow accustomed to that idea, and they are ours; we will drive a -bargain, and little by little we shall bring them down to our price -for the secret." - -The argument of the second act of the commercial drama was in a manner -summed up in that speech. - -Mme. Sechard, heartbroken and full of dread for her brother's fate, -dressed and came downstairs. An agony of terror seized her when she -thought that she must cross Angouleme alone on the way to the prison. -Petit-Claud gave little thought to his fair client's distress. When he -came back to offer his arm, it was from a tolerably Machiavellian -motive; but Eve gave him credit for delicate consideration, and he -allowed her to thank him for it. The little attention, at such a -moment, from so hard a man, modified Mme. Sechard's previous opinion -of Petit-Claud. - -"I am taking you round by the longest way," he said, "and we shall -meet nobody." - -"For the first time in my life, monsieur, I feel that I have no right -to hold up my head before other people; I had a sharp lesson given to -me last night----" - -"It will be the first and the last." - -"Oh! I certainly shall not stay in the town now----" - -"Let me know if your husband consents to the proposals that are all -but definitely offered by the Cointets," said Petit-Claud at the gate -of the prison; "I will come at once with an order for David's release -from Cachan, and in all likelihood he will not go back again to -prison." - -This suggestion, made on the very threshold of the jail, was a piece -of cunning strategy--a _combinazione_, as the Italians call an -indefinable mixture of treachery and truth, a cunningly planned fraud -which does not break the letter of the law, or a piece of deft -trickery for which there is no legal remedy. St. Bartholomew's for -instance, was a political combination. - -Imprisonment for debt, for reasons previously explained, is such a -rare occurrence in the provinces, that there is no house of detention, -and a debtor is perforce imprisoned with the accused, convicted, and -condemned--the three graduated subdivisions of the class generically -styled criminal. David was put for the time being in a cell on the -ground floor from which some prisoner had probably been recently -discharged at the end of his time. Once inscribed on the jailer's -register, with the amount allowed by the law for a prisoner's board -for one month, David confronted a big, stout man, more powerful than -the King himself in a prisoner's eyes; this was the jailer. - -An instance of a thin jailer is unknown in the provinces. The place, -to begin with, is almost a sinecure, and a jailer is a kind of -innkeeper who pays no rent and lives very well, while his prisoners -fare very ill; for, like an innkeeper, he gives them rooms according -to their payments. He knew David by name, and what was more, knew -about David's father, and thought that he might venture to let the -printer have a good room on credit for one night; for David was -penniless. - -The prison of Angouleme was built in the Middle Ages, and has no more -changed than the old cathedral. It is built against the old _presidial_, -or ancient court of appeal, and people still call it the _maison de -justice_. It boasts the conventional prison gateway, the solid-looking, -nail-studded door, the low, worn archway which the better deserves the -qualification "cyclopean," because the jailer's peephole or _judas_ -looks out like a single eye from the front of the building. As you -enter you find yourself in a corridor which runs across the entire -width of the building, with a row of doors of cells that give upon the -prison yard and are lighted by high windows covered with a square iron -grating. The jailer's house is separated from these cells by an -archway in the middle, through which you catch a glimpse of the iron -gate of the prison yard. The jailer installed David in a cell next to -the archway, thinking that he would like to have a man of David's -stamp as a near neighbor for the sake of company. - -"This is the best room," he said. David was struck dumb with amazement -at the sight of it. - -The stone walls were tolerably damp. The windows, set high in the -wall, were heavily barred; the stone-paved floor was cold as ice, and -from the corridor outside came the sound of the measured tramp of the -warder, monotonous as waves on the beach. "You are a prisoner! you are -watched and guarded!" said the footsteps at every moment of every -hour. All these small things together produce a prodigious effect upon -the minds of honest folk. David saw that the bed was execrable, but -the first night in a prison is full of violent agitation, and only on -the second night does the prisoner notice that his couch is hard. The -jailer was graciously disposed; he naturally suggested that his -prisoner should walk in the yard until nightfall. - -David's hour of anguish only began when he was locked into his cell -for the night. Lights are not allowed in the cells. A prisoner -detained on arrest used to be subjected to rules devised for -malefactors, unless he brought a special exemption signed by the -public prosecutor. The jailer certainly might allow David to sit by -his fire, but the prisoner must go back to his cell at locking-up -time. Poor David learned the horrors of prison life by experience, the -rough coarseness of the treatment revolted him. Yet a revulsion, -familiar to those who live by thought, passed over him. He detached -himself from his loneliness, and found a way of escape in a poet's -waking dream. - -At last the unhappy man's thoughts turned to his own affairs. The -stimulating influence of a prison upon conscience and self-scrutiny is -immense. David asked himself whether he had done his duty as the head -of a family. What despairing grief his wife must feel at this moment! -Why had he not done as Marion had said, and earned money enough to -pursue his investigations at leisure? - -"How can I stay in Angouleme after such a disgrace? And when I come -out of prison, what will become of us? Where shall we go?" - -Doubts as to his process began to occur to him, and he passed through -an agony which none save inventors can understand. Going from doubt to -doubt, David began to see his real position more clearly; and to -himself he said, as the Cointets had said to old Sechard, as -Petit-Claud had just said to Eve, "Suppose that all should go well, -what does it amount to in practice? The first thing to be done is to -take out a patent, and money is needed for that--and experiments must -be tried on a large scale in a paper-mill, which means that the -discovery must pass into other hands. Oh! Petit-Claud was right!" - -A very vivid light sometimes dawns in the darkest prison. - -"Pshaw!" said David; "I shall see Petit-Claud to-morrow no doubt," and -he turned and slept on the filthy mattress covered with coarse brown -sacking. - -So when Eve unconsciously played into the hands of the enemy that -morning, she found her husband more than ready to listen to proposals. -She put her arms about him and kissed him, and sat down on the edge of -the bed (for there was but one chair of the poorest and commonest kind -in the cell). Her eyes fell on the unsightly pail in a corner, and -over the walls covered with inscriptions left by David's predecessors, -and tears filled the eyes that were red with weeping. She had sobbed -long and very bitterly, but the sight of her husband in a felon's cell -drew fresh tears. - -"And the desire of fame may lead one to this!" she cried. "Oh! my -angel, give up your career. Let us walk together along the beaten -track; we will not try to make haste to be rich, David. . . . I need -very little to be very happy, especially now, after all that we have -been through. . . . And if you only knew--the disgrace of arrest is -not the worst. . . . Look." - -She held out Lucien's letter, and when David had read it, she tried to -comfort him by repeating Petit-Claud's bitter comment. - -"If Lucien has taken his life, the thing is done by now," said David; -"if he has not made away with himself by this time, he will not kill -himself. As he himself says, 'his courage cannot last longer than a -morning----'" - -"But the suspense!" cried Eve, forgiving almost everything at the -thought of death. Then she told her husband of the proposals which -Petit-Claud professed to have received from the Cointets. David -accepted them at once with manifest pleasure. - -"We shall have enough to live upon in a village near L'Houmeau, where -the Cointets' paper-mill stands. I want nothing now but a quiet life," -said David. "If Lucien has punished himself by death, we can wait so -long as father lives; and if Lucien is still living, poor fellow, he -will learn to adapt himself to our narrow ways. The Cointets certainly -will make money by my discovery; but, after all, what am I compared -with our country? One man in it, that is all; and if the whole country -is benefited, I shall be content. There! dear Eve, neither you nor I -were meant to be successful in business. We do not care enough about -making a profit; we have not the dogged objection to parting with our -money, even when it is legally owing, which is a kind of virtue of the -counting-house, for these two sorts of avarice are called prudence and -a faculty of business." - -Eve felt overjoyed; she and her husband held the same views, and this -is one of the sweetest flowers of love; for two human beings who love -each other may not be of the same mind, nor take the same view of -their interests. She wrote to Petit-Claud telling him that they both -consented to the general scheme, and asked him to release David. Then -she begged the jailer to deliver the message. - -Ten minutes later Petit-Claud entered the dismal place. "Go home, -madame," he said, addressing Eve, "we will follow you.--Well, my dear -friend" (turning to David), "so you allowed them to catch you! Why did -you come out? How came you to make such a mistake?" - -"Eh! how could I do otherwise? Look at this letter that Lucien wrote." - -David held out a sheet of paper. It was Cerizet's forged letter. - -Petit-Claud read it, looked at it, fingered the paper as he talked, -and still taking, presently, as if through absence of mind, folded it -up and put it in his pocket. Then he linked his arm in David's, and -they went out together, the order for release having come during the -conversation. - -It was like heaven to David to be at home again. He cried like a child -when he took little Lucien in his arms and looked round his room after -three weeks of imprisonment, and the disgrace, according to provincial -notions, of the last few hours. Kolb and Marion had come back. Marion -had heard in L'Houmeau that Lucien had been seen walking along on the -Paris road, somewhere beyond Marsac. Some country folk, coming in to -market, had noticed his fine clothes. Kolb, therefore, had set out on -horseback along the highroad, and heard at last at Mansle that Lucien -was traveling post in a caleche--M. Marron had recognized him as he -passed. - -"What did I tell you?" said Petit-Claud. "That fellow is not a poet; -he is a romance in heaven knows how many chapters." - -"Traveling post!" repeated Eve. "Where can he be going this time?" - -"Now go to see the Cointets, they are expecting you," said -Petit-Claud, turning to David. - -"Ah, monsieur!" cried the beautiful Eve, "pray do your best for our -interests; our whole future lies in your hands." - -"If you prefer it, madame, the conference can be held here. I will -leave David with you. The Cointets will come this evening, and you -shall see if I can defend your interests." - -"Ah! monsieur, I should be very glad," said Eve. - -"Very well," said Petit-Claud; "this evening, at seven o'clock." - -"Thank you," said Eve; and from her tone and glance Petit-Claud knew -that he had made great progress in his fair client's confidence. - -"You have nothing to fear; you see I was right," he added. "Your -brother is a hundred miles away from suicide, and when all comes to -all, perhaps you will have a little fortune this evening. A _bona-fide_ -purchaser for the business has turned up." - -"If that is the case," said Eve, "why should we not wait awhile before -binding ourselves to the Cointets?" - -Petit-Claud saw the danger. "You are forgetting, madame," he said, -"that you cannot sell your business until you have paid M. Metivier; -for a distress warrant has been issued." - -As soon as Petit-Claud reached home he sent for Cerizet, and when the -printer's foreman appeared, drew him into the embrasure of the window. - -"To-morrow evening," he said, "you will be the proprietor of the -Sechards' printing-office, and then there are those behind you who -have influence enough to transfer the license;" (then in a lowered -voice), "but you have no mind to end in the hulks, I suppose?" - -"The hulks! What's that? What's that?" - -"Your letter to David was a forgery. It is in my possession. What -would Henriette say in a court of law? I do not want to ruin you," he -added hastily, seeing how white Cerizet's face grew. - -"You want something more of me?" cried Cerizet. - -"Well, here it is," said Petit-Claud. "Follow me carefully. You will -be a master printer in Angouleme in two months' time . . . but you -will not have paid for your business--you will not pay for it in ten -years. You will work a long while yet for those that have lent you the -money, and you will be the cat's-paw of the Liberal party. . . . Now -_I_ shall draw up your agreement with Gannerac, and I can draw it up -in such a way that you will have the business in your own hands one of -these days. But--if the Liberals start a paper, if you bring it out, -and if I am deputy public prosecutor, then you will come to an -understanding with the Cointets and publish articles of such a nature -that they will have the paper suppressed. . . . The Cointets will pay -you handsomely for that service. . . . I know, of course, that you -will be a hero, a victim of persecution; you will be a personage among -the Liberals--a Sergeant Mercier, a Paul-Louis Courier, a Manual on a -small scale. I will take care that they leave you your license. In -fact, on the day when the newspaper is suppressed, I will burn this -letter before your eyes. . . . Your fortune will not cost you much." - -A working man has the haziest notions as to the law with regard to -forgery; and Cerizet, who beheld himself already in the dock, breathed -again. - -"In three years' time," continued Petit-Claud, "I shall be public -prosecutor in Angouleme. You may have need of me some day; bear that -in mind." - -"It's agreed," said Cerizet, "but you don't know me. Burn that letter -now and trust to my gratitude." - -Petit-Claud looked Cerizet in the face. It was a duel in which one -man's gaze is a scalpel with which he essays to probe the soul of -another, and the eyes of that other are a theatre, as it were, to -which all his virtue is summoned for display. - -Petit-Claud did not utter a word. He lighted a taper and burned the -letter. "He has his way to make," he said to himself. - -"Here is one that will go through fire and water for you," said -Cerizet. - - - -David awaited the interview with the Cointets with a vague feeling of -uneasiness; not, however, on account of the proposed partnership, nor -for his own interests--he felt nervous as to their opinion of his -work. He was in something the same position as a dramatic author -before his judges. The inventor's pride in the discovery so nearly -completed left no room for any other feelings. - -At seven o'clock that evening, while Mme. du Chatelet, pleading a sick -headache, had gone to her room in her unhappiness over the rumors of -Lucien's departure; while M. de Comte, left to himself, was -entertaining his guests at dinner--the tall Cointet and his stout -brother, accompanied by Petit-Claud, opened negotiations with the -competitor who had delivered himself up, bound hand and foot. - -A difficulty awaited them at the outset. How was it possible to draw -up a deed of partnership unless they knew David's secret? And if David -divulged his secret, he would be at the mercy of the Cointets. -Petit-Claud arranged that the deed of partnership should be the first -drawn up. Thereupon the tall Cointet asked to see some specimens of -David's work, and David brought out the last sheet that he had made, -guaranteeing the price of production. - -"Well," said Petit-Claud, "there you have the basis of the agreement -ready made. You can go into partnership on the strength of those -samples, inserting a clause to protect yourselves in case the -conditions of the patent are not fulfilled in the manufacturing -process." - -"It is one thing to make samples of paper on a small scale in your own -room with a small mould, monsieur, and another to turn out a -quantity," said the tall Cointet, addressing David. "Quite another -thing, as you may judge from this single fact. We manufacture colored -papers. We buy parcels of coloring absolutely identical. Every cake of -indigo used for 'blueing' our post-demy is taken from a batch supplied -by the same maker. Well, we have never yet been able to obtain two -batches of precisely the same shade. There are variations in the -material which we cannot detect. The quantity and the quality of the -pulp modify every question at once. Suppose that you have in a caldron -a quantity of ingredients of some kind (I don't ask to know what they -are), you can do as you like with them, the treatment can be uniformly -applied, you can manipulate, knead, and pestle the mass at your -pleasure until you have a homogeneous substance. But who will -guarantee that it will be the same with a batch of five hundred reams, -and that your plan will succeed in bulk?" - -David, Eve, and Petit-Claud looked at one another; their eyes said -many things. - -"Take a somewhat similar case," continued the tall Cointet after a -pause. "You cut two or three trusses of meadow hay, and store it in a -loft before 'the heat is out of the grass,' as the peasants say; the -hay ferments, but no harm comes of it. You follow up your experiment -by storing a couple of thousand trusses in a wooden barn--and, of -course, the hay smoulders, and the barn blazes up like a lighted -match. You are an educated man," continued Cointet; "you can see the -application for yourself. So far, you have only cut your two trusses -of hay; we are afraid of setting fire to our paper-mill by bringing in -a couple of thousand trusses. In other words, we may spoil more than -one batch, make heavy losses, and find ourselves none the better for -laying out a good deal of money." - -David was completely floored by this reasoning. Practical wisdom spoke -in matter-of-fact language to theory, whose word is always for the -future. - -"Devil fetch me, if I'll sign such a deed of partnership!" the stout -Cointet cried bluntly. "You may throw away your money if you like, -Boniface; as for me, I shall keep mine. Here is my offer--to pay M. -Sechard's debts _and_ six thousand francs, and another three thousand -francs in bills at twelve and fifteen months," he added. "That will be -quite enough risk to run.--We have a balance of twelve thousand francs -against Metivier. That will make fifteen thousand francs.--That is all -that I would pay for the secret if I were going to exploit it for -myself. So this is the great discovery that you were talking about, -Boniface! Many thanks! I thought you had more sense. No, you can't -call this business." - -"The question for you," said Petit-Claud, undismayed by the explosion, -"resolves itself into this: 'Do you care to risk twenty thousand -francs to buy a secret that may make rich men of you?' Why, the risk -usually is in proportion to the profit, gentlemen. You stake twenty -thousand francs on your luck. A gambler puts down a louis at roulette -for a chance of winning thirty-six, but he knows that the louis is -lost. Do the same." - -"I must have time to think it over," said the stout Cointet; "I am not -so clever as my brother. I am a plain, straight-forward sort of chap, -that only knows one thing--how to print prayer-books at twenty sous -and sell them for two francs. Where I see an invention that has only -been tried once, I see ruin. You succeed with the first batch, you -spoil the next, you go on, and you are drawn in; for once put an arm -into that machinery, the rest of you follows," and he related an -anecdote very much to the point--how a Bordeaux merchant had ruined -himself by following a scientific man's advice, and trying to bring -the Landes into cultivation; and followed up the tale with -half-a-dozen similar instances of agricultural and commercial failures -nearer home in the departments of the Charente and Dordogne. He waxed -warm over his recitals. He would not listen to another word. -Petit-Claud's demurs, so far from soothing the stout Cointet, appeared -to irritate him. - -"I would rather give more for a certainty, if I made only a small -profit on it," he said, looking at his brother. "It is my opinion that -things have gone far enough for business," he concluded. - -"Still you came here for something, didn't you?" asked Petit-Claud. -"What is your offer?" - -"I offer to release M. Sechard, and, if his plan succeeds, to give him -thirty per cent of the profits," the stout Cointet answered briskly. - -"But, monsieur," objected Eve, "how should we live while the -experiments were being made? My husband has endured the disgrace of -imprisonment already; he may as well go back to prison, it makes no -difference now, and we will pay our debts ourselves----" - -Petit-Claud laid a finger on his lips in warning. - -"You are unreasonable," said he, addressing the brothers. "You have -seen the paper; M. Sechard's father told you that he had shut his son -up, and that he had made capital paper in a single night from -materials that must have cost a mere nothing. You are here to make an -offer. Are you purchasers, yes or no?" - -"Stay," said the tall Cointet, "whether my brother is willing or no, I -will risk this much myself. I will pay M. Sechard's debts, I will pay -six thousand francs over and above the debts, and M. Sechard shall -have thirty per cent of the profits. But mind this--if in the space of -one year he fails to carry out the undertakings which he himself will -make in the deed of partnership, he must return the six thousand -francs, and we shall keep the patent and extricate ourselves as best -we may." - -"Are you sure of yourself?" asked Petit-Claud, taking David aside. - -"Yes," said David. He was deceived by the tactics of the brothers, and -afraid lest the stout Cointet should break off the negotiations on -which his future depended. - -"Very well, I will draft the deed," said Petit-Claud, addressing the -rest of the party. "Each of you shall have a copy to-night, and you -will have all to-morrow morning in which to think it over. To-morrow -afternoon at four o'clock, when the court rises, you will sign the -agreement. You, gentlemen, will withdraw Metivier's suit, and I, for -my part, will write to stop proceedings in the Court-Royal; we will -give notice on either side that the affair has been settled out of -court." - -David Sechard's undertakings were thus worded in the deed:-- - - - "M. David Sechard, printer of Angouleme, affirming that he has - discovered a method of sizing paper-pulp in the vat, and also a - method of affecting a reduction of fifty per cent in the price of - all kinds of manufactured papers, by introducing certain vegetable - substances into the pulp, either by intermixture of such - substances with the rags already in use, or by employing them - solely without the addition of rags: a partnership for working the - patent to be presently applied for is entered upon by M. David - Sechard and the firm of Cointet Brothers, subject to the following - conditional clauses and stipulations." - - -One of the clauses so drafted that David Sechard forfeited all his -rights if he failed to fulfil his engagements within the year; the -tall Cointet was particularly careful to insert that clause, and David -Sechard allowed it to pass. - -When Petit-Claud appeared with a copy of the agreement next morning at -half-past seven o'clock, he brought news for David and his wife. -Cerizet offered twenty-two thousand francs for the business. The whole -affair could be signed and settled in the course of the evening. "But -if the Cointets knew about it," he added, "they would be quite capable -of refusing to sign the deed of partnership, of harassing you, and -selling you up." - -"Are you sure of payment?" asked Eve. She had thought it hopeless to -try to sell the business; and now, to her astonishment, a bargain -which would have been their salvation three months ago was concluded -in this summary fashion. - -"The money has been deposited with me," he answered succinctly. - -"Why, here is magic at work!" said David, and he asked Petit-Claud for -an explanation of this piece of luck. - -"No," said Petit-Claud, "it is very simple. The merchants in L'Houmeau -want a newspaper." - -"But I am bound not to publish a paper," said David. - -"Yes, you are bound, but is your successor?--However it is," he -continued, "do not trouble yourself at all; sell the business, pocket -the proceeds, and leave Cerizet to find his way through the conditions -of the sale--he can take care of himself." - -"Yes," said Eve. - -"And if it turns out that you may not print a newspaper in Angouleme," -said Petit-Claud, "those who are finding the capital for Cerizet will -bring out the paper in L'Houmeau." - -The prospect of twenty-two thousand francs, of want now at end, -dazzled Eve. The partnership and its hopes took a second place. And, -therefore, M. and Mme. Sechard gave way on a final point of dispute. -The tall Cointet insisted that the patent should be taken out in the -name of any one of the partners. What difference could it make? The -stout Cointet said the last word. - -"He is finding the money for the patent; he is bearing the expenses of -the journey--another two thousand francs over and above the rest of -the expenses. He must take it out in his own name, or we will not stir -in the matter." - -The lynx gained a victory at all points. The deed of partnership was -signed that afternoon at half-past four. - -The tall Cointet politely gave Mme. Sechard a dozen thread-pattern -forks and spoons and a beautiful Ternaux shawl, by way of pin-money, -said he, and to efface any unpleasant impression made in the heat of -discussion. The copies of the draft had scarcely been made out, Cachan -had barely had time to send the documents to Petit-Claud, together -with the three unlucky forged bills, when the Sechards heard a -deafening rumble in the street, a dray from the Messageries stopped -before the door, and Kolb's voice made the staircase ring again. - -"Montame! montame! vifteen tausend vrancs, vrom Boidiers" (Poitiers). -"Goot money! vrom Monziere Lucien!" - -"Fifteen thousand francs!" cried Eve, throwing up her arms. - -"Yes, madame," said the carman in the doorway, "fifteen thousand -francs, brought by the Bordeaux coach, and they didn't want any more -neither! I have two men downstairs bringing up the bags. M. Lucien -Chardon de Rubempre is the sender. I have brought up a little leather -bag for you, containing five hundred francs in gold, and a letter it's -likely." - -Eve thought that she must be dreaming as she read:-- - - - "MY DEAR SISTER,--Here are fifteen thousand francs. Instead of - taking my life, I have sold it. I am no longer my own; I am only - the secretary of a Spanish diplomatist; I am his creature. A new - and dreadful life is beginning for me. Perhaps I should have done - better to drown myself. - - "Good-bye. David will be released, and with the four thousand - francs he can buy a little paper-mill, no doubt, and make his - fortune. Forget me, all of you. This is the wish of your unhappy - brother. - "LUCIEN." - - -"It is decreed that my poor boy should be unlucky in everything, and -even when he does well, as he said himself," said Mme. Chardon, as she -watched the men piling up the bags. - -"We have had a narrow escape!" exclaimed the tall Cointet, when he was -once more in the Place du Murier. "An hour later the glitter of the -silver would have thrown a new light on the deed of partnership. Our -man would have fought shy of it. We have his promise now, and in three -months' time we shall know what to do." - -That very evening, at seven o'clock, Cerizet bought the business, and -the money was paid over, the purchaser undertaking to pay rent for the -last quarter. The next day Eve sent forty thousand francs to the -Receiver-General, and bought two thousand five hundred francs of -_rentes_ in her husband's name. Then she wrote to her father-in-law and -asked him to find a small farm, worth about ten thousand francs, for -her near Marsac. She meant to invest her own fortune in this way. - -The tall Cointet's plot was formidably simple. From the very first he -considered that the plan of sizing the pulp in the vat was -impracticable. The real secret of fortune lay in the composition of -the pulp, in the cheap vegetable fibre as a substitute for rags. He -made up his mind, therefore, to lay immense stress on the secondary -problem of sizing the pulp, and to pass over the discovery of cheap -raw material, and for the following reasons: - -The Angouleme paper-mills manufacture paper for stationers. Notepaper, -foolscap, crown, and post-demy are all necessarily sized; and these -papers have been the pride of the Angouleme mills for a long while -past, stationery being the specialty of the Charente. This fact gave -color to the Cointet's urgency upon the point of sizing in the -pulping-trough; but, as a matter of fact, they cared nothing for this -part of David's researches. The demand for writing-paper is -exceedingly small compared with the almost unlimited demand for -unsized paper for printers. As Boniface Cointet traveled to Paris to -take out the patent in his own name, he was projecting plans that were -like to work a revolution in his paper-mill. Arrived in Paris, he took -up his quarters with Metivier, and gave his instructions to his agent. -Metivier was to call upon the proprietors of newspapers, and offer to -deliver paper at prices below those quoted by all other houses; he -could guarantee in each case that the paper should be a better color, -and in every way superior to the best kinds hitherto in use. -Newspapers are always supplied by contract; there would be time before -the present contracts expired to complete all the subterranean -operations with buyers, and to obtain a monopoly of the trade. Cointet -calculated that he could rid himself of Sechard while Metivier was -taking orders from the principal Paris newspapers, which even then -consumed two hundred reams daily. Cointet naturally offered Metivier a -large commission on the contracts, for he wished to secure a clever -representative on the spot, and to waste no time in traveling to and -fro. And in this manner the fortunes of the firm of Metivier, one of -the largest houses in the paper trade, were founded. The tall Cointet -went back to Angouleme to be present at Petit-Claud's wedding, with a -mind at rest as to the future. - -Petit-Claud had sold his professional connection, and was only waiting -for M. Milaud's promotion to take the public prosecutor's place, which -had been promised to him by the Comtesse du Chatelet. The public -prosecutor's second deputy was appointed first deputy to the Court of -Limoges, the Keeper of the Seals sent a man of his own to Angouleme, -and the post of first deputy was kept vacant for a couple of months. -The interval was Petit-Claud's honeymoon. - -While Boniface Cointet was in Paris, David made a first experimental -batch of unsized paper far superior to that in common use for -newspapers. He followed it up with a second batch of magnificent -vellum paper for fine printing, and this the Cointets used for a new -edition of their diocesan prayer-book. The material had been privately -prepared by David himself; he would have no helpers but Kolb and -Marion. - -When Boniface came back the whole affair wore a different aspect; he -looked at the samples, and was fairly satisfied. - -"My good friend," he said, "the whole trade of Angouleme is in crown -paper. We must make the best possible crown paper at half the present -price; that is the first and foremost question for us." - -Then David tried to size the pulp for the desired paper, and the -result was a harsh surface with grains of size distributed all over -it. On the day when the experiment was concluded and David held the -sheets in his hand, he went away to find a spot where he could be -alone and swallow his bitter disappointment. But Boniface Cointet went -in search of him and comforted him. Boniface was delightfully amiable. - -"Do not lose heart," he said; "go on! I am a good fellow, I understand -you; I will stand by you to the end." - -"Really," David said to his wife at dinner, "we are with good people; -I should not have expected that the tall Cointet would be so -generous." And he repeated his conversation with his wily partner. - -Three months were spent in experiments. David slept at the mill; he -noted the effects of various preparations upon the pulp. At one time -he attributed his non-success to an admixture of rag-pulp with his own -ingredients, and made a batch entirely composed of the new material; -at another, he endeavored to size pulp made exclusively from rags; -persevering in his experiments under the eyes of the tall Cointet, -whom he had ceased to mistrust, until he had tried every possible -combination of pulp and size. David lived in the paper-mill for the -first six months of 1823--if it can be called living, to leave food -untasted, and go in neglect of person and dress. He wrestled so -desperately with the difficulties, that anybody but the Cointets would -have seen the sublimity of the struggle, for the brave fellow was not -thinking of his own interests. The moment had come when he cared for -nothing but the victory. With marvelous sagacity he watched the -unaccountable freaks of the semi-artificial substances called into -existence by man for ends of his own; substances in which nature had -been tamed, as it were, and her tacit resistance overcome; and from -these observations drew great conclusions; finding, as he did, that -such creations can only be obtained by following the laws of the more -remote affinities of things, of "a second nature," as he called it, in -substances. - -Towards the end of August he succeeded to some extent in sizing the -paper pulp in the vat; the result being a kind of paper identical with -a make in use for printers' proofs at the present day--a kind of paper -that cannot be depended upon, for the sizing itself is not always -certain. This was a great result, considering the condition of the -paper trade in 1823, and David hoped to solve the final difficulties -of the problem, but--it had cost ten thousand francs. - -Singular rumors were current at this time in Angouleme and L'Houmeau. -It was said that David Sechard was ruining the firm of Cointet -Brothers. Experiments had eaten up twenty thousand francs; and the -result, said gossip, was wretchedly bad paper. Other manufacturers -took fright at this, hugged themselves on their old-fashioned methods, -and, being jealous of the Cointets, spread rumors of the approaching -fall of that ambitious house. As for the tall Cointet, he set up the -new machinery for making lengths of paper in a ribbon, and allowed -people to believe that he was buying plant for David's experiments. -Then the cunning Cointet used David's formula for pulp, while urging -his partner to give his whole attention to the sizing process; and -thousands of reams of the new paper were despatched to Metivier in -Paris. - -When September arrived, the tall Cointet took David aside, and, -learning that the latter meditated a crowning experiment, dissuaded -him from further attempts. - -"Go to Marsac, my dear David, see your wife, and take a rest after -your labors; we don't want to ruin ourselves," said Cointet in the -friendliest way. "This great triumph of yours, after all, is only a -starting-point. We shall wait now for awhile before trying any new -experiments. To be fair! see what has come of them. We are not merely -paper-makers, we are printers besides and bankers, and people say that -you are ruining us." - -David Sechard's gesture of protest on behalf of his good faith was -sublime in its simplicity. - -"Not that fifty thousand francs thrown into the Charente would ruin -us," said Cointet, in reply to mute protest, "but we do not wish to be -obliged to pay cash for everything in consequence of slanders that -shake our credit; _that_ would bring us to a standstill. We have reached -the term fixed by our agreement, and we are bound on either side to -think over our position." - -"He is right," thought David. He had forgotten the routine work of the -business, thoroughly absorbed as he had been in experiments on a large -scale. - -David went to Marsac. For the past six months he had gone over on -Saturday evening, returning again to L'Houmeau on Tuesday morning. -Eve, after much counsel from her father-in-law, had bought a house -called the Verberie, with three acres of land and a croft planted with -vines, which lay like a wedge in the old man's vineyard. Here, with -her mother and Marion, she lived a very frugal life, for five thousand -francs of the purchase money still remained unpaid. It was a charming -little domain, the prettiest bit of property in Marsac. The house, -with a garden before it and a yard at the back, was built of white -tufa ornamented with carvings, cut without great expense in that -easily wrought stone, and roofed with slate. The pretty furniture from -the house in Angouleme looked prettier still at Marsac, for there was -not the slightest attempt at comfort or luxury in the country in those -days. A row of orange-trees, pomegranates, and rare plants stood -before the house on the side of the garden, set there by the last -owner, an old general who died under M. Marron's hands. - -David was enjoying his holiday sitting under an orange-tree with his -wife, and father, and little Lucien, when the bailiff from Mansle -appeared. Cointet Brothers gave their partner formal notice to appoint -an arbitrator to settle disputes, in accordance with a clause in the -agreement. The Cointets demanded that the six thousand francs should -be refunded, and the patent surrendered in consideration of the -enormous outlay made to no purpose. - -"People say that you are ruining them," said old Sechard. "Well, well, -of all that you have done, that is the one thing that I am glad to -know." - -At nine o'clock the next morning Eve and David stood in Petit-Claud's -waiting-room. The little lawyer was the guardian of the widow and -orphan by virtue of his office, and it seemed to them that they could -take no other advice. Petit-Claud was delighted to see his clients, -and insisted that M. and Mme. Sechard should do him the pleasure of -breakfasting with him. - -"Do the Cointets want six thousand francs of you?" he asked, smiling. -"How much is still owing of the purchase-money of the Verberie?" - -"Five thousand francs, monsieur," said Eve, "but I have two -thousand----" - -"Keep your money," Petit-Claud broke in. "Let us see: five -thousand--why, you want quite another ten thousand francs to settle -yourselves comfortably down yonder. Very good, in two hours' time the -Cointets shall bring you fifteen thousand francs----" - -Eve started with surprise. - -"If you will renounce all claims to the profits under the deed of -partnership, and come to an amicable settlement," said Petit-Claud. -"Does that suit you?" - -"Will it really be lawfully ours?" asked Eve. - -"Very much so," said the lawyer, smiling. "The Cointets have worked -you trouble enough; I should like to make an end of their pretensions. -Listen to me; I am a magistrate now, and it is my duty to tell you the -truth. Very good. The Cointets are playing you false at this moment, -but you are in their hands. If you accept battle, you might possibly -gain the lawsuit which they will bring. Do you wish to be where you -are now after ten years of litigation? Experts' fees and expenses of -arbitration will be multiplied, the most contradictory opinions will -be given, and you must take your chance. And," he added, smiling -again, "there is no attorney here that can defend you, so far as I -see. My successor has not much ability. There, a bad compromise is -better than a successful lawsuit." - -"Any arrangement that will give us a quiet life will do for me," said -David. - -Petit-Claud called to his servant. - -"Paul! go and ask M. Segaud, my successor, to come here.--He shall go -to see the Cointets while we breakfast" said Petit-Claud, addressing -his former clients, "and in a few hours' time you will be on your way -home to Marsac, ruined, but with minds at rest. Ten thousand francs -will bring you in another five hundred francs of income, and you will -live comfortably on your bit of property." - -Two hours later, as Petit-Claud had prophesied, Maitre Segaud came -back with an agreement duly drawn up and signed by the Cointets, and -fifteen notes each for a thousand francs. - -"We are much indebted to you," said Sechard, turning to Petit-Claud. - -"Why, I have just this moment ruined you," said Petit-Claud, looking -at his astonished former clients. "I tell you again, I have ruined -you, as you will see as time goes on; but I know you, you would rather -be ruined than wait for a fortune which perhaps might come too late." - -"We are not mercenary, monsieur," said Madame Eve. "We thank you for -giving us the means of happiness; we shall always feel grateful to -you." - -"Great heavens! don't call down blessings on _me_!" cried Petit-Claud. -"It fills me with remorse; but to-day, I think, I have made full -reparation. If I am a magistrate, it is entirely owing to you; and if -anybody is to feel grateful, it is I. Good-bye." - - - -As time went on, Kolb changed his opinion of Sechard senior; and as -for the old man, he took a liking to Kolb when he found that, like -himself, the Alsacien could neither write nor read a word, and that it -was easy to make him tipsy. The old "bear" imparted his ideas on vine -culture and the sale of a vintage to the ex-cuirassier, and trained -him with a view to leaving a man with a head on his shoulders to look -after his children when he should be gone; for he grew childish at the -last, and great were his fears as to the fate of his property. He had -chosen Courtois the miller as his confidant. "You will see how things -will go with my children when I am under ground. Lord! it makes me -shudder to think of it." - -Old Sechard died in the month of March, 1929, leaving about two -hundred thousand francs in land. His acres added to the Verberie made -a fine property, which Kolb had managed to admiration for some two -years. - -David and his wife found nearly a hundred thousand crowns in gold in -the house. The department of the Charente had valued old Sechard's -money at a million; rumor, as usual, exaggerating the amount of a -hoard. Eve and David had barely thirty thousand francs of income when -they added their little fortune to the inheritance; they waited -awhile, and so it fell out that they invested their capital in -Government securities at the time of the Revolution of July. - -Then, and not until then, could the department of the Charente and -David Sechard form some idea of the wealth of the tall Cointet. Rich -to the extent of several millions of francs, the elder Cointet became -a deputy, and is at this day a peer of France. It is said that he will -be Minister of Commerce in the next Government; for in 1842 he married -Mlle. Popinot, daughter of M. Anselme Popinot, one of the most -influential statesmen of the dynasty, deputy and mayor of an -arrondissement in Paris. - -David Sechard's discovery has been assimilated by the French -manufacturing world, as food is assimilated by a living body. Thanks -to the introduction of materials other than rags, France can produce -paper more cheaply than any other European country. Dutch paper, as -David foresaw, no longer exists. Sooner or later it will be necessary, -no doubt, to establish a Royal Paper Manufactory; like the Gobelins, -the Sevres porcelain works, the Savonnerie, and the Imprimerie royale, -which so far have escaped the destruction threatened by _bourgeois_ -vandalism. - -David Sechard, beloved by his wife, father of two boys and a girl, has -the good taste to make no allusion to his past efforts. Eve had the -sense to dissuade him from following his terrible vocation; for the -inventor like Moses on Mount Horeb, is consumed by the burning bush. -He cultivates literature by way of recreation, and leads a comfortable -life of leisure, befitting the landowner who lives on his own estate. -He has bidden farewell for ever to glory, and bravely taken his place -in the class of dreamers and collectors; for he dabbles in entomology, -and is at present investigating the transformations of insects which -science only knows in the final stage. - -Everybody has heard of Petit-Claud's success as attorney-general; he -is the rival of the great Vinet of Provins, and it is his ambition to -be President of the Court-Royal of Poitiers. - -Cerizet has been in trouble so frequently for political offences that -he has been a good deal talked about; and as one of the boldest -_enfants perdus_ of the Liberal party he was nicknamed the "Brave -Cerizet." When Petit-Claud's successor compelled him to sell his -business in Angouleme, he found a fresh career on the provincial -stage, where his talents as an actor were like to be turned to -brilliant account. The chief stage heroine, however, obliged him to go -to Paris to find a cure for love among the resources of science, and -there he tried to curry favor with the Liberal party. - -As for Lucien, the story of his return to Paris belongs to the _Scenes -of Parisian_ life. - - - - ADDENDUM - -Note: Eve and David is the part three of a trilogy. Part one is -entitled Two Poets and part two is A Distinguished Provincial at -Paris. In other addendum references parts one and three are usually -combined under the title Lost Illusions. - -The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. - -Cerizet - Two Poets - A Man of Business - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Middle Classes - -Chardon, Madame (nee Rubempre) - Two Poets - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Chatelet, Sixte, Baron du - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Thirteen - -Chatelet, Marie-Louise-Anais de Negrepelisse, Baronne du - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Government Clerks - -Cointet, Boniface - Two Poets - The Firm of Nucingen - The Member for Arcis - -Cointet, Jean - Two Poets - -Collin, Jacques - Father Goriot - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Member for Arcis - -Conti, Gennaro - Beatrix - -Courtois - Two Poets - -Courtois, Madame - Two Poets - -Hautoy, Francis du - Two Poets - -Herrera, Carlos - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Marron - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Marsay, Henri de - The Thirteen - The Unconscious Humorists - Another Study of Woman - The Lily of the Valley - Father Goriot - Jealousies of a Country Town - Ursule Mirouet - A Marriage Settlement - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Letters of Two Brides - The Ball at Sceaux - Modeste Mignon - The Secrets of a Princess - The Gondreville Mystery - A Daughter of Eve - -Metivier - The Government Clerks - The Middle Classes - -Milaud - The Muse of the Department - -Nucingen, Baron Frederic de - The Firm of Nucingen - Father Goriot - Pierrette - Cesar Birotteau - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - Another Study of Woman - The Secrets of a Princess - A Man of Business - Cousin Betty - The Muse of the Department - The Unconscious Humorists - -Nucingen, Baronne Delphine de - Father Goriot - The Thirteen - Eugenie Grandet - Cesar Birotteau - Melmoth Reconciled - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Commission in Lunacy - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - Modeste Mignon - The Firm of Nucingen - Another Study of Woman - A Daughter of Eve - The Member for Arcis - -Petit-Claud - Two Poets - -Pimentel, Marquis and Marquise de - Two Poets - -Postel - Two Poets - -Prieur, Madame - Two Poets - -Rastignac, Baron and Baronne de (Eugene's parents) - Father Goriot - Two Poets - -Rastignac, Eugene de - Father Goriot - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Ball at Sceaux - The Commission in Lunacy - A Study of Woman - Another Study of Woman - The Magic Skin - The Secrets of a Princess - A Daughter of Eve - The Gondreville Mystery - The Firm of Nucingen - Cousin Betty - The Member for Arcis - The Unconscious Humorists - -Rubempre, Lucien-Chardon de - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Government Clerks - Ursule Mirouet - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Sechard, Jerome-Nicholas - Two Poets - -Sechard, David - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial At Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Sechard, Madame David - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial At Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Senonches, Jacques de - Two Poets - -Senonches, Madame Jacques de - Two Poets - -Touches, Mademoiselle Felicite des - Beatrix - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - A Bachelor's Establishment - Another Study of Woman - A Daughter of Eve - Honorine - Beatrix - The Muse of the Department - -Victorine - Massimilla Doni - Letters of Two Brides - Gaudissart II - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eve and David, by Honore de Balzac - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVE AND DAVID *** - -***** This file should be named 1639.txt or 1639.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.net/1/6/3/1639/ - -Produced by Dagny; and John Bickers - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Eve and David's story -begins in part one, Two Poets. Part one also introduces Eve's -brother, Lucien. Part two, A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, -centers on Lucien's life in Paris. For part 3 the action once more -returns to Eve and David in Angouleme. In many references parts 1 -and 3 are combined under the title Lost Illusions. - - - - -EVE AND DAVID - - - - -Lucien had gone to Paris; and David Sechard, with the courage and -intelligence of the ox which painters give the Evangelist for -accompanying symbol, set himself to make the large fortune for which -he had wished that evening down by the Charente, when he sat with Eve -by the weir, and she gave him her hand and her heart. He wanted to -make the money quickly, and less for himself than for Eve's sake and -Lucien's. He would place his wife amid the elegant and comfortable -surroundings that were hers by right, and his strong arm should -sustain her brother's ambitions--this was the programme that he saw -before his eyes in letters of fire. - -Journalism and politics, the immense development of the book trade, of -literature and of the sciences; the increase of public interest in -matters touching the various industries in the country; in fact, the -whole social tendency of the epoch following the establishment of the -Restoration produced an enormous increase in the demand for paper. The -supply required was almost ten times as large as the quantity in which -the celebrated Ouvrard speculated at the outset of the Revolution. -Then Ouvrard could buy up first the entire stock of paper and then the -manufacturers; but in the year 1821 there were so many paper-mills in -France, that no one could hope to repeat his success; and David had -neither audacity enough nor capital enough for such speculation. -Machinery for producing paper in any length was just coming into use -in England. It was one of the most urgent needs of the time, -therefore, that the paper trade should keep pace with the requirements -of the French system of civil government, a system by which the right -of discussion was to be extended to every man, and the whole fabric -based upon continual expression of individual opinion; a grave -misfortune, for the nation that deliberates is but little wont to act. - -So, strange coincidence! while Lucien was drawn into the great -machinery of journalism, where he was like to leave his honor and his -intelligence torn to shreds, David Sechard, at the back of his -printing-house, foresaw all the practical consequences of the -increased activity of the periodical press. He saw the direction in -which the spirit of the age was tending, and sought to find means to -the required end. He saw also that there was a fortune awaiting the -discoverer of cheap paper, and the event has justified his -clearsightedness. Within the last fifteen years, the Patent Office has -received more than a hundred applications from persons claiming to -have discovered cheap substances to be employed in the manufacture of -paper. David felt more than ever convinced that this would be no -brilliant triumph, it is true, but a useful and immensely profitable -discovery; and after his brother-in-law went to Paris, he became more -and more absorbed in the problem which he had set himself to solve. - -The expenses of his marriage and of Lucien's journey to Paris had -exhausted all his resources; he confronted the extreme of poverty at -the very outset of married life. He had kept one thousand francs for -the working expenses of the business, and owed a like sum, for which -he had given a bill to Postel the druggist. So here was a double -problem for this deep thinker; he must invent a method of making cheap -paper, and that quickly; he must make the discovery, in fact, in order -to apply the proceeds to the needs of the household and of the -business. What words can describe the brain that can forget the cruel -preoccupations caused by hidden want, by the daily needs of a family -and the daily drudgery of a printer's business, which requires such -minute, painstaking care; and soar, with the enthusiasm and -intoxication of the man of science, into the regions of the unknown in -quest of a secret which daily eludes the most subtle experiment? And -the inventor, alas! as will shortly be seen, has plenty of woes to -endure, besides the ingratitude of the many; idle folk that can do -nothing themselves tell them, "Such a one is a born inventor; he could -not do otherwise. He no more deserves credit for his invention than a -prince for being born to rule! He is simply exercising his natural -faculties, and his work is its own reward," and the people believe -them. - -Marriage brings profound mental and physical perturbations into a -girl's life; and if she marries under the ordinary conditions of lower -middle-class life, she must moreover begin to study totally new -interests and initiate herself in the intricacies of business. With -marriage, therefore, she enters upon a phase of her existence when she -is necessarily on the watch before she can act. Unfortunately, David's -love for his wife retarded this training; he dared not tell her the -real state of affairs on the day after their wedding, nor for some -time afterwards. His father's avarice condemned him to the most -grinding poverty, but he could not bring himself to spoil the -honeymoon by beginning his wife's commercial education and prosaic -apprenticeship to his laborious craft. So it came to pass that -housekeeping, no less than working expenses, ate up the thousand -francs, his whole fortune. For four months David gave no thought to -the future, and his wife remained in ignorance. The awakening was -terrible! Postel's bill fell due; there was no money to meet it, and -Eve knew enough of the debt and its cause to give up her bridal -trinkets and silver. - -That evening Eve tried to induce David to talk of their affairs, for -she had noticed that he was giving less attention to the business and -more to the problem of which he had once spoken to her. Since the -first few weeks of married life, in fact, David spent most of his time -in the shed in the backyard, in the little room where he was wont to -mould his ink-rollers. Three months after his return to Angouleme, he -had replaced the old fashioned round ink-balls by rollers made of -strong glue and treacle, and an ink-table, on which the ink was evenly -distributed, an improvement so obvious that Cointet Brothers no sooner -saw it than they adopted the plan themselves. - -By the partition wall of this kitchen, as it were, David had set up a -little furnace with a copper pan, ostensibly to save the cost of fuel -over the recasting of his rollers, though the moulds had not been used -twice, and hung there rusting upon the wall. Nor was this all; a solid -oak door had been put in by his orders, and the walls were lined with -sheet-iron; he even replaced the dirty window sash by panes of ribbed -glass, so that no one without could watch him at his work. - -When Eve began to speak about the future, he looked uneasily at her, -and cut her short at the first word by saying, "I know all that you -must think, child, when you see that the workshop is left to itself, -and that I am dead, as it were, to all business interests; but see," -he continued, bringing her to the window, and pointing to the -mysterious shed, "there lies our fortune. For some months yet we must -endure our lot, but let us bear it patiently; leave me to solve the -problem of which I told you, and all our troubles will be at an end." - -David was so good, his devotion was so thoroughly to be taken upon his -word, that the poor wife, with a wife's anxiety as to daily expenses, -determined to spare her husband the household cares and to take the -burden upon herself. So she came down from the pretty blue-and-white -room, where she sewed and talked contentedly with her mother, took -possession of one of the two dens at the back of the printing-room, -and set herself to learn the business routine of typography. Was it -not heroism in a wife who expected ere long to be a mother? - -During the past few months David's workmen had left him one by one; -there was not enough work for them to do. Cointet Brothers, on the -other hand, were overwhelmed with orders; they were employing all the -workmen of the department; the alluring prospect of high wages even -brought them a few from Bordeaux, more especially apprentices, who -thought themselves sufficiently expert to cancel their articles and go -elsewhere. When Eve came to look into the affairs of Sechard's -printing works, she discovered that he employed three persons in all. - -First in order stood Cerizet, an apprentice of Didot's, whom David had -chosen to train. Most foremen have some one favorite among the great -numbers of workers under them, and David had brought Cerizet to -Angouleme, where he had been learning more of the business. Marion, as -much attached to the house as a watch-dog, was the second; and the -third was Kolb, an Alsacien, at one time a porter in the employ of the -Messrs. Didot. Kolb had been drawn for military service, chance -brought him to Angouleme, and David recognized the man's face at a -review just as his time was about to expire. Kolb came to see David, -and was smitten forthwith by the charms of the portly Marion; she -possessed all the qualities which a man of his class looks for in a -wife--the robust health that bronzes the cheeks, the strength of a man -(Marion could lift a form of type with ease), the scrupulous honesty -on which an Alsacien sets such store, the faithful service which -bespeaks a sterling character, and finally, the thrift which had saved -a little sum of a thousand francs, besides a stock of clothing and -linen, neat and clean, as country linen can be. Marion herself, a big, -stout woman of thirty-six, felt sufficiently flattered by the -admiration of a cuirassier, who stood five feet seven in his -stockings, a well-built warrior, strong as a bastion, and not -unnaturally suggested that he should become a printer. So, by the time -Kolb received his full discharge, Marion and David between them had -transformed him into a tolerably creditable "bear," though their pupil -could neither read nor write. - -Job printing, as it is called, was not so abundant at this season but -that Cerizet could manage it without help. Cerizet, compositor, -clicker, and foreman, realized in his person the "phenomenal -triplicity" of Kant; he set up type, read proof, took orders, and made -out invoices; but the most part of the time he had nothing to do, and -used to read novels in his den at the back of the workshop while he -waited for an order for a bill-head or a trade circular. Marion, -trained by old Sechard, prepared and wetted down the paper, helped -Kolb with the printing, hung the sheets to dry, and cut them to size; -yet cooked the dinner, none the less, and did her marketing very early -of a morning. - -Eve told Cerizet to draw out a balance-sheet for the last six months, -and found that the gross receipts amounted to eight hundred francs. On -the other hand, wages at the rate of three francs per day--two francs -to Cerizet, and one to Kolb--reached a total of six hundred francs; -and as the goods supplied for the work printed and delivered amounted -to some hundred odd francs, it was clear to Eve that David had been -carrying on business at a loss during the first half-year of their -married life. There was nothing to show for rent, nothing for Marion's -wages, nor for the interest on capital represented by the plant, the -license, and the ink; nothing, finally, by way of allowance for the -host of things included in the technical expression "wear and tear," a -word which owes its origin to the cloths and silks which are used to -moderate the force of the impression, and to save wear to the type; a -square of stuff (the blanket) being placed between the platen and the -sheet of paper in the press. - -Eve made a rough calculation of the resources of the printing office -and of the output, and saw how little hope there was for a business -drained dry by the all-devouring activity of the brothers Cointet; for -by this time the Cointets were not only contract printers to the town -and the prefecture, and printers to the Diocese by special appointment ---they were paper-makers and proprietors of a newspaper to boot. That -newspaper, sold two years ago by the Sechards, father and son, for -twenty-two thousand francs, was now bringing in eighteen thousand -francs per annum. Eve began to understand the motives lurking beneath -the apparent generosity of the brothers Cointet; they were leaving the -Sechard establishment just sufficient work to gain a pittance, but not -enough to establish a rival house. - -When Eve took the management of the business, she began by taking -stock. She set Kolb and Marion and Cerizet to work, and the workshop -was put to rights, cleaned out, and set in order. Then one evening -when David came in from a country excursion, followed by an old woman -with a huge bundle tied up in a cloth, Eve asked counsel of him as to -the best way of turning to profit the odds and ends left them by old -Sechard, promising that she herself would look after the business. -Acting upon her husband's advice, Mme. Sechard sorted all the remnants -of paper which she found, and printed old popular legends in double -columns upon a single sheet, such as peasants paste on their walls, -the histories of The Wandering Jew, Robert the Devil, La Belle -Maguelonne and sundry miracles. Eve sent Kolb out as a hawker. - -Cerizet had not a moment to spare now; he was composing the naive -pages, with the rough cuts that adorned them, from morning to night; -Marion was able to manage the taking off; and all domestic cares fell -to Mme. Chardon, for Eve was busy coloring the prints. Thanks to -Kolb's activity and honesty, Eve sold three thousand broad sheets at a -penny apiece, and made three hundred francs in all at a cost of thirty -francs. - -But when every peasant's hut and every little wine-shop for twenty -leagues round was papered with these legends, a fresh speculation must -be discovered; the Alsacien could not go beyond the limits of the -department. Eve, turning over everything in the whole printing house, -had found a collection of figures for printing a "Shepherd's -Calendar," a kind of almanac meant for those who cannot read, -letterpress being replaced by symbols, signs, and pictures in colored -inks, red, black and blue. Old Sechard, who could neither read nor -write himself, had made a good deal of money at one time by bringing -out an almanac in hieroglyph. It was in book form, a single sheet -folded to make one hundred and twenty-eight pages. - -Thoroughly satisfied with the success of the broad sheets, a piece of -business only undertaken by country printing offices, Mme. Sechard -invested all the proceeds in the Shepherd's Calendar, and began it -upon a large scale. Millions of copies of this work are sold annually -in France. It is printed upon even coarser paper than the Almanac of -Liege, a ream (five hundred sheets) costing in the first instance -about four francs; while the printed sheets sell at the rate of a -halfpenny apiece--twenty-five francs per ream. - -Mme. Sechard determined to use one hundred reams for the first -impression; fifty thousand copies would bring in two thousand francs. -A man so deeply absorbed in his work as David in his researches is -seldom observant; yet David, taking a look round his workshop, was -astonished to hear the groaning of a press and to see Cerizet always -on his feet, setting up type under Mme. Sechard's direction. There was -a pretty triumph for Eve on the day when David came in to see what she -was doing, and praised the idea, and thought the calendar an excellent -stroke of business. Furthermore, David promised to give advice in the -matter of colored inks, for an almanac meant to appeal to the eye; and -finally, he resolved to recast the ink-rollers himself in his -mysterious workshop, so as to help his wife as far as he could in her -important little enterprise. - -But just as the work began with strenuous industry, there came letters -from Lucien in Paris, heart-sinking letters that told his mother and -sister and brother-in-law of his failure and distress; and when Eve, -Mme. Chardon, and David each secretly sent money to their poet, it -must be plain to the reader that the three hundred francs they sent -were like their very blood. The overwhelming news, the disheartening -sense that work as bravely as she might, she made so little, left Eve -looking forward with a certain dread to an event which fills the cup -of happiness to the full. The time was coming very near now, and to -herself she said, "If my dear David has not reached the end of his -researches before my confinement, what will become of us? And who will -look after our poor printing office and the business that is growing -up?" - -The Shepherd's Calendar ought by rights to have been ready before the -1st of January, but Cerizet was working unaccountably slowly; all the -work of composing fell to him; and Mme. Sechard, knowing so little, -could not find fault, and was fain to content herself with watching -the young Parisian. - -Cerizet came from the great Foundling Hospital in Paris. He had been -apprenticed to the MM. Didot, and between the ages of fourteen and -seventeen he was David Sechard's fanatical worshiper. David put him -under one of the cleverest workmen, and took him for his copy-holder, -his page. Cerizet's intelligence naturally interested David; he won -the lad's affection by procuring amusements now and again for him, and -comforts from which he was cut off by poverty. Nature had endowed -Cerizet with an insignificant, rather pretty little countenance, red -hair, and a pair of dull blue eyes; he had come to Angouleme and -brought the manners of the Parisian street-boy with him. He was -formidable by reason of a quick, sarcastic turn and a spiteful -disposition. Perhaps David looked less strictly after him in -Angouleme; or, perhaps, as the lad grew older, his mentor put more -trust in him, or in the sobering influences of a country town; but be -that as it may, Cerizet (all unknown to his sponsor) was going -completely to the bad, and the printer's apprentice was acting the -part of a Don Juan among little work girls. His morality, learned in -Paris drinking-saloons, laid down the law of self-interest as the sole -rule of guidance; he knew, moreover, that next year he would be "drawn -for a soldier," to use the popular expression, saw that he had no -prospects, and ran into debt, thinking that soon he should be in the -army, and none of his creditors would run after him. David still -possessed some ascendency over the young fellow, due not to his -position as master, nor yet to the interest that he had taken in his -pupil, but to the great intellectual power which the sometime street- -boy fully recognized. - -Before long Cerizet began to fraternize with the Cointets' workpeople, -drawn to them by the mutual attraction of blouse and jacket, and the -class feeling, which is, perhaps, strongest of all in the lowest ranks -of society. In their company Cerizet forgot the little good doctrine -which David had managed to instil into him; but, nevertheless, when -the others joked the boy about the presses in his workshop ("old -sabots," as the "bears" contemptuously called them), and showed him -the magnificent machines, twelve in number, now at work in the -Cointets' great printing office, where the single wooden press was -only used for experiments, Cerizet would stand up for David and fling -out at the braggarts. - -"My gaffer will go farther with his 'sabots' than yours with their -cast-iron contrivances that turn out mass books all day long," he -would boast. "He is trying to find out a secret that will lick all the -printing offices in France and Navarre." - -"And meantime you take your orders from a washer-woman, you snip of a -foreman, on two francs a day." - -"She is pretty though," retorted Cerizet; "it is better to have her to -look at than the phizes of your gaffers." - -"And do you live by looking at his wife?" - -From the region of the wineshop, or from the door of the printing -office, where these bickerings took place, a dim light began to break -in upon the brothers Cointet as to the real state of things in the -Sechard establishment. They came to hear of Eve's experiment, and held -it expedient to stop these flights at once, lest the business should -begin to prosper under the poor young wife's management. - -"Let us give her a rap over the knuckles, and disgust her with the -business," said the brothers Cointet. - -One of the pair, the practical printer, spoke to Cerizet, and asked -him to do the proof-reading for them by piecework, to relieve their -reader, who had more than he could manage. So it came to pass that -Cerizet earned more by a few hours' work of an evening for the -brothers Cointet than by a whole day's work for David Sechard. Other -transactions followed; the Cointets seeing no small aptitude in -Cerizet, he was told that it was a pity that he should be in a -position so little favorable to his interests. - -"You might be foreman some day in a big printing office, making six -francs a day," said one of the Cointets one day, "and with your -intelligence you might come to have a share in the business." - -"Where is the use of my being a good foreman?" returned Cerizet. "I am -an orphan, I shall be drawn for the army next year, and if I get a bad -number who is there to pay some one else to take my place?" - -"If you make yourself useful," said the well-to-do printer, "why -should not somebody advance the money?" - -"It won't be my gaffer in any case!" said Cerizet. - -"Pooh! Perhaps by that time he will have found out the secret." - -The words were spoken in a way that could not but rouse the worst -thoughts in the listener; and Cerizet gave the papermaker and printer -a very searching look. - -"I do not know what he is busy about," he began prudently, as the -master said nothing, "but he is not the kind of man to look for -capitals in the lower case!" - -"Look here, my friend," said the printer, taking up half-a-dozen -sheets of the diocesan prayer-book and holding them out to Cerizet, -"if you can correct these for us by to-morrow, you shall have eighteen -francs to-morrow for them. We are not shabby here; we put our -competitor's foreman in the way of making money. As a matter of fact, -we might let Mme. Sechard go too far to draw back with her Shepherd's -Calendar, and ruin her; very well, we give you permission to tell her -that we are bringing out a Shepherd's Calendar of our own, and to call -her attention too to the fact that she will not be the first in the -field." - -Cerizet's motive for working so slowly on the composition of the -almanac should be clear enough by this time. - -When Eve heard that the Cointets meant to spoil her poor little -speculation, dread seized upon her; at first she tried to see a proof -of attachment in Cerizet's hypocritical warning of competition; but -before long she saw signs of an over-keen curiosity in her sole -compositor--the curiosity of youth, she tried to think. - -"Cerizet," she said one morning, "you stand about on the threshold, -and wait for M. Sechard in the passage, to pry into his private -affairs; when he comes out into the yard to melt down the rollers, you -are there looking at him, instead of getting on with the almanac. -These things are not right, especially when you see that I, his wife, -respect his secrets, and take so much trouble on myself to leave him -free to give himself up to his work. If you had not wasted time, the -almanac would be finished by now, and Kolb would be selling it, and -the Cointets could have done us no harm." - -"Eh! madame," answered Cerizet. "Here am I doing five francs' worth of -composing for two francs a day, and don't you think that that is -enough? Why, if I did not read proofs of an evening for the Cointets, -I might feed myself on husks." - -"You are turning ungrateful early," said Eve, deeply hurt, not so much -by Cerizet's grumbling as by his coarse tone, threatening attitude, -and aggressive stare; "you will get on in life." - -"Not with a woman to order me about though, for it is not often that -the month has thirty days in it then." - -Feeling wounded in her womanly dignity, Eve gave Cerizet a withering -look and went upstairs again. At dinner-time she spoke to David. - -"Are you sure, dear, of that little rogue Cerizet?" - -"Cerizet!" said David. "Why, he was my youngster; I trained him, I -took him on as my copy-holder. I put him to composing; anything that -he is he owes to me, in fact! You might as well ask a father if he is -sure of his child." - -Upon this, Eve told her husband that Cerizet was reading proofs for -the Cointets. - -"Poor fellow! he must live," said David, humbled by the consciousness -that he had not done his duty as a master. - -"Yes, but there is a difference, dear, between Kolb and Cerizet--Kolb -tramps about twenty leagues every day, spends fifteen or twenty sous, -and brings us back seven and eight and sometimes nine francs of sales; -and when his expenses are paid, he never asks for more than his wages. -Kolb would sooner cut off his hand than work a lever for the Cointets; -Kolb would not peer among the things that you throw out into the yard -if people offered him a thousand crowns to do it; but Cerizet picks -them up and looks at them." - -It is hard for noble natures to think evil, to believe in ingratitude; -only through rough experience do they learn the extent of human -corruption; and even when there is nothing left them to learn in this -kind, they rise to an indulgence which is the last degree of contempt. - -"Pooh! pure Paris street-boy's curiosity," cried David. - -"Very well, dear, do me the pleasure to step downstairs and look at -the work done by this boy of yours, and tell me then whether he ought -not to have finished our almanac this month." - -David went into the workshop after dinner, and saw that the calendar -should have been set up in a week. Then, when he heard that the -Cointets were bringing out a similar almanac, he came to the rescue. -He took command of the printing office, Kolb helped at home instead of -selling broadsheets. Kolb and Marion pulled off the impressions from -one form while David worked another press with Cerizet, and -superintended the printing in various inks. Every sheet must be -printed four separate times, for which reason none but small houses -will attempt to produce a Shepherd's calendar, and that only in the -country where labor is cheap, and the amount of capital employed in -the business is so small that the interest amounts to little. -Wherefore, a press which turns out beautiful work cannot compete in -the printing of such sheets, coarse though they may be. - -So, for the first time since old Sechard retired, two presses were at -work in the old house. The calendar was, in its way, a masterpiece; -but Eve was obliged to sell it for less than a halfpenny, for the -Cointets were supplying hawkers at the rate of three centimes per -copy. Eve made no loss on the copies sold to hawkers; on Kolb's sales, -made directly, she gained; but her little speculation was spoiled. -Cerizet saw that his fair employer distrusted him; in his own -conscience he posed as the accuser, and said to himself, "You suspect -me, do you? I will have my revenge," for the Paris street-boy is made -on this wise. Cerizet accordingly took pay out of all proportion to -the work of proof-reading done for the Cointets, going to their office -every evening for the sheets, and returning them in the morning. He -came to be on familiar terms with them through the daily chat, and at -length saw a chance of escaping the military service, a bait held out -to him by the brothers. So far from requiring prompting from the -Cointets, he was the first to propose the espionage and exploitation -of David's researches. - -Eve saw how little she could depend upon Cerizet, and to find another -Kolb was simply impossible; she made up her mind to dismiss her one -compositor, for the insight of a woman who loves told her that Cerizet -was a traitor; but as this meant a deathblow to the business, she took -a man's resolution. She wrote to M. Metivier, with whom David and the -Cointets and almost every papermaker in the department had business -relations, and asked him to put the following advertisement into a -trade paper: - -"FOR SALE, as a going concern, a Printing Office, with License and -Plant; situated at Angouleme. Apply for particulars to M. Metivier, -Rue Serpente." - -The Cointets saw the advertisement. "That little woman has a head on -her shoulders," they said. "It is time that we took her business under -our own control, by giving her enough work to live upon; we might find -a real competitor in David's successor; it is in our interest to keep -an eye upon that workshop." - -The Cointets went to speak to David Sechard, moved thereto by this -thought. Eve saw them, knew that her stratagem had succeeded at once, -and felt a thrill of the keenest joy. They stated their proposal. They -had more work than they could undertake, their presses could not keep -pace with the work, would M. Sechard print for them? They had sent to -Bordeaux for workmen, and could find enough to give full employment to -David's three presses. - -"Gentlemen," said Eve, while Cerizet went across to David's workshop -to announce the two printers, "while my husband was with the MM. Didot -he came to know of excellent workers, honest and industrious men; he -will choose his successor, no doubt, from among the best of them. If -he sold his business outright for some twenty thousand francs, it -might bring us in a thousand francs per annum; that would be better -than losing a thousand yearly over such trade as you leave us. Why did -you envy us the poor little almanac speculation, especially as we have -always brought it out?" - -"Oh, why did you not give us notice, madame? We would not have -interfered with you," one of the brothers answered blandly (he was -known as the "tall Cointet"). - -"Oh, come gentlemen! you only began your almanac after Cerizet told -you that I was bringing out mine." - -She spoke briskly, looking full at "the tall Cointet" as she spoke. He -lowered his eyes; Cerizet's treachery was proven to her. - -This brother managed the business and the paper-mill; he was by far -the cleverer man of business of the two. Jean showed no small ability -in the conduct of the printing establishment, but in intellectual -capacity he might be said to take colonel's rank, while Boniface was a -general. Jean left the command to Boniface. This latter was thin and -spare in person; his face, sallow as an altar candle, was mottled with -reddish patches; his lips were pinched; there was something in his -eyes that reminded you of a cat's eyes. Boniface Cointet never excited -himself; he would listen to the grossest insults with the serenity of -a bigot, and reply in a smooth voice. He went to mass, he went to -confession, he took the sacrament. Beneath his caressing manners, -beneath an almost spiritless look, lurked the tenacity and ambition of -the priest, and the greed of the man of business consumed with a -thirst for riches and honors. In the year 1820 "tall Cointet" wanted -all that the bourgeoisie finally obtained by the Revolution of 1830. -In his heart he hated the aristocrats, and in religion he was -indifferent; he was as much or as little of a bigot as Bonaparte was a -member of the Mountain; yet his vertebral column bent with a -flexibility wonderful to behold before the noblesse and the official -hierarchy; for the powers that be, he humbled himself, he was meek and -obsequious. One final characteristic will describe him for those who -are accustomed to dealings with all kinds of men, and can appreciate -its value--Cointet concealed the expression of his eyes by wearing -colored glasses, ostensibly to preserve his sight from the reflection -of the sunlight on the white buildings in the streets; for Angouleme, -being set upon a hill, is exposed to the full glare of the sun. Tall -Cointet was really scarcely above middle height; he looked much taller -than he actually was by reason of the thinness, which told of overwork -and a brain in continual ferment. His lank, sleek gray hair, cut in -somewhat ecclesiastical fashion; the black trousers, black stockings, -black waistcoat, and long puce-colored greatcoat (styled a levite in -the south), all completed his resemblance to a Jesuit. - -Boniface was called "tall Cointet" to distinguish him from his -brother, "fat Cointet," and the nicknames expressed a difference in -character as well as a physical difference between a pair of equally -redoubtable personages. As for Jean Cointet, a jolly, stout fellow, -with a face from a Flemish interior, colored by the southern sun of -Angouleme, thick-set, short and paunchy as Sancho Panza; with a smile -on his lips and a pair of sturdy shoulders, he was a striking contrast -to his older brother. Nor was the difference only physical and -intellectual. Jean might almost be called Liberal in politics; he -belonged to the Left Centre, only went to mass on Sundays, and lived -on a remarkably good understanding with the Liberal men of business. -There were those in L'Houmeau who said that this divergence between -the brothers was more apparent than real. Tall Cointet turned his -brother's seeming good nature to advantage very skilfully. Jean was -his bludgeon. It was Jean who gave all the hard words; it was Jean who -conducted the executions which little beseemed the elder brother's -benevolence. Jean took the storms department; he would fly into a -rage, and propose terms that nobody would think of accepting, to pave -the way for his brother's less unreasonable propositions. And by such -policy the pair attained their ends, sooner or later. - -Eve, with a woman's tact, had soon divined the characters of the two -brothers; she was on her guard with foes so formidable. David, -informed beforehand of everything by his wife, lent a profoundly -inattentive mind to his enemies' proposals. - -"Come to an understanding with my wife," he said, as he left the -Cointets in the office and went back to his laboratory. "Mme. Sechard -knows more about the business than I do myself. I am interested in -something that will pay better than this poor place; I hope to find a -way to retrieve the losses that I have made through you----" - -"And how?" asked the fat Cointet, chuckling. - -Eve gave her husband a look that meant, "Be careful!" - -"You will be my tributaries," said David, "and all other consumers of -papers besides." - -"Then what are you investigating?" asked the hypocritical Boniface -Cointet. - -Boniface's question slipped out smoothly and insinuatingly, and again -Eve's eyes implored her husband to give an answer that was no answer, -or to say nothing at all. - -"I am trying to produce paper at fifty per cent less than the present -cost price," and he went. He did not see the glances exchanged between -the brothers. "That is an inventor, a man of his build cannot sit with -his hands before him.--Let us exploit him," said Boniface's eyes. "How -can we do it?" said Jean's. - -Mme. Sechard spoke. "David treats me just in the same way," she said. -"If I show any curiosity, he feels suspicious of my name, no doubt, -and out comes that remark of his; it is only a formula, after all." - -"If your husband can work out the formula, he will certainly make a -fortune more quickly than by printing; I am not surprised that he -leaves the business to itself," said Boniface, looking across the -empty workshop, where Kolb, seated upon a wetting-board, was rubbing -his bread with a clove of garlic; "but it would not suit our views to -see this place in the hands of an energetic, pushing, ambitious -competitor," he continued, "and perhaps it might be possible to arrive -at an understanding. Suppose, for instance, that you consented for a -consideration to allow us to put in one of our own men to work your -presses for our benefit, but nominally for you; the thing is sometimes -done in Paris. We would find the fellow work enough to enable him to -rent your place and pay you well, and yet make a profit for himself." - -"It depends on the amount," said Eve Sechard. "What is your offer?" -she added, looking at Boniface to let him see that she understood his -scheme perfectly well. - -"What is your own idea?" Jean Cointet put in briskly. - -"Three thousand francs for six months," said she. - -"Why, my dear young lady, you were proposing to sell the place -outright for twenty thousand francs," said Boniface with much suavity. -"The interest on twenty thousand francs is only twelve hundred francs -per annum at six per cent." - -For a moment Eve was thrown into confusion; she saw the need for -discretion in matters of business. - -"You wish to use our presses and our name as well," she said; "and, as -I have already shown you, I can still do a little business. And then -we pay rent to M. Sechard senior, who does not load us with presents." - -After two hours of debate, Eve obtained two thousand francs for six -months, one thousand to be paid in advance. When everything was -concluded, the brothers informed her that they meant to put in Cerizet -as lessee of the premises. In spite of herself, Eve started with -surprise. - -"Isn't it better to have somebody who knows the workshop?" asked the -fat Cointet. - -Eve made no reply; she took leave of the brothers, vowing inwardly to -look after Cerizet. - -"Well, here are our enemies in the place!" laughed David, when Eve -brought out the papers for his signature at dinner-time. - -"Pshaw!" said she, "I will answer for Kolb and Marion; they alone -would look after things. Besides, we shall be making an income of four -thousand francs from the workshop, which only costs us money as it is; -and looking forward, I see a year in which you may realize your -hopes." - -"You were born to be the wife of a scientific worker, as you said by -the weir," said David, grasping her hand tenderly. - -But though the Sechard household had money sufficient that winter, -they were none the less subjected to Cerizet's espionage, and all -unconsciously became dependent upon Boniface Cointet. - -"We have them now!" the manager of the paper-mill had exclaimed as he -left the house with his brother the printer. "They will begin to -regard the rent as regular income; they will count upon it and run -themselves into debt. In six months' time we will decline to renew the -agreement, and then we shall see what this man of genius has at the -bottom of his mind; we will offer to help him out of his difficulty by -taking him into partnership and exploiting his discovery." - -Any shrewd man of business who should have seen tall Cointet's face as -he uttered those words, "taking him into partnership," would have -known that it behooves a man to be even more careful in the selection -of the partner whom he takes before the Tribunal of Commerce than in -the choice of the wife whom he weds at the Mayor's office. Was it not -enough already, and more than enough, that the ruthless hunters were -on the track of the quarry? How should David and his wife, with Kolb -and Marion to help them, escape the toils of a Boniface Cointet? - -A draft for five hundred francs came from Lucien, and this, with -Cerizet's second payment, enabled them to meet all the expenses of -Mme. Sechard's confinement. Eve and the mother and David had thought -that Lucien had forgotten them, and rejoiced over this token of -remembrance as they rejoiced over his success, for his first exploits -in journalism made even more noise in Angouleme than in Paris. - -But David, thus lulled into a false security, was to receive a -staggering blow, a cruel letter from Lucien:-- - - Lucien to David. - - "MY DEAR DAVID,--I have drawn three bills on you, and negotiated - them with Metivier; they fall due in one, two, and three months' - time. I took this hateful course, which I know will burden you - heavily, because the one alternative was suicide. I will explain - my necessity some time, and I will try besides to send the amounts - as the bills fall due. - - "Burn this letter; say nothing to my mother and sister; for, I - confess it, I have counted upon you, upon the heroism known so - well to your despairing brother, - - "LUCIEN DE RUBEMPRE." - -By this time Eve had recovered from her confinement. - -"Your brother, poor fellow, is in desperate straits," David told her. -"I have sent him three bills for a thousand francs at one, two, and -three months; just make a note of them," and he went out into the -fields to escape his wife's questionings. - -But Eve had felt very uneasy already. It was six months since Lucien -had written to them. She talked over the news with her mother till her -forebodings grew so dark that she made up her mind to dissipate them. -She would take a bold step in her despair. - -Young M. de Rastignac had come to spend a few days with his family. He -had spoken of Lucien in terms that set Paris gossip circulating in -Angouleme, till at last it reached the journalist's mother and sister. -Eve went to Mme. de Rastignac, asked the favor of an interview with -her son, spoke of all her fears, and asked him for the truth. In a -moment Eve heard of her brother's connection with the actress Coralie, -of his duel with Michel Chrestien, arising out of his own treacherous -behavior to Daniel d'Arthez; she received, in short, a version of -Lucien's history, colored by the personal feeling of a clever and -envious dandy. Rastignac expressed sincere admiration for the -abilities so terribly compromised, and a patriotic fear for the future -of a native genius; spite and jealousy masqueraded as pity and -friendliness. He spoke of Lucien's blunders. It seemed that Lucien had -forfeited the favor of a very great person, and that a patent -conferring the right to bear the name and arms of Rubempre had -actually been made out and subsequently torn up. - -"If your brother, madame, had been well advised, he would have been on -the way to honors, and Mme. de Bargeton's husband by this time; but -what can you expect? He deserted her and insulted her. She is now Mme. -la Comtesse Sixte du Chatelet, to her own great regret, for she loved -Lucien." - -"Is it possible!" exclaimed Mme. Sechard. - -"Your brother is like a young eagle, blinded by the first rays of -glory and luxury. When an eagle falls, who can tell how far he may -sink before he drops to the bottom of some precipice? The fall of a -great man is always proportionately great." - -Eve came away with a great dread in her heart; those last words -pierced her like an arrow. She had been wounded to the quick. She said -not a word to anybody, but again and again a tear rolled down her -cheeks, and fell upon the child at her breast. So hard is it to give -up illusions sanctioned by family feeling, illusions that have grown -with our growth, that Eve had doubted Eugene de Rastignac. She would -rather hear a true friend's account of her brother. Lucien had given -them d'Arthez's address in the days when he was full of enthusiasm for -the brotherhood; she wrote a pathetic letter to d'Arthez, and received -the following reply:-- - - D'Arthez to Mme. Sechard. - - "MADAME,--You ask me to tell you the truth about the life that - your brother is leading in Paris; you are anxious for - enlightenment as to his prospects; and to encourage a frank answer - on my part, you repeat certain things that M. de Rastignac has - told you, asking me if they are true. With regard to the purely - personal matter, madame, M. de Rastignac's confidences must be - corrected in Lucien's favor. Your brother wrote a criticism of my - book, and brought it to me in remorse, telling me that he could - not bring himself to publish it, although obedience to the orders - of his party might endanger one who was very dear to him. Alas! - madame, a man of letters must needs comprehend all passions, since - it is his pride to express them; I understood that where a - mistress and a friend are involved, the friend is inevitably - sacrificed. I smoothed your brother's way; I corrected his - murderous article myself, and gave it my full approval. - - "You ask whether Lucien has kept my friendship and esteem; to this - it is difficult to make an answer. Your brother is on a road that - leads him to ruin. At this moment I still feel sorry for him; - before long I shall have forgotten him, of set purpose, not so - much on account of what he has done already as for that which he - inevitably will do. Your Lucien is not a poet, he has the poetic - temper; he dreams, he does not think; he spends himself in - emotion, he does not create. He is, in fact--permit me to say it-- - a womanish creature that loves to shine, the Frenchman's great - failing. Lucien will always sacrifice his best friend for the - pleasure of displaying his own wit. He would not hesitate to sign - a pact with the Devil to-morrow if so he might secure a few years - of luxurious and glorious life. Nay, has he not done worse - already? He has bartered his future for the short-lived delights - of living openly with an actress. So far, he has not seen the - dangers of his position; the girl's youth and beauty and devotion - (for she worships him) have closed his eyes to the truth; he - cannot see that no glory or success or fortune can induce the - world to accept the position. Very well, as it is now, so it will - be with each new temptation--your brother will not look beyond the - enjoyment of the moment. Do not be alarmed: Lucien will never go - so far as a crime, he has not the strength of character; but he - would take the fruits of a crime, he would share the benefit but - not the risk--a thing that seems abhorrent to the whole world, - even to scoundrels. Oh, he would despise himself, he would repent; - but bring him once more to the test, and he would fail again; for - he is weak of will, he cannot resist the allurements of pleasure, - nor forego the least of his ambitions. He is indolent, like all - who would fain be poets; he thinks it clever to juggle with the - difficulties of life instead of facing and overcoming them. He - will be brave at one time, cowardly at another, and deserves - neither credit for his courage, nor blame for his cowardice. - Lucien is like a harp with strings that are slackened or tightened - by the atmosphere. He might write a great book in a glad or angry - mood, and care nothing for the success that he had desired for so - long. - - "When he first came to Paris he fell under the influence of an - unprincipled young fellow, and was dazzled by his companion's - adroitness and experience in the difficulties of a literary life. - This juggler completely bewitched Lucien; he dragged him into a - life which a man cannot lead and respect himself, and, unluckily - for Lucien, love shed its magic over the path. The admiration that - is given too readily is a sign of want of judgment; a poet ought - not to be paid in the same coin as a dancer on the tight-rope. We - all felt hurt when intrigue and literary rascality were preferred - to the courage and honor of those who counseled Lucien rather to - face the battle than to filch success, to spring down into the - arena rather than become a trumpet in the orchestra. - - "Society, madame, oddly enough, shows plentiful indulgence to - young men of Lucien's stamp; they are popular, the world is - fascinated by their external gifts and good looks. Nothing is - asked of them, all their sins are forgiven; they are treated like - perfect natures, others are blind to their defects, they are the - world's spoiled children. And, on the other hand, the world is - stern beyond measure to strong and complete natures. Perhaps in - this apparently flagrant injustice society acts sublimely, taking - a harlequin at his just worth, asking nothing of him but - amusement, promptly forgetting him; and asking divine great deeds - of those before whom she bends the knee. Everything is judged by - laws of its being; the diamond must be flawless; the ephemeral - creation of fashion may be flimsy, bizarre, inconsequent. So - Lucien may perhaps succeed to admiration in spite of his mistakes; - he has only to profit by some happy vein or to be among good - companions; but if an evil angel crosses his path, he will go to - the very depths of hell. 'Tis a brilliant assemblage of good - qualities embroidered upon too slight a tissue; time wears the - flowers away till nothing but the web is left; and if that is poor - stuff, you behold a rag at the last. So long as Lucien is young, - people will like him; but where will he be as a man of thirty? - That is the question which those who love him sincerely are bound - to ask themselves. If I alone had come to think in this way of - Lucien, I might perhaps have spared you the pain which my plain - speaking will give you; but to evade the questions put by your - anxiety, and to answer a cry of anguish like your letter with - commonplaces, seemed to me alike unworthy of you and of me, whom - you esteem too highly; and besides, those of my friends who knew - Lucien are unanimous in their judgment. So it appeared to me to be - a duty to put the truth before you, terrible though it may be. - Anything may be expected of Lucien, anything good or evil. That is - our opinion, and this letter is summed up in that sentence. If the - vicissitudes of his present way of life (a very wretched and - slippery one) should bring the poet back to you, use all your - influence to keep him among you; for until his character has - acquired stability, Paris will not be safe for him. He used to - speak of you, you and your husband, as his guardian angels; he has - forgotten you, no doubt; but he will remember you again when - tossed by tempest, with no refuge left to him but his home. Keep - your heart for him, madame; he will need it. - - "Permit me, madame, to convey to you the expression of the sincere - respect of a man to whom your rare qualities are known, a man who - honors your mother's fears so much, that he desires to style - himself your devoted servant, - - "D'ARTHEZ." - - - -Two days after the letter came, Eve was obliged to find a wet-nurse; -her milk had dried up. She had made a god of her brother; now, in her -eyes, he was depraved through the exercise of his noblest faculties; -he was wallowing in the mire. She, noble creature that she was, was -incapable of swerving from honesty and scrupulous delicacy, from all -the pious traditions of the hearth, which still burns so clearly and -sheds its light abroad in quiet country homes. Then David had been -right in his forecasts! The leaden hues of grief overspread Eve's -white brow. She told her husband her secret in one of the pellucid -talks in which married lovers tell everything to each other. The tones -of David's voice brought comfort. Though the tears stood in his eyes -when he knew that grief had dried his wife's fair breast, and knew -Eve's despair that she could not fulfil a mother's duties, he held out -reassuring hopes. - -"Your brother's imagination has let him astray, you see, child. It is -so natural that a poet should wish for blue and purple robes, and -hurry as eagerly after festivals as he does. It is a bird that loves -glitter and luxury with such simple sincerity, that God forgives him -if man condemns him for it." - -"But he is draining our lives!" exclaimed poor Eve. - -"He is draining our lives just now, but only a few months ago he saved -us by sending us the first fruits of his earnings," said the good -David. He had the sense to see that his wife was in despair, was going -beyond the limit, and that love for Lucien would very soon come back. -"Fifty years ago, or thereabouts, Mercier said in his Tableau de Paris -that a man cannot live by literature, poetry, letters, or science, by -the creatures of his brain, in short; and Lucien, poet that he is, -would not believe the experience of five centuries. The harvests that -are watered with ink are only reaped ten or twelve years after the -sowing, if indeed there is any harvest after all. Lucien has taken the -green wheat for the sheaves. He will have learned something of life, -at any rate. He was the dupe of a woman at the outset; he was sure to -be duped afterwards by the world and false friends. He has bought his -experience dear, that is all. Our ancestors used to say, 'If the son -of the house brings back his two ears and his honor safe, all is -well----' " - -"Honor!" poor Eve broke in. "Oh, but Lucien has fallen in so many -ways! Writing against his conscience! Attacking his best friend! -Living upon an actress! Showing himself in public with her. Bringing -us to lie on straw----" - -"Oh, that is nothing----!" cried David, and suddenly stopped short. -The secret of Lucien's forgery had nearly escaped him, and, unluckily, -his start left a vague, uneasy impression on Eve. - -"What do you mean by nothing?" she answered. "And where shall we find -the money to meet bills for three thousand francs?" - -"We shall be obliged to renew the lease with Cerizet, to begin with," -said David. "The Cointets have been allowing him fifteen per cent on -the work done for them, and in that way alone he has made six hundred -francs, besides contriving to make five hundred francs by job -printing." - -"If the Cointets know that, perhaps they will not renew the lease. -They will be afraid of him, for Cerizet is a dangerous man." - -"Eh! what is that to me!" cried David, "we shall be rich in a very -little while. When Lucien is rich, dear angel, he will have nothing -but good qualities." - -"Oh! David, my dear, my dear; what is this that you have said -unthinkingly? Then Lucien fallen into the clutches of poverty would -not have the force of character to resist evil? And you think just as -M. d'Arthez thinks! No one is great unless he has strength of -character, and Lucien is weak. An angel must not be tempted--what is -that?" - -"What but a nature that is noble only in its own region, its own -sphere, its heaven? I will spare him the struggle; Lucien is not meant -for it. Look here! I am so near the end now that I can talk to you -about the means." - -He drew several sheets of white paper from his pocket, brandished them -in triumph, and laid them on his wife's lap. - -"A ream of this paper, royal size, would cost five francs at the -most," he added, while Eve handled the specimens with almost childish -surprise. - -"Why, how did you make these sample bits?" she asked. - -"With an old kitchen sieve of Marion's." - -"And are you not satisfied yet?" asked Eve. - -"The problem does not lie in the manufacturing process; it is a -question of the first cost of the pulp. Alas, child, I am only a late -comer in a difficult path. As long ago as 1794, Mme. Masson tried to -use printed paper a second time; she succeeded, but what a price it -cost! The Marquis of Salisbury tried to use straw as a material in -1800, and the same idea occurred to Seguin in France in 1801. Those -sheets in your hand are made from the common rush, the arundo -phragmites, but I shall try nettles and thistles; for if the material -is to continue to be cheap, one must look for something that will grow -in marshes and waste lands where nothing else can be grown. The whole -secret lies in the preparation of the stems. At present my method is -not quite simple enough. Still, in spite of this difficulty, I feel -sure that I can give the French paper trade the privilege of our -literature; papermaking will be for France what coal and iron and -coarse potter's clay are for England--a monopoly. I mean to be the -Jacquart of the trade." - -Eve rose to her feet. David's simple-mindedness had roused her to -enthusiasm, to admiration; she held out her arms to him and held him -tightly to her, while she laid her head upon his shoulder. - -"You give me my reward as if I had succeeded already," he said. - -For all answer, Eve held up her sweet face, wet with tears, to his, -and for a moment she could not speak. - -"The kiss was not for the man of genius," she said, "but for my -comforter. Here is a rising glory for the glory that has set; and, in -the midst of my grief for the brother that has fallen so low, my -husband's greatness is revealed to me.--Yes, you will be great, great -like the Graindorges, the Rouvets, and Van Robais, and the Persian who -discovered madder, like all the men you have told me about; great men -whom nobody remembers, because their good deeds were obscure -industrial triumphs." - - - -"What are they doing just now?" - -It was Boniface Cointet who spoke. He was walking up and down outside -in the Place du Murier with Cerizet watching the silhouettes of the -husband and wife on the blinds. He always came at midnight for a chat -with Cerizet, for the latter played the spy upon his former master's -every movement. - -"He is showing her the paper he made this morning, no doubt," said -Cerizet. - -"What is it made of?" asked the paper manufacturer. - -"Impossible to guess," answered Cerizet; "I made a hole in the roof -and scrambled up and watched the gaffer; he was boiling pulp in a -copper pan all last night. There was a heap of stuff in a corner, but -I could make nothing of it; it looked like a heap of tow, as near as I -could make out." - -"Go no farther," said Boniface Cointet in unctuous tones; "it would -not be right. Mme. Sechard will offer to renew your lease; tell her -that you are thinking of setting up for yourself. Offer her half the -value of the plant and license, and, if she takes the bid, come to me. -In any case, spin the matter out. . . . Have they no money?" - -"Not a sou," said Cerizet. - -"Not a sou," repeated tall Cointet.--"I have them now," said he to -himself. - -Metivier, paper manufacturers' wholesale agent, and Cointet Brothers, -printers and paper manufacturers, were also bankers in all but name. -This surreptitious banking system defies all the ingenuity of the -Inland Revenue Department. Every banker is required to take out a -license which, in Paris, costs five hundred francs; but no hitherto -devised method of controlling commerce can detect the delinquents, or -compel them to pay their due to the Government. And though Metivier -and the Cointets were "outside brokers," in the language of the Stock -Exchange, none the less among them they could set some hundreds of -thousands of francs moving every three months in the markets of Paris, -Bordeaux, and Angouleme. Now it so fell out that that very evening -Cointet Brothers had received Lucien's forged bills in the course of -business. Upon this debt, tall Cointet forthwith erected a formidable -engine, pointed, as will presently be seen, against the poor, patient -inventor. - -By seven o'clock next morning, Boniface Cointet was taking a walk by -the mill stream that turned the wheels in his big factory; the sound -of the water covered his talk, for he was talking with a companion, a -young man of nine-and-twenty, who had been appointed attorney to the -Court of First Instance in Angouleme some six weeks ago. The young -man's name was Pierre Petit-Claud. - -"You are a schoolfellow of David Sechard's, are you not?" asked tall -Cointet by way of greeting to the young attorney. Petit-Claud had lost -no time in answering the wealthy manufacturer's summons. - -"Yes, sir," said Petit-Claud, keeping step with tall Cointet. - -"Have you renewed the acquaintance?" - -"We have met once or twice at most since he came back. It could hardly -have been otherwise. In Paris I was buried away in the office or at -the courts on week-days, and on Sundays and holidays I was hard at -work studying, for I had only myself to look to." (Tall Cointet nodded -approvingly.) "When we met again, David and I, he asked me what I had -done with myself. I told him that after I had finished my time at -Poitiers, I had risen to be Maitre Olivet's head-clerk, and that some -time or other I hoped to make a bid for his berth. I know a good deal -more of Lucien Chardon (de Rubempre he calls himself now), he was Mme. -de Bargeton's lover, our great poet, David Sechard's brother-in-law, -in fact." - -"Then you can go and tell David of your appointment, and offer him -your services," said tall Cointet. - -"One can't do that," said the young attorney. - -"He has never had a lawsuit, and he has no attorney, so one can do -that," said Cointet, scanning the other narrowly from behind his -colored spectacles. - -A certain quantity of gall mingled with the blood in Pierre Petit- -Claud's veins; his father was a tailor in L'Houmeau, and his -schoolfellows had looked down upon him. His complexion was of the -muddy and unwholesome kind which tells a tale of bad health, late -hours and penury, and almost always of a bad disposition. The best -description of him may be given in two familiar expressions--he was -sharp and snappish. His cracked voice suited his sour face, meagre -look, and magpie eyes of no particular color. A magpie eye, according -to Napoleon, is a sure sign of dishonesty. "Look at So-and-so," he -said to Las Cases at Saint Helena, alluding to a confidential servant -whom he had been obliged to dismiss for malversation. "I do not know -how I could have been deceived in him for so long; he has a magpie -eye." Tall Cointet, surveying the weedy little lawyer, noted his face -pitted with smallpox, the thin hair, and the forehead, bald already, -receding towards a bald cranium; saw, too, the confession of weakness -in his attitude with the hand on the hip. "Here is my man," said he to -himself. - -As a matter of fact, this Petit-Claud, who had drunk scorn like water, -was eaten up with a strong desire to succeed in life; he had no money, -but nevertheless he had the audacity to buy his employer's connection -for thirty thousand francs, reckoning upon a rich marriage to clear -off the debt, and looking to his employer, after the usual custom, to -find him a wife, for an attorney always has an interest in marrying -his successor, because he is the sooner paid off. But if Petit-Claud -counted upon his employer, he counted yet more upon himself. He had -more than average ability, and that of a kind not often found in the -provinces, and rancor was the mainspring of his power. A mighty hatred -makes a mighty effort. - -There is a great difference between a country attorney and an attorney -in Paris; tall Cointet was too clever not to know this, and to turn -the meaner passions that move a pettifogging lawyer to good account. -An eminent attorney in Paris, and there are many who may be so -qualified, is bound to possess to some extent the diplomate's -qualities; he had so much business to transact, business in which -large interests are involved; questions of such wide interest are -submitted to him that he does not look upon procedure as machinery for -bringing money into his pocket, but as a weapon of attack and defence. -A country attorney, on the other hand, cultivates the science of -costs, broutille, as it is called in Paris, a host of small items that -swell lawyers' bills and require stamped paper. These weighty matters -of the law completely fill the country attorney's mind; he has a bill -of costs always before his eyes, whereas his brother of Paris thinks -of nothing but his fees. The fee is a honorarium paid by a client over -and above the bill of costs, for the more or less skilful conduct of -his case. One-half of the bill of costs goes to the Treasury, whereas -the entire fee belongs to the attorney. Let us admit frankly that the -fees received are seldom as large as the fees demanded and deserved by -a clever lawyer. Wherefore, in Paris, attorneys, doctors, and -barristers, like courtesans with a chance-come lover, take very -considerable precautions against the gratitude of clients. The client -before and after the lawsuit would furnish a subject worthy of -Meissonier; there would be brisk bidding among attorneys for the -possession of two such admirable bits of genre. - -There is yet another difference between the Parisian and the country -attorney. An attorney in Paris very seldom appears in court, though he -is sometimes called upon to act as arbitrator (refere). Barristers, at -the present day, swarm in the provinces; but in 1822 the country -attorney very often united the functions of solicitor and counsel. As -a result of this double life, the attorney acquired the peculiar -intellectual defects of the barrister, and retained the heavy -responsibilities of the attorney. He grew talkative and fluent, and -lost his lucidity of judgment, the first necessity for the conduct of -affairs. If a man of more than ordinary ability tries to do the work -of two men, he is apt to find that the two men are mediocrities. The -Paris attorney never spends himself in forensic eloquence; and as he -seldom attempts to argue for and against, he has some hope of -preserving his mental rectitude. It is true that he brings the balista -of the law to work, and looks for the weapons in the armory of -judicial contradictions, but he keeps his own convictions as to the -case, while he does his best to gain the day. In a word, a man loses -his head not so much by thinking as by uttering thoughts. The spoken -word convinces the utterer; but a man can act against his own bad -judgment without warping it, and contrive to win in a bad cause -without maintaining that it is a good one, like the barrister. Perhaps -for this very reason an old attorney is the more likely of the two to -make a good judge. - -A country attorney, as we have seen, has plenty of excuses for his -mediocrity; he takes up the cause of petty passions, he undertakes -pettifogging business, he lives by charging expenses, he strains the -Code of procedure and pleads in court. In a word, his weak points are -legion; and if by chance you come across a remarkable man practising -as a country attorney, he is indeed above the average level. - -"I thought, sir, that you sent for me on your own affairs," said -Petit-Claud, and a glance that put an edge on his words fell upon tall -Cointet's impenetrable blue spectacles. - -"Let us have no beating about the bush," returned Boniface Cointet. -"Listen to me." - -After that beginning, big with mysterious import, Cointet set himself -down upon a bench, and beckoned Petit-Claud to do likewise. - -"When M. du Hautoy came to Angouleme in 1804, on his way to his -consulship at Valence, he made the acquaintance of Mme. de Senonches, -then Mlle. Zephirine, and had a daughter by her," added Cointet for -the attorney's ear----"Yes," he continued, as Petit-Claud gave a -start; "yes, and Mlle. Zephirine's marriage with M. de Senoches soon -followed the birth of the child. The girl was brought up in my -mother's house; she is the Mlle. Francoise de la Haye in whom Mme. de -Senoches takes an interest; she is her godmother in the usual style. -Now, my mother farmed land belonging to old Mme. de Cardanet, Mlle. -Zephirine's grandmother; and as she knew the secret of the sole -heiress of the Cardanets and the Senonches of the older branch, they -made me trustee for the little sum which M. Francois du Hautoy meant -for the girl's fortune. I made my own fortune with those ten thousand -francs, which amount to thirty thousand at the present day. Mme. de -Senonches is sure to give the wedding clothes, and some plate and -furniture to her goddaughter. Now, I can put you in the way of -marrying the girl, my lad," said Cointet, slapping Petit-Claud on the -knee; "and when you marry Francoise de la Haye, you will have a large -number of the aristocracy of Angouleme as your clients. This -understanding between us (under the rose) will open up magnificent -prospects for you. Your position will be as much as any one could -want; in fact, they don't ask better, I know." - -"What is to be done?" Petit-Claud asked eagerly. "You have an -attorney, Maitre Cachan----" - -"And, moreover, I shall not leave Cachan at once for you; I shall only -be your client later on," said Cointet significantly. "What is to be -done, do you ask, my friend? Eh! why, David Sechard's business. The -poor devil has three thousand francs' worth of bills to meet; he will -not meet them; you will stave off legal proceedings in such a way as -to increase the expenses enormously. Don't trouble yourself; go on, -pile on items. Doublon, my process-server, will act under Cachan's -directions, and he will lay on like a blacksmith. A word to the wise -is sufficient. Now, young man?----" - -An eloquent pause followed, and the two men looked at each other. - -"We have never seen each other," Cointet resumed; "I have not said a -syllable to you; you know nothing about M. du Hautoy, nor Mme. de -Senonches, nor Mlle. de la Haye; only, when the time comes, two months -hence, you will propose for the young lady. If we should want to see -each other, you will come here after dark. Let us have nothing in -writing." - -"Then you mean to ruin Sechard?" asked Petit-Claud. - -"Not exactly; but he must be in jail for some time----" - -"And what is the object?" - -"Do you think that I am noodle enough to tell you that? If you have -wit enough to find out, you will have sense enough to hold your -tongue." - -"Old Sechard has plenty of money," said Petit-Claud. He was beginning -already to enter into Boniface Cointet's notions, and foresaw a -possible cause of failure. - -"So long as the father lives, he will not give his son a farthing; and -the old printer has no mind as yet to send in an order for his funeral -cards." - -"Agreed!" said Petit-Claud, promptly making up his mind. "I don't ask -you for guarantees; I am an attorney. If any one plays me a trick, -there will be an account to settle between us." - -"The rogue will go far," thought Cointet; he bade Petit-Claud good- -morning. - -The day after this conference was the 30th of April, and the Cointets -presented the first of the three bills forged by Lucien. Unluckily, -the bill was brought to poor Mme. Sechard; and she, seeing at once -that the signature was not in her husband's handwriting, sent for -David and asked him point-blank: - -"You did not put your name to that bill, did you?" - -"No," said he; "your brother was so pressed for time that he signed -for me." - -Eve returned the bill to the bank messenger sent by the Cointets. - -"We cannot meet it," she said; then, feeling that her strength was -failing, she went up to her room. David followed her. - -"Go quickly to the Cointets, dear," Eve said faintly; "they will have -some consideration for you; beg them to wait; and call their attention -besides to the fact that when Cerizet's lease is renewed, they will -owe you a thousand francs." - -David went forthwith to his enemies. Now, any foreman may become a -master printer, but there are not always the makings of a good man of -business in a skilled typographer; David knew very little of business; -when, therefore, with a heavily-beating heart and a sensation of -throttling, David had put his excuses badly enough and formulated his -request, the answer--"This is nothing to do with us; the bill has been -passed on to us by Metivier; Metivier will pay us. Apply to M. -Metivier"--cut him short at once. - -"Oh!" cried Eve when she heard the result, "as soon as the bill is -returned to M. Metivier, we may be easy." - -At two o'clock the next day, Victor-Ange-Hermenegilde Doublon, -bailiff, made protest for non-payment at two o'clock, a time when the -Place du Murier is full of people; so that though Doublon was careful -to stand and chat at the back door with Marion and Kolb, the news of -the protest was known all over the business world of Angouleme that -evening. Tall Cointet had enjoined it upon Master Doublon to show the -Sechards the greatest consideration; but when all was said and done, -could the bailiff's hypocritical regard for appearances save Eve and -David from the disgrace of a suspension of payment? Let each judge for -himself. A tolerably long digression of this kind will seem all too -short; and ninety out of every hundred readers shall seize with -avidity upon details that possess all the piquancy of novelty, thus -establishing yet once again the trust of the well-known axiom, that -there is nothing so little known as that which everybody is supposed -to know--the Law of the Land, to wit. - -And of a truth, for the immense majority of Frenchmen, a minute -description of some part of the machinery of banking will be as -interesting as any chapter of foreign travel. When a tradesman living -in one town gives a bill to another tradesman elsewhere (as David was -supposed to have done for Lucien's benefit), the transaction ceases to -be a simple promissory note, given in the way of business by one -tradesman to another in the same place, and becomes in some sort a -letter of exchange. When, therefore, Metivier accepted Lucien's three -bills, he was obliged to send them for collection to his -correspondents in Angouleme--to Cointet Brothers, that is to say. -Hence, likewise, a certain initial loss for Lucien in exchange on -Angouleme, taking the practical shape of an abatement of so much per -cent over and above the discount. In this way Sechard's bills had -passed into circulation in the bank. You would not believe how greatly -the quality of banker, united with the august title of creditor, -changes the debtor's position. For instance, when a bill has been -passed through the bank (please note that expression), and transferred -from the money market in Paris to the financial world of Angouleme, if -that bill is protested, then the bankers in Angouleme must draw up a -detailed account of the expenses of protest and return; 'tis a duty -which they owe to themselves. Joking apart, no account of the most -romantic adventure could be more mildly improbable than this of the -journey made by a bill. Behold a certain article in the Code of -commerce authorizing the most ingenious pleasantries after -Mascarille's manner, and the interpretation thereof shall make -apparent manifold atrocities lurking beneath the formidable word -"legal." - -Master Doublon registered the protest and went himself with it to MM. -Cointet Brothers. The firm had a standing account with their bailiff; -he gave them six months' credit; and the lynxes of Angouleme -practically took a twelvemonth, though tall Cointet would say month by -month to the lynxes' jackal, "Do you want any money, Doublon?" Nor was -this all. Doublon gave the influential house a rebate upon every -transaction; it was the merest trifle, one franc fifty centimes on a -protest, for instance. - -Tall Cointet quietly sat himself down at his desk and took out a small -sheet of paper with a thirty-five centime stamp upon it, chatting as -he did so with Doublon as to the standing of some of the local -tradesmen. - -"Well, are you satisfied with young Gannerac?" - -"He is not doing badly. Lord, a carrier drives a trade----" - -"Drives a trade, yes; but, as a matter of fact, his expenses are a -heavy pull on him; his wife spends a good deal, so they tell me----" - -"Of HIS money?" asked Doublon, with a knowing look. - -The lynx meanwhile had finished ruling his sheet of paper, and now -proceeded to trace the ominous words at the head of the following -account in bold characters:-- - - ACCOUNT OF EXPENSES OF PROTEST AND RETURN. - - To one bill for ONE THOUSAND FRANCS, bearing date of February the - tenth, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, drawn by SECHARD JUNIOR of - Angouleme, to order of LUCIEN CHARDON, otherwise DE RUBEMPRE, - endorsed to order of METIVIER, and finally to our order, matured - the thirtieth of April last, protested by DOUBLON, process-server, - on the first of May, eighteen hundred and twenty-two. - fr. c. - Principal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1000 -- - Expenses of Protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 35 - Bank charges, one-half per cent. . . . . . . 5 -- - Brokerage, one-quarter per cent. . . . . . . 2 50 - Stamp on re-draft and present account. . . . 1 35 - Interest and postage . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 -- - ____ ____ - 1024 20 - Exchange at the rate of one and a quarter - per cent on 1024 fr. 20 c.. . . . . . . . 13 25 - ____ ____ - Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - - One thousand and thirty-seven francs forty-five centimes, for - which we repay ourselves by our draft at sight upon M. Metivier, - Rue Serpente, Paris, payable to order of M. Gannerac of L'Houmeau. - - ANGOULEME, May 2, 1822 COINTET BROTHERS. - -At the foot of this little memorandum, drafted with the ease that -comes of long practice (for the writer chatted with Doublon as he -wrote), there appeared the subjoined form of declaration:-- - - "We, the undersigned, Postel of L'Houmeau, pharmaceutical chemist, - and Gannerac, forwarding agent, merchant of this town, hereby - certify that the present rate of exchange on Paris is one and a - quarter per cent. - - "ANGOULEME, May 2, 1822." - -"Here, Doublon, be so good as to step round and ask Postel and -Gannerac to put their names to this declaration, and bring it back -with you to-morrow morning." - -And Doublon, quite accustomed as he was to these instruments of -torture, forthwith went, as if it were the simplest thing in the -world. Evidently the protest might have been sent in an envelope, as -in Paris, and even so all Angouleme was sure to hear of the poor -Sechards' unlucky predicament. How they all blamed his want of -business energy! His excessive fondness for his wife had been the ruin -of him, according to some; others maintained that it was his affection -for his brother-in-law; and what shocking conclusions did they not -draw from these premises! A man ought never to embrace the interests -of his kith and kin. Old Sechard's hard-hearted conduct met with -approval, and people admired him for his treatment of his son! - -And now, all you who for any reason whatsoever should forget to "honor -your engagements," look well into the methods of the banking business, -by which one thousand francs may be made to pay interest at the rate -of twenty-eight francs in ten minutes, without breaking the law of the -land. - -The thousand francs, the one incontestable item in the account, comes -first. - -The second item is shared between the bailiff and the Inland Revenue -Department. The six francs due to the State for providing a piece of -stamped paper, and putting the debtor's mortification on record, will -probably ensure a long life to this abuse; and as you already know, -one franc fifty centimes from this item found its way into the -banker's pockets in the shape of Doublon's rebate. - -"Bank charges one-half per cent," runs the third item, which appears -upon the ingenious plea that if a banker has not received payment, he -has for all practical purposes discounted a bill. And although the -contrary may be the case, if you fail to receive a thousand francs, it -seems to be very much the same thing as if you had paid them away. -Everybody who has discounted a bill knows that he has to pay more than -the six per cent fixed by law; for a small percentage appears under -the humble title of "charges," representing a premium on the financial -genius and skill with which the capitalist puts his money out to -interest. The more money he makes out of you, the more he asks. -Wherefore it would be undoubtedly cheaper to discount a bill with a -fool, if fools there be in the profession of bill-discounting. - -The law requires the banker to obtain a stock-broker's certificate for -the rate of exchange. When a place is so unlucky as to boast no stock -exchange, two merchants act instead. This is the significance of the -item "brokerage"; it is a fixed charge of a quarter per cent on the -amount of the protested bill. The custom is to consider the amount as -paid to the merchants who act for the stock-broker, and the banker -quietly puts the money into his cash-box. So much for the third item -in this delightful account. - -The fourth includes the cost of the piece of stamped paper on which -the account itself appears, as well as the cost of the stamp for -re-draft, as it is ingeniously named, viz., the banker's draft upon -his colleague in Paris. - -The fifth is a charge for postage and the legal interest due upon the -amount for the time that it may happen to be absent from the banker's -strong box. - -The final item, the exchange, is the object for which the bank exists, -which is to say, for the transmission of sums of money from one place -to another. - -Now, sift this account thoroughly, and what do you find? The method of -calculation closely resembles Polichinelle's arithmetic in Lablache's -Neapolitan song, "fifteen and five make twenty-two." The signatures of -Messieurs Postel and Gannerac were obviously given to oblige in the -way of business; the Cointets would act at need for Gannerac as -Gannerac acted for the Cointets. It was a practical application of the -well-known proverb, "Reach me the rhubarb and I will pass you the -senna." Cointet Brothers, moreover, kept a standing account with -Metivier; there was no need of a re-draft, and no re-draft was made. A -returned bill between the two firms simply meant a debit or credit -entry and another line in a ledger. - -This highly-colored account, therefore, is reduced to the one thousand -francs, with an additional thirteen francs for expenses of protest, -and half per cent for a month's delay, one thousand and eighteen -francs it may be in all. - -Suppose that in a large banking-house a bill for a thousand francs is -daily protested on an average, then the banker receives twenty-eight -francs a day by the grace of God and the constitution of the banking -system, that all powerful invention due to the Jewish intellect of the -Middle Ages, which after six centuries still controls monarchs and -peoples. In other words, a thousand francs would bring such a house -twenty-eight francs per day, or ten thousand two hundred and twenty -francs per annum. Triple the average of protests, and consequently of -expenses, and you shall derive an income of thirty thousand francs per -annum, interest upon purely fictitious capital. For which reason, -nothing is more lovingly cultivated than these little "accounts of -expenses." - -If David Sechard had come to pay his bill on the 3rd of May, that is, -the day after it was protested, MM. Cointet Brothers would have met -him at once with, "We have returned your bill to M. Metivier," -although, as a matter of fact, the document would have been lying upon -the desk. A banker has a right to make out the account of expenses on -the evening of the day when the bill is protested, and he uses the -right to "sweat the silver crowns," in the country banker's phrase. - -The Kellers, with correspondents all over the world, make twenty -thousand francs per annum by charges for postage alone; accounts of -expenses of protest pay for Mme. la Baronne de Nucingen's dresses, -opera box, and carriage. The charge for postage is a more shocking -swindle, because a house will settle ten matters of business in as -many lines of a single letter. And of the tithe wrung from misfortune, -the Government, strange to say! takes its share, and the national -revenue is swelled by a tax on commercial failure. And the Bank? from -the august height of a counting-house she flings an observation, full -of commonsense, at the debtor, "How is it?" asks she, "that you cannot -meet your bill?" and, unluckily, there is no reply to the question. -Wherefore, the "account of expenses" is an account bristling with -dreadful fictions, fit to cause any debtor, who henceforth shall -reflect upon this instructive page, a salutary shudder. - -On the 4th of May, Metivier received the account from Cointet -Brothers, with instructions to proceed against M. Lucien Chardon, -otherwise de Rubempre, with the utmost rigor of the law. - -Eve also wrote to M. Metivier, and a few days later received an answer -which reassured her completely:-- - - To M. Sechard, Junior, Printer, Angouleme. - - "I have duly received your esteemed favor of the 5th instant. From - your explanation of the bill due on April 30th, I understand that - you have obliged your brother-in-law, M. de Rubempre, who is - spending so much that it will be doing you a service to summons - him. His present position is such that he is likely to delay - payment for long. If your brother-in-law should refuse payment, I - shall rely upon the credit of your old-established house.--I sign - myself now, as ever, your obedient servant, - "Metivier." - -"Well," said Eve, commenting upon the letter to David, "Lucien will -know when they summons him that we could not pay." - -What a change wrought in Eve those few words meant! The love that grew -deeper as she came to know her husband's character better and better, -was taking the place of love for her brother in her heart. But to how -many illusions had she not bade farewell? - -And now let us trace out the whole history of the bill and the account -of expenses in the business world of Paris. The law enacts that the -third holder, the technical expression for the third party into whose -hands the bill passes, is at liberty to proceed for the whole amount -against any one of the various endorsers who appears to him to be most -likely to make prompt payment. M. Metivier, using this discretion, -served a summons upon Lucien. Behold the successive stages of the -proceedings, all of them perfectly futile. Metivier, with the Cointets -behind him, knew that Lucien was not in a position to pay, but -insolvency in fact is not insolvency in law until it has been formally -proved. - -Formal proof of Lucien's inability to pay was obtained in the -following manner: - -On the 5th of May, Metivier's process-server gave Lucien notice of the -protest and an account of the expense thereof, and summoned him to -appear before the Tribunal of Commerce, or County Court, of Paris, to -hear a vast number of things: this, among others, that he was liable -to imprisonment as a merchant. By the time that Lucien, hard pressed -and hunted down on all sides, read this jargon, he received notice of -judgment against him by default. Coralie, his mistress, ignorant of -the whole matter, imagined that Lucien had obliged his brother-in-law, -and handed him all the documents together--too late. An actress sees -so much of bailiffs, duns, and writs, upon the stage, that she looks -on all stamped paper as a farce. - -Tears filled Lucien's eyes; he was unhappy on Sechard's account, he -was ashamed of the forgery, he wished to pay, he desired to gain time. -Naturally he took counsel of his friends. But by the time Lousteau, -Blondet, Bixiou, and Nathan had told the poet to snap his fingers at a -court only established for tradesmen, Lucien was already in the -clutches of the law. He beheld upon his door the little yellow placard -which leaves its reflection on the porter's countenance, and exercises -a most astringent influence upon credit; striking terror into the -heart of the smallest tradesman, and freezing the blood in the veins -of a poet susceptible enough to care about the bits of wood, silken -rags, dyed woolen stuffs, and multifarious gimcracks entitled -furniture. - -When the broker's men came for Coralie's furniture, the author of the -Marguerites fled to a friend of Bixiou's, one Desroches, a barrister, -who burst out laughing at the sight of Lucien in such a state about -nothing at all. - -"That is nothing, my dear fellow. Do you want to gain time?" - -"Yes, as much possible." - -"Very well, apply for stay of execution. Go and look up Masson, he is -a solicitor in the Commercial Court, and a friend of mine. Take your -documents to him. He will make a second application for you, and give -notice of objection to the jurisdiction of the court. There is not the -least difficulty; you are a journalist, your name is well known -enough. If they summons you before a civil court, come to me about it, -that will be my affair; I engage to send anybody who offers to annoy -the fair Coralie about his business." - -On the 28th of May, Lucien's case came on in the civil court, and -judgment was given before Desroches expected it. Lucien's creditor was -pushing on the proceedings against him. A second execution was put in, -and again Coralie's pilasters were gilded with placards. Desroches -felt rather foolish; a colleague had "caught him napping," to use his -own expression. He demurred, not without reason, that the furniture -belonged to Mlle. Coralie, with whom Lucien was living, and demanded -an order for inquiry. Thereupon the judge referred the matter to the -registrar for inquiry, the furniture was proved to belong to the -actress, and judgment was entered accordingly. Metivier appealed, and -judgment was confirmed on appeal on the 30th of June. - -On the 7th of August, Maitre Cachan received by the coach a bulky -package endorsed, "Metivier versus Sechard and Lucien Chardon." - -The first document was a neat little bill, of which a copy (accuracy -guaranteed) is here given for the reader's benefit:-- - - To Bill due the last day of April, drawn by - SECHARD, JUNIOR, to order of LUCIEN DE - RUBEMPRE, together with expenses of fr. c. - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - May 5th--Serving notice of protest and - summons to appear before the - Tribunal of Commerce in - Paris, May 7th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - " 7th--Judgment by default and - warrant of arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 -- - " 10th--Notification of judgment . . . . . . . . . 8 50 - " 12th--Warrant of execution . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 - " 14th--Inventory and appraisement - previous to execution. . . . . . . . . . . 16 -- - " 18th--Expenses of affixing placards. . . . . . . 15 25 - " 19th--Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 -- - " 24th--Verification of inventory, and - application for stay of execution - on the part of the said - Lucien de Rubempre, objecting - to the jurisdiction of the Court. . . . . . 12 -- - " 27th--Order of the Court upon application - duly repeated, and transfer of - of case to the Civil Court. . . . . . . . . 35 -- - ____ ____ - Carried forward. . . . . . . . . . . . 1177 45 - - fr. c. - Brought forward 1177 45 - May 28th--Notice of summary proceedings in - the Civil Court at the instance - of Metivier, represented by - counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 50 - June 2nd--Judgment, after hearing both - parties, condemning Lucien for - expenses of protest and return; - the plaintiff to bear costs - of proceedings in the - Commercial Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 -- - " 6th--Notification of judgment. . . . . . . . . . 10 -- - - " 15th--Warrant of execution. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 - " 19th--Inventory and appraisement preparatory - to execution; interpleader summons by - the Demoiselle Coralie, claiming goods - and chattels taken in execution; demand - for immediate special inquiry before - further proceedings be taken . . . . . . . 20 -- - " " --Judge's order referring matter to - registrar for immediate special inquiry. . 40 -- - " " --Judgment in favor of the said - Mademoiselle Coralie . . . . . . . . . . . 250 -- - " 20th--Appeal by Metivier . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 -- - " 30th--Confirmation of judgment . . . . . . . . . 250 -- - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1926 45 - __________ - - Bill matured May 31st, with expenses of fr. c. - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 - - Bill matured June 30th, with expenses of - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 - __________ - -This document was accompanied by a letter from Metivier, instructing -Maitre Cachan, notary of Angouleme, to prosecute David Sechard with -the utmost rigor of the law. Wherefore Maitre Victor-Ange-Hermenegilde -Doublon summoned David Sechard before the Tribunal of Commerce in -Angouleme for the sum-total of four thousand and eighteen francs -eighty-five centimes, the amount of the three bills and expenses -already incurred. On the morning of the very day when Doublon served -the writ upon Eve, requiring her to pay a sum so enormous in her eyes, -there came a letter like a thunderbolt from Metivier:-- - - To Monsieur Sechard, Junior, Printer, Angouleme. - - "SIR,--Your brother-in-law, M. Chardon, is so shamelessly - dishonest, that he declares his furniture to be the property of an - actress with whom he is living. You ought to have informed me - candidly of these circumstances, and not have allowed me to go to - useless expense over law proceedings. I have received no answer - to my letter of the 10th of May last. You must not, therefore, - take it amiss if I ask for immediate repayment of the three bills - and the expenses to which I have been put.--Yours, etc., - "METIVIER." - -Eve had heard nothing during these months, and supposed, in her -ignorance of commercial law, that her brother had made reparation for -his sins by meeting the forged bills. - -"Be quick, and go at once to Petit-Claud, dear," she said; "tell him -about it, and ask his advice." - -David hurried to his schoolfellow's office. - -"When you came to tell me of your appointment and offered me your -services, I did not think that I should need them so soon," he said. - -Petit-Claud studied the fine face of this man who sat opposite him in -the office chair, and scarcely listened to the details of the case, -for he knew more of them already than the speaker. As soon as he saw -Sechard's anxiety, he said to himself, "The trick has succeeded." - -This kind of comedy is often played in an attorney's office. "Why are -the Cointets persecuting him?" Petit-Claud wondered within himself, -for the attorney can use his wit to read his clients' thoughts as -clearly as the ideas of their opponents, and it is his business to see -both sides of the judicial web. - -"You want to gain time," he said at last, when Sechard had come to an -end. "How long do you want? Something like three or four months?" - -"Oh! four months! that would be my salvation," exclaimed David. Petit- -Claud appeared to him as an angel. - -"Very well. No one shall lay hands on any of your furniture, and no -one shall arrest you for four months----But it will cost you a great -deal," said Petit-Claud. - -"Eh! what does that matter to me?" cried Sechard. - -"You are expecting some money to come in; but are you sure of it?" -asked Petit-Claud, astonished at the way in which his client walked -into the toils. - -"In three months' time I shall have plenty of money," said the -inventor, with an inventor's hopeful confidence. - -"Your father is still above ground," suggested Petit-Claud; "he is in -no hurry to leave his vines." - -"Do you think that I am counting on my father's death?" returned -David. "I am on the track of a trade secret, the secret of making a -sheet of paper as strong as Dutch paper, without a thread of cotton in -it, and at a cost of fifty per cent less than cotton pulp." - -"There is a fortune in that!" exclaimed Petit-Claud. He knew now what -the tall Cointet meant. - -"A large fortune, my friend, for in ten years' time the demand for -paper will be ten times larger than it is to-day. Journalism will be -the craze of our day." - -"Nobody knows your secret?" - -"Nobody except my wife." - -"You have not told any one what you mean to do--the Cointets, for -example?" - -"I did say something about it, but in general terms, I think." - -A sudden spark of generosity flashed through Petit-Claud's rancorous -soul; he tried to reconcile Sechard's interests with the Cointet's -projects and his own. - -"Listen, David, we are old schoolfellows, you and I; I will fight your -case; but understand this clearly--the defence, in the teeth of the -law, will cost you five or six thousand francs! Do not compromise your -prospects. I think you will be compelled to share the profits of your -invention with some one of our paper manufacturers. Let us see now. -You will think twice before you buy or build a paper mill; and there -is the cost of the patent besides. All this means time, and money too. -The servers of writs will be down upon you too soon, perhaps, although -we are going to give them the slip----" - -"I have my secret," said David, with the simplicity of the man of -books. - -"Well and good, your secret will be your plank of safety," said Petit- -Claud; his first loyal intention of avoiding a lawsuit by a compromise -was frustrated. "I do not wish to know it; but mind this that I tell -you. Work in the bowels of the earth if you can, so that no one may -watch you and gain a hint from your ways of working, or your plank -will be stolen from under your feet. An inventor and a simpleton often -live in the same skin. Your mind runs so much on your secrets that you -cannot think of everything. People will begin to have their suspicions -at last, and the place is full of paper manufacturers. So many -manufacturers, so many enemies for you! You are like a beaver with the -hunters about you; do not give them your skin----" - -"Thank you, dear fellow, I have told myself all this," exclaimed -Sechard, "but I am obliged to you for showing so much concern for me -and for your forethought. It does not really matter to me myself. An -income of twelve hundred francs would be enough for me, and my father -ought by rights to leave me three times as much some day. Love and -thought make up my life--a divine life. I am working for Lucien's sake -and for my wife's." - -"Come, give me this power of attorney, and think of nothing but your -discovery. If there should be any danger of arrest, I will let you -know in time, for we must think of all possibilities. And let me tell -you again to allow no one of whom you are not so sure as you are of -yourself to come into your place." - -"Cerizet did not care to continue the lease of the plant and premises, -hence our little money difficulties. We have no one at home now but -Marion and Kolb, an Alsacien as trusty as a dog, and my wife and her -mother----" - -"One word," said Petit-Claud, "don't trust that dog----" - -"You do not know him," exclaimed David; "he is like a second self." - -"May I try him?" - -"Yes," said Sechard. - -"There, good-bye, but send Mme. Sechard to me; I must have a power of -attorney from your wife. And bear in mind, my friend, that there is a -fire burning in your affairs," said Petit-Claud, by way of warning of -all the troubles gathering in the law courts to burst upon David's -head. - -"Here am I with one foot in Burgundy and the other in Champagne," he -added to himself as he closed the office door on David. - -Harassed by money difficulties, beset with fears for his wife's -health, stung to the quick by Lucien's disgrace, David had worked on -at his problem. He had been trying to find a single process to replace -the various operations of pounding and maceration to which all flax or -cotton or rags, any vegetable fibre, in fact, must be subjected; and -as he went to Petit-Claud's office, he abstractedly chewed a bit of -nettle stalk that had been steeping in water. On his way home, -tolerably satisfied with his interview, he felt a little pellet -sticking between his teeth. He laid it on his hand, flattened it out, -and saw that the pulp was far superior to any previous result. The -want of cohesion is the great drawback of all vegetable fibre; straw, -for instance, yields a very brittle paper, which may almost be called -metallic and resonant. These chances only befall bold inquirers into -Nature's methods! - -"Now," said he to himself, "I must contrive to do by machinery and -some chemical agency the thing that I myself have done unconsciously." - -When his wife saw him, his face was radiant with belief in victory. -There were traces of tears in Eve's face. - -"Oh! my darling, do not trouble yourself; Petit-Claud will guarantee -that we shall not be molested for several months to come. There will -be a good deal of expense over it; but, as Petit-Claud said when he -came to the door with me, 'A Frenchman has a right to keep his -creditors waiting, provided he repays them capital, interest, and -costs.'--Very well, then, we shall do that----" - -"And live meanwhile?" asked poor Eve, who thought of everything. - -"Ah! that is true," said David, carrying his hand to his ear after the -unaccountable fashion of most perplexed mortals. - -"Mother will look after little Lucien, and I can go back to work -again," said she. - -"Eve! oh, my Eve!" cried David, holding his wife closely to him.--"At -Saintes, not very far from here, in the sixteenth century, there lived -one of the very greatest of Frenchmen, for he was not merely the -inventor of glaze, he was the glorious precursor of Buffon and Cuvier -besides; he was the first geologist, good, simple soul that he was. -Bernard Palissy endured the martyrdom appointed for all seekers into -secrets but his wife and children and all his neighbors were against -him. His wife used to sell his tools; nobody understood him, he -wandered about the countryside, he was hunted down, they jeered at -him. But I--am loved----" - -"Dearly loved!" said Eve, with the quiet serenity of the love that is -sure of itself. - -"And so may well endure all that poor Bernard Palissy suffered-- -Bernard Palissy, the discoverer of Ecouen ware, the Huguenot excepted -by Charles IX. on the day of Saint-Bartholomew. He lived to be rich -and honored in his old age, and lectured on the 'Science of Earths,' -as he called it, in the face of Europe." - -"So long as my fingers can hold an iron, you shall want for nothing," -cried the poor wife, in tones that told of the deepest devotion. "When -I was Mme. Prieur's forewoman I had a friend among the girls, Basine -Clerget, a cousin of Postel's, a very good child; well, Basine told me -the other day when she brought back the linen, that she was taking -Mme. Prieur's business; I will work for her." - -"Ah! you shall not work there for long," said David; "I have found -out----" - -Eve, watching his face, saw the sublime belief in success which -sustains the inventor, the belief that gives him courage to go forth -into the virgin forests of the country of Discovery; and, for the -first time in her life, she answered that confident look with a half- -sad smile. David bent his head mournfully. - -"Oh! my dear! I am not laughing! I did not doubt! It was not a sneer!" -cried Eve, on her knees before her husband. "But I see plainly now -that you were right to tell me nothing about your experiments and your -hopes. Ah! yes, dear, an inventor should endure the long painful -travail of a great idea alone, he should not utter a word of it even -to his wife. . . . A woman is a woman still. This Eve of yours could -not help smiling when she heard you say, 'I have found out,' for the -seventeenth time this month." - -David burst out laughing so heartily at his own expense that Eve -caught his hand in hers and kissed it reverently. It was a delicious -moment for them both, one of those roses of love and tenderness that -grow beside the desert paths of the bitterest poverty, nay, at times -in yet darker depths. - -As the storm of misfortune grew, Eve's courage redoubled; the -greatness of her husband's nature, his inventor's simplicity, the -tears that now and again she saw in the eyes of this dreamer of dreams -with the tender heart,--all these things aroused in her an unsuspected -energy of resistance. Once again she tried the plan that had succeeded -so well already. She wrote to M. Metivier, reminding him that the -printing office was for sale, offered to pay him out of the proceeds, -and begged him not to ruin David with needless costs. Metivier -received the heroic letter, and shammed dead. His head-clerk replied -that in the absence of M. Metivier he could not take it upon himself -to stay proceedings, for his employer had made it a rule to let the -law take its course. Eve wrote again, offering this time to renew the -bills and pay all the costs hitherto incurred. To this the clerk -consented, provided that Sechard senior guaranteed payment. So Eve -walked over to Marsac, taking Kolb and her mother with her. She braved -the old vinedresser, and so charming was she, that the old man's face -relaxed, and the puckers smoothed out at the sight of her; but when, -with inward quakings, she came to speak of a guarantee, she beheld a -sudden and complete change of the tippleographic countenance. - -"If I allowed my son to put his hand to the lips of my cash box -whenever he had a mind, he would plunge it deep into the vitals, he -would take all I have!" cried old Sechard. "That is the way with -children; they eat up their parents' purse. What did I do myself, eh? -_I_ never cost my parents a farthing. Your printing office is standing -idle. The rats and the mice do all the printing that is done in -it. . . . You have a pretty face; I am very fond of you; you are a -careful, hard-working woman; but that son of mine!--Do you know what -David is? I'll tell you--he is a scholar that will never do a stroke -of work! If I had reared him, as I was reared myself, without knowing -his letters, and if I had made a 'bear' of him, like his father before -him, he would have money saved and put out to interest by now. . . . -Oh! he is my cross, that fellow is, look you! And, unluckily, he is -all the family I have, for there is never like to be a later edition. -And when he makes you unhappy----" - -Eve protested with a vehement gesture of denial. - -"Yes, he does," affirmed old Sechard; "you had to find a wet-nurse for -the child. Come, come, I know all about it, you are in the county -court, and the whole town is talking about you. I was only a 'bear,' -_I_ have no book learning, _I_ was not foreman at the Didots', the -first printers in the world; but yet I never set eyes on a bit of -stamped paper. Do you know what I say to myself as I go to and fro -among my vines, looking after them and getting in my vintage, and -doing my bits of business?--I say to myself, 'You are taking a lot of -trouble, poor old chap; working to pile one silver crown on another, -you will leave a fine property behind you, and the bailiffs and the -lawyers will get it all; . . . or else it will go in nonsensical -notions and crotchets.'--Look you here, child; you are the mother of -yonder little lad; it seemed to me as I held him at the font with Mme. -Chardon that I could see his old grandfather's copper nose on his -face; very well, think less of Sechard and more of that little rascal. -I can trust no one but you; you will prevent him from squandering my -property--my poor property." - -"But, dear papa Sechard, your son will be a credit to you, you will -see; he will make money and be a rich man one of these days, and wear -the Cross of the Legion of Honor at his buttonhole." - -"What is he going to do to get it?" - -"You will see. But, meanwhile, would a thousand crowns ruin you? A -thousand crowns would put an end to the proceedings. Well, if you -cannot trust him, lend the money to me; I will pay it back; you could -make it a charge on my portion, on my earnings----" - -"Then has some one brought David into a court of law?" cried the -vinedresser, amazed to find that the gossip was really true. "See what -comes of knowing how to write your name! And how about my rent! Oh! -little girl, I must go to Angouleme at once and ask Cachan's advice, -and see that I am straight. You did right well to come over. -Forewarned is forearmed." - -After two hours of argument Eve was fain to go, defeated by the -unanswerable dictum, "Women never understand business." She had come -with a faint hope, she went back again almost heartbroken, and reached -home just in time to receive notice of judgment; Sechard must pay -Metivier in full. The appearance of a bailiff at a house door is an -event in a country town, and Doublon had come far too often of late. -The whole neighborhood was talking about the Sechards. Eve dared not -leave her house; she dreaded to hear the whispers as she passed. - -"Oh! my brother, my brother!" cried poor Eve, as she hurried into the -passage and up the stairs, "I can never forgive you, unless it -was----" - -"Alas! it was that, or suicide," said David, who had followed her. - -"Let us say no more about it," she said quietly. "The woman who -dragged him down into the depths of Paris has much to answer for; and -your father, my David, is quite inexorable! Let us bear it in -silence." - -A discreet rapping at the door cut short some word of love on David's -lips. Marion appeared, towing the big, burly Kolb after her across the -outer room. - -"Madame," said Marion, "we have known, Kolb and I, that you and the -master were very much put about; and as we have eleven hundred francs -of savings between us, we thought we could not do better than put them -in the mistress' hands----" - -"Die misdress," echoed Kolb fervently. - -"Kolb," cried David, "you and I will never part. Pay a thousand francs -on account to Maitre Cachan, and take a receipt for it; we will keep -the rest. And, Kolb, no power on earth must extract a word from you as -to my work, or my absences from home, or the things you may see me -bring back; and if I send you to look for plants for me, you know, no -human being must set eyes on you. They will try to corrupt you, my -good Kolb; they will offer you thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of -francs, to tell----" - -"Dey may offer me millions," cried Kolb, "but not ein vort from me -shall dey traw. Haf I not peen in der army, and know my orders?" - -"Well, you are warned. March, and ask M. Petit-Claud to go with you as -witness." - -"Yes," said the Alsacien. "Some tay I hope to be rich enough to dust -der chacket of dat man of law. I don't like his gountenance." - -"Kolb is a good man, madame," said Big Marion; "he is as strong as a -Turk, and as meek as a lamb. Just the one that would make a woman -happy. It was his notion, too, to invest our savings this way-- -'safings,' as he calls them. Poor man, if he doesn't speak right, he -thinks right, and I understand him all the same. He has a notion of -working for somebody else, so as to save us his keep----" - -"Surely we shall be rich, if it is only to repay these good folk," -said David, looking at his wife. - -Eve thought it quite simple; it was no surprise to her to find other -natures on a level with her own. The dullest--nay, the most -indifferent--observer could have seen all the beauty of her nature in -her way of receiving this service. - -"You will be rich some day, dear master," said Marion; "your bread is -ready baked. Your father has just bought another farm, he is putting -by money for you; that he is." - -And under the circumstances, did not Marion show an exquisite delicacy -of feeling by belittling, as it were, her kindness in this way? - -French procedure, like all things human, has its defects; -nevertheless, the sword of justice, being a two-edged weapon, is -excellently adapted alike for attack or defence. Procedure, moreover, -has its amusing side; for when opposed, lawyers arrive at an -understanding, as they well may do, without exchanging a word; through -their manner of conducting their case, a suit becomes a kind of war -waged on the lines laid down by the first Marshal Biron, who, at the -siege of Rouen, it may be remembered, received his son's project for -taking the city in two days with the remark, "You must be in a great -hurry to go and plant cabbages!" Let two commanders-in-chief spare -their troops as much as possible, let them imitate the Austrian -generals who give the men time to eat their soup though they fail to -effect a juncture, and escape reprimand from the Aulic Council; let -them avoid all decisive measures, and they shall carry on a war for -ever. Maitre Cachan, Petit-Claud, and Doublon, did better than the -Austrian generals; they took for their example Quintus Fabius -Cunctator--the Austrian of antiquity. - -Petit-Claud, malignant as a mule, was not long in finding out all the -advantages of his position. No sooner had Boniface Cointet guaranteed -his costs than he vowed to lead Cachan a dance, and to dazzle the -paper manufacturer with a brilliant display of genius in the creation -of items to be charged to Metivier. Unluckily for the fame of the -young forensic Figaro, the writer of this history is obliged to pass -over the scene of his exploits in as great a hurry as if he trod on -burning coals; but a single bill of costs, in the shape of the -specimen sent from Paris, will no doubt suffice for the student of -contemporary manners. Let us follow the example set us by the -Bulletins of the Grande Armee, and give a summary of Petit-Claud's -valiant feats and exploits in the province of pure law; they will be -the better appreciated for concise treatment. - -David Sechard was summoned before the Tribunal of Commerce at -Angouleme for the 3rd of July, made default, and notice of judgment -was served on the 8th. On the 10th, Doublon obtained an execution -warrant, and attempted to put in an execution on the 12th. On this -Petit-Claud applied for an interpleader summons, and served notice on -Metivier for that day fortnight. Metivier made application for a -hearing without delay, and on the 19th, Sechard's application was -dismissed. Hard upon this followed notice of judgment, authorizing the -issue of an execution warrant on the 22nd, a warrant of arrest on the -23rd, and bailiff's inventory previous to the execution on the 24th. -Metivier, Doublon, Cachan & Company were proceeding at this furious -pace, when Petit-Claud suddenly pulled them up, and stayed execution -by lodging notice of appeal on the Court-Royal. Notice of appeal, duly -reiterated on the 25th of July, drew Metivier off to Poitiers. - -"Come!" said Petit-Claud to himself, "there we are likely to stop for -some time to come." - -No sooner was the storm passed over to Poitiers, and an attorney -practising in the Court-Royal instructed to defend the case, than -Petit-Claud, a champion facing both ways, made application in Mme. -Sechard's name for the immediate separation of her estate from her -husband's; using "all diligence" (in legal language) to such purpose, -that he obtained an order from the court on the 28th, and inserted -notice at once in the Charente Courier. Now David the lover had -settled ten thousand francs upon his wife in the marriage contract, -making over to her as security the fixtures of the printing office and -the household furniture; and Petit-Claud therefore constituted Mme. -Sechard her husband's creditor for that small amount, drawing up a -statement of her claims on the estate in the presence of a notary on -the 1st of August. - -While Petit-Claud was busy securing the household property of his -clients, he gained the day at Poitiers on the point of law on which -the demurrer and appeals were based. He held that, as the court of the -Seine had ordered the plaintiff to pay costs of proceedings in the -Paris commercial court, David was so much the less liable for expenses -of litigation incurred upon Lucien's account. The Court-Royal took -this view of the case, and judgment was entered accordingly. David -Sechard was ordered to pay the amount in dispute in the Angouleme -Court, less the law expenses incurred in Paris; these Metivier must -pay, and each side must bear its own costs in the appeal to the Court- -Royal. - -David Sechard was duly notified of the result on the 17th of August. -On the 18th the judgment took the practical shape of an order to pay -capital, interest, and costs, followed up by notice of an execution -for the morrow. Upon this Petit-Claud intervened and put in a claim -for the furniture as the wife's property duly separated from her -husband's; and what was more, Petit-Claud produced Sechard senior upon -the scene of action. The old vinegrower had become his client on this -wise. He came to Angouleme on the day after Eve's visit, and went to -Maitre Cachan for advice. His son owed him arrears of rent; how could -he come by this rent in the scrimmage in which his son was engaged? - -"I am engaged by the other side," pronounced Cachan, "and I cannot -appear for the father when I am suing the son; but go to Petit-Claud, -he is very clever, he may perhaps do even better for you than I should -do." - -Cachan and Petit-Claud met at the Court. - -"I have sent you Sechard senior," said Cachan; "take the case for me -in exchange." Lawyers do each other services of this kind in country -towns as well as in Paris. - -The day after Sechard senior gave Petit-Claud his confidence, the tall -Cointet paid a visit to his confederate. - -"Try to give old Sechard a lesson," he said. "He is the kind of man -that will never forgive his son for costing him a thousand francs or -so; the outlay will dry up any generous thoughts in his mind, if he -ever has any." - -"Go back to your vines," said Petit-Claud to his new client. "Your son -is not very well off; do not eat him out of house and home. I will -send for you when the time comes." - -On behalf of Sechard senior, therefore, Petit-Claud claimed that the -presses, being fixtures, were so much the more to be regarded as tools -and implements of trade, and the less liable to seizure, in that the -house had been a printing office since the reign of Louis XIV. Cachan, -on Metivier's account, waxed indignant at this. In Paris Lucien's -furniture had belonged to Coralie, and here again in Angouleme David's -goods and chattels all belonged to his wife or his father; pretty -things were said in court. Father and son were summoned; such claims -could not be allowed to stand. - -"We mean to unmask the frauds intrenched behind bad faith of the most -formidable kind; here is the defence of dishonesty bristling with the -plainest and most innocent articles of the Code, and why?--to avoid -repayment of three thousand francs; obtained how?--from poor -Metivier's cash box! And yet there are those who dare to say a word -against bill-discounters! What times we live in! . . . Now, I put it -to you--what is this but taking your neighbor's money? . . . You will -surely not sanction a claim which would bring immorality to the very -core of justice!" - -Cachan's eloquence produced an effect on the court. A divided judgment -was given in favor of Mme. Sechard, the house furniture being held to -be her property; and against Sechard senior, who was ordered to pay -costs--four hundred and thirty-four francs, sixty-five centimes. - -"It is kind of old Sechard," laughed the lawyers; "he would have a -finger in the pie, so let him pay!" - -Notice of judgment was given on the 26th of August; the presses and -plant could be seized on the 28th. Placards were posted. Application -was made for an order empowering them to sell on the spot. -Announcements of the sale appeared in the papers, and Doublon -flattered himself that the inventory should be verified and the -auction take place on the 2nd of September. - -By this time David Sechard owed Metivier five thousand two hundred and -seventy-five francs, twenty-five centimes (to say nothing of -interest), by formal judgment confirmed by appeal, the bill of costs -having been duly taxed. Likewise to Petit-Claud he owed twelve hundred -francs, exclusive of the fees, which were left to David's generosity -with the generous confidence displayed by the hackney coachman who has -driven you so quickly over the road on which you desire to go. - -Mme. Sechard owed Petit-Claud something like three hundred and fifty -francs and fees besides; and of old Sechard, besides four hundred and -thirty-four francs, sixty-five centimes, the little attorney demanded -a hundred crowns by way of fee. Altogether, the Sechard family owed -about ten thousand francs. This is what is called "putting fire into -the bed straw." - -Apart from the utility of these documents to other nations who thus -may behold the battery of French law in action, the French legislator -ought to know the lengths to which the abuse of procedure may be -carried, always supposing that the said legislator can find time for -reading. Surely some sort of regulation might be devised, some way of -forbidding lawyers to carry on a case until the sum in dispute is more -than eaten up in costs? Is there not something ludicrous in the idea -of submitting a square yard of soil and an estate of thousands of -acres to the same legal formalities? These bare outlines of the -history of the various stages of procedure should open the eyes of -Frenchmen to the meaning of the words "legal formalities, justice, and -costs," little as the immense majority of the nations know about them. - -Five thousand pounds' weight of type in the printing office were worth -two thousand francs as old metal; the three presses were valued at six -hundred francs; the rest of the plant would fetch the price of old -iron and firewood. The household furniture would have brought in a -thousand francs at most. The whole personal property of Sechard junior -therefore represented the sum of four thousand francs; and Cachan and -Petit-Claud made claims for seven thousand francs in costs already -incurred, to say nothing of expenses to come, for the blossom gave -promise of fine fruits enough, as the reader will shortly see. Surely -the lawyers of France and Navarre, nay, even of Normandy herself, will -not refuse Petit-Claud his meed of admiration and respect? Surely, -too, kind hearts will give Marion and Kolb a tear of sympathy? - -All through the war Kolb sat on a chair in the doorway, acting as -watch-dog, when David had nothing else for him to do. It was Kolb who -received all the notifications, and a clerk of Petit-Claud's kept -watch over Kolb. No sooner were the placards announcing the auction -put up on the premises than Kolb tore them down; he hurried round the -town after the bill-poster, tearing the placards from the walls. - -"Ah, scountrels!" he cried, "to dorment so goot a man; and they calls -it chustice!" - -Marion made half a franc a day by working half time in a paper mill as -a machine tender, and her wages contributed to the support of the -household. Mme. Chardon went back uncomplainingly to her old -occupation, sitting up night after night, and bringing home her wages -at the end of the week. Poor Mme. Chardon! Twice already she had made -a nine days' prayer for those she loved, wondering that God should be -deaf to her petitions, and blind to the light of the candles on His -altar. - -On the 2nd of September, a letter came from Lucien, the first since -the letter of the winter, which David had kept from his wife's -knowledge--the announcement of the three bills which bore David's -signature. This time Lucien wrote to Eve. - -"The third since he left us!" she said. Poor sister, she was afraid to -open the envelope that covered the fatal sheet. - -She was feeding the little one when the post came in; they could not -afford a wet-nurse now, and the child was being brought up by hand. -Her state of mind may be imagined, and David's also, when he had been -roused to read the letter, for David had been at work all night, and -only lay down at daybreak. - - Lucien to Eve. - - "PARIS, August 29th. - - "MY DEAR SISTER,--Two days ago, at five o'clock in the morning, - one of God's noblest creatures breathed her last in my arms; she - was the one woman on earth capable of loving me as you and mother - and David love me, giving me besides that unselfish affection, - something that neither mother nor sister can give--the utmost - bliss of love. Poor Coralie, after giving up everything for my - sake, may perhaps have died for me--for me, who at this moment - have not the wherewithal to bury her. She could have solaced my - life; you, and you alone, my dear good angels, can console me for - her death. God has forgiven her, I think, the innocent girl, for - she died like a Christian. Oh, this Paris! Eve, Paris is the glory - and the shame of France. Many illusions I have lost here already, - and I have others yet to lose, when I begin to beg for the little - money needed before I can lay the body of my angel in consecrated - earth. - "Your unhappy brother, - "Lucien." - - "P. S. I must have given you much trouble by my heedlessness; some - day you will know all, and you will forgive me. You must be quite - easy now; a worthy merchant, a M. Camusot, to whom I once caused - cruel pangs, promised to arrange everything, seeing that Coralie - and I were so much distressed." - -"The sheet is still moist with his tears," said Eve, looking at the -letter with a heart so full of sympathy that something of the old love -for Lucien shone in her eyes. - -"Poor fellow, he must have suffered cruelly if he has been loved as he -says!" exclaimed Eve's husband, happy in his love; and these two -forgot all their own troubles at this cry of a supreme sorrow. Just at -that moment Marion rushed in. - -"Madame," she panted, "here they are! Here they are!" - -"Who is here?" - -"Doublon and his men, bad luck to them! Kolb will not let them come -in; they have come to sell us up." - -"No, no, they are not going to sell you up, never fear," cried a voice -in the next room, and Petit-Claud appeared upon the scene. "I have -just lodged notice of appeal. We ought not to sit down under a -judgment that attaches a stigma of bad faith to us. I did not think it -worth while to fight the case here. I let Cachan talk to gain time for -you; I am sure of gaining the day at Poitiers----" - -"But how much will it cost to win the day?" asked Mme. Sechard. - -"Fees if you win, one thousand francs if we lose our case." - -"Oh, dear!" cried poor Eve; "why, the remedy is worse than the -disease!" - -Petit-Claud was not a little confused at this cry of innocence -enlightened by the progress of the flames of litigation. It struck him -too that Eve was a very beautiful woman. In the middle of the -discussion old Sechard arrived, summoned by Petit-Claud. The old man's -presence in the chamber where his little grandson in the cradle lay -smiling at misfortune completed the scene. The young attorney at once -addressed the newcomer with: - -"You owe me seven hundred francs for the interpleader, Papa Sechard; -but you can charge the amount to your son in addition to the arrears -of rent." - -The vinedresser felt the sting of the sarcasm conveyed by Petit- -Claud's tone and manner. - -"It would have cost you less to give security for the debt at first," -said Eve, leaving the cradle to greet her father-in-law with a kiss. - -David, quite overcome by the sight of the crowd outside the house (for -Kolb's resistance to Doublon's men had collected a knot of people), -could only hold out a hand to his father; he did not say a word. - -"And how, pray, do I come to owe you seven hundred francs?" the old -man asked, looking at Petit-Claud. - -"Why, in the first place, I am engaged by you. Your rent is in -question; so, as far as I am concerned, you and our debtor are one and -the same person. If your son does not pay my costs in the case, you -must pay them yourself.--But this is nothing. In a few hours David -will be put in prison; will you allow him to go?" - -"What does he owe?" - -"Something like five or six thousand francs, besides the amounts owing -to you and to his wife." - -The speech roused all the old man's suspicions at once. He looked -round the little blue-and-white bedroom at the touching scene before -his eyes--at a beautiful woman weeping over a cradle, at David bowed -down by anxieties, and then again at the lawyer. This was a trap set -for him by that lawyer; perhaps they wanted to work upon his paternal -feelings, to get money out of him? That was what it all meant. He took -alarm. He went over to the cradle and fondled the child, who held out -both little arms to him. No heir to an English peerage could be more -tenderly cared for than this little one in that house of trouble; his -little embroidered cap was lined with pale pink. - -"Eh! let David get out of it as best he may. I am thinking of this -child here," cried the old grandfather, "and the child's mother will -approve of that. David that knows so much must know how to pay his -debts." - -"Now I will just put your meaning into plain language," said Petit- -Claud ironically. "Look here, Papa Sechard, you are jealous of your -son. Hear the truth! you put David into his present position by -selling the business to him for three times its value. You ruined him -to make an extortionate bargain! Yes, don't you shake your head; you -sold the newspaper to the Cointets and pocketed all the proceeds, and -that was as much as the whole business was worth. You bear David a -grudge, not merely because you have plundered him, but because, also, -your own son is a man far above yourself. You profess to be -prodigiously fond of your grandson, to cloak your want of feeling for -your son and his wife, because you ought to pay down money hic et nunc -for them, while you need only show a posthumous affection for your -grandson. You pretend to be fond of the little fellow, lest you should -be taxed with want of feeling for your own flesh and blood. That is -the bottom of it, Papa Sechard." - -"Did you fetch me over to hear this?" asked the old man, glowering at -his lawyer, his daughter-in-law, and his son in turn. - -"Monsieur!" protested poor Eve, turning to Petit-Claud, "have you -vowed to ruin us? My husband had never uttered a word against his -father." (Here the old man looked cunningly at her.) "David has told -me scores of times that you loved him in your way," she added, looking -at her father-in-law, and understanding his suspicions. - -Petit-Claud was only following out the tall Cointet's instructions. He -was widening the breach between the father and son, lest Sechard -senior should extricate David from his intolerable position. "The day -that David Sechard goes to prison shall be the day of your -introduction to Mme. de Senonches," the "tall Cointet" had said no -longer ago than yesterday. - -Mme. Sechard, with the quick insight of love, had divined Petit- -Claud's mercenary hostility, even as she had once before felt -instinctively that Cerizet was a traitor. As for David, his -astonishment may be imagined; he could not understand how Petit-Claud -came to know so much of his father's nature and his own history. -Upright and honorable as he was, he did not dream of the relations -between his lawyer and the Cointets; nor, for that matter, did he know -that the Cointets were at work behind Metivier. Meanwhile old Sechard -took his son's silence as an insult, and Petit-Claud, taking advantage -of his client's bewilderment, beat a retreat. - -"Good-bye, my dear David; you have had warning, notice of appeal -doesn't invalidate the warrant for arrest. It is the only course left -open to your creditors, and it will not be long before they take it. -So, go away at once----Or, rather, if you will take my advice, go to -the Cointets and see them about it. They have capital. If your -invention is perfected and answers the purpose, go into partnership -with them. After all, they are very good fellows----" - -"Your invention?" broke in old Sechard. - -"Why, do you suppose that your son is fool enough to let his business -slip away from him without thinking of something else?" exclaimed the -attorney. "He is on the brink of the discovery of a way of making -paper at a cost of three francs per ream, instead of ten, he tells -me." - -"One more dodge for taking me in! You are all as thick as thieves in a -fair. If David has found out such a plan, he has no need of me--he is -a millionaire! Good-bye, my dears, and a good-day to you all," and the -old man disappeared down the staircase. - -"Find some way of hiding yourself," was Petit-Claud's parting word to -David, and with that he hurried out to exasperate old Sechard still -further. He found the vinegrower growling to himself outside in the -Place du Murier, went with him as far as L'Houmeau, and there left him -with a threat of putting in an execution for the costs due to him -unless they were paid before the week was out. - -"I will pay you if you will show me how to disinherit my son without -injuring my daughter-in-law or the boy," said old Sechard, and they -parted forthwith. - -"How well the 'tall Cointet' knows the folk he is dealing with! It is -just as he said; those seven hundred francs will prevent the father -from paying seven thousand," the little lawyer thought within himself -as he climbed the path to Angouleme. "Still, that old slyboots of a -paper-maker must not overreach us; it is time to ask him for something -besides promises." - - - -"Well, David dear, what do you mean to do?" asked Eve, when the lawyer -had followed her father-in-law. - -"Marion, put your biggest pot on the fire!" called David; "I have my -secret fast." - -At this Eve put on her bonnet and shawl and walking shoes with -feverish haste. - -"Kolb, my friend, get ready to go out," she said, "and come with me; -if there is any way out of this hell, I must find it." - -When Eve had gone out, Marion spoke to David. "Do be sensible, sir," -she said, "or the mistress will fret herself to death. Make some money -to pay off your debts, and then you can try to find treasure at your -ease----" - -"Don't talk, Marion, said David; "I am going to overcome my last -difficulty, and then I can apply for the patent and the improvement on -the patent at the same time." - -This "improvement on the patent" is the curse of the French patentee. -A man may spend ten years of his life in working out some obscure -industrial problem; and when he has invented some piece of machinery, -or made a discovery of some kind, he takes out a patent and imagines -that he has a right to his own invention; then there comes a -competitor; and unless the first inventor has foreseen all possible -contingencies, the second comer makes an "improvement on the patent" -with a screw or a nut, and takes the whole thing out of his hands. The -discovery of a cheap material for paper pulp, therefore, is by no -means the conclusion of the whole matter. David Sechard was anxiously -looking ahead on all sides lest the fortune sought in the teeth of -such difficulties should be snatched out of his hands at the last. -Dutch paper as flax paper is still called, though it is no longer made -in Holland, is slightly sized; but every sheet is sized separately by -hand, and this increases the cost of production. If it were possible -to discover some way of sizing the paper in the pulping-trough, with -some inexpensive glue, like that in use to-day (though even now it is -not quite perfect), there would be no "improvement on the patent" to -fear. For the past month, accordingly, David had been making -experiments in sizing pulp. He had two discoveries before him. - -Eve went to see her mother. Fortunately, it so happened that Mme. -Chardon was nursing the deputy-magistrate's wife, who had just given -the Milauds of Nevers an heir presumptive; and Eve, in her distrust of -all attorneys and notaries, took into her head to apply for advice to -the legal guardian of widows and orphans. She wanted to know if she -could relieve David from his embarrassments by taking them upon -herself and selling her claims upon the estate, and besides, she had -some hope of discovering the truth as to Petit-Claud's unaccountable -conduct. The official, struck with Mme. Sechard's beauty, received her -not only with the respect due to a woman but with a sort of courtesy -to which Eve was not accustomed. She saw in the magistrate's face an -expression which, since her marriage, she had seen in no eyes but -Kolb's; and for a beautiful woman like Eve, this expression is the -criterion by which men are judged. When passion, or self-interest, or -age dims that spark of unquestioning fealty that gleams in a young -man's eyes, a woman feels a certain mistrust of him, and begins to -observe him critically. The Cointets, Cerizet, and Petit-Claud--all -the men whom Eve felt instinctively to be her enemies--had turned -hard, indifferent eyes on her; with the deputy-magistrate, therefore, -she felt at ease, although, in spite of his kindly courtesy, he swept -all her hopes away by his first words. - -"It is not certain, madame, that the Court-Royal will reverse the -judgment of the court restricting your lien on your husband's -property, for payment of moneys due to you by the terms of your -marriage-contract, to household goods and chattels. Your privilege -ought not to be used to defraud the other creditors. But in any case, -you will be allowed to take your share of the proceeds with the other -creditors, and your father-in-law likewise, as a privileged creditor, -for arrears of rent. When the court has given the order, other points -may be raised as to the 'contribution,' as we call it, when a schedule -of the debts is drawn up, and the creditors are paid a dividend in -proportion to their claims. - -"Then M. Petit-Claud is bringing us to bankruptcy," she cried. - -"Petit-Claud is carrying out your husband's instructions," said the -magistrate; "he is anxious to gain time, so his attorney says. In my -opinion, you would perhaps do better to waive the appeal and buy in at -the sale the indispensable implements for carrying on the business; -you and your father-in-law together might do this, you to the extent -of your claim through your marriage contract, and he for his arrears -of rent. But that would be bringing the matter to an end too soon -perhaps. The lawyers are making a good thing out of your case." - -"But then I should be entirely in M. Sechard's father's hands. I -should owe him the hire of the machinery as well as the house-rent; -and my husband would still be open to further proceedings from M. -Metivier, for M. Metivier would have had almost nothing." - -"That is true, madame." - -"Very well, then we should be even worse off than we are." - -"The arm of the law, madame, is at the creditor's disposal. You have -received three thousand francs, and you must of necessity repay the -money." - -"Oh, sir, can you think that we are capable----" Eve suddenly came to -a stop. She saw that her justification might injure her brother. - -"Oh! I know quite well that it is an obscure affair, that the debtors -on the one side are honest, scrupulous, and even behaving handsomely; -and the creditor, on the other, is only a cat's-paw----" - -Eve, aghast, looked at him with bewildered eyes. - -"You can understand," he continued, with a look full of homely -shrewdness, "that we on the bench have plenty of time to think over -all that goes on under our eyes, while the gentlemen in court are -arguing with each other." - -Eve went home in despair over her useless effort. That evening at -seven o'clock, Doublon came with the notification of imprisonment for -debt. The proceedings had reached the acute stage. - -"After this, I can only go out after nightfall," said David. - -Eve and Mme. Chardon burst into tears. To be in hiding was for them a -shameful thing. As for Kolb and Marion, they were more alarmed for -David because they had long since made up their minds that there was -no guile in their master's nature; so frightened were they on his -account, that they came upstairs under pretence of asking whether they -could do anything, and found Eve and Mme. Chardon in tears; the three -whose life had been so straightforward hitherto were overcome by the -thought that David must go into hiding. And how, moreover, could they -hope to escape the invisible spies who henceforth would dog every -least movement of a man, unluckily so absent-minded? - -"Gif montame vill vait ein liddle kvarter hour, she can regonnoitre -der enemy's camp," put in Kolb. "You shall see dot I oonderstand mein -pizness; for gif I look like ein German, I am ein drue Vrenchman, and -vat is more, I am ver' conning." - -"Oh! madame, do let him go," begged Marion. "He is only thinking of -saving his master; he hasn't another thought in his head. Kolb is not -an Alsacien, he is--eh! well--a regular Newfoundland dog for rescuing -folk." - -"Go, my good Kolb," said David; "we have still time to do something." - -Kolb hurried off to pay a visit to the bailiff; and it so fell out -that David's enemies were in Doublon's office, holding a council as to -the best way of securing him. - -The arrest of a debtor is an unheard-of thing in the country, an -abnormal proceeding if ever there was one. Everybody, in the first -place, knows everybody else, and creditor and debtor being bound to -meet each other daily all their lives long, nobody likes to take this -odious course. When a defaulter--to use the provincial term for a -debtor, for they do not mince their words in the provinces when -speaking of this legalized method of helping yourself to another man's -goods--when a defaulter plans a failure on a large scale, he takes -sanctuary in Paris. Paris is a kind of City of Refuge for provincial -bankrupts, an almost impenetrable retreat; the writ of the pursuing -bailiff has no force beyond the limits of his jurisdiction, and there -are other obstacles rendering it almost invalid. Wherefore the Paris -bailiff is empowered to enter the house of a third party to seize the -person of the debtor, while for the bailiff of the provinces the -domicile is absolutely inviolable. The law probably makes this -exception as to Paris, because there it is the rule for two or more -families to live under the same roof; but in the provinces the bailiff -who wishes to make forcible entry must have an order from the Justice -of the Peace; and so wide a discretion is allowed the Justice of the -Peace, that he is practically able to give or withhold assistance to -the bailiffs. To the honor of the Justices, it should be said, that -they dislike the office, and are by no means anxious to assist blind -passions or revenge. - -There are, besides, other and no less serious difficulties in the way -of arrest for debt--difficulties which tend to temper the severity of -legislation, and public opinion not infrequently makes a dead letter -of the law. In great cities there are poor or degraded wretches -enough; poverty and vice know no scruples, and consent to play the -spy, but in a little country town, people know each other too well to -earn wages of the bailiff; the meanest creature who should lend -himself to dirty work of this kind would be forced to leave the place. -In the absence of recognized machinery, therefore, the arrest of a -debtor is a problem presenting no small difficulty; it becomes a kind -of strife of ingenuity between the bailiff and the debtor, and matter -for many pleasant stories in the newspapers. - -Cointet the elder did not choose to appear in the affair; but the fat -Cointet openly said that he was acting for Metivier, and went to -Doublon, taking Cerizet with him. Cerizet was his foreman now, and had -promised his co-operation in return for a thousand-franc note. Doublon -could reckon upon two of his understrappers, and thus the Cointets had -four bloodhounds already on the victim's track. At the actual time of -arrest, Doublon could furthermore count upon the police force, who are -bound, if required, to assist a bailiff in the performance of his -duty. The two men, Doublon himself, and the visitors were all closeted -together in the private office, beyond the public office, on the -ground floor. - -A tolerably wide-paved lobby, a kind of passage-way, led to the public -office. The gilded scutcheons of the court, with the word "Bailiff" -printed thereon in large black letters, hung outside on the house wall -on either side the door. Both office windows gave upon the street, and -were protected by heavy iron bars; but the private office looked into -the garden at the back, wherein Doublon, an adorer of Pomona, grew -espaliers with marked success. Opposite the office door you beheld the -door of the kitchen, and, beyond the kitchen, the staircase that -ascended to the first story. The house was situated in a narrow street -at the back of the new Law Courts, then in process of construction, -and only finished after 1830.--These details are necessary if Kolb's -adventures are to be intelligible to the reader. - -It was Kolb's idea to go to the bailiff, to pretend to be willing to -betray his master, and in this way to discover the traps which would -be laid for David. Kolb told the servant who opened the door that he -wanted to speak to M. Doublon on business. The servant was busy -washing up her plates and dishes, and not very well pleased at Kolb's -interruption; she pushed open the door of the outer office, and bade -him wait there till her master was at liberty; then, as he was a -stranger to her, she told the master in the private office that "a -man" wanted to speak to him. Now, "a man" so invariably means "a -peasant," that Doublon said, "Tell him to wait," and Kolb took a seat -close to the door of the private office. There were voices talking -within. - -"Ah, by the by, how do you mean to set about it? For, if we can catch -him to-morrow, it will be so much time saved." It was the fat Cointet -who spoke. - -"Nothing easier; the gaffer has come fairly by his nickname," said -Cerizet. - -At the sound of the fat Cointet's voice, Kolb guessed at once that -they were talking about his master, especially as the sense of the -words began to dawn upon him; but, when he recognized Cerizet's tones, -his astonishment grew more and more. - -"Und dat fellow haf eaten his pread!" he thought, horror-stricken. - -"We must do it in this way, boys," said Doublon. "We will post our -men, at good long intervals, about the Rue de Beaulieu and the Place -du Murier in every direction, so that we can follow the gaffer (I like -that word) without his knowledge. We will not lose sight of him until -he is safe inside the house where he means to lie in hiding (as he -thinks); there we will leave him in peace for awhile; then some fine -day we will come across him before sunrise or sunset." - -"But what is he doing now, at this moment? He may be slipping through -our fingers," said the fat Cointet. - -"He is in his house," answered Doublon; "if he left it, I should know. -I have one witness posted in the Place du Murier, another at the -corner of the Law Courts, and another thirty paces from the house. If -our man came out, they would whistle; he could not make three paces -from his door but I should know of it at once from the signal." - -(Bailiffs speak of their understrappers by the polite title of -"witnesses.") - -Here was better hap than Kolb had expected! He went noiselessly out of -the office, and spoke to the maid in the kitchen. - -"Meestair Touplon ees encaged for som time to kom," he said; "I vill -kom back early to-morrow morning." - -A sudden idea had struck the Alsacien, and he proceeded to put it into -execution. Kolb had served in a cavalry regiment; he hurried off to -see a livery stable-keeper, an acquaintance of his, picked out a -horse, had it saddled, and rushed back to the Place du Murier. He -found Madame Eve in the lowest depths of despondency. - -"What is it, Kolb?" asked David, when the Alsacien's face looked in -upon them, scared but radiant. - -"You have scountrels all arount you. De safest way ees to hide de -master. Haf montame thought of hiding the master anywheres?" - -When Kolb, honest fellow, had explained the whole history of Cerizet's -treachery, of the circle traced about the house, and of the fat -Cointet's interest in the affair, and given the family some inkling of -the schemes set on foot by the Cointets against the master,--then -David's real position gradually became fatally clear. - -"It is the Cointet's doing!" cried poor Eve, aghast at the news; "THEY -are proceeding against you! that accounts for Metivier's -hardness. . . . They are paper-makers--David! they want your secret!" - -"But what can we do to escape them?" exclaimed Mme. Chardon. - -"If de misdress had some liddle blace vere the master could pe -hidden," said Kolb; "I bromise to take him dere so dot nopody shall -know." - -"Wait till nightfall, and go to Basine Clerget," said Eve. "I will go -now and arrange it all with her. In this case, Basine will be like -another self to me." - -"Spies will follow you," David said at last, recovering some presence -of mind. "How can we find a way of communicating with Basine if none -of us can go to her?" - -"Montame kan go," said Kolb. "Here ees my scheme--I go out mit der -master, ve draws der vischtlers on our drack. Montame kan go to -Montemoiselle Clerchet; nopody vill vollow her. I haf a horse; I take -de master oop behint; und der teufel is in it if they katches us." - -"Very well; good-bye, dear," said poor Eve, springing to her husband's -arms; "none of us can go to see you, the risk is too great. We must -say good-bye for the whole time that your imprisonment lasts. We will -write to each other; Basine will post your letters, and I will write -under cover to her." - -No sooner did David and Kolb come out of the house than they heard a -sharp whistle, and were followed to the livery stable. Once there, -Kolb took his master up behind him, with a caution to keep tight hold. - -"Veestle avay, mind goot vriends! I care not von rap," cried Kolb. -"You vill not datch an old trooper," and the old cavalry man clapped -both spurs to his horse, and was out into the country and the darkness -not merely before the spies could follow, but before they had time to -discover the direction that he took. - -Eve meanwhile went out on the tolerably ingenious pretext of asking -advise of Postel, sat awhile enduring the insulting pity that spends -itself in words, left the Postel family, and stole away unseen to -Basine Clerget, told her troubles, and asked for help and shelter. -Basine, for greater safety, had brought Eve into her bedroom, and now -she opened the door of a little closet, lighted only by a skylight in -such a way that prying eyes could not see into it. The two friends -unstopped the flue which opened into the chimney of the stove in the -workroom, where the girls heated their irons. Eve and Basine spread -ragged coverlets over the brick floor to deaden any sound that David -might make, put in a truckle bed, a stove for his experiments, and a -table and a chair. Basine promised to bring food in the night; and as -no one had occasion to enter her room, David might defy his enemies -one and all, or even detectives. - -"At last!" Eve said, with her arms about her friend, "at last he is in -safety." - -Eve went back to Postel to submit a fresh doubt that had occurred to -her, she said. She would like the opinion of such an experienced -member of the Chamber of Commerce; she so managed that he escorted her -home, and listened patiently to his commiseration. - -"Would this have happened if you had married me?"--all the little -druggist's remarks were pitched in this key. - -Then he went home again to find Mme. Postel jealous of Mme. Sechard, -and furious with her spouse for his polite attention to that beautiful -woman. The apothecary advanced the opinion that little red-haired -women were preferable to tall, dark women, who, like fine horses, were -always in the stable, he said. He gave proofs of his sincerity, no -doubt, for Mme. Postel was very sweet to him next day. - -"We may be easy," Eve said to her mother and Marion, whom she found -still "in a taking," in the latter's phrase. - -"Oh! they are gone," said Marion, when Eve looked unthinkingly round -the room. - - - -One league out of Angouleme on the main road to Paris, Kolb stopped. - -"Vere shall we go?" - -"To Marsac," said David; "since we are on the way already, I will try -once more to soften my father's heart." - -"I would rader mount to der assault of a pattery," said Kolb, "your -resbected fader haf no heart whatefer." - -The ex-pressman had no belief in his son; he judged him from the -outside point of view, and waited for results. He had no idea, to -begin with, that he had plundered David, nor did he make allowance for -the very different circumstances under which they had begun life; he -said to himself, "I set him up with a printing-house, just as I found -it myself; and he, knowing a thousand times more than I did, cannot -keep it going." He was mentally incapable of understanding his son; he -laid the blame of failure upon him, and even prided himself, as it -were on his superiority to a far greater intellect than his own, with -the thought, "I am securing his bread for him." - -Moralists will never succeed in making us comprehend the full extent -of the influence of sentiment upon self-interest, an influence every -whit as strong as the action of interest upon our sentiments; for -every law of our nature works in two ways, and acts and reacts upon -us. - -David, on his side, understood his father, and in his sublime charity -forgave him. Kolb and David reached Marsac at eight o'clock, and -suddenly came in upon the old man as he was finishing his dinner, -which, by force of circumstances, came very near bedtime. - -"I see you because there is no help for it," said old Sechard with a -sour smile. - -"Und how should you and mein master meet? He soars in der shkies, and -you are always mit your vines! You bay for him, that's vot you are a -fader for----" - -"Come, Kolb, off with you. Put up the horse at Mme. Courtois' so as to -save inconvenience here; fathers are always in the right, remember -that." - -Kolb went off, growling like a chidden dog, obedient but protesting; -and David proposed to give his father indisputable proof of his -discovery, while reserving his secret. He offered to give him an -interest in the affair in return for money paid down; a sufficient sum -to release him from his present difficulties, with or without a -further amount of capital to be employed in developing the invention. - -"And how are you going to prove to me that you can make good paper -that costs nothing out of nothing, eh?" asked the ex-printer, giving -his son a glance, vinous, it may be, but keen, inquisitive, and -covetous; a look like a flash of lightning from a sodden cloud; for -the old "bear," faithful to his traditions, never went to bed without -a nightcap, consisting of a couple of bottles of excellent old wine, -which he "tippled down" of an evening, to use his own expression. - -"Nothing simpler," said David; "I have none of the paper about me, for -I came here to be out of Doublon's way; and having come so far, I -thought I might as well come to you at Marsac as borrow of a money- -lender. I have nothing on me but my clothes. Shut me up somewhere on -the premises, so that nobody can come in and see me at work, and----" - -"What? you will not let me see you at your work then?" asked the old -man, with an ugly look at his son. - -"You have given me to understand plainly, father, that in matters of -business there is no question of father and son----" - -"Ah! you distrust the father that gave you life!" - -"No; the other father who took away the means of earning a -livelihood." - -"Each for himself, you are right!" said the old man. "Very good, I -will put you in the cellar." - -"I will go down there with Kolb. You must let me have a large pot for -my pulp," said David; then he continued, without noticing the quick -look his father gave him,--"and you must find artichoke and asparagus -stalks for me, and nettles, and the reeds that you cut by the stream -side, and to-morrow morning I will come out of your cellar with some -splendid paper." - -"If you can do that," hiccoughed the "bear," "I will let you have, -perhaps--I will see, that is, if I can let you have--pshaw! twenty- -five thousand francs. On condition, mind, that you make as much for me -every year." - -"Put me to the proof, I am quite willing," cried David. "Kolb! take -the horse and go to Mansle, quick, buy a large hair sieve for me of a -cooper, and some glue of the grocer, and come back again as soon as -you can." - -"There! drink," said old Sechard, putting down a bottle of wine, a -loaf, and the cold remains of the dinner. "You will need your -strength. I will go and look for your bits of green stuff; green rags -you use for your pulp, and a trifle too green, I am afraid." - -Two hours later, towards eleven o'clock that night, David and Kolb -took up their quarters in a little out-house against the cellar wall; -they found the floor paved with runnel tiles, and all the apparatus -used in Angoumois for the manufacture of Cognac brandy. - -"Pans and firewood! Why, it is as good as a factory made on purpose!" -cried David. - -"Very well, good-night," said old Sechard; "I shall lock you in, and -let both the dogs loose; nobody will bring you any paper, I am sure. -You show me those sheets to-morrow, and I give you my word I will be -your partner and the business will be straightforward and properly -managed." - -David and Kolb, locked into the distillery, spent nearly two hours in -macerating the stems, using a couple of logs for mallets. The fire -blazed up, the water boiled. About two o'clock in the morning, Kolb -heard a sound which David was too busy to notice, a kind of deep -breath like a suppressed hiccough. Snatching up one of the two lighted -dips, he looked round the walls, and beheld old Sechard's empurpled -countenance filling up a square opening above a door hitherto hidden -by a pile of empty casks in the cellar itself. The cunning old man had -brought David and Kolb into his underground distillery by the outer -door, through which the casks were rolled when full. The inner door -had been made so that he could roll his puncheons straight from the -cellar into the distillery, instead of taking them round through the -yard. - -"Aha! thees eies not fair blay, you vant to shvindle your son!" cried -the Alsacien. "Do you kow vot you do ven you trink ein pottle of vine? -You gif goot trink to ein bad scountrel." - -"Oh, father!" cried David. - -"I came to see if you wanted anything," said old Sechard, half sobered -by this time. - -"Und it was for de inderest vot you take in us dot you brought der -liddle ladder!" commented Kolb, as he pushed the casks aside and flung -open the door; and there, in fact, on a short step-ladder, the old man -stood in his shirt. - -"Risking your health!" said David. - -"I think I must be walking in my sleep," said old Sechard, coming down -in confusion. "Your want of confidence in your father set me dreaming; -I dreamed you were making a pact with the Devil to do impossible -things." - -"Der teufel," said Kolb; "dot is your own bassion for de liddle -goldfinches." - -"Go back to bed again, father," said David; "lock us in if you will, -but you may save yourself the trouble of coming down again. Kolb will -mount guard." - -At four o'clock in the morning David came out of the distillery; he -had been careful to leave no sign of his occupation behind him; but he -brought out some thirty sheets of paper that left nothing to be -desired in fineness, whiteness, toughness, and strength, all of them -bearing by way of water-mark the impress of the uneven hairs of the -sieve. The old man took up the samples and put his tongue to them, the -lifelong habit of the pressman, who tests papers in this way. He felt -it between his thumb and finger, crumpled and creased it, put it -through all the trials by which a printer assays the quality of a -sample submitted to him, and when it was found wanting in no respect, -he still would not allow that he was beaten. - -"We have yet to know how it takes an impression," he said, to avoid -praising his son. - -"Funny man!" exclaimed Kolb. - -The old man was cool enough now. He cloaked his feigned hesitation -with paternal dignity. - -"I wish to tell you in fairness, father, that even now it seems to me -that paper costs more than it ought to do; I want to solve the problem -of sizing it in the pulping-trough. I have just that one improvement -to make." - -"Oho! so you are trying to trick me!" - -"Well, shall I tell you? I can size the pulp as it is, but so far I -cannot do it evenly, and the surface is as rough as a burr!" - -"Very good, size your pulp in the trough, and you shall have my -money." - -"Mein master will nefer see de golor of your money," declared Kolb. - -"Father," he began, "I have never borne you any grudge for making over -the business to me at such an exorbitant valuation; I have seen the -father through it all. I have said to myself--'The old man has worked -very hard, and he certainly gave me a better bringing up than I had a -right to expect; let him enjoy the fruits of his toil in peace, and in -his own way.--I even gave up my mother's money to you. I began -encumbered with debt, and bore all the burdens that you put upon me -without a murmur. Well, harassed for debts that were not of my making, -with no bread in the house, and my feet held to the flames, I have -found out the secret. I have struggled on patiently till my strength -is exhausted. It is perhaps your duty to help me, but do not give ME a -thought; think of a woman and a little one" (David could not keep back -the tears at this); "think of them, and give them help and protection. ---Kolb and Marion have given me their savings; will you do less?" he -cried at last, seeing that his father was as cold as the impression- -stone. - -"And that was not enough for you," said the old man, without the -slightest sense of shame; "why, you would waste the wealth of the -Indies! Good-night! I am too ignorant to lend a hand in schemes got up -on purpose to exploit me. A monkey will never gobble down a bear" -(alluding to the workshop nicknames); "I am a vinegrower, I am not a -banker. And what is more, look you, business between father and son -never turns out well. Stay and eat your dinner here; you shan't say -that you came for nothing." - -There are some deep-hearted natures that can force their own pain down -into inner depths unsuspected by those dearest to them; and with them, -when anguish forces its way to the surface and is visible, it is only -after a mighty upheaval. David's nature was one of these. Eve had -thoroughly understood the noble character of the man. But now that the -depths had been stirred, David's father took the wave of anguish that -passed over his son's features for a child's trick, an attempt to "get -round" his father, and his bitter grief for mortification over the -failure of the attempt. Father and son parted in anger. - -David and Kolb reached Angouleme on the stroke of midnight. They came -back on foot, and steathily, like burglars. Before one o'clock in the -morning David was installed in the impenetrable hiding-place prepared -by his wife in Basine Clerget's house. No one saw him enter it, and -the pity that henceforth should shelter David was the most resourceful -pity of all--the pity of a work-girl. - -Kolb bragged that day that he had saved his master on horseback, and -only left him in a carrier's van well on the way to Limoges. A -sufficient provision of raw material had been laid up in Basine's -cellar, and Kolb, Marion, Mme. Sechard, and her mother had no -communication with the house. - -Two days after the scene at Marsac, old Sechard came hurrying to -Angouleme and his daughter-in-law. Covetousness had brought him. There -were three clear weeks ahead before the vintage began, and he thought -he would be on the look-out for squalls, to use his own expression. To -this end he took up his quarters in one of the attics which he had -reserved by the terms of the lease, wilfully shutting his eyes to the -bareness and want that made his son's home desolate. If they owed him -rent, they could well afford to keep him. He ate his food from a -tinned iron plate, and made no marvel at it. "I began in the same -way," he told his daughter-in-law, when she apologized for the absence -of silver spoons. - -Marion was obliged to run into debt for necessaries for them all. Kolb -was earning a franc for daily wage as a brick-layer's laborer; and at -last poor Eve, who, for the sake of her husband and child, had -sacrificed her last resources to entertain David's father, saw that -she had only ten francs left. She had hoped to the last to soften the -old miser's heart by her affectionate respect, and patience, and -pretty attentions; but old Sechard was obdurate as ever. When she saw -him turn the same cold eyes on her, the same look that the Cointets -had given her, and Petit-Claud and Cerizet, she tried to watch and -guess old Sechard's intentions. Trouble thrown away! Old Sechard, -never sober, never drunk, was inscrutable; intoxication is a double -veil. If the old man's tipsiness was sometimes real, it was quite -often feigned for the purpose of extracting David's secret from his -wife. Sometimes he coaxed, sometimes he frightened his daughter-in- -law. - -"I will drink up my property; I WILL BUY AN ANNUITY," he would -threaten when Eve told him that she knew nothing. - -The humiliating struggle was wearing her out; she kept silence at -last, lest she should show disrespect to her husband's father. - -"But, father," she said one day when driven to extremity, "there is a -very simple way of finding out everything. Pay David's debts; he will -come home, and you can settle it between you." - -"Ha! that is what you want to get out of me, is it?" he cried. "It is -as well to know!" - -But if Sechard had no belief in his son, he had plenty of faith in the -Cointets. He went to consult them, and the Cointets dazzled him of set -purpose, telling him that his son's experiments might mean millions of -francs. - -"If David can prove that he has succeeded, I shall not hesitate to go -into partnership with him, and reckon his discovery as half the -capital," the tall Cointet told him. - -The suspicious old man learned a good deal over nips of brandy with -the work-people, and something more by questioning Petit-Claud and -feigning stupidity; and at length he felt convinced that the Cointets -were the real movers behind Metivier; they were plotting to ruin -Sechard's printing establishment, and to lure him (Sechard) on to pay -his son's debts by holding out the discovery as a bait. The old man of -the people did not suspect that Petit-Claud was in the plot, nor had -he any idea of the toils woven to ensnare the great secret. A day came -at last when he grew angry and out of patience with the daughter-in- -law who would not so much as tell him where David was hiding; he -determined to force the laboratory door, for he had discovered that -David was wont to make his experiments in the workshop where the -rollers were melted down. - -He came downstairs very early one morning and set to work upon the -lock. - -"Hey! Papa Sechard, what are you doing there?" Marion called out. (She -had risen at daybreak to go to her papermill, and now she sprang -across to the workshop.) - -"I am in my own house, am I not?" said the old man, in some confusion. - -"Oh, indeed, are you turning thief in your old age? You are not drunk -this time either----I shall go straight to the mistress and tell her." - -"Hold your tongue, Marion," said Sechard, drawing two crowns of six -francs each from his pocket. "There----" - -"I will hold my tongue, but don't you do it again," said Marion, -shaking her finger at him, "or all Angouleme shall hear of it." - -The old man had scarcely gone out, however, when Marion went up to her -mistress. - -"Look, madame," she said, "I have had twelve francs out of your -father-in-law, and here they are----" - -"How did you do it?" - -"What was he wanting to do but to take a look at the master's pots and -pans and stuff, to find out the secret, forsooth. I knew quite well -that there was nothing in the little place, but I frightened him and -talked as if he were setting about robbing his son, and he gave me -twelve francs to say nothing about it." - -Just at that moment Basine came in radiant, and with a letter for her -friend, a letter from David written on magnificent paper, which she -handed over when they were alone. - - "MY ADORED EVE,--I am writing to you the first letter on my first - sheet of paper made by the new process. I have solved the problem - of sizing the pulp in the trough at last. A pound of pulp costs - five sous, even supposing that the raw material is grown on good - soil with special culture; three francs' worth of sized pulp will - make a ream of paper, at twelve pounds to the ream. I am quite - sure that I can lessen the weight of books by one-half. The - envelope, the letter, and samples enclosed are all manufactured in - different ways. I kiss you; you shall have wealth now to add to - our happiness, everything else we had before." - -"There!" said Eve, handing the samples to her father-in-law, "when the -vintage is over let your son have the money, give him a chance to make -his fortune, and you shall be repaid ten times over; he has succeeded -at last!" - -Old Sechard hurried at once to the Cointets. Every sample was tested -and minutely examined; the prices, from three to ten francs per ream, -were noted on each separate slip; some were sized, others unsized; -some were of almost metallic purity, others soft as Japanese paper; in -color there was every possible shade of white. If old Sechard and the -two Cointets had been Jews examining diamonds, their eyes could not -have glistened more eagerly. - -"Your son is on the right track," the fat Cointet said at length. - -"Very well, pay his debts," returned old Sechard. - -"By all means, if he will take us into partnership," said the tall -Cointet. - -"You are extortioners!" cried old Sechard. "You have been suing him -under Metivier's name, and you mean me to buy you off; that is the -long and the short of it. Not such a fool, gentlemen----" - -The brothers looked at one another, but they contrived to hide their -surprise at the old miser's shrewdness. - -"We are not millionaires," said fat Cointet; "we do not discount bills -for amusement. We should think ourselves well off if we could pay -ready money for our bits of accounts for rags, and we still give bills -to our dealer." - -"The experiment ought to be tried first on a much larger scale," the -tall Cointet said coldly; "sometimes you try a thing with a saucepan -and succeed, and fail utterly when you experiment with bulk. You -should help your son out of difficulties." - -"Yes; but when my son is at liberty, would he take me as his partner?" - -"That is no business of ours," said the fat Cointet. "My good man, do -you suppose that when you have paid some ten thousand francs for your -son, that there is an end of it? It will cost two thousand francs to -take out a patent; there will be journeys to Paris; and before going -to any expense, it would be prudent to do as my brother suggests, and -make a thousand reams or so; to try several whole batches to make -sure. You see, there is nothing you must be so much on your guard -against as an inventor." - -"I have a liking for bread ready buttered myself," added the tall -Cointet. - -All through that night the old man ruminated over this dilemma--"If I -pay David's debts, he will be set at liberty, and once set at liberty, -he need not share his fortune with me unless he chooses. He knows very -well that I cheated him over the first partnership, and he will not -care to try a second; so it is to my interest to keep him shut up, the -wretched boy." - -The Cointets knew enough of Sechard senior to see that they should -hunt in couples. All three said to themselves--"Experiments must be -tried before the discovery can take any practical shape. David Sechard -must be set at liberty before those experiments can be made; and David -Sechard, set at liberty, will slip through our fingers." - -Everybody involved, moreover, had his own little afterthought. - -Petit-Claud, for instance, said, "As soon as I am married, I will slip -my neck out of the Cointets' yoke; but till then I shall hold on." - -The tall Cointet thought, "I would rather have David under lock and -key, and then I should be master of the situation." - -Old Sechard, too, thought, "If I pay my son's debts, he will repay me -with a 'Thank you!' " - -Eve, hard pressed (for the old man threatened now to turn her out of -the house), would neither reveal her husband's hiding-place, nor even -send proposals of a safe-conduct. She could not feel sure of finding -so safe a refuge a second time. - -"Set your son at liberty," she told her father-in-law, "and then you -shall know everything." - -The four interested persons sat, as it were, with a banquet spread -before them, none of them daring to begin, each one suspicious and -watchful of his neighbor. A few days after David went into hiding, -Petit-Claud went to the mill to see the tall Cointet. - -"I have done my best," he said; "David has gone into prison of his own -accord somewhere or other; he is working out some improvement there in -peace. It is no fault of mine if you have not gained your end; are you -going to keep your promise?" - -"Yes, if we succeed," said the tall Cointet. "Old Sechard was here -only a day or two ago; he came to ask us some questions as to paper- -making. The old miser has got wind of his son's invention; he wants to -turn it to his own account, so there is some hope of a partnership. -You are with the father and the son----" - -"Be the third person in the trinity and give them up," smiled Petit- -Claud. - -"Yes," said Cointet. "When you have David in prison, or bound to us by -a deed of partnership, you shall marry Mlle. de la Haye." - -"Is that your ultimatum?" - -"My sine qua non," said Cointet, "since we are speaking in foreign -languages." - -"Then here is mine in plain language," Petit-Claud said drily. - -"Ah! let us have it," answered Cointet, with some curiosity. - -"You will present me to-morrow to Mme. de Sononches, and do something -definite for me; you will keep your word, in short; or I will clear -off Sechard's debts myself, sell my practice, and go into partnership -with him. I will not be duped. You have spoken out, and I am doing the -same. I have given proof, give me proof of your sincerity. You have -all, and I have nothing. If you won't do fairly by me, I know your -cards, and I shall play for my own hand." - -The tall Cointet took his hat and umbrella, his face at the same time -taking its Jesuitical expression, and out he went, bidding Petit-Claud -come with him. - -"You shall see, my friend, whether I have prepared your way for you," -said he. - -The shrewd paper-manufacturer saw his danger at a glance; and saw, -too, that with a man like Petit-Claud it was better to play above -board. Partly to be prepared for contingencies, partly to satisfy his -conscience, he had dropped a word or two to the point in the ear of -the ex-consul-general, under the pretext of putting Mlle. de la Haye's -financial position before that gentleman. - -"I have the man for Francoise," he had said; "for with thirty thousand -francs of dot, a girl must not expect too much nowadays." - -"We will talk it over later on," answered Francis du Hautoy, ex- -consul-general. "Mme. de Senonches' positon has altered very much -since Mme. de Bargeton went away; we very likely might marry Francoise -to some elderly country gentleman." - -"She would disgrace herself if you did," Cointet returned in his dry -way. "Better marry her to some capable, ambitious young man; you could -help him with your influence, and he would make a good position for -his wife." - -"We shall see," said Francis du Hautoy; "her godmother ought to be -consulted first, in any case." - -When M. de Bargeton died, his wife sold the great house in the Rue du -Minage. Mme. de Senonches, finding her own house scarcely large -enough, persuaded M. de Senonches to buy the Hotel de Bargeton, the -cradle of Lucien Chardon's ambitions, the scene of the earliest events -in his career. Zephirine de Senonches had it in mind to succeed to -Mme. de Bargeton; she, too, would be a kind of queen in Angouleme; she -would have "a salon," and be a great lady, in short. There was a -schism in Angouleme, a strife dating from the late M. de Bargeton's -duel with M. de Chandour. Some maintained that Louise de Negrepelisse -was blameless, others believed in Stanislas de Chandour's scandals. -Mme. de Senonches declared for the Bargetons, and began by winning -over that faction. Many frequenters of the Hotel de Bargeton had been -so accustomed for years to their nightly game of cards in the house -that they could not leave it, and Mme. de Senonches turned this fact -to account. She received every evening, and certainly gained all the -ground lost by Amelie de Chandour, who set up for a rival. - -Francis du Hautoy, living in the inmost circle of nobility in -Angouleme, went so far as to think of marrying Francoise to old M. de -Severac, Mme. du Brossard having totally failed to capture that -gentleman for her daughter; and when Mme. de Bargeton reappeared as -the prefect's wife, Zephirine's hopes for her dear goddaughter waxed -high, indeed. The Comtesse du Chatelet, so she argued, would be sure -to use her influence for her champion. - -Boniface Cointet had Angouleme at his fingers' ends; he saw all the -difficulties at a glance, and resolved to sweep them out of the way by -a bold stroke that only a Tartuffe's brain could invent. The puny -lawyer was not a little amused to find his fellow-conspirator keeping -his word with him; not a word did Petit-Claud utter; he respected the -musings of his companion, and they walked the whole way from the -paper-mill to the Rue du Minage in silence. - -"Monsieur and madame are at breakfast"--this announcement met the ill- -timed visitors on the steps. - -"Take in our names, all the same," said the tall Cointet; and feeling -sure of his position, he followed immediately behind the servant and -introduced his companion to the elaborately-affected Zephirine, who -was breakfasting in company with M. Francis du Hautoy and Mlle. de la -Haye. M. de Senonches had gone, as usual, for a day's shooting over M. -de Pimentel's land. - -"M. Petit-Claud is the young lawyer of whom I spoke to you, madame; he -will go through the trust accounts when your fair ward comes of age." - -The ex-diplomatist made a quick scrutiny of Petit-Claud, who, for his -part, was looking furtively at the "fair ward." As for Zephirine, who -heard of the matter for the first time, her surprise was so great that -she dropped her fork. - -Mlle. de la Haye, a shrewish young woman with an ill-tempered face, a -waist that could scarcely be called slender, a thin figure, and -colorless, fair hair, in spite of a certain little air that she had, -was by no means easy to marry. The "parentage unknown" on her birth -certificate was the real bar to her entrance into the sphere where her -godmother's affection stove to establish her. Mlle. de la Haye, -ignorant of her real position, was very hard to please; the richest -merchant in L'Houmeau had found no favor in her sight. Cointet saw the -sufficiently significant expression of the young lady's face at the -sight of the little lawyer, and turning, beheld a precisely similar -grimace on Petit-Claud's countenance. Mme. de Senonches and Francis -looked at each other, as if in search of an excuse for getting rid of -the visitors. All this Cointet saw. He asked M. du Hautoy for the -favor of a few minutes' speech with him, and the pair went together -into the drawing-room. - -"Fatherly affection is blinding you, sir," he said bluntly. "You will -not find it an easy thing to marry your daughter; and, acting in your -interest throughout, I have put you in a position from which you -cannot draw back; for I am fond of Francoise, she is my ward. Now-- -Petit-Claud knows EVERYTHING! His overweening ambition is a guarantee -for our dear child's happiness; for, in the first place, Francoise -will do as she likes with her husband; and, in the second, he wants -your influence. You can ask the new prefect for the post of crown -attorney for him in the court here. M. Milaud is definitely appointed -to Nevers, Petit-Claud will sell his practice, you will have no -difficulty in obtaining a deputy public prosecutor's place for him; -and it will not be long before he becomes attorney for the crown, -president of the court, deputy, what you will." - -Francis went back to the dining-room and behaved charmingly to his -daughter's suitor. He gave Mme. de Senonches a look, and brought the -scene to a close with an invitation to dine with them on the morrow; -Petit-Claud must come and discuss the business in hand. He even went -downstairs and as far as the corner with the visitors, telling Petit- -Claud that after Cointet's recommendation, both he and Mme. de -Senonches were disposed to approve all that Mlle. de la Haye's trustee -had arranged for the welfare of that little angel. - -"Oh!" cried Petit-Claud, as they came away, "what a plain girl! I have -been taken in----" - -"She looks a lady-like girl," returned Cointet, "and besides, if she -were a beauty, would they give her to you? Eh! my dear fellow, thirty -thousand francs and the influence of Mme. de Senonches and the -Comtesse du Chatelet! Many a small landowner would be wonderfully glad -of the chance, and all the more so since M. Francis du Hautoy is never -likely to marry, and all that he has will go to the girl. Your -marriage is as good as settled." - -"How?" - -"That is what I am just going to tell you," returned Cointet, and he -gave his companion an account of his recent bold stroke. "M. Milaud is -just about to be appointed attorney for the crown at Nevers, my dear -fellow," he continued; "sell your practice, and in ten years' time you -will be Keeper of the Seals. You are not the kind of a man to draw -back from any service required of you by the Court." - -"Very well," said Petit-Claud, his zeal stirred by the prospect of -such a career, "very well, be in the Place du Murier to-morrow at -half-past four; I will see old Sechard in the meantime; we will have a -deed of partnership drawn up, and the father and the son shall be -bound thereby, and delivered to the third person of the trinity-- -Cointet, to wit." - - - -To return to Lucien in Paris. On the morrow of the loss announced in -his letter, he obtained a visa for his passport, bought a stout holly -stick, and went to the Rue d'Enfer to take a place in the little -market van, which took him as far as Longjumeau for half a franc. He -was going home to Angouleme. At the end of the first day's tramp he -slept in a cowshed, two leagues from Arpajon. He had come no farther -than Orleans before he was very weary, and almost ready to break down, -but there he found a boatman willing to bring him as far as Tours for -three francs, and food during the journey cost him but forty sous. -Five days of walking brought him from Tours to Poitiers, and left him -with but five francs in his pockets, but he summoned up all his -remaining strength for the journey before him. - -He was overtaken by night in the open country, and had made up his -mind to sleep out of doors, when a traveling carriage passed by, -slowly climbing the hillside, and, all unknown to the postilion, the -occupants, and the servant, he managed to slip in among the luggage, -crouching in between two trunks lest he should be shaken off by the -jolting of the carriage--and so he slept. - -He awoke with the sun shining into his eyes, and the sound of voices -in his ears. The carriage had come to a standstill. Looking about him, -he knew that he was at Mansle, the little town where he had waited for -Mme. de Bargeton eighteen months before, when his heart was full of -hope and love and joy. A group of post-boys eyed him curiously and -suspiciously, covered with dust as he was, wedged in among the -luggage. Lucien jumped down, but before he could speak two travelers -stepped out of the caleche, and the words died away on his lips; for -there stood the new Prefect of the Charente, Sixte du Chatelet, and -his wife, Louise de Negrepelisse. - -"Chance gave us a traveling-companion, if we had but known!" said the -Countess. "Come in with us, monsieur." - -Lucien gave the couple a distant bow and a half-humbled half-defiant -glance; then he turned away into a cross-country road in search of -some farmhouse, where he might make a breakfast on milk and bread, and -rest awhile, and think quietly over the future. He still had three -francs left. On and on he walked with the hurrying pace of fever, -noticing as he went, down by the riverside, that the country grew more -and more picturesque. It was near mid-day when he came upon a sheet of -water with willows growing about the margin, and stopped for awhile to -rest his eyes on the cool, thick-growing leaves; and something of the -grace of the fields entered into his soul. - -In among the crests of the willows, he caught a glimpse of a mill -near-by on a branch stream, and of the thatched roof of the mill-house -where the house-leeks were growing. For all ornament, the quaint -cottage was covered with jessamine and honeysuckle and climbing hops, -and the garden about it was gay with phloxes and tall, juicy-leaved -plants. Nets lay drying in the sun along a paved causeway raised above -the highest flood level, and secured by massive piles. Ducks were -swimming in the clear mill-pond below the currents of water roaring -over the wheel. As the poet came nearer he heard the clack of the -mill, and saw the good-natured, homely woman of the house knitting on -a garden bench, and keeping an eye upon a little one who was chasing -the hens about. - -Lucien came forward. "My good woman," he said, "I am tired out; I have -a fever on me, and I have only three francs; will you undertake to -give me brown bread and milk, and let me sleep in the barn for a week? -I shall have time to write to my people, and they will either come to -fetch me or send me money." - -"I am quite willing, always supposing that my husband has no -objection.--Hey! little man!" - -The miller came up, gave Lucien a look over, and took his pipe out of -his mouth to remark, "Three francs for a weeks board? You might as -well pay nothing at all." - -"Perhaps I shall end as a miller's man," thought the poet, as his eyes -wandered over the lovely country. Then the miller's wife made a bed -ready for him, and Lucien lay down and slept so long that his hostess -was frightened. - -"Courtois," she said, next day at noon, "just go in and see whether -that young man is dead or alive; he has been lying there these -fourteen hours." - -The miller was busy spreading out his fishing-nets and lines. "It is -my belief," he said, "that the pretty fellow yonder is some starveling -play-actor without a brass farthing to bless himself with." - -"What makes you think that, little man?" asked the mistress of the -mill. - -"Lord, he is not a prince, nor a lord, nor a member of parliament, nor -a bishop; why are his hands as white as if he did nothing?" - -"Then it is very strange that he does not feel hungry and wake up," -retorted the miller's wife; she had just prepared breakfast for -yesterday's chance guest. "A play-actor, is he?" she continued. "Where -will he be going? It is too early yet for the fair at Angouleme." - -But neither the miller nor his wife suspected that (actors, princes, -and bishops apart) there is a kind of being who is both prince and -actor, and invested besides with a magnificent order of priesthood-- -that the Poet seems to do nothing, yet reigns over all humanity when -he can paint humanity. - -"What can he be?" Courtois asked of his wife. - -"Suppose it should be dangerous to take him in?" queried she. - -"Pooh! thieves look more alive than that; we should have been robbed -by this time," returned her spouse. - -"I am neither a prince nor a thief, nor a bishop nor an actor," Lucien -said wearily; he must have overheard the colloquy through the window, -and now he suddenly appeared. "I am poor, I am tired out, I have come -on foot from Paris. My name is Lucien de Rubempre, and my father was -M. Chardon, who used to have Postel's business in L'Houmeau. My sister -married David Sechard, the printer in the Place du Murier at -Angouleme." - -"Stop a bit," said the miller, "that printer is the son of the old -skinflint who farms his own land at Marsac, isn't he?" - -"The very same," said Lucien. - -"He is a queer kind of father, he is!" Courtois continued. "He is -worth two hundred thousand francs and more, without counting his -money-box, and he has sold his son up, they say." - -When body and soul have been broken by a prolonged painful struggle, -there comes a crisis when a strong nature braces itself for greater -effort; but those who give way under the strain either die or sink -into unconsciousness like death. That hour of crisis had struck for -Lucien; at the vague rumor of the catastrophe that had befallen David -he seemed almost ready to succumb. "Oh! my sister!" he cried. "Oh, -God! what have I done? Base wretch that I am!" - -He dropped down on the wooden bench, looking white and powerless as a -dying man; the miller's wife brought out a bowl of milk and made him -drink, but he begged the miller to help him back to his bed, and asked -to be forgiven for bringing a dying man into their house. He thought -his last hour had come. With the shadow of death, thoughts of religion -crossed a brain so quick to conceive picturesque fancies; he would see -the cure, he would confess and receive the last sacraments. The moan, -uttered in the faint voice by a young man with such a comely face and -figure, went to Mme. Courtois' heart. - -"I say, little man, just take the horse and go to Marsac and ask Dr. -Marron to come and see this young man; he is in a very bad way, it -seems to me, and you might bring the cure as well. Perhaps they may -know more about that printer in the Place du Murier than you do, for -Postel married M. Marron's daughter." - -Courtois departed. The miller's wife tried to make Lucien take food; -like all country-bred folk, she was full of the idea that sick folk -must be made to eat. He took no notice of her, but gave way to a -violent storm of remorseful grief, a kind of mental process of -counter-irritation, which relieved him. - -The Courtois' mill lies a league away from Marsac, the town of the -district, and the half-way between Mansle and Angouleme; so it was not -long before the good miller came back with the doctor and the cure. -Both functionaries had heard rumors coupling Lucien's name with the -name of Mme. de Bargeton; and now when the whole department was -talking of the lady's marriage to the new Prefect and her return to -Angouleme as the Comtesse du Chatelet, both cure and doctor were -consumed with a violent curiosity to know why M. de Bargeton's widow -had not married the young poet with whom she had left Angouleme. And -when they heard, furthermore, that Lucien was at the mill, they were -eager to know whether the poet had come to the rescue of his brother- -in-law. Curiosity and humanity alike prompted them to go at once to -the dying man. Two hours after Courtois set out, Lucien heard the -rattle of old iron over the stony causeway, the country doctor's -ramshackle chaise came up to the door, and out stepped MM. Marron, for -the cure was the doctor's uncle. Lucien's bedside visitors were as -intimate with David's father as country neighbors usually are in a -small vine-growing township. The doctor looked at the dying man, felt -his pulse, and examined his tongue; then he looked at the miller's -wife, and smiled reassuringly. - -"Mme. Courtois," said he, "if, as I do not doubt, you have a bottle of -good wine somewhere in the cellar, and a fat eel in your fish-pond, -put them before your patient, it is only exhaustion; there is nothing -the matter with him. Our great man will be on his feet again -directly." - -"Ah! monsieur," said Lucien, "it is not the body, it is the mind that -ails. These good people have told me tidings that nearly killed me; I -have just heard the bad news of my sister, Mme. Sechard. Mme. Courtois -says that your daughter is married to Postel, monsieur, so you must -know something of David Sechard's affairs; oh, for heaven's sake, -monsieur, tell me what you know!" - -"Why, he must be in prison," began the doctor; "his father would not -help him----" - -"IN PRISON!" repeated Lucien, "and why?" - -"Because some bills came from Paris; he had overlooked them, no doubt, -for he does not pay much attention to his business, they say," said -Dr. Marron. - -"Pray leave me with M. le Cure," said the poet, with a visible change -of countenance. The doctor and the miller and his wife went out of the -room, and Lucien was left alone with the old priest. - -"Sir," he said, "I feel that death is near, and I deserve to die. I am -a very miserable wretch; I can only cast myself into the arms of -religion. I, sir, _I_ have brought all these troubles on my sister and -brother, for David Sechard has been a brother to me. I drew those -bills that David could not meet! . . . I have ruined him. In my -terrible misery, I forgot the crime. A millionaire put an end to the -proceedings, and I quite believed that he had met the bills; but -nothing of the kind has been done, it seems." And Lucien told the tale -of his sorrows. The story, as he told it in his feverish excitement, -was worthy of the poet. He besought the cure to go to Angouleme and to -ask for news of Eve and his mother, Mme. Chardon, and to let him know -the truth, and whether it was still possible to repair the evil. - -"I shall live till you come back, sir," he added, as the hot tears -fell. "If my mother, and sister, and David do not cast me off, I shall -not die." - -Lucien's remorse was terrible to see, the tears, the eloquence, the -young white face with the heartbroken, despairing look, the tales of -sorrow upon sorrow till human strength could no more endure, all these -things aroused the cure's pity and interest. - -"In the provinces, as in Paris," he said, "you must believe only half -of all that you hear. Do not alarm yourself; a piece of hearsay, three -leagues away from Angouleme, is sure to be far from the truth. Old -Sechard, our neighbor, left Marsac some days ago; very likely he is -busy settling his son's difficulties. I am going to Angouleme; I will -come back and tell you whether you can return home; your confessions -and repentance will help to plead your cause." - -The cure did not know that Lucien had repented so many times during -the last eighteen months, that penitence, however impassioned, had -come to be a kind of drama with him, played to perfection, played so -far in all good faith, but none the less a drama. To the cure -succeeded the doctor. He saw that the patient was passing through a -nervous crisis, and the danger was beginning to subside. The doctor- -nephew spoke as comfortably as the cure-uncle, and at length the -patient was persuaded to take nourishment. - -Meanwhile the cure, knowing the manners and customs of the -countryside, had gone to Mansle; the coach from Ruffec to Angouleme -was due to pass about that time, and he found a vacant place in it. He -would go to his grand-nephew Postel in L'Houmeau (David's former -rival) and make inquiries of him. From the assiduity with which the -little druggist assisted his venerable relative to alight from the -abominable cage which did duty as a coach between Ruffec and -Angouleme, it was apparent to the meanest understanding that M. and -Mme. Postel founded their hopes of future ease upon the old cure's -will. - -"Have you breakfasted? Will you take something? We did not in the -least expect you! This is a pleasant surprise!" Out came questions -innumerable in a breath. - -Mme. Postel might have been born to be the wife of an apothecary in -L'Houmeau. She was a common-looking woman, about the same height as -little Postel himself, such good looks as she possessed being entirely -due to youth and health. Her florid auburn hair grew very low upon her -forehead. Her demeanor and language were in keeping with homely -features, a round countenance, the red cheeks of a country damsel, and -eyes that might almost be described as yellow. Everything about her -said plainly enough that she had been married for expectations of -money. After a year of married life, therefore, she ruled the house; -and Postel, only too happy to have discovered the heiress, meekly -submitted to his wife. Mme. Leonie Postel, nee Marron, was nursing her -first child, the darling of the old cure, the doctor, and Postel, a -repulsive infant, with a strong likeness to both parents. - -"Well, uncle," said Leonie, "what has brought you to Angouleme, since -you will not take anything, and no sooner come in than you talk of -going?" - -But when the venerable ecclesiastic brought out the names of David -Sechard and Eve, little Postel grew very red, and Leonie, his wife, -felt it incumbent upon her to give him a jealous glance--the glance -that a wife never fails to give when she is perfectly sure of her -husband, and gives a look into the past by way of a caution for the -future. - -"What have yonder folk done to you, uncle, that you should mix -yourself up in their affairs?" inquired Leonie, with very perceptible -tartness. - -"They are in trouble, my girl," said the cure, and he told the Postels -about Lucien at the Courtois' mill. - -"Oh! so that is the way he came back from Paris, is it?" exclaimed -Postel. "Yet he had some brains, poor fellow, and he was ambitious, -too. He went out to look for wool, and comes home shorn. But what does -he want here? His sister is frightfully poor; for all these geniuses, -David and Lucien alike, know very little about business. There was -some talk of him at the Tribunal, and, as judge, I was obliged to sign -the warrant of execution. It was a painful duty. I do not know whether -the sister's circumstances are such that Lucien can go to her; but in -any case the little room that he used to occupy here is at liberty, -and I shall be pleased to offer it to him." - -"That is right, Postel," said the priest; he bestowed a kiss on the -infant slumbering in Leonie's arms, and, adjusting his cocked hat, -prepared to walk out of the shop. - -"You will dine with us, uncle, of course," said Mme. Postel; "if once -you meddle in these people's affairs, it will be some time before you -have done. My husband will drive you back again in his little pony- -cart." - -Husband and wife stood watching their valued, aged relative on his way -into Angouleme. "He carries himself well for his age, all the same," -remarked the druggist. - -By this time David had been in hiding for eleven days in a house only -two doors away from the druggist's shop, which the worthy ecclesiastic -had just quitted to climb the steep path into Angouleme with the news -of Lucien's present condition. - -When the Abbe Marron debouched upon the Place du Murier he found three -men, each one remarkable in his own way, and all of them bearing with -their whole weight upon the present and future of the hapless -voluntary prisoner. There stood old Sechard, the tall Cointet, and his -confederate, the puny limb of the law, three men representing three -phases of greed as widely different as the outward forms of the -speakers. The first had it in his mind to sell his own son; the -second, to betray his client; and the third, while bargaining for both -iniquities, was inwardly resolved to pay for neither. It was nearly -five o'clock. Passers-by on their way home to dinner stopped a moment -to look at the group. - -"What the devil can old Sechard and the tall Cointet have to say to -each other?" asked the more curious. - -"There was something on foot concerning that miserable wretch that -leaves his wife and child and mother-in-law to starve," suggested -some. - -"Talk of sending a boy to Paris to learn his trade!" said a provincial -oracle. - -"M. le Cure, what brings you here, eh?" exclaimed old Sechard, -catching sight of the Abbe as soon as he appeared. - -"I have come on account of your family," answered the old man. - -"Here is another of my son's notions!" exclaimed old Sechard. - -"It would not cost you much to make everybody happy all round," said -the priest, looking at the windows of the printing-house. Mme. -Sechard's beautiful face appeared at that moment between the curtains; -she was hushing her child's cries by tossing him in her arms and -singing to him. - -"Are you bringing news of my son?" asked old Sechard, "or what is more -to the purpose--money?" - -"No," answered M. Marron, "I am bringing the sister news of her -brother." - -"Of Lucien?" cried Petit-Claud. - -"Yes. He walked all the way from Paris, poor young man. I found him at -the Courtois' house; he was worn out with misery and fatigue. Oh! he -is very much to be pitied." - -Petit-Claud took the tall Cointet by the arm, saying aloud, "If we are -going to dine with Mme. de Senonches, it is time to dress." When they -had come away a few paces, he added, for his companion's benefit, -"Catch the cub, and you will soon have the dam; we have David now----" - -"I have found you a wife, find me a partner," said the tall Cointet -with a treacherous smile. - -"Lucien is an old school-fellow of mine; we used to be chums. I shall -be sure to hear something from him in a week's time. Have the banns -put up, and I will engage to put David in prison. When he is on the -jailer's register I shall have done my part." - -"Ah!" exclaimed the tall Cointet under his breath, "we might have the -patent taken out in our name; that would be the thing!" - -A shiver ran through the meagre little attorney when he heard those -words. - -Meanwhile Eve beheld her father-in-law enter with the Abbe Marron, who -had let fall a word which unfolded the whole tragedy. - -"Here is our cure, Mme. Sechard," the old man said, addressing his -daughter-in-law, "and pretty tales about your brother he has to tell -us, no doubt!" - -"Oh!" cried poor Eve, cut to the heart; "what can have happened now?" - -The cry told so unmistakably of many sorrows, of great dread on so -many grounds, that the Abbe Marron made haste to say, "Reassure -yourself, madame; he is living." - -Eve turned to the vinegrower. - -"Father," she said, "perhaps you will be good enough to go to my -mother; she must hear all that this gentleman has to tell us of -Lucien." - -The old man went in search of Mme. Chardon, and addressed her in this -wise: - -"Go and have it out with the Abbe Marron; he is a good sort, priest -though he is. Dinner will be late, no doubt. I shall come back again -in an hour," and the old man went out. Insensible as he was to -everything but the clink of money and the glitter of gold, he left -Mme. Chardon without caring to notice the effect of the shock that he -had given her. - -Mme. Chardon had changed so greatly during the last eighteen months, -that in that short time she no longer looked like the same woman. The -troubles hanging over both of her children, her abortive hopes for -Lucien, the unexpected deterioration in one in whose powers and -honesty she had for so long believed,--all these things had told -heavily upon her. Mme. Chardon was not only noble by birth, she was -noble by nature; she idolized her children; consequently, during the -last six months she had suffered as never before since her widowhood. -Lucien might have borne the name of Lucien de Rubempre by royal -letters patent; he might have founded the family anew, revived the -title, and borne the arms; he might have made a great name--he had -thrown the chance away; nay, he had fallen into the mire! - -For Mme. Chardon the mother was a harder judge than Eve the sister. -When she heard of the bills, she looked upon Lucien as lost. A mother -is often fain to shut her eyes, but she always knows the child that -she held at her breast, the child that has been always with her in the -house; and so when Eve and David discussed Lucien's chances of success -in Paris, and Lucien's mother to all appearance shared Eve's -illusions, in her inmost heart there was a tremor of fear lest David -should be right, for a mother's consciousness bore a witness to the -truth of his words. So well did she know Eve's sensitive nature, that -she could not bring herself to speak of her fears; she was obliged to -choke them down and keep such silence as mothers alone can keep when -they know how to love their children. - -And Eve, on her side, had watched her mother, and saw the ravages of -hidden grief with a feeling of dread; her mother was not growing old, -she was failing from day to day. Mother and daughter lived a live of -generous deception, and neither was deceived. The brutal old -vinegrower's speech was the last drop that filled the cup of -affliction to overflowing. The words struck a chill to Mme. Chardon's -heart. - -"Here is my mother, monsieur," said Eve, and the Abbe, looking up, saw -a white-haired woman with a face as thin and worn as the features of -some aged nun, and yet grown beautiful with the calm and sweet -expression that devout submission gives to the faces of women who walk -by the will of God, as the saying is. Then the Abbe understood the -lives of the mother and daughter, and had no more sympathy left for -Lucien; he shuddered to think of all that the victims had endured. - -"Mother," said Eve, drying her eyes as she spoke, "poor Lucien is not -very far away, he is at Marsac." - -"And why is he not here?" asked Mme. Chardon. - -Then the Abbe told the whole story as Lucien had told it to him--the -misery of the journey, the troubles of the last days in Paris. He -described the poet's agony of mind when he heard of the havoc wrought -at home by his imprudence, and his apprehension as to the reception -awaiting him at Angouleme. - -"He has doubts of us; has it come to this?" said Mme. Chardon. - -"The unhappy young man has come back to you on foot, enduring the most -terrible hardships by the way; he is prepared to enter the humblest -walks in life--if so he may make reparation." - -"Monsieur," Lucien's sister said, "in spite of the wrong he has done -us, I love my brother still, as we love the dead body when the soul -has left it; and even so, I love him more than many sisters love their -brothers. He has made us poor indeed; but let him come to us, he shall -share the last crust of bread, anything indeed that he has left us. -Oh, if he had never left us, monsieur, we should not have lost our -heart's treasure." - -"And the woman who took him from us brought him back on her carriage!" -exclaimed Mme. Chardon. "He went away sitting by Mme. de Bargeton's -side in her caleche, and he came back behind it." - -"Can I do anything for you?" asked the good cure, seeking an -opportunity to take leave. - -"A wound in the purse is not fatal, they say, monsieur," said Mme. -Chardon, "but the patient must be his own doctor." - -"If you have sufficient influence with my father-in-law to induce him -to help his son, you would save a whole family," said Eve. - -"He has no belief in you, and he seemed to me to be very much -exasperated against your husband," answered the old cure. He retained -an impression, from the ex-pressman's rambling talk, that the -Sechards' affairs were a kind of wasps' nest with which it was -imprudent to meddle, and his mission being fulfilled, he went to dine -with his nephew Postel. That worthy, like the rest of Angouleme, -maintained that the father was in the right, and soon dissipated any -little benevolence that the old gentleman was disposed to feel towards -the son and his family. - -"With those that squander money something may be done," concluded -little Postel, "but those that make experiments are the ruin of you." - -The cure went home; his curiosity was thoroughly satisfied, and this -is the end and object of the exceeding interest taken in other -people's business in the provinces. In the course of the evening the -poet was duly informed of all that had passed in the Sechard family, -and the journey was represented as a pilgrimage undertaken from -motives of the purest charity. - -"You have run your brother-in-law and sister into debt to the amount -of ten or twelve thousand francs," said the Abbe as he drew to an end, -"and nobody hereabouts has that trifling amount to lend a neighbor, my -dear sir. We are not rich in Angoumois. When you spoke to me of your -bills, I thought that a much smaller amount was involved." - -Lucien thanked the old man for his good offices. "The promise of -forgiveness which you have brought is for me a priceless gift." - -Very early the next morning Lucien set out from Marsac, and reached -Angouleme towards nine o'clock. He carried nothing but his walking- -stick; the short jacket that he wore was considerably the worst for -his journey, his black trousers were whitened with dust, and a pair of -worn boots told sufficiently plainly that their owner belonged to the -hapless tribe of tramps. He knew well enough that the contrast between -his departure and return was bound to strike his fellow-townsmen; he -did not try to hide the fact from himself. But just then, with his -heart swelling beneath the oppression of remorse awakened in him by -the old cure's story, he accepted his punishment for the moment, and -made up his mind to brave the eyes of his acquaintances. Within -himself he said, "I am behaving heroically." - -Poetic temperaments of this stamp begin as their own dupes. He walked -up through L'Houmeau, shame at the manner of his return struggling -with the charm of old associations as he went. His heart beat quickly -as he passed Postel's shop; but, very luckily for him, the only -persons inside it were Leonie and her child. And yet, vanity was still -so strong in him, that he could feel glad that his father's name had -been painted out on the shop-front; for Postel, since his marriage, -had redecorated his abode, and the word "Pharmacy" now alone appeared -there, in the Paris fashion, in big letters. - -When Lucien reached the steps by the Palet Gate, he felt the influence -of his native air, his misfortunes no longer weighed upon him. "I -shall see them again!" he said to himself, with a thrill of delight. - -He reached the Place du Murier, and had not met a soul, a piece of -luck that he scarcely hoped for, he who once had gone about his native -place with a conqueror's air. Marion and Kolb, on guard at the door, -flew out upon the steps, crying out, "Here he is!" - -Lucien saw the familiar workshop and courtyard, and on the staircase -met his mother and sister, and for a moment, while their arms were -about him, all three almost forgot their troubles. In family life we -almost always compound with our misfortunes; we make a sort of bed to -rest upon; and, if it is hard, hope to make it tolerable. If Lucien -looked the picture of despair, poetic charm was not wanting to the -picture. His face had been tanned by the sunlight of the open road, -and the deep sadness visible in his features overshadowed his poet's -brow. The change in him told so plainly of sufferings endured, his -face was so worn by sharp misery, that no one could help pitying him. -Imagination had fared forth into the world and found sad reality at -the home-coming. Eve was smiling in the midst of her joy, as the -saints smile upon martyrdom. The face of a young and very fair woman -grows sublimely beautiful at the touch of grief; Lucien remembered the -innocent girlish face that he saw last before he went to Paris, and -the look of gravity that had come over it spoke so eloquently that he -could not but feel a painful impression. The first quick, natural -outpouring of affection was followed at once by a reaction on either -side; they were afraid to speak; and when Lucien almost involuntarily -looked round for another who should have been there, Eve burst into -tears, and Lucien did the same, but Mme. Chardon's haggard face showed -no sign of emotion. Eve rose to her feet and went downstairs, partly -to spare her brother a word of reproach, partly to speak to Marion. - -"Lucien is so fond of strawberries, child, we must find some -strawberries for him." - -"Oh, I was sure that you would want to welcome M. Lucien; you shall -have a nice little breakfast and a good dinner, too." - -"Lucien," said Mme. Chardon when the mother and son were left alone, -"you have a great deal to repair here. You went away that we all might -be proud of you; you have plunged us into want. You have all but -destroyed your brother's opportunity of making a fortune that he only -cared to win for the sake of his new family. Nor is this all that you -have destroyed----" said the mother. - -There was a dreadful pause; Lucien took his mother's reproaches in -silence. - -"Now begin to work," Mme. Chardon went on more gently. "You tried to -revive the noble family of whom I come; I do not blame you for it. But -the man who undertakes such a task needs money above all things, and -must bear a high heart in him; both were wanting in your case. We -believed in you once, our belief has been shaken. This was a hard- -working, contented household, making its way with difficulty; you have -troubled their peace. The first offence may be forgiven, but it must -be the last. We are in a very difficult position here; you must be -careful, and take your sister's advice, Lucien. The school of trouble -is a very hard one, but Eve has learned much by her lessons; she has -grown grave and thoughtful, she is a mother. In her devotion to our -dear David she has taken all the family burdens upon herself; indeed, -through your wrongdoing she has come to be my only comfort." - -"You might be still more severe, my mother," Lucien said, as he kissed -her. "I accept your forgiveness, for I will not need it a second -time." - -Eve came into the room, saw her brother's humble attitude, and knew -that he had been forgiven. Her kindness brought a smile for him to her -lips, and Lucien answered with tear-filled eyes. A living presence -acts like a charm, changing the most hostile positions of lovers or of -families, no matter how just the resentment. Is it that affection -finds out the ways of the heart, and we love to fall into them again? -Does the phenomenon come within the province of the science of -magnetism? Or is it reason that tells us that we must either forgive -or never see each other again? Whether the cause be referred to -mental, physical, or spiritual conditions, everyone knows the effect; -every one has felt that the looks, the actions or gestures of the -beloved awaken some vestige of tenderness in those most deeply sinned -against and grievously wronged. Though it is hard for the mind to -forget, though we still smart under the injury, the heart returns to -its allegiance in spite of all. Poor Eve listened to her brother's -confidences until breakfast-time; and whenever she looked at him she -was no longer mistress of her eyes; in that intimate talk she could -not control her voice. And with the comprehension of the conditions of -literary life in Paris, she understood that the struggle had been too -much for Lucien's strength. The poet's delight as he caressed his -sister's child, his deep grief over David's absence, mingled with joy -at seeing his country and his own folk again, the melancholy words -that he let fall,--all these things combined to make that day a -festival. When Marion brought in the strawberries, he was touched to -see that Eve had remembered his taste in spite of her distress, and -she, his sister, must make ready a room for the prodigal brother and -busy herself for Lucien. It was a truce, as it were, to misery. Old -Sechard himself assisted to bring about this revulsion of feeling in -the two women--"You are making as much of him as if he were bringing -you any amount of money!" - -"And what has my brother done that we should not make much of him?" -cried Eve, jealously screening Lucien. - -Nevertheless, when the first expansion was over, shades of truth came -out. It was not long before Lucien felt the difference between the old -affection and the new. Eve respected David from the depths of her -heart; Lucien was beloved for his own sake, as we love a mistress -still in spite of the disasters she causes. Esteem, the very -foundation on which affection is based, is the solid stuff to which -affection owes I know not what of certainty and security by which we -live; and this was lacking between Mme. Chardon and her son, between -the sister and the brother. Mother and daughter did not put entire -confidence in him, as they would have done if he had not lost his -honor; and he felt this. The opinion expressed in d'Arthez's letter -was Eve's own estimate of her brother; unconsciously she revealed it -by her manner, tones, and gestures. Oh! Lucien was pitied, that was -true; but as for all that he had been, the pride of the household, the -great man of the family, the hero of the fireside,--all this, like -their fair hopes of him, was gone, never to return. They were so -afraid of his heedlessness that he was not told where David was -hidden. Lucien wanted to see his brother; but this Eve, insensible to -the caresses which accompanied his curious questionings, was not the -Eve of L'Houmeau, for whom a glance from him had been an order that -must be obeyed. When Lucien spoke of making reparation, and talked as -though he could rescue David, Eve only answered: - -"Do not interfere; we have enemies of the most treacherous and -dangerous kind." - -Lucien tossed his head, as one who should say, "I have measured myself -against Parisians," and the look in his sister's eyes said -unmistakably, "Yes, but you were defeated." - -"Nobody cares for me now," Lucien thought. "In the home circle, as in -the world without, success is a necessity." - -The poet tried to explain their lack of confidence in him; he had not -been at home two days before a feeling of vexation rather than of -angry bitterness gained hold on him. He applied Parisian standards to -the quiet, temperate existence of the provinces, quite forgetting that -the narrow, patient life of the household was the result of his own -misdoings. - -"They are bourgeoises, they cannot understand me," he said, setting -himself apart from his sister and mother and David, now that they -could no longer be deceived as to his real character and his future. - -Many troubles and shocks of fortune had quickened the intuitive sense -in both the women. Eve and Mme. Chardon guessed the thoughts in -Lucien's inmost soul; they felt that he misjudged them; they saw him -mentally isolating himself. - -"Paris has changed him very much," they said between themselves. They -were indeed reaping the harvest of egoism which they themselves had -fostered. - -It was inevitable but that the leaven should work in all three; and -this most of all in Lucien, because he felt that he was so heavily to -blame. As for Eve, she was just the kind of sister to beg an erring -brother to "Forgive me for your trespasses;" but when the union of two -souls had been as perfect since life's very beginnings, as it had been -with Eve and Lucien, any blow dealt to that fair ideal is fatal. -Scoundrels can draw knives on each other and make it up again -afterwards, while a look or a word is enough to sunder two lovers for -ever. In the recollection of an almost perfect life of heart and heart -lies the secret of many an estrangement that none can explain. Two may -live together without full trust in their hearts if only their past -holds no memories of complete and unclouded love; but for those who -once have known that intimate life, it becomes intolerable to keep -perpetual watch over looks and words. Great poets know this; Paul and -Virginie die before youth is over; can we think of Paul and Virginie -estranged? Let us know that, to the honor of Lucien and Eve, the grave -injury done was not the source of the pain; it was entirely a matter -of feeling upon either side, for the poet in fault, as for the sister -who was in no way to blame. Things had reached the point when the -slightest misunderstanding, or little quarrel, or a fresh -disappointment in Lucien would end in final estrangement. Money -difficulties may be arranged, but feelings are inexorable. - -Next day Lucien received a copy of the local paper. He turned pale -with pleasure when he saw his name at the head of one of the first -"leaders" in that highly respectable sheet, which like the provincial -academies that Voltaire compared to a well-bred miss, was never talked -about. - - "Let Franche-Comte boast of giving the light to Victor Hugo, to - Charles Nodier, and Cuvier," ran the article, "Brittany of - producing a Chateaubriand and a Lammenais, Normandy of Casimir - Delavigne, and Touraine of the author of Eloa; Angoumois that gave - birth, in the days of Louis XIII., to our illustrious fellow- - countryman Guez, better known under the name of Balzac, our - Angoumois need no longer envy Limousin her Dupuytren, nor - Auvergne, the country of Montlosier, nor Bordeaux, birthplace of - so many great men; for we too have our poet!--The writer of the - beautiful sonnets entitled the Marguerites unites his poet's fame - to the distinction of a prose writer, for to him we also owe the - magnificent romance of The Archer of Charles IX. Some day our - nephews will be proud to be the fellow-townsmen of Lucien Chardon, - a rival of Petrarch!!!" - -(The country newspapers of those days were sown with notes of -admiration, as reports of English election speeches are studded with -"cheers" in brackets.) - - "In spite of his brilliant success in Paris, our young poet has - not forgotten the Hotel de Bargeton, the cradle of his triumphs; - nor the fact that the wife of M. le Comte du Chatelet, our - Prefect, encouraged his early footsteps in the pathway of the - Muses. He has come back among us once more! All L'Houmeau was - thrown into excitement yesterday by the appearance of our Lucien - de Rubempre. The news of his return produced a profound sensation - throughout the town. Angouleme certainly will not allow L'Houmeau - to be beforehand in doing honor to the poet who in journalism and - literature has so gloriously represented our town in Paris. Lucien - de Rubempre, a religious and Royalist poet, has braved the fury of - parties; he has come home, it is said, for repose after the - fatigue of a struggle which would try the strength of an even - greater intellectual athlete than a poet and a dreamer. - - "There is some talk of restoring our great poet to the title of - the illustrious house of de Rubempre, of which his mother, Madame - Chardon, is the last survivor, and it is added that Mme. la - Comtesse du Chatelet was the first to think of this eminently - politic idea. The revival of an ancient and almost extinct family - by young talent and newly won fame is another proof that the - immortal author of the Charter still cherishes the desire - expressed by the words 'Union and oblivion.' - - "Our poet is staying with his sister, Mme. Sechard." - -Under the heading "Angouleme" followed some items of news:-- - - "Our Prefect, M. le Comte du Chatelet, Gentleman in Ordinary to - His Majesty, has just been appointed Extraordinary Councillor of - State. - - "All the authorities called yesterday on M. le Prefet. - - "Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet will receive on Thursdays. - - "The Mayor of Escarbas, M. de Negrepelisse, the representative of - the younger branch of the d'Espard family, and father of Mme. du - Chatelet, recently raised to the rank of a Count and Peer of - France and a Commander of the Royal Order of St. Louis, has been - nominated for the presidency of the electoral college of Angouleme - at the forthcoming elections." - -"There!" said Lucien, taking the paper to his sister. Eve read the -article with attention, and returned with the sheet with a thoughtful -air. - -"What do you say to that?" asked he, surprised at a reserve that -seemed so like indifference. - -"The Cointets are proprietors of that paper, dear," she said; "they -put in exactly what they please, and it is not at all likely that the -prefecture or the palace have forced their hands. Can you imagine that -your old rival the prefect would be generous enough to sing your -praises? Have you forgotten that the Cointets are suing us under -Metivier's name? and that they are trying to turn David's discovery to -their own advantage? I do not know the source of this paragraph, but -it makes me uneasy. You used to rouse nothing but envious feeling and -hatred here; a prophet has no honor in his own country, and they -slandered you, and now in a moment it is all changed----" - -"You do not know the vanity of country towns," said Lucien. "A whole -little town in the south turned out not so long ago to welcome a young -man that had won the first prize in some competition; they looked on -him as a budding great man." - -"Listen, dear Lucien; I do not want to preach to you, I will say -everything in a very few words--you must suspect every little thing -here." - -"You are right," said Lucien, but he was surprised at his sister's -lack of enthusiasm. He himself was full of delight to find his -humiliating and shame-stricken return to Angouleme changed into a -triumph in this way. - -"You have no belief in the little fame that has cost so dear!" he said -again after a long silence. Something like a storm had been gathering -in his heart during the past hour. For all answer Eve gave him a look, -and Lucien felt ashamed of his accusation. - -Dinner was scarcely over when a messenger came from the prefecture -with a note addressed to M. Chardon. That note appeared to decide the -day for the poet's vanity; the world contending against the family for -him had won. - -"M. le Comte Sixte du Chatelet and Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet -request the honor of M. Lucien Chardon's company at dinner on the -fifteenth of September. R. S. V. P." - -Enclosed with the invitation there was a card-- - - LE COMTE SIXTE DU CHATELET, - Gentleman of the Bedchamber, Prefect of the Charente, - Councillor of State. - -"You are in favor," said old Sechard; "they are talking about you in -the town as if you were somebody! Angouleme and L'Houmeau are -disputing as to which shall twist wreaths for you." - -"Eve, dear," Lucien whispered to his sister, "I am exactly in the same -condition as I was before in L'Houmeau when Mme. de Bargeton sent me -the first invitation--I have not a dress suit for the prefect's -dinner-party." - -"Do you really mean to accept the invitation?" Eve asked in alarm, and -a dispute sprang up between the brother and sister. Eve's provincial -good sense told her that if you appear in society, it must be with a -smiling face and faultless costume. "What will come of the prefect's -dinner?" she wondered. "What has Lucien to do with the great people of -Angouleme? Are they plotting something against him?" but she kept -these thoughts to herself. - -Lucien spoke the last word at bedtime: "You do not know my influence. -The prefect's wife stands in fear of a journalist; and besides, Louise -de Negrepelisse lives on in the Comtesse du Chatelet, and a woman with -her influence can rescue David. I am going to tell her about my -brother's invention, and it would be a mere nothing to her to obtain a -subsidy of ten thousand francs from the Government for him." - -At eleven o'clock that night the whole household was awakened by the -town band, reinforced by the military band from the barracks. The -Place du Murier was full of people. The young men of Angouleme were -giving Lucien Chardon de Rubempre a serenade. Lucien went to his -sister's window and made a speech after the last performance. - -"I thank my fellow-townsmen for the honor that they do me," he said in -the midst of a great silence; "I will strive to be worthy of it; they -will pardon me if I say no more; I am so much moved by this incident -that I cannot speak." - -"Hurrah for the writer of The Archer of Charles IX.! . . . Hurrah for -the poet of the Marguerites! . . . Long live Lucien de Rubempre!" - -After these three salvos, taken up by some few voices, three crowns -and a quantity of bouquets were adroitly flung into the room through -the open window. Ten minutes later the Place du Murier was empty, and -silence prevailed in the streets. - -"I would rather have ten thousand francs," said old Sechard, fingering -the bouquets and garlands with a satirical expression. "You gave them -daisies, and they give you posies in return; you deal in flowers." - -"So that is your opinion of the honors shown me by my fellow-townsmen, -is it?" asked Lucien. All his melancholy had left him, his face was -radiant with good humor. "If you knew mankind, Papa Sechard, you would -see that no moment in one's life comes twice. Such a triumph as this -can only be due to genuine enthusiasm! . . . My dear mother, my good -sister, this wipes out many mortifications." - -Lucien kissed them; for when joy overflows like a torrent flood, we -are fain to pour it out into a friend's heart. "When an author is -intoxicated with success, he will hug his porter if there is nobody -else on hand," according to Bixiou. - -"Why, darling, why are you crying?" he said, looking into Eve's face. -"Ah! I know, you are crying for joy!" - -"Oh me!" said her mother, shaking her head as she spoke. "Lucien has -forgotten everything already; not merely his own troubles, but ours as -well." - -Mother and daughter separated, and neither dared to utter all her -thoughts. - -In a country eaten up with the kind of social insubordination -disguised by the word Equality, a triumph of any kind whatsoever is a -sort of miracle which requires, like some other miracles for that -matter, the co-operation of skilled labor. Out of ten ovations offered -to ten living men, selected for this distinction by a grateful -country, you may be quite sure that nine are given from considerations -connected as remotely as possible with the conspicuous merits of the -renowned recipient. What was Voltaire's apotheosis at the Theatre- -Francais but the triumph of eighteenth century philosophy? A triumph -in France means that everybody else feels that he is adorning his own -temples with the crown that he sets on the idol's head. - -The women's presentiments proved correct. The distinguished -provincial's reception was antipathetic to Angoumoisin immobility; it -was too evidently got up by some interested persons or by enthusiastic -stage mechanics, a suspicious combination. Eve, moreover, like most of -her sex, was distrustful by instinct, even when reason failed to -justify her suspicions to herself. "Who can be so fond of Lucien that -he could rouse the town for him?" she wondered as she fell asleep. -"The Marguerites are not published yet; how can they compliment him on -a future success?" - -The ovation was, in fact, the work of Petit-Claud. - -Petit-Claud had dined with Mme. de Senonches, for the first time, on -the evening of the day that brought the cure of Marsac to Angouleme -with the news of Lucien's return. That same evening he made formal -application for the hand of Mlle. de la Haye. It was a family dinner, -one of the solemn occasions marked not so much by the number of the -guests as by the splendor of their toilettes. Consciousness of the -performance weighs upon the family party, and every countenance looks -significant. Francoise was on exhibition. Mme. de Senonches had -sported her most elaborate costume for the occasion; M. du Hautoy wore -a black coat; M. de Senonches had returned from his visit to the -Pimentels on the receipt of a note from his wife, informing him that -Mme. du Chatelet was to appear at their house for the first time since -her arrival, and that a suitor in form for Francoise would appear on -the scenes. Boniface Cointet also was there, in his best maroon coat -of clerical cut, with a diamond pin worth six thousand francs -displayed in his shirt frill--the revenge of the rich merchant upon a -poverty-stricken aristocracy. - -Petit-Claud himself, scoured and combed, had carefully removed his -gray hairs, but he could not rid himself of his wizened air. The puny -little man of law, tightly buttoned into his clothes, reminded you of -a torpid viper; for if hope had brought a spark of life into his -magpie eyes, his face was icily rigid, and so well did he assume an -air of gravity, that an ambitious public prosecutor could not have -been more dignified. - -Mme. de Senonches had told her intimate friends that her ward would -meet her betrothed that evening, and that Mme. du Chatelet would -appear at the Hotel de Senonches for the first time; and having -particularly requested them to keep these matters secret, she expected -to find her rooms crowded. The Comte and Comtesse du Chatelet had left -cards everywhere officially, but they meant the honor of a personal -visit to play a part in their policy. So aristocratic Angouleme was in -such a prodigious ferment of curiosity, that certain of the Chandour -camp proposed to go to the Hotel de Bargeton that evening. (They -persistently declined to call the house by its new name.) - -Proofs of the Countess' influence had stirred up ambition in many -quarters; and not only so, it was said that the lady had changed so -much for the better that everybody wished to see and judge for -himself. Petit-Claud learned great news on the way to the house; -Cointet told him that Zephirine had asked leave to present her dear -Francoise's betrothed to the Countess, and that the Countess had -granted the favor. Petit-Claud had seen at once that Lucien's return -put Louise de Negrepelisse in a false position; and now, in a moment, -he flattered himself that he saw a way to take advantage of it. - -M. and Mme. de Senonches had undertaken such heavy engagements when -they bought the house, that, in provincial fashion, they thought it -imprudent to make any changes in it. So when Madame du Chatelet was -announced, Zephirine went up to her with--"Look, dear Louise, you are -still in your old home!" indicating, as she spoke, the little -chandelier, the paneled wainscot, and the furniture, which once had -dazzled Lucien. - -"I wish least of all to remember it, dear," Madame la Prefete answered -graciously, looking round on the assemblage. - -Every one admitted that Louise de Negrepelisse was not like the same -woman. If the provincial had undergone a change, the woman herself had -been transformed by those eighteen months in Paris, by the first -happiness of a still recent second marriage, and the kind of dignity -that power confers. The Comtesse du Chatelet bore the same resemblance -to Mme. de Bargeton that a girl of twenty bears to her mother. - -She wore a charming cap of lace and flowers, fastened by a diamond- -headed pin; the ringlets that half hid the contours of her face added -to her look of youth, and suited her style of beauty. Her foulard -gown, designed by the celebrated Victorine, with a pointed bodice, -exquisitely fringed, set off her figure to advantage; and a silken -lace scarf, adroitly thrown about a too long neck, partly concealed -her shoulders. She played with the dainty scent-bottle, hung by a -chain from her bracelet; she carried her fan and her handkerchief with -ease--pretty trifles, as dangerous as a sunken reef for the provincial -dame. The refined taste shown in the least details, the carriage and -manner modeled upon Mme. d'Espard, revealed a profound study of the -Faubourg Saint-Germain. - -As for the elderly beau of the Empire, he seemed since his marriage to -have followed the example of the species of melon that turns from -green to yellow in a night. All the youth that Sixte had lost seemed -to appear in his wife's radiant countenance; provincial pleasantries -passed from ear to ear, circulating the more readily because the women -were furious at the new superiority of the sometime queen of -Angouleme; and the persistent intruder paid the penalty of his wife's -offence. - -The rooms were almost as full as on that memorable evening of Lucien's -readings from Chenier. Some faces were missing: M. de Chandour and -Amelie, M. de Pimental and the Rastignacs--and M. de Bargeton was no -longer there; but the Bishop came, as before, with his vicars-general -in his train. Petit-Claud was much impressed by the sight of the great -world of Angouleme. Four months ago he had no hope of entering the -circle, to-day he felt his detestation of "the classes" sensibly -diminished. He thought the Comtesse du Chatelet a most fascinating -woman. "It is she who can procure me the appointment of deputy public -prosecutor," he said to himself. - -Louise chatted for an equal length of time with each of the women; her -tone varied with the importance of the person addressed and the -position taken up by the latter with regard to her journey to Paris -with Lucien. The evening was half over when she withdrew to the -boudoir with the Bishop. Zephirine came over to Petit-Claud, and laid -her hand on his arm. His heart beat fast as his hostess brought him to -the room where Lucien's troubles first began, and were now about to -come to a crisis. - -"This is M. Petit-Claud, dear; I recommend him to you the more warmly -because anything that you may do for him will doubtless benefit my -ward." - -"You are an attorney, are you not, monsieur?" said the august -Negrepelisse, scanning Petit-Claud. - -"Alas! yes, MADAME LA COMTESSE." (The son of the tailor in L'Houmeau -had never once had occasion to use those three words in his life -before, and his mouth was full of them.) "But it rests with you, -Madame la Comtesse, whether or no I shall act for the Crown. M. Milaud -is going to Nevers, it is said----" - -"But a man is usually second deputy and then first deputy, is he not?" -broke in the Countess. "I should like to see you in the first deputy's -place at once. But I should like first to have some assurance of your -devotion to the cause of our legitimate sovereigns, to religion, and -more especially to M. de Villele, if I am to interest myself on your -behalf to obtain the favor." - -Petit-Claud came nearer. "Madame," he said in her ear, "I am the man -to yield the King absolute obedience." - -"That is just what WE want to-day," said the Countess, drawing back a -little to make him understand that she had no wish for promises given -under his breath. "So long as you satisfy Mme. de Senonches, you can -count upon me," she added, with a royal movement of her fan. - -Petit-Claud looked toward the door of the boudoir, and saw Cointet -standing there. "Madame," he said, "Lucien is here, in Angouleme." - -"Well, sir?" asked the Countess, in tones that would have put an end -to all power of speech in an ordinary man. - -"Mme. la Comtesse does not understand," returned Petit-Claud, bringing -out that most respectful formula again. "How does Mme. la Comtesse -wish that the great man of her making should be received in Angouleme? -There is no middle course; he must be received or despised here." - -This was a dilemma to which Louise de Negrepelisse had never given a -thought; it touched her closely, yet rather for the sake of the past -than of the future. And as for Petit-Claud, his plan for arresting -David Sechard depended upon the lady's actual feelings towards Lucien. -He waited. - -"M. Petit-Claud," said the Countess, with haughty dignity, "you mean -to be on the side of the Government. Learn that the first principle of -government is this--never to have been in the wrong, and that the -instinct of power and the sense of dignity is even stronger in women -than in governments." - -"That is just what I thought, madame," he answered quickly, observing -the Countess meanwhile with attention the more profound because it was -scarcely visible. "Lucien came here in the depths of misery. But if he -must receive an ovation, I can compel him to leave Angouleme by the -means of the ovation itself. His sister and brother-in-law, David -Sechard, are hard pressed for debts." - -In the Countess' haughty face there was a swift, barely perceptible -change; it was not satisfaction, but the repression of satisfaction. -Surprised that Petit-Claud should have guessed her wishes, she gave -him a glance as she opened her fan, and Francoise de la Haye's -entrance at that moment gave her time to find an answer. - -"It will not be long before you are public prosecutor, monsieur," she -said, with a significant smile. That speech did not commit her in any -way, but it was explicit enough. Francoise had come in to thank the -Countess. - -"Oh! madame, then I shall owe the happiness of my life to you," she -exclaimed, bending girlishly to add in the Countess' ear, "To marry a -petty provincial attorney would be like being burned by slow fires." - -It was Francis, with his knowledge of officialdom, who had prompted -Zephirine to make this set upon Louise. - -"In the very earliest days after promotion," so the ex-consul-general -told his fair friend, "everybody, prefect, or monarch, or man of -business, is burning to exert his influence for his friends; but a -patron soon finds out the inconveniences of patronage, and then turns -from fire to ice. Louise will do more now for Petit-Claud than she -would do for her husband in three months' time." - -"Madame la Comtesse is thinking of all that our poet's triumph -entails?" continued Petit-Claud. "She should receive Lucien before -there is an end of the nine-days' wonder." - -The Countess terminated the audience with a bow, and rose to speak -with Mme. de Pimentel, who came to the boudoir. The news of old -Negrepelisse's elevation to a marquisate had greatly impressed the -Marquise; she judged it expedient to be amiable to a woman so clever -as to rise the higher for an apparent fall. - -"Do tell me, dear, why you took the trouble to put your father in the -House of Peers?" said the Marquise, in the course of a little -confidential conversation, in which she bent the knee before the -superiority of "her dear Louise." - -"They were all the more ready to grant the favor because my father has -no son to succeed him, dear, and his vote will always be at the -disposal of the Crown; but if we should have sons, I quite expect that -my oldest will succeed to his grandfather's name, title, and peerage." - -Mme. de Pimentel saw, to her annoyance, that it was idle to expect a -mother ambitious for children not yet in existence to further her own -private designs of raising M. de Pimentel to a peerage. - -"I have the Countess," Petit-Claud told Cointet when they came away. -"I can promise you your partnership. I shall be deputy prosecutor -before the month is out, and Sechard will be in your power. Try to -find a buyer for my connection; it has come to be the first in -Angouleme in my hands during the last five months----" - -"Once put YOU on the horse, and there is no need to do more," said -Cointet, half jealous of his own work. - -The causes of Lucien's triumphant reception in his native town must -now be plain to everybody. Louise du Chatelet followed the example of -that King of France who left the Duke of Orleans unavenged; she chose -to forget the insults received in Paris by Mme. de Bargeton. She would -patronize Lucien, and overwhelming him with her patronage, would -completely crush him and get rid of him by fair means. Petit-Claud -knew the whole tale of the cabals in Paris through town gossip, and -shrewdly guessed how a woman must hate the man who would not love when -she was fain of his love. - -The ovation justified the past of Louise de Negrepelisse. The next day -Petit-Claud appeared at Mme. Sechard's house, heading a deputation of -six young men of the town, all of them Lucien's schoolfellows. He -meant to finish his work, to intoxicate Lucien completely, and to have -him in his power. Lucien's old schoolfellows at the Angouleme grammar- -school wished to invite the author of the Marguerites and The Archer -of Charles IX. to a banquet given in honor of the great man arisen -from their ranks. - -"Come, this is your doing, Petit-Claud!" exclaimed Lucien. - -"Your return has stirred our conceit," said Petit-Claud; "we made it a -point of honor to get up a subscription, and we will have a tremendous -affair for you. The masters and the headmaster will be there, and, at -the present rate, we shall, no doubt, have the authorities too." - -"For what day?" asked Lucien. - -"Sunday next." - -"That is quite out of the question," said Lucien. "I cannot accept an -invitation for the next ten days, but then I will gladly----" - -"Very well," said Petit-Claud, "so be it then, in ten days' time." - -Lucien behaved charmingly to his old schoolfellows, and they regarded -him with almost respectful admiration. He talked away very wittily for -half an hour; he had been set upon a pedestal, and wished to justify -the opinion of his fellow-townsmen; so he stood with his hands thrust -into his pockets, and held forth from the height to which he had been -raised. He was modest and good-natured, as befitted genius in -dressing-gown and slippers; he was the athlete, wearied by a wrestling -bout with Paris, and disenchanted above all things; he congratulated -the comrades who had never left the dear old province, and so forth, -and so forth. They were delighted with him. He took Petit-Claud aside, -and asked him for the real truth about David's affairs, reproaching -him for allowing his brother-in-law to go into hiding, and tried to -match his wits against the little lawyer. Petit-Claud made an effort -over himself, and gave his acquaintance to understand that he (Petit- -Claud) was only an insignificant little country attorney, with no sort -of craft nor subtlety. - -The whole machinery of modern society is so infinitely more complex -than in ancient times, that the subdivision of human faculty is the -result. The great men of the days of old were perforce universal -geniuses, appearing at rare intervals like lighted torches in an -antique world. In the course of ages the intellect began to work on -special lines, but the great man still could "take all knowledge for -his province." A man "full cautelous," as was said of Louis XI., for -instance, could apply that special faculty in every direction, but -to-day the single quality is subdivided, and every profession has its -special craft. A peasant or a pettifogging solicitor might very easily -overreach an astute diplomate over a bargain in some remote country -village; and the wiliest journalist may prove the veriest simpleton in -a piece of business. Lucien could but be a puppet in the hands of -Petit-Claud. - -That guileful practitioner, as might have been expected, had written -the article himself; Angouleme and L'Houmeau, thus put on their -mettle, thought it incumbent upon them to pay honor to Lucien. His -fellow-citizens, assembled in the Place du Murier, were Cointets' -workpeople from the papermills and printing-house, with a sprinkling -of Lucien's old schoolfellows and the clerks in the employ of -Messieurs Petit-Claud and Cachan. As for the attorney himself, he was -once more Lucien's chum of old days; and he thought, not without -reason, that before very long he should learn David's whereabouts in -some unguarded moment. And if David came to grief through Lucien's -fault, the poet would find Angouleme too hot to hold him. Petit-Claud -meant to secure his hold; he posed, therefore, as Lucien's inferior. - -"What better could I have done?" he said accordingly. "My old chum's -sister was involved, it is true, but there are some positions that -simply cannot be maintained in a court of law. David asked me on the -first of June to ensure him a quiet life for three months; he had a -quiet life until September, and even so I have kept his property out -of his creditors' power, for I shall gain my case in the Court-Royal; -I contend that the wife is a privileged creditor, and her claim is -absolute, unless there is evidence of intent to defraud. As for you, -you have come back in misfortune, but you are a genius."--(Lucien -turned about as if the incense were burned too close to his face.)-- -"Yes, my dear fellow, a GENIUS. I have read your Archer of Charles -IX.; it is more than a romance, it is literature. Only two living men -could have written the preface--Chateaubriand and Lucien." - -Lucien accepted that d'Arthez had written the preface. Ninety-nine -writers out of a hundred would have done the same. - -"Well, nobody here seemed to have heard of you!" Petit-Claud -continued, with apparent indignation. "When I saw the general -indifference, I made up my mind to change all that. I wrote that -article in the paper----" - -"What? did you write it?" exclaimed Lucien. - -"I myself. Angouleme and L'Houmeau were stirred to rivalry; I arranged -for a meeting of your old schoolfellows, and got up yesterday's -serenade; and when once the enthusiasm began to grow, we started a -committee for the dinner. 'If David is in hiding,' said I to myself, -'Lucien shall be crowned at any rate.' And I have done even better -than that," continued Petit-Claud; "I have seen the Comtesse du -Chatelet and made her understand that she owes it to herself to -extricate David from his position; she can do it, and she ought to do -it. If David had really discovered the secret of which he spoke to me, -the Government ought to lend him a hand, it would not ruin the -Government; and think what a fine thing for a prefect to have half the -credit of the great invention for the well-timed help. It would set -people talking about him as an enlightened administrator.--Your sister -has taken fright at our musketry practice; she was scared of the -smoke. A battle in the law-courts costs quite as much as a battle on -the field; but David has held his ground, he has his secret. They -cannot stop him, and they will not pull him up now." - -"Thanks, my dear fellow; I see that I can take you into my confidence; -you shall help me to carry out my plan." - -Petit-Claud looked at Lucien, and his gimlet face was a point of -interrogation. - -"I intend to rescue Sechard," Lucien said, with a certain importance. -"I brought his misfortunes upon him; I mean to make full -reparation. . . . I have more influence over Louise----" - -"Who is Louise?" - -"The Comtesse du Chatelet!" - -Petit-Claud started. - -"I have more influence over her than she herself suspects," said -Lucien; "only, my dear fellow, if I can do something with your -authorities here, I have no decent clothes."--Petit-Claud made as -though he would offer his purse. - -"Thank you," said Lucien, grasping Petit-Claud's hand. "In ten days' -time I will pay a visit to the Countess and return your call." - -The shook hands like old comrades, and separated. - -"He ought to be a poet" said Petit-Claud to himself; "he is quite -mad." - -"There are no friends like one's school friends; it is a true saying," -Lucien thought at he went to find his sister. - -"What can Petit-Claud have promised to do that you should be so -friendly with him, my Lucien?" asked Eve. "Be on your guard with him." - -"With HIM?" cried Lucien. "Listen, Eve," he continued, seeming to -bethink himself; "you have no faith in me now; you do not trust me, so -it is not likely you will trust Petit-Claud; but in ten or twelve days -you will change your mind," he added, with a touch of fatuity. And he -went to his room, and indited the following epistle to Lousteau:-- - - Lucien to Lousteau. - - "MY FRIEND,--Of the pair of us, I alone can remember that bill for - a thousand francs that I once lent you; and I know how things will - be with you when you open this letter too well, alas! not to add - immediately that I do not expect to be repaid in current coin of - the realm; no, I will take it in credit from you, just as one - would ask Florine for pleasure. We have the same tailor; - therefore, you can order a complete outfit for me on the shortest - possible notice. I am not precisely wearing Adam's costume, but I - cannot show myself here. To my astonishment, the honors paid by - the departments to a Parisian celebrity awaited me. I am the hero - of a banquet, for all the world as if I were a Deputy of the Left. - Now, after that, do you understand that I must have a black coat? - Promise to pay; have it put down to your account, try the - advertisement dodge, rehearse an unpublished scene between Don - Juan and M. Dimanche, for I must have a gala suit at all costs. I - have nothing, nothing but rags: start with that; it is August, the - weather is magnificent, ergo see that I receive by the end of the - week a charming morning suit, dark bronze-green jacket, and three - waistcoats, one a brimstone yellow, one a plaid, and the third - must be white; furthermore, let there be three pairs of trousers - of the most fetching kind--one pair of white English stuff, one - pair of nankeen, and a third of thin black kerseymere; lastly, - send a black dress-coat and a black satin waistcoat. If you have - picked up another Florine somewhere, I beg her good offices for - two cravats. So far this is nothing; I count upon you and your - skill in these matters; I am not much afraid of the tailor. But - the ingenuity of poverty, assuredly the most active of all poisons - at work in the system of man (id est the Parisian), an ingenuity - that would catch Satan himself napping, has failed so far to - discover a way to obtain a hat on credit!--How many a time, my - dear friend, have we deplored this! When one of us shall bring a - hat that costs one thousand francs into fashion, then, and not - till then, can we afford to wear them; until that day comes we are - bound to have cash enough in our pockets to pay for a hat. Ah! - what an ill turn the Comedie-Francaise did us with, 'Lafleur, you - will put gold in my pockets!' - - "I write with a profound sense of all the difficulties involved by - the demand. Enclose with the above a pair of boots, a pair of - pumps, a hat, half a dozen pairs of gloves. 'Tis asking the - impossible; I know it. But what is a literary life but a - periodical recurrence of the impossible? Work the miracle, write a - long article, or play some small scurvy trick, and I will hold - your debt as fully discharged--this is all I say to you. It is a - debt of honor after all, my dear fellow, and due these twelve - months; you ought to blush for yourself if you have any blushes - left. - - "Joking apart, my dear Lousteau, I am in serious difficulties, as - you may judge for yourself when I tell you that Mme. de Bargeton - has married Chatelet, and Chatelet is prefect of Angouleme. The - precious pair can do a good deal for my brother-in-law; he is in - hiding at this moment on account of that letter of exchange, and - the horrid business is all my doing. So it is a question of - appearing before Mme. la Prefete and regaining my influence at all - costs. It is shocking, is it not, that David Sechard's fate should - hang upon a neat pair of shoes, a pair of open-worked gray silk - stockings (mind you, remember them), and a new hat? I shall give - out that I am sick and ill, and take to my bed, like Duvicquet, to - save the trouble of replying to the pressing invitations of my - fellow-townsmen. My fellow-townsmen, dear boy, have treated me to - a fine serenade. MY FELLOW-TOWNSMEN, forsooth! I begin to wonder - how many fools go to make up that word, since I learned that two - or three of my old schoolfellows worked up the capital of the - Angoumois to this pitch of enthusiasm. - - "If you could contrive to slip a few lines as to my reception in - among the news items, I should be several inches taller for it - here; and besides, I should make Mme. la Prefete feel that, if I - have not friends, I have some credit, at any rate, with the - Parisian press. I give up none of my hopes, and I will return the - compliment. If you want a good, solid, substantial article for - some magazine or other, I have time enough now to think something - out. I only say the word, my dear friend; I count upon you as you - may count upon me, and I am yours sincerely. - - "LUCIEN DE R. - - "P. S.--Send the things to the coach office to wait until called - for." - -Lucien held up his head again. In this mood he wrote the letter, and -as he wrote his thoughts went back to Paris. He had spent six days in -the provinces, and the uneventful quietness of provincial life had -already entered into his soul; his mind returned to those dear old -miserable days with a vague sense of regret. The Comtesse du Chatelet -filled his thoughts for a whole week; and at last he came to attach so -much importance to his reappearance, that he hurried down to the coach -office in L'Houmeau after nightfall in a perfect agony of suspense, -like a woman who has set her last hopes upon a new dress, and waits in -despair until it arrives. - -"Ah! Lousteau, all your treasons are forgiven," he said to himself, as -he eyed the packages, and knew from the shape of them that everything -had been sent. Inside the hatbox he found a note from Lousteau:-- - - FLORINE'S DRAWING-ROOM. - - "MY DEAR BOY,--The tailor behaved very well; but as thy profound - retrospective glance led thee to forbode, the cravats, the hats, - and the silk hosen perplexed our souls, for there was nothing in - our purse to be perplexed thereby. As said Blondet, so say we; - there is a fortune awaiting the establishment which will supply - young men with inexpensive articles on credit; for when we do not - pay in the beginning, we pay dear in the end. And by the by, did - not the great Napoleon, who missed a voyage to the Indies for want - of boots, say that, 'If a thing is easy, it is never done?' So - everything went well--except the boots. I beheld a vision of thee, - fully dressed, but without a hat! appareled in waistcoats, yet - shoeless! and bethought me of sending a pair of moccasins given to - Florine as a curiosity by an American. Florine offered the huge - sum of forty francs, that we might try our luck at play for you. - Nathan, Blondet, and I had such luck (as we were not playing for - ourselves) that we were rich enough to ask La Torpille, des - Lupeaulx's sometime 'rat,' to supper. Frascati certainly owed us - that much. Florine undertook the shopping, and added three fine - shirts to the purchases. Nathan sends you a cane. Blondet, who won - three hundred francs, is sending you a gold chain; and the gold - watch, the size of a forty-franc piece, is from La Torpille; some - idiot gave the thing to her, and it will not go. 'Trumpery - rubbish,' she says, 'like the man that owned it.' Bixiou, who came - to find us up at the Rocher de Cancale, wished to enclose a bottle - of Portugal water in the package. Said our first comic man, 'If - this can make him happy, let him have it!' growling it out in a - deep bass voice with the bourgeois pomposity that he can act to - the life. Which things, my dear boy, ought to prove to you how - much we care for our friends in adversity. Florine, whom I have - had the weakness to forgive, begs you to send us an article on - Nathan's hat. Fare thee well, my son. I can only commiserate you - on finding yourself back in the same box from which you emerged - when you discovered your old comrade. - - "ETIENNE L." - -"Poor fellows! They have been gambling for me," said Lucien; he was -quite touched by the letter. A waft of the breeze from an unhealthy -country, from the land where one has suffered most, may seem to bring -the odors of Paradise; and in a dull life there is an indefinable -sweetness in memories of past pain. - -Eve was struck dumb with amazement when her brother came down in his -new clothes. She did not recognize him. - -"Now I can walk out in Beaulieu," he cried; "they shall not say it of -me that I came back in rags. Look, here is a watch which I shall -return to you, for it is mine; and, like its owner, it is erratic in -its ways." - -"What a child he is!" exclaimed Eve. "It is impossible to bear you any -grudge." - -"Then do you imagine, my dear girl, that I sent for all this with the -silly idea of shining in Angouleme? I don't care THAT for Angouleme" -(twirling his cane with the engraved gold knob). "I intend to repair -the wrong I have done, and this is my battle array." - -Lucien's success in this kind was his one real triumph; but the -triumph, be it said, was immense. If admiration freezes some people's -tongues, envy loosens at least as many more, and if women lost their -heads over Lucien, men slandered him. He might have cried, in the -words of the songwriter, "I thank thee, my coat!" He left two cards at -the prefecture, and another upon Petit-Claud. The next day, the day of -the banquet, the following paragraph appeared under the heading -"Angouleme" in the Paris newspapers:-- - - "ANGOULEME. - - "The return of the author of The Archer of Charles IX. has been - the signal for an ovation which does equal honor to the town and - to M. Lucien de Rubempre, the young poet who has made so brilliant - a beginning; the writer of the one French historical novel not - written in the style of Scott, and of a preface which may be - called a literary event. The town hastened to offer him a - patriotic banquet on his return. The name of the recently- - appointed prefect is associated with the public demonstration in - honor of the author of the Marquerites, whose talent received such - warm encouragement from Mme. du Chatelet at the outset of his - career." - -In France, when once the impulse is given, nobody can stop. The -colonel of the regiment offered to put his band at the disposal of the -committee. The landlord of the Bell (renowned for truffled turkeys, -despatched in the most wonderful porcelain jars to the uttermost parts -of the earth), the famous innkeeper of L'Houmeau, would supply the -repast. At five o'clock some forty persons, all in state and festival -array, were assembled in his largest ball, decorated with hangings, -crowns of laurel, and bouquets. The effect was superb. A crowd of -onlookers, some hundred persons, attracted for the most part by the -military band in the yard, represented the citizens of Angouleme. - -Petit-Claud went to the window. "All Angouleme is here," he said, -looking out. - -"I can make nothing of this," remarked little Postel to his wife (they -had come out to hear the band play). "Why, the prefect and the -receiver-general, and the colonel and the superintendent of the powder -factory, and our mayor and deputy, and the headmaster of the school, -and the manager of the foundry at Ruelle, and the public prosecutor, -M. Milaud, and all the authorities, have just gone in!" - -The bank struck up as they sat down to table with variations on the -air Vive le roy, vive la France, a melody which has never found -popular favor. It was then five o'clock in the evening; it was eight -o'clock before dessert was served. Conspicuous among the sixty-five -dishes appeared an Olympus in confectionery, surmounted by a figure of -France modeled in chocolate, to give the signal for toasts and -speeches. - -"Gentlemen," called the prefect, rising to his feet, "the King! the -rightful ruler of France! To what do we owe the generation of poets -and thinkers who maintain the sceptre of letters in the hands of -France, if not to the peace which the Bourbons have restored----" - -"Long live the King!" cried the assembled guests (ministerialists -predominated). - -The venerable headmaster rose. - -"To the hero of the day," he said, "to the young poet who combines the -gift of the prosateur with the charm and poetic faculty of Petrarch in -that sonnet-form which Boileau declares to be so difficult." - -Cheers. - -The colonel rose next. "Gentlemen, to the Royalist! for the hero of -this evening had the courage to fight for sound principles!" - -"Bravo!" cried the prefect, leading the applause. - -Then Petit-Claud called upon all Lucien's schoolfellows there present. -"To the pride of the grammar-school of Angouleme! to the venerable -headmaster so dear to us all, to whom the acknowledgment for some part -of our triumph is due!" - -The old headmaster dried his eyes; he had not expected this toast. -Lucien rose to his feet, the whole room was suddenly silent, and the -poet's face grew white. In that pause the old headmaster, who sat on -his left, crowned him with a laurel wreath. A round of applause -followed, and when Lucien spoke it was with tears in his eyes and a -sob in his throat. - -"He is drunk," remarked the attorney-general-designate to his -neighbor, Petit-Claud. - -"My dear fellow-countrymen, my dear comrades," Lucien said at last, "I -could wish that all France might witness this scene; for thus men rise -to their full stature, and in such ways as these our land demands -great deeds and noble work of us. And when I think of the little that -I have done, and of this great honor shown to me to-day, I can only -feel confused and impose upon the future the task of justifying your -reception of me. The recollection of this moment will give me renewed -strength for efforts to come. Permit me to indicate for your homage my -earliest muse and protectress, and to associate her name with that of -my birthplace; so--to the Comtesse du Chatelet and the noble town of -Angouleme!" - -"He came out of that pretty well!" said the public prosecutor, nodding -approval; "our speeches were all prepared, and his was improvised." - -At ten o'clock the party began to break up, and little knots of guests -went home together. David Sechard heard the unwonted music. - -"What is going on in L'Houmeau?" he asked of Basine. - -"They are giving a dinner to your brother-in-law, Lucien----" - -"I know that he would feel sorry to miss me there," he said. - -At midnight Petit-Claud walked home with Lucien. As they reached the -Place du Murier, Lucien said, "Come life, come death, we are friends, -my dear fellow." - -"My marriage contract," said the lawyer, "with Mlle. Francoise de la -Haye will be signed to-morrow at Mme. de Senonches' house; do me the -pleasure of coming. Mme. de Senonches implored me to bring you, and -you will meet Mme. du Chatelet; they are sure to tell her of your -speech, and she will feel flattered by it." - -"I knew what I was about," said Lucien. - -"Oh! you will save David." - -"I am sure I shall," the poet replied. - -Just at that moment David appeared as if by magic in the Place du -Murier. This was how it had come about. He felt that he was in a -rather difficult position; his wife insisted that Lucien must neither -go to David nor know of his hiding-place; and Lucien all the while was -writing the most affectionate letters, saying that in a few days' time -all should be set right; and even as Basine Clerget explained the -reason why the band played, she put two letters into his hands. The -first was from Eve. - - "DEAREST," she wrote, "do as if Lucien were not here; do not - trouble yourself in the least; our whole security depends upon the - fact that your enemies cannot find you; get that idea firmly into - your head. I have more confidence in Kolb and Marion and Basine - than in my own brother; such is my misfortune. Alas! poor Lucien - is not the ingenuous and tender-hearted poet whom we used to know; - and it is simply because he is trying to interfere on your behalf, - and because he imagines that he can discharge our debts (and this - from pride, my David), that I am afraid of him. Some fine clothes - have been sent from Paris for him, and five gold pieces in a - pretty purse. He gave the money to me, and we are living on it. - - "We have one enemy the less. Your father has gone, thanks to - Petit-Claud. Petit-Claud unraveled his designs, and put an end to - them at once by telling him that you would do nothing without - consulting him, and that he (Petit-Claud) would not allow you to - concede a single point in the matter of the invention until you - had been promised an indemnity of thirty thousand francs; fifteen - thousand to free you from embarrassment, and fifteen thousand more - to be yours in any case, whether your invention succeeds or no. I - cannot understand Petit-Claud. I embrace you, dear, a wife's kiss - for her husband in trouble. Our little Lucien is well. How strange - it is to watch him grow rosy and strong, like a flower, in these - stormy days! Mother prays God for you now, as always, and sends - love only less tender than mine.--Your - "EVE." - -As a matter of fact, Petit-Claud and the Cointets had taken fright at -old Sechard's peasant shrewdness, and got rid of him so much the more -easily because it was now vintage time at Marsac. Eve's letter -enclosed another from Lucien:-- - - "MY DEAR DAVID,--Everything is going well. I am armed cap-a-pie; - to-day I open the campaign, and in forty-eight hours I shall have - made great progress. How glad I shall be to embrace you when you - are free again and my debts are all paid! My mother and sister - persist in mistrusting me; their suspicion wounds me to the quick. - As if I did not know already that you are hiding with Basine, for - every time that Basine comes to the house I hear news of you and - receive answers to my letters; and besides, it is plain that my - sister could not find any one else to trust. It hurts me cruelly - to think that I shall be so near you to-day, and yet that you will - not be present at this banquet in my honor. I owe my little - triumph to the vainglory of Angouleme; in a few days it will be - quite forgotten, and you alone would have taken a real pleasure in - it. But, after all, in a little while you will pardon everything - to one who counts it more than all the triumphs in the world to be - your brother, - "LUCIEN." - -Two forces tugged sharply at David's heart; he adored his wife; and if -he held Lucien in somewhat less esteem, his friendship was scarcely -diminished. In solitude our feelings have unrestricted play; and a man -preoccupied like David, with all-absorbing thoughts, will give way to -impulses for which ordinary life would have provided a sufficient -counterpoise. As he read Lucien's letter to the sound of military -music, and heard of this unlooked-for recognition, he was deeply -touched by that expression of regret. He had known how it would be. A -very slight expression of feeling appeals irresistibly to a sensitive -soul, for they are apt to credit others with like depths. How should -the drop fall unless the cup were full to the brim? - -So at midnight, in spite of all Basine's entreaties, David must go to -see Lucien. - -"Nobody will be out in the streets at this time of night," he said; "I -shall not be seen, and they cannot arrest me. Even if I should meet -people, I can make use of Kolb's way of going into hiding. And -besides, it is so intolerably long since I saw my wife and child." - -The reasoning was plausible enough; Basine gave way, and David went. -Petit-Claud was just taking leave as he came up and at his cry of -"LUCIEN!" the two brothers flung their arms about each other with -tears in their eyes. - -Life holds not many moments such as these. Lucien's heart went out in -response to this friendship for its own sake. There was never question -of debtor and creditor between them, and the offender met with no -reproaches save his own. David, generous and noble that he was, was -longing to bestow pardon; he meant first of all to read Lucien a -lecture, and scatter the clouds that overspread the love of the -brother and sister; and with these ends in view, the lack of money and -its consequent dangers disappeared entirely from his mind. - -"Go home," said Petit-Claud, addressing his client; "take advantage of -your imprudence to see your wife and child again, at any rate; and you -must not be seen, mind you!--How unlucky!" he added, when he was alone -in the Place du Murier. "If only Cerizet were here----" - -The buildings magniloquently styled the Angouleme Law Courts were then -in process of construction. Petit-Claud muttered these words to -himself as he passed by the hoardings, and heard a tap upon the -boards, and a voice issuing from a crack between two planks. - -"Here I am," said Cerizet; "I saw David coming out of L'Houmeau. I was -beginning to have my suspicions about his retreat, and now I am sure; -and I know where to have him. But I want to know something of Lucien's -plans before I set the snare for David; and here are you sending him -into the house! Find some excuse for stopping here, at least, and when -David and Lucien come out, send them round this way; they will think -they are quite alone, and I shall overhear their good-bye." - -"You are a very devil," muttered Petit-Claud. - -"Well, I'm blessed if a man wouldn't do anything for the thing you -promised me." - -Petit-Claud walked away from the hoarding, and paced up and down in -the Place du Murier; he watched the windows of the room where the -family sat together, and thought of his own prospects to keep up his -courage. Cerizet's cleverness had given him the chance of striking the -final blow. Petit-Claud was a double-dealer of the profoundly cautious -stamp that is never caught by the bait of a present satisfaction, nor -entangled by a personal attachment, after his first initiation into -the strategy of self-seeking and the instability of the human heart. -So, from the very first, he had put little trust in Cointet. He -foresaw that his marriage negotiations might very easily be broken -off, saw also that in that case he could not accuse Cointet of bad -faith, and he had taken his measures accordingly. But since his -success at the Hotel de Bargeton, Petit-Claud's game was above board. -A certain under-plot of his was useless now, and even dangerous to a -man with his political ambitions. He had laid the foundations of his -future importance in the following manner:-- - -Gannerac and a few of the wealthy men of business in L'Houmeau formed -a sort of Liberal clique in constant communication (through commercial -channels) with the leaders of the Opposition. The Villele ministry, -accepted by the dying Louis XVIII., gave the signal for a change of -tactics in the Opposition camp; for, since the death of Napoleon, the -liberals had ceased to resort to the dangerous expedient of -conspiracy. They were busy organizing resistance by lawful means -throughout the provinces, and aiming at securing control of the great -bulk of electors by convincing the masses. Petit-Claud, a rabid -Liberal, and a man of L'Houmeau, was the instigator, the secret -counselor, and the very life of this movement in the lower town, which -groaned under the tyranny of the aristocrats at the upper end. He was -the first to see the danger of leaving the whole press of the -department in the control of the Cointets; the Opposition must have -its organ; it would not do to be behind other cities. - -"If each one of us gives Gannerac a bill for five hundred francs, he -would have some twenty thousand francs and more; we might buy up -Sechard's printing-office, and we could do as we liked with the -master-printer if we lent him the capital," Petit-Claud had said. - -Others had taken up the idea, and in this way Petit-Claud strengthened -his position with regard to David on the one side and the Cointets on -the other. Casting about him for a tool for his party, he naturally -thought that a rogue of Cerizet's calibre was the very man for the -purpose. - -"If you can find Sechard's hiding-place and put him in our hands, -somebody will lend you twenty thousand francs to buy his business, and -very likely there will be a newspaper to print. So, set about it," he -had said. - -Petit-Claud put more faith in Cerizet's activity than in all the -Doublons in existence; and then it was that he promised Cointet that -Sechard should be arrested. But now that the little lawyer cherished -hopes of office, he saw that he must turn his back upon the Liberals; -and, meanwhile, the amount for the printing-office had been subscribed -in L'Houmeau. Petit-Claud decided to allow things to take their -natural course. - -"Pooh!" he thought, "Cerizet will get into trouble with his paper, and -give me an opportunity of displaying my talents." - -He walked up to the door of the printing-office and spoke to Kolb, the -sentinel. "Go up and warn David that he had better go now," he said, -"and take every precaution. I am going home; it is one o'clock." - -Marion came to take Kolb's place. Lucien and David came down together -and went out, Kolb a hundred paces ahead of them, and Marion at the -same distance behind. The two friends walked past the hoarding, Lucien -talking eagerly the while. - -"My plan is extremely simple, David; but how could I tell you about it -while Eve was there? She would never understand. I am quite sure that -at the bottom of Louise's heart there is a feeling that I can rouse, -and I should like to arouse it if it is only to avenge myself upon -that idiot the prefect. If our love affair only lasts for a week, I -will contrive to send an application through her for the subvention of -twenty thousand francs for you. I am going to see her again to-morrow -in the little boudoir where our old affair of the heart began; Petit- -Claud says that the room is the same as ever; I shall play my part in -the comedy; and I will send word by Basine to-morrow morning to tell -you whether the actor was hissed. You may be at liberty by then, who -knows?--Now do you understand how it was that I wanted clothes from -Paris? One cannot act the lover's part in rags." - -At six o'clock that morning Cerizet went to Petit-Claud. - -"Doublon can be ready to take his man to-morrow at noon, I will answer -for it," he said; "I know one of Mlle. Clerget's girls, do you -understand?" Cerizet unfolded his plan, and Petit-Claud hurried to -find Cointet. - -"If M. Francis du Hautoy will settle his property on Francoise, you -shall sign a deed of partnership with Sechard in two days. I shall not -be married for a week after the contract is signed, so we shall both -be within the terms of our little agreement, tit for tat. To-night, -however, we must keep a close watch over Lucien and Mme. la Comtesse -du Chatelet, for the whole business lies in that. . . . If Lucien -hopes to succeed through the Countess' influence, I have David -safe----" - -"You will be Keeper of the Seals yet, it is my belief," said Cointet. - -"And why not? No one objects to M. de Peyronnet," said Petit-Claud. He -had not altogether sloughed his skin of Liberalism. - -Mlle. de la Haye's ambiguous position brought most of the upper town -to the signing of the marriage contract. The comparative poverty of -the young couple and the absence of a corbeille quickened the interest -that people love to exhibit; for it is with beneficence as with -ovations, we prefer the deeds of charity which gratify self-love. The -Marquise de Pimentel, the Comtesse du Chatelet, M. de Senonches, and -one or two frequenters of the house had given Francoise a few wedding -presents, which made great talk in the city. These pretty trifles, -together with the trousseau which Zephirine had been preparing for the -past twelve months, the godfather's jewels, and the usual wedding -gifts, consoled Francoise and roused the curiosity of some mothers of -daughters. - -Petit-Claud and Cointet had both remarked that their presence in the -Angouleme Olympus was endured rather than courted. Cointet was -Francoise's trustee and quasi-guardian; and if Petit-Claud was to sign -the contract, Petit-Claud's presence was as necessary as the -attendance of the man to be hanged at an execution; but though, once -married, Mme. Petit-Claud might keep her right of entry to her -godmother's house, Petit-Claud foresaw some difficulty on his own -account, and resolved to be beforehand with these haughty personages. - -He felt ashamed of his parents. He had sent his mother to stay at -Mansle; now he begged her to say that she was out of health and to -give her consent in writing. So humiliating was it to be without -relations, protectors, or witnesses to his signature, that Petit-Claud -thought himself in luck that he could bring a presentable friend at -the Countess' request. He called to take up Lucien, and they drove to -the Hotel de Bargeton. - -On that memorable evening the poet dressed to outshine every man -present. Mme. de Senonches had spoken of him as the hero of the hour, -and a first interview between two estranged lovers is the kind of -scene that provincials particularly love. Lucien had come to be the -lion of the evening; he was said to be so handsome, so much changed, -so wonderful, that every well-born woman in Angouleme was curious to -see him again. Following the fashion of the transition period between -the eighteenth century small clothes and the vulgar costume of the -present day, he wore tight-fitting black trousers. Men still showed -their figures in those days, to the utter despair of lean, clumsily- -made mortals; and Lucien was an Apollo. The open-work gray silk -stockings, the neat shoes, and the black satin waistcoat were -scrupulously drawn over his person, and seemed to cling to him. His -forehead looked the whiter by contrast with the thick, bright curls -that rose above it with studied grace. The proud eyes were radiant. -The hands, small as a woman's, never showed to better advantage than -when gloved. He had modeled himself upon de Marsay, the famous -Parisian dandy, holding his hat and cane in one hand, and keeping the -other free for the very occasional gestures which illustrated his -talk. - -Lucien had quite intended to emulate the famous false modesty of those -who bend their heads to pass beneath the Porte Saint-Denis, and to -slip unobserved into the room; but Petit-Claud, having but one friend, -made him useful. He brought Lucien almost pompously through a crowded -room to Mme. de Senonches. The poet heard a murmur as he passed; not -so very long ago that hum of voices would have turned his head, to-day -he was quite different; he did not doubt that he himself was greater -than the whole Olympus put together. - -"Madame," he said, addressing Mme. de Senonches, "I have already -congratulated my friend Petit-Claud (a man with the stuff in him of -which Keepers of the Seals are made) on the honor of his approaching -connection with you, slight as are the ties between godmother and -goddaughter----" (this with the air of a man uttering an epigram, by -no means lost upon any woman in the room, for every woman was -listening without appearing to do so.) "And as for myself," he -continued, "I am delighted to have the opportunity of paying my homage -to you." - -He spoke easily and fluently, as some great lord might speak under the -roof of his inferiors; and as he listened to Zephirine's involved -reply, he cast a glance over the room to consider the effect that he -wished to make. The pause gave him time to discover Francis du Hautoy -and the prefect; to bow gracefully to each with the proper shade of -difference in his smile, and, finally, to approach Mme. du Chatelet as -if he had just caught sight of her. That meeting was the real event of -the evening. No one so much as thought of the marriage contract lying -in the adjoining bedroom, whither Francoise and the notary led guest -after guest to sign the document. Lucien made a step towards Louise de -Negrepelisse, and then spoke with that grace of manner now associated, -for her, with memories of Paris. - -"Do I owe to you, madame, the pleasure of an invitation to dine at the -Prefecture the day after to-morrow?" he said. - -"You owe it solely to your fame, monsieur," Louise answered drily, -somewhat taken aback by the turn of a phrase by which Lucien -deliberately tried to wound her pride. - -"Ah! Madame la Comtesse, I cannot bring you the guest if the man is in -disgrace," said Lucien, and, without waiting for an answer, he turned -and greeted the Bishop with stately grace. - -"Your lordship's prophecy has been partially fulfilled," he said, and -there was a winning charm in his tones; "I will endeavor to fulfil it -to the letter. I consider myself very fortunate since this evening -brings me an opportunity of paying my respects to you." - -Lucien drew the Bishop into a conversation that lasted for ten -minutes. The women looked on Lucien as a phenomenon. His unexpected -insolence had struck Mme. du Chatelet dumb; she could not find an -answer. Looking round the room, she saw that every woman admired -Lucien; she watched group after group repeating the phrases by which -Lucien crushed her with seeming disdain, and her heart contracted with -a spasm of mortification. - -"Suppose that he should not come to the Prefecture after this, what -talk there would be!" she thought. "Where did he learn this pride? Can -Mlle. des Touches have taken a fancy for him? . . . He is so handsome. -They say that she hurried to see him in Paris the day after that -actress died. . . . Perhaps he has come to the rescue of his -brother-in-law, and happened to be behind our caleche at Mansle by -accident. Lucien looked at us very strangely that morning." - -A crowd of thoughts crossed Louise's brain, and unluckily for her, she -continued to ponder visibly as she watched Lucien. He was talking with -the Bishop as if he were the king of the room; making no effort to -find any one out, waiting till others came to him, looking round about -him with varying expression, and as much at his ease as his model de -Marsay. M. de Senonches appeared at no great distance, but Lucien -still stood beside the prelate. - -At the end of ten minutes Louise could contain herself no longer. She -rose and went over to the Bishop and said: - -"What is being said, my lord, that you smile so often?" - -Lucien drew back discreetly, and left Mme. du Chatelet with his -lordship. - -"Ah! Mme. la Comtesse, what a clever young fellow he is! He was -explaining to me that he owed all he is to you----" - -"_I_ am not ungrateful, madame," said Lucien, with a reproachful -glance that charmed the Countess. - -"Let us have an understanding," she said, beckoning him with her fan. -"Come into the boudoir. My Lord Bishop, you shall judge between us." - -"She has found a funny task for his lordship," said one of the -Chandour camp, sufficiently audibly. - -"Judge between us!" repeated Lucien, looking from the prelate to the -lady; "then, is one of us in fault?" - -Louise de Negrepelisse sat down on the sofa in the familiar boudoir. -She made the Bishop sit on one side and Lucien on the other, then she -began to speak. But Lucien, to the joy and surprise of his old love, -honored her with inattention; her words fell unheeded on his ears; he -sat like Pasta in Tancredi, with the words O patria! upon her lips, -the music of the great cavatina Dell Rizzo might have passed into his -face. Indeed, Coralie's pupil had contrived to bring the tears to his -eyes. - -"Oh! Louise, how I loved you!" he murmured, careless of the Bishop's -presence, heedless of the conversation, as soon as he knew that the -Countess had seen the tears. - -"Dry your eyes, or you will ruin me here a second time," she said in -an aside that horrified the prelate. - -"And once is enough," was Lucien's quick retort. "That speech from -Mme. d'Espard's cousin would dry the eyes of a weeping Magdalene. Oh -me! for a little moment old memories, and lost illusions, and my -twentieth year came back to me, and you have----" - -His lordship hastily retreated to the drawing-room at this; it seemed -to him that his dignity was like to be compromised by this sentimental -pair. Every one ostentatiously refrained from interrupting them, and a -quarter of an hour went by; till at last Sixte du Chatelet, vexed by -the laughter and talk, and excursions to the boudoir door, went in -with a countenance distinctly overclouded, and found Louise and Lucien -talking excitedly. - -"Madame," said Sixte in his wife's ear, "you know Angouleme better -than I do, and surely you should think of your position as Mme. la -Prefete and of the Government?" - -"My dear," said Louise, scanning her responsible editor with a -haughtiness that made him quake, "I am talking with M. de Rubempre of -matters which interest you. It is a question of rescuing an inventor -about to fall a victim to the basest machinations; you will help us. -As to those ladies yonder, and their opinion of me, you shall see how -I will freeze the venom of their tongues." - -She came out of the boudoir on Lucien's arm, and drew him across to -sign the contract with a great lady's audacity. - -"Write your name after mine," she said, handing him the pen. And -Lucien submissively signed in the place indicated beneath her name. - -"M. de Senonches, would you have recognized M. de Rubempre?" she -continued, and the insolent sportsman was compelled to greet Lucien. - -She returned to the drawing-room on Lucien's arm, and seated him on -the awe-inspiring central sofa between herself and Zephirine. There, -enthroned like a queen, she began, at first in a low voice, a -conversation in which epigram evidently was not wanting. Some of her -old friends, and several women who paid court to her, came to join the -group, and Lucien soon became the hero of the circle. The Countess -drew him out on the subject of life in Paris; his satirical talk -flowed with spontaneous and incredible spirit; he told anecdotes of -celebrities, those conversational luxuries which the provincial -devours with such avidity. His wit was as much admired as his good -looks. And Mme. la Comtesse Sixte du Chatelet, preparing Lucien's -triumph so patiently, sat like a player enraptured with the sound of -his instrument; she gave him opportunities for a reply; she looked -round the circle for applause so openly, that not a few of the women -began to think that their return together was something more than a -coincidence, and that Lucien and Louise, loving with all their hearts, -had been separated by a double treason. Pique, very likely, had -brought about this ill-starred match with Chatelet. And a reaction set -in against the prefect. - -Before the Countess rose to go at one o'clock in the morning, she -turned to Lucien and said in a low voice, "Do me the pleasure of -coming punctually to-morrow evening." Then, with the friendliest -little nod, she went, saying a few words to Chatelet, who was looking -for his hat. - -"If Mme. du Chatelet has given me a correct idea of the state of -affairs, count on me, my dear Lucien," said the prefect, preparing to -hurry after his wife. She was going away without him, after the Paris -fashion. "Your brother-in-law may consider that his troubles are at an -end," he added as he went. - -"M. le Comte surely owes me so much," smiled Lucien. - -Cointet and Petit-Claud heard these farewell speeches. - -"Well, well, we are done for now," Cointet muttered in his -confederate's ear. Petit-Claud, thunderstruck by Lucien's success, -amazed by his brilliant wit and varying charm, was gazing at Francoise -de la Haye; the girl's whole face was full of admiration for Lucien. -"Be like your friend," she seemed to say to her betrothed. A gleam of -joy flitted over Petit-Claud's countenance. - -"We still have a whole day before the prefect's dinner; I will answer -for everything." - -An hour later, as Petit-Claud and Lucien walked home together, Lucien -talked of his success. "Well, my dear fellow, I came, I saw, I -conquered! Sechard will be very happy in a few hours' time." - -"Just what I wanted to know," thought Petit-Claud. Aloud he said--"I -thought you were simply a poet, Lucien, but you are a Lauzun too, that -is to say--twice a poet," and they shook hands--for the last time, as -it proved. - -"Good news, dear Eve," said Lucien, waking his sister, "David will -have no debts in less than a month!" - -"How is that?" - -"Well, my Louise is still hidden by Mme. du Chatelet's petticoat. She -loves me more than ever; she will send a favorable report of our -discovery to the Minister of the Interior through her husband. So we -have only to endure our troubles for one month, while I avenge myself -on the prefect and complete the happiness of his married life." - -Eve listened, and thought that she must be dreaming. - -"I saw the little gray drawing-room where I trembled like a child two -years ago; it seemed as if scales fell from my eyes when I saw the -furniture and the pictures and the faces again. How Paris changes -one's ideas!" - -"Is that a good thing?" asked Eve, at last beginning to understand. - -"Come, come; you are still asleep. We will talk about it to-morrow -after breakfast." - -Cerizet's plot was exceedingly simple, a commonplace stratagem -familiar to the provincial bailiff. Its success entirely depends upon -circumstances, and in this case it was certain, so intimate was -Cerizet's knowledge of the characters and hopes of those concerned. -Cerizet had been a kind of Don Juan among the young work-girls, ruling -his victims by playing one off against another. Since he had been the -Cointet's extra foreman, he had singled out one of Basine Clerget's -assistants, a girl almost as handsome as Mme. Sechard. Henriette -Signol's parents owned a small vineyard two leagues out of Angouleme, -on the road to Saintes. The Signols, like everybody else in the -country, could not afford to keep their only child at home; so they -meant her to go out to service, in country phrase. The art of clear- -starching is a part of every country housemaid's training; and so -great was Mme. Prieur's reputation, that the Signols sent Henriette to -her as apprentice, and paid for their daughter's board and lodging. - -Mme. Prieur was one of the old-fashioned mistresses, who consider that -they fill a parent's place towards their apprentices. They were part -of the family; she took them with her to church, and looked -scrupulously after them. Henriette Signol was a tall, fine-looking -girl, with bold eyes, and long, thick, dark hair, and the pale, very -fair complexion of girls in the South--white as a magnolia flower. For -which reasons Henriette was one of the first on whom Cerizet cast his -eyes; but Henriette came of "honest farmer folk," and only yielded at -last to jealousy, to bad example, and the treacherous promise of -subsequent marriage. By this time Cerizet was the Cointet's foreman. -When he learned that the Signols owned a vineyard worth some ten or -twelve thousand francs, and a tolerably comfortable cottage, he -hastened to make it impossible for Henriette to marry any one else. -Affairs had reached this point when Petit-Claud held out the prospect -of a printing office and twenty thousand francs of borrowed capital, -which was to prove a yoke upon the borrower's neck. Cerizet was -dazzled, the offer turned his head; Henriette Signol was now only an -obstacle in the way of his ambitions, and he neglected the poor girl. -Henriette, in her despair, clung more closely to her seducer as he -tried to shake her off. When Cerizet began to suspect that David was -hiding in Basine's house, his views with regard to Henriette underwent -another change, though he treated her as before. A kind of frenzy -works in a girl's brain when she must marry her seducer to conceal her -dishonor, and Cerizet was on the watch to turn this madness to his own -account. - -During the morning of the day when Lucien had set himself to reconquer -his Louise, Cerizet told Basine's secret to Henriette, giving her to -understand at the same time that their marriage and future prospects -depended upon the discovery of David's hiding-place. Thus instructed, -Henriette easily made certain of the fact that David was in Basine -Clerget's inner room. It never occurred to the girl that she was doing -wrong to act the spy, and Cerizet involved her in the guilt of -betrayal by this first step. - -Lucien was still sleeping while Cerizet, closeted with Petit-Claud, -heard the history of the important trifles with which all Angouleme -presently would ring. - -The Cointets' foreman gave a satisfied nod as Petit-Claud came to an -end. "Lucien surely has written you a line since he came back, has he -not?" he asked. - -"This is all that I have," answered the lawyer, and he held out a note -on Mme. Sechard's writing-paper. - -"Very well," said Cerizet, "let Doublon be in wait at the Palet Gate -about ten minutes before sunset; tell him to post his gendarmes, and -you shall have our man." - -"Are you sure of YOUR part of the business?" asked Petit-Claud, -scanning Cerizet. - -"I rely on chance," said the ex-street boy, "and she is a saucy huzzy; -she does not like honest folk. - -"You must succeed," said Cerizet. "You have pushed me into this dirty -business; you may as well let me have a few banknotes to wipe off the -stains."--Then detecting a look that he did not like in the attorney's -face, he continued, with a deadly glance, "If you have cheated me, -sir, if you don't buy the printing-office for me within a week--you -will leave a young widow;" he lowered his voice. - -"If we have David on the jail register at six o'clock, come round to -M. Gannerac's at nine, and we will settle your business," said Petit- -Claud peremptorily. - -"Agreed. Your will shall be done, governor," said Cerizet. - -Cerizet understood the art of washing paper, a dangerous art for the -Treasury. He washed out Lucien's four lines and replaced them, -imitating the handwriting with a dexterity which augured ill for his -own future:-- - - "MY DEAR DAVID,--Your business is settled; you need not fear to go - to the prefect. You can go out at sunset. I will come to meet you - and tell you what to do at the prefecture.--Your brother, - "LUCIEN." - -At noon Lucien wrote to David, telling him of his evening's success. -The prefect would be sure to lend his influence, he said; he was full -of enthusiasm over the invention, and was drawing up a report that -very day to send to the Government. Marion carried the letter to -Basine, taking some of Lucien's linen to the laundry as a pretext for -the errand. - -Petit-Claud had told Cerizet that a letter would in all probability be -sent. Cerizet called for Mlle. Signol, and the two walked by the -Charente. Henriette's integrity must have held out for a long while, -for the walk lasted for two hours. A whole future of happiness and -ease and the interests of a child were at stake, and Cerizet asked a -mere trifle of her. He was very careful besides to say nothing of the -consequences of that trifle. She was only to carry a letter and a -message, that was all; but it was the greatness of the reward for the -trifling service that frightened Henriette. Nevertheless, Cerizet -gained her consent at last; she would help him in his stratagem. - -At five o'clock Henriette must go out and come in again, telling -Basine Clerget that Mme. Sechard wanted to speak to her at once. -Fifteen minutes after Basine's departure she must go upstairs, knock -at the door of the inner room, and give David the forged note. That -was all. Cerizet looked to chance to manage the rest. - - - -For the first time in twelve months, Eve felt the iron grasp of -necessity relax a little. She began at last to hope. She, too, would -enjoy her brother's visit; she would show herself abroad on the arm of -a man feted in his native town, adored by the women, beloved by the -proud Comtesse du Chatelet. She dressed herself prettily, and proposed -to walk out after dinner with her brother to Beaulieu. In September -all Angouleme comes out at that hour to breathe the fresh air. - -"Oh! that is the beautiful Mme. Sechard," voices said here and there. - -"I should never have believed it of her," said a woman. - -"The husband is in hiding, and the wife walks abroad," said Mme. -Postel for young Mme. Sechard's benefit. - -"Oh, let us go home," said poor Eve; "I have made a mistake." - -A few minutes before sunset, the sound of a crowd rose from the steps -that lead down to L'Houmeau. Apparently some crime had been committed, -for persons coming from L'Houmeau were talking among themselves. -Curiosity drew Lucien and Eve towards the steps. - -"A thief has just been arrested no doubt, the man looks as pale as -death," one of these passers-by said to the brother and sister. The -crowd grew larger. - -Lucien and Eve watched a group of some thirty children, old women and -men, returning from work, clustering about the gendarmes, whose gold- -laced caps gleamed above the heads of the rest. About a hundred -persons followed the procession, the crowd gathering like a storm -cloud. - -"Oh! it is my husband!" Eve cried out. - -"DAVID!" exclaimed Lucien. - -"It is his wife," said voices, and the crowd made way. - -"What made you come out?" asked Lucien. - -"Your letter," said David, haggard and white. - -"I knew it!" said Eve, and she fainted away. Lucien raised his sister, -and with the help of two strangers he carried her home; Marion laid -her in bed, and Kolb rushed off for a doctor. Eve was still insensible -when the doctor arrived; and Lucien was obliged to confess to his -mother that he was the cause of David's arrest; for he, of course, -knew nothing of the forged letter and Cerizet's stratagem. Then he -went up to his room and locked himself in, struck dumb by the -malediction in his mother's eyes. - -In the dead of night he wrote one more letter amid constant -interruptions; the reader can divine the agony of the writer's mind -from those phrases, jerked out, as it were, one by one:-- - - "MY BELOVED SISTER,--We have seen each other for the last time. My - resolution is final, and for this reason. In many families there - is one unlucky member, a kind of disease in their midst. I am that - unlucky one in our family. The observation is not mine; it was - made at a friendly supper one evening at the Rocher de Cancale by - a diplomate who has seen a great deal of the world. While we - laughed and joked, he explained the reason why some young lady or - some other remained unmarried, to the astonishment of the world-- - it was 'a touch of her father,' he said, and with that he unfolded - his theory of inherited weaknesses. He told us how such and such a - family would have flourished but for the mother; how it was that a - son had ruined his father, or a father had stripped his children - of prospects and respectability. It was said laughingly, but we - thought of so many cases in point in ten minutes that I was struck - with the theory. The amount of truth in it furnished all sorts of - wild paradoxes, which journalists maintain cleverly enough for - their own amusement when there is nobody else at hand to mystify. - I bring bad luck to our family. My heart is full of love for you, - yet I behave like an enemy. The blow dealt unintentionally is the - cruelest blow of all. While I was leading a bohemian life in - Paris, a life made up of pleasure and misery; taking good - fellowship for friendship, forsaking my true friends for those who - wished to exploit me, and succeeded; forgetful of you, or - remembering you only to cause you trouble,--all that while you - were walking in the humble path of hard work, making your way - slowly but surely to the fortune which I tried so madly to snatch. - While you grew better, I grew worse; a fatal element entered into - my life through my own choice. Yes, unbounded ambition makes an - obscure existence simply impossible for me. I have tastes and - remembrances of past pleasures that poison the enjoyments within - my reach; once I should have been satisfied with them, now it is - too late. Oh, dear Eve, no one can think more hardly of me than I - do myself; my condemnation is absolute and pitiless. The struggle - in Paris demands steady effort; my will power is spasmodic, my - brain works intermittently. The future is so appalling that I do - not care to face it, and the present is intolerable. - - "I wanted to see you again. I should have done better to stay in - exile all my days. But exile without means of subsistence would be - madness; I will not add another folly to the rest. Death is better - than a maimed life; I cannot think of myself in any position in - which my overweening vanity would not lead me into folly. - - "Some human beings are like the figure 0, another must be put - before it, and they acquire ten times their value. I am nothing - unless a strong inexorable will is wedded to mine. Mme. de - Bargeton was in truth my wife; when I refused to leave Coralie for - her I spoiled my life. You and David might have been excellent - pilots for me, but you are not strong enough to tame my weakness, - which in some sort eludes control. I like an easy life, a life - without cares; to clear an obstacle out of my way I can descend to - baseness that sticks at nothing. I was born a prince. I have more - than the requisite intellectual dexterity for success, but only by - moments; and the prizes of a career so crowded by ambitious - competitors are to those who expend no more than the necessary - strength, and retain a sufficient reserve when they reach the - goal. - - "I shall do harm again with the best intentions in the world. Some - men are like oaks, I am a delicate shrub it may be, and I - forsooth, must needs aspire to be a forest cedar. - - "There you have my bankrupt's schedule. The disproportion between - my powers and my desires, my want of balance, in short, will bring - all my efforts to nothing. There are many such characters among - men of letters, many men whose intellectual powers and character - are always at variance, who will one thing and wish another. What - would become of me? I can see it all beforehand, as I think of - this and that great light that once shone on Paris, now utterly - forgotten. On the threshold of old age I shall be a man older than - my age, needy and without a name. My whole soul rises up against - the thought of such a close; I will not be a social rag. Ah, dear - sister, loved and worshiped at least as much for your severity at - the last as for your tenderness at the first--if we have paid so - dear for my joy at seeing you all once more, you and David may - perhaps some day think that you could grudge no price however high - for a little last happiness for an unhappy creature who loved you. - Do not try to find me, Eve; do not seek to know what becomes of - me. My intellect for once shall be backed by my will. - Renunciation, my angel, is daily death of self; my renunciation - will only last for one day; I will take advantage now of that - day. . . . - - "TWO O'CLOCK. - - "Yes, I have quite made up my mind. Farewell for ever, dear Eve. - There is something sweet in the thought that I shall live only in - your hearts henceforth, and I wish no other burying place. Once - more, farewell. . . . That is the last word from your brother - - "LUCIEN." - -Lucien read the letter over, crept noiselessly down stairs, and left -it in the child's cradle; amid falling tears he set a last kiss on the -forehead of his sleeping sister; then he went out. He put out his -candle in the gray dusk, took a last look at the old house, stole -softly along the passage, and opened the street door; but in spite of -his caution, he awakened Kolb, who slept on a mattress on the workshop -floor. - -"Who goes there?" cried Kolb. - -"It is I, Lucien; I am going away, Kolb." - -"You vould haf done better gif you at nefer kom," Kolb muttered -audibly. - -"I should have done better still if I had never come into the world," -Lucien answered. "Good-bye, Kolb; I don't bear you any grudge for -thinking as I think myself. Tell David that I was sorry I could not -bid him good-bye, and say that this was my last thought." - -By the time the Alsacien was up and dressed, Lucien had shut the house -door, and was on his way towards the Charente by the Promenade de -Beaulieu. He might have been going to a festival, for he had put on -his new clothes from Paris and his dandy's trinkets for a drowning -shroud. Something in Lucien's tone had struck Kolb. At first the man -thought of going to ask his mistress whether she knew that her brother -had left the house; but as the deepest silence prevailed, he concluded -that the departure had been arranged beforehand, and lay down again -and slept. - -Little, considering the gravity of the question, has been written on -the subject of suicide; it has not been studied. Perhaps it is a -disease that cannot be observed. Suicide is one effect of a sentiment -which we will call self-esteem, if you will, to prevent confusion by -using the word "honor." When a man despises himself, and sees that -others despise him, when real life fails to fulfil his hopes, then -comes the moment when he takes his life, and thereby does homage to -society--shorn of his virtues or his splendor, he does not care to -face his fellows. Among atheists--Christians being without the -question of suicide--among atheists, whatever may be said to the -contrary, none but a base coward can take up a dishonored life. - -There are three kinds of suicide--the first is only the last and acute -stage of a long illness, and this kind belongs distinctly to -pathology; the second is the suicide of despair; and the third the -suicide based on logical argument. Despair and deductive reasoning had -brought Lucien to this pass, but both varieties are curable; it is -only the pathological suicide that is inevitable. Not infrequently you -find all three causes combined, as in the case of Jean-Jacques -Rousseau. - -Lucien having made up his mind fell to considering methods. The poet -would fain die as became a poet. At first he thought of throwing -himself into the Charente and making an end then and there; but as he -came down the steps from Beaulieu for the last time, he heard the -whole town talking of his suicide; he saw the horrid sight of a -drowned dead body, and thought of the recognition and the inquest; -and, like some other suicides, felt that vanity reached beyond death. - -He remembered the day spent at Courtois' mill, and his thoughts -returned to the round pool among the willows that he saw as he came -along by the little river, such a pool as you often find on small -streams, with a still, smooth surface that conceals great depths -beneath. The water is neither green nor blue nor white nor tawny; it -is like a polished steel mirror. No sword-grass grows about the -margin; there are no blue water forget-me-nots, nor broad lily leaves; -the grass at the brim is short and thick, and the weeping willows that -droop over the edge grow picturesquely enough. It is easy to imagine a -sheer precipice beneath filled with water to the brim. Any man who -should have the courage to fill his pockets with pebbles would not -fail to find death, and never be seen thereafter. - -At the time while he admired the lovely miniature of a landscape, the -poet had thought to himself, " 'Tis a spot to make your mouth water -for a noyade." - -He thought of it now as he went down into L'Houmeau; and when he took -his way towards Marsac, with the last sombre thoughts gnawing at his -heart, it was with the firm resolve to hide his death. There should be -no inquest held over him, he would not be laid in earth; no one should -see him in the hideous condition of the corpse that floats on the -surface of the water. Before long he reached one of the slopes, common -enough on all French highroads, and commonest of all between Angouleme -and Poitiers. He saw the coach from Bordeaux to Paris coming up at -full speed behind him, and knew that the passengers would probably -alight to walk up the hill. He did not care to be seen just then. -Turning off sharply into a beaten track, he began to pick the flowers -in a vineyard hard by. - -When Lucien came back to the road with a great bunch of the yellow -stone-crop which grows everywhere upon the stony soil of the -vineyards, he came out upon a traveler dressed in black from head to -foot. The stranger wore powder, there were silver buckles on his shoes -of Orleans leather, and his brown face was scarred and seamed as if he -had fallen into the fire in infancy. The traveler, so obviously -clerical in his dress, was walking slowly and smoking a cigar. He -turned as Lucien jumped down from the vineyard into the road. The deep -melancholy on the handsome young face, the poet's symbolical flowers, -and his elegant dress seemed to strike the stranger. He looked at -Lucien with something of the expression of a hunter that has found his -quarry at last after long and fruitless search. He allowed Lucien to -come alongside in nautical phrase; then he slackened his pace, and -appeared to look along the road up the hill; Lucien, following the -direction of his eyes, saw a light traveling carriage with two horses, -and a post-boy standing beside it. - -"You have allowed the coach to pass you, monsieur; you will lose your -place unless you care to take a seat in my caleche and overtake the -mail, for it is rather quicker traveling post than by the public -conveyance." The traveler spoke with extreme politeness and a very -marked Spanish accent. - -Without waiting for an answer, he drew a cigar-case from his pocket, -opened it, and held it out to Lucien. - -"I am not on a journey," said Lucien, "and I am too near the end of my -stage to indulge in the pleasure of smoking----" - -"You are very severe with yourself," returned the Spaniard. "Though I -am a canon of the cathedral of Toledo, I occasionally smoke a -cigarette. God gave us tobacco to allay our passions and our pains. -You seem to be downcast, or at any rate, you carry the symbolical -flower of sorrow in your hand, like the rueful god Hymen. Come! all -your troubles will vanish away with the smoke," and again the -ecclesiastic held out his little straw case; there was something -fascinating in his manner, and kindliness towards Lucien lighted up -his eyes. - -"Forgive me, father" Lucien answered stiffly; "there is no cigar that -can scatter my troubles." Tears came to his eyes at the words. - -"It must surely be Divine Providence that prompted me to take a little -exercise to shake off a traveler's morning drowsiness," said the -churchman. "A divine prompting to fulfil my mission here on earth by -consoling you.--What great trouble can you have at your age?" - -"Your consolations, father, can do nothing for me. You are a Spaniard, -I am a Frenchman; you believe in the commandments of the Church, I am -an atheist." - -"Santa Virgen del Pilar! you are an atheist!" cried the other, laying -a hand on Lucien's arm with maternal solicitude. "Ah! here is one of -the curious things I promised myself to see in Paris. We, in Spain, do -not believe in atheists. There is no country but France where one can -have such opinions at nineteen years." - -"Oh! I am an atheist in the fullest sense of the word. I have no -belief in God, in society, in happiness. Take a good look at me, -father; for in a few hours' time life will be over for me. My last sun -has risen," said Lucien; with a sort of rhetorical effect he waved his -hand towards the sky. - -"How so; what have you done that you must die? Who has condemned you -to die?" - -"A tribunal from which there is no appeal--I myself." - -"You, child!" cried the priest. "Have you killed a man? Is the -scaffold waiting for you? Let us reason together a little. If you are -resolved, as you say, to return to nothingness, everything on earth is -indifferent to you, is it not?" - -Lucien bowed assent. - -"Very well, then; can you not tell me about your troubles? Some little -affair of the heart has taken a bad turn, no doubt?" - -Lucien shrugged his shoulders very significantly. - -"Are you resolved to kill yourself to escape dishonor, or do you -despair of life? Very good. You can kill yourself at Poitiers quite as -easily as at Angouleme, and at Tours it will be no harder than at -Poitiers. The quicksands of the Loire never give up their prey----" - -"No, father," said Lucien; "I have settled it all. Not three weeks ago -I chanced upon the most charming raft that can ferry a man sick and -tired of this life into the other world----" - -"The other world? You are not an atheist." - -"Oh! by another world I mean my next transformation, animal or plant." - -"Have you some incurable disease?" - -"Yes, father." - -"Ah! now we come to the point. What is it?" - -"Poverty." - -The priest looked at Lucien. "The diamond does not know its own -value," he said, and there was an inexpressible charm, and a touch of -something like irony in his smile. - -"None but a priest could flatter a poor man about to die," exclaimed -Lucien. - -"You are not going to die," the Spaniard returned authoritatively. - -"I have heard many times of men that were robbed on the highroad, but -I have never yet heard of one that found a fortune there," said -Lucien. - -"You will hear of one now," said the priest, glancing towards the -carriage to measure the time still left for their walk together. -"Listen to me," he continued, with his cigar between his teeth; "if -you are poor, that is no reason why you should die. I need a -secretary, for mine has just died at Barcelona. I am in the same -position as the famous Baron Goertz, minister of Charles XII. He was -traveling toward Sweden (just as I am going to Paris), and in some -little town or other he chanced upon the son of a goldsmith, a young -man of remarkable good looks, though they could scarcely equal yours. -. . . Baron Goertz discerned intelligence in the young man (just as I -see poetry on your brow); he took him into his traveling carriage, as -I shall take you very shortly; and of a boy condemned to spend his -days in burnishing spoons and forks and making trinkets in some little -town like Angouleme, he made a favorite, as you shall be mine. - -"Arrived at Stockholm, he installed his secretary and overwhelmed him -with work. The young man spent his nights in writing, and, like all -great workers, he contracted a bad habit, a trick--he took to chewing -paper. The late M. de Malesherbes use to rap people over the knuckles; -and he did this once, by the by, to somebody or other whose suit -depended upon him. The handsome young secretary began by chewing blank -paper, found it insipid for a while, and acquired a taste for -manuscript as having more flavor. People did not smoke as yet in those -days. At last, from flavor to flavor, he began to chew parchment and -swallow it. Now, at that time a treaty was being negotiated between -Russia and Sweden. The States-General insisted that Charles XII. -should make peace (much as they tried in France to make Napoleon treat -for peace in 1814) and the basis of these negotiations was the treaty -between the two powers with regard to Finland. Goertz gave the -original into his secretary's keeping; but when the time came for -laying the draft before the States-General, a trifling difficulty -arose; the treaty was not to be found. The States-General believed -that the Minister, pandering to the King's wishes, had taken it into -his head to get rid of the document. Baron Goertz was, in fact, -accused of this, and the secretary owned that he had eaten the treaty. -He was tried and convicted and condemned to death.--But you have not -come to that yet, so take a cigar and smoke till we reach the -caleche." - -Lucien took a cigar and lit it, Spanish fashion, at the priest's -cigar. "He is right," he thought; "I can take my life at any time." - -"It often happens that a young man's fortunes take a turn when despair -is darkest," the Spaniard continued. "That is what I wished to tell -you, but I preferred to prove it by a case in point. Here was the -handsome young secretary lying under sentence of death, and his case -the more desperate because, as he had been condemned by the States- -General, the King could not pardon him, but he connived at his escape. -The secretary stole away in a fishing-boat with a few crowns in his -pocket, and reached the court of Courland with a letter of -introduction from Goertz, explaining his secretary's adventures and -his craze for paper. The Duke of Courland was a spendthrift; he had a -steward and a pretty wife--three several causes of ruin. He placed the -charming young stranger with his steward. - -"If you can imagine that the sometime secretary had been cured of his -depraved taste by a sentence of death, you do not know the grip that a -man's failings have upon him; let a man discover some satisfaction for -himself, and the headsman will not keep him from it.--How is it that -the vice has this power? Is it inherent strength in the vice, or -inherent weakness in human nature? Are there certain tastes that -should be regarded as verging on insanity? For myself, I cannot help -laughing at the moralists who try to expel such diseases by fine -phrases.--Well, it so fell out that the steward refused a demand for -money; and the Duke taking fright at this, called for an audit. Sheer -imbecility! Nothing easier than to make out a balance-sheet; the -difficulty never lies there. The steward gave his secretary all the -necessary documents for compiling a schedule of the civil list of -Courland. He had nearly finished it when, in the dead of night, the -unhappy paper-eater discovered that he was chewing up one of the -Duke's discharges for a considerable sum. He had eaten half the -signature! Horror seized upon him; he fled to the Duchess, flung -himself at her feet, told her of his craze, and implored the aid of -his sovereign lady, implored her in the middle of the night. The -handsome young face made such an impression on the Duchess that she -married him as soon as she was left a widow. And so in the mid- -eighteenth century, in a land where the king-at-arms is king, the -goldsmith's son became a prince, and something more. On the death of -Catherine I. he was regent; he ruled the Empress Anne, and tried to be -the Richelieu of Russia. Very well, young man; now know this--if you -are handsomer than Biron, I, simple canon that I am, am worth more -than a Baron Goertz. So get in; we will find a duchy of Courland for -you in Paris, or failing the duchy, we shall certainly find the -duchess." - -The Spanish priest laid a hand on Lucien's arm, and literally forced -him into the traveling carriage. The postilion shut the door. - -"Now speak; I am listening," said the canon of Toledo, to Lucien's -bewilderment. "I am an old priest; you can tell me everything, there -is nothing to fear. So far we have only run through our patrimony or -squandered mamma's money. We have made a flitting from our creditors, -and we are honor personified down to the tips of our elegant little -boots. . . . Come, confess, boldly; it will be just as if you were -talking to yourself." - -Lucien felt like that hero of an Eastern tale, the fisher who tried to -drown himself in mid-ocean, and sank down to find himself a king of -countries under the sea. The Spanish priest seemed so really -affectionate, that the poet hesitated no longer; between Angouleme and -Ruffec he told the story of his whole life, omitting none of his -misdeeds, and ended with the final catastrophe which he had brought -about. The tale only gained in poetic charm because this was the third -time he had told it in the past fortnight. Just as he made an end they -passed the house of the Rastignac family. - -"Young Rastignac left that place for Paris," said Lucien; "he is -certainly not my equal, but he has had better luck." - -The Spaniard started at the name. "Oh!" he said. - -"Yes. That shy little place belongs to his father. As I was telling -you just now, he was the lover of Mme. de Nucingen, the famous -banker's wife. I drifted into poetry; he was cleverer, he took the -practical side." - -The priest stopped the caleche; and was so far curious as to walk down -the little avenue that led to the house, showing more interest in the -place than Lucien expected from a Spanish ecclesiastic. - -"Then, do you know the Rastignacs?" asked Lucien. - -"I know every one in Paris," said the Spaniard, taking his place again -in the carriage. "And so for want of ten or twelve thousand francs, -you were about to take your life; you are a child, you know neither -men nor things. A man's future is worth the value that he chooses to -set upon it, and you value yours at twelve thousand francs! Well, I -will give more than that for you any time. As for your brother-in- -law's imprisonment, it is the merest trifle. If this dear M. Sechard -has made a discovery, he will be a rich man some day, and a rich man -has never been imprisoned for debt. You do not seem to me to be strong -in history. History is of two kinds--there is the official history -taught in schools, a lying compilation ad usum delphini; and there is -the secret history which deals with the real causes of events--a -scandalous chronicle. Let me tell you briefly a little story which you -have not heard. There was, once upon a time, a man, young and -ambitious, and a priest to boot. He wanted to enter upon a political -career, so he fawned on the Queen's favorite; the favorite took an -interest in him, gave him the rank of minister, and a seat at the -council board. One evening somebody wrote to the young aspirant, -thinking to do him a service (never do a service, by the by, unless -you are asked), and told him that his benefactor's life was in danger. -The King's wrath was kindled against his rival; to-morrow, if the -favorite went to the palace, he would certainly be stabbed; so said -the letter. Well, now, young man, what would you have done?" - -"I should have gone at once to warn my benefactor," Lucien exclaimed -quickly. - -"You are indeed the child which your story reveals!" said the priest. -"Our man said to himself, 'If the King is resolved to go to such -lengths, it is all over with my benefactor; I must receive this letter -too late;' so he slept on till the favorite was stabbed----" - -"He was a monster!" said Lucien, suspecting that the priest meant to -sound him. - -"So are all great men; this one was the Cardinal de Richelieu, and his -benefactor was the Marechal d'Ancre. You really do not know your -history of France, you see. Was I not right when I told you that -history as taught in schools is simply a collection of facts and -dates, more than doubtful in the first place, and with no bearing -whatever on the gist of the matter. You are told that such a person as -Jeanne Darc once existed; where is the use of that? Have you never -drawn your own conclusions from that fact? never seen that if France -had accepted the Angevin dynasty of the Plantagenets, the two peoples -thus reunited would be ruling the world to-day, and the islands that -now brew political storms for the continent would be French provinces? -. . . Why, have you so much as studied the means by which simple -merchants like the Medicis became Grand Dukes of Tuscany?" - -"A poet in France is not bound to be 'as learned as a Benedictine,' " -said Lucien. - -"Well, they became Grand-Dukes as Richelieu became a minister. If you -had looked into history for the causes of events instead of getting -the headings by heart, you would have found precepts for your guidance -in this life. These real facts taken at random from among so many -supply you with the axiom--'Look upon men, and on women most of all, -as your instruments; but never let them see this.' If some one higher -in place can be useful to you, worship him as your god; and never -leave him until he has paid the price of your servility to the last -farthing. In your intercourse with men, in short, be grasping and mean -as a Jew; all that the Jew does for money, you must do for power. And -besides all this, when a man has fallen from power, care no more for -him than if he had ceased to exist. And do you ask why you must do -these things? You mean to rule the world, do you not? You must begin -by obeying and studying it. Scholars study books; politicians study -men, and their interests and the springs of action. Society and -mankind in masses are fatalists; they bow down and worship the -accomplished fact. Do you know why I am giving you this little history -lesson? It seems to me that your ambition is boundless----" - -"Yes, father." - -"I saw that myself," said the priest. "But at this moment you are -thinking, 'Here is this Spanish canon inventing anecdotes and -straining history to prove to me that I have too much virtue----' " - -Lucien began to smile; his thoughts had been read so clearly. - -"Very well, let us take facts that every schoolboy knows. One day -France is almost entirely overrun by the English; the King has only a -single province left. Two figures arise from among the people--a poor -herd girl, that very Jeanne Darc of whom we were speaking, and a -burgher named Jacques Coeur. The girl brings the power of virginity, -the strength of her arm; the burgher gives his gold, and the kingdom -is saved. The maid is taken prisoner, and the King, who could have -ransomed her, leaves her to be burned alive. The King allows his -courtier to accuse the great burgher of capital crime, and they rob -him and divide all his wealth among themselves. The spoils of an -innocent man, hunted down, brought to bay, and driven into exile by -the Law, went to enrich five noble houses; and the father of the -Archbishop of Bourges left the kingdom for ever without one sou of all -his possessions in France, and no resource but moneys remitted to -Arabs and Saracens in Egypt. It is open to you to say that these -examples are out of date, that three centuries of public education -have since elapsed, and that the outlines of those ages are more or -less dim figures. Well, young man, do you believe in the last demi-god -of France, in Napoleon? One of his generals was in disgrace all -through his career; Napoleon made him a marshal grudgingly, and never -sent him on service if he could help it. That marshal was Kellermann. -Do you know the reason of the grudge? . . . Kellermann saved France -and the First Consul at Marengo by a brilliant charge; the ranks -applauded under fire and in the thick of the carnage. That heroic -charge was not even mentioned in the bulletin. Napoleon's coolness -toward Kellermann, Fouche's fall, and Talleyrand's disgrace were all -attributable to the same cause; it is the ingratitude of a Charles -VII., or a Richelieu, or ----" - -"But, father," said Lucien, "suppose that you should save my life and -make my fortune, you are making the ties of gratitude somewhat -slight." - -"Little rogue," said the Abbe, smiling as he pinched Lucien's ear with -an almost royal familiarity. "If you are ungrateful to me, it will be -because you are a strong man, and I shall bend before you. But you are -not that just yet; as a simple 'prentice you have tried to be master -too soon, the common fault of Frenchmen of your generation. Napoleon's -example has spoiled them all. You send in your resignation because you -have not the pair of epaulettes that you fancied. But have you -attempted to bring the full force of your will and every action of -your life to bear upon your one idea?" - -"Alas! no." - -"You have been inconsistent, as the English say," smiled the canon. - -"What I have been matters nothing now," said Lucien, "if I can be -nothing in the future." - -"If at the back of all your good qualities there is power semper -virens," continued the priest, not averse to show that he had a little -Latin, "nothing in this world can resist you. I have taken enough of a -liking for you already----" - -Lucien smiled incredulously. - -"Yes," said the priest, in answer to the smile, "you interest me as -much as if you had been my son; and I am strong enough to afford to -talk to you as openly as you have just done to me. Do you know what it -is that I like about you?--This: you have made a sort of tabula rasa -within yourself, and are ready to hear a sermon on morality that you -will hear nowhere else; for mankind in the mass are even more -consummate hypocrites than any one individual can be when his -interests demand a piece of acting. Most of us spend a good part of -our lives in clearing our minds of the notions that sprang up -unchecked during our nonage. This is called 'getting our -experience.' " - -Lucien, listening, thought within himself, "Here is some old intriguer -delighted with a chance of amusing himself on a journey. He is pleased -with the idea of bringing about a change of opinion in a poor wretch -on the brink of suicide; and when he is tired of his amusement, he -will drop me. Still he understands paradox, and seems to be quite a -match for Blondet or Lousteau." - -But in spite of these sage reflections, the diplomate's poison had -sunk deeply into Lucien's soul; the ground was ready to receive it, -and the havoc wrought was the greater because such famous examples -were cited. Lucien fell under the charm of his companion's cynical -talk, and clung the more willingly to life because he felt that this -arm which drew him up from the depths was a strong one. - -In this respect the ecclesiastic had evidently won the day; and, -indeed, from time to time a malicious smile bore his cynical anecdotes -company. - -"If your system of morality at all resembles your manner of regarding -history," said Lucien, "I should dearly like to know the motive of -your present act of charity, for such it seems to be." - -"There, young man, I have come to the last head of my sermon; you will -permit me to reserve it, for in that case we shall not part company -to-day," said the canon, with the tact of the priest who sees that his -guile has succeeded. - -"Very well, talk morality," said Lucien. To himself he said, "I will -draw him out." - -"Morality begins with the law," said the priest. "If it were simply a -question of religion, laws would be superfluous; religious peoples -have few laws. The laws of statecraft are above civil law. Well, do -you care to know the inscription which a politician can read, written -at large over your nineteenth century? In 1793 the French invented the -idea of the sovereignty of the people--and the sovereignty of the -people came to an end under the absolute ruler in the Emperor. So much -for your history as a nation. Now for your private manners. Mme. -Tallien and Mme. Beauharnais both acted alike. Napoleon married the -one, and made her your Empress; the other he would never receive at -court, princess though she was. The sans-culotte of 1793 takes the -Iron Crown in 1804. The fanatical lovers of Equality or Death conspire -fourteen years afterwards with a Legitimist aristocracy to bring back -Louis XVIII. And that same aristocracy, lording it to-day in the -Faubourg Saint-Germain, has done worse--has been merchant, usurer, -pastry-cook, farmer, and shepherd. So in France systems political and -moral have started from one point and reached another diametrically -opposed; and men have expressed one kind of opinion and acted on -another. There has been no consistency in national policy, nor in the -conduct of individuals. You cannot be said to have any morality left. -Success is the supreme justification of all actions whatsoever. The -fact in itself is nothing; the impression that it makes upon others is -everything. Hence, please observe a second precept: Present a fair -exterior to the world, keep the seamy side of life to yourself, and -turn a resplendent countenance upon others. Discretion, the motto of -every ambitious man, is the watchword of our Order; take it for your -own. Great men are guilty of almost as many base deeds as poor -outcasts; but they are careful to do these things in shadow and to -parade their virtues in the light, or they would not be great men. -Your insignificant man leaves his virtues in the shade; he publicly -displays his pitiable side, and is despised accordingly. You, for -instance, have hidden your titles to greatness and made a display of -your worst failings. You openly took an actress for your mistress, -lived with her and upon her; you were by no means to blame for this; -everybody admitted that both of you were perfectly free to do as you -liked; but you ran full tilt against the ideas of the world, and the -world has not shown you the consideration that is shown to those who -obey the rules of the game. If you had left Coralie to this M. -Camusot, if you had hidden your relations with her, you might have -married Mme. de Bargeton; you would now be prefect of Angouleme and -Marquis de Rubempre. - -"Change your tactics, bring your good looks, your charm, your wit, -your poetry to the front. If you indulge in small discreditable -courses, let it be within four walls, and you will never again be -guilty of a blot on the decorations of this great theatrical scene -called society. Napoleon called this 'washing dirty linen at home.' -The corollary follows naturally on this second precept--Form is -everything. Be careful to grasp the meaning of that word 'form.' There -are people who, for want of knowing better, will help themselves to -money under pressure of want, and take it by force. These people are -called criminals; and, perforce, they square accounts with Justice. A -poor man of genius discovers some secret, some invention as good as a -treasure; you lend him three thousand francs (for that, practically, -the Cointets have done; they hold your bills, and they are about to -rob your brother-in-law); you torment him until he reveals or partly -reveals his secret; you settle your accounts with your own conscience, -and your conscience does not drag you into the assize court. - -"The enemies of social order, beholding this contrast, take occasion -to yap at justice, and wax wroth in the name of the people, because, -forsooth, burglars and fowl-stealers are sent to the hulks, while a -man who brings whole families to ruin by a fraudulent bankruptcy is -let off with a few months' imprisonment. But these hypocrites know -quite well that the judge who passes sentence on the thief is -maintaining the barrier set between the poor and the rich, and that if -that barrier were overturned, social chaos would ensue; while, in the -case of the bankrupt, the man who steals an inheritance cleverly, and -the banker who slaughters a business for his own benefit, money merely -changes hands, that is all. - -"Society, my son, is bound to draw those distinctions which I have -pointed out for your benefit. The one great point is this--you must be -a match for society. Napoleon, Richelieu, and the Medicis were a match -for their generations. And as for you, you value yourself at twelve -thousand francs! You of this generation in France worship the golden -calf; what else is the religion of your Charter that will not -recognize a man politically unless he owns property? What is this but -the command, 'Strive to be rich?' Some day, when you shall have made a -fortune without breaking the law, you will be rich; you will be the -Marquis de Rubempre, and you can indulge in the luxury of honor. You -will be so extremely sensitive on the point of honor that no one will -dare to accuse you of past shortcomings if in the process of making -your way you should happen to smirch it now and again, which I myself -should never advise," he added, patting Lucien's hand. - -"So what must you put in that comely head of yours? Simply this and -nothing more--propose to yourself a brilliant and conspicuous goal, -and go towards it secretly; let no one see your methods or your -progress. You have behaved like a child; be a man, be a hunter, lie in -wait for your quarry in the world of Paris, wait for your chance and -your game; you need not be particular nor mindful of your dignity, as -it is called; we are all of us slaves to something, to some failing of -our own or to necessity; but keep that law of laws--secrecy." - -"Father, you frighten me," said Lucien; "this seems to me to be a -highwayman's theory." - -"And you are right," said the canon, "but it is no invention of mine. -All parvenus reason in this way--the house of Austria and the house of -France alike. You have nothing, you say? The Medicis, Richelieu, and -Napoleon started from precisely your standpoint; but THEY, my child, -considered that their prospects were worth ingratitude, treachery, and -the most glaring inconsistencies. You must dare all things to gain all -things. Let us discuss it. Suppose that you sit down to a game of -bouillotte, do you begin to argue over the rules of the game? There -they are, you accept them." - -"Come, now," thought Lucien, "he can play bouillotte." - -"And what do you do?" continued the priest; "do you practise openness, -that fairest of virtues? Not merely do you hide your tactics, but you -do your best to make others believe that you are on the brink of ruin -as soon as you are sure of winning the game. In short, you dissemble, -do you not? You lie to win four or five louis d'or. What would you -think of a player so generous as to proclaim that he held a hand full -of trumps? Very well; the ambitious man who carries virtue's precepts -into the arena when his antagonists have left them behind is behaving -like a child. Old men of the world might say to him, as card-players -would say to the man who declines to take advantage of his trumps, -'Monsieur, you ought not to play at bouillotte.' - -"Did you make the rules of the game of ambition? Why did I tell you to -be a match for society?--Because, in these days, society by degrees -has usurped so many rights over the individual, that the individual is -compelled to act in self-defence. There is no question of laws now, -their place has been taken by custom, which is to say grimacings, and -forms must always be observed." - -Lucien started with surprise. - -"Ah, my child!" said the priest, afraid that he had shocked Lucien's -innocence; "did you expect to find the Angel Gabriel in an Abbe loaded -with all the iniquities of the diplomacy and counter-diplomacy of two -kings? I am an agent between Ferdinand VII. and Louis XVIII., two-- -kings who owe their crowns to profound--er--combinations, let us say. -I believe in God, but I have a still greater belief in our Order, and -our Order has no belief save in temporal power. In order to strengthen -and consolidate the temporal power, our Order upholds the Catholic -Apostolic and Roman Church, which is to say, the doctrines which -dispose the world at large to obedience. We are the Templars of modern -times; we have a doctrine of our own. Like the Templars, we have been -dispersed, and for the same reasons; we are almost a match for the -world. If you will enlist as a soldier, I will be your captain. Obey -me as a wife obeys her husband, as a child obeys his mother, and I -will guarantee that you shall be Marquis de Rubempre in less than six -months; you shall marry into one of the proudest houses in the -Faubourg Saint-Germain, and some day you shall sit on a bench with -peers of France. What would you have been at this moment if I had not -amused you by my conversation?--An undiscovered corpse in a deep bed -of mud. Well and good, now for an effort of imagination----" - -Lucien looked curiously at his protector. - -"Here, in this caleche beside the Abbe Carlos Herrera, canon of -Toledo, secret envoy from His Majesty Ferdinand VII. to his Majesty -the King of France, bearer of a despatch thus worded it may be--'When -you have delivered me, hang all those whom I favor at this moment, -more especially the bearer of this despatch, for then he can tell no -tales'--well, beside this envoy sits a young man who has nothing in -common with that poet recently deceased. I have fished you out of the -water, I have brought you to life again, you belong to me as the -creature belongs to the creator, as the efrits of fairytales belong to -the genii, as the janissary to the Sultan, as the soul to the body. I -will sustain you in the way to power with a strong hand; and at the -same time I promise that your life shall be a continual course of -pleasure, honors, and enjoyment. You shall never want for money. You -shall shine, you shall go bravely in the eyes of the world; while I, -crouching in the mud, will lay a firm foundation for the brilliant -edifice of your fortunes. For I love power for its own sake. I shall -always rejoice in your enjoyment, forbidden to me. In short, my self -shall become your self! Well, if a day should come when this pact -between man and the tempter, this agreement between the child and the -diplomatist should no longer suit your ideas, you can still look about -for some quiet spot, like that pool of which you were speaking, and -drown yourself; you will only be as you are now, or a little more or a -little less wretched and dishonored." - -"This is not like the Archbishop of Granada's homily," said Lucien as -they stopped to change horses. - -"Call this concentrated education by what name you will, my son, for -you are my son, I adopt you henceforth, and shall make you my heir; it -is the Code of ambition. God's elect are few and far between. There is -no choice, you must bury yourself in the cloister (and there you very -often find the world again in miniature) or accept the Code." - -"Perhaps it would be better not to be so wise," said Lucien, trying to -fathom this terrible priest. - -"What!" rejoined the canon. "You begin to play before you know the -rules of the game, and now you throw it up just as your chances are -best, and you have a substantial godfather to back you! And you do not -even care to play a return match? You do not mean to say that you have -no mind to be even with those who drove you from Paris?" - -Lucien quivered; the sounds that rang through every nerve seemed to -come from some bronze instrument, some Chinese gong. - -"I am only a poor priest," returned his mentor, and a grim expression, -dreadful to behold, appeared for a moment on a face burned to a -copper-red by the sun of Spain, "I am only a poor priest; but if I had -been humiliated, vexed, tormented, betrayed, and sold as you have been -by the scoundrels of whom you have told me, I should do like an Arab -of the desert--I would devote myself body and soul to vengeance. I -might end by dangling from a gibbet, garroted, impaled, guillotined in -your French fashion, I should not care a rap; but they should not have -my head until I had crushed my enemies under my heel." - -Lucien was silent; he had no wish to draw the priest out any further. - -"Some are descended from Cain and some from Abel," the canon -concluded; "I myself am of mixed blood--Cain for my enemies, Abel for -my friends. Woe to him that shall awaken Cain! After all, you are a -Frenchman; I am a Spaniard, and, what is more, a canon." - -"What a Tartar!" thought Lucien, scanning the protector thus sent to -him by Heaven. - -There was no sign of the Jesuit, nor even of the ecclesiastic, about -the Abbe Carlos Herrera. His hands were large, he was thick-set and -broad-chested, evidently he possessed the strength of a Hercules; his -terrific expression was softened by benignity assumed at will; but a -complexion of impenetrable bronze inspired feelings of repulsion -rather than attachment for the man. - -The strange diplomatist looked somewhat like a bishop, for he wore -powder on his long, thick hair, after the fashion of the Prince de -Talleyrand; a gold cross, hanging from a strip of blue ribbon with a -white border, indicated an ecclesiastical dignitary. The outlines -beneath the black silk stockings would not have disgraced an athlete. -The exquisite neatness of his clothes and person revealed an amount of -care which a simple priest, and, above all, a Spanish priest, does not -always take with his appearance. A three-cornered hat lay on the front -seat of the carriage, which bore the arms of Spain. - -In spite of the sense of repulsion, the effect made by the man's -appearance was weakened by his manner, fierce and yet winning as it -was; he evidently laid himself out to please Lucien, and the winning -manner became almost coaxing. Yet Lucien noticed the smallest trifles -uneasily. He felt that the moment of decision had come; they had -reached the second stage beyond Ruffec, and the decision meant life or -death. - -The Spaniard's last words vibrated through many chords in his heart, -and, to the shame of both, it must be said that all that was worst in -Lucien responded to an appeal deliberately made to his evil impulses, -and the eyes that studied the poet's beautiful face had read him very -clearly. Lucien beheld Paris once more; in imagination he caught again -at the reins of power let fall from his unskilled hands, and he -avenged himself! The comparisons which he himself had drawn so lately -between the life of Paris and life in the provinces faded from his -mind with the more painful motives for suicide; he was about to return -to his natural sphere, and this time with a protector, a political -intriguer unscrupulous as Cromwell. - -"I was alone, now there will be two of us," he told himself. And then -this priest had been more and more interested as he told of his sins -one after another. The man's charity had grown with the extent of his -misdoings; nothing had astonished this confessor. And yet, what could -be the motive of a mover in the intrigues of kings? Lucien at first -was fain to be content with the banal answer--the Spanish are a -generous race. The Spaniard is generous! even so the Italian is -jealous and a poisoner, the Frenchman fickle, the German frank, the -Jew ignoble, and the Englishman noble. Reverse these verdicts and you -shall arrive within a reasonable distance of the truth! The Jews have -monopolized the gold of the world; they compose Robert the Devil, act -Phedre, sing William Tell, give commissions for pictures and build -palaces, write Reisebilder and wonderful verse; they are more powerful -than ever, their religion is accepted, they have lent money to the -Holy Father himself! As for Germany, a foreigner is often asked -whether he has a contract in writing, and this is in the smallest -matters, so tricky are they in their dealings. In France the spectacle -of national blunders has never lacked national applause for the past -fifty years; we continue to wear hats which no mortal can explain, and -every change of government is made on the express condition that -things shall remain exactly as they were before. England flaunts her -perfidy in the face of the world, and her abominable treachery is only -equaled by her greed. All the gold of two Indies passed through the -hands of Spain, and now she has nothing left. There is no country in -the world where poison is so little in request as in Italy, no country -where manners are easier or more gentle. As for the Spaniard, he has -traded largely on the reputation of the Moor. - -As the Canon of Toledo returned to the caleche, he had spoken a word -to the post-boy. "Drive post-haste," he said, "and there will be three -francs for drink-money for you." Then, seeing that Lucien hesitated, -"Come! come!" he exclaimed, and Lucien took his place again, telling -himself that he meant to try the effect of the argumentum ad hominem. - -"Father," he began, "after pouring out, with all the coolness in the -world, a series of maxims which the vulgar would consider profoundly -immoral----" - -"And so they are," said the priest; "that is why Jesus Christ said -that it must needs be that offences come, my son; and that is why the -world displays such horror of offences." - -"A man of your stamp will not be surprised by the question which I am -about to ask?" - -"Indeed, my son, you do not know me," said Carlos Herrera. "Do you -suppose that I should engage a secretary unless I knew that I could -depend upon his principles sufficiently to be sure that he would not -rob me? I like you. You are as innocent in every way as a twenty-year- -old suicide. Your question?" - -"Why do you take an interest in me? What price do you set on my -obedience? Why should you give me everything? What is your share?" - -The Spaniard looked at Lucien, and a smile came over his face. - -"Let us wait till we come to the next hill; we can walk up and talk -out in the open. The back seat of a traveling carriage is not the -place for confidences." - -They traveled in silence for sometime; the rapidity of the movement -seemed to increase Lucien's moral intoxication. - -"Here is a hill, father," he said at last awakening from a kind of -dream. - -"Very well, we will walk." The Abbe called to the postilion to stop, -and the two sprang out upon the road. - -"You child," said the Spaniard, taking Lucien by the arm, "have you -ever thought over Otway's Venice Preserved? Did you understand the -profound friendship between man and man which binds Pierre and Jaffier -each to each so closely that a woman is as nothing in comparison, and -all social conditions are changed?--Well, so much for the poet." - -"So the canon knows something of the drama," thought Lucien. "Have you -read Voltaire?" he asked. - -"I have done better," said the other; "I put his doctrine in -practice." - -"You do not believe in God?" - -"Come! it is I who am the atheist, is it?" the Abbe said, smiling. -"Let us come to practical matters, my child," he added, putting an arm -round Lucien's waist. "I am forty-six years old, I am the natural son -of a great lord; consequently, I have no family, and I have a heart. -But, learn this, carve it on that still so soft brain of yours--man -dreads to be alone. And of all kinds of isolation, inward isolation is -the most appalling. The early anchorite lived with God; he dwelt in -the spirit world, the most populous world of all. The miser lives in a -world of imagination and fruition; his whole life and all that he is, -even his sex, lies in his brain. A man's first thought, be he leper or -convict, hopelessly sick or degraded, is to find another with a like -fate to share it with him. He will exert the utmost that is in him, -every power, all his vital energy, to satisfy that craving; it is his -very life. But for that tyrannous longing, would Satan have found -companions? There is a whole poem yet to be written, a first part of -Paradise Lost; Milton's poem is only the apology for the revolt." - -"It would be the Iliad of Corruption," said Lucien. - -"Well, I am alone, I live alone. If I wear the priest's habit, I have -not a priest's heart. I like to devote myself to some one; that is my -weakness. That is my life, that is how I came to be a priest. I am not -afraid of ingratitude, and I am grateful. The Church is nothing to me; -it is an idea. I am devoted to the King of Spain, but you cannot give -affection to a King of Spain; he is my protector, he towers above me. -I want to love my creature, to mould him, fashion him to my use, and -love him as a father loves his child. I shall drive in your tilbury, -my boy, enjoy your success with women, and say to myself, 'This fine -young fellow, this Marquis de Rubempre, my creation whom I have -brought into this great world, is my very Self; his greatness is my -doing, he speaks or is silent with my voice, he consults me in -everything.' The Abbe de Vermont felt thus for Marie-Antoinette." - -"He led her to the scaffold." - -"He did not love the Queen," said the priest. "HE only loved the Abbe -de Vermont." - -"Must I leave desolation behind me?" - -"I have money, you shall draw on me." - -"I would do a great deal just now to rescue David Sechard," said -Lucien, in the tone of one who has given up all idea of suicide. - -"Say but one word, my son, and by to-morrow morning he shall have -money enough to set him free." - -"What! Would you give me twelve thousand francs?" - -"Ah! child, do you not see that we are traveling on at the rate of -four leagues an hour? We shall dine at Poitiers before long, and -there, if you decide to sign the pact, to give me a single proof of -obedience, a great proof that I shall require, then the Bordeaux coach -shall carry fifteen thousand francs to your sister----" - -"Where is the money?" - -The Spaniard made no answer, and Lucien said within himself, "There I -had him; he was laughing at me." - -In another moment they took their places. Neither of them said a word. -Silently the Abbe groped in the pocket of the coach, and drew out a -traveler's leather pouch with three divisions in it; thence he took a -hundred Portuguese moidores, bringing out his large hand filled with -gold three times. - -"Father, I am yours," said Lucien, dazzled by the stream of gold. - -"Child!" said the priest, and set a tender kiss on Lucien's forehead. -"There is twice as much still left in the bag, besides the money for -traveling expenses." - -"And you are traveling alone!" cried Lucien. - -"What is that?" asked the Spaniard. "I have more than a hundred -thousand crowns in drafts on Paris. A diplomatist without money is in -your position of this morning--a poet without a will of his own!" - - - -As Lucien took his place in the caleche beside the so-called Spanish -diplomatist, Eve rose to give her child a draught of milk, found the -fatal letter in the cradle, and read it. A sudden cold chilled the -damps of morning slumber, dizziness came over her, she could not see. -She called aloud to Marion and Kolb. - -"Has my brother gone out?" she asked, and Kolb answered at once with, -"Yes, Montame, pefore tay." - -"Keep this that I am going to tell you a profound secret," said Eve. -"My brother has gone no doubt to make away with himself. Hurry, both -of you, make inquiries cautiously, and look along the river." - -Eve was left alone in a dull stupor, dreadful to see. Her trouble was -at its height when Petit-Claud came in at seven o'clock to talk over -the steps to be taken in David's case. At such a time, any voice in -the world may speak, and we let them speak. - -"Our poor, dear David is in prison, madame," so began Petit-Claud. "I -foresaw all along that it would end in this. I advised him at the time -to go into partnership with his competitors the Cointets; for while -your husband has simply the idea, they have the means of putting it -into practical shape. So as soon as I heard of his arrest yesterday -evening, what did I do but hurry away to find the Cointets and try to -obtain such concessions as might satisfy you. If you try to keep the -discovery to yourselves, you will continue to live a life of shifts -and chicanery. You must give in, or else when you are exhausted and at -the last gasp, you will end by making a bargain with some capitalist -or other, and perhaps to your own detriment, whereas to-day I hope to -see you make a good one with MM. Cointet. In this way you will save -yourselves the hardships and the misery of the inventor's duel with -the greed of the capitalist and the indifference of the public. Let us -see! If the MM. Cointet should pay your debts--if, over and above your -debts, they should pay you a further sum of money down, whether or no -the invention succeeds; while at the same time it is thoroughly -understood that if it succeeds a certain proportion of the profits of -working the patent shall be yours, would you not be doing very well?-- -You yourself, madame, would then be the proprietor of the plant in the -printing-office. You would sell the business, no doubt; it is quite -worth twenty thousand francs. I will undertake to find you a buyer at -that price. - -"Now if you draw up a deed of partnership with the MM. Cointet, and -receive fifteen thousand francs of capital; and if you invest it in -the funds at the present moment, it will bring you in an income of two -thousand francs. You can live on two thousand francs in the provinces. -Bear in mind, too, madame, that, given certain contingencies, there -will be yet further payments. I say 'contingencies,' because we must -lay our accounts with failure. - -"Very well," continued Petit-Claud, "now these things I am sure that I -can obtain for you. First of all, David's release from prison; -secondly, fifteen thousand francs, a premium paid on his discovery, -whether the experiments fail or succeed; and lastly, a partnership -between David and the MM. Cointet, to be taken out after private -experiment made jointly. The deed of partnership for the working of -the patent should be drawn up on the following basis: The MM. Cointet -to bear all the expenses, the capital invested by David to be confined -to the expenses of procuring the patent, and his share of the profits -to be fixed at twenty-five per cent. You are a clear-headed and very -sensible woman, qualities which are not often found combined with -great beauty; think over these proposals, and you will see that they -are very favorable." - -Poor Eve in her despair burst into tears."Ah, sir! why did you not -come yesterday evening to tell me this? We should have been spared -disgrace and--and something far worse----" - -"I was talking with the Cointets until midnight. They are behind -Metivier, as you must have suspected. But how has something worse than -our poor David's arrest happened since yesterday evening?" - -"Here is the awful news that I found when I awoke this morning," she -said, holding out Lucien's letter. "You have just given me proof of -your interest in us; you are David's friend and Lucien's; I need not -ask you to keep the secret----" - -"You need not feel the least anxiety," said Petit-Claud, as he -returned the letter. "Lucien will not take his life. Your husband's -arrest was his doing; he was obliged to find some excuse for leaving -you, and this exit of his looks to me like a piece of stage business." - -The Cointets had gained their ends. They had tormented the inventor -and his family, until, worn out by the torture, the victims longed for -a respite, and then seized their opportunity and made the offer. Not -every inventor has the tenacity of the bull-dog that will perish with -his teeth fast set in his capture; the Cointets had shrewdly estimated -David's character. The tall Cointet looked upon David's imprisonment -as the first scene of the first act of the drama. The second act -opened with the proposal which Petit-Claud had just made. As arch- -schemer, the attorney looked upon Lucien's frantic folly as a bit of -unhoped-for luck, a chance that would finally decide the issues of the -day. - -Eve was completely prostrated by this event; Petit-Claud saw this, and -meant to profit by her despair to win her confidence, for he saw at -last how much she influenced her husband. So far from discouraging -Eve, he tried to reassure her, and very cleverly diverted her thoughts -to the prison. She should persuade David to take the Cointets into -partnership. - -"David told me, madame, that he only wished for a fortune for your -sake and your brother's; but it should be clear to you by now that to -try to make a rich man of Lucien would be madness. The youngster would -run through three fortunes." - -Eve's attitude told plainly enough that she had no more illusions left -with regard to her brother. The lawyer waited a little so that her -silence should have the weight of consent. - -"Things being so, it is now a question of you and your child," he -said. "It rests with you to decide whether an income of two thousand -francs will be enough for your welfare, to say nothing of old -Sechard's property. Your father-in-law's income has amounted to seven -or eight thousand francs for a long time past, to say nothing of -capital lying out at interest. So, after all, you have a good prospect -before you. Why torment yourself?" - -Petit-Claud left Eve Sechard to reflect upon this prospect. The whole -scheme had been drawn up with no little skill by the tall Cointet the -evening before. - -"Give them the glimpse of a possibility of money in hand," the lynx -had said, when Petit-Claud brought the news of the arrest; "once let -them grow accustomed to that idea, and they are ours; we will drive a -bargain, and little by little we shall bring them down to our price -for the secret." - -The argument of the second act of the commercial drama was in a manner -summed up in that speech. - -Mme. Sechard, heartbroken and full of dread for her brother's fate, -dressed and came downstairs. An agony of terror seized her when she -thought that she must cross Angouleme alone on the way to the prison. -Petit-Claud gave little thought to his fair client's distress. When he -came back to offer his arm, it was from a tolerably Machiavellian -motive; but Eve gave him credit for delicate consideration, and he -allowed her to thank him for it. The little attention, at such a -moment, from so hard a man, modified Mme. Sechard's previous opinion -of Petit-Claud. - -"I am taking you round by the longest way," he said, "and we shall -meet nobody." - -"For the first time in my life, monsieur, I feel that I have no right -to hold up my head before other people; I had a sharp lesson given to -me last night----" - -"It will be the first and the last." - -"Oh! I certainly shall not stay in the town now----" - -"Let me know if your husband consents to the proposals that are all -but definitely offered by the Cointets," said Petit-Claud at the gate -of the prison; "I will come at once with an order for David's release -from Cachan, and in all likelihood he will not go back again to -prison." - -This suggestion, made on the very threshold of the jail, was a piece -of cunning strategy--a combinazione, as the Italians call an -indefinable mixture of treachery and truth, a cunningly planned fraud -which does not break the letter of the law, or a piece of deft -trickery for which there is no legal remedy. St. Bartholomew's for -instance, was a political combination. - -Imprisonment for debt, for reasons previously explained, is such a -rare occurrence in the provinces, that there is no house of detention, -and a debtor is perforce imprisoned with the accused, convicted, and -condemned--the three graduated subdivisions of the class generically -styled criminal. David was put for the time being in a cell on the -ground floor from which some prisoner had probably been recently -discharged at the end of his time. Once inscribed on the jailer's -register, with the amount allowed by the law for a prisoner's board -for one month, David confronted a big, stout man, more powerful than -the King himself in a prisoner's eyes; this was the jailer. - -An instance of a thin jailer is unknown in the provinces. The place, -to begin with, is almost a sinecure, and a jailer is a kind of -innkeeper who pays no rent and lives very well, while his prisoners -fare very ill; for, like an innkeeper, he gives them rooms according -to their payments. He knew David by name, and what was more, knew -about David's father, and thought that he might venture to let the -printer have a good room on credit for one night; for David was -penniless. - -The prison of Angouleme was built in the Middle Ages, and has no more -changed than the old cathedral. It is built against the old presidial, -or ancient court of appeal, and people still call it the maison de -justice. It boasts the conventional prison gateway, the solid-looking, -nail-studded door, the low, worn archway which the better deserves the -qualification "cyclopean," because the jailer's peephole or judas -looks out like a single eye from the front of the building. As you -enter you find yourself in a corridor which runs across the entire -width of the building, with a row of doors of cells that give upon the -prison yard and are lighted by high windows covered with a square iron -grating. The jailer's house is separated from these cells by an -archway in the middle, through which you catch a glimpse of the iron -gate of the prison yard. The jailer installed David in a cell next to -the archway, thinking that he would like to have a man of David's -stamp as a near neighbor for the sake of company. - -"This is the best room," he said. David was struck dumb with amazement -at the sight of it. - -The stone walls were tolerably damp. The windows, set high in the -wall, were heavily barred; the stone-paved floor was cold as ice, and -from the corridor outside came the sound of the measured tramp of the -warder, monotonous as waves on the beach. "You are a prisoner! you are -watched and guarded!" said the footsteps at every moment of every -hour. All these small things together produce a prodigious effect upon -the minds of honest folk. David saw that the bed was execrable, but -the first night in a prison is full of violent agitation, and only on -the second night does the prisoner notice that his couch is hard. The -jailer was graciously disposed; he naturally suggested that his -prisoner should walk in the yard until nightfall. - -David's hour of anguish only began when he was locked into his cell -for the night. Lights are not allowed in the cells. A prisoner -detained on arrest used to be subjected to rules devised for -malefactors, unless he brought a special exemption signed by the -public prosecutor. The jailer certainly might allow David to sit by -his fire, but the prisoner must go back to his cell at locking-up -time. Poor David learned the horrors of prison life by experience, the -rough coarseness of the treatment revolted him. Yet a revulsion, -familiar to those who live by thought, passed over him. He detached -himself from his loneliness, and found a way of escape in a poet's -waking dream. - -At last the unhappy man's thoughts turned to his own affairs. The -stimulating influence of a prison upon conscience and self-scrutiny is -immense. David asked himself whether he had done his duty as the head -of a family. What despairing grief his wife must feel at this moment! -Why had he not done as Marion had said, and earned money enough to -pursue his investigations at leisure? - -"How can I stay in Angouleme after such a disgrace? And when I come -out of prison, what will become of us? Where shall we go?" - -Doubts as to his process began to occur to him, and he passed through -an agony which none save inventors can understand. Going from doubt to -doubt, David began to see his real position more clearly; and to -himself he said, as the Cointets had said to old Sechard, as Petit- -Claud had just said to Eve, "Suppose that all should go well, what -does it amount to in practice? The first thing to be done is to take -out a patent, and money is needed for that--and experiments must be -tried on a large scale in a paper-mill, which means that the discovery -must pass into other hands. Oh! Petit-Claud was right!" - -A very vivid light sometimes dawns in the darkest prison. - -"Pshaw!" said David; "I shall see Petit-Claud to-morrow no doubt," and -he turned and slept on the filthy mattress covered with coarse brown -sacking. - -So when Eve unconsciously played into the hands of the enemy that -morning, she found her husband more than ready to listen to proposals. -She put her arms about him and kissed him, and sat down on the edge of -the bed (for there was but one chair of the poorest and commonest kind -in the cell). Her eyes fell on the unsightly pail in a corner, and -over the walls covered with inscriptions left by David's predecessors, -and tears filled the eyes that were red with weeping. She had sobbed -long and very bitterly, but the sight of her husband in a felon's cell -drew fresh tears. - -"And the desire of fame may lead one to this!" she cried. "Oh! my -angel, give up your career. Let us walk together along the beaten -track; we will not try to make haste to be rich, David. . . . I need -very little to be very happy, especially now, after all that we have -been through. . . . And if you only knew--the disgrace of arrest is -not the worst. . . . Look." - -She held out Lucien's letter, and when David had read it, she tried to -comfort him by repeating Petit-Claud's bitter comment. - -"If Lucien has taken his life, the thing is done by now," said David; -"if he has not made away with himself by this time, he will not kill -himself. As he himself says, 'his courage cannot last longer than a -morning----' " - -"But the suspense!" cried Eve, forgiving almost everything at the -thought of death. Then she told her husband of the proposals which -Petit-Claud professed to have received from the Cointets. David -accepted them at once with manifest pleasure. - -"We shall have enough to live upon in a village near L'Houmeau, where -the Cointets' paper-mill stands. I want nothing now but a quiet life," -said David. "If Lucien has punished himself by death, we can wait so -long as father lives; and if Lucien is still living, poor fellow, he -will learn to adapt himself to our narrow ways. The Cointets certainly -will make money by my discovery; but, after all, what am I compared -with our country? One man in it, that is all; and if the whole country -is benefited, I shall be content. There! dear Eve, neither you nor I -were meant to be successful in business. We do not care enough about -making a profit; we have not the dogged objection to parting with our -money, even when it is legally owing, which is a kind of virtue of the -counting-house, for these two sorts of avarice are called prudence and -a faculty of business." - -Eve felt overjoyed; she and her husband held the same views, and this -is one of the sweetest flowers of love; for two human beings who love -each other may not be of the same mind, nor take the same view of -their interests. She wrote to Petit-Claud telling him that they both -consented to the general scheme, and asked him to release David. Then -she begged the jailer to deliver the message. - -Ten minutes later Petit-Claud entered the dismal place. "Go home, -madame," he said, addressing Eve, "we will follow you.--Well, my dear -friend" (turning to David), "so you allowed them to catch you! Why did -you come out? How came you to make such a mistake?" - -"Eh! how could I do otherwise? Look at this letter that Lucien wrote." - -David held out a sheet of paper. It was Cerizet's forged letter. - -Petit-Claud read it, looked at it, fingered the paper as he talked, -and still taking, presently, as if through absence of mind, folded it -up and put it in his pocket. Then he linked his arm in David's, and -they went out together, the order for release having come during the -conversation. - -It was like heaven to David to be at home again. He cried like a child -when he took little Lucien in his arms and looked round his room after -three weeks of imprisonment, and the disgrace, according to provincial -notions, of the last few hours. Kolb and Marion had come back. Marion -had heard in L'Houmeau that Lucien had been seen walking along on the -Paris road, somewhere beyond Marsac. Some country folk, coming in to -market, had noticed his fine clothes. Kolb, therefore, had set out on -horseback along the highroad, and heard at last at Mansle that Lucien -was traveling post in a caleche--M. Marron had recognized him as he -passed. - -"What did I tell you?" said Petit-Claud. "That fellow is not a poet; -he is a romance in heaven knows how many chapters." - -"Traveling post!" repeated Eve. "Where can he be going this time?" - -"Now go to see the Cointets, they are expecting you," said Petit- -Claud, turning to David. - -"Ah, monsieur!" cried the beautiful Eve, "pray do your best for our -interests; our whole future lies in your hands." - -"If you prefer it, madame, the conference can be held here. I will -leave David with you. The Cointets will come this evening, and you -shall see if I can defend your interests." - -"Ah! monsieur, I should be very glad," said Eve. - -"Very well," said Petit-Claud; "this evening, at seven o'clock." - -"Thank you," said Eve; and from her tone and glance Petit-Claud knew -that he had made great progress in his fair client's confidence. - -"You have nothing to fear; you see I was right," he added. "Your -brother is a hundred miles away from suicide, and when all comes to -all, perhaps you will have a little fortune this evening. A bona-fide -purchaser for the business has turned up." - -"If that is the case," said Eve, "why should we not wait awhile before -binding ourselves to the Cointets?" - -Petit-Claud saw the danger. "You are forgetting, madame," he said, -"that you cannot sell your business until you have paid M. Metivier; -for a distress warrant has been issued." - -As soon as Petit-Claud reached home he sent for Cerizet, and when the -printer's foreman appeared, drew him into the embrasure of the window. - -"To-morrow evening," he said, "you will be the proprietor of the -Sechards' printing-office, and then there are those behind you who -have influence enough to transfer the license;" (then in a lowered -voice), "but you have no mind to end in the hulks, I suppose?" - -"The hulks! What's that? What's that?" - -"Your letter to David was a forgery. It is in my possession. What -would Henriette say in a court of law? I do not want to ruin you," he -added hastily, seeing how white Cerizet's face grew. - -"You want something more of me?" cried Cerizet. - -"Well, here it is," said Petit-Claud. "Follow me carefully. You will -be a master printer in Angouleme in two months' time . . . but you -will not have paid for your business--you will not pay for it in ten -years. You will work a long while yet for those that have lent you the -money, and you will be the cat's-paw of the Liberal party. . . . Now -_I_ shall draw up your agreement with Gannerac, and I can draw it up -in such a way that you will have the business in your own hands one of -these days. But--if the Liberals start a paper, if you bring it out, -and if I am deputy public prosecutor, then you will come to an -understanding with the Cointets and publish articles of such a nature -that they will have the paper suppressed. . . . The Cointets will pay -you handsomely for that service. . . . I know, of course, that you -will be a hero, a victim of persecution; you will be a personage among -the Liberals--a Sergeant Mercier, a Paul-Louis Courier, a Manual on a -small scale. I will take care that they leave you your license. In -fact, on the day when the newspaper is suppressed, I will burn this -letter before your eyes. . . . Your fortune will not cost you much." - -A working man has the haziest notions as to the law with regard to -forgery; and Cerizet, who beheld himself already in the dock, breathed -again. - -"In three years' time," continued Petit-Claud, "I shall be public -prosecutor in Angouleme. You may have need of me some day; bear that -in mind." - -"It's agreed," said Cerizet, "but you don't know me. Burn that letter -now and trust to my gratitude." - -Petit-Claud looked Cerizet in the face. It was a duel in which one -man's gaze is a scalpel with which he essays to probe the soul of -another, and the eyes of that other are a theatre, as it were, to -which all his virtue is summoned for display. - -Petit-Claud did not utter a word. He lighted a taper and burned the -letter. "He has his way to make," he said to himself. - -"Here is one that will go through fire and water for you," said -Cerizet. - - - -David awaited the interview with the Cointets with a vague feeling of -uneasiness; not, however, on account of the proposed partnership, nor -for his own interests--he felt nervous as to their opinion of his -work. He was in something the same position as a dramatic author -before his judges. The inventor's pride in the discovery so nearly -completed left no room for any other feelings. - -At seven o'clock that evening, while Mme. du Chatelet, pleading a sick -headache, had gone to her room in her unhappiness over the rumors of -Lucien's departure; while M. de Comte, left to himself, was -entertaining his guests at dinner--the tall Cointet and his stout -brother, accompanied by Petit-Claud, opened negotiations with the -competitor who had delivered himself up, bound hand and foot. - -A difficulty awaited them at the outset. How was it possible to draw -up a deed of partnership unless they knew David's secret? And if David -divulged his secret, he would be at the mercy of the Cointets. Petit- -Claud arranged that the deed of partnership should be the first drawn -up. Thereupon the tall Cointet asked to see some specimens of David's -work, and David brought out the last sheet that he had made, -guaranteeing the price of production. - -"Well," said Petit-Claud, "there you have the basis of the agreement -ready made. You can go into partnership on the strength of those -samples, inserting a clause to protect yourselves in case the -conditions of the patent are not fulfilled in the manufacturing -process." - -"It is one thing to make samples of paper on a small scale in your own -room with a small mould, monsieur, and another to turn out a -quantity," said the tall Cointet, addressing David. "Quite another -thing, as you may judge from this single fact. We manufacture colored -papers. We buy parcels of coloring absolutely identical. Every cake of -indigo used for 'blueing' our post-demy is taken from a batch supplied -by the same maker. Well, we have never yet been able to obtain two -batches of precisely the same shade. There are variations in the -material which we cannot detect. The quantity and the quality of the -pulp modify every question at once. Suppose that you have in a caldron -a quantity of ingredients of some kind (I don't ask to know what they -are), you can do as you like with them, the treatment can be uniformly -applied, you can manipulate, knead, and pestle the mass at your -pleasure until you have a homogeneous substance. But who will -guarantee that it will be the same with a batch of five hundred reams, -and that your plan will succeed in bulk?" - -David, Eve, and Petit-Claud looked at one another; their eyes said -many things. - -"Take a somewhat similar case," continued the tall Cointet after a -pause. "You cut two or three trusses of meadow hay, and store it in a -loft before 'the heat is out of the grass,' as the peasants say; the -hay ferments, but no harm comes of it. You follow up your experiment -by storing a couple of thousand trusses in a wooden barn--and, of -course, the hay smoulders, and the barn blazes up like a lighted -match. You are an educated man," continued Cointet; "you can see the -application for yourself. So far, you have only cut your two trusses -of hay; we are afraid of setting fire to our paper-mill by bringing in -a couple of thousand trusses. In other words, we may spoil more than -one batch, make heavy losses, and find ourselves none the better for -laying out a good deal of money." - -David was completely floored by this reasoning. Practical wisdom spoke -in matter-of-fact language to theory, whose word is always for the -future. - -"Devil fetch me, if I'll sign such a deed of partnership!" the stout -Cointet cried bluntly. "You may throw away your money if you like, -Boniface; as for me, I shall keep mine. Here is my offer--to pay M. -Sechard's debts AND six thousand francs, and another three thousand -francs in bills at twelve and fifteen months," he added. "That will be -quite enough risk to run.--We have a balance of twelve thousand francs -against Metivier. That will make fifteen thousand francs.--That is all -that I would pay for the secret if I were going to exploit it for -myself. So this is the great discovery that you were talking about, -Boniface! Many thanks! I thought you had more sense. No, you can't -call this business." - -"The question for you," said Petit-Claud, undismayed by the explosion, -"resolves itself into this: 'Do you care to risk twenty thousand -francs to buy a secret that may make rich men of you?' Why, the risk -usually is in proportion to the profit, gentlemen. You stake twenty -thousand francs on your luck. A gambler puts down a louis at roulette -for a chance of winning thirty-six, but he knows that the louis is -lost. Do the same." - -"I must have time to think it over," said the stout Cointet; "I am not -so clever as my brother. I am a plain, straight-forward sort of chap, -that only knows one thing--how to print prayer-books at twenty sous -and sell them for two francs. Where I see an invention that has only -been tried once, I see ruin. You succeed with the first batch, you -spoil the next, you go on, and you are drawn in; for once put an arm -into that machinery, the rest of you follows," and he related an -anecdote very much to the point--how a Bordeaux merchant had ruined -himself by following a scientific man's advice, and trying to bring -the Landes into cultivation; and followed up the tale with half-a- -dozen similar instances of agricultural and commercial failures nearer -home in the departments of the Charente and Dordogne. He waxed warm -over his recitals. He would not listen to another word. Petit-Claud's -demurs, so far from soothing the stout Cointet, appeared to irritate -him. - -"I would rather give more for a certainty, if I made only a small -profit on it," he said, looking at his brother. "It is my opinion that -things have gone far enough for business," he concluded. - -"Still you came here for something, didn't you?" asked Petit-Claud. -"What is your offer?" - -"I offer to release M. Sechard, and, if his plan succeeds, to give him -thirty per cent of the profits," the stout Cointet answered briskly. - -"But, monsieur," objected Eve, "how should we live while the -experiments were being made? My husband has endured the disgrace of -imprisonment already; he may as well go back to prison, it makes no -difference now, and we will pay our debts ourselves----" - -Petit-Claud laid a finger on his lips in warning. - -"You are unreasonable," said he, addressing the brothers. "You have -seen the paper; M. Sechard's father told you that he had shut his son -up, and that he had made capital paper in a single night from -materials that must have cost a mere nothing. You are here to make an -offer. Are you purchasers, yes or no?" - -"Stay," said the tall Cointet, "whether my brother is willing or no, I -will risk this much myself. I will pay M. Sechard's debts, I will pay -six thousand francs over and above the debts, and M. Sechard shall -have thirty per cent of the profits. But mind this--if in the space of -one year he fails to carry out the undertakings which he himself will -make in the deed of partnership, he must return the six thousand -francs, and we shall keep the patent and extricate ourselves as best -we may." - -"Are you sure of yourself?" asked Petit-Claud, taking David aside. - -"Yes," said David. He was deceived by the tactics of the brothers, and -afraid lest the stout Cointet should break off the negotiations on -which his future depended. - -"Very well, I will draft the deed," said Petit-Claud, addressing the -rest of the party. "Each of you shall have a copy to-night, and you -will have all to-morrow morning in which to think it over. To-morrow -afternoon at four o'clock, when the court rises, you will sign the -agreement. You, gentlemen, will withdraw Metivier's suit, and I, for -my part, will write to stop proceedings in the Court-Royal; we will -give notice on either side that the affair has been settled out of -court." - -David Sechard's undertakings were thus worded in the deed:-- - - "M. David Sechard, printer of Angouleme, affirming that he has - discovered a method of sizing paper-pulp in the vat, and also a - method of affecting a reduction of fifty per cent in the price of - all kinds of manufactured papers, by introducing certain vegetable - substances into the pulp, either by intermixture of such - substances with the rags already in use, or by employing them - solely without the addition of rags: a partnership for working the - patent to be presently applied for is entered upon by M. David - Sechard and the firm of Cointet Brothers, subject to the following - conditional clauses and stipulations." - -One of the clauses so drafted that David Sechard forfeited all his -rights if he failed to fulfil his engagements within the year; the -tall Cointet was particularly careful to insert that clause, and David -Sechard allowed it to pass. - -When Petit-Claud appeared with a copy of the agreement next morning at -half-past seven o'clock, he brought news for David and his wife. -Cerizet offered twenty-two thousand francs for the business. The whole -affair could be signed and settled in the course of the evening. "But -if the Cointets knew about it," he added, "they would be quite capable -of refusing to sign the deed of partnership, of harassing you, and -selling you up." - -"Are you sure of payment?" asked Eve. She had thought it hopeless to -try to sell the business; and now, to her astonishment, a bargain -which would have been their salvation three months ago was concluded -in this summary fashion. - -"The money has been deposited with me," he answered succinctly. - -"Why, here is magic at work!" said David, and he asked Petit-Claud for -an explanation of this piece of luck. - -"No," said Petit-Claud, "it is very simple. The merchants in L'Houmeau -want a newspaper." - -"But I am bound not to publish a paper," said David. - -"Yes, you are bound, but is your successor?--However it is," he -continued, "do not trouble yourself at all; sell the business, pocket -the proceeds, and leave Cerizet to find his way through the conditions -of the sale--he can take care of himself." - -"Yes," said Eve. - -"And if it turns out that you may not print a newspaper in Angouleme," -said Petit-Claud, "those who are finding the capital for Cerizet will -bring out the paper in L'Houmeau." - -The prospect of twenty-two thousand francs, of want now at end, -dazzled Eve. The partnership and its hopes took a second place. And, -therefore, M. and Mme. Sechard gave way on a final point of dispute. -The tall Cointet insisted that the patent should be taken out in the -name of any one of the partners. What difference could it make? The -stout Cointet said the last word. - -"He is finding the money for the patent; he is bearing the expenses of -the journey--another two thousand francs over and above the rest of -the expenses. He must take it out in his own name, or we will not stir -in the matter." - -The lynx gained a victory at all points. The deed of partnership was -signed that afternoon at half-past four. - -The tall Cointet politely gave Mme. Sechard a dozen thread-pattern -forks and spoons and a beautiful Ternaux shawl, by way of pin-money, -said he, and to efface any unpleasant impression made in the heat of -discussion. The copies of the draft had scarcely been made out, Cachan -had barely had time to send the documents to Petit-Claud, together -with the three unlucky forged bills, when the Sechards heard a -deafening rumble in the street, a dray from the Messageries stopped -before the door, and Kolb's voice made the staircase ring again. - -"Montame! montame! vifteen tausend vrancs, vrom Boidiers" (Poitiers). -"Goot money! vrom Monziere Lucien!" - -"Fifteen thousand francs!" cried Eve, throwing up her arms. - -"Yes, madame," said the carman in the doorway, "fifteen thousand -francs, brought by the Bordeaux coach, and they didn't want any more -neither! I have two men downstairs bringing up the bags. M. Lucien -Chardon de Rubempre is the sender. I have brought up a little leather -bag for you, containing five hundred francs in gold, and a letter it's -likely." - - "MY DEAR SISTER,--Here are fifteen thousand francs. Instead of - taking my life, I have sold it. I am no longer my own; I am only - the secretary of a Spanish diplomatist; I am his creature. A new - and dreadful life is beginning for me. Perhaps I should have done - better to drown myself. - - "Good-bye. David will be released, and with the four thousand - francs he can buy a little paper-mill, no doubt, and make his - fortune. Forget me, all of you. This is the wish of your unhappy - brother. - "LUCIEN." - -"It is decreed that my poor boy should be unlucky in everything, and -even when he does well, as he said himself," said Mme. Chardon, as she -watched the men piling up the bags. - -"We have had a narrow escape!" exclaimed the tall Cointet, when he was -once more in the Place du Murier. "An hour later the glitter of the -silver would have thrown a new light on the deed of partnership. Our -man would have fought shy of it. We have his promise now, and in three -months' time we shall know what to do." - -That very evening, at seven o'clock, Cerizet bought the business, and -the money was paid over, the purchaser undertaking to pay rent for the -last quarter. The next day Eve sent forty thousand francs to the -Receiver-General, and bought two thousand five hundred francs of -rentes in her husband's name. Then she wrote to her father-in-law and -asked him to find a small farm, worth about ten thousand francs, for -her near Marsac. She meant to invest her own fortune in this way. - -The tall Cointet's plot was formidably simple. From the very first he -considered that the plan of sizing the pulp in the vat was -impracticable. The real secret of fortune lay in the composition of -the pulp, in the cheap vegetable fibre as a substitute for rags. He -made up his mind, therefore, to lay immense stress on the secondary -problem of sizing the pulp, and to pass over the discovery of cheap -raw material, and for the following reasons: - -The Angouleme paper-mills manufacture paper for stationers. Notepaper, -foolscap, crown, and post-demy are all necessarily sized; and these -papers have been the pride of the Angouleme mills for a long while -past, stationery being the specialty of the Charente. This fact gave -color to the Cointet's urgency upon the point of sizing in the -pulping-trough; but, as a matter of fact, they cared nothing for this -part of David's researches. The demand for writing-paper is -exceedingly small compared with the almost unlimited demand for -unsized paper for printers. As Boniface Cointet traveled to Paris to -take out the patent in his own name, he was projecting plans that were -like to work a revolution in his paper-mill. Arrived in Paris, he took -up his quarters with Metivier, and gave his instructions to his agent. -Metivier was to call upon the proprietors of newspapers, and offer to -deliver paper at prices below those quoted by all other houses; he -could guarantee in each case that the paper should be a better color, -and in every way superior to the best kinds hitherto in use. -Newspapers are always supplied by contract; there would be time before -the present contracts expired to complete all the subterranean -operations with buyers, and to obtain a monopoly of the trade. Cointet -calculated that he could rid himself of Sechard while Metivier was -taking orders from the principal Paris newspapers, which even then -consumed two hundred reams daily. Cointet naturally offered Metivier a -large commission on the contracts, for he wished to secure a clever -representative on the spot, and to waste no time in traveling to and -fro. And in this manner the fortunes of the firm of Metivier, one of -the largest houses in the paper trade, were founded. The tall Cointet -went back to Angouleme to be present at Petit-Claud's wedding, with a -mind at rest as to the future. - -Petit-Claud had sold his professional connection, and was only waiting -for M. Milaud's promotion to take the public prosecutor's place, which -had been promised to him by the Comtesse du Chatelet. The public -prosecutor's second deputy was appointed first deputy to the Court of -Limoges, the Keeper of the Seals sent a man of his own to Angouleme, -and the post of first deputy was kept vacant for a couple of months. -The interval was Petit-Claud's honeymoon. - -While Boniface Cointet was in Paris, David made a first experimental -batch of unsized paper far superior to that in common use for -newspapers. He followed it up with a second batch of magnificent -vellum paper for fine printing, and this the Cointets used for a new -edition of their diocesan prayer-book. The material had been privately -prepared by David himself; he would have no helpers but Kolb and -Marion. - -When Boniface came back the whole affair wore a different aspect; he -looked at the samples, and was fairly satisfied. - -"My good friend," he said, "the whole trade of Angouleme is in crown -paper. We must make the best possible crown paper at half the present -price; that is the first and foremost question for us." - -Then David tried to size the pulp for the desired paper, and the -result was a harsh surface with grains of size distributed all over -it. On the day when the experiment was concluded and David held the -sheets in his hand, he went away to find a spot where he could be -alone and swallow his bitter disappointment. But Boniface Cointet went -in search of him and comforted him. Boniface was delightfully amiable. - -"Do not lose heart," he said; "go on! I am a good fellow, I understand -you; I will stand by you to the end." - -"Really," David said to his wife at dinner, "we are with good people; -I should not have expected that the tall Cointet would be so -generous." And he repeated his conversation with his wily partner. - -Three months were spent in experiments. David slept at the mill; he -noted the effects of various preparations upon the pulp. At one time -he attributed his non-success to an admixture of rag-pulp with his own -ingredients, and made a batch entirely composed of the new material; -at another, he endeavored to size pulp made exclusively from rags; -persevering in his experiments under the eyes of the tall Cointet, -whom he had ceased to mistrust, until he had tried every possible -combination of pulp and size. David lived in the paper-mill for the -first six months of 1823--if it can be called living, to leave food -untasted, and go in neglect of person and dress. He wrestled so -desperately with the difficulties, that anybody but the Cointets would -have seen the sublimity of the struggle, for the brave fellow was not -thinking of his own interests. The moment had come when he cared for -nothing but the victory. With marvelous sagacity he watched the -unaccountable freaks of the semi-artificial substances called into -existence by man for ends of his own; substances in which nature had -been tamed, as it were, and her tacit resistance overcome; and from -these observations drew great conclusions; finding, as he did, that -such creations can only be obtained by following the laws of the more -remote affinities of things, of "a second nature," as he called it, in -substances. - -Towards the end of August he succeeded to some extent in sizing the -paper pulp in the vat; the result being a kind of paper identical with -a make in use for printers' proofs at the present day--a kind of paper -that cannot be depended upon, for the sizing itself is not always -certain. This was a great result, considering the condition of the -paper trade in 1823, and David hoped to solve the final difficulties -of the problem, but--it had cost ten thousand francs. - -Singular rumors were current at this time in Angouleme and L'Houmeau. -It was said that David Sechard was ruining the firm of Cointet -Brothers. Experiments had eaten up twenty thousand francs; and the -result, said gossip, was wretchedly bad paper. Other manufacturers -took fright at this, hugged themselves on their old-fashioned methods, -and, being jealous of the Cointets, spread rumors of the approaching -fall of that ambitious house. As for the tall Cointet, he set up the -new machinery for making lengths of paper in a ribbon, and allowed -people to believe that he was buying plant for David's experiments. -Then the cunning Cointet used David's formula for pulp, while urging -his partner to give his whole attention to the sizing process; and -thousands of reams of the new paper were despatched to Metivier in -Paris. - -When September arrived, the tall Cointet took David aside, and, -learning that the latter meditated a crowning experiment, dissuaded -him from further attempts. - -"Go to Marsac, my dear David, see your wife, and take a rest after -your labors; we don't want to ruin ourselves," said Cointet in the -friendliest way. "This great triumph of yours, after all, is only a -starting-point. We shall wait now for awhile before trying any new -experiments. To be fair! see what has come of them. We are not merely -paper-makers, we are printers besides and bankers, and people say that -you are ruining us." - -David Sechard's gesture of protest on behalf of his good faith was -sublime in its simplicity. - -"Not that fifty thousand francs thrown into the Charente would ruin -us," said Cointet, in reply to mute protest, "but we do not wish to be -obliged to pay cash for everything in consequence of slanders that -shake our credit; THAT would bring us to a standstill. We have reached -the term fixed by our agreement, and we are bound on either side to -think over our position." - -"He is right," thought David. He had forgotten the routine work of the -business, thoroughly absorbed as he had been in experiments on a large -scale. - -David went to Marsac. For the past six months he had gone over on -Saturday evening, returning again to L'Houmeau on Tuesday morning. -Eve, after much counsel from her father-in-law, had bought a house -called the Verberie, with three acres of land and a croft planted with -vines, which lay like a wedge in the old man's vineyard. Here, with -her mother and Marion, she lived a very frugal life, for five thousand -francs of the purchase money still remained unpaid. It was a charming -little domain, the prettiest bit of property in Marsac. The house, -with a garden before it and a yard at the back, was built of white -tufa ornamented with carvings, cut without great expense in that -easily wrought stone, and roofed with slate. The pretty furniture from -the house in Angouleme looked prettier still at Marsac, for there was -not the slightest attempt at comfort or luxury in the country in those -days. A row of orange-trees, pomegranates, and rare plants stood -before the house on the side of the garden, set there by the last -owner, an old general who died under M. Marron's hands. - -David was enjoying his holiday sitting under an orange-tree with his -wife, and father, and little Lucien, when the bailiff from Mansle -appeared. Cointet Brothers gave their partner formal notice to appoint -an arbitrator to settle disputes, in accordance with a clause in the -agreement. The Cointets demanded that the six thousand francs should -be refunded, and the patent surrendered in consideration of the -enormous outlay made to no purpose. - -"People say that you are ruining them," said old Sechard. "Well, well, -of all that you have done, that is the one thing that I am glad to -know." - -At nine o'clock the next morning Eve and David stood in Petit-Claud's -waiting-room. The little lawyer was the guardian of the widow and -orphan by virtue of his office, and it seemed to them that they could -take no other advice. Petit-Claud was delighted to see his clients, -and insisted that M. and Mme. Sechard should do him the pleasure of -breakfasting with him. - -"Do the Cointets want six thousand francs of you?" he asked, smiling. -"How much is still owing of the purchase-money of the Verberie?" - -"Five thousand francs, monsieur," said Eve, "but I have two -thousand----" - -"Keep your money," Petit-Claud broke in. "Let us see: five -thousand--why, you want quite another ten thousand francs to settle -yourselves comfortably down yonder. Very good, in two hours' time the -Cointets shall bring you fifteen thousand francs----" - -Eve started with surprise. - -"If you will renounce all claims to the profits under the deed of -partnership, and come to an amicable settlement," said Petit-Claud. -"Does that suit you?" - -"Will it really be lawfully ours?" asked Eve. - -"Very much so," said the lawyer, smiling. "The Cointets have worked -you trouble enough; I should like to make an end of their pretensions. -Listen to me; I am a magistrate now, and it is my duty to tell you the -truth. Very good. The Cointets are playing you false at this moment, -but you are in their hands. If you accept battle, you might possibly -gain the lawsuit which they will bring. Do you wish to be where you -are now after ten years of litigation? Experts' fees and expenses of -arbitration will be multiplied, the most contradictory opinions will -be given, and you must take your chance. And," he added, smiling -again, "there is no attorney here that can defend you, so far as I -see. My successor has not much ability. There, a bad compromise is -better than a successful lawsuit." - -"Any arrangement that will give us a quiet life will do for me," said -David. - -Petit-Claud called to his servant. - -"Paul! go and ask M. Segaud, my successor, to come here.--He shall go -to see the Cointets while we breakfast" said Petit-Claud, addressing -his former clients, "and in a few hours' time you will be on your way -home to Marsac, ruined, but with minds at rest. Ten thousand francs -will bring you in another five hundred francs of income, and you will -live comfortably on your bit of property." - -Two hours later, as Petit-Claud had prophesied, Maitre Segaud came -back with an agreement duly drawn up and signed by the Cointets, and -fifteen notes each for a thousand francs. - -"We are much indebted to you," said Sechard, turning to Petit-Claud. - -"Why, I have just this moment ruined you," said Petit-Claud, looking -at his astonished former clients. "I tell you again, I have ruined -you, as you will see as time goes on; but I know you, you would rather -be ruined than wait for a fortune which perhaps might come too late." - -"We are not mercenary, monsieur," said Madame Eve. "We thank you for -giving us the means of happiness; we shall always feel grateful to -you." - -"Great heavens! don't call down blessings on ME!" cried Petit-Claud. -"It fills me with remorse; but to-day, I think, I have made full -reparation. If I am a magistrate, it is entirely owing to you; and if -anybody is to feel grateful, it is I. Good-bye." - - - -As time went on, Kolb changed his opinion of Sechard senior; and as -for the old man, he took a liking to Kolb when he found that, like -himself, the Alsacien could neither write nor read a word, and that it -was easy to make him tipsy. The old "bear" imparted his ideas on vine -culture and the sale of a vintage to the ex-cuirassier, and trained -him with a view to leaving a man with a head on his shoulders to look -after his children when he should be gone; for he grew childish at the -last, and great were his fears as to the fate of his property. He had -chosen Courtois the miller as his confidant. "You will see how things -will go with my children when I am under ground. Lord! it makes me -shudder to think of it." - -Old Sechard died in the month of March, 1929, leaving about two -hundred thousand francs in land. His acres added to the Verberie made -a fine property, which Kolb had managed to admiration for some two -years. - -David and his wife found nearly a hundred thousand crowns in gold in -the house. The department of the Charente had valued old Sechard's -money at a million; rumor, as usual, exaggerating the amount of a -hoard. Eve and David had barely thirty thousand francs of income when -they added their little fortune to the inheritance; they waited -awhile, and so it fell out that they invested their capital in -Government securities at the time of the Revolution of July. - -Then, and not until then, could the department of the Charente and -David Sechard form some idea of the wealth of the tall Cointet. Rich -to the extent of several millions of francs, the elder Cointet became -a deputy, and is at this day a peer of France. It is said that he will -be Minister of Commerce in the next Government; for in 1842 he married -Mlle. Popinot, daughter of M. Anselme Popinot, one of the most -influential statesmen of the dynasty, deputy and mayor of an -arrondissement in Paris. - -David Sechard's discovery has been assimilated by the French -manufacturing world, as food is assimilated by a living body. Thanks -to the introduction of materials other than rags, France can produce -paper more cheaply than any other European country. Dutch paper, as -David foresaw, no longer exists. Sooner or later it will be necessary, -no doubt, to establish a Royal Paper Manufactory; like the Gobelins, -the Sevres porcelain works, the Savonnerie, and the Imprimerie royale, -which so far have escaped the destruction threatened by bourgeois -vandalism. - -David Sechard, beloved by his wife, father of two boys and a girl, has -the good taste to make no allusion to his past efforts. Eve had the -sense to dissuade him from following his terrible vocation; for the -inventor like Moses on Mount Horeb, is consumed by the burning bush. -He cultivates literature by way of recreation, and leads a comfortable -life of leisure, befitting the landowner who lives on his own estate. -He has bidden farewell for ever to glory, and bravely taken his place -in the class of dreamers and collectors; for he dabbles in entomology, -and is at present investigating the transformations of insects which -science only knows in the final stage. - -Everybody has heard of Petit-Claud's success as attorney-general; he -is the rival of the great Vinet of Provins, and it is his ambition to -be President of the Court-Royal of Poitiers. - -Cerizet has been in trouble so frequently for political offences that -he has been a good deal talked about; and as one of the boldest -enfants perdus of the Liberal party he was nicknamed the "Brave -Cerizet." When Petit-Claud's successor compelled him to sell his -business in Angouleme, he found a fresh career on the provincial -stage, where his talents as an actor were like to be turned to -brilliant account. The chief stage heroine, however, obliged him to go -to Paris to find a cure for love among the resources of science, and -there he tried to curry favor with the Liberal party. - -As for Lucien, the story of his return to Paris belongs to the Scenes -of Parisian life. - - - - ADDENDUM - -Note: Eve and David is the third part of a trilogy. Part one is -entitled Two Poets and part two is A Distinguished Provincial at -Paris. In other references parts one and three are usually combined -under the title Lost Illusions. - -The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. - -Cerizet - Two Poets - A Man of Business - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Middle Classes - -Chardon, Madame (nee Rubempre) - Two Poets - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Chatelet, Sixte, Baron du - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Thirteen - -Chatelet, Marie-Louise-Anais de Negrepelisse, Baronne du - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Government Clerks - -Cointet, Boniface - Two Poets - The Firm of Nucingen - The Member for Arcis - -Cointet, Jean - Two Poets - -Collin, Jacques - Father Goriot - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Member for Arcis - -Conti, Gennaro - Beatrix - -Courtois - Two Poets - -Courtois, Madame - Two Poets - -Hautoy, Francis du - Two Poets - -Herrera, Carlos - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Marron - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Marsay, Henri de - The Thirteen - The Unconscious Humorists - Another Study of Woman - The Lily of the Valley - Father Goriot - Jealousies of a Country Town - Ursule Mirouet - A Marriage Settlement - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Letters of Two Brides - The Ball at Sceaux - Modeste Mignon - The Secrets of a Princess - The Gondreville Mystery - A Daughter of Eve - -Metivier - The Government Clerks - The Middle Classes - -Milaud - The Muse of the Department - -Nucingen, Baron Frederic de - The Firm of Nucingen - Father Goriot - Pierrette - Cesar Birotteau - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - Another Study of Woman - The Secrets of a Princess - A Man of Business - Cousin Betty - The Muse of the Department - The Unconscious Humorists - -Nucingen, Baronne Delphine de - Father Goriot - The Thirteen - Eugenie Grandet - Cesar Birotteau - Melmoth Reconciled - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Commission in Lunacy - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - Modeste Mignon - The Firm of Nucingen - Another Study of Woman - A Daughter of Eve - The Member for Arcis - -Petit-Claud - Two Poets - -Pimentel, Marquis and Marquise de - Two Poets - -Postel - Two Poets - -Prieur, Madame - Two Poets - -Rastignac, Baron and Baronne de (Eugene's parents) - Father Goriot - Two Poets - -Rastignac, Eugene de - Father Goriot - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Ball at Sceaux - The Commission in Lunacy - A Study of Woman - Another Study of Woman - The Magic Skin - The Secrets of a Princess - A Daughter of Eve - The Gondreville Mystery - The Firm of Nucingen - Cousin Betty - The Member for Arcis - The Unconscious Humorists - -Rubempre, Lucien-Chardon de - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Government Clerks - Ursule Mirouet - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Sechard, Jerome-Nicholas - Two Poets - -Sechard, David - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial At Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Sechard, Madame David - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial At Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - -Senonches, Jacques de - Two Poets - -Senonches, Madame Jacques de - Two Poets - -Touches, Mademoiselle Felicite des - Beatrix - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - A Bachelor's Establishment - Another Study of Woman - A Daughter of Eve - Honorine - Beatrix - The Muse of the Department - -Victorine - Massimilla Doni - Letters of Two Brides - Gaudissart II - - - - - -End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Eve and David by Honore de Balzac - diff --git a/old/evdvd10.zip b/old/evdvd10.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 3b9eda5..0000000 --- a/old/evdvd10.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/old-2025-02-16/1639-0.txt b/old/old-2025-02-16/1639-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 412a091..0000000 --- a/old/old-2025-02-16/1639-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8315 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eve and David, by Honore de Balzac - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Eve and David - -Author: Honore de Balzac - -Translator: Ellen Marriage - -Release Date: February, 1999 [Etext #1639] -Posting Date: February 27, 2010 -Last Updated: November 22, 2016 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVE AND DAVID *** - - - - -Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny - - - - - -EVE AND DAVID - -(Lost Illusions Part III) - - -By Honore De Balzac - - - -Translated By Ellen Marriage - - - - PREPARER’S NOTE - - Eve and David is part three of a trilogy. Eve and David’s story - begins in part one, Two Poets. Part one also introduces Eve’s - brother, Lucien. Part two, A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, - centers on Lucien’s life in Paris. For part three the action once - more returns to Eve and David in Angouleme. In many references parts - one and three are combined under the title Lost Illusions and A - Distinguished Provincial at Paris is given its individual title. - Following this trilogy Lucien’s story is continued in another book, - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life. - - - - - -EVE AND DAVID - - -Lucien had gone to Paris; and David Sechard, with the courage -and intelligence of the ox which painters give the Evangelist for -accompanying symbol, set himself to make the large fortune for which he -had wished that evening down by the Charente, when he sat with Eve by -the weir, and she gave him her hand and her heart. He wanted to make the -money quickly, and less for himself than for Eve’s sake and Lucien’s. He -would place his wife amid the elegant and comfortable surroundings that -were hers by right, and his strong arm should sustain her brother’s -ambitions--this was the programme that he saw before his eyes in letters -of fire. - -Journalism and politics, the immense development of the book trade, -of literature and of the sciences; the increase of public interest in -matters touching the various industries in the country; in fact, the -whole social tendency of the epoch following the establishment of the -Restoration produced an enormous increase in the demand for paper. The -supply required was almost ten times as large as the quantity in which -the celebrated Ouvrard speculated at the outset of the Revolution. -Then Ouvrard could buy up first the entire stock of paper and then the -manufacturers; but in the year 1821 there were so many paper-mills in -France, that no one could hope to repeat his success; and David had -neither audacity enough nor capital enough for such speculation. -Machinery for producing paper in any length was just coming into use -in England. It was one of the most urgent needs of the time, therefore, -that the paper trade should keep pace with the requirements of the -French system of civil government, a system by which the right of -discussion was to be extended to every man, and the whole fabric based -upon continual expression of individual opinion; a grave misfortune, for -the nation that deliberates is but little wont to act. - -So, strange coincidence! while Lucien was drawn into the great machinery -of journalism, where he was like to leave his honor and his intelligence -torn to shreds, David Sechard, at the back of his printing-house, -foresaw all the practical consequences of the increased activity of the -periodical press. He saw the direction in which the spirit of the age -was tending, and sought to find means to the required end. He saw also -that there was a fortune awaiting the discoverer of cheap paper, and the -event has justified his clearsightedness. Within the last fifteen years, -the Patent Office has received more than a hundred applications from -persons claiming to have discovered cheap substances to be employed in -the manufacture of paper. David felt more than ever convinced that this -would be no brilliant triumph, it is true, but a useful and immensely -profitable discovery; and after his brother-in-law went to Paris, he -became more and more absorbed in the problem which he had set himself to -solve. - -The expenses of his marriage and of Lucien’s journey to Paris had -exhausted all his resources; he confronted the extreme of poverty at -the very outset of married life. He had kept one thousand francs for the -working expenses of the business, and owed a like sum, for which he had -given a bill to Postel the druggist. So here was a double problem for -this deep thinker; he must invent a method of making cheap paper, and -that quickly; he must make the discovery, in fact, in order to apply the -proceeds to the needs of the household and of the business. What words -can describe the brain that can forget the cruel preoccupations caused -by hidden want, by the daily needs of a family and the daily drudgery of -a printer’s business, which requires such minute, painstaking care; and -soar, with the enthusiasm and intoxication of the man of science, into -the regions of the unknown in quest of a secret which daily eludes the -most subtle experiment? And the inventor, alas! as will shortly be seen, -has plenty of woes to endure, besides the ingratitude of the many; idle -folk that can do nothing themselves tell them, “Such a one is a born -inventor; he could not do otherwise. He no more deserves credit for his -invention than a prince for being born to rule! He is simply exercising -his natural faculties, and his work is its own reward,” and the people -believe them. - -Marriage brings profound mental and physical perturbations into a -girl’s life; and if she marries under the ordinary conditions of -lower middle-class life, she must moreover begin to study totally new -interests and initiate herself in the intricacies of business. With -marriage, therefore, she enters upon a phase of her existence when she -is necessarily on the watch before she can act. Unfortunately, David’s -love for his wife retarded this training; he dared not tell her the -real state of affairs on the day after their wedding, nor for some time -afterwards. His father’s avarice condemned him to the most grinding -poverty, but he could not bring himself to spoil the honeymoon by -beginning his wife’s commercial education and prosaic apprenticeship to -his laborious craft. So it came to pass that housekeeping, no less than -working expenses, ate up the thousand francs, his whole fortune. For -four months David gave no thought to the future, and his wife remained -in ignorance. The awakening was terrible! Postel’s bill fell due; there -was no money to meet it, and Eve knew enough of the debt and its cause -to give up her bridal trinkets and silver. - -That evening Eve tried to induce David to talk of their affairs, for she -had noticed that he was giving less attention to the business and more -to the problem of which he had once spoken to her. Since the first few -weeks of married life, in fact, David spent most of his time in the -shed in the backyard, in the little room where he was wont to mould his -ink-rollers. Three months after his return to Angouleme, he had replaced -the old fashioned round ink-balls by rollers made of strong glue and -treacle, and an ink-table, on which the ink was evenly distributed, an -improvement so obvious that Cointet Brothers no sooner saw it than they -adopted the plan themselves. - -By the partition wall of this kitchen, as it were, David had set up a -little furnace with a copper pan, ostensibly to save the cost of fuel -over the recasting of his rollers, though the moulds had not been used -twice, and hung there rusting upon the wall. Nor was this all; a solid -oak door had been put in by his orders, and the walls were lined with -sheet-iron; he even replaced the dirty window sash by panes of ribbed -glass, so that no one without could watch him at his work. - -When Eve began to speak about the future, he looked uneasily at her, -and cut her short at the first word by saying, “I know all that you must -think, child, when you see that the workshop is left to itself, and -that I am dead, as it were, to all business interests; but see,” he -continued, bringing her to the window, and pointing to the mysterious -shed, “there lies our fortune. For some months yet we must endure our -lot, but let us bear it patiently; leave me to solve the problem of -which I told you, and all our troubles will be at an end.” - -David was so good, his devotion was so thoroughly to be taken upon his -word, that the poor wife, with a wife’s anxiety as to daily expenses, -determined to spare her husband the household cares and to take the -burden upon herself. So she came down from the pretty blue-and-white -room, where she sewed and talked contentedly with her mother, took -possession of one of the two dens at the back of the printing-room, -and set herself to learn the business routine of typography. Was it not -heroism in a wife who expected ere long to be a mother? - -During the past few months David’s workmen had left him one by one; -there was not enough work for them to do. Cointet Brothers, on the other -hand, were overwhelmed with orders; they were employing all the workmen -of the department; the alluring prospect of high wages even brought them -a few from Bordeaux, more especially apprentices, who thought themselves -sufficiently expert to cancel their articles and go elsewhere. When -Eve came to look into the affairs of Sechard’s printing works, she -discovered that he employed three persons in all. - -First in order stood Cerizet, an apprentice of Didot’s, whom David had -chosen to train. Most foremen have some one favorite among the great -numbers of workers under them, and David had brought Cerizet to -Angouleme, where he had been learning more of the business. Marion, as -much attached to the house as a watch-dog, was the second; and the third -was Kolb, an Alsacien, at one time a porter in the employ of the Messrs. -Didot. Kolb had been drawn for military service, chance brought him to -Angouleme, and David recognized the man’s face at a review just as -his time was about to expire. Kolb came to see David, and was smitten -forthwith by the charms of the portly Marion; she possessed all the -qualities which a man of his class looks for in a wife--the robust -health that bronzes the cheeks, the strength of a man (Marion could lift -a form of type with ease), the scrupulous honesty on which an Alsacien -sets such store, the faithful service which bespeaks a sterling -character, and finally, the thrift which had saved a little sum of a -thousand francs, besides a stock of clothing and linen, neat and -clean, as country linen can be. Marion herself, a big, stout woman -of thirty-six, felt sufficiently flattered by the admiration of a -cuirassier, who stood five feet seven in his stockings, a well-built -warrior, strong as a bastion, and not unnaturally suggested that -he should become a printer. So, by the time Kolb received his full -discharge, Marion and David between them had transformed him into a -tolerably creditable “bear,” though their pupil could neither read nor -write. - -Job printing, as it is called, was not so abundant at this season but -that Cerizet could manage it without help. Cerizet, compositor, clicker, -and foreman, realized in his person the “phenomenal triplicity” of Kant; -he set up type, read proof, took orders, and made out invoices; but the -most part of the time he had nothing to do, and used to read novels in -his den at the back of the workshop while he waited for an order for a -bill-head or a trade circular. Marion, trained by old Sechard, prepared -and wetted down the paper, helped Kolb with the printing, hung the -sheets to dry, and cut them to size; yet cooked the dinner, none the -less, and did her marketing very early of a morning. - -Eve told Cerizet to draw out a balance-sheet for the last six months, -and found that the gross receipts amounted to eight hundred francs. On -the other hand, wages at the rate of three francs per day--two francs to -Cerizet, and one to Kolb--reached a total of six hundred francs; and as -the goods supplied for the work printed and delivered amounted to some -hundred odd francs, it was clear to Eve that David had been carrying -on business at a loss during the first half-year of their married life. -There was nothing to show for rent, nothing for Marion’s wages, nor for -the interest on capital represented by the plant, the license, and -the ink; nothing, finally, by way of allowance for the host of things -included in the technical expression “wear and tear,” a word which owes -its origin to the cloths and silks which are used to moderate the force -of the impression, and to save wear to the type; a square of stuff (the -_blanket_) being placed between the platen and the sheet of paper in the -press. - -Eve made a rough calculation of the resources of the printing office and -of the output, and saw how little hope there was for a business drained -dry by the all-devouring activity of the brothers Cointet; for by this -time the Cointets were not only contract printers to the town and the -prefecture, and printers to the Diocese by special appointment--they -were paper-makers and proprietors of a newspaper to boot. That -newspaper, sold two years ago by the Sechards, father and son, for -twenty-two thousand francs, was now bringing in eighteen thousand francs -per annum. Eve began to understand the motives lurking beneath the -apparent generosity of the brothers Cointet; they were leaving the -Sechard establishment just sufficient work to gain a pittance, but not -enough to establish a rival house. - -When Eve took the management of the business, she began by taking stock. -She set Kolb and Marion and Cerizet to work, and the workshop was put to -rights, cleaned out, and set in order. Then one evening when David came -in from a country excursion, followed by an old woman with a huge bundle -tied up in a cloth, Eve asked counsel of him as to the best way of -turning to profit the odds and ends left them by old Sechard, promising -that she herself would look after the business. Acting upon her -husband’s advice, Mme. Sechard sorted all the remnants of paper which -she found, and printed old popular legends in double columns upon a -single sheet, such as peasants paste on their walls, the histories -of _The Wandering Jew_, _Robert the Devil_, _La Belle Maguelonne_ and -sundry miracles. Eve sent Kolb out as a hawker. - -Cerizet had not a moment to spare now; he was composing the naive pages, -with the rough cuts that adorned them, from morning to night; Marion -was able to manage the taking off; and all domestic cares fell to Mme. -Chardon, for Eve was busy coloring the prints. Thanks to Kolb’s activity -and honesty, Eve sold three thousand broad sheets at a penny apiece, and -made three hundred francs in all at a cost of thirty francs. - -But when every peasant’s hut and every little wine-shop for twenty -leagues round was papered with these legends, a fresh speculation -must be discovered; the Alsacien could not go beyond the limits of the -department. Eve, turning over everything in the whole printing house, -had found a collection of figures for printing a “Shepherd’s Calendar,” - a kind of almanac meant for those who cannot read, letterpress being -replaced by symbols, signs, and pictures in colored inks, red, black and -blue. Old Sechard, who could neither read nor write himself, had made a -good deal of money at one time by bringing out an almanac in hieroglyph. -It was in book form, a single sheet folded to make one hundred and -twenty-eight pages. - -Thoroughly satisfied with the success of the broad sheets, a piece -of business only undertaken by country printing offices, Mme. Sechard -invested all the proceeds in the _Shepherd’s Calendar_, and began it -upon a large scale. Millions of copies of this work are sold annually -in France. It is printed upon even coarser paper than the _Almanac of -Liege_, a ream (five hundred sheets) costing in the first instance about -four francs; while the printed sheets sell at the rate of a halfpenny -apiece--twenty-five francs per ream. - -Mme. Sechard determined to use one hundred reams for the first -impression; fifty thousand copies would bring in two thousand francs. A -man so deeply absorbed in his work as David in his researches is seldom -observant; yet David, taking a look round his workshop, was astonished -to hear the groaning of a press and to see Cerizet always on his feet, -setting up type under Mme. Sechard’s direction. There was a pretty -triumph for Eve on the day when David came in to see what she was doing, -and praised the idea, and thought the calendar an excellent stroke of -business. Furthermore, David promised to give advice in the matter of -colored inks, for an almanac meant to appeal to the eye; and finally, he -resolved to recast the ink-rollers himself in his mysterious workshop, -so as to help his wife as far as he could in her important little -enterprise. - -But just as the work began with strenuous industry, there came letters -from Lucien in Paris, heart-sinking letters that told his mother and -sister and brother-in-law of his failure and distress; and when Eve, -Mme. Chardon, and David each secretly sent money to their poet, it must -be plain to the reader that the three hundred francs they sent were like -their very blood. The overwhelming news, the disheartening sense that -work as bravely as she might, she made so little, left Eve looking -forward with a certain dread to an event which fills the cup of -happiness to the full. The time was coming very near now, and to herself -she said, “If my dear David has not reached the end of his researches -before my confinement, what will become of us? And who will look after -our poor printing office and the business that is growing up?” - -The _Shepherd’s Calendar_ ought by rights to have been ready before the -1st of January, but Cerizet was working unaccountably slowly; all the -work of composing fell to him; and Mme. Sechard, knowing so little, -could not find fault, and was fain to content herself with watching the -young Parisian. - -Cerizet came from the great Foundling Hospital in Paris. He had been -apprenticed to the MM. Didot, and between the ages of fourteen and -seventeen he was David Sechard’s fanatical worshiper. David put him -under one of the cleverest workmen, and took him for his copy-holder, -his page. Cerizet’s intelligence naturally interested David; he won -the lad’s affection by procuring amusements now and again for him, -and comforts from which he was cut off by poverty. Nature had endowed -Cerizet with an insignificant, rather pretty little countenance, red -hair, and a pair of dull blue eyes; he had come to Angouleme and brought -the manners of the Parisian street-boy with him. He was formidable by -reason of a quick, sarcastic turn and a spiteful disposition. Perhaps -David looked less strictly after him in Angouleme; or, perhaps, as the -lad grew older, his mentor put more trust in him, or in the sobering -influences of a country town; but be that as it may, Cerizet (all -unknown to his sponsor) was going completely to the bad, and the -printer’s apprentice was acting the part of a Don Juan among little work -girls. His morality, learned in Paris drinking-saloons, laid down the -law of self-interest as the sole rule of guidance; he knew, moreover, -that next year he would be “drawn for a soldier,” to use the popular -expression, saw that he had no prospects, and ran into debt, thinking -that soon he should be in the army, and none of his creditors would run -after him. David still possessed some ascendency over the young fellow, -due not to his position as master, nor yet to the interest that he -had taken in his pupil, but to the great intellectual power which the -sometime street-boy fully recognized. - -Before long Cerizet began to fraternize with the Cointets’ workpeople, -drawn to them by the mutual attraction of blouse and jacket, and the -class feeling, which is, perhaps, strongest of all in the lowest ranks -of society. In their company Cerizet forgot the little good doctrine -which David had managed to instil into him; but, nevertheless, when the -others joked the boy about the presses in his workshop (“old sabots,” as -the “bears” contemptuously called them), and showed him the magnificent -machines, twelve in number, now at work in the Cointets’ great printing -office, where the single wooden press was only used for experiments, -Cerizet would stand up for David and fling out at the braggarts. - -“My gaffer will go farther with his ‘sabots’ than yours with their -cast-iron contrivances that turn out mass books all day long,” he -would boast. “He is trying to find out a secret that will lick all the -printing offices in France and Navarre.” - -“And meantime you take your orders from a washer-woman, you snip of a -foreman, on two francs a day.” - -“She is pretty though,” retorted Cerizet; “it is better to have her to -look at than the phizes of your gaffers.” - -“And do you live by looking at his wife?” - -From the region of the wineshop, or from the door of the printing -office, where these bickerings took place, a dim light began to break in -upon the brothers Cointet as to the real state of things in the Sechard -establishment. They came to hear of Eve’s experiment, and held it -expedient to stop these flights at once, lest the business should begin -to prosper under the poor young wife’s management. - -“Let us give her a rap over the knuckles, and disgust her with the -business,” said the brothers Cointet. - -One of the pair, the practical printer, spoke to Cerizet, and asked him -to do the proof-reading for them by piecework, to relieve their reader, -who had more than he could manage. So it came to pass that Cerizet -earned more by a few hours’ work of an evening for the brothers Cointet -than by a whole day’s work for David Sechard. Other transactions -followed; the Cointets seeing no small aptitude in Cerizet, he was told -that it was a pity that he should be in a position so little favorable -to his interests. - -“You might be foreman some day in a big printing office, making -six francs a day,” said one of the Cointets one day, “and with your -intelligence you might come to have a share in the business.” - -“Where is the use of my being a good foreman?” returned Cerizet. “I am -an orphan, I shall be drawn for the army next year, and if I get a bad -number who is there to pay some one else to take my place?” - -“If you make yourself useful,” said the well-to-do printer, “why should -not somebody advance the money?” - -“It won’t be my gaffer in any case!” said Cerizet. - -“Pooh! Perhaps by that time he will have found out the secret.” - -The words were spoken in a way that could not but rouse the worst -thoughts in the listener; and Cerizet gave the papermaker and printer a -very searching look. - -“I do not know what he is busy about,” he began prudently, as the master -said nothing, “but he is not the kind of man to look for capitals in the -lower case!” - -“Look here, my friend,” said the printer, taking up half-a-dozen sheets -of the diocesan prayer-book and holding them out to Cerizet, “if you -can correct these for us by to-morrow, you shall have eighteen francs -to-morrow for them. We are not shabby here; we put our competitor’s -foreman in the way of making money. As a matter of fact, we might let -Mme. Sechard go too far to draw back with her _Shepherd’s Calendar_, -and ruin her; very well, we give you permission to tell her that we -are bringing out a _Shepherd’s Calendar_ of our own, and to call her -attention too to the fact that she will not be the first in the field.” - -Cerizet’s motive for working so slowly on the composition of the almanac -should be clear enough by this time. - -When Eve heard that the Cointets meant to spoil her poor little -speculation, dread seized upon her; at first she tried to see a proof of -attachment in Cerizet’s hypocritical warning of competition; but before -long she saw signs of an over-keen curiosity in her sole compositor--the -curiosity of youth, she tried to think. - -“Cerizet,” she said one morning, “you stand about on the threshold, and -wait for M. Sechard in the passage, to pry into his private affairs; -when he comes out into the yard to melt down the rollers, you are there -looking at him, instead of getting on with the almanac. These things -are not right, especially when you see that I, his wife, respect his -secrets, and take so much trouble on myself to leave him free to give -himself up to his work. If you had not wasted time, the almanac would -be finished by now, and Kolb would be selling it, and the Cointets could -have done us no harm.” - -“Eh! madame,” answered Cerizet. “Here am I doing five francs’ worth of -composing for two francs a day, and don’t you think that that is enough? -Why, if I did not read proofs of an evening for the Cointets, I might -feed myself on husks.” - -“You are turning ungrateful early,” said Eve, deeply hurt, not so much -by Cerizet’s grumbling as by his coarse tone, threatening attitude, and -aggressive stare; “you will get on in life.” - -“Not with a woman to order me about though, for it is not often that the -month has thirty days in it then.” - -Feeling wounded in her womanly dignity, Eve gave Cerizet a withering -look and went upstairs again. At dinner-time she spoke to David. - -“Are you sure, dear, of that little rogue Cerizet?” - -“Cerizet!” said David. “Why, he was my youngster; I trained him, I took -him on as my copy-holder. I put him to composing; anything that he is he -owes to me, in fact! You might as well ask a father if he is sure of his -child.” - -Upon this, Eve told her husband that Cerizet was reading proofs for the -Cointets. - -“Poor fellow! he must live,” said David, humbled by the consciousness -that he had not done his duty as a master. - -“Yes, but there is a difference, dear, between Kolb and Cerizet--Kolb -tramps about twenty leagues every day, spends fifteen or twenty sous, -and brings us back seven and eight and sometimes nine francs of sales; -and when his expenses are paid, he never asks for more than his wages. -Kolb would sooner cut off his hand than work a lever for the Cointets; -Kolb would not peer among the things that you throw out into the yard if -people offered him a thousand crowns to do it; but Cerizet picks them up -and looks at them.” - -It is hard for noble natures to think evil, to believe in ingratitude; -only through rough experience do they learn the extent of human -corruption; and even when there is nothing left them to learn in this -kind, they rise to an indulgence which is the last degree of contempt. - -“Pooh! pure Paris street-boy’s curiosity,” cried David. - -“Very well, dear, do me the pleasure to step downstairs and look at the -work done by this boy of yours, and tell me then whether he ought not to -have finished our almanac this month.” - -David went into the workshop after dinner, and saw that the calendar -should have been set up in a week. Then, when he heard that the Cointets -were bringing out a similar almanac, he came to the rescue. He took -command of the printing office, Kolb helped at home instead of selling -broadsheets. Kolb and Marion pulled off the impressions from one form -while David worked another press with Cerizet, and superintended the -printing in various inks. Every sheet must be printed four separate -times, for which reason none but small houses will attempt to produce -a _Shepherd’s Calendar_, and that only in the country where labor is -cheap, and the amount of capital employed in the business is so small -that the interest amounts to little. Wherefore, a press which turns out -beautiful work cannot compete in the printing of such sheets, coarse -though they may be. - -So, for the first time since old Sechard retired, two presses were at -work in the old house. The calendar was, in its way, a masterpiece; but -Eve was obliged to sell it for less than a halfpenny, for the Cointets -were supplying hawkers at the rate of three centimes per copy. Eve made -no loss on the copies sold to hawkers; on Kolb’s sales, made directly, -she gained; but her little speculation was spoiled. Cerizet saw that -his fair employer distrusted him; in his own conscience he posed as the -accuser, and said to himself, “You suspect me, do you? I will have -my revenge,” for the Paris street-boy is made on this wise. Cerizet -accordingly took pay out of all proportion to the work of proof-reading -done for the Cointets, going to their office every evening for the -sheets, and returning them in the morning. He came to be on familiar -terms with them through the daily chat, and at length saw a chance of -escaping the military service, a bait held out to him by the brothers. -So far from requiring prompting from the Cointets, he was the first to -propose the espionage and exploitation of David’s researches. - -Eve saw how little she could depend upon Cerizet, and to find another -Kolb was simply impossible; she made up her mind to dismiss her one -compositor, for the insight of a woman who loves told her that Cerizet -was a traitor; but as this meant a deathblow to the business, she took -a man’s resolution. She wrote to M. Metivier, with whom David and the -Cointets and almost every papermaker in the department had business -relations, and asked him to put the following advertisement into a trade -paper: - - -“FOR SALE, as a going concern, a Printing Office, with License and -Plant; situated at Angouleme. Apply for particulars to M. Metivier, Rue -Serpente.” - - -The Cointets saw the advertisement. “That little woman has a head on her -shoulders,” they said. “It is time that we took her business under our -own control, by giving her enough work to live upon; we might find a -real competitor in David’s successor; it is in our interest to keep an -eye upon that workshop.” - -The Cointets went to speak to David Sechard, moved thereto by this -thought. Eve saw them, knew that her stratagem had succeeded at once, -and felt a thrill of the keenest joy. They stated their proposal. They -had more work than they could undertake, their presses could not keep -pace with the work, would M. Sechard print for them? They had sent to -Bordeaux for workmen, and could find enough to give full employment to -David’s three presses. - -“Gentlemen,” said Eve, while Cerizet went across to David’s workshop to -announce the two printers, “while my husband was with the MM. Didot he -came to know of excellent workers, honest and industrious men; he will -choose his successor, no doubt, from among the best of them. If he sold -his business outright for some twenty thousand francs, it might bring -us in a thousand francs per annum; that would be better than losing a -thousand yearly over such trade as you leave us. Why did you envy us the -poor little almanac speculation, especially as we have always brought it -out?” - -“Oh, why did you not give us notice, madame? We would not have -interfered with you,” one of the brothers answered blandly (he was known -as the “tall Cointet”). - -“Oh, come gentlemen! you only began your almanac after Cerizet told you -that I was bringing out mine.” - -She spoke briskly, looking full at “the tall Cointet” as she spoke. He -lowered his eyes; Cerizet’s treachery was proven to her. - -This brother managed the business and the paper-mill; he was by far the -cleverer man of business of the two. Jean showed no small ability in the -conduct of the printing establishment, but in intellectual capacity he -might be said to take colonel’s rank, while Boniface was a general. Jean -left the command to Boniface. This latter was thin and spare in person; -his face, sallow as an altar candle, was mottled with reddish patches; -his lips were pinched; there was something in his eyes that reminded you -of a cat’s eyes. Boniface Cointet never excited himself; he would listen -to the grossest insults with the serenity of a bigot, and reply in -a smooth voice. He went to mass, he went to confession, he took the -sacrament. Beneath his caressing manners, beneath an almost spiritless -look, lurked the tenacity and ambition of the priest, and the greed of -the man of business consumed with a thirst for riches and honors. In -the year 1820 “tall Cointet” wanted all that the _bourgeoisie_ -finally obtained by the Revolution of 1830. In his heart he hated the -aristocrats, and in religion he was indifferent; he was as much or as -little of a bigot as Bonaparte was a member of the Mountain; yet his -vertebral column bent with a flexibility wonderful to behold before the -noblesse and the official hierarchy; for the powers that be, he humbled -himself, he was meek and obsequious. One final characteristic will -describe him for those who are accustomed to dealings with all kinds of -men, and can appreciate its value--Cointet concealed the expression of -his eyes by wearing colored glasses, ostensibly to preserve his sight -from the reflection of the sunlight on the white buildings in the -streets; for Angouleme, being set upon a hill, is exposed to the full -glare of the sun. Tall Cointet was really scarcely above middle height; -he looked much taller than he actually was by reason of the thinness, -which told of overwork and a brain in continual ferment. His lank, sleek -gray hair, cut in somewhat ecclesiastical fashion; the black trousers, -black stockings, black waistcoat, and long puce-colored greatcoat -(styled a _levite_ in the south), all completed his resemblance to a -Jesuit. - -Boniface was called “tall Cointet” to distinguish him from his brother, -“fat Cointet,” and the nicknames expressed a difference in character -as well as a physical difference between a pair of equally redoubtable -personages. As for Jean Cointet, a jolly, stout fellow, with a face from -a Flemish interior, colored by the southern sun of Angouleme, thick-set, -short and paunchy as Sancho Panza; with a smile on his lips and a pair -of sturdy shoulders, he was a striking contrast to his older brother. -Nor was the difference only physical and intellectual. Jean might almost -be called Liberal in politics; he belonged to the Left Centre, only went -to mass on Sundays, and lived on a remarkably good understanding with -the Liberal men of business. There were those in L’Houmeau who said that -this divergence between the brothers was more apparent than real. Tall -Cointet turned his brother’s seeming good nature to advantage very -skilfully. Jean was his bludgeon. It was Jean who gave all the hard -words; it was Jean who conducted the executions which little beseemed -the elder brother’s benevolence. Jean took the storms department; he -would fly into a rage, and propose terms that nobody would think -of accepting, to pave the way for his brother’s less unreasonable -propositions. And by such policy the pair attained their ends, sooner or -later. - -Eve, with a woman’s tact, had soon divined the characters of the two -brothers; she was on her guard with foes so formidable. David, informed -beforehand of everything by his wife, lent a profoundly inattentive mind -to his enemies’ proposals. - -“Come to an understanding with my wife,” he said, as he left the -Cointets in the office and went back to his laboratory. “Mme. Sechard -knows more about the business than I do myself. I am interested in -something that will pay better than this poor place; I hope to find a -way to retrieve the losses that I have made through you----” - -“And how?” asked the fat Cointet, chuckling. - -Eve gave her husband a look that meant, “Be careful!” - -“You will be my tributaries,” said David, “and all other consumers of -papers besides.” - -“Then what are you investigating?” asked the hypocritical Boniface -Cointet. - -Boniface’s question slipped out smoothly and insinuatingly, and again -Eve’s eyes implored her husband to give an answer that was no answer, or -to say nothing at all. - -“I am trying to produce paper at fifty per cent less than the present -cost price,” and he went. He did not see the glances exchanged between -the brothers. “That is an inventor, a man of his build cannot sit with -his hands before him.--Let us exploit him,” said Boniface’s eyes. “How -can we do it?” said Jean’s. - -Mme. Sechard spoke. “David treats me just in the same way,” she said. -“If I show any curiosity, he feels suspicious of my name, no doubt, and -out comes that remark of his; it is only a formula, after all.” - -“If your husband can work out the formula, he will certainly make a -fortune more quickly than by printing; I am not surprised that he -leaves the business to itself,” said Boniface, looking across the empty -workshop, where Kolb, seated upon a wetting-board, was rubbing his bread -with a clove of garlic; “but it would not suit our views to see this -place in the hands of an energetic, pushing, ambitious competitor,” - he continued, “and perhaps it might be possible to arrive at an -understanding. Suppose, for instance, that you consented for a -consideration to allow us to put in one of our own men to work your -presses for our benefit, but nominally for you; the thing is sometimes -done in Paris. We would find the fellow work enough to enable him to -rent your place and pay you well, and yet make a profit for himself.” - -“It depends on the amount,” said Eve Sechard. “What is your offer?” she -added, looking at Boniface to let him see that she understood his scheme -perfectly well. - -“What is your own idea?” Jean Cointet put in briskly. - -“Three thousand francs for six months,” said she. - -“Why, my dear young lady, you were proposing to sell the place outright -for twenty thousand francs,” said Boniface with much suavity. “The -interest on twenty thousand francs is only twelve hundred francs per -annum at six per cent.” - -For a moment Eve was thrown into confusion; she saw the need for -discretion in matters of business. - -“You wish to use our presses and our name as well,” she said; “and, as -I have already shown you, I can still do a little business. And then we -pay rent to M. Sechard senior, who does not load us with presents.” - -After two hours of debate, Eve obtained two thousand francs for -six months, one thousand to be paid in advance. When everything was -concluded, the brothers informed her that they meant to put in Cerizet -as lessee of the premises. In spite of herself, Eve started with -surprise. - -“Isn’t it better to have somebody who knows the workshop?” asked the fat -Cointet. - -Eve made no reply; she took leave of the brothers, vowing inwardly to -look after Cerizet. - -“Well, here are our enemies in the place!” laughed David, when Eve -brought out the papers for his signature at dinner-time. - -“Pshaw!” said she, “I will answer for Kolb and Marion; they alone -would look after things. Besides, we shall be making an income of four -thousand francs from the workshop, which only costs us money as it is; -and looking forward, I see a year in which you may realize your hopes.” - -“You were born to be the wife of a scientific worker, as you said by the -weir,” said David, grasping her hand tenderly. - -But though the Sechard household had money sufficient that winter, -they were none the less subjected to Cerizet’s espionage, and all -unconsciously became dependent upon Boniface Cointet. - -“We have them now!” the manager of the paper-mill had exclaimed as he -left the house with his brother the printer. “They will begin to regard -the rent as regular income; they will count upon it and run themselves -into debt. In six months’ time we will decline to renew the agreement, -and then we shall see what this man of genius has at the bottom of his -mind; we will offer to help him out of his difficulty by taking him into -partnership and exploiting his discovery.” - -Any shrewd man of business who should have seen tall Cointet’s face as -he uttered those words, “taking him into partnership,” would have known -that it behooves a man to be even more careful in the selection of the -partner whom he takes before the Tribunal of Commerce than in the -choice of the wife whom he weds at the Mayor’s office. Was it not enough -already, and more than enough, that the ruthless hunters were on the -track of the quarry? How should David and his wife, with Kolb and Marion -to help them, escape the toils of a Boniface Cointet? - -A draft for five hundred francs came from Lucien, and this, with -Cerizet’s second payment, enabled them to meet all the expenses of Mme. -Sechard’s confinement. Eve and the mother and David had thought that -Lucien had forgotten them, and rejoiced over this token of remembrance -as they rejoiced over his success, for his first exploits in journalism -made even more noise in Angouleme than in Paris. - -But David, thus lulled into a false security, was to receive a -staggering blow, a cruel letter from Lucien:-- - - - _Lucien to David._ - - “MY DEAR DAVID,--I have drawn three bills on you, and negotiated - them with Metivier; they fall due in one, two, and three months’ - time. I took this hateful course, which I know will burden you - heavily, because the one alternative was suicide. I will explain - my necessity some time, and I will try besides to send the amounts - as the bills fall due. - - “Burn this letter; say nothing to my mother and sister; for, I - confess it, I have counted upon you, upon the heroism known so - well to your despairing brother, - - “LUCIEN DE RUBEMPRE.” - - -By this time Eve had recovered from her confinement. - -“Your brother, poor fellow, is in desperate straits,” David told her. “I -have sent him three bills for a thousand francs at one, two, and three -months; just make a note of them,” and he went out into the fields to -escape his wife’s questionings. - -But Eve had felt very uneasy already. It was six months since Lucien -had written to them. She talked over the news with her mother till her -forebodings grew so dark that she made up her mind to dissipate them. -She would take a bold step in her despair. - -Young M. de Rastignac had come to spend a few days with his family. -He had spoken of Lucien in terms that set Paris gossip circulating in -Angouleme, till at last it reached the journalist’s mother and sister. -Eve went to Mme. de Rastignac, asked the favor of an interview with her -son, spoke of all her fears, and asked him for the truth. In a moment -Eve heard of her brother’s connection with the actress Coralie, of his -duel with Michel Chrestien, arising out of his own treacherous behavior -to Daniel d’Arthez; she received, in short, a version of Lucien’s -history, colored by the personal feeling of a clever and envious dandy. -Rastignac expressed sincere admiration for the abilities so terribly -compromised, and a patriotic fear for the future of a native genius; -spite and jealousy masqueraded as pity and friendliness. He spoke of -Lucien’s blunders. It seemed that Lucien had forfeited the favor of a -very great person, and that a patent conferring the right to bear the -name and arms of Rubempre had actually been made out and subsequently -torn up. - -“If your brother, madame, had been well advised, he would have been on -the way to honors, and Mme. de Bargeton’s husband by this time; but what -can you expect? He deserted her and insulted her. She is now Mme. la -Comtesse Sixte du Chatelet, to her own great regret, for she loved -Lucien.” - -“Is it possible!” exclaimed Mme. Sechard. - -“Your brother is like a young eagle, blinded by the first rays of glory -and luxury. When an eagle falls, who can tell how far he may sink before -he drops to the bottom of some precipice? The fall of a great man is -always proportionately great.” - -Eve came away with a great dread in her heart; those last words pierced -her like an arrow. She had been wounded to the quick. She said not a -word to anybody, but again and again a tear rolled down her cheeks, and -fell upon the child at her breast. So hard is it to give up illusions -sanctioned by family feeling, illusions that have grown with our growth, -that Eve had doubted Eugene de Rastignac. She would rather hear a -true friend’s account of her brother. Lucien had given them d’Arthez’s -address in the days when he was full of enthusiasm for the brotherhood; -she wrote a pathetic letter to d’Arthez, and received the following -reply:-- - - - _D’Arthez to Mme. Sechard._ - - “MADAME,--You ask me to tell you the truth about the life that - your brother is leading in Paris; you are anxious for - enlightenment as to his prospects; and to encourage a frank answer - on my part, you repeat certain things that M. de Rastignac has - told you, asking me if they are true. With regard to the purely - personal matter, madame, M. de Rastignac’s confidences must be - corrected in Lucien’s favor. Your brother wrote a criticism of my - book, and brought it to me in remorse, telling me that he could - not bring himself to publish it, although obedience to the orders - of his party might endanger one who was very dear to him. Alas! - madame, a man of letters must needs comprehend all passions, since - it is his pride to express them; I understood that where a - mistress and a friend are involved, the friend is inevitably - sacrificed. I smoothed your brother’s way; I corrected his - murderous article myself, and gave it my full approval. - - “You ask whether Lucien has kept my friendship and esteem; to this - it is difficult to make an answer. Your brother is on a road that - leads him to ruin. At this moment I still feel sorry for him; - before long I shall have forgotten him, of set purpose, not so - much on account of what he has done already as for that which he - inevitably will do. Your Lucien is not a poet, he has the poetic - temper; he dreams, he does not think; he spends himself in - emotion, he does not create. He is, in fact--permit me to say it - --a womanish creature that loves to shine, the Frenchman’s great - failing. Lucien will always sacrifice his best friend for the - pleasure of displaying his own wit. He would not hesitate to sign - a pact with the Devil to-morrow if so he might secure a few years - of luxurious and glorious life. Nay, has he not done worse - already? He has bartered his future for the short-lived delights - of living openly with an actress. So far, he has not seen the - dangers of his position; the girl’s youth and beauty and devotion - (for she worships him) have closed his eyes to the truth; he - cannot see that no glory or success or fortune can induce the - world to accept the position. Very well, as it is now, so it will - be with each new temptation--your brother will not look beyond the - enjoyment of the moment. Do not be alarmed: Lucien will never go - so far as a crime, he has not the strength of character; but he - would take the fruits of a crime, he would share the benefit but - not the risk--a thing that seems abhorrent to the whole world, - even to scoundrels. Oh, he would despise himself, he would repent; - but bring him once more to the test, and he would fail again; for - he is weak of will, he cannot resist the allurements of pleasure, - nor forego the least of his ambitions. He is indolent, like all - who would fain be poets; he thinks it clever to juggle with the - difficulties of life instead of facing and overcoming them. He - will be brave at one time, cowardly at another, and deserves - neither credit for his courage, nor blame for his cowardice. - Lucien is like a harp with strings that are slackened or tightened - by the atmosphere. He might write a great book in a glad or angry - mood, and care nothing for the success that he had desired for so - long. - - “When he first came to Paris he fell under the influence of an - unprincipled young fellow, and was dazzled by his companion’s - adroitness and experience in the difficulties of a literary life. - This juggler completely bewitched Lucien; he dragged him into a - life which a man cannot lead and respect himself, and, unluckily - for Lucien, love shed its magic over the path. The admiration that - is given too readily is a sign of want of judgment; a poet ought - not to be paid in the same coin as a dancer on the tight-rope. We - all felt hurt when intrigue and literary rascality were preferred - to the courage and honor of those who counseled Lucien rather to - face the battle than to filch success, to spring down into the - arena rather than become a trumpet in the orchestra. - - “Society, madame, oddly enough, shows plentiful indulgence to - young men of Lucien’s stamp; they are popular, the world is - fascinated by their external gifts and good looks. Nothing is - asked of them, all their sins are forgiven; they are treated like - perfect natures, others are blind to their defects, they are the - world’s spoiled children. And, on the other hand, the world is - stern beyond measure to strong and complete natures. Perhaps in - this apparently flagrant injustice society acts sublimely, taking - a harlequin at his just worth, asking nothing of him but - amusement, promptly forgetting him; and asking divine great deeds - of those before whom she bends the knee. Everything is judged by - laws of its being; the diamond must be flawless; the ephemeral - creation of fashion may be flimsy, bizarre, inconsequent. So - Lucien may perhaps succeed to admiration in spite of his mistakes; - he has only to profit by some happy vein or to be among good - companions; but if an evil angel crosses his path, he will go to - the very depths of hell. ‘Tis a brilliant assemblage of good - qualities embroidered upon too slight a tissue; time wears the - flowers away till nothing but the web is left; and if that is poor - stuff, you behold a rag at the last. So long as Lucien is young, - people will like him; but where will he be as a man of thirty? - That is the question which those who love him sincerely are bound - to ask themselves. If I alone had come to think in this way of - Lucien, I might perhaps have spared you the pain which my plain - speaking will give you; but to evade the questions put by your - anxiety, and to answer a cry of anguish like your letter with - commonplaces, seemed to me alike unworthy of you and of me, whom - you esteem too highly; and besides, those of my friends who knew - Lucien are unanimous in their judgment. So it appeared to me to be - a duty to put the truth before you, terrible though it may be. - Anything may be expected of Lucien, anything good or evil. That is - our opinion, and this letter is summed up in that sentence. If the - vicissitudes of his present way of life (a very wretched and - slippery one) should bring the poet back to you, use all your - influence to keep him among you; for until his character has - acquired stability, Paris will not be safe for him. He used to - speak of you, you and your husband, as his guardian angels; he has - forgotten you, no doubt; but he will remember you again when - tossed by tempest, with no refuge left to him but his home. Keep - your heart for him, madame; he will need it. - - “Permit me, madame, to convey to you the expression of the sincere - respect of a man to whom your rare qualities are known, a man who - honors your mother’s fears so much, that he desires to style - himself your devoted servant, - - “D’ARTHEZ.” - - -Two days after the letter came, Eve was obliged to find a wet-nurse; her -milk had dried up. She had made a god of her brother; now, in her eyes, -he was depraved through the exercise of his noblest faculties; he was -wallowing in the mire. She, noble creature that she was, was incapable -of swerving from honesty and scrupulous delicacy, from all the pious -traditions of the hearth, which still burns so clearly and sheds its -light abroad in quiet country homes. Then David had been right in his -forecasts! The leaden hues of grief overspread Eve’s white brow. She -told her husband her secret in one of the pellucid talks in which -married lovers tell everything to each other. The tones of David’s voice -brought comfort. Though the tears stood in his eyes when he knew that -grief had dried his wife’s fair breast, and knew Eve’s despair that she -could not fulfil a mother’s duties, he held out reassuring hopes. - -“Your brother’s imagination has let him astray, you see, child. It is so -natural that a poet should wish for blue and purple robes, and hurry as -eagerly after festivals as he does. It is a bird that loves glitter and -luxury with such simple sincerity, that God forgives him if man condemns -him for it.” - -“But he is draining our lives!” exclaimed poor Eve. - -“He is draining our lives just now, but only a few months ago he saved -us by sending us the first fruits of his earnings,” said the good David. -He had the sense to see that his wife was in despair, was going beyond -the limit, and that love for Lucien would very soon come back. “Fifty -years ago, or thereabouts, Mercier said in his _Tableau de Paris_ that -a man cannot live by literature, poetry, letters, or science, by the -creatures of his brain, in short; and Lucien, poet that he is, would not -believe the experience of five centuries. The harvests that are watered -with ink are only reaped ten or twelve years after the sowing, if indeed -there is any harvest after all. Lucien has taken the green wheat for the -sheaves. He will have learned something of life, at any rate. He was the -dupe of a woman at the outset; he was sure to be duped afterwards by the -world and false friends. He has bought his experience dear, that is all. -Our ancestors used to say, ‘If the son of the house brings back his two -ears and his honor safe, all is well----’” - -“Honor!” poor Eve broke in. “Oh, but Lucien has fallen in so many ways! -Writing against his conscience! Attacking his best friend! Living upon -an actress! Showing himself in public with her. Bringing us to lie on -straw----” - -“Oh, that is nothing----!” cried David, and suddenly stopped short. The -secret of Lucien’s forgery had nearly escaped him, and, unluckily, his -start left a vague, uneasy impression on Eve. - -“What do you mean by nothing?” she answered. “And where shall we find -the money to meet bills for three thousand francs?” - -“We shall be obliged to renew the lease with Cerizet, to begin with,” - said David. “The Cointets have been allowing him fifteen per cent on -the work done for them, and in that way alone he has made six hundred -francs, besides contriving to make five hundred francs by job printing.” - -“If the Cointets know that, perhaps they will not renew the lease. They -will be afraid of him, for Cerizet is a dangerous man.” - -“Eh! what is that to me!” cried David, “we shall be rich in a very -little while. When Lucien is rich, dear angel, he will have nothing but -good qualities.” - -“Oh! David, my dear, my dear; what is this that you have said -unthinkingly? Then Lucien fallen into the clutches of poverty would not -have the force of character to resist evil? And you think just as M. -d’Arthez thinks! No one is great unless he has strength of character, -and Lucien is weak. An angel must not be tempted--what is that?” - -“What but a nature that is noble only in its own region, its own sphere, -its heaven? I will spare him the struggle; Lucien is not meant for it. -Look here! I am so near the end now that I can talk to you about the -means.” - -He drew several sheets of white paper from his pocket, brandished them -in triumph, and laid them on his wife’s lap. - -“A ream of this paper, royal size, would cost five francs at the most,” - he added, while Eve handled the specimens with almost childish surprise. - -“Why, how did you make these sample bits?” she asked. - -“With an old kitchen sieve of Marion’s.” - -“And are you not satisfied yet?” asked Eve. - -“The problem does not lie in the manufacturing process; it is a question -of the first cost of the pulp. Alas, child, I am only a late comer in -a difficult path. As long ago as 1794, Mme. Masson tried to use printed -paper a second time; she succeeded, but what a price it cost! The -Marquis of Salisbury tried to use straw as a material in 1800, and the -same idea occurred to Seguin in France in 1801. Those sheets in your -hand are made from the common rush, the _arundo phragmites_, but I -shall try nettles and thistles; for if the material is to continue to be -cheap, one must look for something that will grow in marshes and waste -lands where nothing else can be grown. The whole secret lies in the -preparation of the stems. At present my method is not quite simple -enough. Still, in spite of this difficulty, I feel sure that I can give -the French paper trade the privilege of our literature; papermaking -will be for France what coal and iron and coarse potter’s clay are for -England--a monopoly. I mean to be the Jacquart of the trade.” - -Eve rose to her feet. David’s simple-mindedness had roused her to -enthusiasm, to admiration; she held out her arms to him and held him -tightly to her, while she laid her head upon his shoulder. - -“You give me my reward as if I had succeeded already,” he said. - -For all answer, Eve held up her sweet face, wet with tears, to his, and -for a moment she could not speak. - -“The kiss was not for the man of genius,” she said, “but for my -comforter. Here is a rising glory for the glory that has set; and, -in the midst of my grief for the brother that has fallen so low, my -husband’s greatness is revealed to me.--Yes, you will be great, great -like the Graindorges, the Rouvets, and Van Robais, and the Persian who -discovered madder, like all the men you have told me about; great men -whom nobody remembers, because their good deeds were obscure industrial -triumphs.” - - -“What are they doing just now?” - -It was Boniface Cointet who spoke. He was walking up and down outside in -the Place du Murier with Cerizet watching the silhouettes of the husband -and wife on the blinds. He always came at midnight for a chat with -Cerizet, for the latter played the spy upon his former master’s every -movement. - -“He is showing her the paper he made this morning, no doubt,” said -Cerizet. - -“What is it made of?” asked the paper manufacturer. - -“Impossible to guess,” answered Cerizet; “I made a hole in the roof and -scrambled up and watched the gaffer; he was boiling pulp in a copper pan -all last night. There was a heap of stuff in a corner, but I could make -nothing of it; it looked like a heap of tow, as near as I could make -out.” - -“Go no farther,” said Boniface Cointet in unctuous tones; “it would not -be right. Mme. Sechard will offer to renew your lease; tell her that you -are thinking of setting up for yourself. Offer her half the value of the -plant and license, and, if she takes the bid, come to me. In any case, -spin the matter out. . . . Have they no money?” - -“Not a sou,” said Cerizet. - -“Not a sou,” repeated tall Cointet.--“I have them now,” said he to -himself. - -Metivier, paper manufacturers’ wholesale agent, and Cointet Brothers, -printers and paper manufacturers, were also bankers in all but name. -This surreptitious banking system defies all the ingenuity of the Inland -Revenue Department. Every banker is required to take out a license -which, in Paris, costs five hundred francs; but no hitherto devised -method of controlling commerce can detect the delinquents, or compel -them to pay their due to the Government. And though Metivier and the -Cointets were “outside brokers,” in the language of the Stock Exchange, -none the less among them they could set some hundreds of thousands of -francs moving every three months in the markets of Paris, Bordeaux, and -Angouleme. Now it so fell out that that very evening Cointet Brothers -had received Lucien’s forged bills in the course of business. Upon this -debt, tall Cointet forthwith erected a formidable engine, pointed, as -will presently be seen, against the poor, patient inventor. - -By seven o’clock next morning, Boniface Cointet was taking a walk by the -mill stream that turned the wheels in his big factory; the sound of the -water covered his talk, for he was talking with a companion, a young -man of nine-and-twenty, who had been appointed attorney to the Court of -First Instance in Angouleme some six weeks ago. The young man’s name was -Pierre Petit-Claud. - -“You are a schoolfellow of David Sechard’s, are you not?” asked tall -Cointet by way of greeting to the young attorney. Petit-Claud had lost -no time in answering the wealthy manufacturer’s summons. - -“Yes, sir,” said Petit-Claud, keeping step with tall Cointet. - -“Have you renewed the acquaintance?” - -“We have met once or twice at most since he came back. It could hardly -have been otherwise. In Paris I was buried away in the office or at -the courts on week-days, and on Sundays and holidays I was hard at -work studying, for I had only myself to look to.” (Tall Cointet nodded -approvingly.) “When we met again, David and I, he asked me what I -had done with myself. I told him that after I had finished my time at -Poitiers, I had risen to be Maitre Olivet’s head-clerk, and that some -time or other I hoped to make a bid for his berth. I know a good deal -more of Lucien Chardon (de Rubempre he calls himself now), he was Mme. -de Bargeton’s lover, our great poet, David Sechard’s brother-in-law, in -fact.” - -“Then you can go and tell David of your appointment, and offer him your -services,” said tall Cointet. - -“One can’t do that,” said the young attorney. - -“He has never had a lawsuit, and he has no attorney, so one can do -that,” said Cointet, scanning the other narrowly from behind his colored -spectacles. - -A certain quantity of gall mingled with the blood in Pierre -Petit-Claud’s veins; his father was a tailor in L’Houmeau, and his -schoolfellows had looked down upon him. His complexion was of the muddy -and unwholesome kind which tells a tale of bad health, late hours and -penury, and almost always of a bad disposition. The best description of -him may be given in two familiar expressions--he was sharp and snappish. -His cracked voice suited his sour face, meagre look, and magpie eyes of -no particular color. A magpie eye, according to Napoleon, is a sure -sign of dishonesty. “Look at So-and-so,” he said to Las Cases at Saint -Helena, alluding to a confidential servant whom he had been obliged to -dismiss for malversation. “I do not know how I could have been deceived -in him for so long; he has a magpie eye.” Tall Cointet, surveying the -weedy little lawyer, noted his face pitted with smallpox, the thin hair, -and the forehead, bald already, receding towards a bald cranium; saw, -too, the confession of weakness in his attitude with the hand on the -hip. “Here is my man,” said he to himself. - -As a matter of fact, this Petit-Claud, who had drunk scorn like water, -was eaten up with a strong desire to succeed in life; he had no money, -but nevertheless he had the audacity to buy his employer’s connection -for thirty thousand francs, reckoning upon a rich marriage to clear off -the debt, and looking to his employer, after the usual custom, to find -him a wife, for an attorney always has an interest in marrying his -successor, because he is the sooner paid off. But if Petit-Claud counted -upon his employer, he counted yet more upon himself. He had more than -average ability, and that of a kind not often found in the provinces, -and rancor was the mainspring of his power. A mighty hatred makes a -mighty effort. - -There is a great difference between a country attorney and an attorney -in Paris; tall Cointet was too clever not to know this, and to turn -the meaner passions that move a pettifogging lawyer to good account. An -eminent attorney in Paris, and there are many who may be so qualified, -is bound to possess to some extent the diplomate’s qualities; he had -so much business to transact, business in which large interests are -involved; questions of such wide interest are submitted to him that he -does not look upon procedure as machinery for bringing money into his -pocket, but as a weapon of attack and defence. A country attorney, on -the other hand, cultivates the science of costs, _broutille_, as it is -called in Paris, a host of small items that swell lawyers’ bills and -require stamped paper. These weighty matters of the law completely fill -the country attorney’s mind; he has a bill of costs always before his -eyes, whereas his brother of Paris thinks of nothing but his fees. The -fee is a honorarium paid by a client over and above the bill of costs, -for the more or less skilful conduct of his case. One-half of the bill -of costs goes to the Treasury, whereas the entire fee belongs to the -attorney. Let us admit frankly that the fees received are seldom as -large as the fees demanded and deserved by a clever lawyer. Wherefore, -in Paris, attorneys, doctors, and barristers, like courtesans with -a chance-come lover, take very considerable precautions against the -gratitude of clients. The client before and after the lawsuit would -furnish a subject worthy of Meissonier; there would be brisk bidding -among attorneys for the possession of two such admirable bits of genre. - -There is yet another difference between the Parisian and the country -attorney. An attorney in Paris very seldom appears in court, though he -is sometimes called upon to act as arbitrator (_refere_). Barristers, -at the present day, swarm in the provinces; but in 1822 the country -attorney very often united the functions of solicitor and counsel. As -a result of this double life, the attorney acquired the peculiar -intellectual defects of the barrister, and retained the heavy -responsibilities of the attorney. He grew talkative and fluent, and -lost his lucidity of judgment, the first necessity for the conduct of -affairs. If a man of more than ordinary ability tries to do the work of -two men, he is apt to find that the two men are mediocrities. The Paris -attorney never spends himself in forensic eloquence; and as he seldom -attempts to argue for and against, he has some hope of preserving his -mental rectitude. It is true that he brings the balista of the law -to work, and looks for the weapons in the armory of judicial -contradictions, but he keeps his own convictions as to the case, while -he does his best to gain the day. In a word, a man loses his head not so -much by thinking as by uttering thoughts. The spoken word convinces the -utterer; but a man can act against his own bad judgment without warping -it, and contrive to win in a bad cause without maintaining that it is -a good one, like the barrister. Perhaps for this very reason an old -attorney is the more likely of the two to make a good judge. - -A country attorney, as we have seen, has plenty of excuses for his -mediocrity; he takes up the cause of petty passions, he undertakes -pettifogging business, he lives by charging expenses, he strains the -Code of procedure and pleads in court. In a word, his weak points are -legion; and if by chance you come across a remarkable man practising as -a country attorney, he is indeed above the average level. - -“I thought, sir, that you sent for me on your own affairs,” said -Petit-Claud, and a glance that put an edge on his words fell upon tall -Cointet’s impenetrable blue spectacles. - -“Let us have no beating about the bush,” returned Boniface Cointet. -“Listen to me.” - -After that beginning, big with mysterious import, Cointet set himself -down upon a bench, and beckoned Petit-Claud to do likewise. - -“When M. du Hautoy came to Angouleme in 1804, on his way to his -consulship at Valence, he made the acquaintance of Mme. de Senonches, -then Mlle. Zephirine, and had a daughter by her,” added Cointet for -the attorney’s ear----“Yes,” he continued, as Petit-Claud gave a start; -“yes, and Mlle. Zephirine’s marriage with M. de Senoches soon followed -the birth of the child. The girl was brought up in my mother’s house; -she is the Mlle. Francoise de la Haye in whom Mme. de Senoches takes an -interest; she is her godmother in the usual style. Now, my mother farmed -land belonging to old Mme. de Cardanet, Mlle. Zephirine’s grandmother; -and as she knew the secret of the sole heiress of the Cardanets and the -Senonches of the older branch, they made me trustee for the little sum -which M. Francois du Hautoy meant for the girl’s fortune. I made my own -fortune with those ten thousand francs, which amount to thirty thousand -at the present day. Mme. de Senonches is sure to give the wedding -clothes, and some plate and furniture to her goddaughter. Now, I can -put you in the way of marrying the girl, my lad,” said Cointet, slapping -Petit-Claud on the knee; “and when you marry Francoise de la Haye, -you will have a large number of the aristocracy of Angouleme as your -clients. This understanding between us (under the rose) will open up -magnificent prospects for you. Your position will be as much as any one -could want; in fact, they don’t ask better, I know.” - -“What is to be done?” Petit-Claud asked eagerly. “You have an attorney, -Maitre Cachan----” - -“And, moreover, I shall not leave Cachan at once for you; I shall only -be your client later on,” said Cointet significantly. “What is to be -done, do you ask, my friend? Eh! why, David Sechard’s business. The poor -devil has three thousand francs’ worth of bills to meet; he will not -meet them; you will stave off legal proceedings in such a way as to -increase the expenses enormously. Don’t trouble yourself; go on, pile on -items. Doublon, my process-server, will act under Cachan’s directions, -and he will lay on like a blacksmith. A word to the wise is sufficient. -Now, young man?----” - -An eloquent pause followed, and the two men looked at each other. - -“We have never seen each other,” Cointet resumed; “I have not said -a syllable to you; you know nothing about M. du Hautoy, nor Mme. de -Senonches, nor Mlle. de la Haye; only, when the time comes, two months -hence, you will propose for the young lady. If we should want to see -each other, you will come here after dark. Let us have nothing in -writing.” - -“Then you mean to ruin Sechard?” asked Petit-Claud. - -“Not exactly; but he must be in jail for some time----” - -“And what is the object?” - -“Do you think that I am noodle enough to tell you that? If you have wit -enough to find out, you will have sense enough to hold your tongue.” - -“Old Sechard has plenty of money,” said Petit-Claud. He was beginning -already to enter into Boniface Cointet’s notions, and foresaw a possible -cause of failure. - -“So long as the father lives, he will not give his son a farthing; and -the old printer has no mind as yet to send in an order for his funeral -cards.” - -“Agreed!” said Petit-Claud, promptly making up his mind. “I don’t ask -you for guarantees; I am an attorney. If any one plays me a trick, there -will be an account to settle between us.” - -“The rogue will go far,” thought Cointet; he bade Petit-Claud -good-morning. - -The day after this conference was the 30th of April, and the Cointets -presented the first of the three bills forged by Lucien. Unluckily, the -bill was brought to poor Mme. Sechard; and she, seeing at once that the -signature was not in her husband’s handwriting, sent for David and asked -him point-blank: - -“You did not put your name to that bill, did you?” - -“No,” said he; “your brother was so pressed for time that he signed for -me.” - -Eve returned the bill to the bank messenger sent by the Cointets. - -“We cannot meet it,” she said; then, feeling that her strength was -failing, she went up to her room. David followed her. - -“Go quickly to the Cointets, dear,” Eve said faintly; “they will have -some consideration for you; beg them to wait; and call their attention -besides to the fact that when Cerizet’s lease is renewed, they will owe -you a thousand francs.” - -David went forthwith to his enemies. Now, any foreman may become a -master printer, but there are not always the makings of a good man of -business in a skilled typographer; David knew very little of business; -when, therefore, with a heavily-beating heart and a sensation of -throttling, David had put his excuses badly enough and formulated his -request, the answer--“This is nothing to do with us; the bill has -been passed on to us by Metivier; Metivier will pay us. Apply to M. -Metivier”--cut him short at once. - -“Oh!” cried Eve when she heard the result, “as soon as the bill is -returned to M. Metivier, we may be easy.” - -At two o’clock the next day, Victor-Ange-Hermenegilde Doublon, bailiff, -made protest for non-payment at two o’clock, a time when the Place du -Murier is full of people; so that though Doublon was careful to stand -and chat at the back door with Marion and Kolb, the news of the protest -was known all over the business world of Angouleme that evening. Tall -Cointet had enjoined it upon Master Doublon to show the Sechards the -greatest consideration; but when all was said and done, could the -bailiff’s hypocritical regard for appearances save Eve and David from -the disgrace of a suspension of payment? Let each judge for himself. -A tolerably long digression of this kind will seem all too short; -and ninety out of every hundred readers shall seize with avidity upon -details that possess all the piquancy of novelty, thus establishing yet -once again the trust of the well-known axiom, that there is nothing so -little known as that which everybody is supposed to know--the Law of the -Land, to wit. - -And of a truth, for the immense majority of Frenchmen, a minute -description of some part of the machinery of banking will be as -interesting as any chapter of foreign travel. When a tradesman living -in one town gives a bill to another tradesman elsewhere (as David was -supposed to have done for Lucien’s benefit), the transaction ceases -to be a simple promissory note, given in the way of business by one -tradesman to another in the same place, and becomes in some sort a -letter of exchange. When, therefore, Metivier accepted Lucien’s three -bills, he was obliged to send them for collection to his correspondents -in Angouleme--to Cointet Brothers, that is to say. Hence, likewise, a -certain initial loss for Lucien in exchange on Angouleme, taking the -practical shape of an abatement of so much per cent over and above the -discount. In this way Sechard’s bills had passed into circulation in the -bank. You would not believe how greatly the quality of banker, united -with the august title of creditor, changes the debtor’s position. For -instance, when a bill has been passed through the bank (please note -that expression), and transferred from the money market in Paris to -the financial world of Angouleme, if that bill is protested, then the -bankers in Angouleme must draw up a detailed account of the expenses -of protest and return; ‘tis a duty which they owe to themselves. Joking -apart, no account of the most romantic adventure could be more mildly -improbable than this of the journey made by a bill. Behold a certain -article in the Code of commerce authorizing the most ingenious -pleasantries after Mascarille’s manner, and the interpretation thereof -shall make apparent manifold atrocities lurking beneath the formidable -word “legal.” - -Master Doublon registered the protest and went himself with it to MM. -Cointet Brothers. The firm had a standing account with their bailiff; -he gave them six months’ credit; and the lynxes of Angouleme practically -took a twelvemonth, though tall Cointet would say month by month to -the lynxes’ jackal, “Do you want any money, Doublon?” Nor was this all. -Doublon gave the influential house a rebate upon every transaction; -it was the merest trifle, one franc fifty centimes on a protest, for -instance. - -Tall Cointet quietly sat himself down at his desk and took out a small -sheet of paper with a thirty-five centime stamp upon it, chatting as he -did so with Doublon as to the standing of some of the local tradesmen. - -“Well, are you satisfied with young Gannerac?” - -“He is not doing badly. Lord, a carrier drives a trade----” - -“Drives a trade, yes; but, as a matter of fact, his expenses are a heavy -pull on him; his wife spends a good deal, so they tell me----” - -“Of _his_ money?” asked Doublon, with a knowing look. - -The lynx meanwhile had finished ruling his sheet of paper, and now -proceeded to trace the ominous words at the head of the following -account in bold characters:-- - - - ACCOUNT OF EXPENSES OF PROTEST AND RETURN. - - _To one bill for_ one thousand francs, _bearing date of February the - tenth, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, drawn by_ Sechard junior _of - Angouleme, to order of_ Lucien Chardon, _otherwise_ de Rubempre, - _endorsed to order of_ Metivier, _and finally to our order, matured - the thirtieth of April last, protested by_ Doublon, _process-server, - on the first of May, eighteen hundred and twenty-two._ - fr. c. - Principal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1000 -- - Expenses of Protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 35 - Bank charges, one-half per cent. . . . . . . 5 -- - Brokerage, one-quarter per cent. . . . . . . 2 50 - Stamp on re-draft and present account. . . . 1 35 - Interest and postage . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 -- - ____ ____ - 1024 20 - Exchange at the rate of one and a quarter - per cent on 1024 fr. 20 c.. . . . . . . . 13 25 - ____ ____ - Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - - _One thousand and thirty-seven francs forty-five centimes, for - which we repay ourselves by our draft at sight upon M. Metivier, - Rue Serpente, Paris, payable to order of M. Gannerac of L’Houmeau._ - - ANGOULEME, May 2, 1822 COINTET BROTHERS. - - -At the foot of this little memorandum, drafted with the ease that comes -of long practice (for the writer chatted with Doublon as he wrote), -there appeared the subjoined form of declaration:-- - - - “We, the undersigned, Postel of L’Houmeau, pharmaceutical chemist, - and Gannerac, forwarding agent, merchant of this town, hereby - certify that the present rate of exchange on Paris is one and a - quarter per cent. - - “ANGOULEME, May 2, 1822.” - - -“Here, Doublon, be so good as to step round and ask Postel and Gannerac -to put their names to this declaration, and bring it back with you -to-morrow morning.” - -And Doublon, quite accustomed as he was to these instruments of torture, -forthwith went, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Evidently -the protest might have been sent in an envelope, as in Paris, and -even so all Angouleme was sure to hear of the poor Sechards’ unlucky -predicament. How they all blamed his want of business energy! His -excessive fondness for his wife had been the ruin of him, according -to some; others maintained that it was his affection for his -brother-in-law; and what shocking conclusions did they not draw from -these premises! A man ought never to embrace the interests of his kith -and kin. Old Sechard’s hard-hearted conduct met with approval, and -people admired him for his treatment of his son! - -And now, all you who for any reason whatsoever should forget to “honor -your engagements,” look well into the methods of the banking business, -by which one thousand francs may be made to pay interest at the rate -of twenty-eight francs in ten minutes, without breaking the law of the -land. - -The thousand francs, the one incontestable item in the account, comes -first. - -The second item is shared between the bailiff and the Inland Revenue -Department. The six francs due to the State for providing a piece of -stamped paper, and putting the debtor’s mortification on record, will -probably ensure a long life to this abuse; and as you already know, -one franc fifty centimes from this item found its way into the banker’s -pockets in the shape of Doublon’s rebate. - -“Bank charges one-half per cent,” runs the third item, which appears -upon the ingenious plea that if a banker has not received payment, -he has for all practical purposes discounted a bill. And although the -contrary may be the case, if you fail to receive a thousand francs, -it seems to be very much the same thing as if you had paid them away. -Everybody who has discounted a bill knows that he has to pay more than -the six per cent fixed by law; for a small percentage appears under -the humble title of “charges,” representing a premium on the financial -genius and skill with which the capitalist puts his money out to -interest. The more money he makes out of you, the more he asks. -Wherefore it would be undoubtedly cheaper to discount a bill with a -fool, if fools there be in the profession of bill-discounting. - -The law requires the banker to obtain a stock-broker’s certificate for -the rate of exchange. When a place is so unlucky as to boast no stock -exchange, two merchants act instead. This is the significance of the -item “brokerage”; it is a fixed charge of a quarter per cent on the -amount of the protested bill. The custom is to consider the amount -as paid to the merchants who act for the stock-broker, and the banker -quietly puts the money into his cash-box. So much for the third item in -this delightful account. - -The fourth includes the cost of the piece of stamped paper on which the -account itself appears, as well as the cost of the stamp for re-draft, -as it is ingeniously named, viz., the banker’s draft upon his colleague -in Paris. - -The fifth is a charge for postage and the legal interest due upon the -amount for the time that it may happen to be absent from the banker’s -strong box. - -The final item, the exchange, is the object for which the bank exists, -which is to say, for the transmission of sums of money from one place to -another. - -Now, sift this account thoroughly, and what do you find? The method of -calculation closely resembles Polichinelle’s arithmetic in Lablache’s -Neapolitan song, “fifteen and five make twenty-two.” The signatures of -Messieurs Postel and Gannerac were obviously given to oblige in the way -of business; the Cointets would act at need for Gannerac as Gannerac -acted for the Cointets. It was a practical application of the well-known -proverb, “Reach me the rhubarb and I will pass you the senna.” Cointet -Brothers, moreover, kept a standing account with Metivier; there was no -need of a re-draft, and no re-draft was made. A returned bill between -the two firms simply meant a debit or credit entry and another line in a -ledger. - -This highly-colored account, therefore, is reduced to the one thousand -francs, with an additional thirteen francs for expenses of protest, and -half per cent for a month’s delay, one thousand and eighteen francs it -may be in all. - -Suppose that in a large banking-house a bill for a thousand francs is -daily protested on an average, then the banker receives twenty-eight -francs a day by the grace of God and the constitution of the banking -system, that all powerful invention due to the Jewish intellect of -the Middle Ages, which after six centuries still controls monarchs and -peoples. In other words, a thousand francs would bring such a house -twenty-eight francs per day, or ten thousand two hundred and twenty -francs per annum. Triple the average of protests, and consequently of -expenses, and you shall derive an income of thirty thousand francs -per annum, interest upon purely fictitious capital. For which reason, -nothing is more lovingly cultivated than these little “accounts of -expenses.” - -If David Sechard had come to pay his bill on the 3rd of May, that is, -the day after it was protested, MM. Cointet Brothers would have met him -at once with, “We have returned your bill to M. Metivier,” although, as -a matter of fact, the document would have been lying upon the desk. A -banker has a right to make out the account of expenses on the evening of -the day when the bill is protested, and he uses the right to “sweat the -silver crowns,” in the country banker’s phrase. - -The Kellers, with correspondents all over the world, make twenty -thousand francs per annum by charges for postage alone; accounts of -expenses of protest pay for Mme. la Baronne de Nucingen’s dresses, opera -box, and carriage. The charge for postage is a more shocking swindle, -because a house will settle ten matters of business in as many lines of -a single letter. And of the tithe wrung from misfortune, the Government, -strange to say! takes its share, and the national revenue is swelled by -a tax on commercial failure. And the Bank? from the august height of a -counting-house she flings an observation, full of commonsense, at the -debtor, “How is it?” asks she, “that you cannot meet your bill?” and, -unluckily, there is no reply to the question. Wherefore, the “account of -expenses” is an account bristling with dreadful fictions, fit to cause -any debtor, who henceforth shall reflect upon this instructive page, a -salutary shudder. - -On the 4th of May, Metivier received the account from Cointet Brothers, -with instructions to proceed against M. Lucien Chardon, otherwise de -Rubempre, with the utmost rigor of the law. - -Eve also wrote to M. Metivier, and a few days later received an answer -which reassured her completely:-- - - - _To M. Sechard, Junior, Printer, Angouleme._ - - “I have duly received your esteemed favor of the 5th instant. From - your explanation of the bill due on April 30th, I understand that - you have obliged your brother-in-law, M. de Rubempre, who is - spending so much that it will be doing you a service to summons - him. His present position is such that he is likely to delay - payment for long. If your brother-in-law should refuse payment, I - shall rely upon the credit of your old-established house.--I sign - myself now, as ever, your obedient servant, - “Metivier.” - - -“Well,” said Eve, commenting upon the letter to David, “Lucien will know -when they summons him that we could not pay.” - -What a change wrought in Eve those few words meant! The love that grew -deeper as she came to know her husband’s character better and better, -was taking the place of love for her brother in her heart. But to how -many illusions had she not bade farewell? - -And now let us trace out the whole history of the bill and the account -of expenses in the business world of Paris. The law enacts that the -third holder, the technical expression for the third party into whose -hands the bill passes, is at liberty to proceed for the whole amount -against any one of the various endorsers who appears to him to be most -likely to make prompt payment. M. Metivier, using this discretion, -served a summons upon Lucien. Behold the successive stages of the -proceedings, all of them perfectly futile. Metivier, with the Cointets -behind him, knew that Lucien was not in a position to pay, but -insolvency in fact is not insolvency in law until it has been formally -proved. - -Formal proof of Lucien’s inability to pay was obtained in the following -manner: - -On the 5th of May, Metivier’s process-server gave Lucien notice of -the protest and an account of the expense thereof, and summoned him to -appear before the Tribunal of Commerce, or County Court, of Paris, to -hear a vast number of things: this, among others, that he was liable to -imprisonment as a merchant. By the time that Lucien, hard pressed -and hunted down on all sides, read this jargon, he received notice of -judgment against him by default. Coralie, his mistress, ignorant of the -whole matter, imagined that Lucien had obliged his brother-in-law, and -handed him all the documents together--too late. An actress sees so -much of bailiffs, duns, and writs, upon the stage, that she looks on all -stamped paper as a farce. - -Tears filled Lucien’s eyes; he was unhappy on Sechard’s account, he -was ashamed of the forgery, he wished to pay, he desired to gain time. -Naturally he took counsel of his friends. But by the time Lousteau, -Blondet, Bixiou, and Nathan had told the poet to snap his fingers at a -court only established for tradesmen, Lucien was already in the clutches -of the law. He beheld upon his door the little yellow placard which -leaves its reflection on the porter’s countenance, and exercises a most -astringent influence upon credit; striking terror into the heart of -the smallest tradesman, and freezing the blood in the veins of a poet -susceptible enough to care about the bits of wood, silken rags, dyed -woolen stuffs, and multifarious gimcracks entitled furniture. - -When the broker’s men came for Coralie’s furniture, the author of the -_Marguerites_ fled to a friend of Bixiou’s, one Desroches, a barrister, -who burst out laughing at the sight of Lucien in such a state about -nothing at all. - -“That is nothing, my dear fellow. Do you want to gain time?” - -“Yes, as much possible.” - -“Very well, apply for stay of execution. Go and look up Masson, he is -a solicitor in the Commercial Court, and a friend of mine. Take your -documents to him. He will make a second application for you, and give -notice of objection to the jurisdiction of the court. There is not the -least difficulty; you are a journalist, your name is well known enough. -If they summons you before a civil court, come to me about it, that -will be my affair; I engage to send anybody who offers to annoy the fair -Coralie about his business.” - -On the 28th of May, Lucien’s case came on in the civil court, and -judgment was given before Desroches expected it. Lucien’s creditor was -pushing on the proceedings against him. A second execution was put in, -and again Coralie’s pilasters were gilded with placards. Desroches felt -rather foolish; a colleague had “caught him napping,” to use his own -expression. He demurred, not without reason, that the furniture belonged -to Mlle. Coralie, with whom Lucien was living, and demanded an order for -inquiry. Thereupon the judge referred the matter to the registrar for -inquiry, the furniture was proved to belong to the actress, and judgment -was entered accordingly. Metivier appealed, and judgment was confirmed -on appeal on the 30th of June. - -On the 7th of August, Maitre Cachan received by the coach a bulky -package endorsed, “Metivier _versus_ Sechard and Lucien Chardon.” - -The first document was a neat little bill, of which a copy (accuracy -guaranteed) is here given for the reader’s benefit:-- - - - _To Bill due the last day of April, drawn by_ - Sechard, junior, _to order of_ Lucien de - Rubempre, _together with expenses of fr. c. - protest and return_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - May 5th--Serving notice of protest and - summons to appear before the - Tribunal of Commerce in - Paris, May 7th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - “ 7th--Judgment by default and - warrant of arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 -- - “ 10th--Notification of judgment . . . . . . . . . 8 50 - “ 12th--Warrant of execution . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 - “ 14th--Inventory and appraisement - previous to execution. . . . . . . . . . . 16 -- - “ 18th--Expenses of affixing placards. . . . . . . 15 25 - “ 19th--Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 -- - “ 24th--Verification of inventory, and - application for stay of execution - on the part of the said - Lucien de Rubempre, objecting - to the jurisdiction of the Court. . . . . . 12 -- - “ 27th--Order of the Court upon application - duly repeated, and transfer of - of case to the Civil Court. . . . . . . . . 35 -- - ____ ____ - Carried forward. . . . . . . . . . . . 1177 45 - - fr. c. - Brought forward 1177 45 - May 28th--Notice of summary proceedings in - the Civil Court at the instance - of Metivier, represented by - counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 50 - June 2nd--Judgment, after hearing both - parties, condemning Lucien for - expenses of protest and return; - the plaintiff to bear costs - of proceedings in the - Commercial Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 -- - “ 6th--Notification of judgment. . . . . . . . . . 10 -- - - “ 15th--Warrant of execution. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 - “ 19th--Inventory and appraisement preparatory - to execution; interpleader summons by - the Demoiselle Coralie, claiming goods - and chattels taken in execution; demand - for immediate special inquiry before - further proceedings be taken . . . . . . . 20 -- - “ “ --Judge’s order referring matter to - registrar for immediate special inquiry. . 40 -- - “ “ --Judgment in favor of the said - Mademoiselle Coralie . . . . . . . . . . . 250 -- - “ 20th--Appeal by Metivier . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 -- - “ 30th--Confirmation of judgment . . . . . . . . . 250 -- - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1926 45 - __________ - - Bill matured May 31st, with expenses of fr. c. - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 - - Bill matured June 30th, with expenses of - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 - __________ - - -This document was accompanied by a letter from Metivier, instructing -Maitre Cachan, notary of Angouleme, to prosecute David Sechard with -the utmost rigor of the law. Wherefore Maitre Victor-Ange-Hermenegilde -Doublon summoned David Sechard before the Tribunal of Commerce in -Angouleme for the sum-total of four thousand and eighteen francs -eighty-five centimes, the amount of the three bills and expenses already -incurred. On the morning of the very day when Doublon served the writ -upon Eve, requiring her to pay a sum so enormous in her eyes, there came -a letter like a thunderbolt from Metivier:-- - - - _To Monsieur Sechard, Junior, Printer, Angouleme._ - - “SIR,--Your brother-in-law, M. Chardon, is so shamelessly - dishonest, that he declares his furniture to be the property of an - actress with whom he is living. You ought to have informed me - candidly of these circumstances, and not have allowed me to go to - useless expense over law proceedings. I have received no answer - to my letter of the 10th of May last. You must not, therefore, - take it amiss if I ask for immediate repayment of the three bills - and the expenses to which I have been put.--Yours, etc., - “METIVIER.” - - -Eve had heard nothing during these months, and supposed, in her -ignorance of commercial law, that her brother had made reparation for -his sins by meeting the forged bills. - -“Be quick, and go at once to Petit-Claud, dear,” she said; “tell him -about it, and ask his advice.” - -David hurried to his schoolfellow’s office. - -“When you came to tell me of your appointment and offered me your -services, I did not think that I should need them so soon,” he said. - -Petit-Claud studied the fine face of this man who sat opposite him in -the office chair, and scarcely listened to the details of the case, -for he knew more of them already than the speaker. As soon as he saw -Sechard’s anxiety, he said to himself, “The trick has succeeded.” - -This kind of comedy is often played in an attorney’s office. “Why are -the Cointets persecuting him?” Petit-Claud wondered within himself, for -the attorney can use his wit to read his clients’ thoughts as clearly as -the ideas of their opponents, and it is his business to see both sides -of the judicial web. - -“You want to gain time,” he said at last, when Sechard had come to an -end. “How long do you want? Something like three or four months?” - -“Oh! four months! that would be my salvation,” exclaimed David. -Petit-Claud appeared to him as an angel. - -“Very well. No one shall lay hands on any of your furniture, and no one -shall arrest you for four months----But it will cost you a great deal,” - said Petit-Claud. - -“Eh! what does that matter to me?” cried Sechard. - -“You are expecting some money to come in; but are you sure of it?” asked -Petit-Claud, astonished at the way in which his client walked into the -toils. - -“In three months’ time I shall have plenty of money,” said the inventor, -with an inventor’s hopeful confidence. - -“Your father is still above ground,” suggested Petit-Claud; “he is in no -hurry to leave his vines.” - -“Do you think that I am counting on my father’s death?” returned David. -“I am on the track of a trade secret, the secret of making a sheet of -paper as strong as Dutch paper, without a thread of cotton in it, and at -a cost of fifty per cent less than cotton pulp.” - -“There is a fortune in that!” exclaimed Petit-Claud. He knew now what -the tall Cointet meant. - -“A large fortune, my friend, for in ten years’ time the demand for paper -will be ten times larger than it is to-day. Journalism will be the craze -of our day.” - -“Nobody knows your secret?” - -“Nobody except my wife.” - -“You have not told any one what you mean to do--the Cointets, for -example?” - -“I did say something about it, but in general terms, I think.” - -A sudden spark of generosity flashed through Petit-Claud’s rancorous -soul; he tried to reconcile Sechard’s interests with the Cointet’s -projects and his own. - -“Listen, David, we are old schoolfellows, you and I; I will fight your -case; but understand this clearly--the defence, in the teeth of the -law, will cost you five or six thousand francs! Do not compromise your -prospects. I think you will be compelled to share the profits of your -invention with some one of our paper manufacturers. Let us see now. You -will think twice before you buy or build a paper mill; and there is -the cost of the patent besides. All this means time, and money too. The -servers of writs will be down upon you too soon, perhaps, although we -are going to give them the slip----” - -“I have my secret,” said David, with the simplicity of the man of books. - -“Well and good, your secret will be your plank of safety,” said -Petit-Claud; his first loyal intention of avoiding a lawsuit by a -compromise was frustrated. “I do not wish to know it; but mind this that -I tell you. Work in the bowels of the earth if you can, so that no one -may watch you and gain a hint from your ways of working, or your plank -will be stolen from under your feet. An inventor and a simpleton often -live in the same skin. Your mind runs so much on your secrets that you -cannot think of everything. People will begin to have their suspicions -at last, and the place is full of paper manufacturers. So many -manufacturers, so many enemies for you! You are like a beaver with the -hunters about you; do not give them your skin----” - -“Thank you, dear fellow, I have told myself all this,” exclaimed -Sechard, “but I am obliged to you for showing so much concern for me and -for your forethought. It does not really matter to me myself. An income -of twelve hundred francs would be enough for me, and my father ought by -rights to leave me three times as much some day. Love and thought make -up my life--a divine life. I am working for Lucien’s sake and for my -wife’s.” - -“Come, give me this power of attorney, and think of nothing but your -discovery. If there should be any danger of arrest, I will let you know -in time, for we must think of all possibilities. And let me tell you -again to allow no one of whom you are not so sure as you are of yourself -to come into your place.” - -“Cerizet did not care to continue the lease of the plant and premises, -hence our little money difficulties. We have no one at home now but -Marion and Kolb, an Alsacien as trusty as a dog, and my wife and her -mother----” - -“One word,” said Petit-Claud, “don’t trust that dog----” - -“You do not know him,” exclaimed David; “he is like a second self.” - -“May I try him?” - -“Yes,” said Sechard. - -“There, good-bye, but send Mme. Sechard to me; I must have a power of -attorney from your wife. And bear in mind, my friend, that there is a -fire burning in your affairs,” said Petit-Claud, by way of warning of -all the troubles gathering in the law courts to burst upon David’s head. - -“Here am I with one foot in Burgundy and the other in Champagne,” he -added to himself as he closed the office door on David. - -Harassed by money difficulties, beset with fears for his wife’s health, -stung to the quick by Lucien’s disgrace, David had worked on at his -problem. He had been trying to find a single process to replace the -various operations of pounding and maceration to which all flax or -cotton or rags, any vegetable fibre, in fact, must be subjected; and as -he went to Petit-Claud’s office, he abstractedly chewed a bit of nettle -stalk that had been steeping in water. On his way home, tolerably -satisfied with his interview, he felt a little pellet sticking between -his teeth. He laid it on his hand, flattened it out, and saw that the -pulp was far superior to any previous result. The want of cohesion is -the great drawback of all vegetable fibre; straw, for instance, yields -a very brittle paper, which may almost be called metallic and resonant. -These chances only befall bold inquirers into Nature’s methods! - -“Now,” said he to himself, “I must contrive to do by machinery and some -chemical agency the thing that I myself have done unconsciously.” - -When his wife saw him, his face was radiant with belief in victory. -There were traces of tears in Eve’s face. - -“Oh! my darling, do not trouble yourself; Petit-Claud will guarantee -that we shall not be molested for several months to come. There will be -a good deal of expense over it; but, as Petit-Claud said when he came -to the door with me, ‘A Frenchman has a right to keep his creditors -waiting, provided he repays them capital, interest, and costs.’--Very -well, then, we shall do that----” - -“And live meanwhile?” asked poor Eve, who thought of everything. - -“Ah! that is true,” said David, carrying his hand to his ear after the -unaccountable fashion of most perplexed mortals. - -“Mother will look after little Lucien, and I can go back to work again,” - said she. - -“Eve! oh, my Eve!” cried David, holding his wife closely to him.--“At -Saintes, not very far from here, in the sixteenth century, there -lived one of the very greatest of Frenchmen, for he was not merely the -inventor of glaze, he was the glorious precursor of Buffon and Cuvier -besides; he was the first geologist, good, simple soul that he was. -Bernard Palissy endured the martyrdom appointed for all seekers into -secrets but his wife and children and all his neighbors were against -him. His wife used to sell his tools; nobody understood him, he wandered -about the countryside, he was hunted down, they jeered at him. But I--am -loved----” - -“Dearly loved!” said Eve, with the quiet serenity of the love that is -sure of itself. - -“And so may well endure all that poor Bernard Palissy suffered--Bernard -Palissy, the discoverer of Ecouen ware, the Huguenot excepted by Charles -IX. on the day of Saint-Bartholomew. He lived to be rich and honored in -his old age, and lectured on the ‘Science of Earths,’ as he called it, -in the face of Europe.” - -“So long as my fingers can hold an iron, you shall want for nothing,” - cried the poor wife, in tones that told of the deepest devotion. “When -I was Mme. Prieur’s forewoman I had a friend among the girls, Basine -Clerget, a cousin of Postel’s, a very good child; well, Basine told me -the other day when she brought back the linen, that she was taking Mme. -Prieur’s business; I will work for her.” - -“Ah! you shall not work there for long,” said David; “I have found -out----” - -Eve, watching his face, saw the sublime belief in success which sustains -the inventor, the belief that gives him courage to go forth into the -virgin forests of the country of Discovery; and, for the first time in -her life, she answered that confident look with a half-sad smile. David -bent his head mournfully. - -“Oh! my dear! I am not laughing! I did not doubt! It was not a sneer!” - cried Eve, on her knees before her husband. “But I see plainly now that -you were right to tell me nothing about your experiments and your hopes. -Ah! yes, dear, an inventor should endure the long painful travail of a -great idea alone, he should not utter a word of it even to his wife -.... A woman is a woman still. This Eve of yours could not help smiling -when she heard you say, ‘I have found out,’ for the seventeenth time -this month.” - -David burst out laughing so heartily at his own expense that Eve caught -his hand in hers and kissed it reverently. It was a delicious moment for -them both, one of those roses of love and tenderness that grow beside -the desert paths of the bitterest poverty, nay, at times in yet darker -depths. - -As the storm of misfortune grew, Eve’s courage redoubled; the greatness -of her husband’s nature, his inventor’s simplicity, the tears that now -and again she saw in the eyes of this dreamer of dreams with the -tender heart,--all these things aroused in her an unsuspected energy -of resistance. Once again she tried the plan that had succeeded so -well already. She wrote to M. Metivier, reminding him that the printing -office was for sale, offered to pay him out of the proceeds, and begged -him not to ruin David with needless costs. Metivier received the heroic -letter, and shammed dead. His head-clerk replied that in the absence of -M. Metivier he could not take it upon himself to stay proceedings, for -his employer had made it a rule to let the law take its course. Eve -wrote again, offering this time to renew the bills and pay all the costs -hitherto incurred. To this the clerk consented, provided that Sechard -senior guaranteed payment. So Eve walked over to Marsac, taking Kolb and -her mother with her. She braved the old vinedresser, and so charming was -she, that the old man’s face relaxed, and the puckers smoothed out at -the sight of her; but when, with inward quakings, she came to speak of a -guarantee, she beheld a sudden and complete change of the tippleographic -countenance. - -“If I allowed my son to put his hand to the lips of my cash box whenever -he had a mind, he would plunge it deep into the vitals, he would take -all I have!” cried old Sechard. “That is the way with children; they -eat up their parents’ purse. What did I do myself, eh? _I_ never cost my -parents a farthing. Your printing office is standing idle. The rats and -the mice do all the printing that is done in it. . . . You have a pretty -face; I am very fond of you; you are a careful, hard-working woman; but -that son of mine!--Do you know what David is? I’ll tell you--he is a -scholar that will never do a stroke of work! If I had reared him, as -I was reared myself, without knowing his letters, and if I had made a -‘bear’ of him, like his father before him, he would have money saved and -put out to interest by now. . . . Oh! he is my cross, that fellow is, -look you! And, unluckily, he is all the family I have, for there is -never like to be a later edition. And when he makes you unhappy----” - -Eve protested with a vehement gesture of denial. - -“Yes, he does,” affirmed old Sechard; “you had to find a wet-nurse for -the child. Come, come, I know all about it, you are in the county court, -and the whole town is talking about you. I was only a ‘bear,’ _I_ have -no book learning, _I_ was not foreman at the Didots’, the first printers -in the world; but yet I never set eyes on a bit of stamped paper. Do -you know what I say to myself as I go to and fro among my vines, looking -after them and getting in my vintage, and doing my bits of business?--I -say to myself, ‘You are taking a lot of trouble, poor old chap; working -to pile one silver crown on another, you will leave a fine property -behind you, and the bailiffs and the lawyers will get it all; . . . or -else it will go in nonsensical notions and crotchets.’--Look you here, -child; you are the mother of yonder little lad; it seemed to me as -I held him at the font with Mme. Chardon that I could see his old -grandfather’s copper nose on his face; very well, think less of Sechard -and more of that little rascal. I can trust no one but you; you will -prevent him from squandering my property--my poor property.” - -“But, dear papa Sechard, your son will be a credit to you, you will see; -he will make money and be a rich man one of these days, and wear the -Cross of the Legion of Honor at his buttonhole.” - -“What is he going to do to get it?” - -“You will see. But, meanwhile, would a thousand crowns ruin you? A -thousand crowns would put an end to the proceedings. Well, if you cannot -trust him, lend the money to me; I will pay it back; you could make it a -charge on my portion, on my earnings----” - -“Then has some one brought David into a court of law?” cried the -vinedresser, amazed to find that the gossip was really true. “See what -comes of knowing how to write your name! And how about my rent! Oh! -little girl, I must go to Angouleme at once and ask Cachan’s advice, and -see that I am straight. You did right well to come over. Forewarned is -forearmed.” - -After two hours of argument Eve was fain to go, defeated by the -unanswerable _dictum_, “Women never understand business.” She had come -with a faint hope, she went back again almost heartbroken, and reached -home just in time to receive notice of judgment; Sechard must pay -Metivier in full. The appearance of a bailiff at a house door is an -event in a country town, and Doublon had come far too often of late. The -whole neighborhood was talking about the Sechards. Eve dared not leave -her house; she dreaded to hear the whispers as she passed. - -“Oh! my brother, my brother!” cried poor Eve, as she hurried into the -passage and up the stairs, “I can never forgive you, unless it was----” - -“Alas! it was that, or suicide,” said David, who had followed her. - -“Let us say no more about it,” she said quietly. “The woman who dragged -him down into the depths of Paris has much to answer for; and your -father, my David, is quite inexorable! Let us bear it in silence.” - -A discreet rapping at the door cut short some word of love on David’s -lips. Marion appeared, towing the big, burly Kolb after her across the -outer room. - -“Madame,” said Marion, “we have known, Kolb and I, that you and the -master were very much put about; and as we have eleven hundred francs of -savings between us, we thought we could not do better than put them in -the mistress’ hands----” - -“Die misdress,” echoed Kolb fervently. - -“Kolb,” cried David, “you and I will never part. Pay a thousand francs -on account to Maitre Cachan, and take a receipt for it; we will keep the -rest. And, Kolb, no power on earth must extract a word from you as to my -work, or my absences from home, or the things you may see me bring back; -and if I send you to look for plants for me, you know, no human being -must set eyes on you. They will try to corrupt you, my good Kolb; -they will offer you thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of francs, to -tell----” - -“Dey may offer me millions,” cried Kolb, “but not ein vort from me shall -dey traw. Haf I not peen in der army, and know my orders?” - -“Well, you are warned. March, and ask M. Petit-Claud to go with you as -witness.” - -“Yes,” said the Alsacien. “Some tay I hope to be rich enough to dust der -chacket of dat man of law. I don’t like his gountenance.” - -“Kolb is a good man, madame,” said Big Marion; “he is as strong as a -Turk, and as meek as a lamb. Just the one that would make a woman happy. -It was his notion, too, to invest our savings this way--‘safings,’ as he -calls them. Poor man, if he doesn’t speak right, he thinks right, and -I understand him all the same. He has a notion of working for somebody -else, so as to save us his keep----” - -“Surely we shall be rich, if it is only to repay these good folk,” said -David, looking at his wife. - -Eve thought it quite simple; it was no surprise to her to find -other natures on a level with her own. The dullest--nay, the most -indifferent--observer could have seen all the beauty of her nature in -her way of receiving this service. - -“You will be rich some day, dear master,” said Marion; “your bread is -ready baked. Your father has just bought another farm, he is putting by -money for you; that he is.” - -And under the circumstances, did not Marion show an exquisite delicacy -of feeling by belittling, as it were, her kindness in this way? - -French procedure, like all things human, has its defects; nevertheless, -the sword of justice, being a two-edged weapon, is excellently adapted -alike for attack or defence. Procedure, moreover, has its amusing side; -for when opposed, lawyers arrive at an understanding, as they well may -do, without exchanging a word; through their manner of conducting their -case, a suit becomes a kind of war waged on the lines laid down by the -first Marshal Biron, who, at the siege of Rouen, it may be remembered, -received his son’s project for taking the city in two days with the -remark, “You must be in a great hurry to go and plant cabbages!” Let -two commanders-in-chief spare their troops as much as possible, let them -imitate the Austrian generals who give the men time to eat their soup -though they fail to effect a juncture, and escape reprimand from the -Aulic Council; let them avoid all decisive measures, and they shall -carry on a war for ever. Maitre Cachan, Petit-Claud, and Doublon, did -better than the Austrian generals; they took for their example Quintus -Fabius Cunctator--the Austrian of antiquity. - -Petit-Claud, malignant as a mule, was not long in finding out all the -advantages of his position. No sooner had Boniface Cointet guaranteed -his costs than he vowed to lead Cachan a dance, and to dazzle the paper -manufacturer with a brilliant display of genius in the creation of items -to be charged to Metivier. Unluckily for the fame of the young forensic -Figaro, the writer of this history is obliged to pass over the scene of -his exploits in as great a hurry as if he trod on burning coals; but a -single bill of costs, in the shape of the specimen sent from Paris, will -no doubt suffice for the student of contemporary manners. Let us follow -the example set us by the Bulletins of the Grande Armee, and give a -summary of Petit-Claud’s valiant feats and exploits in the province of -pure law; they will be the better appreciated for concise treatment. - -David Sechard was summoned before the Tribunal of Commerce at Angouleme -for the 3rd of July, made default, and notice of judgment was served -on the 8th. On the 10th, Doublon obtained an execution warrant, and -attempted to put in an execution on the 12th. On this Petit-Claud -applied for an interpleader summons, and served notice on Metivier for -that day fortnight. Metivier made application for a hearing without -delay, and on the 19th, Sechard’s application was dismissed. Hard upon -this followed notice of judgment, authorizing the issue of an execution -warrant on the 22nd, a warrant of arrest on the 23rd, and bailiff’s -inventory previous to the execution on the 24th. Metivier, Doublon, -Cachan & Company were proceeding at this furious pace, when Petit-Claud -suddenly pulled them up, and stayed execution by lodging notice of -appeal on the Court-Royal. Notice of appeal, duly reiterated on the 25th -of July, drew Metivier off to Poitiers. - -“Come!” said Petit-Claud to himself, “there we are likely to stop for -some time to come.” - -No sooner was the storm passed over to Poitiers, and an attorney -practising in the Court-Royal instructed to defend the case, than -Petit-Claud, a champion facing both ways, made application in Mme. -Sechard’s name for the immediate separation of her estate from her -husband’s; using “all diligence” (in legal language) to such purpose, -that he obtained an order from the court on the 28th, and inserted -notice at once in the _Charente Courier_. Now David the lover had -settled ten thousand francs upon his wife in the marriage contract, -making over to her as security the fixtures of the printing office and -the household furniture; and Petit-Claud therefore constituted Mme. -Sechard her husband’s creditor for that small amount, drawing up a -statement of her claims on the estate in the presence of a notary on the -1st of August. - -While Petit-Claud was busy securing the household property of his -clients, he gained the day at Poitiers on the point of law on which the -demurrer and appeals were based. He held that, as the court of the -Seine had ordered the plaintiff to pay costs of proceedings in the Paris -commercial court, David was so much the less liable for expenses of -litigation incurred upon Lucien’s account. The Court-Royal took this -view of the case, and judgment was entered accordingly. David Sechard -was ordered to pay the amount in dispute in the Angouleme Court, less -the law expenses incurred in Paris; these Metivier must pay, and each -side must bear its own costs in the appeal to the Court-Royal. - -David Sechard was duly notified of the result on the 17th of August. -On the 18th the judgment took the practical shape of an order to pay -capital, interest, and costs, followed up by notice of an execution for -the morrow. Upon this Petit-Claud intervened and put in a claim for the -furniture as the wife’s property duly separated from her husband’s; and -what was more, Petit-Claud produced Sechard senior upon the scene of -action. The old vinegrower had become his client on this wise. He came -to Angouleme on the day after Eve’s visit, and went to Maitre Cachan for -advice. His son owed him arrears of rent; how could he come by this rent -in the scrimmage in which his son was engaged? - -“I am engaged by the other side,” pronounced Cachan, “and I cannot -appear for the father when I am suing the son; but go to Petit-Claud, he -is very clever, he may perhaps do even better for you than I should do.” - -Cachan and Petit-Claud met at the Court. - -“I have sent you Sechard senior,” said Cachan; “take the case for me in -exchange.” Lawyers do each other services of this kind in country towns -as well as in Paris. - -The day after Sechard senior gave Petit-Claud his confidence, the tall -Cointet paid a visit to his confederate. - -“Try to give old Sechard a lesson,” he said. “He is the kind of man that -will never forgive his son for costing him a thousand francs or so; the -outlay will dry up any generous thoughts in his mind, if he ever has -any.” - -“Go back to your vines,” said Petit-Claud to his new client. “Your son -is not very well off; do not eat him out of house and home. I will send -for you when the time comes.” - -On behalf of Sechard senior, therefore, Petit-Claud claimed that the -presses, being fixtures, were so much the more to be regarded as tools -and implements of trade, and the less liable to seizure, in that the -house had been a printing office since the reign of Louis XIV. Cachan, -on Metivier’s account, waxed indignant at this. In Paris Lucien’s -furniture had belonged to Coralie, and here again in Angouleme David’s -goods and chattels all belonged to his wife or his father; pretty things -were said in court. Father and son were summoned; such claims could not -be allowed to stand. - -“We mean to unmask the frauds intrenched behind bad faith of the most -formidable kind; here is the defence of dishonesty bristling with the -plainest and most innocent articles of the Code, and why?--to avoid -repayment of three thousand francs; obtained how?--from poor Metivier’s -cash box! And yet there are those who dare to say a word against -bill-discounters! What times we live in! . . . Now, I put it to -you--what is this but taking your neighbor’s money? . . . You will -surely not sanction a claim which would bring immorality to the very -core of justice!” - -Cachan’s eloquence produced an effect on the court. A divided judgment -was given in favor of Mme. Sechard, the house furniture being held to -be her property; and against Sechard senior, who was ordered to pay -costs--four hundred and thirty-four francs, sixty-five centimes. - -“It is kind of old Sechard,” laughed the lawyers; “he would have a -finger in the pie, so let him pay!” - -Notice of judgment was given on the 26th of August; the presses and -plant could be seized on the 28th. Placards were posted. Application was -made for an order empowering them to sell on the spot. Announcements of -the sale appeared in the papers, and Doublon flattered himself that the -inventory should be verified and the auction take place on the 2nd of -September. - -By this time David Sechard owed Metivier five thousand two hundred and -seventy-five francs, twenty-five centimes (to say nothing of interest), -by formal judgment confirmed by appeal, the bill of costs having been -duly taxed. Likewise to Petit-Claud he owed twelve hundred francs, -exclusive of the fees, which were left to David’s generosity with the -generous confidence displayed by the hackney coachman who has driven you -so quickly over the road on which you desire to go. - -Mme. Sechard owed Petit-Claud something like three hundred and fifty -francs and fees besides; and of old Sechard, besides four hundred and -thirty-four francs, sixty-five centimes, the little attorney demanded a -hundred crowns by way of fee. Altogether, the Sechard family owed about -ten thousand francs. This is what is called “putting fire into the bed -straw.” - -Apart from the utility of these documents to other nations who thus may -behold the battery of French law in action, the French legislator ought -to know the lengths to which the abuse of procedure may be carried, -always supposing that the said legislator can find time for reading. -Surely some sort of regulation might be devised, some way of forbidding -lawyers to carry on a case until the sum in dispute is more than eaten -up in costs? Is there not something ludicrous in the idea of submitting -a square yard of soil and an estate of thousands of acres to the same -legal formalities? These bare outlines of the history of the various -stages of procedure should open the eyes of Frenchmen to the meaning of -the words “legal formalities, justice, and costs,” little as the immense -majority of the nations know about them. - -Five thousand pounds’ weight of type in the printing office were worth -two thousand francs as old metal; the three presses were valued at six -hundred francs; the rest of the plant would fetch the price of old iron -and firewood. The household furniture would have brought in a thousand -francs at most. The whole personal property of Sechard junior therefore -represented the sum of four thousand francs; and Cachan and Petit-Claud -made claims for seven thousand francs in costs already incurred, to say -nothing of expenses to come, for the blossom gave promise of fine fruits -enough, as the reader will shortly see. Surely the lawyers of France and -Navarre, nay, even of Normandy herself, will not refuse Petit-Claud -his meed of admiration and respect? Surely, too, kind hearts will give -Marion and Kolb a tear of sympathy? - -All through the war Kolb sat on a chair in the doorway, acting as -watch-dog, when David had nothing else for him to do. It was Kolb who -received all the notifications, and a clerk of Petit-Claud’s kept watch -over Kolb. No sooner were the placards announcing the auction put up on -the premises than Kolb tore them down; he hurried round the town after -the bill-poster, tearing the placards from the walls. - -“Ah, scountrels!” he cried, “to dorment so goot a man; and they calls it -chustice!” - -Marion made half a franc a day by working half time in a paper mill as -a machine tender, and her wages contributed to the support of the -household. Mme. Chardon went back uncomplainingly to her old occupation, -sitting up night after night, and bringing home her wages at the end -of the week. Poor Mme. Chardon! Twice already she had made a nine days’ -prayer for those she loved, wondering that God should be deaf to her -petitions, and blind to the light of the candles on His altar. - -On the 2nd of September, a letter came from Lucien, the first since -the letter of the winter, which David had kept from his wife’s -knowledge--the announcement of the three bills which bore David’s -signature. This time Lucien wrote to Eve. - -“The third since he left us!” she said. Poor sister, she was afraid to -open the envelope that covered the fatal sheet. - -She was feeding the little one when the post came in; they could not -afford a wet-nurse now, and the child was being brought up by hand. Her -state of mind may be imagined, and David’s also, when he had been roused -to read the letter, for David had been at work all night, and only lay -down at daybreak. - - - _Lucien to Eve._ - - “PARIS, August 29th. - - “MY DEAR SISTER,--Two days ago, at five o’clock in the morning, - one of God’s noblest creatures breathed her last in my arms; she - was the one woman on earth capable of loving me as you and mother - and David love me, giving me besides that unselfish affection, - something that neither mother nor sister can give--the utmost - bliss of love. Poor Coralie, after giving up everything for my - sake, may perhaps have died for me--for me, who at this moment - have not the wherewithal to bury her. She could have solaced my - life; you, and you alone, my dear good angels, can console me for - her death. God has forgiven her, I think, the innocent girl, for - she died like a Christian. Oh, this Paris! Eve, Paris is the glory - and the shame of France. Many illusions I have lost here already, - and I have others yet to lose, when I begin to beg for the little - money needed before I can lay the body of my angel in consecrated - earth. - “Your unhappy brother, - “Lucien.” - - “P. S. I must have given you much trouble by my heedlessness; some - day you will know all, and you will forgive me. You must be quite - easy now; a worthy merchant, a M. Camusot, to whom I once caused - cruel pangs, promised to arrange everything, seeing that Coralie - and I were so much distressed.” - - -“The sheet is still moist with his tears,” said Eve, looking at the -letter with a heart so full of sympathy that something of the old love -for Lucien shone in her eyes. - -“Poor fellow, he must have suffered cruelly if he has been loved as he -says!” exclaimed Eve’s husband, happy in his love; and these two forgot -all their own troubles at this cry of a supreme sorrow. Just at that -moment Marion rushed in. - -“Madame,” she panted, “here they are! Here they are!” - -“Who is here?” - -“Doublon and his men, bad luck to them! Kolb will not let them come in; -they have come to sell us up.” - -“No, no, they are not going to sell you up, never fear,” cried a voice -in the next room, and Petit-Claud appeared upon the scene. “I have just -lodged notice of appeal. We ought not to sit down under a judgment that -attaches a stigma of bad faith to us. I did not think it worth while to -fight the case here. I let Cachan talk to gain time for you; I am sure -of gaining the day at Poitiers----” - -“But how much will it cost to win the day?” asked Mme. Sechard. - -“Fees if you win, one thousand francs if we lose our case.” - -“Oh, dear!” cried poor Eve; “why, the remedy is worse than the disease!” - -Petit-Claud was not a little confused at this cry of innocence -enlightened by the progress of the flames of litigation. It struck him -too that Eve was a very beautiful woman. In the middle of the discussion -old Sechard arrived, summoned by Petit-Claud. The old man’s presence -in the chamber where his little grandson in the cradle lay smiling at -misfortune completed the scene. The young attorney at once addressed the -newcomer with: - -“You owe me seven hundred francs for the interpleader, Papa Sechard; -but you can charge the amount to your son in addition to the arrears of -rent.” - -The vinedresser felt the sting of the sarcasm conveyed by Petit-Claud’s -tone and manner. - -“It would have cost you less to give security for the debt at first,” - said Eve, leaving the cradle to greet her father-in-law with a kiss. - -David, quite overcome by the sight of the crowd outside the house (for -Kolb’s resistance to Doublon’s men had collected a knot of people), -could only hold out a hand to his father; he did not say a word. - -“And how, pray, do I come to owe you seven hundred francs?” the old man -asked, looking at Petit-Claud. - -“Why, in the first place, I am engaged by you. Your rent is in question; -so, as far as I am concerned, you and our debtor are one and the same -person. If your son does not pay my costs in the case, you must pay -them yourself.--But this is nothing. In a few hours David will be put in -prison; will you allow him to go?” - -“What does he owe?” - -“Something like five or six thousand francs, besides the amounts owing -to you and to his wife.” - -The speech roused all the old man’s suspicions at once. He looked round -the little blue-and-white bedroom at the touching scene before his -eyes--at a beautiful woman weeping over a cradle, at David bowed down by -anxieties, and then again at the lawyer. This was a trap set for him by -that lawyer; perhaps they wanted to work upon his paternal feelings, to -get money out of him? That was what it all meant. He took alarm. He went -over to the cradle and fondled the child, who held out both little arms -to him. No heir to an English peerage could be more tenderly cared for -than this little one in that house of trouble; his little embroidered -cap was lined with pale pink. - -“Eh! let David get out of it as best he may. I am thinking of this child -here,” cried the old grandfather, “and the child’s mother will approve -of that. David that knows so much must know how to pay his debts.” - -“Now I will just put your meaning into plain language,” said Petit-Claud -ironically. “Look here, Papa Sechard, you are jealous of your son. -Hear the truth! you put David into his present position by selling the -business to him for three times its value. You ruined him to make an -extortionate bargain! Yes, don’t you shake your head; you sold the -newspaper to the Cointets and pocketed all the proceeds, and that was -as much as the whole business was worth. You bear David a grudge, not -merely because you have plundered him, but because, also, your own son -is a man far above yourself. You profess to be prodigiously fond of -your grandson, to cloak your want of feeling for your son and his wife, -because you ought to pay down money _hic et nunc_ for them, while you -need only show a posthumous affection for your grandson. You pretend -to be fond of the little fellow, lest you should be taxed with want of -feeling for your own flesh and blood. That is the bottom of it, Papa -Sechard.” - -“Did you fetch me over to hear this?” asked the old man, glowering at -his lawyer, his daughter-in-law, and his son in turn. - -“Monsieur!” protested poor Eve, turning to Petit-Claud, “have you vowed -to ruin us? My husband had never uttered a word against his father.” - (Here the old man looked cunningly at her.) “David has told me scores -of times that you loved him in your way,” she added, looking at her -father-in-law, and understanding his suspicions. - -Petit-Claud was only following out the tall Cointet’s instructions. He -was widening the breach between the father and son, lest Sechard senior -should extricate David from his intolerable position. “The day that -David Sechard goes to prison shall be the day of your introduction -to Mme. de Senonches,” the “tall Cointet” had said no longer ago than -yesterday. - -Mme. Sechard, with the quick insight of love, had divined Petit-Claud’s -mercenary hostility, even as she had once before felt instinctively that -Cerizet was a traitor. As for David, his astonishment may be imagined; -he could not understand how Petit-Claud came to know so much of his -father’s nature and his own history. Upright and honorable as he was, he -did not dream of the relations between his lawyer and the Cointets; -nor, for that matter, did he know that the Cointets were at work behind -Metivier. Meanwhile old Sechard took his son’s silence as an insult, -and Petit-Claud, taking advantage of his client’s bewilderment, beat a -retreat. - -“Good-bye, my dear David; you have had warning, notice of appeal doesn’t -invalidate the warrant for arrest. It is the only course left open to -your creditors, and it will not be long before they take it. So, go away -at once----Or, rather, if you will take my advice, go to the Cointets -and see them about it. They have capital. If your invention is perfected -and answers the purpose, go into partnership with them. After all, they -are very good fellows----” - -“Your invention?” broke in old Sechard. - -“Why, do you suppose that your son is fool enough to let his business -slip away from him without thinking of something else?” exclaimed the -attorney. “He is on the brink of the discovery of a way of making paper -at a cost of three francs per ream, instead of ten, he tells me.” - -“One more dodge for taking me in! You are all as thick as thieves in a -fair. If David has found out such a plan, he has no need of me--he is a -millionaire! Good-bye, my dears, and a good-day to you all,” and the old -man disappeared down the staircase. - -“Find some way of hiding yourself,” was Petit-Claud’s parting word to -David, and with that he hurried out to exasperate old Sechard still -further. He found the vinegrower growling to himself outside in the -Place du Murier, went with him as far as L’Houmeau, and there left him -with a threat of putting in an execution for the costs due to him unless -they were paid before the week was out. - -“I will pay you if you will show me how to disinherit my son without -injuring my daughter-in-law or the boy,” said old Sechard, and they -parted forthwith. - -“How well the ‘tall Cointet’ knows the folk he is dealing with! It is -just as he said; those seven hundred francs will prevent the father from -paying seven thousand,” the little lawyer thought within himself as -he climbed the path to Angouleme. “Still, that old slyboots of a -paper-maker must not overreach us; it is time to ask him for something -besides promises.” - - - -“Well, David dear, what do you mean to do?” asked Eve, when the lawyer -had followed her father-in-law. - -“Marion, put your biggest pot on the fire!” called David; “I have my -secret fast.” - -At this Eve put on her bonnet and shawl and walking shoes with feverish -haste. - -“Kolb, my friend, get ready to go out,” she said, “and come with me; if -there is any way out of this hell, I must find it.” - -When Eve had gone out, Marion spoke to David. “Do be sensible, sir,” she -said, “or the mistress will fret herself to death. Make some money -to pay off your debts, and then you can try to find treasure at your -ease----” - -“Don’t talk, Marion,” said David; “I am going to overcome my last -difficulty, and then I can apply for the patent and the improvement on -the patent at the same time.” - -This “improvement on the patent” is the curse of the French patentee. -A man may spend ten years of his life in working out some obscure -industrial problem; and when he has invented some piece of machinery, or -made a discovery of some kind, he takes out a patent and imagines that -he has a right to his own invention; then there comes a competitor; and -unless the first inventor has foreseen all possible contingencies, the -second comer makes an “improvement on the patent” with a screw or a nut, -and takes the whole thing out of his hands. The discovery of a cheap -material for paper pulp, therefore, is by no means the conclusion of -the whole matter. David Sechard was anxiously looking ahead on all sides -lest the fortune sought in the teeth of such difficulties should be -snatched out of his hands at the last. Dutch paper as flax paper is -still called, though it is no longer made in Holland, is slightly sized; -but every sheet is sized separately by hand, and this increases the cost -of production. If it were possible to discover some way of sizing the -paper in the pulping-trough, with some inexpensive glue, like that in -use to-day (though even now it is not quite perfect), there would be no -“improvement on the patent” to fear. For the past month, accordingly, -David had been making experiments in sizing pulp. He had two discoveries -before him. - -Eve went to see her mother. Fortunately, it so happened that Mme. -Chardon was nursing the deputy-magistrate’s wife, who had just given the -Milauds of Nevers an heir presumptive; and Eve, in her distrust of all -attorneys and notaries, took into her head to apply for advice to the -legal guardian of widows and orphans. She wanted to know if she could -relieve David from his embarrassments by taking them upon herself and -selling her claims upon the estate, and besides, she had some hope of -discovering the truth as to Petit-Claud’s unaccountable conduct. The -official, struck with Mme. Sechard’s beauty, received her not only with -the respect due to a woman but with a sort of courtesy to which Eve was -not accustomed. She saw in the magistrate’s face an expression which, -since her marriage, she had seen in no eyes but Kolb’s; and for a -beautiful woman like Eve, this expression is the criterion by which men -are judged. When passion, or self-interest, or age dims that spark of -unquestioning fealty that gleams in a young man’s eyes, a woman feels -a certain mistrust of him, and begins to observe him critically. -The Cointets, Cerizet, and Petit-Claud--all the men whom Eve felt -instinctively to be her enemies--had turned hard, indifferent eyes on -her; with the deputy-magistrate, therefore, she felt at ease, although, -in spite of his kindly courtesy, he swept all her hopes away by his -first words. - -“It is not certain, madame, that the Court-Royal will reverse the -judgment of the court restricting your lien on your husband’s property, -for payment of moneys due to you by the terms of your marriage-contract, -to household goods and chattels. Your privilege ought not to be used -to defraud the other creditors. But in any case, you will be allowed -to take your share of the proceeds with the other creditors, and your -father-in-law likewise, as a privileged creditor, for arrears of rent. -When the court has given the order, other points may be raised as to the -‘contribution,’ as we call it, when a schedule of the debts is drawn up, -and the creditors are paid a dividend in proportion to their claims. - -“Then M. Petit-Claud is bringing us to bankruptcy,” she cried. - -“Petit-Claud is carrying out your husband’s instructions,” said the -magistrate; “he is anxious to gain time, so his attorney says. In my -opinion, you would perhaps do better to waive the appeal and buy in at -the sale the indispensable implements for carrying on the business; you -and your father-in-law together might do this, you to the extent of your -claim through your marriage contract, and he for his arrears of rent. -But that would be bringing the matter to an end too soon perhaps. The -lawyers are making a good thing out of your case.” - -“But then I should be entirely in M. Sechard’s father’s hands. I should -owe him the hire of the machinery as well as the house-rent; and my -husband would still be open to further proceedings from M. Metivier, for -M. Metivier would have had almost nothing.” - -“That is true, madame.” - -“Very well, then we should be even worse off than we are.” - -“The arm of the law, madame, is at the creditor’s disposal. You have -received three thousand francs, and you must of necessity repay the -money.” - -“Oh, sir, can you think that we are capable----” Eve suddenly came to a -stop. She saw that her justification might injure her brother. - -“Oh! I know quite well that it is an obscure affair, that the debtors on -the one side are honest, scrupulous, and even behaving handsomely; and -the creditor, on the other, is only a cat’s-paw----” - -Eve, aghast, looked at him with bewildered eyes. - -“You can understand,” he continued, with a look full of homely -shrewdness, “that we on the bench have plenty of time to think over all -that goes on under our eyes, while the gentlemen in court are arguing -with each other.” - -Eve went home in despair over her useless effort. That evening at seven -o’clock, Doublon came with the notification of imprisonment for debt. -The proceedings had reached the acute stage. - -“After this, I can only go out after nightfall,” said David. - -Eve and Mme. Chardon burst into tears. To be in hiding was for them a -shameful thing. As for Kolb and Marion, they were more alarmed for David -because they had long since made up their minds that there was no guile -in their master’s nature; so frightened were they on his account, -that they came upstairs under pretence of asking whether they could do -anything, and found Eve and Mme. Chardon in tears; the three whose life -had been so straightforward hitherto were overcome by the thought that -David must go into hiding. And how, moreover, could they hope to escape -the invisible spies who henceforth would dog every least movement of a -man, unluckily so absent-minded? - -“Gif montame vill vait ein liddle kvarter hour, she can regonnoitre -der enemy’s camp,” put in Kolb. “You shall see dot I oonderstand mein -pizness; for gif I look like ein German, I am ein drue Vrenchman, and -vat is more, I am ver’ conning.” - -“Oh! madame, do let him go,” begged Marion. “He is only thinking of -saving his master; he hasn’t another thought in his head. Kolb is not -an Alsacien, he is--eh! well--a regular Newfoundland dog for rescuing -folk.” - -“Go, my good Kolb,” said David; “we have still time to do something.” - -Kolb hurried off to pay a visit to the bailiff; and it so fell out that -David’s enemies were in Doublon’s office, holding a council as to the -best way of securing him. - -The arrest of a debtor is an unheard-of thing in the country, an -abnormal proceeding if ever there was one. Everybody, in the first -place, knows everybody else, and creditor and debtor being bound to meet -each other daily all their lives long, nobody likes to take this odious -course. When a defaulter--to use the provincial term for a debtor, for -they do not mince their words in the provinces when speaking of this -legalized method of helping yourself to another man’s goods--when a -defaulter plans a failure on a large scale, he takes sanctuary in Paris. -Paris is a kind of City of Refuge for provincial bankrupts, an almost -impenetrable retreat; the writ of the pursuing bailiff has no force -beyond the limits of his jurisdiction, and there are other obstacles -rendering it almost invalid. Wherefore the Paris bailiff is empowered -to enter the house of a third party to seize the person of the debtor, -while for the bailiff of the provinces the domicile is absolutely -inviolable. The law probably makes this exception as to Paris, because -there it is the rule for two or more families to live under the same -roof; but in the provinces the bailiff who wishes to make forcible -entry must have an order from the Justice of the Peace; and so wide a -discretion is allowed the Justice of the Peace, that he is practically -able to give or withhold assistance to the bailiffs. To the honor of the -Justices, it should be said, that they dislike the office, and are by no -means anxious to assist blind passions or revenge. - -There are, besides, other and no less serious difficulties in the way -of arrest for debt--difficulties which tend to temper the severity of -legislation, and public opinion not infrequently makes a dead letter -of the law. In great cities there are poor or degraded wretches enough; -poverty and vice know no scruples, and consent to play the spy, but in -a little country town, people know each other too well to earn wages of -the bailiff; the meanest creature who should lend himself to dirty -work of this kind would be forced to leave the place. In the absence -of recognized machinery, therefore, the arrest of a debtor is a problem -presenting no small difficulty; it becomes a kind of strife of ingenuity -between the bailiff and the debtor, and matter for many pleasant stories -in the newspapers. - -Cointet the elder did not choose to appear in the affair; but the -fat Cointet openly said that he was acting for Metivier, and went to -Doublon, taking Cerizet with him. Cerizet was his foreman now, and had -promised his co-operation in return for a thousand-franc note. Doublon -could reckon upon two of his understrappers, and thus the Cointets had -four bloodhounds already on the victim’s track. At the actual time of -arrest, Doublon could furthermore count upon the police force, who are -bound, if required, to assist a bailiff in the performance of his -duty. The two men, Doublon himself, and the visitors were all closeted -together in the private office, beyond the public office, on the ground -floor. - -A tolerably wide-paved lobby, a kind of passage-way, led to the public -office. The gilded scutcheons of the court, with the word “Bailiff” - printed thereon in large black letters, hung outside on the house wall -on either side the door. Both office windows gave upon the street, and -were protected by heavy iron bars; but the private office looked into -the garden at the back, wherein Doublon, an adorer of Pomona, grew -espaliers with marked success. Opposite the office door you beheld -the door of the kitchen, and, beyond the kitchen, the staircase that -ascended to the first story. The house was situated in a narrow street -at the back of the new Law Courts, then in process of construction, -and only finished after 1830.--These details are necessary if Kolb’s -adventures are to be intelligible to the reader. - -It was Kolb’s idea to go to the bailiff, to pretend to be willing to -betray his master, and in this way to discover the traps which would be -laid for David. Kolb told the servant who opened the door that he wanted -to speak to M. Doublon on business. The servant was busy washing up her -plates and dishes, and not very well pleased at Kolb’s interruption; she -pushed open the door of the outer office, and bade him wait there till -her master was at liberty; then, as he was a stranger to her, she told -the master in the private office that “a man” wanted to speak to him. -Now, “a man” so invariably means “a peasant,” that Doublon said, “Tell -him to wait,” and Kolb took a seat close to the door of the private -office. There were voices talking within. - -“Ah, by the by, how do you mean to set about it? For, if we can catch -him to-morrow, it will be so much time saved.” It was the fat Cointet -who spoke. - -“Nothing easier; the gaffer has come fairly by his nickname,” said -Cerizet. - -At the sound of the fat Cointet’s voice, Kolb guessed at once that they -were talking about his master, especially as the sense of the words -began to dawn upon him; but, when he recognized Cerizet’s tones, his -astonishment grew more and more. - -“Und dat fellow haf eaten his pread!” he thought, horror-stricken. - -“We must do it in this way, boys,” said Doublon. “We will post our -men, at good long intervals, about the Rue de Beaulieu and the Place du -Murier in every direction, so that we can follow the gaffer (I like that -word) without his knowledge. We will not lose sight of him until he is -safe inside the house where he means to lie in hiding (as he thinks); -there we will leave him in peace for awhile; then some fine day we will -come across him before sunrise or sunset.” - -“But what is he doing now, at this moment? He may be slipping through -our fingers,” said the fat Cointet. - -“He is in his house,” answered Doublon; “if he left it, I should know. I -have one witness posted in the Place du Murier, another at the corner of -the Law Courts, and another thirty paces from the house. If our man came -out, they would whistle; he could not make three paces from his door but -I should know of it at once from the signal.” - -(Bailiffs speak of their understrappers by the polite title of -“witnesses.”) - -Here was better hap than Kolb had expected! He went noiselessly out of -the office, and spoke to the maid in the kitchen. - -“Meestair Touplon ees encaged for som time to kom,” he said; “I vill kom -back early to-morrow morning.” - -A sudden idea had struck the Alsacien, and he proceeded to put it into -execution. Kolb had served in a cavalry regiment; he hurried off to see -a livery stable-keeper, an acquaintance of his, picked out a horse, had -it saddled, and rushed back to the Place du Murier. He found Madame Eve -in the lowest depths of despondency. - -“What is it, Kolb?” asked David, when the Alsacien’s face looked in upon -them, scared but radiant. - -“You have scountrels all arount you. De safest way ees to hide de -master. Haf montame thought of hiding the master anywheres?” - -When Kolb, honest fellow, had explained the whole history of Cerizet’s -treachery, of the circle traced about the house, and of the fat -Cointet’s interest in the affair, and given the family some inkling -of the schemes set on foot by the Cointets against the master,--then -David’s real position gradually became fatally clear. - -“It is the Cointet’s doing!” cried poor Eve, aghast at the news; “_they_ -are proceeding against you! that accounts for Metivier’s hardness. . . . -They are paper-makers--David! they want your secret!” - -“But what can we do to escape them?” exclaimed Mme. Chardon. - -“If de misdress had some liddle blace vere the master could pe hidden,” - said Kolb; “I bromise to take him dere so dot nopody shall know.” - -“Wait till nightfall, and go to Basine Clerget,” said Eve. “I will -go now and arrange it all with her. In this case, Basine will be like -another self to me.” - -“Spies will follow you,” David said at last, recovering some presence of -mind. “How can we find a way of communicating with Basine if none of us -can go to her?” - -“Montame kan go,” said Kolb. “Here ees my scheme--I go out mit der -master, ve draws der vischtlers on our drack. Montame kan go to -Montemoiselle Clerchet; nopody vill vollow her. I haf a horse; I take de -master oop behint; und der teufel is in it if they katches us.” - -“Very well; good-bye, dear,” said poor Eve, springing to her husband’s -arms; “none of us can go to see you, the risk is too great. We must say -good-bye for the whole time that your imprisonment lasts. We will write -to each other; Basine will post your letters, and I will write under -cover to her.” - -No sooner did David and Kolb come out of the house than they heard a -sharp whistle, and were followed to the livery stable. Once there, Kolb -took his master up behind him, with a caution to keep tight hold. - -“Veestle avay, mind goot vriends! I care not von rap,” cried Kolb. “You -vill not datch an old trooper,” and the old cavalry man clapped both -spurs to his horse, and was out into the country and the darkness -not merely before the spies could follow, but before they had time to -discover the direction that he took. - -Eve meanwhile went out on the tolerably ingenious pretext of asking -advise of Postel, sat awhile enduring the insulting pity that spends -itself in words, left the Postel family, and stole away unseen to Basine -Clerget, told her troubles, and asked for help and shelter. Basine, for -greater safety, had brought Eve into her bedroom, and now she opened the -door of a little closet, lighted only by a skylight in such a way that -prying eyes could not see into it. The two friends unstopped the flue -which opened into the chimney of the stove in the workroom, where the -girls heated their irons. Eve and Basine spread ragged coverlets over -the brick floor to deaden any sound that David might make, put in a -truckle bed, a stove for his experiments, and a table and a chair. -Basine promised to bring food in the night; and as no one had occasion -to enter her room, David might defy his enemies one and all, or even -detectives. - -“At last!” Eve said, with her arms about her friend, “at last he is in -safety.” - -Eve went back to Postel to submit a fresh doubt that had occurred to -her, she said. She would like the opinion of such an experienced member -of the Chamber of Commerce; she so managed that he escorted her home, -and listened patiently to his commiseration. - -“Would this have happened if you had married me?”--all the little -druggist’s remarks were pitched in this key. - -Then he went home again to find Mme. Postel jealous of Mme. Sechard, -and furious with her spouse for his polite attention to that beautiful -woman. The apothecary advanced the opinion that little red-haired women -were preferable to tall, dark women, who, like fine horses, were always -in the stable, he said. He gave proofs of his sincerity, no doubt, for -Mme. Postel was very sweet to him next day. - -“We may be easy,” Eve said to her mother and Marion, whom she found -still “in a taking,” in the latter’s phrase. - -“Oh! they are gone,” said Marion, when Eve looked unthinkingly round the -room. - - - -One league out of Angouleme on the main road to Paris, Kolb stopped. - -“Vere shall we go?” - -“To Marsac,” said David; “since we are on the way already, I will try -once more to soften my father’s heart.” - -“I would rader mount to der assault of a pattery,” said Kolb, “your -resbected fader haf no heart whatefer.” - -The ex-pressman had no belief in his son; he judged him from the outside -point of view, and waited for results. He had no idea, to begin with, -that he had plundered David, nor did he make allowance for the very -different circumstances under which they had begun life; he said to -himself, “I set him up with a printing-house, just as I found it myself; -and he, knowing a thousand times more than I did, cannot keep it going.” - He was mentally incapable of understanding his son; he laid the blame of -failure upon him, and even prided himself, as it were on his superiority -to a far greater intellect than his own, with the thought, “I am -securing his bread for him.” - -Moralists will never succeed in making us comprehend the full extent of -the influence of sentiment upon self-interest, an influence every whit -as strong as the action of interest upon our sentiments; for every law -of our nature works in two ways, and acts and reacts upon us. - -David, on his side, understood his father, and in his sublime charity -forgave him. Kolb and David reached Marsac at eight o’clock, and -suddenly came in upon the old man as he was finishing his dinner, which, -by force of circumstances, came very near bedtime. - -“I see you because there is no help for it,” said old Sechard with a -sour smile. - -“Und how should you and mein master meet? He soars in der shkies, and -you are always mit your vines! You bay for him, that’s vot you are a -fader for----” - -“Come, Kolb, off with you. Put up the horse at Mme. Courtois’ so as -to save inconvenience here; fathers are always in the right, remember -that.” - -Kolb went off, growling like a chidden dog, obedient but protesting; and -David proposed to give his father indisputable proof of his discovery, -while reserving his secret. He offered to give him an interest in the -affair in return for money paid down; a sufficient sum to release him -from his present difficulties, with or without a further amount of -capital to be employed in developing the invention. - -“And how are you going to prove to me that you can make good paper that -costs nothing out of nothing, eh?” asked the ex-printer, giving his son -a glance, vinous, it may be, but keen, inquisitive, and covetous; a -look like a flash of lightning from a sodden cloud; for the old “bear,” - faithful to his traditions, never went to bed without a nightcap, -consisting of a couple of bottles of excellent old wine, which he -“tippled down” of an evening, to use his own expression. - -“Nothing simpler,” said David; “I have none of the paper about me, for I -came here to be out of Doublon’s way; and having come so far, I thought -I might as well come to you at Marsac as borrow of a money-lender. I -have nothing on me but my clothes. Shut me up somewhere on the premises, -so that nobody can come in and see me at work, and----” - -“What? you will not let me see you at your work then?” asked the old -man, with an ugly look at his son. - -“You have given me to understand plainly, father, that in matters of -business there is no question of father and son----” - -“Ah! you distrust the father that gave you life!” - -“No; the other father who took away the means of earning a livelihood.” - -“Each for himself, you are right!” said the old man. “Very good, I will -put you in the cellar.” - -“I will go down there with Kolb. You must let me have a large pot for -my pulp,” said David; then he continued, without noticing the quick look -his father gave him,--“and you must find artichoke and asparagus stalks -for me, and nettles, and the reeds that you cut by the stream side, -and to-morrow morning I will come out of your cellar with some splendid -paper.” - -“If you can do that,” hiccoughed the “bear,” “I will let you have, -perhaps--I will see, that is, if I can let you have--pshaw! twenty-five -thousand francs. On condition, mind, that you make as much for me every -year.” - -“Put me to the proof, I am quite willing,” cried David. “Kolb! take -the horse and go to Mansle, quick, buy a large hair sieve for me of a -cooper, and some glue of the grocer, and come back again as soon as you -can.” - -“There! drink,” said old Sechard, putting down a bottle of wine, a loaf, -and the cold remains of the dinner. “You will need your strength. I will -go and look for your bits of green stuff; green rags you use for your -pulp, and a trifle too green, I am afraid.” - -Two hours later, towards eleven o’clock that night, David and Kolb took -up their quarters in a little out-house against the cellar wall; they -found the floor paved with runnel tiles, and all the apparatus used in -Angoumois for the manufacture of Cognac brandy. - -“Pans and firewood! Why, it is as good as a factory made on purpose!” - cried David. - -“Very well, good-night,” said old Sechard; “I shall lock you in, and -let both the dogs loose; nobody will bring you any paper, I am sure. You -show me those sheets to-morrow, and I give you my word I will be your -partner and the business will be straightforward and properly managed.” - -David and Kolb, locked into the distillery, spent nearly two hours -in macerating the stems, using a couple of logs for mallets. The fire -blazed up, the water boiled. About two o’clock in the morning, Kolb -heard a sound which David was too busy to notice, a kind of deep breath -like a suppressed hiccough. Snatching up one of the two lighted dips, he -looked round the walls, and beheld old Sechard’s empurpled countenance -filling up a square opening above a door hitherto hidden by a pile of -empty casks in the cellar itself. The cunning old man had brought David -and Kolb into his underground distillery by the outer door, through -which the casks were rolled when full. The inner door had been made -so that he could roll his puncheons straight from the cellar into the -distillery, instead of taking them round through the yard. - -“Aha! thees eies not fair blay, you vant to shvindle your son!” cried -the Alsacien. “Do you kow vot you do ven you trink ein pottle of vine? -You gif goot trink to ein bad scountrel.” - -“Oh, father!” cried David. - -“I came to see if you wanted anything,” said old Sechard, half sobered -by this time. - -“Und it was for de inderest vot you take in us dot you brought der -liddle ladder!” commented Kolb, as he pushed the casks aside and flung -open the door; and there, in fact, on a short step-ladder, the old man -stood in his shirt. - -“Risking your health!” said David. - -“I think I must be walking in my sleep,” said old Sechard, coming down -in confusion. “Your want of confidence in your father set me dreaming; I -dreamed you were making a pact with the Devil to do impossible things.” - -“Der teufel,” said Kolb; “dot is your own bassion for de liddle -goldfinches.” - -“Go back to bed again, father,” said David; “lock us in if you will, but -you may save yourself the trouble of coming down again. Kolb will mount -guard.” - -At four o’clock in the morning David came out of the distillery; he -had been careful to leave no sign of his occupation behind him; but he -brought out some thirty sheets of paper that left nothing to be desired -in fineness, whiteness, toughness, and strength, all of them bearing by -way of water-mark the impress of the uneven hairs of the sieve. The old -man took up the samples and put his tongue to them, the lifelong habit -of the pressman, who tests papers in this way. He felt it between his -thumb and finger, crumpled and creased it, put it through all the trials -by which a printer assays the quality of a sample submitted to him, and -when it was found wanting in no respect, he still would not allow that -he was beaten. - -“We have yet to know how it takes an impression,” he said, to avoid -praising his son. - -“Funny man!” exclaimed Kolb. - -The old man was cool enough now. He cloaked his feigned hesitation with -paternal dignity. - -“I wish to tell you in fairness, father, that even now it seems to me -that paper costs more than it ought to do; I want to solve the problem -of sizing it in the pulping-trough. I have just that one improvement to -make.” - -“Oho! so you are trying to trick me!” - -“Well, shall I tell you? I can size the pulp as it is, but so far I -cannot do it evenly, and the surface is as rough as a burr!” - -“Very good, size your pulp in the trough, and you shall have my money.” - -“Mein master will nefer see de golor of your money,” declared Kolb. - -“Father,” he began, “I have never borne you any grudge for making over -the business to me at such an exorbitant valuation; I have seen the -father through it all. I have said to myself--‘The old man has worked -very hard, and he certainly gave me a better bringing up than I had a -right to expect; let him enjoy the fruits of his toil in peace, and -in his own way.--I even gave up my mother’s money to you. I began -encumbered with debt, and bore all the burdens that you put upon me -without a murmur. Well, harassed for debts that were not of my making, -with no bread in the house, and my feet held to the flames, I have -found out the secret. I have struggled on patiently till my strength is -exhausted. It is perhaps your duty to help me, but do not give _me_ a -thought; think of a woman and a little one” (David could not keep -back the tears at this); “think of them, and give them help and -protection.--Kolb and Marion have given me their savings; will you -do less?” he cried at last, seeing that his father was as cold as the -impression-stone. - -“And that was not enough for you,” said the old man, without the -slightest sense of shame; “why, you would waste the wealth of the -Indies! Good-night! I am too ignorant to lend a hand in schemes got -up on purpose to exploit me. A monkey will never gobble down a bear” - (alluding to the workshop nicknames); “I am a vinegrower, I am not a -banker. And what is more, look you, business between father and son -never turns out well. Stay and eat your dinner here; you shan’t say that -you came for nothing.” - -There are some deep-hearted natures that can force their own pain down -into inner depths unsuspected by those dearest to them; and with them, -when anguish forces its way to the surface and is visible, it is only -after a mighty upheaval. David’s nature was one of these. Eve had -thoroughly understood the noble character of the man. But now that the -depths had been stirred, David’s father took the wave of anguish that -passed over his son’s features for a child’s trick, an attempt to “get -round” his father, and his bitter grief for mortification over the -failure of the attempt. Father and son parted in anger. - -David and Kolb reached Angouleme on the stroke of midnight. They came -back on foot, and steathily, like burglars. Before one o’clock in the -morning David was installed in the impenetrable hiding-place prepared -by his wife in Basine Clerget’s house. No one saw him enter it, and the -pity that henceforth should shelter David was the most resourceful pity -of all--the pity of a work-girl. - -Kolb bragged that day that he had saved his master on horseback, -and only left him in a carrier’s van well on the way to Limoges. A -sufficient provision of raw material had been laid up in Basine’s -cellar, and Kolb, Marion, Mme. Sechard, and her mother had no -communication with the house. - -Two days after the scene at Marsac, old Sechard came hurrying to -Angouleme and his daughter-in-law. Covetousness had brought him. There -were three clear weeks ahead before the vintage began, and he thought he -would be on the look-out for squalls, to use his own expression. To this -end he took up his quarters in one of the attics which he had reserved -by the terms of the lease, wilfully shutting his eyes to the bareness -and want that made his son’s home desolate. If they owed him rent, they -could well afford to keep him. He ate his food from a tinned iron -plate, and made no marvel at it. “I began in the same way,” he told his -daughter-in-law, when she apologized for the absence of silver spoons. - -Marion was obliged to run into debt for necessaries for them all. Kolb -was earning a franc for daily wage as a brick-layer’s laborer; and -at last poor Eve, who, for the sake of her husband and child, had -sacrificed her last resources to entertain David’s father, saw that she -had only ten francs left. She had hoped to the last to soften the old -miser’s heart by her affectionate respect, and patience, and pretty -attentions; but old Sechard was obdurate as ever. When she saw him turn -the same cold eyes on her, the same look that the Cointets had given -her, and Petit-Claud and Cerizet, she tried to watch and guess old -Sechard’s intentions. Trouble thrown away! Old Sechard, never sober, -never drunk, was inscrutable; intoxication is a double veil. If the old -man’s tipsiness was sometimes real, it was quite often feigned for the -purpose of extracting David’s secret from his wife. Sometimes he coaxed, -sometimes he frightened his daughter-in-law. - -“I will drink up my property; _I will buy an annuity_,” he would -threaten when Eve told him that she knew nothing. - -The humiliating struggle was wearing her out; she kept silence at last, -lest she should show disrespect to her husband’s father. - -“But, father,” she said one day when driven to extremity, “there is a -very simple way of finding out everything. Pay David’s debts; he will -come home, and you can settle it between you.” - -“Ha! that is what you want to get out of me, is it?” he cried. “It is as -well to know!” - -But if Sechard had no belief in his son, he had plenty of faith in the -Cointets. He went to consult them, and the Cointets dazzled him of set -purpose, telling him that his son’s experiments might mean millions of -francs. - -“If David can prove that he has succeeded, I shall not hesitate to -go into partnership with him, and reckon his discovery as half the -capital,” the tall Cointet told him. - -The suspicious old man learned a good deal over nips of brandy with the -work-people, and something more by questioning Petit-Claud and feigning -stupidity; and at length he felt convinced that the Cointets were -the real movers behind Metivier; they were plotting to ruin Sechard’s -printing establishment, and to lure him (Sechard) on to pay his son’s -debts by holding out the discovery as a bait. The old man of the people -did not suspect that Petit-Claud was in the plot, nor had he any idea of -the toils woven to ensnare the great secret. A day came at last when he -grew angry and out of patience with the daughter-in-law who would not -so much as tell him where David was hiding; he determined to force the -laboratory door, for he had discovered that David was wont to make his -experiments in the workshop where the rollers were melted down. - -He came downstairs very early one morning and set to work upon the lock. - -“Hey! Papa Sechard, what are you doing there?” Marion called out. (She -had risen at daybreak to go to her papermill, and now she sprang across -to the workshop.) - -“I am in my own house, am I not?” said the old man, in some confusion. - -“Oh, indeed, are you turning thief in your old age? You are not drunk -this time either----I shall go straight to the mistress and tell her.” - -“Hold your tongue, Marion,” said Sechard, drawing two crowns of six -francs each from his pocket. “There----” - -“I will hold my tongue, but don’t you do it again,” said Marion, shaking -her finger at him, “or all Angouleme shall hear of it.” - -The old man had scarcely gone out, however, when Marion went up to her -mistress. - -“Look, madame,” she said, “I have had twelve francs out of your -father-in-law, and here they are----” - -“How did you do it?” - -“What was he wanting to do but to take a look at the master’s pots and -pans and stuff, to find out the secret, forsooth. I knew quite well that -there was nothing in the little place, but I frightened him and talked -as if he were setting about robbing his son, and he gave me twelve -francs to say nothing about it.” - -Just at that moment Basine came in radiant, and with a letter for her -friend, a letter from David written on magnificent paper, which she -handed over when they were alone. - - - “MY ADORED EVE,--I am writing to you the first letter on my first - sheet of paper made by the new process. I have solved the problem - of sizing the pulp in the trough at last. A pound of pulp costs - five sous, even supposing that the raw material is grown on good - soil with special culture; three francs’ worth of sized pulp will - make a ream of paper, at twelve pounds to the ream. I am quite - sure that I can lessen the weight of books by one-half. The - envelope, the letter, and samples enclosed are all manufactured in - different ways. I kiss you; you shall have wealth now to add to - our happiness, everything else we had before.” - - -“There!” said Eve, handing the samples to her father-in-law, “when the -vintage is over let your son have the money, give him a chance to make -his fortune, and you shall be repaid ten times over; he has succeeded at -last!” - -Old Sechard hurried at once to the Cointets. Every sample was tested and -minutely examined; the prices, from three to ten francs per ream, were -noted on each separate slip; some were sized, others unsized; some were -of almost metallic purity, others soft as Japanese paper; in color there -was every possible shade of white. If old Sechard and the two Cointets -had been Jews examining diamonds, their eyes could not have glistened -more eagerly. - -“Your son is on the right track,” the fat Cointet said at length. - -“Very well, pay his debts,” returned old Sechard. - -“By all means, if he will take us into partnership,” said the tall -Cointet. - -“You are extortioners!” cried old Sechard. “You have been suing him -under Metivier’s name, and you mean me to buy you off; that is the long -and the short of it. Not such a fool, gentlemen----” - -The brothers looked at one another, but they contrived to hide their -surprise at the old miser’s shrewdness. - -“We are not millionaires,” said fat Cointet; “we do not discount bills -for amusement. We should think ourselves well off if we could pay ready -money for our bits of accounts for rags, and we still give bills to our -dealer.” - -“The experiment ought to be tried first on a much larger scale,” the -tall Cointet said coldly; “sometimes you try a thing with a saucepan and -succeed, and fail utterly when you experiment with bulk. You should help -your son out of difficulties.” - -“Yes; but when my son is at liberty, would he take me as his partner?” - -“That is no business of ours,” said the fat Cointet. “My good man, do -you suppose that when you have paid some ten thousand francs for your -son, that there is an end of it? It will cost two thousand francs to -take out a patent; there will be journeys to Paris; and before going to -any expense, it would be prudent to do as my brother suggests, and make -a thousand reams or so; to try several whole batches to make sure. You -see, there is nothing you must be so much on your guard against as an -inventor.” - -“I have a liking for bread ready buttered myself,” added the tall -Cointet. - -All through that night the old man ruminated over this dilemma--“If I -pay David’s debts, he will be set at liberty, and once set at liberty, -he need not share his fortune with me unless he chooses. He knows very -well that I cheated him over the first partnership, and he will not -care to try a second; so it is to my interest to keep him shut up, the -wretched boy.” - -The Cointets knew enough of Sechard senior to see that they should hunt -in couples. All three said to themselves--“Experiments must be tried -before the discovery can take any practical shape. David Sechard must be -set at liberty before those experiments can be made; and David Sechard, -set at liberty, will slip through our fingers.” - -Everybody involved, moreover, had his own little afterthought. - -Petit-Claud, for instance, said, “As soon as I am married, I will slip -my neck out of the Cointets’ yoke; but till then I shall hold on.” - -The tall Cointet thought, “I would rather have David under lock and key, -and then I should be master of the situation.” - -Old Sechard, too, thought, “If I pay my son’s debts, he will repay me -with a ‘Thank you!’” - -Eve, hard pressed (for the old man threatened now to turn her out of the -house), would neither reveal her husband’s hiding-place, nor even send -proposals of a safe-conduct. She could not feel sure of finding so safe -a refuge a second time. - -“Set your son at liberty,” she told her father-in-law, “and then you -shall know everything.” - -The four interested persons sat, as it were, with a banquet spread -before them, none of them daring to begin, each one suspicious and -watchful of his neighbor. A few days after David went into hiding, -Petit-Claud went to the mill to see the tall Cointet. - -“I have done my best,” he said; “David has gone into prison of his own -accord somewhere or other; he is working out some improvement there in -peace. It is no fault of mine if you have not gained your end; are you -going to keep your promise?” - -“Yes, if we succeed,” said the tall Cointet. “Old Sechard was here only -a day or two ago; he came to ask us some questions as to paper-making. -The old miser has got wind of his son’s invention; he wants to turn it -to his own account, so there is some hope of a partnership. You are with -the father and the son----” - -“Be the third person in the trinity and give them up,” smiled -Petit-Claud. - -“Yes,” said Cointet. “When you have David in prison, or bound to us by a -deed of partnership, you shall marry Mlle. de la Haye.” - -“Is that your _ultimatum_?” - -“My _sine qua non_,” said Cointet, “since we are speaking in foreign -languages.” - -“Then here is mine in plain language,” Petit-Claud said drily. - -“Ah! let us have it,” answered Cointet, with some curiosity. - -“You will present me to-morrow to Mme. de Sononches, and do something -definite for me; you will keep your word, in short; or I will clear off -Sechard’s debts myself, sell my practice, and go into partnership with -him. I will not be duped. You have spoken out, and I am doing the same. -I have given proof, give me proof of your sincerity. You have all, and -I have nothing. If you won’t do fairly by me, I know your cards, and I -shall play for my own hand.” - -The tall Cointet took his hat and umbrella, his face at the same time -taking its Jesuitical expression, and out he went, bidding Petit-Claud -come with him. - -“You shall see, my friend, whether I have prepared your way for you,” - said he. - -The shrewd paper-manufacturer saw his danger at a glance; and saw, too, -that with a man like Petit-Claud it was better to play above board. -Partly to be prepared for contingencies, partly to satisfy his -conscience, he had dropped a word or two to the point in the ear of -the ex-consul-general, under the pretext of putting Mlle. de la Haye’s -financial position before that gentleman. - -“I have the man for Francoise,” he had said; “for with thirty thousand -francs of _dot_, a girl must not expect too much nowadays.” - -“We will talk it over later on,” answered Francis du Hautoy, -ex-consul-general. “Mme. de Senonches’ positon has altered very much -since Mme. de Bargeton went away; we very likely might marry Francoise -to some elderly country gentleman.” - -“She would disgrace herself if you did,” Cointet returned in his dry -way. “Better marry her to some capable, ambitious young man; you could -help him with your influence, and he would make a good position for his -wife.” - -“We shall see,” said Francis du Hautoy; “her godmother ought to be -consulted first, in any case.” - -When M. de Bargeton died, his wife sold the great house in the Rue du -Minage. Mme. de Senonches, finding her own house scarcely large enough, -persuaded M. de Senonches to buy the Hotel de Bargeton, the cradle of -Lucien Chardon’s ambitions, the scene of the earliest events in his -career. Zephirine de Senonches had it in mind to succeed to Mme. de -Bargeton; she, too, would be a kind of queen in Angouleme; she would -have “a salon,” and be a great lady, in short. There was a schism in -Angouleme, a strife dating from the late M. de Bargeton’s duel with M. -de Chandour. Some maintained that Louise de Negrepelisse was blameless, -others believed in Stanislas de Chandour’s scandals. Mme. de Senonches -declared for the Bargetons, and began by winning over that faction. Many -frequenters of the Hotel de Bargeton had been so accustomed for years to -their nightly game of cards in the house that they could not leave it, -and Mme. de Senonches turned this fact to account. She received every -evening, and certainly gained all the ground lost by Amelie de Chandour, -who set up for a rival. - -Francis du Hautoy, living in the inmost circle of nobility in Angouleme, -went so far as to think of marrying Francoise to old M. de Severac, -Mme. du Brossard having totally failed to capture that gentleman for her -daughter; and when Mme. de Bargeton reappeared as the prefect’s wife, -Zephirine’s hopes for her dear goddaughter waxed high, indeed. The -Comtesse du Chatelet, so she argued, would be sure to use her influence -for her champion. - -Boniface Cointet had Angouleme at his fingers’ ends; he saw all the -difficulties at a glance, and resolved to sweep them out of the way by -a bold stroke that only a Tartuffe’s brain could invent. The puny lawyer -was not a little amused to find his fellow-conspirator keeping his word -with him; not a word did Petit-Claud utter; he respected the musings of -his companion, and they walked the whole way from the paper-mill to the -Rue du Minage in silence. - -“Monsieur and madame are at breakfast”--this announcement met the -ill-timed visitors on the steps. - -“Take in our names, all the same,” said the tall Cointet; and feeling -sure of his position, he followed immediately behind the servant and -introduced his companion to the elaborately-affected Zephirine, who was -breakfasting in company with M. Francis du Hautoy and Mlle. de la Haye. -M. de Senonches had gone, as usual, for a day’s shooting over M. de -Pimentel’s land. - -“M. Petit-Claud is the young lawyer of whom I spoke to you, madame; he -will go through the trust accounts when your fair ward comes of age.” - -The ex-diplomatist made a quick scrutiny of Petit-Claud, who, for his -part, was looking furtively at the “fair ward.” As for Zephirine, who -heard of the matter for the first time, her surprise was so great that -she dropped her fork. - -Mlle. de la Haye, a shrewish young woman with an ill-tempered face, -a waist that could scarcely be called slender, a thin figure, and -colorless, fair hair, in spite of a certain little air that she had, -was by no means easy to marry. The “parentage unknown” on her birth -certificate was the real bar to her entrance into the sphere where her -godmother’s affection stove to establish her. Mlle. de la Haye, ignorant -of her real position, was very hard to please; the richest merchant in -L’Houmeau had found no favor in her sight. Cointet saw the sufficiently -significant expression of the young lady’s face at the sight of the -little lawyer, and turning, beheld a precisely similar grimace on -Petit-Claud’s countenance. Mme. de Senonches and Francis looked at each -other, as if in search of an excuse for getting rid of the visitors. All -this Cointet saw. He asked M. du Hautoy for the favor of a few minutes’ -speech with him, and the pair went together into the drawing-room. - -“Fatherly affection is blinding you, sir,” he said bluntly. “You will -not find it an easy thing to marry your daughter; and, acting in your -interest throughout, I have put you in a position from which you cannot -draw back; for I am fond of Francoise, she is my ward. Now--Petit-Claud -knows _everything_! His overweening ambition is a guarantee for our dear -child’s happiness; for, in the first place, Francoise will do as she -likes with her husband; and, in the second, he wants your influence. You -can ask the new prefect for the post of crown attorney for him in the -court here. M. Milaud is definitely appointed to Nevers, Petit-Claud -will sell his practice, you will have no difficulty in obtaining a -deputy public prosecutor’s place for him; and it will not be long before -he becomes attorney for the crown, president of the court, deputy, what -you will.” - -Francis went back to the dining-room and behaved charmingly to his -daughter’s suitor. He gave Mme. de Senonches a look, and brought the -scene to a close with an invitation to dine with them on the morrow; -Petit-Claud must come and discuss the business in hand. He even -went downstairs and as far as the corner with the visitors, telling -Petit-Claud that after Cointet’s recommendation, both he and Mme. de -Senonches were disposed to approve all that Mlle. de la Haye’s trustee -had arranged for the welfare of that little angel. - -“Oh!” cried Petit-Claud, as they came away, “what a plain girl! I have -been taken in----” - -“She looks a lady-like girl,” returned Cointet, “and besides, if she -were a beauty, would they give her to you? Eh! my dear fellow, thirty -thousand francs and the influence of Mme. de Senonches and the Comtesse -du Chatelet! Many a small landowner would be wonderfully glad of the -chance, and all the more so since M. Francis du Hautoy is never likely -to marry, and all that he has will go to the girl. Your marriage is as -good as settled.” - -“How?” - -“That is what I am just going to tell you,” returned Cointet, and he -gave his companion an account of his recent bold stroke. “M. Milaud is -just about to be appointed attorney for the crown at Nevers, my dear -fellow,” he continued; “sell your practice, and in ten years’ time you -will be Keeper of the Seals. You are not the kind of a man to draw back -from any service required of you by the Court.” - -“Very well,” said Petit-Claud, his zeal stirred by the prospect of such -a career, “very well, be in the Place du Murier to-morrow at half-past -four; I will see old Sechard in the meantime; we will have a deed of -partnership drawn up, and the father and the son shall be bound thereby, -and delivered to the third person of the trinity--Cointet, to wit.” - - - -To return to Lucien in Paris. On the morrow of the loss announced in -his letter, he obtained a _visa_ for his passport, bought a stout holly -stick, and went to the Rue d’Enfer to take a place in the little market -van, which took him as far as Longjumeau for half a franc. He was going -home to Angouleme. At the end of the first day’s tramp he slept in a -cowshed, two leagues from Arpajon. He had come no farther than Orleans -before he was very weary, and almost ready to break down, but there he -found a boatman willing to bring him as far as Tours for three francs, -and food during the journey cost him but forty sous. Five days of -walking brought him from Tours to Poitiers, and left him with but five -francs in his pockets, but he summoned up all his remaining strength for -the journey before him. - -He was overtaken by night in the open country, and had made up his -mind to sleep out of doors, when a traveling carriage passed by, slowly -climbing the hillside, and, all unknown to the postilion, the occupants, -and the servant, he managed to slip in among the luggage, crouching in -between two trunks lest he should be shaken off by the jolting of the -carriage--and so he slept. - -He awoke with the sun shining into his eyes, and the sound of voices in -his ears. The carriage had come to a standstill. Looking about him, he -knew that he was at Mansle, the little town where he had waited for Mme. -de Bargeton eighteen months before, when his heart was full of hope and -love and joy. A group of post-boys eyed him curiously and suspiciously, -covered with dust as he was, wedged in among the luggage. Lucien -jumped down, but before he could speak two travelers stepped out of the -caleche, and the words died away on his lips; for there stood the new -Prefect of the Charente, Sixte du Chatelet, and his wife, Louise de -Negrepelisse. - -“Chance gave us a traveling-companion, if we had but known!” said the -Countess. “Come in with us, monsieur.” - -Lucien gave the couple a distant bow and a half-humbled half-defiant -glance; then he turned away into a cross-country road in search of some -farmhouse, where he might make a breakfast on milk and bread, and rest -awhile, and think quietly over the future. He still had three francs -left. On and on he walked with the hurrying pace of fever, noticing -as he went, down by the riverside, that the country grew more and more -picturesque. It was near mid-day when he came upon a sheet of water with -willows growing about the margin, and stopped for awhile to rest his -eyes on the cool, thick-growing leaves; and something of the grace of -the fields entered into his soul. - -In among the crests of the willows, he caught a glimpse of a mill -near-by on a branch stream, and of the thatched roof of the mill-house -where the house-leeks were growing. For all ornament, the quaint cottage -was covered with jessamine and honeysuckle and climbing hops, and the -garden about it was gay with phloxes and tall, juicy-leaved plants. Nets -lay drying in the sun along a paved causeway raised above the highest -flood level, and secured by massive piles. Ducks were swimming in the -clear mill-pond below the currents of water roaring over the wheel. -As the poet came nearer he heard the clack of the mill, and saw the -good-natured, homely woman of the house knitting on a garden bench, and -keeping an eye upon a little one who was chasing the hens about. - -Lucien came forward. “My good woman,” he said, “I am tired out; I have a -fever on me, and I have only three francs; will you undertake to give me -brown bread and milk, and let me sleep in the barn for a week? I shall -have time to write to my people, and they will either come to fetch me -or send me money.” - -“I am quite willing, always supposing that my husband has no -objection.--Hey! little man!” - -The miller came up, gave Lucien a look over, and took his pipe out of -his mouth to remark, “Three francs for a weeks board? You might as well -pay nothing at all.” - -“Perhaps I shall end as a miller’s man,” thought the poet, as his eyes -wandered over the lovely country. Then the miller’s wife made a bed -ready for him, and Lucien lay down and slept so long that his hostess -was frightened. - -“Courtois,” she said, next day at noon, “just go in and see whether -that young man is dead or alive; he has been lying there these fourteen -hours.” - -The miller was busy spreading out his fishing-nets and lines. “It is -my belief,” he said, “that the pretty fellow yonder is some starveling -play-actor without a brass farthing to bless himself with.” - -“What makes you think that, little man?” asked the mistress of the mill. - -“Lord, he is not a prince, nor a lord, nor a member of parliament, nor a -bishop; why are his hands as white as if he did nothing?” - -“Then it is very strange that he does not feel hungry and wake up,” - retorted the miller’s wife; she had just prepared breakfast for -yesterday’s chance guest. “A play-actor, is he?” she continued. “Where -will he be going? It is too early yet for the fair at Angouleme.” - -But neither the miller nor his wife suspected that (actors, princes, and -bishops apart) there is a kind of being who is both prince and actor, -and invested besides with a magnificent order of priesthood--that the -Poet seems to do nothing, yet reigns over all humanity when he can paint -humanity. - -“What can he be?” Courtois asked of his wife. - -“Suppose it should be dangerous to take him in?” queried she. - -“Pooh! thieves look more alive than that; we should have been robbed by -this time,” returned her spouse. - -“I am neither a prince nor a thief, nor a bishop nor an actor,” Lucien -said wearily; he must have overheard the colloquy through the window, -and now he suddenly appeared. “I am poor, I am tired out, I have come -on foot from Paris. My name is Lucien de Rubempre, and my father was -M. Chardon, who used to have Postel’s business in L’Houmeau. My sister -married David Sechard, the printer in the Place du Murier at Angouleme.” - -“Stop a bit,” said the miller, “that printer is the son of the old -skinflint who farms his own land at Marsac, isn’t he?” - -“The very same,” said Lucien. - -“He is a queer kind of father, he is!” Courtois continued. “He is worth -two hundred thousand francs and more, without counting his money-box, -and he has sold his son up, they say.” - -When body and soul have been broken by a prolonged painful struggle, -there comes a crisis when a strong nature braces itself for greater -effort; but those who give way under the strain either die or sink into -unconsciousness like death. That hour of crisis had struck for Lucien; -at the vague rumor of the catastrophe that had befallen David he seemed -almost ready to succumb. “Oh! my sister!” he cried. “Oh, God! what have -I done? Base wretch that I am!” - -He dropped down on the wooden bench, looking white and powerless as a -dying man; the miller’s wife brought out a bowl of milk and made him -drink, but he begged the miller to help him back to his bed, and asked -to be forgiven for bringing a dying man into their house. He thought -his last hour had come. With the shadow of death, thoughts of religion -crossed a brain so quick to conceive picturesque fancies; he would see -the cure, he would confess and receive the last sacraments. The moan, -uttered in the faint voice by a young man with such a comely face and -figure, went to Mme. Courtois’ heart. - -“I say, little man, just take the horse and go to Marsac and ask Dr. -Marron to come and see this young man; he is in a very bad way, it seems -to me, and you might bring the cure as well. Perhaps they may know -more about that printer in the Place du Murier than you do, for Postel -married M. Marron’s daughter.” - -Courtois departed. The miller’s wife tried to make Lucien take food; -like all country-bred folk, she was full of the idea that sick folk -must be made to eat. He took no notice of her, but gave way to a -violent storm of remorseful grief, a kind of mental process of -counter-irritation, which relieved him. - -The Courtois’ mill lies a league away from Marsac, the town of the -district, and the half-way between Mansle and Angouleme; so it was not -long before the good miller came back with the doctor and the cure. Both -functionaries had heard rumors coupling Lucien’s name with the name of -Mme. de Bargeton; and now when the whole department was talking of the -lady’s marriage to the new Prefect and her return to Angouleme as the -Comtesse du Chatelet, both cure and doctor were consumed with a violent -curiosity to know why M. de Bargeton’s widow had not married the young -poet with whom she had left Angouleme. And when they heard, furthermore, -that Lucien was at the mill, they were eager to know whether the poet -had come to the rescue of his brother-in-law. Curiosity and humanity -alike prompted them to go at once to the dying man. Two hours after -Courtois set out, Lucien heard the rattle of old iron over the stony -causeway, the country doctor’s ramshackle chaise came up to the door, -and out stepped MM. Marron, for the cure was the doctor’s uncle. -Lucien’s bedside visitors were as intimate with David’s father as -country neighbors usually are in a small vine-growing township. The -doctor looked at the dying man, felt his pulse, and examined his tongue; -then he looked at the miller’s wife, and smiled reassuringly. - -“Mme. Courtois,” said he, “if, as I do not doubt, you have a bottle of -good wine somewhere in the cellar, and a fat eel in your fish-pond, put -them before your patient, it is only exhaustion; there is nothing the -matter with him. Our great man will be on his feet again directly.” - -“Ah! monsieur,” said Lucien, “it is not the body, it is the mind that -ails. These good people have told me tidings that nearly killed me; I -have just heard the bad news of my sister, Mme. Sechard. Mme. Courtois -says that your daughter is married to Postel, monsieur, so you must know -something of David Sechard’s affairs; oh, for heaven’s sake, monsieur, -tell me what you know!” - -“Why, he must be in prison,” began the doctor; “his father would not -help him----” - -“_In prison_!” repeated Lucien, “and why?” - -“Because some bills came from Paris; he had overlooked them, no doubt, -for he does not pay much attention to his business, they say,” said Dr. -Marron. - -“Pray leave me with M. le Cure,” said the poet, with a visible change -of countenance. The doctor and the miller and his wife went out of the -room, and Lucien was left alone with the old priest. - -“Sir,” he said, “I feel that death is near, and I deserve to die. I am a -very miserable wretch; I can only cast myself into the arms of religion. -I, sir, _I_ have brought all these troubles on my sister and brother, -for David Sechard has been a brother to me. I drew those bills that -David could not meet! . . . I have ruined him. In my terrible misery, -I forgot the crime. A millionaire put an end to the proceedings, and I -quite believed that he had met the bills; but nothing of the kind has -been done, it seems.” And Lucien told the tale of his sorrows. The -story, as he told it in his feverish excitement, was worthy of the poet. -He besought the cure to go to Angouleme and to ask for news of Eve and -his mother, Mme. Chardon, and to let him know the truth, and whether it -was still possible to repair the evil. - -“I shall live till you come back, sir,” he added, as the hot tears fell. -“If my mother, and sister, and David do not cast me off, I shall not -die.” - -Lucien’s remorse was terrible to see, the tears, the eloquence, the -young white face with the heartbroken, despairing look, the tales of -sorrow upon sorrow till human strength could no more endure, all these -things aroused the cure’s pity and interest. - -“In the provinces, as in Paris,” he said, “you must believe only half -of all that you hear. Do not alarm yourself; a piece of hearsay, three -leagues away from Angouleme, is sure to be far from the truth. Old -Sechard, our neighbor, left Marsac some days ago; very likely he is busy -settling his son’s difficulties. I am going to Angouleme; I will come -back and tell you whether you can return home; your confessions and -repentance will help to plead your cause.” - -The cure did not know that Lucien had repented so many times during the -last eighteen months, that penitence, however impassioned, had come to -be a kind of drama with him, played to perfection, played so far in all -good faith, but none the less a drama. To the cure succeeded the doctor. -He saw that the patient was passing through a nervous crisis, and the -danger was beginning to subside. The doctor-nephew spoke as comfortably -as the cure-uncle, and at length the patient was persuaded to take -nourishment. - -Meanwhile the cure, knowing the manners and customs of the countryside, -had gone to Mansle; the coach from Ruffec to Angouleme was due to pass -about that time, and he found a vacant place in it. He would go to -his grand-nephew Postel in L’Houmeau (David’s former rival) and make -inquiries of him. From the assiduity with which the little druggist -assisted his venerable relative to alight from the abominable cage which -did duty as a coach between Ruffec and Angouleme, it was apparent to -the meanest understanding that M. and Mme. Postel founded their hopes of -future ease upon the old cure’s will. - -“Have you breakfasted? Will you take something? We did not in the least -expect you! This is a pleasant surprise!” Out came questions innumerable -in a breath. - -Mme. Postel might have been born to be the wife of an apothecary in -L’Houmeau. She was a common-looking woman, about the same height as -little Postel himself, such good looks as she possessed being entirely -due to youth and health. Her florid auburn hair grew very low upon -her forehead. Her demeanor and language were in keeping with homely -features, a round countenance, the red cheeks of a country damsel, and -eyes that might almost be described as yellow. Everything about her -said plainly enough that she had been married for expectations of -money. After a year of married life, therefore, she ruled the house; and -Postel, only too happy to have discovered the heiress, meekly submitted -to his wife. Mme. Leonie Postel, _nee_ Marron, was nursing her first -child, the darling of the old cure, the doctor, and Postel, a repulsive -infant, with a strong likeness to both parents. - -“Well, uncle,” said Leonie, “what has brought you to Angouleme, since -you will not take anything, and no sooner come in than you talk of -going?” - -But when the venerable ecclesiastic brought out the names of David -Sechard and Eve, little Postel grew very red, and Leonie, his wife, felt -it incumbent upon her to give him a jealous glance--the glance that a -wife never fails to give when she is perfectly sure of her husband, and -gives a look into the past by way of a caution for the future. - -“What have yonder folk done to you, uncle, that you should mix yourself -up in their affairs?” inquired Leonie, with very perceptible tartness. - -“They are in trouble, my girl,” said the cure, and he told the Postels -about Lucien at the Courtois’ mill. - -“Oh! so that is the way he came back from Paris, is it?” exclaimed -Postel. “Yet he had some brains, poor fellow, and he was ambitious, too. -He went out to look for wool, and comes home shorn. But what does he -want here? His sister is frightfully poor; for all these geniuses, David -and Lucien alike, know very little about business. There was some talk -of him at the Tribunal, and, as judge, I was obliged to sign the warrant -of execution. It was a painful duty. I do not know whether the sister’s -circumstances are such that Lucien can go to her; but in any case the -little room that he used to occupy here is at liberty, and I shall be -pleased to offer it to him.” - -“That is right, Postel,” said the priest; he bestowed a kiss on the -infant slumbering in Leonie’s arms, and, adjusting his cocked hat, -prepared to walk out of the shop. - -“You will dine with us, uncle, of course,” said Mme. Postel; “if once -you meddle in these people’s affairs, it will be some time before -you have done. My husband will drive you back again in his little -pony-cart.” - -Husband and wife stood watching their valued, aged relative on his way -into Angouleme. “He carries himself well for his age, all the same,” - remarked the druggist. - -By this time David had been in hiding for eleven days in a house only -two doors away from the druggist’s shop, which the worthy ecclesiastic -had just quitted to climb the steep path into Angouleme with the news of -Lucien’s present condition. - -When the Abbe Marron debouched upon the Place du Murier he found three -men, each one remarkable in his own way, and all of them bearing with -their whole weight upon the present and future of the hapless -voluntary prisoner. There stood old Sechard, the tall Cointet, and his -confederate, the puny limb of the law, three men representing three -phases of greed as widely different as the outward forms of the -speakers. The first had it in his mind to sell his own son; the -second, to betray his client; and the third, while bargaining for both -iniquities, was inwardly resolved to pay for neither. It was nearly five -o’clock. Passers-by on their way home to dinner stopped a moment to look -at the group. - -“What the devil can old Sechard and the tall Cointet have to say to each -other?” asked the more curious. - -“There was something on foot concerning that miserable wretch that -leaves his wife and child and mother-in-law to starve,” suggested some. - -“Talk of sending a boy to Paris to learn his trade!” said a provincial -oracle. - -“M. le Cure, what brings you here, eh?” exclaimed old Sechard, catching -sight of the Abbe as soon as he appeared. - -“I have come on account of your family,” answered the old man. - -“Here is another of my son’s notions!” exclaimed old Sechard. - -“It would not cost you much to make everybody happy all round,” said -the priest, looking at the windows of the printing-house. Mme. Sechard’s -beautiful face appeared at that moment between the curtains; she was -hushing her child’s cries by tossing him in her arms and singing to him. - -“Are you bringing news of my son?” asked old Sechard, “or what is more -to the purpose--money?” - -“No,” answered M. Marron, “I am bringing the sister news of her -brother.” - -“Of Lucien?” cried Petit-Claud. - -“Yes. He walked all the way from Paris, poor young man. I found him at -the Courtois’ house; he was worn out with misery and fatigue. Oh! he is -very much to be pitied.” - -Petit-Claud took the tall Cointet by the arm, saying aloud, “If we are -going to dine with Mme. de Senonches, it is time to dress.” When they -had come away a few paces, he added, for his companion’s benefit, “Catch -the cub, and you will soon have the dam; we have David now----” - -“I have found you a wife, find me a partner,” said the tall Cointet with -a treacherous smile. - -“Lucien is an old school-fellow of mine; we used to be chums. I shall be -sure to hear something from him in a week’s time. Have the banns put -up, and I will engage to put David in prison. When he is on the jailer’s -register I shall have done my part.” - -“Ah!” exclaimed the tall Cointet under his breath, “we might have the -patent taken out in our name; that would be the thing!” - -A shiver ran through the meagre little attorney when he heard those -words. - -Meanwhile Eve beheld her father-in-law enter with the Abbe Marron, who -had let fall a word which unfolded the whole tragedy. - -“Here is our cure, Mme. Sechard,” the old man said, addressing his -daughter-in-law, “and pretty tales about your brother he has to tell us, -no doubt!” - -“Oh!” cried poor Eve, cut to the heart; “what can have happened now?” - -The cry told so unmistakably of many sorrows, of great dread on so many -grounds, that the Abbe Marron made haste to say, “Reassure yourself, -madame; he is living.” - -Eve turned to the vinegrower. - -“Father,” she said, “perhaps you will be good enough to go to my mother; -she must hear all that this gentleman has to tell us of Lucien.” - -The old man went in search of Mme. Chardon, and addressed her in this -wise: - -“Go and have it out with the Abbe Marron; he is a good sort, priest -though he is. Dinner will be late, no doubt. I shall come back again in -an hour,” and the old man went out. Insensible as he was to everything -but the clink of money and the glitter of gold, he left Mme. Chardon -without caring to notice the effect of the shock that he had given her. - -Mme. Chardon had changed so greatly during the last eighteen months, -that in that short time she no longer looked like the same woman. The -troubles hanging over both of her children, her abortive hopes for -Lucien, the unexpected deterioration in one in whose powers and honesty -she had for so long believed,--all these things had told heavily upon -her. Mme. Chardon was not only noble by birth, she was noble by nature; -she idolized her children; consequently, during the last six months -she had suffered as never before since her widowhood. Lucien might have -borne the name of Lucien de Rubempre by royal letters patent; he might -have founded the family anew, revived the title, and borne the arms; he -might have made a great name--he had thrown the chance away; nay, he had -fallen into the mire! - -For Mme. Chardon the mother was a harder judge than Eve the sister. -When she heard of the bills, she looked upon Lucien as lost. A mother -is often fain to shut her eyes, but she always knows the child that -she held at her breast, the child that has been always with her in the -house; and so when Eve and David discussed Lucien’s chances of success -in Paris, and Lucien’s mother to all appearance shared Eve’s illusions, -in her inmost heart there was a tremor of fear lest David should be -right, for a mother’s consciousness bore a witness to the truth of his -words. So well did she know Eve’s sensitive nature, that she could not -bring herself to speak of her fears; she was obliged to choke them down -and keep such silence as mothers alone can keep when they know how to -love their children. - -And Eve, on her side, had watched her mother, and saw the ravages of -hidden grief with a feeling of dread; her mother was not growing old, -she was failing from day to day. Mother and daughter lived a live -of generous deception, and neither was deceived. The brutal old -vinegrower’s speech was the last drop that filled the cup of affliction -to overflowing. The words struck a chill to Mme. Chardon’s heart. - -“Here is my mother, monsieur,” said Eve, and the Abbe, looking up, saw a -white-haired woman with a face as thin and worn as the features of some -aged nun, and yet grown beautiful with the calm and sweet expression -that devout submission gives to the faces of women who walk by the will -of God, as the saying is. Then the Abbe understood the lives of the -mother and daughter, and had no more sympathy left for Lucien; he -shuddered to think of all that the victims had endured. - -“Mother,” said Eve, drying her eyes as she spoke, “poor Lucien is not -very far away, he is at Marsac.” - -“And why is he not here?” asked Mme. Chardon. - -Then the Abbe told the whole story as Lucien had told it to him--the -misery of the journey, the troubles of the last days in Paris. He -described the poet’s agony of mind when he heard of the havoc wrought -at home by his imprudence, and his apprehension as to the reception -awaiting him at Angouleme. - -“He has doubts of us; has it come to this?” said Mme. Chardon. - -“The unhappy young man has come back to you on foot, enduring the most -terrible hardships by the way; he is prepared to enter the humblest -walks in life--if so he may make reparation.” - -“Monsieur,” Lucien’s sister said, “in spite of the wrong he has done us, -I love my brother still, as we love the dead body when the soul has left -it; and even so, I love him more than many sisters love their brothers. -He has made us poor indeed; but let him come to us, he shall share the -last crust of bread, anything indeed that he has left us. Oh, if he had -never left us, monsieur, we should not have lost our heart’s treasure.” - -“And the woman who took him from us brought him back on her carriage!” - exclaimed Mme. Chardon. “He went away sitting by Mme. de Bargeton’s side -in her caleche, and he came back behind it.” - -“Can I do anything for you?” asked the good cure, seeking an opportunity -to take leave. - -“A wound in the purse is not fatal, they say, monsieur,” said Mme. -Chardon, “but the patient must be his own doctor.” - -“If you have sufficient influence with my father-in-law to induce him to -help his son, you would save a whole family,” said Eve. - -“He has no belief in you, and he seemed to me to be very much -exasperated against your husband,” answered the old cure. He retained -an impression, from the ex-pressman’s rambling talk, that the Sechards’ -affairs were a kind of wasps’ nest with which it was imprudent to -meddle, and his mission being fulfilled, he went to dine with his nephew -Postel. That worthy, like the rest of Angouleme, maintained that the -father was in the right, and soon dissipated any little benevolence that -the old gentleman was disposed to feel towards the son and his family. - -“With those that squander money something may be done,” concluded little -Postel, “but those that make experiments are the ruin of you.” - -The cure went home; his curiosity was thoroughly satisfied, and this -is the end and object of the exceeding interest taken in other people’s -business in the provinces. In the course of the evening the poet was -duly informed of all that had passed in the Sechard family, and the -journey was represented as a pilgrimage undertaken from motives of the -purest charity. - -“You have run your brother-in-law and sister into debt to the amount of -ten or twelve thousand francs,” said the Abbe as he drew to an end, “and -nobody hereabouts has that trifling amount to lend a neighbor, my dear -sir. We are not rich in Angoumois. When you spoke to me of your bills, I -thought that a much smaller amount was involved.” - -Lucien thanked the old man for his good offices. “The promise of -forgiveness which you have brought is for me a priceless gift.” - -Very early the next morning Lucien set out from Marsac, and -reached Angouleme towards nine o’clock. He carried nothing but his -walking-stick; the short jacket that he wore was considerably the worst -for his journey, his black trousers were whitened with dust, and a pair -of worn boots told sufficiently plainly that their owner belonged to the -hapless tribe of tramps. He knew well enough that the contrast between -his departure and return was bound to strike his fellow-townsmen; he -did not try to hide the fact from himself. But just then, with his heart -swelling beneath the oppression of remorse awakened in him by the old -cure’s story, he accepted his punishment for the moment, and made up his -mind to brave the eyes of his acquaintances. Within himself he said, “I -am behaving heroically.” - -Poetic temperaments of this stamp begin as their own dupes. He walked up -through L’Houmeau, shame at the manner of his return struggling with -the charm of old associations as he went. His heart beat quickly as he -passed Postel’s shop; but, very luckily for him, the only persons inside -it were Leonie and her child. And yet, vanity was still so strong in -him, that he could feel glad that his father’s name had been painted out -on the shop-front; for Postel, since his marriage, had redecorated his -abode, and the word “Pharmacy” now alone appeared there, in the Paris -fashion, in big letters. - -When Lucien reached the steps by the Palet Gate, he felt the influence -of his native air, his misfortunes no longer weighed upon him. “I shall -see them again!” he said to himself, with a thrill of delight. - -He reached the Place du Murier, and had not met a soul, a piece of luck -that he scarcely hoped for, he who once had gone about his native place -with a conqueror’s air. Marion and Kolb, on guard at the door, flew out -upon the steps, crying out, “Here he is!” - -Lucien saw the familiar workshop and courtyard, and on the staircase -met his mother and sister, and for a moment, while their arms were about -him, all three almost forgot their troubles. In family life we almost -always compound with our misfortunes; we make a sort of bed to rest -upon; and, if it is hard, hope to make it tolerable. If Lucien looked -the picture of despair, poetic charm was not wanting to the picture. -His face had been tanned by the sunlight of the open road, and the deep -sadness visible in his features overshadowed his poet’s brow. The change -in him told so plainly of sufferings endured, his face was so worn by -sharp misery, that no one could help pitying him. Imagination had fared -forth into the world and found sad reality at the home-coming. Eve was -smiling in the midst of her joy, as the saints smile upon martyrdom. -The face of a young and very fair woman grows sublimely beautiful at the -touch of grief; Lucien remembered the innocent girlish face that he saw -last before he went to Paris, and the look of gravity that had come over -it spoke so eloquently that he could not but feel a painful impression. -The first quick, natural outpouring of affection was followed at once -by a reaction on either side; they were afraid to speak; and when Lucien -almost involuntarily looked round for another who should have been -there, Eve burst into tears, and Lucien did the same, but Mme. Chardon’s -haggard face showed no sign of emotion. Eve rose to her feet and went -downstairs, partly to spare her brother a word of reproach, partly to -speak to Marion. - -“Lucien is so fond of strawberries, child, we must find some -strawberries for him.” - -“Oh, I was sure that you would want to welcome M. Lucien; you shall have -a nice little breakfast and a good dinner, too.” - -“Lucien,” said Mme. Chardon when the mother and son were left alone, -“you have a great deal to repair here. You went away that we all -might be proud of you; you have plunged us into want. You have all but -destroyed your brother’s opportunity of making a fortune that he only -cared to win for the sake of his new family. Nor is this all that you -have destroyed----” said the mother. - -There was a dreadful pause; Lucien took his mother’s reproaches in -silence. - -“Now begin to work,” Mme. Chardon went on more gently. “You tried to -revive the noble family of whom I come; I do not blame you for it. But -the man who undertakes such a task needs money above all things, and -must bear a high heart in him; both were wanting in your case. -We believed in you once, our belief has been shaken. This was a -hard-working, contented household, making its way with difficulty; you -have troubled their peace. The first offence may be forgiven, but it -must be the last. We are in a very difficult position here; you must be -careful, and take your sister’s advice, Lucien. The school of trouble is -a very hard one, but Eve has learned much by her lessons; she has grown -grave and thoughtful, she is a mother. In her devotion to our dear David -she has taken all the family burdens upon herself; indeed, through your -wrongdoing she has come to be my only comfort.” - -“You might be still more severe, my mother,” Lucien said, as he kissed -her. “I accept your forgiveness, for I will not need it a second time.” - -Eve came into the room, saw her brother’s humble attitude, and knew that -he had been forgiven. Her kindness brought a smile for him to her lips, -and Lucien answered with tear-filled eyes. A living presence acts like a -charm, changing the most hostile positions of lovers or of families, no -matter how just the resentment. Is it that affection finds out the ways -of the heart, and we love to fall into them again? Does the phenomenon -come within the province of the science of magnetism? Or is it reason -that tells us that we must either forgive or never see each other -again? Whether the cause be referred to mental, physical, or spiritual -conditions, everyone knows the effect; every one has felt that the -looks, the actions or gestures of the beloved awaken some vestige of -tenderness in those most deeply sinned against and grievously wronged. -Though it is hard for the mind to forget, though we still smart under -the injury, the heart returns to its allegiance in spite of all. Poor -Eve listened to her brother’s confidences until breakfast-time; and -whenever she looked at him she was no longer mistress of her eyes; -in that intimate talk she could not control her voice. And with -the comprehension of the conditions of literary life in Paris, she -understood that the struggle had been too much for Lucien’s strength. -The poet’s delight as he caressed his sister’s child, his deep grief -over David’s absence, mingled with joy at seeing his country and his -own folk again, the melancholy words that he let fall,--all these -things combined to make that day a festival. When Marion brought in the -strawberries, he was touched to see that Eve had remembered his taste in -spite of her distress, and she, his sister, must make ready a room for -the prodigal brother and busy herself for Lucien. It was a truce, as -it were, to misery. Old Sechard himself assisted to bring about this -revulsion of feeling in the two women--“You are making as much of him as -if he were bringing you any amount of money!” - -“And what has my brother done that we should not make much of him?” - cried Eve, jealously screening Lucien. - -Nevertheless, when the first expansion was over, shades of truth came -out. It was not long before Lucien felt the difference between the old -affection and the new. Eve respected David from the depths of her heart; -Lucien was beloved for his own sake, as we love a mistress still in -spite of the disasters she causes. Esteem, the very foundation on which -affection is based, is the solid stuff to which affection owes I know -not what of certainty and security by which we live; and this was -lacking between Mme. Chardon and her son, between the sister and the -brother. Mother and daughter did not put entire confidence in him, as -they would have done if he had not lost his honor; and he felt this. -The opinion expressed in d’Arthez’s letter was Eve’s own estimate of -her brother; unconsciously she revealed it by her manner, tones, and -gestures. Oh! Lucien was pitied, that was true; but as for all that he -had been, the pride of the household, the great man of the family, the -hero of the fireside,--all this, like their fair hopes of him, was gone, -never to return. They were so afraid of his heedlessness that he was not -told where David was hidden. Lucien wanted to see his brother; but -this Eve, insensible to the caresses which accompanied his curious -questionings, was not the Eve of L’Houmeau, for whom a glance from -him had been an order that must be obeyed. When Lucien spoke of making -reparation, and talked as though he could rescue David, Eve only -answered: - -“Do not interfere; we have enemies of the most treacherous and dangerous -kind.” - -Lucien tossed his head, as one who should say, “I have measured myself -against Parisians,” and the look in his sister’s eyes said unmistakably, -“Yes, but you were defeated.” - -“Nobody cares for me now,” Lucien thought. “In the home circle, as in -the world without, success is a necessity.” - -The poet tried to explain their lack of confidence in him; he had not -been at home two days before a feeling of vexation rather than of angry -bitterness gained hold on him. He applied Parisian standards to the -quiet, temperate existence of the provinces, quite forgetting that -the narrow, patient life of the household was the result of his own -misdoings. - -“They are _bourgeoises_, they cannot understand me,” he said, setting -himself apart from his sister and mother and David, now that they could -no longer be deceived as to his real character and his future. - -Many troubles and shocks of fortune had quickened the intuitive sense -in both the women. Eve and Mme. Chardon guessed the thoughts in Lucien’s -inmost soul; they felt that he misjudged them; they saw him mentally -isolating himself. - -“Paris has changed him very much,” they said between themselves. They -were indeed reaping the harvest of egoism which they themselves had -fostered. - -It was inevitable but that the leaven should work in all three; and this -most of all in Lucien, because he felt that he was so heavily to blame. -As for Eve, she was just the kind of sister to beg an erring brother to -“Forgive me for your trespasses;” but when the union of two souls had -been as perfect since life’s very beginnings, as it had been with Eve -and Lucien, any blow dealt to that fair ideal is fatal. Scoundrels can -draw knives on each other and make it up again afterwards, while a look -or a word is enough to sunder two lovers for ever. In the recollection -of an almost perfect life of heart and heart lies the secret of many an -estrangement that none can explain. Two may live together without full -trust in their hearts if only their past holds no memories of complete -and unclouded love; but for those who once have known that intimate -life, it becomes intolerable to keep perpetual watch over looks and -words. Great poets know this; Paul and Virginie die before youth is -over; can we think of Paul and Virginie estranged? Let us know that, to -the honor of Lucien and Eve, the grave injury done was not the source of -the pain; it was entirely a matter of feeling upon either side, for the -poet in fault, as for the sister who was in no way to blame. Things -had reached the point when the slightest misunderstanding, or little -quarrel, or a fresh disappointment in Lucien would end in final -estrangement. Money difficulties may be arranged, but feelings are -inexorable. - -Next day Lucien received a copy of the local paper. He turned pale with -pleasure when he saw his name at the head of one of the first “leaders” - in that highly respectable sheet, which like the provincial academies -that Voltaire compared to a well-bred miss, was never talked about. - - - “Let Franche-Comte boast of giving the light to Victor Hugo, to - Charles Nodier, and Cuvier,” ran the article, “Brittany of - producing a Chateaubriand and a Lammenais, Normandy of Casimir - Delavigne, and Touraine of the author of _Eloa_; Angoumois that - gave birth, in the days of Louis XIII., to our illustrious - fellow-countryman Guez, better known under the name of Balzac, - our Angoumois need no longer envy Limousin her Dupuytren, nor - Auvergne, the country of Montlosier, nor Bordeaux, birthplace of - so many great men; for we too have our poet!--The writer of the - beautiful sonnets entitled the _Marguerites_ unites his poet’s fame - to the distinction of a prose writer, for to him we also owe the - magnificent romance of _The Archer of Charles IX._ Some day our - nephews will be proud to be the fellow-townsmen of Lucien Chardon, - a rival of Petrarch!!!” - - -(The country newspapers of those days were sown with notes of -admiration, as reports of English election speeches are studded with -“cheers” in brackets.) - - - “In spite of his brilliant success in Paris, our young poet has - not forgotten the Hotel de Bargeton, the cradle of his triumphs; - nor the fact that the wife of M. le Comte du Chatelet, our - Prefect, encouraged his early footsteps in the pathway of the - Muses. He has come back among us once more! All L’Houmeau was - thrown into excitement yesterday by the appearance of our Lucien - de Rubempre. The news of his return produced a profound sensation - throughout the town. Angouleme certainly will not allow L’Houmeau - to be beforehand in doing honor to the poet who in journalism and - literature has so gloriously represented our town in Paris. Lucien - de Rubempre, a religious and Royalist poet, has braved the fury of - parties; he has come home, it is said, for repose after the - fatigue of a struggle which would try the strength of an even - greater intellectual athlete than a poet and a dreamer. - - “There is some talk of restoring our great poet to the title of - the illustrious house of de Rubempre, of which his mother, Madame - Chardon, is the last survivor, and it is added that Mme. la - Comtesse du Chatelet was the first to think of this eminently - politic idea. The revival of an ancient and almost extinct family - by young talent and newly won fame is another proof that the - immortal author of the Charter still cherishes the desire - expressed by the words ‘Union and oblivion.’ - - “Our poet is staying with his sister, Mme. Sechard.” - - -Under the heading “Angouleme” followed some items of news:-- - - - “Our Prefect, M. le Comte du Chatelet, Gentleman in Ordinary to - His Majesty, has just been appointed Extraordinary Councillor of - State. - - “All the authorities called yesterday on M. le Prefet. - - “Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet will receive on Thursdays. - - “The Mayor of Escarbas, M. de Negrepelisse, the representative of - the younger branch of the d’Espard family, and father of Mme. du - Chatelet, recently raised to the rank of a Count and Peer of - France and a Commander of the Royal Order of St. Louis, has been - nominated for the presidency of the electoral college of Angouleme - at the forthcoming elections.” - - -“There!” said Lucien, taking the paper to his sister. Eve read the -article with attention, and returned with the sheet with a thoughtful -air. - -“What do you say to that?” asked he, surprised at a reserve that seemed -so like indifference. - -“The Cointets are proprietors of that paper, dear,” she said; “they -put in exactly what they please, and it is not at all likely that the -prefecture or the palace have forced their hands. Can you imagine -that your old rival the prefect would be generous enough to sing -your praises? Have you forgotten that the Cointets are suing us under -Metivier’s name? and that they are trying to turn David’s discovery to -their own advantage? I do not know the source of this paragraph, but -it makes me uneasy. You used to rouse nothing but envious feeling -and hatred here; a prophet has no honor in his own country, and they -slandered you, and now in a moment it is all changed----” - -“You do not know the vanity of country towns,” said Lucien. “A whole -little town in the south turned out not so long ago to welcome a young -man that had won the first prize in some competition; they looked on him -as a budding great man.” - -“Listen, dear Lucien; I do not want to preach to you, I will say -everything in a very few words--you must suspect every little thing -here.” - -“You are right,” said Lucien, but he was surprised at his sister’s lack -of enthusiasm. He himself was full of delight to find his humiliating -and shame-stricken return to Angouleme changed into a triumph in this -way. - -“You have no belief in the little fame that has cost so dear!” he said -again after a long silence. Something like a storm had been gathering in -his heart during the past hour. For all answer Eve gave him a look, and -Lucien felt ashamed of his accusation. - -Dinner was scarcely over when a messenger came from the prefecture with -a note addressed to M. Chardon. That note appeared to decide the day for -the poet’s vanity; the world contending against the family for him had -won. - - -“M. le Comte Sixte du Chatelet and Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet request -the honor of M. Lucien Chardon’s company at dinner on the fifteenth of -September. R. S. V. P.” - - -Enclosed with the invitation there was a card-- - - - LE COMTE SIXTE DU CHATELET, - Gentleman of the Bedchamber, Prefect of the Charente, - Councillor of State. - - -“You are in favor,” said old Sechard; “they are talking about you in the -town as if you were somebody! Angouleme and L’Houmeau are disputing as -to which shall twist wreaths for you.” - -“Eve, dear,” Lucien whispered to his sister, “I am exactly in the same -condition as I was before in L’Houmeau when Mme. de Bargeton sent me -the first invitation--I have not a dress suit for the prefect’s -dinner-party.” - -“Do you really mean to accept the invitation?” Eve asked in alarm, and a -dispute sprang up between the brother and sister. Eve’s provincial good -sense told her that if you appear in society, it must be with a smiling -face and faultless costume. “What will come of the prefect’s dinner?” - she wondered. “What has Lucien to do with the great people of Angouleme? -Are they plotting something against him?” but she kept these thoughts to -herself. - -Lucien spoke the last word at bedtime: “You do not know my influence. -The prefect’s wife stands in fear of a journalist; and besides, Louise -de Negrepelisse lives on in the Comtesse du Chatelet, and a woman -with her influence can rescue David. I am going to tell her about my -brother’s invention, and it would be a mere nothing to her to obtain a -subsidy of ten thousand francs from the Government for him.” - -At eleven o’clock that night the whole household was awakened by the -town band, reinforced by the military band from the barracks. The Place -du Murier was full of people. The young men of Angouleme were giving -Lucien Chardon de Rubempre a serenade. Lucien went to his sister’s -window and made a speech after the last performance. - -“I thank my fellow-townsmen for the honor that they do me,” he said in -the midst of a great silence; “I will strive to be worthy of it; they -will pardon me if I say no more; I am so much moved by this incident -that I cannot speak.” - -“Hurrah for the writer of _The Archer of Charles IX._! . . . Hurrah for -the poet of the _Marguerites_! . . . Long live Lucien de Rubempre!” - -After these three salvos, taken up by some few voices, three crowns and -a quantity of bouquets were adroitly flung into the room through the -open window. Ten minutes later the Place du Murier was empty, and -silence prevailed in the streets. - -“I would rather have ten thousand francs,” said old Sechard, fingering -the bouquets and garlands with a satirical expression. “You gave them -daisies, and they give you posies in return; you deal in flowers.” - -“So that is your opinion of the honors shown me by my fellow-townsmen, -is it?” asked Lucien. All his melancholy had left him, his face was -radiant with good humor. “If you knew mankind, Papa Sechard, you would -see that no moment in one’s life comes twice. Such a triumph as this can -only be due to genuine enthusiasm! . . . My dear mother, my good sister, -this wipes out many mortifications.” - -Lucien kissed them; for when joy overflows like a torrent flood, we -are fain to pour it out into a friend’s heart. “When an author is -intoxicated with success, he will hug his porter if there is nobody else -on hand,” according to Bixiou. - -“Why, darling, why are you crying?” he said, looking into Eve’s face. -“Ah! I know, you are crying for joy!” - -“Oh me!” said her mother, shaking her head as she spoke. “Lucien has -forgotten everything already; not merely his own troubles, but ours as -well.” - -Mother and daughter separated, and neither dared to utter all her -thoughts. - -In a country eaten up with the kind of social insubordination disguised -by the word Equality, a triumph of any kind whatsoever is a sort of -miracle which requires, like some other miracles for that matter, the -co-operation of skilled labor. Out of ten ovations offered to ten living -men, selected for this distinction by a grateful country, you may be -quite sure that nine are given from considerations connected as remotely -as possible with the conspicuous merits of the renowned recipient. What -was Voltaire’s apotheosis at the Theatre-Francais but the triumph of -eighteenth century philosophy? A triumph in France means that everybody -else feels that he is adorning his own temples with the crown that he -sets on the idol’s head. - -The women’s presentiments proved correct. The distinguished provincial’s -reception was antipathetic to Angoumoisin immobility; it was too -evidently got up by some interested persons or by enthusiastic stage -mechanics, a suspicious combination. Eve, moreover, like most of her -sex, was distrustful by instinct, even when reason failed to justify her -suspicions to herself. “Who can be so fond of Lucien that he could rouse -the town for him?” she wondered as she fell asleep. “The _Marguerites_ -are not published yet; how can they compliment him on a future success?” - -The ovation was, in fact, the work of Petit-Claud. - -Petit-Claud had dined with Mme. de Senonches, for the first time, on the -evening of the day that brought the cure of Marsac to Angouleme with the -news of Lucien’s return. That same evening he made formal application -for the hand of Mlle. de la Haye. It was a family dinner, one of the -solemn occasions marked not so much by the number of the guests as by -the splendor of their toilettes. Consciousness of the performance -weighs upon the family party, and every countenance looks significant. -Francoise was on exhibition. Mme. de Senonches had sported her most -elaborate costume for the occasion; M. du Hautoy wore a black coat; M. -de Senonches had returned from his visit to the Pimentels on the receipt -of a note from his wife, informing him that Mme. du Chatelet was to -appear at their house for the first time since her arrival, and that -a suitor in form for Francoise would appear on the scenes. Boniface -Cointet also was there, in his best maroon coat of clerical cut, with a -diamond pin worth six thousand francs displayed in his shirt frill--the -revenge of the rich merchant upon a poverty-stricken aristocracy. - -Petit-Claud himself, scoured and combed, had carefully removed his gray -hairs, but he could not rid himself of his wizened air. The puny little -man of law, tightly buttoned into his clothes, reminded you of a torpid -viper; for if hope had brought a spark of life into his magpie eyes, his -face was icily rigid, and so well did he assume an air of gravity, that -an ambitious public prosecutor could not have been more dignified. - -Mme. de Senonches had told her intimate friends that her ward would meet -her betrothed that evening, and that Mme. du Chatelet would appear -at the Hotel de Senonches for the first time; and having particularly -requested them to keep these matters secret, she expected to find -her rooms crowded. The Comte and Comtesse du Chatelet had left cards -everywhere officially, but they meant the honor of a personal visit to -play a part in their policy. So aristocratic Angouleme was in such -a prodigious ferment of curiosity, that certain of the Chandour camp -proposed to go to the Hotel de Bargeton that evening. (They persistently -declined to call the house by its new name.) - -Proofs of the Countess’ influence had stirred up ambition in many -quarters; and not only so, it was said that the lady had changed so -much for the better that everybody wished to see and judge for himself. -Petit-Claud learned great news on the way to the house; Cointet told him -that Zephirine had asked leave to present her dear Francoise’s -betrothed to the Countess, and that the Countess had granted the -favor. Petit-Claud had seen at once that Lucien’s return put Louise de -Negrepelisse in a false position; and now, in a moment, he flattered -himself that he saw a way to take advantage of it. - -M. and Mme. de Senonches had undertaken such heavy engagements when they -bought the house, that, in provincial fashion, they thought it imprudent -to make any changes in it. So when Madame du Chatelet was announced, -Zephirine went up to her with--“Look, dear Louise, you are still in your -old home!” indicating, as she spoke, the little chandelier, the paneled -wainscot, and the furniture, which once had dazzled Lucien. - -“I wish least of all to remember it, dear,” Madame la Prefete answered -graciously, looking round on the assemblage. - -Every one admitted that Louise de Negrepelisse was not like the same -woman. If the provincial had undergone a change, the woman herself -had been transformed by those eighteen months in Paris, by the first -happiness of a still recent second marriage, and the kind of dignity -that power confers. The Comtesse du Chatelet bore the same resemblance -to Mme. de Bargeton that a girl of twenty bears to her mother. - -She wore a charming cap of lace and flowers, fastened by a -diamond-headed pin; the ringlets that half hid the contours of her face -added to her look of youth, and suited her style of beauty. Her foulard -gown, designed by the celebrated Victorine, with a pointed bodice, -exquisitely fringed, set off her figure to advantage; and a silken -lace scarf, adroitly thrown about a too long neck, partly concealed her -shoulders. She played with the dainty scent-bottle, hung by a chain from -her bracelet; she carried her fan and her handkerchief with ease--pretty -trifles, as dangerous as a sunken reef for the provincial dame. The -refined taste shown in the least details, the carriage and manner -modeled upon Mme. d’Espard, revealed a profound study of the Faubourg -Saint-Germain. - -As for the elderly beau of the Empire, he seemed since his marriage to -have followed the example of the species of melon that turns from green -to yellow in a night. All the youth that Sixte had lost seemed to appear -in his wife’s radiant countenance; provincial pleasantries passed from -ear to ear, circulating the more readily because the women were furious -at the new superiority of the sometime queen of Angouleme; and the -persistent intruder paid the penalty of his wife’s offence. - -The rooms were almost as full as on that memorable evening of Lucien’s -readings from Chenier. Some faces were missing: M. de Chandour and -Amelie, M. de Pimental and the Rastignacs--and M. de Bargeton was no -longer there; but the Bishop came, as before, with his vicars-general -in his train. Petit-Claud was much impressed by the sight of the great -world of Angouleme. Four months ago he had no hope of entering the -circle, to-day he felt his detestation of “the classes” sensibly -diminished. He thought the Comtesse du Chatelet a most fascinating -woman. “It is she who can procure me the appointment of deputy public -prosecutor,” he said to himself. - -Louise chatted for an equal length of time with each of the women; her -tone varied with the importance of the person addressed and the position -taken up by the latter with regard to her journey to Paris with Lucien. -The evening was half over when she withdrew to the boudoir with the -Bishop. Zephirine came over to Petit-Claud, and laid her hand on his -arm. His heart beat fast as his hostess brought him to the room where -Lucien’s troubles first began, and were now about to come to a crisis. - -“This is M. Petit-Claud, dear; I recommend him to you the more warmly -because anything that you may do for him will doubtless benefit my -ward.” - -“You are an attorney, are you not, monsieur?” said the august -Negrepelisse, scanning Petit-Claud. - -“Alas! yes, _Madame la Comtesse_.” (The son of the tailor in L’Houmeau -had never once had occasion to use those three words in his life before, -and his mouth was full of them.) “But it rests with you, Madame la -Comtesse, whether or no I shall act for the Crown. M. Milaud is going to -Nevers, it is said----” - -“But a man is usually second deputy and then first deputy, is he not?” - broke in the Countess. “I should like to see you in the first deputy’s -place at once. But I should like first to have some assurance of your -devotion to the cause of our legitimate sovereigns, to religion, and -more especially to M. de Villele, if I am to interest myself on your -behalf to obtain the favor.” - -Petit-Claud came nearer. “Madame,” he said in her ear, “I am the man to -yield the King absolute obedience.” - -“That is just what _we_ want to-day,” said the Countess, drawing back -a little to make him understand that she had no wish for promises given -under his breath. “So long as you satisfy Mme. de Senonches, you can -count upon me,” she added, with a royal movement of her fan. - -Petit-Claud looked toward the door of the boudoir, and saw Cointet -standing there. “Madame,” he said, “Lucien is here, in Angouleme.” - -“Well, sir?” asked the Countess, in tones that would have put an end to -all power of speech in an ordinary man. - -“Mme. la Comtesse does not understand,” returned Petit-Claud, bringing -out that most respectful formula again. “How does Mme. la Comtesse wish -that the great man of her making should be received in Angouleme? There -is no middle course; he must be received or despised here.” - -This was a dilemma to which Louise de Negrepelisse had never given a -thought; it touched her closely, yet rather for the sake of the past -than of the future. And as for Petit-Claud, his plan for arresting David -Sechard depended upon the lady’s actual feelings towards Lucien. He -waited. - -“M. Petit-Claud,” said the Countess, with haughty dignity, “you mean -to be on the side of the Government. Learn that the first principle -of government is this--never to have been in the wrong, and that the -instinct of power and the sense of dignity is even stronger in women -than in governments.” - -“That is just what I thought, madame,” he answered quickly, observing -the Countess meanwhile with attention the more profound because it was -scarcely visible. “Lucien came here in the depths of misery. But if -he must receive an ovation, I can compel him to leave Angouleme by -the means of the ovation itself. His sister and brother-in-law, David -Sechard, are hard pressed for debts.” - -In the Countess’ haughty face there was a swift, barely perceptible -change; it was not satisfaction, but the repression of satisfaction. -Surprised that Petit-Claud should have guessed her wishes, she gave him -a glance as she opened her fan, and Francoise de la Haye’s entrance at -that moment gave her time to find an answer. - -“It will not be long before you are public prosecutor, monsieur,” she -said, with a significant smile. That speech did not commit her in any -way, but it was explicit enough. Francoise had come in to thank the -Countess. - -“Oh! madame, then I shall owe the happiness of my life to you,” she -exclaimed, bending girlishly to add in the Countess’ ear, “To marry a -petty provincial attorney would be like being burned by slow fires.” - -It was Francis, with his knowledge of officialdom, who had prompted -Zephirine to make this set upon Louise. - -“In the very earliest days after promotion,” so the ex-consul-general -told his fair friend, “everybody, prefect, or monarch, or man of -business, is burning to exert his influence for his friends; but a -patron soon finds out the inconveniences of patronage, and then turns -from fire to ice. Louise will do more now for Petit-Claud than she would -do for her husband in three months’ time.” - -“Madame la Comtesse is thinking of all that our poet’s triumph entails?” - continued Petit-Claud. “She should receive Lucien before there is an end -of the nine-days’ wonder.” - -The Countess terminated the audience with a bow, and rose to speak -with Mme. de Pimentel, who came to the boudoir. The news of old -Negrepelisse’s elevation to a marquisate had greatly impressed the -Marquise; she judged it expedient to be amiable to a woman so clever as -to rise the higher for an apparent fall. - -“Do tell me, dear, why you took the trouble to put your father in -the House of Peers?” said the Marquise, in the course of a little -confidential conversation, in which she bent the knee before the -superiority of “her dear Louise.” - -“They were all the more ready to grant the favor because my father has -no son to succeed him, dear, and his vote will always be at the disposal -of the Crown; but if we should have sons, I quite expect that my oldest -will succeed to his grandfather’s name, title, and peerage.” - -Mme. de Pimentel saw, to her annoyance, that it was idle to expect a -mother ambitious for children not yet in existence to further her own -private designs of raising M. de Pimentel to a peerage. - -“I have the Countess,” Petit-Claud told Cointet when they came away. “I -can promise you your partnership. I shall be deputy prosecutor before -the month is out, and Sechard will be in your power. Try to find a buyer -for my connection; it has come to be the first in Angouleme in my hands -during the last five months----” - -“Once put _you_ on the horse, and there is no need to do more,” said -Cointet, half jealous of his own work. - -The causes of Lucien’s triumphant reception in his native town must now -be plain to everybody. Louise du Chatelet followed the example of that -King of France who left the Duke of Orleans unavenged; she chose to -forget the insults received in Paris by Mme. de Bargeton. She would -patronize Lucien, and overwhelming him with her patronage, would -completely crush him and get rid of him by fair means. Petit-Claud knew -the whole tale of the cabals in Paris through town gossip, and shrewdly -guessed how a woman must hate the man who would not love when she was -fain of his love. - -The ovation justified the past of Louise de Negrepelisse. The next day -Petit-Claud appeared at Mme. Sechard’s house, heading a deputation of -six young men of the town, all of them Lucien’s schoolfellows. He meant -to finish his work, to intoxicate Lucien completely, and to have him in -his power. Lucien’s old schoolfellows at the Angouleme grammar-school -wished to invite the author of the _Marguerites_ and _The Archer of -Charles IX._ to a banquet given in honor of the great man arisen from -their ranks. - -“Come, this is your doing, Petit-Claud!” exclaimed Lucien. - -“Your return has stirred our conceit,” said Petit-Claud; “we made it a -point of honor to get up a subscription, and we will have a tremendous -affair for you. The masters and the headmaster will be there, and, at -the present rate, we shall, no doubt, have the authorities too.” - -“For what day?” asked Lucien. - -“Sunday next.” - -“That is quite out of the question,” said Lucien. “I cannot accept an -invitation for the next ten days, but then I will gladly----” - -“Very well,” said Petit-Claud, “so be it then, in ten days’ time.” - -Lucien behaved charmingly to his old schoolfellows, and they regarded -him with almost respectful admiration. He talked away very wittily for -half an hour; he had been set upon a pedestal, and wished to justify the -opinion of his fellow-townsmen; so he stood with his hands thrust into -his pockets, and held forth from the height to which he had been raised. -He was modest and good-natured, as befitted genius in dressing-gown and -slippers; he was the athlete, wearied by a wrestling bout with Paris, -and disenchanted above all things; he congratulated the comrades who had -never left the dear old province, and so forth, and so forth. They were -delighted with him. He took Petit-Claud aside, and asked him for the -real truth about David’s affairs, reproaching him for allowing his -brother-in-law to go into hiding, and tried to match his wits against -the little lawyer. Petit-Claud made an effort over himself, and gave -his acquaintance to understand that he (Petit-Claud) was only an -insignificant little country attorney, with no sort of craft nor -subtlety. - -The whole machinery of modern society is so infinitely more complex than -in ancient times, that the subdivision of human faculty is the result. -The great men of the days of old were perforce universal geniuses, -appearing at rare intervals like lighted torches in an antique world. In -the course of ages the intellect began to work on special lines, but the -great man still could “take all knowledge for his province.” A man “full -cautelous,” as was said of Louis XI., for instance, could apply that -special faculty in every direction, but to-day the single quality is -subdivided, and every profession has its special craft. A peasant or a -pettifogging solicitor might very easily overreach an astute diplomate -over a bargain in some remote country village; and the wiliest -journalist may prove the veriest simpleton in a piece of business. -Lucien could but be a puppet in the hands of Petit-Claud. - -That guileful practitioner, as might have been expected, had written -the article himself; Angouleme and L’Houmeau, thus put on their -mettle, thought it incumbent upon them to pay honor to Lucien. His -fellow-citizens, assembled in the Place du Murier, were Cointets’ -workpeople from the papermills and printing-house, with a sprinkling -of Lucien’s old schoolfellows and the clerks in the employ of Messieurs -Petit-Claud and Cachan. As for the attorney himself, he was once more -Lucien’s chum of old days; and he thought, not without reason, that -before very long he should learn David’s whereabouts in some unguarded -moment. And if David came to grief through Lucien’s fault, the poet -would find Angouleme too hot to hold him. Petit-Claud meant to secure -his hold; he posed, therefore, as Lucien’s inferior. - -“What better could I have done?” he said accordingly. “My old chum’s -sister was involved, it is true, but there are some positions that -simply cannot be maintained in a court of law. David asked me on the -first of June to ensure him a quiet life for three months; he had a -quiet life until September, and even so I have kept his property out -of his creditors’ power, for I shall gain my case in the Court-Royal; -I contend that the wife is a privileged creditor, and her claim is -absolute, unless there is evidence of intent to defraud. As for you, -you have come back in misfortune, but you are a genius.”--(Lucien turned -about as if the incense were burned too close to his face.)--“Yes, my -dear fellow, a _genius_. I have read your _Archer of Charles IX._; it -is more than a romance, it is literature. Only two living men could have -written the preface--Chateaubriand and Lucien.” - -Lucien accepted that d’Arthez had written the preface. Ninety-nine -writers out of a hundred would have done the same. - -“Well, nobody here seemed to have heard of you!” Petit-Claud continued, -with apparent indignation. “When I saw the general indifference, I made -up my mind to change all that. I wrote that article in the paper----” - -“What? did you write it?” exclaimed Lucien. - -“I myself. Angouleme and L’Houmeau were stirred to rivalry; I arranged -for a meeting of your old schoolfellows, and got up yesterday’s -serenade; and when once the enthusiasm began to grow, we started a -committee for the dinner. ‘If David is in hiding,’ said I to myself, -‘Lucien shall be crowned at any rate.’ And I have done even better than -that,” continued Petit-Claud; “I have seen the Comtesse du Chatelet and -made her understand that she owes it to herself to extricate David from -his position; she can do it, and she ought to do it. If David had really -discovered the secret of which he spoke to me, the Government ought to -lend him a hand, it would not ruin the Government; and think what a fine -thing for a prefect to have half the credit of the great invention -for the well-timed help. It would set people talking about him as an -enlightened administrator.--Your sister has taken fright at our musketry -practice; she was scared of the smoke. A battle in the law-courts costs -quite as much as a battle on the field; but David has held his ground, -he has his secret. They cannot stop him, and they will not pull him up -now.” - -“Thanks, my dear fellow; I see that I can take you into my confidence; -you shall help me to carry out my plan.” - -Petit-Claud looked at Lucien, and his gimlet face was a point of -interrogation. - -“I intend to rescue Sechard,” Lucien said, with a certain importance. “I -brought his misfortunes upon him; I mean to make full reparation. . . . -I have more influence over Louise----” - -“Who is Louise?” - -“The Comtesse du Chatelet!” - -Petit-Claud started. - -“I have more influence over her than she herself suspects,” said Lucien; -“only, my dear fellow, if I can do something with your authorities here, -I have no decent clothes.”--Petit-Claud made as though he would offer -his purse. - -“Thank you,” said Lucien, grasping Petit-Claud’s hand. “In ten days’ -time I will pay a visit to the Countess and return your call.” - -The shook hands like old comrades, and separated. - -“He ought to be a poet” said Petit-Claud to himself; “he is quite mad.” - -“There are no friends like one’s school friends; it is a true saying,” - Lucien thought at he went to find his sister. - -“What can Petit-Claud have promised to do that you should be so friendly -with him, my Lucien?” asked Eve. “Be on your guard with him.” - -“With _him_?” cried Lucien. “Listen, Eve,” he continued, seeming to -bethink himself; “you have no faith in me now; you do not trust me, so -it is not likely you will trust Petit-Claud; but in ten or twelve days -you will change your mind,” he added, with a touch of fatuity. And he -went to his room, and indited the following epistle to Lousteau:-- - - - _Lucien to Lousteau._ - - “MY FRIEND,--Of the pair of us, I alone can remember that bill for - a thousand francs that I once lent you; and I know how things will - be with you when you open this letter too well, alas! not to add - immediately that I do not expect to be repaid in current coin of - the realm; no, I will take it in credit from you, just as one - would ask Florine for pleasure. We have the same tailor; - therefore, you can order a complete outfit for me on the shortest - possible notice. I am not precisely wearing Adam’s costume, but I - cannot show myself here. To my astonishment, the honors paid by - the departments to a Parisian celebrity awaited me. I am the hero - of a banquet, for all the world as if I were a Deputy of the Left. - Now, after that, do you understand that I must have a black coat? - Promise to pay; have it put down to your account, try the - advertisement dodge, rehearse an unpublished scene between Don - Juan and M. Dimanche, for I must have a gala suit at all costs. I - have nothing, nothing but rags: start with that; it is August, the - weather is magnificent, ergo see that I receive by the end of the - week a charming morning suit, dark bronze-green jacket, and three - waistcoats, one a brimstone yellow, one a plaid, and the third - must be white; furthermore, let there be three pairs of trousers - of the most fetching kind--one pair of white English stuff, one - pair of nankeen, and a third of thin black kerseymere; lastly, - send a black dress-coat and a black satin waistcoat. If you have - picked up another Florine somewhere, I beg her good offices for - two cravats. So far this is nothing; I count upon you and your - skill in these matters; I am not much afraid of the tailor. But - the ingenuity of poverty, assuredly the most active of all poisons - at work in the system of man (_id est_ the Parisian), an ingenuity - that would catch Satan himself napping, has failed so far to - discover a way to obtain a hat on credit!--How many a time, my - dear friend, have we deplored this! When one of us shall bring a - hat that costs one thousand francs into fashion, then, and not - till then, can we afford to wear them; until that day comes we are - bound to have cash enough in our pockets to pay for a hat. Ah! - what an ill turn the Comedie-Francaise did us with, ‘Lafleur, you - will put gold in my pockets!’ - - “I write with a profound sense of all the difficulties involved by - the demand. Enclose with the above a pair of boots, a pair of - pumps, a hat, half a dozen pairs of gloves. ‘Tis asking the - impossible; I know it. But what is a literary life but a - periodical recurrence of the impossible? Work the miracle, write a - long article, or play some small scurvy trick, and I will hold - your debt as fully discharged--this is all I say to you. It is a - debt of honor after all, my dear fellow, and due these twelve - months; you ought to blush for yourself if you have any blushes - left. - - “Joking apart, my dear Lousteau, I am in serious difficulties, as - you may judge for yourself when I tell you that Mme. de Bargeton - has married Chatelet, and Chatelet is prefect of Angouleme. The - precious pair can do a good deal for my brother-in-law; he is in - hiding at this moment on account of that letter of exchange, and - the horrid business is all my doing. So it is a question of - appearing before Mme. la Prefete and regaining my influence at all - costs. It is shocking, is it not, that David Sechard’s fate should - hang upon a neat pair of shoes, a pair of open-worked gray silk - stockings (mind you, remember them), and a new hat? I shall give - out that I am sick and ill, and take to my bed, like Duvicquet, to - save the trouble of replying to the pressing invitations of my - fellow-townsmen. My fellow-townsmen, dear boy, have treated me to - a fine serenade. _My fellow-townsmen_, forsooth! I begin to wonder - how many fools go to make up that word, since I learned that two - or three of my old schoolfellows worked up the capital of the - Angoumois to this pitch of enthusiasm. - - “If you could contrive to slip a few lines as to my reception in - among the news items, I should be several inches taller for it - here; and besides, I should make Mme. la Prefete feel that, if I - have not friends, I have some credit, at any rate, with the - Parisian press. I give up none of my hopes, and I will return the - compliment. If you want a good, solid, substantial article for - some magazine or other, I have time enough now to think something - out. I only say the word, my dear friend; I count upon you as you - may count upon me, and I am yours sincerely. - - “LUCIEN DE R. - - “P. S.--Send the things to the coach office to wait until called - for.” - - -Lucien held up his head again. In this mood he wrote the letter, and as -he wrote his thoughts went back to Paris. He had spent six days in the -provinces, and the uneventful quietness of provincial life had already -entered into his soul; his mind returned to those dear old miserable -days with a vague sense of regret. The Comtesse du Chatelet filled -his thoughts for a whole week; and at last he came to attach so much -importance to his reappearance, that he hurried down to the coach office -in L’Houmeau after nightfall in a perfect agony of suspense, like a -woman who has set her last hopes upon a new dress, and waits in despair -until it arrives. - -“Ah! Lousteau, all your treasons are forgiven,” he said to himself, as -he eyed the packages, and knew from the shape of them that everything -had been sent. Inside the hatbox he found a note from Lousteau:-- - - - FLORINE’S DRAWING-ROOM. - - “MY DEAR BOY,--The tailor behaved very well; but as thy profound - retrospective glance led thee to forbode, the cravats, the hats, - and the silk hosen perplexed our souls, for there was nothing in - our purse to be perplexed thereby. As said Blondet, so say we; - there is a fortune awaiting the establishment which will supply - young men with inexpensive articles on credit; for when we do not - pay in the beginning, we pay dear in the end. And by the by, did - not the great Napoleon, who missed a voyage to the Indies for want - of boots, say that, ‘If a thing is easy, it is never done?’ So - everything went well--except the boots. I beheld a vision of thee, - fully dressed, but without a hat! appareled in waistcoats, yet - shoeless! and bethought me of sending a pair of moccasins given to - Florine as a curiosity by an American. Florine offered the huge - sum of forty francs, that we might try our luck at play for you. - Nathan, Blondet, and I had such luck (as we were not playing for - ourselves) that we were rich enough to ask La Torpille, des - Lupeaulx’s sometime ‘rat,’ to supper. Frascati certainly owed us - that much. Florine undertook the shopping, and added three fine - shirts to the purchases. Nathan sends you a cane. Blondet, who won - three hundred francs, is sending you a gold chain; and the gold - watch, the size of a forty-franc piece, is from La Torpille; some - idiot gave the thing to her, and it will not go. ‘Trumpery - rubbish,’ she says, ‘like the man that owned it.’ Bixiou, who came - to find us up at the _Rocher de Cancale_, wished to enclose a bottle - of Portugal water in the package. Said our first comic man, ‘If - this can make him happy, let him have it!’ growling it out in a - deep bass voice with the _bourgeois_ pomposity that he can act to - the life. Which things, my dear boy, ought to prove to you how - much we care for our friends in adversity. Florine, whom I have - had the weakness to forgive, begs you to send us an article on - Nathan’s hat. Fare thee well, my son. I can only commiserate you - on finding yourself back in the same box from which you emerged - when you discovered your old comrade. - - “ETIENNE L.” - - -“Poor fellows! They have been gambling for me,” said Lucien; he was -quite touched by the letter. A waft of the breeze from an unhealthy -country, from the land where one has suffered most, may seem to bring -the odors of Paradise; and in a dull life there is an indefinable -sweetness in memories of past pain. - -Eve was struck dumb with amazement when her brother came down in his new -clothes. She did not recognize him. - -“Now I can walk out in Beaulieu,” he cried; “they shall not say it of me -that I came back in rags. Look, here is a watch which I shall return to -you, for it is mine; and, like its owner, it is erratic in its ways.” - -“What a child he is!” exclaimed Eve. “It is impossible to bear you any -grudge.” - -“Then do you imagine, my dear girl, that I sent for all this with the -silly idea of shining in Angouleme? I don’t care _that_ for Angouleme” - (twirling his cane with the engraved gold knob). “I intend to repair the -wrong I have done, and this is my battle array.” - -Lucien’s success in this kind was his one real triumph; but the triumph, -be it said, was immense. If admiration freezes some people’s tongues, -envy loosens at least as many more, and if women lost their heads over -Lucien, men slandered him. He might have cried, in the words of -the songwriter, “I thank thee, my coat!” He left two cards at the -prefecture, and another upon Petit-Claud. The next day, the day of the -banquet, the following paragraph appeared under the heading “Angouleme” - in the Paris newspapers:-- - - - “ANGOULEME. - - “The return of the author of _The Archer of Charles IX._ has been - the signal for an ovation which does equal honor to the town and - to M. Lucien de Rubempre, the young poet who has made so brilliant - a beginning; the writer of the one French historical novel not - written in the style of Scott, and of a preface which may be - called a literary event. The town hastened to offer him a - patriotic banquet on his return. The name of the - recently-appointed prefect is associated with the public - demonstration in honor of the author of the _Marguerites_, whose - talent received such warm encouragement from Mme. du Chatelet at - the outset of his career.” - - -In France, when once the impulse is given, nobody can stop. The -colonel of the regiment offered to put his band at the disposal of the -committee. The landlord of the _Bell_ (renowned for truffled turkeys, -despatched in the most wonderful porcelain jars to the uttermost parts -of the earth), the famous innkeeper of L’Houmeau, would supply the -repast. At five o’clock some forty persons, all in state and festival -array, were assembled in his largest ball, decorated with hangings, -crowns of laurel, and bouquets. The effect was superb. A crowd of -onlookers, some hundred persons, attracted for the most part by the -military band in the yard, represented the citizens of Angouleme. - -Petit-Claud went to the window. “All Angouleme is here,” he said, -looking out. - -“I can make nothing of this,” remarked little Postel to his wife -(they had come out to hear the band play). “Why, the prefect and the -receiver-general, and the colonel and the superintendent of the powder -factory, and our mayor and deputy, and the headmaster of the school, -and the manager of the foundry at Ruelle, and the public prosecutor, M. -Milaud, and all the authorities, have just gone in!” - -The bank struck up as they sat down to table with variations on the air -_Vive le roy, vive la France_, a melody which has never found popular -favor. It was then five o’clock in the evening; it was eight o’clock -before dessert was served. Conspicuous among the sixty-five dishes -appeared an Olympus in confectionery, surmounted by a figure of France -modeled in chocolate, to give the signal for toasts and speeches. - -“Gentlemen,” called the prefect, rising to his feet, “the King! the -rightful ruler of France! To what do we owe the generation of poets and -thinkers who maintain the sceptre of letters in the hands of France, if -not to the peace which the Bourbons have restored----” - -“Long live the King!” cried the assembled guests (ministerialists -predominated). - -The venerable headmaster rose. - -“To the hero of the day,” he said, “to the young poet who combines the -gift of the _prosateur_ with the charm and poetic faculty of Petrarch in -that sonnet-form which Boileau declares to be so difficult.” - -Cheers. - -The colonel rose next. “Gentlemen, to the Royalist! for the hero of this -evening had the courage to fight for sound principles!” - -“Bravo!” cried the prefect, leading the applause. - -Then Petit-Claud called upon all Lucien’s schoolfellows there present. -“To the pride of the grammar-school of Angouleme! to the venerable -headmaster so dear to us all, to whom the acknowledgment for some part -of our triumph is due!” - -The old headmaster dried his eyes; he had not expected this toast. -Lucien rose to his feet, the whole room was suddenly silent, and the -poet’s face grew white. In that pause the old headmaster, who sat on his -left, crowned him with a laurel wreath. A round of applause followed, -and when Lucien spoke it was with tears in his eyes and a sob in his -throat. - -“He is drunk,” remarked the attorney-general-designate to his neighbor, -Petit-Claud. - -“My dear fellow-countrymen, my dear comrades,” Lucien said at last, “I -could wish that all France might witness this scene; for thus men rise -to their full stature, and in such ways as these our land demands great -deeds and noble work of us. And when I think of the little that I -have done, and of this great honor shown to me to-day, I can only -feel confused and impose upon the future the task of justifying your -reception of me. The recollection of this moment will give me renewed -strength for efforts to come. Permit me to indicate for your homage my -earliest muse and protectress, and to associate her name with that of -my birthplace; so--to the Comtesse du Chatelet and the noble town of -Angouleme!” - -“He came out of that pretty well!” said the public prosecutor, nodding -approval; “our speeches were all prepared, and his was improvised.” - -At ten o’clock the party began to break up, and little knots of guests -went home together. David Sechard heard the unwonted music. - -“What is going on in L’Houmeau?” he asked of Basine. - -“They are giving a dinner to your brother-in-law, Lucien----” - -“I know that he would feel sorry to miss me there,” he said. - -At midnight Petit-Claud walked home with Lucien. As they reached the -Place du Murier, Lucien said, “Come life, come death, we are friends, my -dear fellow.” - -“My marriage contract,” said the lawyer, “with Mlle. Francoise de la -Haye will be signed to-morrow at Mme. de Senonches’ house; do me the -pleasure of coming. Mme. de Senonches implored me to bring you, and you -will meet Mme. du Chatelet; they are sure to tell her of your speech, -and she will feel flattered by it.” - -“I knew what I was about,” said Lucien. - -“Oh! you will save David.” - -“I am sure I shall,” the poet replied. - -Just at that moment David appeared as if by magic in the Place du -Murier. This was how it had come about. He felt that he was in a rather -difficult position; his wife insisted that Lucien must neither go to -David nor know of his hiding-place; and Lucien all the while was writing -the most affectionate letters, saying that in a few days’ time all -should be set right; and even as Basine Clerget explained the reason why -the band played, she put two letters into his hands. The first was from -Eve. - - - “DEAREST,” she wrote, “do as if Lucien were not here; do not - trouble yourself in the least; our whole security depends upon the - fact that your enemies cannot find you; get that idea firmly into - your head. I have more confidence in Kolb and Marion and Basine - than in my own brother; such is my misfortune. Alas! poor Lucien - is not the ingenuous and tender-hearted poet whom we used to know; - and it is simply because he is trying to interfere on your behalf, - and because he imagines that he can discharge our debts (and this - from pride, my David), that I am afraid of him. Some fine clothes - have been sent from Paris for him, and five gold pieces in a - pretty purse. He gave the money to me, and we are living on it. - - “We have one enemy the less. Your father has gone, thanks to - Petit-Claud. Petit-Claud unraveled his designs, and put an end to - them at once by telling him that you would do nothing without - consulting him, and that he (Petit-Claud) would not allow you to - concede a single point in the matter of the invention until you - had been promised an indemnity of thirty thousand francs; fifteen - thousand to free you from embarrassment, and fifteen thousand more - to be yours in any case, whether your invention succeeds or no. I - cannot understand Petit-Claud. I embrace you, dear, a wife’s kiss - for her husband in trouble. Our little Lucien is well. How strange - it is to watch him grow rosy and strong, like a flower, in these - stormy days! Mother prays God for you now, as always, and sends - love only less tender than mine.--Your - “EVE.” - - -As a matter of fact, Petit-Claud and the Cointets had taken fright at -old Sechard’s peasant shrewdness, and got rid of him so much the more -easily because it was now vintage time at Marsac. Eve’s letter enclosed -another from Lucien:-- - - - “MY DEAR DAVID,--Everything is going well. I am armed _cap-a-pie_; - to-day I open the campaign, and in forty-eight hours I shall have - made great progress. How glad I shall be to embrace you when you - are free again and my debts are all paid! My mother and sister - persist in mistrusting me; their suspicion wounds me to the quick. - As if I did not know already that you are hiding with Basine, for - every time that Basine comes to the house I hear news of you and - receive answers to my letters; and besides, it is plain that my - sister could not find any one else to trust. It hurts me cruelly - to think that I shall be so near you to-day, and yet that you will - not be present at this banquet in my honor. I owe my little - triumph to the vainglory of Angouleme; in a few days it will be - quite forgotten, and you alone would have taken a real pleasure in - it. But, after all, in a little while you will pardon everything - to one who counts it more than all the triumphs in the world to be - your brother, - “LUCIEN.” - - -Two forces tugged sharply at David’s heart; he adored his wife; and -if he held Lucien in somewhat less esteem, his friendship was scarcely -diminished. In solitude our feelings have unrestricted play; and a man -preoccupied like David, with all-absorbing thoughts, will give way -to impulses for which ordinary life would have provided a sufficient -counterpoise. As he read Lucien’s letter to the sound of military music, -and heard of this unlooked-for recognition, he was deeply touched by -that expression of regret. He had known how it would be. A very slight -expression of feeling appeals irresistibly to a sensitive soul, for -they are apt to credit others with like depths. How should the drop fall -unless the cup were full to the brim? - -So at midnight, in spite of all Basine’s entreaties, David must go to -see Lucien. - -“Nobody will be out in the streets at this time of night,” he said; -“I shall not be seen, and they cannot arrest me. Even if I should meet -people, I can make use of Kolb’s way of going into hiding. And besides, -it is so intolerably long since I saw my wife and child.” - -The reasoning was plausible enough; Basine gave way, and David went. -Petit-Claud was just taking leave as he came up and at his cry of -_“Lucien!”_ the two brothers flung their arms about each other with -tears in their eyes. - -Life holds not many moments such as these. Lucien’s heart went out in -response to this friendship for its own sake. There was never question -of debtor and creditor between them, and the offender met with no -reproaches save his own. David, generous and noble that he was, was -longing to bestow pardon; he meant first of all to read Lucien a -lecture, and scatter the clouds that overspread the love of the brother -and sister; and with these ends in view, the lack of money and its -consequent dangers disappeared entirely from his mind. - -“Go home,” said Petit-Claud, addressing his client; “take advantage of -your imprudence to see your wife and child again, at any rate; and you -must not be seen, mind you!--How unlucky!” he added, when he was alone -in the Place du Murier. “If only Cerizet were here----” - -The buildings magniloquently styled the Angouleme Law Courts were then -in process of construction. Petit-Claud muttered these words to himself -as he passed by the hoardings, and heard a tap upon the boards, and a -voice issuing from a crack between two planks. - -“Here I am,” said Cerizet; “I saw David coming out of L’Houmeau. I was -beginning to have my suspicions about his retreat, and now I am sure; -and I know where to have him. But I want to know something of Lucien’s -plans before I set the snare for David; and here are you sending him -into the house! Find some excuse for stopping here, at least, and when -David and Lucien come out, send them round this way; they will think -they are quite alone, and I shall overhear their good-bye.” - -“You are a very devil,” muttered Petit-Claud. - -“Well, I’m blessed if a man wouldn’t do anything for the thing you -promised me.” - -Petit-Claud walked away from the hoarding, and paced up and down in the -Place du Murier; he watched the windows of the room where the family -sat together, and thought of his own prospects to keep up his courage. -Cerizet’s cleverness had given him the chance of striking the final -blow. Petit-Claud was a double-dealer of the profoundly cautious -stamp that is never caught by the bait of a present satisfaction, nor -entangled by a personal attachment, after his first initiation into the -strategy of self-seeking and the instability of the human heart. So, -from the very first, he had put little trust in Cointet. He foresaw that -his marriage negotiations might very easily be broken off, saw also that -in that case he could not accuse Cointet of bad faith, and he had -taken his measures accordingly. But since his success at the Hotel de -Bargeton, Petit-Claud’s game was above board. A certain under-plot of -his was useless now, and even dangerous to a man with his political -ambitions. He had laid the foundations of his future importance in the -following manner:-- - -Gannerac and a few of the wealthy men of business in L’Houmeau formed -a sort of Liberal clique in constant communication (through commercial -channels) with the leaders of the Opposition. The Villele ministry, -accepted by the dying Louis XVIII., gave the signal for a change of -tactics in the Opposition camp; for, since the death of Napoleon, the -liberals had ceased to resort to the dangerous expedient of conspiracy. -They were busy organizing resistance by lawful means throughout the -provinces, and aiming at securing control of the great bulk of electors -by convincing the masses. Petit-Claud, a rabid Liberal, and a man of -L’Houmeau, was the instigator, the secret counselor, and the very life -of this movement in the lower town, which groaned under the tyranny of -the aristocrats at the upper end. He was the first to see the danger -of leaving the whole press of the department in the control of the -Cointets; the Opposition must have its organ; it would not do to be -behind other cities. - -“If each one of us gives Gannerac a bill for five hundred francs, -he would have some twenty thousand francs and more; we might buy -up Sechard’s printing-office, and we could do as we liked with the -master-printer if we lent him the capital,” Petit-Claud had said. - -Others had taken up the idea, and in this way Petit-Claud strengthened -his position with regard to David on the one side and the Cointets on -the other. Casting about him for a tool for his party, he naturally -thought that a rogue of Cerizet’s calibre was the very man for the -purpose. - -“If you can find Sechard’s hiding-place and put him in our hands, -somebody will lend you twenty thousand francs to buy his business, and -very likely there will be a newspaper to print. So, set about it,” he -had said. - -Petit-Claud put more faith in Cerizet’s activity than in all the -Doublons in existence; and then it was that he promised Cointet that -Sechard should be arrested. But now that the little lawyer cherished -hopes of office, he saw that he must turn his back upon the Liberals; -and, meanwhile, the amount for the printing-office had been subscribed -in L’Houmeau. Petit-Claud decided to allow things to take their natural -course. - -“Pooh!” he thought, “Cerizet will get into trouble with his paper, and -give me an opportunity of displaying my talents.” - -He walked up to the door of the printing-office and spoke to Kolb, the -sentinel. “Go up and warn David that he had better go now,” he said, -“and take every precaution. I am going home; it is one o’clock.” - -Marion came to take Kolb’s place. Lucien and David came down together -and went out, Kolb a hundred paces ahead of them, and Marion at the -same distance behind. The two friends walked past the hoarding, Lucien -talking eagerly the while. - -“My plan is extremely simple, David; but how could I tell you about it -while Eve was there? She would never understand. I am quite sure that at -the bottom of Louise’s heart there is a feeling that I can rouse, and I -should like to arouse it if it is only to avenge myself upon that idiot -the prefect. If our love affair only lasts for a week, I will contrive -to send an application through her for the subvention of twenty thousand -francs for you. I am going to see her again to-morrow in the little -boudoir where our old affair of the heart began; Petit-Claud says that -the room is the same as ever; I shall play my part in the comedy; and I -will send word by Basine to-morrow morning to tell you whether the -actor was hissed. You may be at liberty by then, who knows?--Now do you -understand how it was that I wanted clothes from Paris? One cannot act -the lover’s part in rags.” - -At six o’clock that morning Cerizet went to Petit-Claud. - -“Doublon can be ready to take his man to-morrow at noon, I will -answer for it,” he said; “I know one of Mlle. Clerget’s girls, do you -understand?” Cerizet unfolded his plan, and Petit-Claud hurried to find -Cointet. - -“If M. Francis du Hautoy will settle his property on Francoise, you -shall sign a deed of partnership with Sechard in two days. I shall not -be married for a week after the contract is signed, so we shall both -be within the terms of our little agreement, tit for tat. To-night, -however, we must keep a close watch over Lucien and Mme. la Comtesse du -Chatelet, for the whole business lies in that. . . . If Lucien hopes to -succeed through the Countess’ influence, I have David safe----” - -“You will be Keeper of the Seals yet, it is my belief,” said Cointet. - -“And why not? No one objects to M. de Peyronnet,” said Petit-Claud. He -had not altogether sloughed his skin of Liberalism. - -Mlle. de la Haye’s ambiguous position brought most of the upper town -to the signing of the marriage contract. The comparative poverty of the -young couple and the absence of a _corbeille_ quickened the interest -that people love to exhibit; for it is with beneficence as with -ovations, we prefer the deeds of charity which gratify self-love. The -Marquise de Pimentel, the Comtesse du Chatelet, M. de Senonches, and -one or two frequenters of the house had given Francoise a few wedding -presents, which made great talk in the city. These pretty trifles, -together with the trousseau which Zephirine had been preparing for the -past twelve months, the godfather’s jewels, and the usual wedding -gifts, consoled Francoise and roused the curiosity of some mothers of -daughters. - -Petit-Claud and Cointet had both remarked that their presence in -the Angouleme Olympus was endured rather than courted. Cointet was -Francoise’s trustee and quasi-guardian; and if Petit-Claud was to sign -the contract, Petit-Claud’s presence was as necessary as the attendance -of the man to be hanged at an execution; but though, once married, Mme. -Petit-Claud might keep her right of entry to her godmother’s house, -Petit-Claud foresaw some difficulty on his own account, and resolved to -be beforehand with these haughty personages. - -He felt ashamed of his parents. He had sent his mother to stay at -Mansle; now he begged her to say that she was out of health and to give -her consent in writing. So humiliating was it to be without relations, -protectors, or witnesses to his signature, that Petit-Claud thought -himself in luck that he could bring a presentable friend at the -Countess’ request. He called to take up Lucien, and they drove to the -Hotel de Bargeton. - -On that memorable evening the poet dressed to outshine every man -present. Mme. de Senonches had spoken of him as the hero of the hour, -and a first interview between two estranged lovers is the kind of scene -that provincials particularly love. Lucien had come to be the lion -of the evening; he was said to be so handsome, so much changed, so -wonderful, that every well-born woman in Angouleme was curious to see -him again. Following the fashion of the transition period between the -eighteenth century small clothes and the vulgar costume of the present -day, he wore tight-fitting black trousers. Men still showed their -figures in those days, to the utter despair of lean, clumsily-made -mortals; and Lucien was an Apollo. The open-work gray silk stockings, -the neat shoes, and the black satin waistcoat were scrupulously drawn -over his person, and seemed to cling to him. His forehead looked the -whiter by contrast with the thick, bright curls that rose above it -with studied grace. The proud eyes were radiant. The hands, small as -a woman’s, never showed to better advantage than when gloved. He had -modeled himself upon de Marsay, the famous Parisian dandy, holding -his hat and cane in one hand, and keeping the other free for the very -occasional gestures which illustrated his talk. - -Lucien had quite intended to emulate the famous false modesty of those -who bend their heads to pass beneath the Porte Saint-Denis, and to slip -unobserved into the room; but Petit-Claud, having but one friend, made -him useful. He brought Lucien almost pompously through a crowded room -to Mme. de Senonches. The poet heard a murmur as he passed; not so very -long ago that hum of voices would have turned his head, to-day he was -quite different; he did not doubt that he himself was greater than the -whole Olympus put together. - -“Madame,” he said, addressing Mme. de Senonches, “I have already -congratulated my friend Petit-Claud (a man with the stuff in him of -which Keepers of the Seals are made) on the honor of his approaching -connection with you, slight as are the ties between godmother and -goddaughter----” (this with the air of a man uttering an epigram, by -no means lost upon any woman in the room, for every woman was listening -without appearing to do so.) “And as for myself,” he continued, “I am -delighted to have the opportunity of paying my homage to you.” - -He spoke easily and fluently, as some great lord might speak under the -roof of his inferiors; and as he listened to Zephirine’s involved reply, -he cast a glance over the room to consider the effect that he wished -to make. The pause gave him time to discover Francis du Hautoy and the -prefect; to bow gracefully to each with the proper shade of difference -in his smile, and, finally, to approach Mme. du Chatelet as if he -had just caught sight of her. That meeting was the real event of the -evening. No one so much as thought of the marriage contract lying in -the adjoining bedroom, whither Francoise and the notary led guest -after guest to sign the document. Lucien made a step towards Louise de -Negrepelisse, and then spoke with that grace of manner now associated, -for her, with memories of Paris. - -“Do I owe to you, madame, the pleasure of an invitation to dine at the -Prefecture the day after to-morrow?” he said. - -“You owe it solely to your fame, monsieur,” Louise answered drily, -somewhat taken aback by the turn of a phrase by which Lucien -deliberately tried to wound her pride. - -“Ah! Madame la Comtesse, I cannot bring you the guest if the man is in -disgrace,” said Lucien, and, without waiting for an answer, he turned -and greeted the Bishop with stately grace. - -“Your lordship’s prophecy has been partially fulfilled,” he said, and -there was a winning charm in his tones; “I will endeavor to fulfil it to -the letter. I consider myself very fortunate since this evening brings -me an opportunity of paying my respects to you.” - -Lucien drew the Bishop into a conversation that lasted for ten minutes. -The women looked on Lucien as a phenomenon. His unexpected insolence -had struck Mme. du Chatelet dumb; she could not find an answer. Looking -round the room, she saw that every woman admired Lucien; she watched -group after group repeating the phrases by which Lucien crushed her with -seeming disdain, and her heart contracted with a spasm of mortification. - -“Suppose that he should not come to the Prefecture after this, what talk -there would be!” she thought. “Where did he learn this pride? Can Mlle. -des Touches have taken a fancy for him? . . . He is so handsome. They -say that she hurried to see him in Paris the day after that actress -died. . . . Perhaps he has come to the rescue of his brother-in-law, and -happened to be behind our caleche at Mansle by accident. Lucien looked -at us very strangely that morning.” - -A crowd of thoughts crossed Louise’s brain, and unluckily for her, she -continued to ponder visibly as she watched Lucien. He was talking with -the Bishop as if he were the king of the room; making no effort to find -any one out, waiting till others came to him, looking round about him -with varying expression, and as much at his ease as his model de Marsay. -M. de Senonches appeared at no great distance, but Lucien still stood -beside the prelate. - -At the end of ten minutes Louise could contain herself no longer. She -rose and went over to the Bishop and said: - -“What is being said, my lord, that you smile so often?” - -Lucien drew back discreetly, and left Mme. du Chatelet with his -lordship. - -“Ah! Mme. la Comtesse, what a clever young fellow he is! He was -explaining to me that he owed all he is to you----” - -“_I_ am not ungrateful, madame,” said Lucien, with a reproachful glance -that charmed the Countess. - -“Let us have an understanding,” she said, beckoning him with her fan. -“Come into the boudoir. My Lord Bishop, you shall judge between us.” - -“She has found a funny task for his lordship,” said one of the Chandour -camp, sufficiently audibly. - -“Judge between us!” repeated Lucien, looking from the prelate to the -lady; “then, is one of us in fault?” - -Louise de Negrepelisse sat down on the sofa in the familiar boudoir. She -made the Bishop sit on one side and Lucien on the other, then she began -to speak. But Lucien, to the joy and surprise of his old love, honored -her with inattention; her words fell unheeded on his ears; he sat like -Pasta in _Tancredi_, with the words _O patria!_ upon her lips, the music -of the great cavatina _Dell Rizzo_ might have passed into his face. -Indeed, Coralie’s pupil had contrived to bring the tears to his eyes. - -“Oh! Louise, how I loved you!” he murmured, careless of the Bishop’s -presence, heedless of the conversation, as soon as he knew that the -Countess had seen the tears. - -“Dry your eyes, or you will ruin me here a second time,” she said in an -aside that horrified the prelate. - -“And once is enough,” was Lucien’s quick retort. “That speech from Mme. -d’Espard’s cousin would dry the eyes of a weeping Magdalene. Oh me! for -a little moment old memories, and lost illusions, and my twentieth year -came back to me, and you have----” - -His lordship hastily retreated to the drawing-room at this; it seemed -to him that his dignity was like to be compromised by this sentimental -pair. Every one ostentatiously refrained from interrupting them, and a -quarter of an hour went by; till at last Sixte du Chatelet, vexed by the -laughter and talk, and excursions to the boudoir door, went in with a -countenance distinctly overclouded, and found Louise and Lucien talking -excitedly. - -“Madame,” said Sixte in his wife’s ear, “you know Angouleme better than -I do, and surely you should think of your position as Mme. la Prefete -and of the Government?” - -“My dear,” said Louise, scanning her responsible editor with a -haughtiness that made him quake, “I am talking with M. de Rubempre of -matters which interest you. It is a question of rescuing an inventor -about to fall a victim to the basest machinations; you will help us. -As to those ladies yonder, and their opinion of me, you shall see how I -will freeze the venom of their tongues.” - -She came out of the boudoir on Lucien’s arm, and drew him across to sign -the contract with a great lady’s audacity. - -“Write your name after mine,” she said, handing him the pen. And Lucien -submissively signed in the place indicated beneath her name. - -“M. de Senonches, would you have recognized M. de Rubempre?” she -continued, and the insolent sportsman was compelled to greet Lucien. - -She returned to the drawing-room on Lucien’s arm, and seated him on -the awe-inspiring central sofa between herself and Zephirine. -There, enthroned like a queen, she began, at first in a low voice, a -conversation in which epigram evidently was not wanting. Some of her -old friends, and several women who paid court to her, came to join the -group, and Lucien soon became the hero of the circle. The Countess drew -him out on the subject of life in Paris; his satirical talk flowed with -spontaneous and incredible spirit; he told anecdotes of celebrities, -those conversational luxuries which the provincial devours with such -avidity. His wit was as much admired as his good looks. And Mme. la -Comtesse Sixte du Chatelet, preparing Lucien’s triumph so patiently, sat -like a player enraptured with the sound of his instrument; she gave him -opportunities for a reply; she looked round the circle for applause so -openly, that not a few of the women began to think that their return -together was something more than a coincidence, and that Lucien and -Louise, loving with all their hearts, had been separated by a double -treason. Pique, very likely, had brought about this ill-starred match -with Chatelet. And a reaction set in against the prefect. - -Before the Countess rose to go at one o’clock in the morning, she -turned to Lucien and said in a low voice, “Do me the pleasure of coming -punctually to-morrow evening.” Then, with the friendliest little nod, -she went, saying a few words to Chatelet, who was looking for his hat. - -“If Mme. du Chatelet has given me a correct idea of the state of -affairs, count on me, my dear Lucien,” said the prefect, preparing to -hurry after his wife. She was going away without him, after the Paris -fashion. “Your brother-in-law may consider that his troubles are at an -end,” he added as he went. - -“M. le Comte surely owes me so much,” smiled Lucien. - -Cointet and Petit-Claud heard these farewell speeches. - -“Well, well, we are done for now,” Cointet muttered in his confederate’s -ear. Petit-Claud, thunderstruck by Lucien’s success, amazed by his -brilliant wit and varying charm, was gazing at Francoise de la Haye; -the girl’s whole face was full of admiration for Lucien. “Be like your -friend,” she seemed to say to her betrothed. A gleam of joy flitted over -Petit-Claud’s countenance. - -“We still have a whole day before the prefect’s dinner; I will answer -for everything.” - -An hour later, as Petit-Claud and Lucien walked home together, -Lucien talked of his success. “Well, my dear fellow, I came, I saw, I -conquered! Sechard will be very happy in a few hours’ time.” - -“Just what I wanted to know,” thought Petit-Claud. Aloud he said--“I -thought you were simply a poet, Lucien, but you are a Lauzun too, that -is to say--twice a poet,” and they shook hands--for the last time, as it -proved. - -“Good news, dear Eve,” said Lucien, waking his sister, “David will have -no debts in less than a month!” - -“How is that?” - -“Well, my Louise is still hidden by Mme. du Chatelet’s petticoat. -She loves me more than ever; she will send a favorable report of our -discovery to the Minister of the Interior through her husband. So we -have only to endure our troubles for one month, while I avenge myself on -the prefect and complete the happiness of his married life.” - -Eve listened, and thought that she must be dreaming. - -“I saw the little gray drawing-room where I trembled like a child two -years ago; it seemed as if scales fell from my eyes when I saw the -furniture and the pictures and the faces again. How Paris changes one’s -ideas!” - -“Is that a good thing?” asked Eve, at last beginning to understand. - -“Come, come; you are still asleep. We will talk about it to-morrow after -breakfast.” - -Cerizet’s plot was exceedingly simple, a commonplace stratagem -familiar to the provincial bailiff. Its success entirely depends -upon circumstances, and in this case it was certain, so intimate was -Cerizet’s knowledge of the characters and hopes of those concerned. -Cerizet had been a kind of Don Juan among the young work-girls, ruling -his victims by playing one off against another. Since he had been the -Cointet’s extra foreman, he had singled out one of Basine Clerget’s -assistants, a girl almost as handsome as Mme. Sechard. Henriette -Signol’s parents owned a small vineyard two leagues out of Angouleme, -on the road to Saintes. The Signols, like everybody else in the country, -could not afford to keep their only child at home; so they meant her to -go out to service, in country phrase. The art of clear-starching is -a part of every country housemaid’s training; and so great was -Mme. Prieur’s reputation, that the Signols sent Henriette to her as -apprentice, and paid for their daughter’s board and lodging. - -Mme. Prieur was one of the old-fashioned mistresses, who consider that -they fill a parent’s place towards their apprentices. They were part of -the family; she took them with her to church, and looked scrupulously -after them. Henriette Signol was a tall, fine-looking girl, with bold -eyes, and long, thick, dark hair, and the pale, very fair complexion -of girls in the South--white as a magnolia flower. For which reasons -Henriette was one of the first on whom Cerizet cast his eyes; but -Henriette came of “honest farmer folk,” and only yielded at last to -jealousy, to bad example, and the treacherous promise of subsequent -marriage. By this time Cerizet was the Cointet’s foreman. When he -learned that the Signols owned a vineyard worth some ten or twelve -thousand francs, and a tolerably comfortable cottage, he hastened to -make it impossible for Henriette to marry any one else. Affairs had -reached this point when Petit-Claud held out the prospect of a printing -office and twenty thousand francs of borrowed capital, which was to -prove a yoke upon the borrower’s neck. Cerizet was dazzled, the offer -turned his head; Henriette Signol was now only an obstacle in the way -of his ambitions, and he neglected the poor girl. Henriette, in her -despair, clung more closely to her seducer as he tried to shake her off. -When Cerizet began to suspect that David was hiding in Basine’s house, -his views with regard to Henriette underwent another change, though he -treated her as before. A kind of frenzy works in a girl’s brain when she -must marry her seducer to conceal her dishonor, and Cerizet was on the -watch to turn this madness to his own account. - -During the morning of the day when Lucien had set himself to reconquer -his Louise, Cerizet told Basine’s secret to Henriette, giving her to -understand at the same time that their marriage and future prospects -depended upon the discovery of David’s hiding-place. Thus instructed, -Henriette easily made certain of the fact that David was in Basine -Clerget’s inner room. It never occurred to the girl that she was doing -wrong to act the spy, and Cerizet involved her in the guilt of betrayal -by this first step. - -Lucien was still sleeping while Cerizet, closeted with Petit-Claud, -heard the history of the important trifles with which all Angouleme -presently would ring. - -The Cointets’ foreman gave a satisfied nod as Petit-Claud came to an -end. “Lucien surely has written you a line since he came back, has he -not?” he asked. - -“This is all that I have,” answered the lawyer, and he held out a note -on Mme. Sechard’s writing-paper. - -“Very well,” said Cerizet, “let Doublon be in wait at the Palet Gate -about ten minutes before sunset; tell him to post his gendarmes, and you -shall have our man.” - -“Are you sure of _your_ part of the business?” asked Petit-Claud, -scanning Cerizet. - -“I rely on chance,” said the ex-street boy, “and she is a saucy huzzy; -she does not like honest folk. - -“You must succeed,” said Cerizet. “You have pushed me into this dirty -business; you may as well let me have a few banknotes to wipe off the -stains.”--Then detecting a look that he did not like in the attorney’s -face, he continued, with a deadly glance, “If you have cheated me, sir, -if you don’t buy the printing-office for me within a week--you will -leave a young widow;” he lowered his voice. - -“If we have David on the jail register at six o’clock, come round to M. -Gannerac’s at nine, and we will settle your business,” said Petit-Claud -peremptorily. - -“Agreed. Your will shall be done, governor,” said Cerizet. - -Cerizet understood the art of washing paper, a dangerous art for the -Treasury. He washed out Lucien’s four lines and replaced them, imitating -the handwriting with a dexterity which augured ill for his own future:-- - - - “MY DEAR DAVID,--Your business is settled; you need not fear to go - to the prefect. You can go out at sunset. I will come to meet you - and tell you what to do at the prefecture.--Your brother, - “LUCIEN.” - - -At noon Lucien wrote to David, telling him of his evening’s success. -The prefect would be sure to lend his influence, he said; he was full of -enthusiasm over the invention, and was drawing up a report that very day -to send to the Government. Marion carried the letter to Basine, taking -some of Lucien’s linen to the laundry as a pretext for the errand. - -Petit-Claud had told Cerizet that a letter would in all probability -be sent. Cerizet called for Mlle. Signol, and the two walked by the -Charente. Henriette’s integrity must have held out for a long while, for -the walk lasted for two hours. A whole future of happiness and ease and -the interests of a child were at stake, and Cerizet asked a mere trifle -of her. He was very careful besides to say nothing of the consequences -of that trifle. She was only to carry a letter and a message, that was -all; but it was the greatness of the reward for the trifling service -that frightened Henriette. Nevertheless, Cerizet gained her consent at -last; she would help him in his stratagem. - -At five o’clock Henriette must go out and come in again, telling Basine -Clerget that Mme. Sechard wanted to speak to her at once. Fifteen -minutes after Basine’s departure she must go upstairs, knock at the door -of the inner room, and give David the forged note. That was all. Cerizet -looked to chance to manage the rest. - - - -For the first time in twelve months, Eve felt the iron grasp of -necessity relax a little. She began at last to hope. She, too, would -enjoy her brother’s visit; she would show herself abroad on the arm of a -man feted in his native town, adored by the women, beloved by the proud -Comtesse du Chatelet. She dressed herself prettily, and proposed to -walk out after dinner with her brother to Beaulieu. In September all -Angouleme comes out at that hour to breathe the fresh air. - -“Oh! that is the beautiful Mme. Sechard,” voices said here and there. - -“I should never have believed it of her,” said a woman. - -“The husband is in hiding, and the wife walks abroad,” said Mme. Postel -for young Mme. Sechard’s benefit. - -“Oh, let us go home,” said poor Eve; “I have made a mistake.” - -A few minutes before sunset, the sound of a crowd rose from the steps -that lead down to L’Houmeau. Apparently some crime had been committed, -for persons coming from L’Houmeau were talking among themselves. -Curiosity drew Lucien and Eve towards the steps. - -“A thief has just been arrested no doubt, the man looks as pale as -death,” one of these passers-by said to the brother and sister. The -crowd grew larger. - -Lucien and Eve watched a group of some thirty children, old women -and men, returning from work, clustering about the gendarmes, whose -gold-laced caps gleamed above the heads of the rest. About a hundred -persons followed the procession, the crowd gathering like a storm cloud. - -“Oh! it is my husband!” Eve cried out. - -_“David!”_ exclaimed Lucien. - -“It is his wife,” said voices, and the crowd made way. - -“What made you come out?” asked Lucien. - -“Your letter,” said David, haggard and white. - -“I knew it!” said Eve, and she fainted away. Lucien raised his sister, -and with the help of two strangers he carried her home; Marion laid her -in bed, and Kolb rushed off for a doctor. Eve was still insensible when -the doctor arrived; and Lucien was obliged to confess to his mother that -he was the cause of David’s arrest; for he, of course, knew nothing of -the forged letter and Cerizet’s stratagem. Then he went up to his room -and locked himself in, struck dumb by the malediction in his mother’s -eyes. - -In the dead of night he wrote one more letter amid constant -interruptions; the reader can divine the agony of the writer’s mind from -those phrases, jerked out, as it were, one by one:-- - - - “MY BELOVED SISTER,--We have seen each other for the last time. My - resolution is final, and for this reason. In many families there - is one unlucky member, a kind of disease in their midst. I am that - unlucky one in our family. The observation is not mine; it was - made at a friendly supper one evening at the _Rocher de Cancale_ by - a diplomate who has seen a great deal of the world. While we - laughed and joked, he explained the reason why some young lady or - some other remained unmarried, to the astonishment of the world - --it was ‘a touch of her father,’ he said, and with that he unfolded - his theory of inherited weaknesses. He told us how such and such a - family would have flourished but for the mother; how it was that a - son had ruined his father, or a father had stripped his children - of prospects and respectability. It was said laughingly, but we - thought of so many cases in point in ten minutes that I was struck - with the theory. The amount of truth in it furnished all sorts of - wild paradoxes, which journalists maintain cleverly enough for - their own amusement when there is nobody else at hand to mystify. - I bring bad luck to our family. My heart is full of love for you, - yet I behave like an enemy. The blow dealt unintentionally is the - cruelest blow of all. While I was leading a bohemian life in - Paris, a life made up of pleasure and misery; taking good - fellowship for friendship, forsaking my true friends for those who - wished to exploit me, and succeeded; forgetful of you, or - remembering you only to cause you trouble,--all that while you - were walking in the humble path of hard work, making your way - slowly but surely to the fortune which I tried so madly to snatch. - While you grew better, I grew worse; a fatal element entered into - my life through my own choice. Yes, unbounded ambition makes an - obscure existence simply impossible for me. I have tastes and - remembrances of past pleasures that poison the enjoyments within - my reach; once I should have been satisfied with them, now it is - too late. Oh, dear Eve, no one can think more hardly of me than I - do myself; my condemnation is absolute and pitiless. The struggle - in Paris demands steady effort; my will power is spasmodic, my - brain works intermittently. The future is so appalling that I do - not care to face it, and the present is intolerable. - - “I wanted to see you again. I should have done better to stay in - exile all my days. But exile without means of subsistence would be - madness; I will not add another folly to the rest. Death is better - than a maimed life; I cannot think of myself in any position in - which my overweening vanity would not lead me into folly. - - “Some human beings are like the figure 0, another must be put - before it, and they acquire ten times their value. I am nothing - unless a strong inexorable will is wedded to mine. Mme. de - Bargeton was in truth my wife; when I refused to leave Coralie for - her I spoiled my life. You and David might have been excellent - pilots for me, but you are not strong enough to tame my weakness, - which in some sort eludes control. I like an easy life, a life - without cares; to clear an obstacle out of my way I can descend to - baseness that sticks at nothing. I was born a prince. I have more - than the requisite intellectual dexterity for success, but only by - moments; and the prizes of a career so crowded by ambitious - competitors are to those who expend no more than the necessary - strength, and retain a sufficient reserve when they reach the - goal. - - “I shall do harm again with the best intentions in the world. Some - men are like oaks, I am a delicate shrub it may be, and I - forsooth, must needs aspire to be a forest cedar. - - “There you have my bankrupt’s schedule. The disproportion between - my powers and my desires, my want of balance, in short, will bring - all my efforts to nothing. There are many such characters among - men of letters, many men whose intellectual powers and character - are always at variance, who will one thing and wish another. What - would become of me? I can see it all beforehand, as I think of - this and that great light that once shone on Paris, now utterly - forgotten. On the threshold of old age I shall be a man older than - my age, needy and without a name. My whole soul rises up against - the thought of such a close; I will not be a social rag. Ah, dear - sister, loved and worshiped at least as much for your severity at - the last as for your tenderness at the first--if we have paid so - dear for my joy at seeing you all once more, you and David may - perhaps some day think that you could grudge no price however high - for a little last happiness for an unhappy creature who loved you. - Do not try to find me, Eve; do not seek to know what becomes of - me. My intellect for once shall be backed by my will. - Renunciation, my angel, is daily death of self; my renunciation - will only last for one day; I will take advantage now of that - day. . . . - - “_Two o’clock_. - - “Yes, I have quite made up my mind. Farewell for ever, dear Eve. - There is something sweet in the thought that I shall live only in - your hearts henceforth, and I wish no other burying place. Once - more, farewell. . . . That is the last word from your brother - - “LUCIEN.” - - -Lucien read the letter over, crept noiselessly down stairs, and left -it in the child’s cradle; amid falling tears he set a last kiss on the -forehead of his sleeping sister; then he went out. He put out his candle -in the gray dusk, took a last look at the old house, stole softly along -the passage, and opened the street door; but in spite of his caution, he -awakened Kolb, who slept on a mattress on the workshop floor. - -“Who goes there?” cried Kolb. - -“It is I, Lucien; I am going away, Kolb.” - -“You vould haf done better gif you at nefer kom,” Kolb muttered audibly. - -“I should have done better still if I had never come into the world,” - Lucien answered. “Good-bye, Kolb; I don’t bear you any grudge for -thinking as I think myself. Tell David that I was sorry I could not bid -him good-bye, and say that this was my last thought.” - -By the time the Alsacien was up and dressed, Lucien had shut the house -door, and was on his way towards the Charente by the Promenade de -Beaulieu. He might have been going to a festival, for he had put on his -new clothes from Paris and his dandy’s trinkets for a drowning shroud. -Something in Lucien’s tone had struck Kolb. At first the man thought of -going to ask his mistress whether she knew that her brother had left -the house; but as the deepest silence prevailed, he concluded that the -departure had been arranged beforehand, and lay down again and slept. - -Little, considering the gravity of the question, has been written on -the subject of suicide; it has not been studied. Perhaps it is a disease -that cannot be observed. Suicide is one effect of a sentiment which we -will call self-esteem, if you will, to prevent confusion by using the -word “honor.” When a man despises himself, and sees that others despise -him, when real life fails to fulfil his hopes, then comes the moment -when he takes his life, and thereby does homage to society--shorn of -his virtues or his splendor, he does not care to face his fellows. -Among atheists--Christians being without the question of suicide--among -atheists, whatever may be said to the contrary, none but a base coward -can take up a dishonored life. - -There are three kinds of suicide--the first is only the last and acute -stage of a long illness, and this kind belongs distinctly to pathology; -the second is the suicide of despair; and the third the suicide based on -logical argument. Despair and deductive reasoning had brought Lucien to -this pass, but both varieties are curable; it is only the pathological -suicide that is inevitable. Not infrequently you find all three causes -combined, as in the case of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. - -Lucien having made up his mind fell to considering methods. The poet -would fain die as became a poet. At first he thought of throwing himself -into the Charente and making an end then and there; but as he came -down the steps from Beaulieu for the last time, he heard the whole town -talking of his suicide; he saw the horrid sight of a drowned dead body, -and thought of the recognition and the inquest; and, like some other -suicides, felt that vanity reached beyond death. - -He remembered the day spent at Courtois’ mill, and his thoughts returned -to the round pool among the willows that he saw as he came along by the -little river, such a pool as you often find on small streams, with a -still, smooth surface that conceals great depths beneath. The water is -neither green nor blue nor white nor tawny; it is like a polished steel -mirror. No sword-grass grows about the margin; there are no blue water -forget-me-nots, nor broad lily leaves; the grass at the brim is short -and thick, and the weeping willows that droop over the edge grow -picturesquely enough. It is easy to imagine a sheer precipice beneath -filled with water to the brim. Any man who should have the courage to -fill his pockets with pebbles would not fail to find death, and never be -seen thereafter. - -At the time while he admired the lovely miniature of a landscape, the -poet had thought to himself, “‘Tis a spot to make your mouth water for a -_noyade_.” - -He thought of it now as he went down into L’Houmeau; and when he took -his way towards Marsac, with the last sombre thoughts gnawing at his -heart, it was with the firm resolve to hide his death. There should be -no inquest held over him, he would not be laid in earth; no one should -see him in the hideous condition of the corpse that floats on the -surface of the water. Before long he reached one of the slopes, common -enough on all French highroads, and commonest of all between Angouleme -and Poitiers. He saw the coach from Bordeaux to Paris coming up at full -speed behind him, and knew that the passengers would probably alight -to walk up the hill. He did not care to be seen just then. Turning off -sharply into a beaten track, he began to pick the flowers in a vineyard -hard by. - -When Lucien came back to the road with a great bunch of the yellow -stone-crop which grows everywhere upon the stony soil of the vineyards, -he came out upon a traveler dressed in black from head to foot. The -stranger wore powder, there were silver buckles on his shoes of Orleans -leather, and his brown face was scarred and seamed as if he had fallen -into the fire in infancy. The traveler, so obviously clerical in his -dress, was walking slowly and smoking a cigar. He turned as Lucien -jumped down from the vineyard into the road. The deep melancholy on -the handsome young face, the poet’s symbolical flowers, and his elegant -dress seemed to strike the stranger. He looked at Lucien with something -of the expression of a hunter that has found his quarry at last after -long and fruitless search. He allowed Lucien to come alongside in -nautical phrase; then he slackened his pace, and appeared to look along -the road up the hill; Lucien, following the direction of his eyes, saw a -light traveling carriage with two horses, and a post-boy standing beside -it. - -“You have allowed the coach to pass you, monsieur; you will lose your -place unless you care to take a seat in my caleche and overtake the -mail, for it is rather quicker traveling post than by the public -conveyance.” The traveler spoke with extreme politeness and a very -marked Spanish accent. - -Without waiting for an answer, he drew a cigar-case from his pocket, -opened it, and held it out to Lucien. - -“I am not on a journey,” said Lucien, “and I am too near the end of my -stage to indulge in the pleasure of smoking----” - -“You are very severe with yourself,” returned the Spaniard. “Though I -am a canon of the cathedral of Toledo, I occasionally smoke a cigarette. -God gave us tobacco to allay our passions and our pains. You seem to be -downcast, or at any rate, you carry the symbolical flower of sorrow -in your hand, like the rueful god Hymen. Come! all your troubles will -vanish away with the smoke,” and again the ecclesiastic held out his -little straw case; there was something fascinating in his manner, and -kindliness towards Lucien lighted up his eyes. - -“Forgive me, father” Lucien answered stiffly; “there is no cigar that -can scatter my troubles.” Tears came to his eyes at the words. - -“It must surely be Divine Providence that prompted me to take a little -exercise to shake off a traveler’s morning drowsiness,” said the -churchman. “A divine prompting to fulfil my mission here on earth by -consoling you.--What great trouble can you have at your age?” - -“Your consolations, father, can do nothing for me. You are a Spaniard, -I am a Frenchman; you believe in the commandments of the Church, I am an -atheist.” - -“_Santa Virgen del Pilar_! you are an atheist!” cried the other, laying -a hand on Lucien’s arm with maternal solicitude. “Ah! here is one of the -curious things I promised myself to see in Paris. We, in Spain, do not -believe in atheists. There is no country but France where one can have -such opinions at nineteen years.” - -“Oh! I am an atheist in the fullest sense of the word. I have no belief -in God, in society, in happiness. Take a good look at me, father; for in -a few hours’ time life will be over for me. My last sun has risen,” said -Lucien; with a sort of rhetorical effect he waved his hand towards the -sky. - -“How so; what have you done that you must die? Who has condemned you to -die?” - -“A tribunal from which there is no appeal--I myself.” - -“You, child!” cried the priest. “Have you killed a man? Is the scaffold -waiting for you? Let us reason together a little. If you are resolved, -as you say, to return to nothingness, everything on earth is indifferent -to you, is it not?” - -Lucien bowed assent. - -“Very well, then; can you not tell me about your troubles? Some little -affair of the heart has taken a bad turn, no doubt?” - -Lucien shrugged his shoulders very significantly. - -“Are you resolved to kill yourself to escape dishonor, or do you despair -of life? Very good. You can kill yourself at Poitiers quite as easily -as at Angouleme, and at Tours it will be no harder than at Poitiers. The -quicksands of the Loire never give up their prey----” - -“No, father,” said Lucien; “I have settled it all. Not three weeks ago I -chanced upon the most charming raft that can ferry a man sick and tired -of this life into the other world----” - -“The other world? You are not an atheist.” - -“Oh! by another world I mean my next transformation, animal or plant.” - -“Have you some incurable disease?” - -“Yes, father.” - -“Ah! now we come to the point. What is it?” - -“Poverty.” - -The priest looked at Lucien. “The diamond does not know its own value,” - he said, and there was an inexpressible charm, and a touch of something -like irony in his smile. - -“None but a priest could flatter a poor man about to die,” exclaimed -Lucien. - -“You are not going to die,” the Spaniard returned authoritatively. - -“I have heard many times of men that were robbed on the highroad, but I -have never yet heard of one that found a fortune there,” said Lucien. - -“You will hear of one now,” said the priest, glancing towards the -carriage to measure the time still left for their walk together. “Listen -to me,” he continued, with his cigar between his teeth; “if you are -poor, that is no reason why you should die. I need a secretary, for -mine has just died at Barcelona. I am in the same position as the famous -Baron Goertz, minister of Charles XII. He was traveling toward Sweden -(just as I am going to Paris), and in some little town or other he -chanced upon the son of a goldsmith, a young man of remarkable good -looks, though they could scarcely equal yours. . . . Baron Goertz -discerned intelligence in the young man (just as I see poetry on your -brow); he took him into his traveling carriage, as I shall take you very -shortly; and of a boy condemned to spend his days in burnishing spoons -and forks and making trinkets in some little town like Angouleme, he -made a favorite, as you shall be mine. - -“Arrived at Stockholm, he installed his secretary and overwhelmed him -with work. The young man spent his nights in writing, and, like all -great workers, he contracted a bad habit, a trick--he took to chewing -paper. The late M. de Malesherbes use to rap people over the knuckles; -and he did this once, by the by, to somebody or other whose suit -depended upon him. The handsome young secretary began by chewing blank -paper, found it insipid for a while, and acquired a taste for manuscript -as having more flavor. People did not smoke as yet in those days. At -last, from flavor to flavor, he began to chew parchment and swallow -it. Now, at that time a treaty was being negotiated between Russia and -Sweden. The States-General insisted that Charles XII. should make peace -(much as they tried in France to make Napoleon treat for peace in 1814) -and the basis of these negotiations was the treaty between the two -powers with regard to Finland. Goertz gave the original into his -secretary’s keeping; but when the time came for laying the draft before -the States-General, a trifling difficulty arose; the treaty was not to -be found. The States-General believed that the Minister, pandering -to the King’s wishes, had taken it into his head to get rid of the -document. Baron Goertz was, in fact, accused of this, and the secretary -owned that he had eaten the treaty. He was tried and convicted and -condemned to death.--But you have not come to that yet, so take a cigar -and smoke till we reach the caleche.” - -Lucien took a cigar and lit it, Spanish fashion, at the priest’s cigar. -“He is right,” he thought; “I can take my life at any time.” - -“It often happens that a young man’s fortunes take a turn when despair -is darkest,” the Spaniard continued. “That is what I wished to tell you, -but I preferred to prove it by a case in point. Here was the handsome -young secretary lying under sentence of death, and his case the more -desperate because, as he had been condemned by the States-General, the -King could not pardon him, but he connived at his escape. The secretary -stole away in a fishing-boat with a few crowns in his pocket, and -reached the court of Courland with a letter of introduction from Goertz, -explaining his secretary’s adventures and his craze for paper. The Duke -of Courland was a spendthrift; he had a steward and a pretty wife--three -several causes of ruin. He placed the charming young stranger with his -steward. - -“If you can imagine that the sometime secretary had been cured of his -depraved taste by a sentence of death, you do not know the grip that a -man’s failings have upon him; let a man discover some satisfaction for -himself, and the headsman will not keep him from it.--How is it that the -vice has this power? Is it inherent strength in the vice, or inherent -weakness in human nature? Are there certain tastes that should be -regarded as verging on insanity? For myself, I cannot help laughing at -the moralists who try to expel such diseases by fine phrases.--Well, it -so fell out that the steward refused a demand for money; and the Duke -taking fright at this, called for an audit. Sheer imbecility! Nothing -easier than to make out a balance-sheet; the difficulty never lies -there. The steward gave his secretary all the necessary documents -for compiling a schedule of the civil list of Courland. He had nearly -finished it when, in the dead of night, the unhappy paper-eater -discovered that he was chewing up one of the Duke’s discharges for a -considerable sum. He had eaten half the signature! Horror seized upon -him; he fled to the Duchess, flung himself at her feet, told her of his -craze, and implored the aid of his sovereign lady, implored her in the -middle of the night. The handsome young face made such an impression on -the Duchess that she married him as soon as she was left a widow. And -so in the mid-eighteenth century, in a land where the king-at-arms is -king, the goldsmith’s son became a prince, and something more. On the -death of Catherine I. he was regent; he ruled the Empress Anne, and -tried to be the Richelieu of Russia. Very well, young man; now know -this--if you are handsomer than Biron, I, simple canon that I am, am -worth more than a Baron Goertz. So get in; we will find a duchy of -Courland for you in Paris, or failing the duchy, we shall certainly find -the duchess.” - -The Spanish priest laid a hand on Lucien’s arm, and literally forced him -into the traveling carriage. The postilion shut the door. - -“Now speak; I am listening,” said the canon of Toledo, to Lucien’s -bewilderment. “I am an old priest; you can tell me everything, there -is nothing to fear. So far we have only run through our patrimony or -squandered mamma’s money. We have made a flitting from our creditors, -and we are honor personified down to the tips of our elegant little -boots. . . . Come, confess, boldly; it will be just as if you were -talking to yourself.” - -Lucien felt like that hero of an Eastern tale, the fisher who tried -to drown himself in mid-ocean, and sank down to find himself a king -of countries under the sea. The Spanish priest seemed so really -affectionate, that the poet hesitated no longer; between Angouleme -and Ruffec he told the story of his whole life, omitting none of his -misdeeds, and ended with the final catastrophe which he had brought -about. The tale only gained in poetic charm because this was the third -time he had told it in the past fortnight. Just as he made an end they -passed the house of the Rastignac family. - -“Young Rastignac left that place for Paris,” said Lucien; “he is -certainly not my equal, but he has had better luck.” - -The Spaniard started at the name. “Oh!” he said. - -“Yes. That shy little place belongs to his father. As I was telling -you just now, he was the lover of Mme. de Nucingen, the famous banker’s -wife. I drifted into poetry; he was cleverer, he took the practical -side.” - -The priest stopped the caleche; and was so far curious as to walk down -the little avenue that led to the house, showing more interest in the -place than Lucien expected from a Spanish ecclesiastic. - -“Then, do you know the Rastignacs?” asked Lucien. - -“I know every one in Paris,” said the Spaniard, taking his place again -in the carriage. “And so for want of ten or twelve thousand francs, you -were about to take your life; you are a child, you know neither men nor -things. A man’s future is worth the value that he chooses to set upon -it, and you value yours at twelve thousand francs! Well, I will -give more than that for you any time. As for your brother-in-law’s -imprisonment, it is the merest trifle. If this dear M. Sechard has made -a discovery, he will be a rich man some day, and a rich man has never -been imprisoned for debt. You do not seem to me to be strong in history. -History is of two kinds--there is the official history taught in -schools, a lying compilation _ad usum delphini_; and there is the -secret history which deals with the real causes of events--a scandalous -chronicle. Let me tell you briefly a little story which you have not -heard. There was, once upon a time, a man, young and ambitious, and a -priest to boot. He wanted to enter upon a political career, so he fawned -on the Queen’s favorite; the favorite took an interest in him, gave -him the rank of minister, and a seat at the council board. One evening -somebody wrote to the young aspirant, thinking to do him a service -(never do a service, by the by, unless you are asked), and told him -that his benefactor’s life was in danger. The King’s wrath was kindled -against his rival; to-morrow, if the favorite went to the palace, he -would certainly be stabbed; so said the letter. Well, now, young man, -what would you have done?” - -“I should have gone at once to warn my benefactor,” Lucien exclaimed -quickly. - -“You are indeed the child which your story reveals!” said the priest. -“Our man said to himself, ‘If the King is resolved to go to such -lengths, it is all over with my benefactor; I must receive this letter -too late;’ so he slept on till the favorite was stabbed----” - -“He was a monster!” said Lucien, suspecting that the priest meant to -sound him. - -“So are all great men; this one was the Cardinal de Richelieu, and his -benefactor was the Marechal d’Ancre. You really do not know your history -of France, you see. Was I not right when I told you that history as -taught in schools is simply a collection of facts and dates, more than -doubtful in the first place, and with no bearing whatever on the gist of -the matter. You are told that such a person as Jeanne Darc once existed; -where is the use of that? Have you never drawn your own conclusions from -that fact? never seen that if France had accepted the Angevin dynasty -of the Plantagenets, the two peoples thus reunited would be ruling the -world to-day, and the islands that now brew political storms for the -continent would be French provinces? . . . Why, have you so much as -studied the means by which simple merchants like the Medicis became -Grand Dukes of Tuscany?” - -“A poet in France is not bound to be ‘as learned as a Benedictine,’” - said Lucien. - -“Well, they became Grand-Dukes as Richelieu became a minister. If you -had looked into history for the causes of events instead of getting the -headings by heart, you would have found precepts for your guidance in -this life. These real facts taken at random from among so many supply -you with the axiom--‘Look upon men, and on women most of all, as your -instruments; but never let them see this.’ If some one higher in place -can be useful to you, worship him as your god; and never leave him until -he has paid the price of your servility to the last farthing. In your -intercourse with men, in short, be grasping and mean as a Jew; all that -the Jew does for money, you must do for power. And besides all this, -when a man has fallen from power, care no more for him than if he had -ceased to exist. And do you ask why you must do these things? You mean -to rule the world, do you not? You must begin by obeying and studying -it. Scholars study books; politicians study men, and their interests and -the springs of action. Society and mankind in masses are fatalists; they -bow down and worship the accomplished fact. Do you know why I am giving -you this little history lesson? It seems to me that your ambition is -boundless----” - -“Yes, father.” - -“I saw that myself,” said the priest. “But at this moment you are -thinking, ‘Here is this Spanish canon inventing anecdotes and straining -history to prove to me that I have too much virtue----’” - -Lucien began to smile; his thoughts had been read so clearly. - -“Very well, let us take facts that every schoolboy knows. One day France -is almost entirely overrun by the English; the King has only a single -province left. Two figures arise from among the people--a poor herd -girl, that very Jeanne Darc of whom we were speaking, and a burgher -named Jacques Coeur. The girl brings the power of virginity, the -strength of her arm; the burgher gives his gold, and the kingdom is -saved. The maid is taken prisoner, and the King, who could have ransomed -her, leaves her to be burned alive. The King allows his courtier to -accuse the great burgher of capital crime, and they rob him and divide -all his wealth among themselves. The spoils of an innocent man, hunted -down, brought to bay, and driven into exile by the Law, went to enrich -five noble houses; and the father of the Archbishop of Bourges left the -kingdom for ever without one sou of all his possessions in France, and -no resource but moneys remitted to Arabs and Saracens in Egypt. It -is open to you to say that these examples are out of date, that three -centuries of public education have since elapsed, and that the outlines -of those ages are more or less dim figures. Well, young man, do you -believe in the last demi-god of France, in Napoleon? One of his generals -was in disgrace all through his career; Napoleon made him a marshal -grudgingly, and never sent him on service if he could help it. That -marshal was Kellermann. Do you know the reason of the grudge? . . . -Kellermann saved France and the First Consul at Marengo by a brilliant -charge; the ranks applauded under fire and in the thick of the carnage. -That heroic charge was not even mentioned in the bulletin. Napoleon’s -coolness toward Kellermann, Fouche’s fall, and Talleyrand’s disgrace -were all attributable to the same cause; it is the ingratitude of a -Charles VII., or a Richelieu, or ----” - -“But, father,” said Lucien, “suppose that you should save my life and -make my fortune, you are making the ties of gratitude somewhat slight.” - -“Little rogue,” said the Abbe, smiling as he pinched Lucien’s ear with -an almost royal familiarity. “If you are ungrateful to me, it will be -because you are a strong man, and I shall bend before you. But you are -not that just yet; as a simple ‘prentice you have tried to be master -too soon, the common fault of Frenchmen of your generation. Napoleon’s -example has spoiled them all. You send in your resignation because you -have not the pair of epaulettes that you fancied. But have you attempted -to bring the full force of your will and every action of your life to -bear upon your one idea?” - -“Alas! no.” - -“You have been inconsistent, as the English say,” smiled the canon. - -“What I have been matters nothing now,” said Lucien, “if I can be -nothing in the future.” - -“If at the back of all your good qualities there is power _semper -virens_,” continued the priest, not averse to show that he had a little -Latin, “nothing in this world can resist you. I have taken enough of a -liking for you already----” - -Lucien smiled incredulously. - -“Yes,” said the priest, in answer to the smile, “you interest me as much -as if you had been my son; and I am strong enough to afford to talk to -you as openly as you have just done to me. Do you know what it is that -I like about you?--This: you have made a sort of _tabula rasa_ within -yourself, and are ready to hear a sermon on morality that you will -hear nowhere else; for mankind in the mass are even more consummate -hypocrites than any one individual can be when his interests demand a -piece of acting. Most of us spend a good part of our lives in clearing -our minds of the notions that sprang up unchecked during our nonage. -This is called ‘getting our experience.’” - -Lucien, listening, thought within himself, “Here is some old intriguer -delighted with a chance of amusing himself on a journey. He is pleased -with the idea of bringing about a change of opinion in a poor wretch -on the brink of suicide; and when he is tired of his amusement, he will -drop me. Still he understands paradox, and seems to be quite a match for -Blondet or Lousteau.” - -But in spite of these sage reflections, the diplomate’s poison had sunk -deeply into Lucien’s soul; the ground was ready to receive it, and the -havoc wrought was the greater because such famous examples were cited. -Lucien fell under the charm of his companion’s cynical talk, and clung -the more willingly to life because he felt that this arm which drew him -up from the depths was a strong one. - -In this respect the ecclesiastic had evidently won the day; and, indeed, -from time to time a malicious smile bore his cynical anecdotes company. - -“If your system of morality at all resembles your manner of regarding -history,” said Lucien, “I should dearly like to know the motive of your -present act of charity, for such it seems to be.” - -“There, young man, I have come to the last head of my sermon; you will -permit me to reserve it, for in that case we shall not part company -to-day,” said the canon, with the tact of the priest who sees that his -guile has succeeded. - -“Very well, talk morality,” said Lucien. To himself he said, “I will -draw him out.” - -“Morality begins with the law,” said the priest. “If it were simply a -question of religion, laws would be superfluous; religious peoples have -few laws. The laws of statecraft are above civil law. Well, do you care -to know the inscription which a politician can read, written at large -over your nineteenth century? In 1793 the French invented the idea of -the sovereignty of the people--and the sovereignty of the people came to -an end under the absolute ruler in the Emperor. So much for your -history as a nation. Now for your private manners. Mme. Tallien and Mme. -Beauharnais both acted alike. Napoleon married the one, and made her -your Empress; the other he would never receive at court, princess though -she was. The sans-culotte of 1793 takes the Iron Crown in 1804. The -fanatical lovers of Equality or Death conspire fourteen years afterwards -with a Legitimist aristocracy to bring back Louis XVIII. And that same -aristocracy, lording it to-day in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, has done -worse--has been merchant, usurer, pastry-cook, farmer, and shepherd. So -in France systems political and moral have started from one point and -reached another diametrically opposed; and men have expressed one -kind of opinion and acted on another. There has been no consistency in -national policy, nor in the conduct of individuals. You cannot be said -to have any morality left. Success is the supreme justification of all -actions whatsoever. The fact in itself is nothing; the impression that -it makes upon others is everything. Hence, please observe a second -precept: Present a fair exterior to the world, keep the seamy side -of life to yourself, and turn a resplendent countenance upon others. -Discretion, the motto of every ambitious man, is the watchword of our -Order; take it for your own. Great men are guilty of almost as many -base deeds as poor outcasts; but they are careful to do these things in -shadow and to parade their virtues in the light, or they would not be -great men. Your insignificant man leaves his virtues in the shade; he -publicly displays his pitiable side, and is despised accordingly. You, -for instance, have hidden your titles to greatness and made a display of -your worst failings. You openly took an actress for your mistress, lived -with her and upon her; you were by no means to blame for this; everybody -admitted that both of you were perfectly free to do as you liked; but -you ran full tilt against the ideas of the world, and the world has not -shown you the consideration that is shown to those who obey the rules of -the game. If you had left Coralie to this M. Camusot, if you had hidden -your relations with her, you might have married Mme. de Bargeton; you -would now be prefect of Angouleme and Marquis de Rubempre. - -“Change your tactics, bring your good looks, your charm, your wit, your -poetry to the front. If you indulge in small discreditable courses, let -it be within four walls, and you will never again be guilty of a blot on -the decorations of this great theatrical scene called society. Napoleon -called this ‘washing dirty linen at home.’ The corollary follows -naturally on this second precept--Form is everything. Be careful to -grasp the meaning of that word ‘form.’ There are people who, for want -of knowing better, will help themselves to money under pressure of want, -and take it by force. These people are called criminals; and, perforce, -they square accounts with Justice. A poor man of genius discovers -some secret, some invention as good as a treasure; you lend him three -thousand francs (for that, practically, the Cointets have done; they -hold your bills, and they are about to rob your brother-in-law); you -torment him until he reveals or partly reveals his secret; you settle -your accounts with your own conscience, and your conscience does not -drag you into the assize court. - -“The enemies of social order, beholding this contrast, take occasion -to yap at justice, and wax wroth in the name of the people, because, -forsooth, burglars and fowl-stealers are sent to the hulks, while a man -who brings whole families to ruin by a fraudulent bankruptcy is let off -with a few months’ imprisonment. But these hypocrites know quite well -that the judge who passes sentence on the thief is maintaining the -barrier set between the poor and the rich, and that if that barrier -were overturned, social chaos would ensue; while, in the case of the -bankrupt, the man who steals an inheritance cleverly, and the banker who -slaughters a business for his own benefit, money merely changes hands, -that is all. - -“Society, my son, is bound to draw those distinctions which I have -pointed out for your benefit. The one great point is this--you must be a -match for society. Napoleon, Richelieu, and the Medicis were a match for -their generations. And as for you, you value yourself at twelve thousand -francs! You of this generation in France worship the golden calf; what -else is the religion of your Charter that will not recognize a man -politically unless he owns property? What is this but the command, -‘Strive to be rich?’ Some day, when you shall have made a fortune -without breaking the law, you will be rich; you will be the Marquis de -Rubempre, and you can indulge in the luxury of honor. You will be so -extremely sensitive on the point of honor that no one will dare to -accuse you of past shortcomings if in the process of making your way you -should happen to smirch it now and again, which I myself should never -advise,” he added, patting Lucien’s hand. - -“So what must you put in that comely head of yours? Simply this and -nothing more--propose to yourself a brilliant and conspicuous goal, and -go towards it secretly; let no one see your methods or your progress. -You have behaved like a child; be a man, be a hunter, lie in wait for -your quarry in the world of Paris, wait for your chance and your game; -you need not be particular nor mindful of your dignity, as it is called; -we are all of us slaves to something, to some failing of our own or to -necessity; but keep that law of laws--secrecy.” - -“Father, you frighten me,” said Lucien; “this seems to me to be a -highwayman’s theory.” - -“And you are right,” said the canon, “but it is no invention of mine. -All _parvenus_ reason in this way--the house of Austria and the house -of France alike. You have nothing, you say? The Medicis, Richelieu, and -Napoleon started from precisely your standpoint; but _they_, my child, -considered that their prospects were worth ingratitude, treachery, and -the most glaring inconsistencies. You must dare all things to gain -all things. Let us discuss it. Suppose that you sit down to a game of -_bouillotte_, do you begin to argue over the rules of the game? There -they are, you accept them.” - -“Come, now,” thought Lucien, “he can play _bouillotte_.” - -“And what do you do?” continued the priest; “do you practise openness, -that fairest of virtues? Not merely do you hide your tactics, but you -do your best to make others believe that you are on the brink of ruin -as soon as you are sure of winning the game. In short, you dissemble, do -you not? You lie to win four or five louis d’or. What would you think of -a player so generous as to proclaim that he held a hand full of trumps? -Very well; the ambitious man who carries virtue’s precepts into the -arena when his antagonists have left them behind is behaving like a -child. Old men of the world might say to him, as card-players would say -to the man who declines to take advantage of his trumps, ‘Monsieur, you -ought not to play at _bouillotte_.’ - -“Did you make the rules of the game of ambition? Why did I tell you to -be a match for society?--Because, in these days, society by degrees -has usurped so many rights over the individual, that the individual -is compelled to act in self-defence. There is no question of laws now, -their place has been taken by custom, which is to say grimacings, and -forms must always be observed.” - -Lucien started with surprise. - -“Ah, my child!” said the priest, afraid that he had shocked Lucien’s -innocence; “did you expect to find the Angel Gabriel in an Abbe loaded -with all the iniquities of the diplomacy and counter-diplomacy of two -kings? I am an agent between Ferdinand VII. and Louis XVIII., two--kings -who owe their crowns to profound--er--combinations, let us say. I -believe in God, but I have a still greater belief in our Order, and our -Order has no belief save in temporal power. In order to strengthen and -consolidate the temporal power, our Order upholds the Catholic Apostolic -and Roman Church, which is to say, the doctrines which dispose the world -at large to obedience. We are the Templars of modern times; we have a -doctrine of our own. Like the Templars, we have been dispersed, and -for the same reasons; we are almost a match for the world. If you will -enlist as a soldier, I will be your captain. Obey me as a wife obeys -her husband, as a child obeys his mother, and I will guarantee that you -shall be Marquis de Rubempre in less than six months; you shall marry -into one of the proudest houses in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and some -day you shall sit on a bench with peers of France. What would you have -been at this moment if I had not amused you by my conversation?--An -undiscovered corpse in a deep bed of mud. Well and good, now for an -effort of imagination----” - -Lucien looked curiously at his protector. - -“Here, in this caleche beside the Abbe Carlos Herrera, canon of Toledo, -secret envoy from His Majesty Ferdinand VII. to his Majesty the King -of France, bearer of a despatch thus worded it may be--‘When you -have delivered me, hang all those whom I favor at this moment, more -especially the bearer of this despatch, for then he can tell no -tales’--well, beside this envoy sits a young man who has nothing in -common with that poet recently deceased. I have fished you out of -the water, I have brought you to life again, you belong to me as the -creature belongs to the creator, as the efrits of fairytales belong to -the genii, as the janissary to the Sultan, as the soul to the body. I -will sustain you in the way to power with a strong hand; and at the same -time I promise that your life shall be a continual course of pleasure, -honors, and enjoyment. You shall never want for money. You shall shine, -you shall go bravely in the eyes of the world; while I, crouching in -the mud, will lay a firm foundation for the brilliant edifice of your -fortunes. For I love power for its own sake. I shall always rejoice in -your enjoyment, forbidden to me. In short, my self shall become your -self! Well, if a day should come when this pact between man and the -tempter, this agreement between the child and the diplomatist should no -longer suit your ideas, you can still look about for some quiet spot, -like that pool of which you were speaking, and drown yourself; you will -only be as you are now, or a little more or a little less wretched and -dishonored.” - -“This is not like the Archbishop of Granada’s homily,” said Lucien as -they stopped to change horses. - -“Call this concentrated education by what name you will, my son, for you -are my son, I adopt you henceforth, and shall make you my heir; it is -the Code of ambition. God’s elect are few and far between. There is no -choice, you must bury yourself in the cloister (and there you very often -find the world again in miniature) or accept the Code.” - -“Perhaps it would be better not to be so wise,” said Lucien, trying to -fathom this terrible priest. - -“What!” rejoined the canon. “You begin to play before you know the rules -of the game, and now you throw it up just as your chances are best, and -you have a substantial godfather to back you! And you do not even care -to play a return match? You do not mean to say that you have no mind to -be even with those who drove you from Paris?” - -Lucien quivered; the sounds that rang through every nerve seemed to come -from some bronze instrument, some Chinese gong. - -“I am only a poor priest,” returned his mentor, and a grim expression, -dreadful to behold, appeared for a moment on a face burned to a -copper-red by the sun of Spain, “I am only a poor priest; but if I had -been humiliated, vexed, tormented, betrayed, and sold as you have been -by the scoundrels of whom you have told me, I should do like an Arab of -the desert--I would devote myself body and soul to vengeance. I might -end by dangling from a gibbet, garroted, impaled, guillotined in your -French fashion, I should not care a rap; but they should not have my -head until I had crushed my enemies under my heel.” - -Lucien was silent; he had no wish to draw the priest out any further. - -“Some are descended from Cain and some from Abel,” the canon concluded; -“I myself am of mixed blood--Cain for my enemies, Abel for my friends. -Woe to him that shall awaken Cain! After all, you are a Frenchman; I am -a Spaniard, and, what is more, a canon.” - -“What a Tartar!” thought Lucien, scanning the protector thus sent to him -by Heaven. - -There was no sign of the Jesuit, nor even of the ecclesiastic, about -the Abbe Carlos Herrera. His hands were large, he was thick-set and -broad-chested, evidently he possessed the strength of a Hercules; his -terrific expression was softened by benignity assumed at will; but a -complexion of impenetrable bronze inspired feelings of repulsion rather -than attachment for the man. - -The strange diplomatist looked somewhat like a bishop, for he wore -powder on his long, thick hair, after the fashion of the Prince de -Talleyrand; a gold cross, hanging from a strip of blue ribbon with -a white border, indicated an ecclesiastical dignitary. The outlines -beneath the black silk stockings would not have disgraced an athlete. -The exquisite neatness of his clothes and person revealed an amount of -care which a simple priest, and, above all, a Spanish priest, does not -always take with his appearance. A three-cornered hat lay on the front -seat of the carriage, which bore the arms of Spain. - -In spite of the sense of repulsion, the effect made by the man’s -appearance was weakened by his manner, fierce and yet winning as it was; -he evidently laid himself out to please Lucien, and the winning manner -became almost coaxing. Yet Lucien noticed the smallest trifles uneasily. -He felt that the moment of decision had come; they had reached the -second stage beyond Ruffec, and the decision meant life or death. - -The Spaniard’s last words vibrated through many chords in his heart, -and, to the shame of both, it must be said that all that was worst in -Lucien responded to an appeal deliberately made to his evil impulses, -and the eyes that studied the poet’s beautiful face had read him very -clearly. Lucien beheld Paris once more; in imagination he caught again -at the reins of power let fall from his unskilled hands, and he avenged -himself! The comparisons which he himself had drawn so lately between -the life of Paris and life in the provinces faded from his mind with the -more painful motives for suicide; he was about to return to his -natural sphere, and this time with a protector, a political intriguer -unscrupulous as Cromwell. - -“I was alone, now there will be two of us,” he told himself. And then -this priest had been more and more interested as he told of his sins -one after another. The man’s charity had grown with the extent of his -misdoings; nothing had astonished this confessor. And yet, what could -be the motive of a mover in the intrigues of kings? Lucien at first was -fain to be content with the banal answer--the Spanish are a generous -race. The Spaniard is generous! even so the Italian is jealous and a -poisoner, the Frenchman fickle, the German frank, the Jew ignoble, and -the Englishman noble. Reverse these verdicts and you shall arrive within -a reasonable distance of the truth! The Jews have monopolized the -gold of the world; they compose _Robert the Devil_, act _Phedre_, sing -_William Tell_, give commissions for pictures and build palaces, write -_Reisebilder_ and wonderful verse; they are more powerful than ever, -their religion is accepted, they have lent money to the Holy Father -himself! As for Germany, a foreigner is often asked whether he has a -contract in writing, and this is in the smallest matters, so tricky are -they in their dealings. In France the spectacle of national blunders has -never lacked national applause for the past fifty years; we continue to -wear hats which no mortal can explain, and every change of government is -made on the express condition that things shall remain exactly as they -were before. England flaunts her perfidy in the face of the world, and -her abominable treachery is only equaled by her greed. All the gold of -two Indies passed through the hands of Spain, and now she has nothing -left. There is no country in the world where poison is so little in -request as in Italy, no country where manners are easier or more gentle. -As for the Spaniard, he has traded largely on the reputation of the -Moor. - -As the Canon of Toledo returned to the caleche, he had spoken a word -to the post-boy. “Drive post-haste,” he said, “and there will be three -francs for drink-money for you.” Then, seeing that Lucien hesitated, -“Come! come!” he exclaimed, and Lucien took his place again, telling -himself that he meant to try the effect of the _argumentum ad hominem_. - -“Father,” he began, “after pouring out, with all the coolness in the -world, a series of maxims which the vulgar would consider profoundly -immoral----” - -“And so they are,” said the priest; “that is why Jesus Christ said that -it must needs be that offences come, my son; and that is why the world -displays such horror of offences.” - -“A man of your stamp will not be surprised by the question which I am -about to ask?” - -“Indeed, my son, you do not know me,” said Carlos Herrera. “Do you -suppose that I should engage a secretary unless I knew that I could -depend upon his principles sufficiently to be sure that he would not rob -me? I like you. You are as innocent in every way as a twenty-year-old -suicide. Your question?” - -“Why do you take an interest in me? What price do you set on my -obedience? Why should you give me everything? What is your share?” - -The Spaniard looked at Lucien, and a smile came over his face. - -“Let us wait till we come to the next hill; we can walk up and talk out -in the open. The back seat of a traveling carriage is not the place for -confidences.” - -They traveled in silence for sometime; the rapidity of the movement -seemed to increase Lucien’s moral intoxication. - -“Here is a hill, father,” he said at last awakening from a kind of -dream. - -“Very well, we will walk.” The Abbe called to the postilion to stop, and -the two sprang out upon the road. - -“You child,” said the Spaniard, taking Lucien by the arm, “have you ever -thought over Otway’s _Venice Preserved_? Did you understand the profound -friendship between man and man which binds Pierre and Jaffier each to -each so closely that a woman is as nothing in comparison, and all social -conditions are changed?--Well, so much for the poet.” - -“So the canon knows something of the drama,” thought Lucien. “Have you -read Voltaire?” he asked. - -“I have done better,” said the other; “I put his doctrine in practice.” - -“You do not believe in God?” - -“Come! it is I who am the atheist, is it?” the Abbe said, smiling. “Let -us come to practical matters, my child,” he added, putting an arm round -Lucien’s waist. “I am forty-six years old, I am the natural son of a -great lord; consequently, I have no family, and I have a heart. But, -learn this, carve it on that still so soft brain of yours--man dreads -to be alone. And of all kinds of isolation, inward isolation is the most -appalling. The early anchorite lived with God; he dwelt in the spirit -world, the most populous world of all. The miser lives in a world of -imagination and fruition; his whole life and all that he is, even his -sex, lies in his brain. A man’s first thought, be he leper or convict, -hopelessly sick or degraded, is to find another with a like fate to -share it with him. He will exert the utmost that is in him, every power, -all his vital energy, to satisfy that craving; it is his very life. But -for that tyrannous longing, would Satan have found companions? There -is a whole poem yet to be written, a first part of _Paradise Lost_; -Milton’s poem is only the apology for the revolt.” - -“It would be the Iliad of Corruption,” said Lucien. - -“Well, I am alone, I live alone. If I wear the priest’s habit, I have -not a priest’s heart. I like to devote myself to some one; that is my -weakness. That is my life, that is how I came to be a priest. I am not -afraid of ingratitude, and I am grateful. The Church is nothing to me; -it is an idea. I am devoted to the King of Spain, but you cannot give -affection to a King of Spain; he is my protector, he towers above me. I -want to love my creature, to mould him, fashion him to my use, and love -him as a father loves his child. I shall drive in your tilbury, my -boy, enjoy your success with women, and say to myself, ‘This fine young -fellow, this Marquis de Rubempre, my creation whom I have brought into -this great world, is my very Self; his greatness is my doing, he speaks -or is silent with my voice, he consults me in everything.’ The Abbe de -Vermont felt thus for Marie-Antoinette.” - -“He led her to the scaffold.” - -“He did not love the Queen,” said the priest. “HE only loved the Abbe de -Vermont.” - -“Must I leave desolation behind me?” - -“I have money, you shall draw on me.” - -“I would do a great deal just now to rescue David Sechard,” said Lucien, -in the tone of one who has given up all idea of suicide. - -“Say but one word, my son, and by to-morrow morning he shall have money -enough to set him free.” - -“What! Would you give me twelve thousand francs?” - -“Ah! child, do you not see that we are traveling on at the rate of four -leagues an hour? We shall dine at Poitiers before long, and there, if -you decide to sign the pact, to give me a single proof of obedience, a -great proof that I shall require, then the Bordeaux coach shall carry -fifteen thousand francs to your sister----” - -“Where is the money?” - -The Spaniard made no answer, and Lucien said within himself, “There I -had him; he was laughing at me.” - -In another moment they took their places. Neither of them said a word. -Silently the Abbe groped in the pocket of the coach, and drew out a -traveler’s leather pouch with three divisions in it; thence he took a -hundred Portuguese moidores, bringing out his large hand filled with -gold three times. - -“Father, I am yours,” said Lucien, dazzled by the stream of gold. - -“Child!” said the priest, and set a tender kiss on Lucien’s forehead. -“There is twice as much still left in the bag, besides the money for -traveling expenses.” - -“And you are traveling alone!” cried Lucien. - -“What is that?” asked the Spaniard. “I have more than a hundred thousand -crowns in drafts on Paris. A diplomatist without money is in your -position of this morning--a poet without a will of his own!” - - - -As Lucien took his place in the caleche beside the so-called Spanish -diplomatist, Eve rose to give her child a draught of milk, found the -fatal letter in the cradle, and read it. A sudden cold chilled the damps -of morning slumber, dizziness came over her, she could not see. She -called aloud to Marion and Kolb. - -“Has my brother gone out?” she asked, and Kolb answered at once with, -“Yes, Montame, pefore tay.” - -“Keep this that I am going to tell you a profound secret,” said Eve. “My -brother has gone no doubt to make away with himself. Hurry, both of you, -make inquiries cautiously, and look along the river.” - -Eve was left alone in a dull stupor, dreadful to see. Her trouble was -at its height when Petit-Claud came in at seven o’clock to talk over -the steps to be taken in David’s case. At such a time, any voice in the -world may speak, and we let them speak. - -“Our poor, dear David is in prison, madame,” so began Petit-Claud. “I -foresaw all along that it would end in this. I advised him at the time -to go into partnership with his competitors the Cointets; for while -your husband has simply the idea, they have the means of putting it into -practical shape. So as soon as I heard of his arrest yesterday evening, -what did I do but hurry away to find the Cointets and try to obtain such -concessions as might satisfy you. If you try to keep the discovery to -yourselves, you will continue to live a life of shifts and chicanery. -You must give in, or else when you are exhausted and at the last gasp, -you will end by making a bargain with some capitalist or other, and -perhaps to your own detriment, whereas to-day I hope to see you make -a good one with MM. Cointet. In this way you will save yourselves the -hardships and the misery of the inventor’s duel with the greed of the -capitalist and the indifference of the public. Let us see! If the MM. -Cointet should pay your debts--if, over and above your debts, they -should pay you a further sum of money down, whether or no the invention -succeeds; while at the same time it is thoroughly understood that if it -succeeds a certain proportion of the profits of working the patent shall -be yours, would you not be doing very well?--You yourself, madame, would -then be the proprietor of the plant in the printing-office. You would -sell the business, no doubt; it is quite worth twenty thousand francs. I -will undertake to find you a buyer at that price. - -“Now if you draw up a deed of partnership with the MM. Cointet, and -receive fifteen thousand francs of capital; and if you invest it in -the funds at the present moment, it will bring you in an income of two -thousand francs. You can live on two thousand francs in the provinces. -Bear in mind, too, madame, that, given certain contingencies, there will -be yet further payments. I say ‘contingencies,’ because we must lay our -accounts with failure. - -“Very well,” continued Petit-Claud, “now these things I am sure that I -can obtain for you. First of all, David’s release from prison; secondly, -fifteen thousand francs, a premium paid on his discovery, whether the -experiments fail or succeed; and lastly, a partnership between David and -the MM. Cointet, to be taken out after private experiment made jointly. -The deed of partnership for the working of the patent should be drawn -up on the following basis: The MM. Cointet to bear all the expenses, the -capital invested by David to be confined to the expenses of procuring -the patent, and his share of the profits to be fixed at twenty-five per -cent. You are a clear-headed and very sensible woman, qualities which -are not often found combined with great beauty; think over these -proposals, and you will see that they are very favorable.” - -Poor Eve in her despair burst into tears. “Ah, sir! why did you not come -yesterday evening to tell me this? We should have been spared disgrace -and--and something far worse----” - -“I was talking with the Cointets until midnight. They are behind -Metivier, as you must have suspected. But how has something worse than -our poor David’s arrest happened since yesterday evening?” - -“Here is the awful news that I found when I awoke this morning,” she -said, holding out Lucien’s letter. “You have just given me proof of your -interest in us; you are David’s friend and Lucien’s; I need not ask you -to keep the secret----” - -“You need not feel the least anxiety,” said Petit-Claud, as he returned -the letter. “Lucien will not take his life. Your husband’s arrest was -his doing; he was obliged to find some excuse for leaving you, and this -exit of his looks to me like a piece of stage business.” - -The Cointets had gained their ends. They had tormented the inventor and -his family, until, worn out by the torture, the victims longed for a -respite, and then seized their opportunity and made the offer. Not every -inventor has the tenacity of the bull-dog that will perish with his -teeth fast set in his capture; the Cointets had shrewdly estimated -David’s character. The tall Cointet looked upon David’s imprisonment -as the first scene of the first act of the drama. The second act opened -with the proposal which Petit-Claud had just made. As arch-schemer, -the attorney looked upon Lucien’s frantic folly as a bit of unhoped-for -luck, a chance that would finally decide the issues of the day. - -Eve was completely prostrated by this event; Petit-Claud saw this, and -meant to profit by her despair to win her confidence, for he saw at last -how much she influenced her husband. So far from discouraging Eve, he -tried to reassure her, and very cleverly diverted her thoughts to the -prison. She should persuade David to take the Cointets into partnership. - -“David told me, madame, that he only wished for a fortune for your sake -and your brother’s; but it should be clear to you by now that to try -to make a rich man of Lucien would be madness. The youngster would run -through three fortunes.” - -Eve’s attitude told plainly enough that she had no more illusions left -with regard to her brother. The lawyer waited a little so that her -silence should have the weight of consent. - -“Things being so, it is now a question of you and your child,” he said. -“It rests with you to decide whether an income of two thousand francs -will be enough for your welfare, to say nothing of old Sechard’s -property. Your father-in-law’s income has amounted to seven or eight -thousand francs for a long time past, to say nothing of capital lying -out at interest. So, after all, you have a good prospect before you. Why -torment yourself?” - -Petit-Claud left Eve Sechard to reflect upon this prospect. The whole -scheme had been drawn up with no little skill by the tall Cointet the -evening before. - -“Give them the glimpse of a possibility of money in hand,” the lynx had -said, when Petit-Claud brought the news of the arrest; “once let -them grow accustomed to that idea, and they are ours; we will drive a -bargain, and little by little we shall bring them down to our price for -the secret.” - -The argument of the second act of the commercial drama was in a manner -summed up in that speech. - -Mme. Sechard, heartbroken and full of dread for her brother’s fate, -dressed and came downstairs. An agony of terror seized her when she -thought that she must cross Angouleme alone on the way to the prison. -Petit-Claud gave little thought to his fair client’s distress. When -he came back to offer his arm, it was from a tolerably Machiavellian -motive; but Eve gave him credit for delicate consideration, and he -allowed her to thank him for it. The little attention, at such a -moment, from so hard a man, modified Mme. Sechard’s previous opinion of -Petit-Claud. - -“I am taking you round by the longest way,” he said, “and we shall meet -nobody.” - -“For the first time in my life, monsieur, I feel that I have no right -to hold up my head before other people; I had a sharp lesson given to me -last night----” - -“It will be the first and the last.” - -“Oh! I certainly shall not stay in the town now----” - -“Let me know if your husband consents to the proposals that are all but -definitely offered by the Cointets,” said Petit-Claud at the gate of -the prison; “I will come at once with an order for David’s release from -Cachan, and in all likelihood he will not go back again to prison.” - -This suggestion, made on the very threshold of the jail, was a piece of -cunning strategy--a _combinazione_, as the Italians call an indefinable -mixture of treachery and truth, a cunningly planned fraud which does not -break the letter of the law, or a piece of deft trickery for which there -is no legal remedy. St. Bartholomew’s for instance, was a political -combination. - -Imprisonment for debt, for reasons previously explained, is such a rare -occurrence in the provinces, that there is no house of detention, and -a debtor is perforce imprisoned with the accused, convicted, and -condemned--the three graduated subdivisions of the class generically -styled criminal. David was put for the time being in a cell on the -ground floor from which some prisoner had probably been recently -discharged at the end of his time. Once inscribed on the jailer’s -register, with the amount allowed by the law for a prisoner’s board for -one month, David confronted a big, stout man, more powerful than the -King himself in a prisoner’s eyes; this was the jailer. - -An instance of a thin jailer is unknown in the provinces. The place, to -begin with, is almost a sinecure, and a jailer is a kind of innkeeper -who pays no rent and lives very well, while his prisoners fare very ill; -for, like an innkeeper, he gives them rooms according to their payments. -He knew David by name, and what was more, knew about David’s father, -and thought that he might venture to let the printer have a good room on -credit for one night; for David was penniless. - -The prison of Angouleme was built in the Middle Ages, and has no more -changed than the old cathedral. It is built against the old _presidial_, -or ancient court of appeal, and people still call it the _maison de -justice_. It boasts the conventional prison gateway, the solid-looking, -nail-studded door, the low, worn archway which the better deserves the -qualification “cyclopean,” because the jailer’s peephole or _judas_ -looks out like a single eye from the front of the building. As you enter -you find yourself in a corridor which runs across the entire width of -the building, with a row of doors of cells that give upon the prison -yard and are lighted by high windows covered with a square iron grating. -The jailer’s house is separated from these cells by an archway in the -middle, through which you catch a glimpse of the iron gate of the prison -yard. The jailer installed David in a cell next to the archway, thinking -that he would like to have a man of David’s stamp as a near neighbor for -the sake of company. - -“This is the best room,” he said. David was struck dumb with amazement -at the sight of it. - -The stone walls were tolerably damp. The windows, set high in the wall, -were heavily barred; the stone-paved floor was cold as ice, and from -the corridor outside came the sound of the measured tramp of the warder, -monotonous as waves on the beach. “You are a prisoner! you are watched -and guarded!” said the footsteps at every moment of every hour. All -these small things together produce a prodigious effect upon the minds -of honest folk. David saw that the bed was execrable, but the first -night in a prison is full of violent agitation, and only on the second -night does the prisoner notice that his couch is hard. The jailer was -graciously disposed; he naturally suggested that his prisoner should -walk in the yard until nightfall. - -David’s hour of anguish only began when he was locked into his cell for -the night. Lights are not allowed in the cells. A prisoner detained on -arrest used to be subjected to rules devised for malefactors, unless he -brought a special exemption signed by the public prosecutor. The jailer -certainly might allow David to sit by his fire, but the prisoner must go -back to his cell at locking-up time. Poor David learned the horrors -of prison life by experience, the rough coarseness of the treatment -revolted him. Yet a revulsion, familiar to those who live by thought, -passed over him. He detached himself from his loneliness, and found a -way of escape in a poet’s waking dream. - -At last the unhappy man’s thoughts turned to his own affairs. The -stimulating influence of a prison upon conscience and self-scrutiny is -immense. David asked himself whether he had done his duty as the head of -a family. What despairing grief his wife must feel at this moment! Why -had he not done as Marion had said, and earned money enough to pursue -his investigations at leisure? - -“How can I stay in Angouleme after such a disgrace? And when I come out -of prison, what will become of us? Where shall we go?” - -Doubts as to his process began to occur to him, and he passed through -an agony which none save inventors can understand. Going from doubt to -doubt, David began to see his real position more clearly; and to himself -he said, as the Cointets had said to old Sechard, as Petit-Claud had -just said to Eve, “Suppose that all should go well, what does it amount -to in practice? The first thing to be done is to take out a patent, and -money is needed for that--and experiments must be tried on a large scale -in a paper-mill, which means that the discovery must pass into other -hands. Oh! Petit-Claud was right!” - -A very vivid light sometimes dawns in the darkest prison. - -“Pshaw!” said David; “I shall see Petit-Claud to-morrow no doubt,” and -he turned and slept on the filthy mattress covered with coarse brown -sacking. - -So when Eve unconsciously played into the hands of the enemy that -morning, she found her husband more than ready to listen to proposals. -She put her arms about him and kissed him, and sat down on the edge of -the bed (for there was but one chair of the poorest and commonest kind -in the cell). Her eyes fell on the unsightly pail in a corner, and over -the walls covered with inscriptions left by David’s predecessors, and -tears filled the eyes that were red with weeping. She had sobbed long -and very bitterly, but the sight of her husband in a felon’s cell drew -fresh tears. - -“And the desire of fame may lead one to this!” she cried. “Oh! my angel, -give up your career. Let us walk together along the beaten track; we -will not try to make haste to be rich, David.... I need very little -to be very happy, especially now, after all that we have been through -.... And if you only knew--the disgrace of arrest is not the worst.... -Look.” - -She held out Lucien’s letter, and when David had read it, she tried to -comfort him by repeating Petit-Claud’s bitter comment. - -“If Lucien has taken his life, the thing is done by now,” said David; -“if he has not made away with himself by this time, he will not kill -himself. As he himself says, ‘his courage cannot last longer than a -morning----’” - -“But the suspense!” cried Eve, forgiving almost everything at the -thought of death. Then she told her husband of the proposals which -Petit-Claud professed to have received from the Cointets. David accepted -them at once with manifest pleasure. - -“We shall have enough to live upon in a village near L’Houmeau, where -the Cointets’ paper-mill stands. I want nothing now but a quiet life,” - said David. “If Lucien has punished himself by death, we can wait so -long as father lives; and if Lucien is still living, poor fellow, he -will learn to adapt himself to our narrow ways. The Cointets certainly -will make money by my discovery; but, after all, what am I compared with -our country? One man in it, that is all; and if the whole country is -benefited, I shall be content. There! dear Eve, neither you nor I were -meant to be successful in business. We do not care enough about making a -profit; we have not the dogged objection to parting with our money, -even when it is legally owing, which is a kind of virtue of the -counting-house, for these two sorts of avarice are called prudence and a -faculty of business.” - -Eve felt overjoyed; she and her husband held the same views, and this is -one of the sweetest flowers of love; for two human beings who love -each other may not be of the same mind, nor take the same view of their -interests. She wrote to Petit-Claud telling him that they both consented -to the general scheme, and asked him to release David. Then she begged -the jailer to deliver the message. - -Ten minutes later Petit-Claud entered the dismal place. “Go home, -madame,” he said, addressing Eve, “we will follow you.--Well, my dear -friend” (turning to David), “so you allowed them to catch you! Why did -you come out? How came you to make such a mistake?” - -“Eh! how could I do otherwise? Look at this letter that Lucien wrote.” - -David held out a sheet of paper. It was Cerizet’s forged letter. - -Petit-Claud read it, looked at it, fingered the paper as he talked, and -still taking, presently, as if through absence of mind, folded it up and -put it in his pocket. Then he linked his arm in David’s, and they went -out together, the order for release having come during the conversation. - -It was like heaven to David to be at home again. He cried like a child -when he took little Lucien in his arms and looked round his room after -three weeks of imprisonment, and the disgrace, according to provincial -notions, of the last few hours. Kolb and Marion had come back. Marion -had heard in L’Houmeau that Lucien had been seen walking along on the -Paris road, somewhere beyond Marsac. Some country folk, coming in to -market, had noticed his fine clothes. Kolb, therefore, had set out on -horseback along the highroad, and heard at last at Mansle that Lucien -was traveling post in a caleche--M. Marron had recognized him as he -passed. - -“What did I tell you?” said Petit-Claud. “That fellow is not a poet; he -is a romance in heaven knows how many chapters.” - -“Traveling post!” repeated Eve. “Where can he be going this time?” - -“Now go to see the Cointets, they are expecting you,” said Petit-Claud, -turning to David. - -“Ah, monsieur!” cried the beautiful Eve, “pray do your best for our -interests; our whole future lies in your hands.” - -“If you prefer it, madame, the conference can be held here. I will leave -David with you. The Cointets will come this evening, and you shall see -if I can defend your interests.” - -“Ah! monsieur, I should be very glad,” said Eve. - -“Very well,” said Petit-Claud; “this evening, at seven o’clock.” - -“Thank you,” said Eve; and from her tone and glance Petit-Claud knew -that he had made great progress in his fair client’s confidence. - -“You have nothing to fear; you see I was right,” he added. “Your brother -is a hundred miles away from suicide, and when all comes to all, perhaps -you will have a little fortune this evening. A _bona-fide_ purchaser for -the business has turned up.” - -“If that is the case,” said Eve, “why should we not wait awhile before -binding ourselves to the Cointets?” - -Petit-Claud saw the danger. “You are forgetting, madame,” he said, “that -you cannot sell your business until you have paid M. Metivier; for a -distress warrant has been issued.” - -As soon as Petit-Claud reached home he sent for Cerizet, and when the -printer’s foreman appeared, drew him into the embrasure of the window. - -“To-morrow evening,” he said, “you will be the proprietor of the -Sechards’ printing-office, and then there are those behind you who have -influence enough to transfer the license;” (then in a lowered voice), -“but you have no mind to end in the hulks, I suppose?” - -“The hulks! What’s that? What’s that?” - -“Your letter to David was a forgery. It is in my possession. What would -Henriette say in a court of law? I do not want to ruin you,” he added -hastily, seeing how white Cerizet’s face grew. - -“You want something more of me?” cried Cerizet. - -“Well, here it is,” said Petit-Claud. “Follow me carefully. You will be -a master printer in Angouleme in two months’ time . . . but you will not -have paid for your business--you will not pay for it in ten years. You -will work a long while yet for those that have lent you the money, and -you will be the cat’s-paw of the Liberal party. . . . Now _I_ shall draw -up your agreement with Gannerac, and I can draw it up in such a way that -you will have the business in your own hands one of these days. But--if -the Liberals start a paper, if you bring it out, and if I am deputy -public prosecutor, then you will come to an understanding with the -Cointets and publish articles of such a nature that they will have the -paper suppressed. . . . The Cointets will pay you handsomely for that -service. . . . I know, of course, that you will be a hero, a victim -of persecution; you will be a personage among the Liberals--a Sergeant -Mercier, a Paul-Louis Courier, a Manual on a small scale. I will take -care that they leave you your license. In fact, on the day when the -newspaper is suppressed, I will burn this letter before your eyes. . . . -Your fortune will not cost you much.” - -A working man has the haziest notions as to the law with regard to -forgery; and Cerizet, who beheld himself already in the dock, breathed -again. - -“In three years’ time,” continued Petit-Claud, “I shall be public -prosecutor in Angouleme. You may have need of me some day; bear that in -mind.” - -“It’s agreed,” said Cerizet, “but you don’t know me. Burn that letter -now and trust to my gratitude.” - -Petit-Claud looked Cerizet in the face. It was a duel in which one man’s -gaze is a scalpel with which he essays to probe the soul of another, -and the eyes of that other are a theatre, as it were, to which all his -virtue is summoned for display. - -Petit-Claud did not utter a word. He lighted a taper and burned the -letter. “He has his way to make,” he said to himself. - -“Here is one that will go through fire and water for you,” said Cerizet. - - - -David awaited the interview with the Cointets with a vague feeling of -uneasiness; not, however, on account of the proposed partnership, nor -for his own interests--he felt nervous as to their opinion of his work. -He was in something the same position as a dramatic author before his -judges. The inventor’s pride in the discovery so nearly completed left -no room for any other feelings. - -At seven o’clock that evening, while Mme. du Chatelet, pleading a sick -headache, had gone to her room in her unhappiness over the rumors of -Lucien’s departure; while M. de Comte, left to himself, was entertaining -his guests at dinner--the tall Cointet and his stout brother, -accompanied by Petit-Claud, opened negotiations with the competitor who -had delivered himself up, bound hand and foot. - -A difficulty awaited them at the outset. How was it possible to draw -up a deed of partnership unless they knew David’s secret? And if -David divulged his secret, he would be at the mercy of the Cointets. -Petit-Claud arranged that the deed of partnership should be the first -drawn up. Thereupon the tall Cointet asked to see some specimens of -David’s work, and David brought out the last sheet that he had made, -guaranteeing the price of production. - -“Well,” said Petit-Claud, “there you have the basis of the agreement -ready made. You can go into partnership on the strength of those -samples, inserting a clause to protect yourselves in case the conditions -of the patent are not fulfilled in the manufacturing process.” - -“It is one thing to make samples of paper on a small scale in your own -room with a small mould, monsieur, and another to turn out a quantity,” - said the tall Cointet, addressing David. “Quite another thing, as you -may judge from this single fact. We manufacture colored papers. We buy -parcels of coloring absolutely identical. Every cake of indigo used -for ‘blueing’ our post-demy is taken from a batch supplied by the -same maker. Well, we have never yet been able to obtain two batches of -precisely the same shade. There are variations in the material which -we cannot detect. The quantity and the quality of the pulp modify every -question at once. Suppose that you have in a caldron a quantity of -ingredients of some kind (I don’t ask to know what they are), you can do -as you like with them, the treatment can be uniformly applied, you can -manipulate, knead, and pestle the mass at your pleasure until you have -a homogeneous substance. But who will guarantee that it will be the same -with a batch of five hundred reams, and that your plan will succeed in -bulk?” - -David, Eve, and Petit-Claud looked at one another; their eyes said many -things. - -“Take a somewhat similar case,” continued the tall Cointet after a -pause. “You cut two or three trusses of meadow hay, and store it in a -loft before ‘the heat is out of the grass,’ as the peasants say; the -hay ferments, but no harm comes of it. You follow up your experiment by -storing a couple of thousand trusses in a wooden barn--and, of course, -the hay smoulders, and the barn blazes up like a lighted match. You are -an educated man,” continued Cointet; “you can see the application for -yourself. So far, you have only cut your two trusses of hay; we are -afraid of setting fire to our paper-mill by bringing in a couple of -thousand trusses. In other words, we may spoil more than one batch, make -heavy losses, and find ourselves none the better for laying out a good -deal of money.” - -David was completely floored by this reasoning. Practical wisdom spoke -in matter-of-fact language to theory, whose word is always for the -future. - -“Devil fetch me, if I’ll sign such a deed of partnership!” the stout -Cointet cried bluntly. “You may throw away your money if you like, -Boniface; as for me, I shall keep mine. Here is my offer--to pay M. -Sechard’s debts _and_ six thousand francs, and another three thousand -francs in bills at twelve and fifteen months,” he added. “That will be -quite enough risk to run.--We have a balance of twelve thousand francs -against Metivier. That will make fifteen thousand francs.--That is -all that I would pay for the secret if I were going to exploit it for -myself. So this is the great discovery that you were talking about, -Boniface! Many thanks! I thought you had more sense. No, you can’t call -this business.” - -“The question for you,” said Petit-Claud, undismayed by the explosion, -“resolves itself into this: ‘Do you care to risk twenty thousand francs -to buy a secret that may make rich men of you?’ Why, the risk usually is -in proportion to the profit, gentlemen. You stake twenty thousand francs -on your luck. A gambler puts down a louis at roulette for a chance of -winning thirty-six, but he knows that the louis is lost. Do the same.” - -“I must have time to think it over,” said the stout Cointet; “I am not -so clever as my brother. I am a plain, straight-forward sort of chap, -that only knows one thing--how to print prayer-books at twenty sous and -sell them for two francs. Where I see an invention that has only been -tried once, I see ruin. You succeed with the first batch, you spoil the -next, you go on, and you are drawn in; for once put an arm into that -machinery, the rest of you follows,” and he related an anecdote very -much to the point--how a Bordeaux merchant had ruined himself by -following a scientific man’s advice, and trying to bring the Landes -into cultivation; and followed up the tale with half-a-dozen similar -instances of agricultural and commercial failures nearer home in -the departments of the Charente and Dordogne. He waxed warm over his -recitals. He would not listen to another word. Petit-Claud’s demurs, so -far from soothing the stout Cointet, appeared to irritate him. - -“I would rather give more for a certainty, if I made only a small profit -on it,” he said, looking at his brother. “It is my opinion that things -have gone far enough for business,” he concluded. - -“Still you came here for something, didn’t you?” asked Petit-Claud. -“What is your offer?” - -“I offer to release M. Sechard, and, if his plan succeeds, to give him -thirty per cent of the profits,” the stout Cointet answered briskly. - -“But, monsieur,” objected Eve, “how should we live while the experiments -were being made? My husband has endured the disgrace of imprisonment -already; he may as well go back to prison, it makes no difference now, -and we will pay our debts ourselves----” - -Petit-Claud laid a finger on his lips in warning. - -“You are unreasonable,” said he, addressing the brothers. “You have seen -the paper; M. Sechard’s father told you that he had shut his son up, -and that he had made capital paper in a single night from materials that -must have cost a mere nothing. You are here to make an offer. Are you -purchasers, yes or no?” - -“Stay,” said the tall Cointet, “whether my brother is willing or no, I -will risk this much myself. I will pay M. Sechard’s debts, I will pay -six thousand francs over and above the debts, and M. Sechard shall have -thirty per cent of the profits. But mind this--if in the space of one -year he fails to carry out the undertakings which he himself will make -in the deed of partnership, he must return the six thousand francs, and -we shall keep the patent and extricate ourselves as best we may.” - -“Are you sure of yourself?” asked Petit-Claud, taking David aside. - -“Yes,” said David. He was deceived by the tactics of the brothers, and -afraid lest the stout Cointet should break off the negotiations on which -his future depended. - -“Very well, I will draft the deed,” said Petit-Claud, addressing the -rest of the party. “Each of you shall have a copy to-night, and you -will have all to-morrow morning in which to think it over. To-morrow -afternoon at four o’clock, when the court rises, you will sign the -agreement. You, gentlemen, will withdraw Metivier’s suit, and I, for my -part, will write to stop proceedings in the Court-Royal; we will give -notice on either side that the affair has been settled out of court.” - -David Sechard’s undertakings were thus worded in the deed:-- - - - “M. David Sechard, printer of Angouleme, affirming that he has - discovered a method of sizing paper-pulp in the vat, and also a - method of affecting a reduction of fifty per cent in the price of - all kinds of manufactured papers, by introducing certain vegetable - substances into the pulp, either by intermixture of such - substances with the rags already in use, or by employing them - solely without the addition of rags: a partnership for working the - patent to be presently applied for is entered upon by M. David - Sechard and the firm of Cointet Brothers, subject to the following - conditional clauses and stipulations.” - - -One of the clauses so drafted that David Sechard forfeited all his -rights if he failed to fulfil his engagements within the year; the -tall Cointet was particularly careful to insert that clause, and David -Sechard allowed it to pass. - -When Petit-Claud appeared with a copy of the agreement next morning at -half-past seven o’clock, he brought news for David and his wife. Cerizet -offered twenty-two thousand francs for the business. The whole affair -could be signed and settled in the course of the evening. “But if the -Cointets knew about it,” he added, “they would be quite capable of -refusing to sign the deed of partnership, of harassing you, and selling -you up.” - -“Are you sure of payment?” asked Eve. She had thought it hopeless to -try to sell the business; and now, to her astonishment, a bargain which -would have been their salvation three months ago was concluded in this -summary fashion. - -“The money has been deposited with me,” he answered succinctly. - -“Why, here is magic at work!” said David, and he asked Petit-Claud for -an explanation of this piece of luck. - -“No,” said Petit-Claud, “it is very simple. The merchants in L’Houmeau -want a newspaper.” - -“But I am bound not to publish a paper,” said David. - -“Yes, you are bound, but is your successor?--However it is,” he -continued, “do not trouble yourself at all; sell the business, pocket -the proceeds, and leave Cerizet to find his way through the conditions -of the sale--he can take care of himself.” - -“Yes,” said Eve. - -“And if it turns out that you may not print a newspaper in Angouleme,” - said Petit-Claud, “those who are finding the capital for Cerizet will -bring out the paper in L’Houmeau.” - -The prospect of twenty-two thousand francs, of want now at end, dazzled -Eve. The partnership and its hopes took a second place. And, therefore, -M. and Mme. Sechard gave way on a final point of dispute. The tall -Cointet insisted that the patent should be taken out in the name of any -one of the partners. What difference could it make? The stout Cointet -said the last word. - -“He is finding the money for the patent; he is bearing the expenses of -the journey--another two thousand francs over and above the rest of the -expenses. He must take it out in his own name, or we will not stir in -the matter.” - -The lynx gained a victory at all points. The deed of partnership was -signed that afternoon at half-past four. - -The tall Cointet politely gave Mme. Sechard a dozen thread-pattern forks -and spoons and a beautiful Ternaux shawl, by way of pin-money, said he, -and to efface any unpleasant impression made in the heat of discussion. -The copies of the draft had scarcely been made out, Cachan had barely -had time to send the documents to Petit-Claud, together with the three -unlucky forged bills, when the Sechards heard a deafening rumble in the -street, a dray from the Messageries stopped before the door, and Kolb’s -voice made the staircase ring again. - -“Montame! montame! vifteen tausend vrancs, vrom Boidiers” (Poitiers). -“Goot money! vrom Monziere Lucien!” - -“Fifteen thousand francs!” cried Eve, throwing up her arms. - -“Yes, madame,” said the carman in the doorway, “fifteen thousand francs, -brought by the Bordeaux coach, and they didn’t want any more neither! -I have two men downstairs bringing up the bags. M. Lucien Chardon de -Rubempre is the sender. I have brought up a little leather bag for you, -containing five hundred francs in gold, and a letter it’s likely.” - -Eve thought that she must be dreaming as she read:-- - - - “MY DEAR SISTER,--Here are fifteen thousand francs. Instead of - taking my life, I have sold it. I am no longer my own; I am only - the secretary of a Spanish diplomatist; I am his creature. A new - and dreadful life is beginning for me. Perhaps I should have done - better to drown myself. - - “Good-bye. David will be released, and with the four thousand - francs he can buy a little paper-mill, no doubt, and make his - fortune. Forget me, all of you. This is the wish of your unhappy - brother. - “LUCIEN.” - - -“It is decreed that my poor boy should be unlucky in everything, and -even when he does well, as he said himself,” said Mme. Chardon, as she -watched the men piling up the bags. - -“We have had a narrow escape!” exclaimed the tall Cointet, when he was -once more in the Place du Murier. “An hour later the glitter of the -silver would have thrown a new light on the deed of partnership. Our -man would have fought shy of it. We have his promise now, and in three -months’ time we shall know what to do.” - -That very evening, at seven o’clock, Cerizet bought the business, and -the money was paid over, the purchaser undertaking to pay rent for -the last quarter. The next day Eve sent forty thousand francs to -the Receiver-General, and bought two thousand five hundred francs of -_rentes_ in her husband’s name. Then she wrote to her father-in-law and -asked him to find a small farm, worth about ten thousand francs, for her -near Marsac. She meant to invest her own fortune in this way. - -The tall Cointet’s plot was formidably simple. From the very first -he considered that the plan of sizing the pulp in the vat was -impracticable. The real secret of fortune lay in the composition of the -pulp, in the cheap vegetable fibre as a substitute for rags. He made up -his mind, therefore, to lay immense stress on the secondary problem of -sizing the pulp, and to pass over the discovery of cheap raw material, -and for the following reasons: - -The Angouleme paper-mills manufacture paper for stationers. Notepaper, -foolscap, crown, and post-demy are all necessarily sized; and these -papers have been the pride of the Angouleme mills for a long while past, -stationery being the specialty of the Charente. This fact gave color to -the Cointet’s urgency upon the point of sizing in the pulping-trough; -but, as a matter of fact, they cared nothing for this part of David’s -researches. The demand for writing-paper is exceedingly small compared -with the almost unlimited demand for unsized paper for printers. As -Boniface Cointet traveled to Paris to take out the patent in his own -name, he was projecting plans that were like to work a revolution in his -paper-mill. Arrived in Paris, he took up his quarters with Metivier, -and gave his instructions to his agent. Metivier was to call upon the -proprietors of newspapers, and offer to deliver paper at prices below -those quoted by all other houses; he could guarantee in each case that -the paper should be a better color, and in every way superior to the -best kinds hitherto in use. Newspapers are always supplied by contract; -there would be time before the present contracts expired to complete all -the subterranean operations with buyers, and to obtain a monopoly of -the trade. Cointet calculated that he could rid himself of Sechard while -Metivier was taking orders from the principal Paris newspapers, which -even then consumed two hundred reams daily. Cointet naturally offered -Metivier a large commission on the contracts, for he wished to secure a -clever representative on the spot, and to waste no time in traveling to -and fro. And in this manner the fortunes of the firm of Metivier, one -of the largest houses in the paper trade, were founded. The tall Cointet -went back to Angouleme to be present at Petit-Claud’s wedding, with a -mind at rest as to the future. - -Petit-Claud had sold his professional connection, and was only waiting -for M. Milaud’s promotion to take the public prosecutor’s place, -which had been promised to him by the Comtesse du Chatelet. The public -prosecutor’s second deputy was appointed first deputy to the Court of -Limoges, the Keeper of the Seals sent a man of his own to Angouleme, -and the post of first deputy was kept vacant for a couple of months. The -interval was Petit-Claud’s honeymoon. - -While Boniface Cointet was in Paris, David made a first experimental -batch of unsized paper far superior to that in common use for -newspapers. He followed it up with a second batch of magnificent vellum -paper for fine printing, and this the Cointets used for a new edition of -their diocesan prayer-book. The material had been privately prepared by -David himself; he would have no helpers but Kolb and Marion. - -When Boniface came back the whole affair wore a different aspect; he -looked at the samples, and was fairly satisfied. - -“My good friend,” he said, “the whole trade of Angouleme is in crown -paper. We must make the best possible crown paper at half the present -price; that is the first and foremost question for us.” - -Then David tried to size the pulp for the desired paper, and the result -was a harsh surface with grains of size distributed all over it. On the -day when the experiment was concluded and David held the sheets in his -hand, he went away to find a spot where he could be alone and swallow -his bitter disappointment. But Boniface Cointet went in search of him -and comforted him. Boniface was delightfully amiable. - -“Do not lose heart,” he said; “go on! I am a good fellow, I understand -you; I will stand by you to the end.” - -“Really,” David said to his wife at dinner, “we are with good people; -I should not have expected that the tall Cointet would be so generous.” - And he repeated his conversation with his wily partner. - -Three months were spent in experiments. David slept at the mill; he -noted the effects of various preparations upon the pulp. At one time -he attributed his non-success to an admixture of rag-pulp with his own -ingredients, and made a batch entirely composed of the new material; -at another, he endeavored to size pulp made exclusively from rags; -persevering in his experiments under the eyes of the tall Cointet, whom -he had ceased to mistrust, until he had tried every possible combination -of pulp and size. David lived in the paper-mill for the first six months -of 1823--if it can be called living, to leave food untasted, and go -in neglect of person and dress. He wrestled so desperately with -the difficulties, that anybody but the Cointets would have seen the -sublimity of the struggle, for the brave fellow was not thinking of his -own interests. The moment had come when he cared for nothing but the -victory. With marvelous sagacity he watched the unaccountable freaks of -the semi-artificial substances called into existence by man for ends of -his own; substances in which nature had been tamed, as it were, and -her tacit resistance overcome; and from these observations drew great -conclusions; finding, as he did, that such creations can only be -obtained by following the laws of the more remote affinities of things, -of “a second nature,” as he called it, in substances. - -Towards the end of August he succeeded to some extent in sizing the -paper pulp in the vat; the result being a kind of paper identical with -a make in use for printers’ proofs at the present day--a kind of paper -that cannot be depended upon, for the sizing itself is not always -certain. This was a great result, considering the condition of the paper -trade in 1823, and David hoped to solve the final difficulties of the -problem, but--it had cost ten thousand francs. - -Singular rumors were current at this time in Angouleme and L’Houmeau. -It was said that David Sechard was ruining the firm of Cointet Brothers. -Experiments had eaten up twenty thousand francs; and the result, said -gossip, was wretchedly bad paper. Other manufacturers took fright at -this, hugged themselves on their old-fashioned methods, and, being -jealous of the Cointets, spread rumors of the approaching fall of that -ambitious house. As for the tall Cointet, he set up the new machinery -for making lengths of paper in a ribbon, and allowed people to believe -that he was buying plant for David’s experiments. Then the cunning -Cointet used David’s formula for pulp, while urging his partner to give -his whole attention to the sizing process; and thousands of reams of the -new paper were despatched to Metivier in Paris. - -When September arrived, the tall Cointet took David aside, and, learning -that the latter meditated a crowning experiment, dissuaded him from -further attempts. - -“Go to Marsac, my dear David, see your wife, and take a rest after -your labors; we don’t want to ruin ourselves,” said Cointet in the -friendliest way. “This great triumph of yours, after all, is only a -starting-point. We shall wait now for awhile before trying any new -experiments. To be fair! see what has come of them. We are not merely -paper-makers, we are printers besides and bankers, and people say that -you are ruining us.” - -David Sechard’s gesture of protest on behalf of his good faith was -sublime in its simplicity. - -“Not that fifty thousand francs thrown into the Charente would ruin -us,” said Cointet, in reply to mute protest, “but we do not wish to be -obliged to pay cash for everything in consequence of slanders that shake -our credit; _that_ would bring us to a standstill. We have reached the -term fixed by our agreement, and we are bound on either side to think -over our position.” - -“He is right,” thought David. He had forgotten the routine work of the -business, thoroughly absorbed as he had been in experiments on a large -scale. - -David went to Marsac. For the past six months he had gone over on -Saturday evening, returning again to L’Houmeau on Tuesday morning. Eve, -after much counsel from her father-in-law, had bought a house called the -Verberie, with three acres of land and a croft planted with vines, which -lay like a wedge in the old man’s vineyard. Here, with her mother and -Marion, she lived a very frugal life, for five thousand francs of the -purchase money still remained unpaid. It was a charming little domain, -the prettiest bit of property in Marsac. The house, with a garden before -it and a yard at the back, was built of white tufa ornamented with -carvings, cut without great expense in that easily wrought stone, and -roofed with slate. The pretty furniture from the house in Angouleme -looked prettier still at Marsac, for there was not the slightest -attempt at comfort or luxury in the country in those days. A row of -orange-trees, pomegranates, and rare plants stood before the house on -the side of the garden, set there by the last owner, an old general who -died under M. Marron’s hands. - -David was enjoying his holiday sitting under an orange-tree with his -wife, and father, and little Lucien, when the bailiff from Mansle -appeared. Cointet Brothers gave their partner formal notice to appoint -an arbitrator to settle disputes, in accordance with a clause in the -agreement. The Cointets demanded that the six thousand francs should be -refunded, and the patent surrendered in consideration of the enormous -outlay made to no purpose. - -“People say that you are ruining them,” said old Sechard. “Well, well, -of all that you have done, that is the one thing that I am glad to -know.” - -At nine o’clock the next morning Eve and David stood in Petit-Claud’s -waiting-room. The little lawyer was the guardian of the widow and orphan -by virtue of his office, and it seemed to them that they could take no -other advice. Petit-Claud was delighted to see his clients, and insisted -that M. and Mme. Sechard should do him the pleasure of breakfasting with -him. - -“Do the Cointets want six thousand francs of you?” he asked, smiling. -“How much is still owing of the purchase-money of the Verberie?” - -“Five thousand francs, monsieur,” said Eve, “but I have two -thousand----” - -“Keep your money,” Petit-Claud broke in. “Let us see: five -thousand--why, you want quite another ten thousand francs to settle -yourselves comfortably down yonder. Very good, in two hours’ time the -Cointets shall bring you fifteen thousand francs----” - -Eve started with surprise. - -“If you will renounce all claims to the profits under the deed of -partnership, and come to an amicable settlement,” said Petit-Claud. -“Does that suit you?” - -“Will it really be lawfully ours?” asked Eve. - -“Very much so,” said the lawyer, smiling. “The Cointets have worked -you trouble enough; I should like to make an end of their pretensions. -Listen to me; I am a magistrate now, and it is my duty to tell you the -truth. Very good. The Cointets are playing you false at this moment, but -you are in their hands. If you accept battle, you might possibly gain -the lawsuit which they will bring. Do you wish to be where you are now -after ten years of litigation? Experts’ fees and expenses of arbitration -will be multiplied, the most contradictory opinions will be given, and -you must take your chance. And,” he added, smiling again, “there is no -attorney here that can defend you, so far as I see. My successor has -not much ability. There, a bad compromise is better than a successful -lawsuit.” - -“Any arrangement that will give us a quiet life will do for me,” said -David. - -Petit-Claud called to his servant. - -“Paul! go and ask M. Segaud, my successor, to come here.--He shall go -to see the Cointets while we breakfast” said Petit-Claud, addressing his -former clients, “and in a few hours’ time you will be on your way home -to Marsac, ruined, but with minds at rest. Ten thousand francs will -bring you in another five hundred francs of income, and you will live -comfortably on your bit of property.” - -Two hours later, as Petit-Claud had prophesied, Maitre Segaud came back -with an agreement duly drawn up and signed by the Cointets, and fifteen -notes each for a thousand francs. - -“We are much indebted to you,” said Sechard, turning to Petit-Claud. - -“Why, I have just this moment ruined you,” said Petit-Claud, looking at -his astonished former clients. “I tell you again, I have ruined you, as -you will see as time goes on; but I know you, you would rather be ruined -than wait for a fortune which perhaps might come too late.” - -“We are not mercenary, monsieur,” said Madame Eve. “We thank you for -giving us the means of happiness; we shall always feel grateful to you.” - -“Great heavens! don’t call down blessings on _me_!” cried Petit-Claud. -“It fills me with remorse; but to-day, I think, I have made full -reparation. If I am a magistrate, it is entirely owing to you; and if -anybody is to feel grateful, it is I. Good-bye.” - - - -As time went on, Kolb changed his opinion of Sechard senior; and as for -the old man, he took a liking to Kolb when he found that, like himself, -the Alsacien could neither write nor read a word, and that it was easy -to make him tipsy. The old “bear” imparted his ideas on vine culture and -the sale of a vintage to the ex-cuirassier, and trained him with a view -to leaving a man with a head on his shoulders to look after his children -when he should be gone; for he grew childish at the last, and great were -his fears as to the fate of his property. He had chosen Courtois the -miller as his confidant. “You will see how things will go with my -children when I am under ground. Lord! it makes me shudder to think of -it.” - -Old Sechard died in the month of March, 1929, leaving about two hundred -thousand francs in land. His acres added to the Verberie made a fine -property, which Kolb had managed to admiration for some two years. - -David and his wife found nearly a hundred thousand crowns in gold in the -house. The department of the Charente had valued old Sechard’s money at -a million; rumor, as usual, exaggerating the amount of a hoard. Eve and -David had barely thirty thousand francs of income when they added their -little fortune to the inheritance; they waited awhile, and so it fell -out that they invested their capital in Government securities at the -time of the Revolution of July. - -Then, and not until then, could the department of the Charente and David -Sechard form some idea of the wealth of the tall Cointet. Rich to the -extent of several millions of francs, the elder Cointet became a deputy, -and is at this day a peer of France. It is said that he will be Minister -of Commerce in the next Government; for in 1842 he married Mlle. -Popinot, daughter of M. Anselme Popinot, one of the most influential -statesmen of the dynasty, deputy and mayor of an arrondissement in -Paris. - -David Sechard’s discovery has been assimilated by the French -manufacturing world, as food is assimilated by a living body. Thanks to -the introduction of materials other than rags, France can produce paper -more cheaply than any other European country. Dutch paper, as David -foresaw, no longer exists. Sooner or later it will be necessary, no -doubt, to establish a Royal Paper Manufactory; like the Gobelins, the -Sevres porcelain works, the Savonnerie, and the Imprimerie royale, which -so far have escaped the destruction threatened by _bourgeois_ vandalism. - -David Sechard, beloved by his wife, father of two boys and a girl, has -the good taste to make no allusion to his past efforts. Eve had the -sense to dissuade him from following his terrible vocation; for the -inventor like Moses on Mount Horeb, is consumed by the burning bush. He -cultivates literature by way of recreation, and leads a comfortable life -of leisure, befitting the landowner who lives on his own estate. He has -bidden farewell for ever to glory, and bravely taken his place in the -class of dreamers and collectors; for he dabbles in entomology, and is -at present investigating the transformations of insects which science -only knows in the final stage. - -Everybody has heard of Petit-Claud’s success as attorney-general; he is -the rival of the great Vinet of Provins, and it is his ambition to be -President of the Court-Royal of Poitiers. - -Cerizet has been in trouble so frequently for political offences that -he has been a good deal talked about; and as one of the boldest _enfants -perdus_ of the Liberal party he was nicknamed the “Brave Cerizet.” When -Petit-Claud’s successor compelled him to sell his business in Angouleme, -he found a fresh career on the provincial stage, where his talents as -an actor were like to be turned to brilliant account. The chief stage -heroine, however, obliged him to go to Paris to find a cure for love -among the resources of science, and there he tried to curry favor with -the Liberal party. - -As for Lucien, the story of his return to Paris belongs to the _Scenes -of Parisian_ life. - - - - -ADDENDUM - -Note: Eve and David is the part three of a trilogy. Part one is entitled -Two Poets and part two is A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. In other -addendum references parts one and three are usually combined under the -title Lost Illusions. - -The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. - - Cerizet - Two Poets - A Man of Business - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - The Middle Classes - - Chardon, Madame (nee Rubempre) - Two Poets - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Chatelet, Sixte, Baron du - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - The Thirteen - - Chatelet, Marie-Louise-Anais de Negrepelisse, Baronne du - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Government Clerks - - Cointet, Boniface - Two Poets - The Firm of Nucingen - The Member for Arcis - - Cointet, Jean - Two Poets - - Collin, Jacques - Father Goriot - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - The Member for Arcis - - Conti, Gennaro - Beatrix - - Courtois - Two Poets - - Courtois, Madame - Two Poets - - Hautoy, Francis du - Two Poets - - Herrera, Carlos - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Marron - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Marsay, Henri de - The Thirteen - The Unconscious Humorists - Another Study of Woman - The Lily of the Valley - Father Goriot - Jealousies of a Country Town - Ursule Mirouet - A Marriage Settlement - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Letters of Two Brides - The Ball at Sceaux - Modeste Mignon - The Secrets of a Princess - The Gondreville Mystery - A Daughter of Eve - - Metivier - The Government Clerks - The Middle Classes - - Milaud - The Muse of the Department - - Nucingen, Baron Frederic de - The Firm of Nucingen - Father Goriot - Pierrette - Cesar Birotteau - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - Another Study of Woman - The Secrets of a Princess - A Man of Business - Cousin Betty - The Muse of the Department - The Unconscious Humorists - - Nucingen, Baronne Delphine de - Father Goriot - The Thirteen - Eugenie Grandet - Cesar Birotteau - Melmoth Reconciled - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Commission in Lunacy - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - Modeste Mignon - The Firm of Nucingen - Another Study of Woman - A Daughter of Eve - The Member for Arcis - - Petit-Claud - Two Poets - - Pimentel, Marquis and Marquise de - Two Poets - - Postel - Two Poets - - Prieur, Madame - Two Poets - - Rastignac, Baron and Baronne de (Eugene’s parents) - Father Goriot - Two Poets - - Rastignac, Eugene de - Father Goriot - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - The Ball at Sceaux - The Commission in Lunacy - A Study of Woman - Another Study of Woman - The Magic Skin - The Secrets of a Princess - A Daughter of Eve - The Gondreville Mystery - The Firm of Nucingen - Cousin Betty - The Member for Arcis - The Unconscious Humorists - - Rubempre, Lucien-Chardon de - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Government Clerks - Ursule Mirouet - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Sechard, Jerome-Nicholas - Two Poets - - Sechard, David - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial At Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Sechard, Madame David - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial At Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Senonches, Jacques de - Two Poets - - Senonches, Madame Jacques de - Two Poets - - Touches, Mademoiselle Felicite des - Beatrix - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - A Bachelor’s Establishment - Another Study of Woman - A Daughter of Eve - Honorine - Beatrix - The Muse of the Department - - Victorine - Massimilla Doni - Letters of Two Brides - Gaudissart II - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eve and David, by Honore de Balzac - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVE AND DAVID *** - -***** This file should be named 1639-0.txt or 1639-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/1639/ - -Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Eve and David - -Author: Honore de Balzac - -Translator: Ellen Marriage - -Release Date: February 27, 2010 [EBook #1639] -Last Updated: November 22, 2016 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVE AND DAVID *** - - - - -Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger - - - - - - -</pre> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <h1> - EVE AND DAVID - </h1> - <h3> - (Lost Illusions Part III) - </h3> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <h2> - By Honore De Balzac - </h2> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <h3> - Translated By Ellen Marriage - </h3> - <div class="mynote"> - <p> - PREPARER’S NOTE - </p> - <p> - Eve and David is part three of a trilogy. Eve and David’s story begins - in part one, Two Poets. Part one also introduces Eve’s brother, Lucien. - Part two, A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, centers on Lucien’s life - in Paris. For part three the action once more returns to Eve and David - in Angouleme. In many references parts one and three are combined under - the title Lost Illusions and A Distinguished Provincial at Paris is - given its individual title. Following this trilogy Lucien’s story is - continued in another book, Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life. - </p> - <br /> - </div> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <h3> - <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>EVE AND DAVID</b> </a><br /><br /> <a - href="#link2H_4_0002"> ADDENDUM </a> - </h3> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <h1> - EVE AND DAVID - </h1> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - Lucien had gone to Paris; and David Sechard, with the courage and - intelligence of the ox which painters give the Evangelist for accompanying - symbol, set himself to make the large fortune for which he had wished that - evening down by the Charente, when he sat with Eve by the weir, and she - gave him her hand and her heart. He wanted to make the money quickly, and - less for himself than for Eve’s sake and Lucien’s. He would place his wife - amid the elegant and comfortable surroundings that were hers by right, and - his strong arm should sustain her brother’s ambitions—this was the - programme that he saw before his eyes in letters of fire. - </p> - <p> - Journalism and politics, the immense development of the book trade, of - literature and of the sciences; the increase of public interest in matters - touching the various industries in the country; in fact, the whole social - tendency of the epoch following the establishment of the Restoration - produced an enormous increase in the demand for paper. The supply required - was almost ten times as large as the quantity in which the celebrated - Ouvrard speculated at the outset of the Revolution. Then Ouvrard could buy - up first the entire stock of paper and then the manufacturers; but in the - year 1821 there were so many paper-mills in France, that no one could hope - to repeat his success; and David had neither audacity enough nor capital - enough for such speculation. Machinery for producing paper in any length - was just coming into use in England. It was one of the most urgent needs - of the time, therefore, that the paper trade should keep pace with the - requirements of the French system of civil government, a system by which - the right of discussion was to be extended to every man, and the whole - fabric based upon continual expression of individual opinion; a grave - misfortune, for the nation that deliberates is but little wont to act. - </p> - <p> - So, strange coincidence! while Lucien was drawn into the great machinery - of journalism, where he was like to leave his honor and his intelligence - torn to shreds, David Sechard, at the back of his printing-house, foresaw - all the practical consequences of the increased activity of the periodical - press. He saw the direction in which the spirit of the age was tending, - and sought to find means to the required end. He saw also that there was a - fortune awaiting the discoverer of cheap paper, and the event has - justified his clearsightedness. Within the last fifteen years, the Patent - Office has received more than a hundred applications from persons claiming - to have discovered cheap substances to be employed in the manufacture of - paper. David felt more than ever convinced that this would be no brilliant - triumph, it is true, but a useful and immensely profitable discovery; and - after his brother-in-law went to Paris, he became more and more absorbed - in the problem which he had set himself to solve. - </p> - <p> - The expenses of his marriage and of Lucien’s journey to Paris had - exhausted all his resources; he confronted the extreme of poverty at the - very outset of married life. He had kept one thousand francs for the - working expenses of the business, and owed a like sum, for which he had - given a bill to Postel the druggist. So here was a double problem for this - deep thinker; he must invent a method of making cheap paper, and that - quickly; he must make the discovery, in fact, in order to apply the - proceeds to the needs of the household and of the business. What words can - describe the brain that can forget the cruel preoccupations caused by - hidden want, by the daily needs of a family and the daily drudgery of a - printer’s business, which requires such minute, painstaking care; and - soar, with the enthusiasm and intoxication of the man of science, into the - regions of the unknown in quest of a secret which daily eludes the most - subtle experiment? And the inventor, alas! as will shortly be seen, has - plenty of woes to endure, besides the ingratitude of the many; idle folk - that can do nothing themselves tell them, “Such a one is a born inventor; - he could not do otherwise. He no more deserves credit for his invention - than a prince for being born to rule! He is simply exercising his natural - faculties, and his work is its own reward,” and the people believe them. - </p> - <p> - Marriage brings profound mental and physical perturbations into a girl’s - life; and if she marries under the ordinary conditions of lower - middle-class life, she must moreover begin to study totally new interests - and initiate herself in the intricacies of business. With marriage, - therefore, she enters upon a phase of her existence when she is - necessarily on the watch before she can act. Unfortunately, David’s love - for his wife retarded this training; he dared not tell her the real state - of affairs on the day after their wedding, nor for some time afterwards. - His father’s avarice condemned him to the most grinding poverty, but he - could not bring himself to spoil the honeymoon by beginning his wife’s - commercial education and prosaic apprenticeship to his laborious craft. So - it came to pass that housekeeping, no less than working expenses, ate up - the thousand francs, his whole fortune. For four months David gave no - thought to the future, and his wife remained in ignorance. The awakening - was terrible! Postel’s bill fell due; there was no money to meet it, and - Eve knew enough of the debt and its cause to give up her bridal trinkets - and silver. - </p> - <p> - That evening Eve tried to induce David to talk of their affairs, for she - had noticed that he was giving less attention to the business and more to - the problem of which he had once spoken to her. Since the first few weeks - of married life, in fact, David spent most of his time in the shed in the - backyard, in the little room where he was wont to mould his ink-rollers. - Three months after his return to Angouleme, he had replaced the old - fashioned round ink-balls by rollers made of strong glue and treacle, and - an ink-table, on which the ink was evenly distributed, an improvement so - obvious that Cointet Brothers no sooner saw it than they adopted the plan - themselves. - </p> - <p> - By the partition wall of this kitchen, as it were, David had set up a - little furnace with a copper pan, ostensibly to save the cost of fuel over - the recasting of his rollers, though the moulds had not been used twice, - and hung there rusting upon the wall. Nor was this all; a solid oak door - had been put in by his orders, and the walls were lined with sheet-iron; - he even replaced the dirty window sash by panes of ribbed glass, so that - no one without could watch him at his work. - </p> - <p> - When Eve began to speak about the future, he looked uneasily at her, and - cut her short at the first word by saying, “I know all that you must - think, child, when you see that the workshop is left to itself, and that I - am dead, as it were, to all business interests; but see,” he continued, - bringing her to the window, and pointing to the mysterious shed, “there - lies our fortune. For some months yet we must endure our lot, but let us - bear it patiently; leave me to solve the problem of which I told you, and - all our troubles will be at an end.” - </p> - <p> - David was so good, his devotion was so thoroughly to be taken upon his - word, that the poor wife, with a wife’s anxiety as to daily expenses, - determined to spare her husband the household cares and to take the burden - upon herself. So she came down from the pretty blue-and-white room, where - she sewed and talked contentedly with her mother, took possession of one - of the two dens at the back of the printing-room, and set herself to learn - the business routine of typography. Was it not heroism in a wife who - expected ere long to be a mother? - </p> - <p> - During the past few months David’s workmen had left him one by one; there - was not enough work for them to do. Cointet Brothers, on the other hand, - were overwhelmed with orders; they were employing all the workmen of the - department; the alluring prospect of high wages even brought them a few - from Bordeaux, more especially apprentices, who thought themselves - sufficiently expert to cancel their articles and go elsewhere. When Eve - came to look into the affairs of Sechard’s printing works, she discovered - that he employed three persons in all. - </p> - <p> - First in order stood Cerizet, an apprentice of Didot’s, whom David had - chosen to train. Most foremen have some one favorite among the great - numbers of workers under them, and David had brought Cerizet to Angouleme, - where he had been learning more of the business. Marion, as much attached - to the house as a watch-dog, was the second; and the third was Kolb, an - Alsacien, at one time a porter in the employ of the Messrs. Didot. Kolb - had been drawn for military service, chance brought him to Angouleme, and - David recognized the man’s face at a review just as his time was about to - expire. Kolb came to see David, and was smitten forthwith by the charms of - the portly Marion; she possessed all the qualities which a man of his - class looks for in a wife—the robust health that bronzes the cheeks, - the strength of a man (Marion could lift a form of type with ease), the - scrupulous honesty on which an Alsacien sets such store, the faithful - service which bespeaks a sterling character, and finally, the thrift which - had saved a little sum of a thousand francs, besides a stock of clothing - and linen, neat and clean, as country linen can be. Marion herself, a big, - stout woman of thirty-six, felt sufficiently flattered by the admiration - of a cuirassier, who stood five feet seven in his stockings, a well-built - warrior, strong as a bastion, and not unnaturally suggested that he should - become a printer. So, by the time Kolb received his full discharge, Marion - and David between them had transformed him into a tolerably creditable - “bear,” though their pupil could neither read nor write. - </p> - <p> - Job printing, as it is called, was not so abundant at this season but that - Cerizet could manage it without help. Cerizet, compositor, clicker, and - foreman, realized in his person the “phenomenal triplicity” of Kant; he - set up type, read proof, took orders, and made out invoices; but the most - part of the time he had nothing to do, and used to read novels in his den - at the back of the workshop while he waited for an order for a bill-head - or a trade circular. Marion, trained by old Sechard, prepared and wetted - down the paper, helped Kolb with the printing, hung the sheets to dry, and - cut them to size; yet cooked the dinner, none the less, and did her - marketing very early of a morning. - </p> - <p> - Eve told Cerizet to draw out a balance-sheet for the last six months, and - found that the gross receipts amounted to eight hundred francs. On the - other hand, wages at the rate of three francs per day—two francs to - Cerizet, and one to Kolb—reached a total of six hundred francs; and - as the goods supplied for the work printed and delivered amounted to some - hundred odd francs, it was clear to Eve that David had been carrying on - business at a loss during the first half-year of their married life. There - was nothing to show for rent, nothing for Marion’s wages, nor for the - interest on capital represented by the plant, the license, and the ink; - nothing, finally, by way of allowance for the host of things included in - the technical expression “wear and tear,” a word which owes its origin to - the cloths and silks which are used to moderate the force of the - impression, and to save wear to the type; a square of stuff (the <i>blanket</i>) - being placed between the platen and the sheet of paper in the press. - </p> - <p> - Eve made a rough calculation of the resources of the printing office and - of the output, and saw how little hope there was for a business drained - dry by the all-devouring activity of the brothers Cointet; for by this - time the Cointets were not only contract printers to the town and the - prefecture, and printers to the Diocese by special appointment—they - were paper-makers and proprietors of a newspaper to boot. That newspaper, - sold two years ago by the Sechards, father and son, for twenty-two - thousand francs, was now bringing in eighteen thousand francs per annum. - Eve began to understand the motives lurking beneath the apparent - generosity of the brothers Cointet; they were leaving the Sechard - establishment just sufficient work to gain a pittance, but not enough to - establish a rival house. - </p> - <p> - When Eve took the management of the business, she began by taking stock. - She set Kolb and Marion and Cerizet to work, and the workshop was put to - rights, cleaned out, and set in order. Then one evening when David came in - from a country excursion, followed by an old woman with a huge bundle tied - up in a cloth, Eve asked counsel of him as to the best way of turning to - profit the odds and ends left them by old Sechard, promising that she - herself would look after the business. Acting upon her husband’s advice, - Mme. Sechard sorted all the remnants of paper which she found, and printed - old popular legends in double columns upon a single sheet, such as - peasants paste on their walls, the histories of <i>The Wandering Jew</i>, - <i>Robert the Devil</i>, <i>La Belle Maguelonne</i> and sundry miracles. - Eve sent Kolb out as a hawker. - </p> - <p> - Cerizet had not a moment to spare now; he was composing the naive pages, - with the rough cuts that adorned them, from morning to night; Marion was - able to manage the taking off; and all domestic cares fell to Mme. - Chardon, for Eve was busy coloring the prints. Thanks to Kolb’s activity - and honesty, Eve sold three thousand broad sheets at a penny apiece, and - made three hundred francs in all at a cost of thirty francs. - </p> - <p> - But when every peasant’s hut and every little wine-shop for twenty leagues - round was papered with these legends, a fresh speculation must be - discovered; the Alsacien could not go beyond the limits of the department. - Eve, turning over everything in the whole printing house, had found a - collection of figures for printing a “Shepherd’s Calendar,” a kind of - almanac meant for those who cannot read, letterpress being replaced by - symbols, signs, and pictures in colored inks, red, black and blue. Old - Sechard, who could neither read nor write himself, had made a good deal of - money at one time by bringing out an almanac in hieroglyph. It was in book - form, a single sheet folded to make one hundred and twenty-eight pages. - </p> - <p> - Thoroughly satisfied with the success of the broad sheets, a piece of - business only undertaken by country printing offices, Mme. Sechard - invested all the proceeds in the <i>Shepherd’s Calendar</i>, and began it - upon a large scale. Millions of copies of this work are sold annually in - France. It is printed upon even coarser paper than the <i>Almanac of Liege</i>, - a ream (five hundred sheets) costing in the first instance about four - francs; while the printed sheets sell at the rate of a halfpenny apiece—twenty-five - francs per ream. - </p> - <p> - Mme. Sechard determined to use one hundred reams for the first impression; - fifty thousand copies would bring in two thousand francs. A man so deeply - absorbed in his work as David in his researches is seldom observant; yet - David, taking a look round his workshop, was astonished to hear the - groaning of a press and to see Cerizet always on his feet, setting up type - under Mme. Sechard’s direction. There was a pretty triumph for Eve on the - day when David came in to see what she was doing, and praised the idea, - and thought the calendar an excellent stroke of business. Furthermore, - David promised to give advice in the matter of colored inks, for an - almanac meant to appeal to the eye; and finally, he resolved to recast the - ink-rollers himself in his mysterious workshop, so as to help his wife as - far as he could in her important little enterprise. - </p> - <p> - But just as the work began with strenuous industry, there came letters - from Lucien in Paris, heart-sinking letters that told his mother and - sister and brother-in-law of his failure and distress; and when Eve, Mme. - Chardon, and David each secretly sent money to their poet, it must be - plain to the reader that the three hundred francs they sent were like - their very blood. The overwhelming news, the disheartening sense that work - as bravely as she might, she made so little, left Eve looking forward with - a certain dread to an event which fills the cup of happiness to the full. - The time was coming very near now, and to herself she said, “If my dear - David has not reached the end of his researches before my confinement, - what will become of us? And who will look after our poor printing office - and the business that is growing up?” - </p> - <p> - The <i>Shepherd’s Calendar</i> ought by rights to have been ready before - the 1st of January, but Cerizet was working unaccountably slowly; all the - work of composing fell to him; and Mme. Sechard, knowing so little, could - not find fault, and was fain to content herself with watching the young - Parisian. - </p> - <p> - Cerizet came from the great Foundling Hospital in Paris. He had been - apprenticed to the MM. Didot, and between the ages of fourteen and - seventeen he was David Sechard’s fanatical worshiper. David put him under - one of the cleverest workmen, and took him for his copy-holder, his page. - Cerizet’s intelligence naturally interested David; he won the lad’s - affection by procuring amusements now and again for him, and comforts from - which he was cut off by poverty. Nature had endowed Cerizet with an - insignificant, rather pretty little countenance, red hair, and a pair of - dull blue eyes; he had come to Angouleme and brought the manners of the - Parisian street-boy with him. He was formidable by reason of a quick, - sarcastic turn and a spiteful disposition. Perhaps David looked less - strictly after him in Angouleme; or, perhaps, as the lad grew older, his - mentor put more trust in him, or in the sobering influences of a country - town; but be that as it may, Cerizet (all unknown to his sponsor) was - going completely to the bad, and the printer’s apprentice was acting the - part of a Don Juan among little work girls. His morality, learned in Paris - drinking-saloons, laid down the law of self-interest as the sole rule of - guidance; he knew, moreover, that next year he would be “drawn for a - soldier,” to use the popular expression, saw that he had no prospects, and - ran into debt, thinking that soon he should be in the army, and none of - his creditors would run after him. David still possessed some ascendency - over the young fellow, due not to his position as master, nor yet to the - interest that he had taken in his pupil, but to the great intellectual - power which the sometime street-boy fully recognized. - </p> - <p> - Before long Cerizet began to fraternize with the Cointets’ workpeople, - drawn to them by the mutual attraction of blouse and jacket, and the class - feeling, which is, perhaps, strongest of all in the lowest ranks of - society. In their company Cerizet forgot the little good doctrine which - David had managed to instil into him; but, nevertheless, when the others - joked the boy about the presses in his workshop (“old sabots,” as the - “bears” contemptuously called them), and showed him the magnificent - machines, twelve in number, now at work in the Cointets’ great printing - office, where the single wooden press was only used for experiments, - Cerizet would stand up for David and fling out at the braggarts. - </p> - <p> - “My gaffer will go farther with his ‘sabots’ than yours with their - cast-iron contrivances that turn out mass books all day long,” he would - boast. “He is trying to find out a secret that will lick all the printing - offices in France and Navarre.” - </p> - <p> - “And meantime you take your orders from a washer-woman, you snip of a - foreman, on two francs a day.” - </p> - <p> - “She is pretty though,” retorted Cerizet; “it is better to have her to - look at than the phizes of your gaffers.” - </p> - <p> - “And do you live by looking at his wife?” - </p> - <p> - From the region of the wineshop, or from the door of the printing office, - where these bickerings took place, a dim light began to break in upon the - brothers Cointet as to the real state of things in the Sechard - establishment. They came to hear of Eve’s experiment, and held it - expedient to stop these flights at once, lest the business should begin to - prosper under the poor young wife’s management. - </p> - <p> - “Let us give her a rap over the knuckles, and disgust her with the - business,” said the brothers Cointet. - </p> - <p> - One of the pair, the practical printer, spoke to Cerizet, and asked him to - do the proof-reading for them by piecework, to relieve their reader, who - had more than he could manage. So it came to pass that Cerizet earned more - by a few hours’ work of an evening for the brothers Cointet than by a - whole day’s work for David Sechard. Other transactions followed; the - Cointets seeing no small aptitude in Cerizet, he was told that it was a - pity that he should be in a position so little favorable to his interests. - </p> - <p> - “You might be foreman some day in a big printing office, making six francs - a day,” said one of the Cointets one day, “and with your intelligence you - might come to have a share in the business.” - </p> - <p> - “Where is the use of my being a good foreman?” returned Cerizet. “I am an - orphan, I shall be drawn for the army next year, and if I get a bad number - who is there to pay some one else to take my place?” - </p> - <p> - “If you make yourself useful,” said the well-to-do printer, “why should - not somebody advance the money?” - </p> - <p> - “It won’t be my gaffer in any case!” said Cerizet. - </p> - <p> - “Pooh! Perhaps by that time he will have found out the secret.” - </p> - <p> - The words were spoken in a way that could not but rouse the worst thoughts - in the listener; and Cerizet gave the papermaker and printer a very - searching look. - </p> - <p> - “I do not know what he is busy about,” he began prudently, as the master - said nothing, “but he is not the kind of man to look for capitals in the - lower case!” - </p> - <p> - “Look here, my friend,” said the printer, taking up half-a-dozen sheets of - the diocesan prayer-book and holding them out to Cerizet, “if you can - correct these for us by to-morrow, you shall have eighteen francs - to-morrow for them. We are not shabby here; we put our competitor’s - foreman in the way of making money. As a matter of fact, we might let Mme. - Sechard go too far to draw back with her <i>Shepherd’s Calendar</i>, and - ruin her; very well, we give you permission to tell her that we are - bringing out a <i>Shepherd’s Calendar</i> of our own, and to call her - attention too to the fact that she will not be the first in the field.” - </p> - <p> - Cerizet’s motive for working so slowly on the composition of the almanac - should be clear enough by this time. - </p> - <p> - When Eve heard that the Cointets meant to spoil her poor little - speculation, dread seized upon her; at first she tried to see a proof of - attachment in Cerizet’s hypocritical warning of competition; but before - long she saw signs of an over-keen curiosity in her sole compositor—the - curiosity of youth, she tried to think. - </p> - <p> - “Cerizet,” she said one morning, “you stand about on the threshold, and - wait for M. Sechard in the passage, to pry into his private affairs; when - he comes out into the yard to melt down the rollers, you are there looking - at him, instead of getting on with the almanac. These things are not - right, especially when you see that I, his wife, respect his secrets, and - take so much trouble on myself to leave him free to give himself up to his - work. If you had not wasted time, the almanac would be finished by now, - and Kolb would be selling it, and the Cointets could have done us no - harm.” - </p> - <p> - “Eh! madame,” answered Cerizet. “Here am I doing five francs’ worth of - composing for two francs a day, and don’t you think that that is enough? - Why, if I did not read proofs of an evening for the Cointets, I might feed - myself on husks.” - </p> - <p> - “You are turning ungrateful early,” said Eve, deeply hurt, not so much by - Cerizet’s grumbling as by his coarse tone, threatening attitude, and - aggressive stare; “you will get on in life.” - </p> - <p> - “Not with a woman to order me about though, for it is not often that the - month has thirty days in it then.” - </p> - <p> - Feeling wounded in her womanly dignity, Eve gave Cerizet a withering look - and went upstairs again. At dinner-time she spoke to David. - </p> - <p> - “Are you sure, dear, of that little rogue Cerizet?” - </p> - <p> - “Cerizet!” said David. “Why, he was my youngster; I trained him, I took - him on as my copy-holder. I put him to composing; anything that he is he - owes to me, in fact! You might as well ask a father if he is sure of his - child.” - </p> - <p> - Upon this, Eve told her husband that Cerizet was reading proofs for the - Cointets. - </p> - <p> - “Poor fellow! he must live,” said David, humbled by the consciousness that - he had not done his duty as a master. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, but there is a difference, dear, between Kolb and Cerizet—Kolb - tramps about twenty leagues every day, spends fifteen or twenty sous, and - brings us back seven and eight and sometimes nine francs of sales; and - when his expenses are paid, he never asks for more than his wages. Kolb - would sooner cut off his hand than work a lever for the Cointets; Kolb - would not peer among the things that you throw out into the yard if people - offered him a thousand crowns to do it; but Cerizet picks them up and - looks at them.” - </p> - <p> - It is hard for noble natures to think evil, to believe in ingratitude; - only through rough experience do they learn the extent of human - corruption; and even when there is nothing left them to learn in this - kind, they rise to an indulgence which is the last degree of contempt. - </p> - <p> - “Pooh! pure Paris street-boy’s curiosity,” cried David. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, dear, do me the pleasure to step downstairs and look at the - work done by this boy of yours, and tell me then whether he ought not to - have finished our almanac this month.” - </p> - <p> - David went into the workshop after dinner, and saw that the calendar - should have been set up in a week. Then, when he heard that the Cointets - were bringing out a similar almanac, he came to the rescue. He took - command of the printing office, Kolb helped at home instead of selling - broadsheets. Kolb and Marion pulled off the impressions from one form - while David worked another press with Cerizet, and superintended the - printing in various inks. Every sheet must be printed four separate times, - for which reason none but small houses will attempt to produce a <i>Shepherd’s - Calendar</i>, and that only in the country where labor is cheap, and the - amount of capital employed in the business is so small that the interest - amounts to little. Wherefore, a press which turns out beautiful work - cannot compete in the printing of such sheets, coarse though they may be. - </p> - <p> - So, for the first time since old Sechard retired, two presses were at work - in the old house. The calendar was, in its way, a masterpiece; but Eve was - obliged to sell it for less than a halfpenny, for the Cointets were - supplying hawkers at the rate of three centimes per copy. Eve made no loss - on the copies sold to hawkers; on Kolb’s sales, made directly, she gained; - but her little speculation was spoiled. Cerizet saw that his fair employer - distrusted him; in his own conscience he posed as the accuser, and said to - himself, “You suspect me, do you? I will have my revenge,” for the Paris - street-boy is made on this wise. Cerizet accordingly took pay out of all - proportion to the work of proof-reading done for the Cointets, going to - their office every evening for the sheets, and returning them in the - morning. He came to be on familiar terms with them through the daily chat, - and at length saw a chance of escaping the military service, a bait held - out to him by the brothers. So far from requiring prompting from the - Cointets, he was the first to propose the espionage and exploitation of - David’s researches. - </p> - <p> - Eve saw how little she could depend upon Cerizet, and to find another Kolb - was simply impossible; she made up her mind to dismiss her one compositor, - for the insight of a woman who loves told her that Cerizet was a traitor; - but as this meant a deathblow to the business, she took a man’s - resolution. She wrote to M. Metivier, with whom David and the Cointets and - almost every papermaker in the department had business relations, and - asked him to put the following advertisement into a trade paper: - </p> - <p> - “FOR SALE, as a going concern, a Printing Office, with License and Plant; - situated at Angouleme. Apply for particulars to M. Metivier, Rue - Serpente.” - </p> - <p> - The Cointets saw the advertisement. “That little woman has a head on her - shoulders,” they said. “It is time that we took her business under our own - control, by giving her enough work to live upon; we might find a real - competitor in David’s successor; it is in our interest to keep an eye upon - that workshop.” - </p> - <p> - The Cointets went to speak to David Sechard, moved thereto by this - thought. Eve saw them, knew that her stratagem had succeeded at once, and - felt a thrill of the keenest joy. They stated their proposal. They had - more work than they could undertake, their presses could not keep pace - with the work, would M. Sechard print for them? They had sent to Bordeaux - for workmen, and could find enough to give full employment to David’s - three presses. - </p> - <p> - “Gentlemen,” said Eve, while Cerizet went across to David’s workshop to - announce the two printers, “while my husband was with the MM. Didot he - came to know of excellent workers, honest and industrious men; he will - choose his successor, no doubt, from among the best of them. If he sold - his business outright for some twenty thousand francs, it might bring us - in a thousand francs per annum; that would be better than losing a - thousand yearly over such trade as you leave us. Why did you envy us the - poor little almanac speculation, especially as we have always brought it - out?” - </p> - <p> - “Oh, why did you not give us notice, madame? We would not have interfered - with you,” one of the brothers answered blandly (he was known as the “tall - Cointet”). - </p> - <p> - “Oh, come gentlemen! you only began your almanac after Cerizet told you - that I was bringing out mine.” - </p> - <p> - She spoke briskly, looking full at “the tall Cointet” as she spoke. He - lowered his eyes; Cerizet’s treachery was proven to her. - </p> - <p> - This brother managed the business and the paper-mill; he was by far the - cleverer man of business of the two. Jean showed no small ability in the - conduct of the printing establishment, but in intellectual capacity he - might be said to take colonel’s rank, while Boniface was a general. Jean - left the command to Boniface. This latter was thin and spare in person; - his face, sallow as an altar candle, was mottled with reddish patches; his - lips were pinched; there was something in his eyes that reminded you of a - cat’s eyes. Boniface Cointet never excited himself; he would listen to the - grossest insults with the serenity of a bigot, and reply in a smooth - voice. He went to mass, he went to confession, he took the sacrament. - Beneath his caressing manners, beneath an almost spiritless look, lurked - the tenacity and ambition of the priest, and the greed of the man of - business consumed with a thirst for riches and honors. In the year 1820 - “tall Cointet” wanted all that the <i>bourgeoisie</i> finally obtained by - the Revolution of 1830. In his heart he hated the aristocrats, and in - religion he was indifferent; he was as much or as little of a bigot as - Bonaparte was a member of the Mountain; yet his vertebral column bent with - a flexibility wonderful to behold before the noblesse and the official - hierarchy; for the powers that be, he humbled himself, he was meek and - obsequious. One final characteristic will describe him for those who are - accustomed to dealings with all kinds of men, and can appreciate its value—Cointet - concealed the expression of his eyes by wearing colored glasses, - ostensibly to preserve his sight from the reflection of the sunlight on - the white buildings in the streets; for Angouleme, being set upon a hill, - is exposed to the full glare of the sun. Tall Cointet was really scarcely - above middle height; he looked much taller than he actually was by reason - of the thinness, which told of overwork and a brain in continual ferment. - His lank, sleek gray hair, cut in somewhat ecclesiastical fashion; the - black trousers, black stockings, black waistcoat, and long puce-colored - greatcoat (styled a <i>levite</i> in the south), all completed his - resemblance to a Jesuit. - </p> - <p> - Boniface was called “tall Cointet” to distinguish him from his brother, - “fat Cointet,” and the nicknames expressed a difference in character as - well as a physical difference between a pair of equally redoubtable - personages. As for Jean Cointet, a jolly, stout fellow, with a face from a - Flemish interior, colored by the southern sun of Angouleme, thick-set, - short and paunchy as Sancho Panza; with a smile on his lips and a pair of - sturdy shoulders, he was a striking contrast to his older brother. Nor was - the difference only physical and intellectual. Jean might almost be called - Liberal in politics; he belonged to the Left Centre, only went to mass on - Sundays, and lived on a remarkably good understanding with the Liberal men - of business. There were those in L’Houmeau who said that this divergence - between the brothers was more apparent than real. Tall Cointet turned his - brother’s seeming good nature to advantage very skilfully. Jean was his - bludgeon. It was Jean who gave all the hard words; it was Jean who - conducted the executions which little beseemed the elder brother’s - benevolence. Jean took the storms department; he would fly into a rage, - and propose terms that nobody would think of accepting, to pave the way - for his brother’s less unreasonable propositions. And by such policy the - pair attained their ends, sooner or later. - </p> - <p> - Eve, with a woman’s tact, had soon divined the characters of the two - brothers; she was on her guard with foes so formidable. David, informed - beforehand of everything by his wife, lent a profoundly inattentive mind - to his enemies’ proposals. - </p> - <p> - “Come to an understanding with my wife,” he said, as he left the Cointets - in the office and went back to his laboratory. “Mme. Sechard knows more - about the business than I do myself. I am interested in something that - will pay better than this poor place; I hope to find a way to retrieve the - losses that I have made through you——” - </p> - <p> - “And how?” asked the fat Cointet, chuckling. - </p> - <p> - Eve gave her husband a look that meant, “Be careful!” - </p> - <p> - “You will be my tributaries,” said David, “and all other consumers of - papers besides.” - </p> - <p> - “Then what are you investigating?” asked the hypocritical Boniface - Cointet. - </p> - <p> - Boniface’s question slipped out smoothly and insinuatingly, and again - Eve’s eyes implored her husband to give an answer that was no answer, or - to say nothing at all. - </p> - <p> - “I am trying to produce paper at fifty per cent less than the present cost - price,” and he went. He did not see the glances exchanged between the - brothers. “That is an inventor, a man of his build cannot sit with his - hands before him.—Let us exploit him,” said Boniface’s eyes. “How - can we do it?” said Jean’s. - </p> - <p> - Mme. Sechard spoke. “David treats me just in the same way,” she said. “If - I show any curiosity, he feels suspicious of my name, no doubt, and out - comes that remark of his; it is only a formula, after all.” - </p> - <p> - “If your husband can work out the formula, he will certainly make a - fortune more quickly than by printing; I am not surprised that he leaves - the business to itself,” said Boniface, looking across the empty workshop, - where Kolb, seated upon a wetting-board, was rubbing his bread with a - clove of garlic; “but it would not suit our views to see this place in the - hands of an energetic, pushing, ambitious competitor,” he continued, “and - perhaps it might be possible to arrive at an understanding. Suppose, for - instance, that you consented for a consideration to allow us to put in one - of our own men to work your presses for our benefit, but nominally for - you; the thing is sometimes done in Paris. We would find the fellow work - enough to enable him to rent your place and pay you well, and yet make a - profit for himself.” - </p> - <p> - “It depends on the amount,” said Eve Sechard. “What is your offer?” she - added, looking at Boniface to let him see that she understood his scheme - perfectly well. - </p> - <p> - “What is your own idea?” Jean Cointet put in briskly. - </p> - <p> - “Three thousand francs for six months,” said she. - </p> - <p> - “Why, my dear young lady, you were proposing to sell the place outright - for twenty thousand francs,” said Boniface with much suavity. “The - interest on twenty thousand francs is only twelve hundred francs per annum - at six per cent.” - </p> - <p> - For a moment Eve was thrown into confusion; she saw the need for - discretion in matters of business. - </p> - <p> - “You wish to use our presses and our name as well,” she said; “and, as I - have already shown you, I can still do a little business. And then we pay - rent to M. Sechard senior, who does not load us with presents.” - </p> - <p> - After two hours of debate, Eve obtained two thousand francs for six - months, one thousand to be paid in advance. When everything was concluded, - the brothers informed her that they meant to put in Cerizet as lessee of - the premises. In spite of herself, Eve started with surprise. - </p> - <p> - “Isn’t it better to have somebody who knows the workshop?” asked the fat - Cointet. - </p> - <p> - Eve made no reply; she took leave of the brothers, vowing inwardly to look - after Cerizet. - </p> - <p> - “Well, here are our enemies in the place!” laughed David, when Eve brought - out the papers for his signature at dinner-time. - </p> - <p> - “Pshaw!” said she, “I will answer for Kolb and Marion; they alone would - look after things. Besides, we shall be making an income of four thousand - francs from the workshop, which only costs us money as it is; and looking - forward, I see a year in which you may realize your hopes.” - </p> - <p> - “You were born to be the wife of a scientific worker, as you said by the - weir,” said David, grasping her hand tenderly. - </p> - <p> - But though the Sechard household had money sufficient that winter, they - were none the less subjected to Cerizet’s espionage, and all unconsciously - became dependent upon Boniface Cointet. - </p> - <p> - “We have them now!” the manager of the paper-mill had exclaimed as he left - the house with his brother the printer. “They will begin to regard the - rent as regular income; they will count upon it and run themselves into - debt. In six months’ time we will decline to renew the agreement, and then - we shall see what this man of genius has at the bottom of his mind; we - will offer to help him out of his difficulty by taking him into - partnership and exploiting his discovery.” - </p> - <p> - Any shrewd man of business who should have seen tall Cointet’s face as he - uttered those words, “taking him into partnership,” would have known that - it behooves a man to be even more careful in the selection of the partner - whom he takes before the Tribunal of Commerce than in the choice of the - wife whom he weds at the Mayor’s office. Was it not enough already, and - more than enough, that the ruthless hunters were on the track of the - quarry? How should David and his wife, with Kolb and Marion to help them, - escape the toils of a Boniface Cointet? - </p> - <p> - A draft for five hundred francs came from Lucien, and this, with Cerizet’s - second payment, enabled them to meet all the expenses of Mme. Sechard’s - confinement. Eve and the mother and David had thought that Lucien had - forgotten them, and rejoiced over this token of remembrance as they - rejoiced over his success, for his first exploits in journalism made even - more noise in Angouleme than in Paris. - </p> - <p> - But David, thus lulled into a false security, was to receive a staggering - blow, a cruel letter from Lucien:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - <i>Lucien to David.</i> - - “MY DEAR DAVID,—I have drawn three bills on you, and negotiated - them with Metivier; they fall due in one, two, and three months’ - time. I took this hateful course, which I know will burden you - heavily, because the one alternative was suicide. I will explain - my necessity some time, and I will try besides to send the amounts - as the bills fall due. - - “Burn this letter; say nothing to my mother and sister; for, I - confess it, I have counted upon you, upon the heroism known so - well to your despairing brother, - - “LUCIEN DE RUBEMPRE.” - </pre> - <p> - By this time Eve had recovered from her confinement. - </p> - <p> - “Your brother, poor fellow, is in desperate straits,” David told her. “I - have sent him three bills for a thousand francs at one, two, and three - months; just make a note of them,” and he went out into the fields to - escape his wife’s questionings. - </p> - <p> - But Eve had felt very uneasy already. It was six months since Lucien had - written to them. She talked over the news with her mother till her - forebodings grew so dark that she made up her mind to dissipate them. She - would take a bold step in her despair. - </p> - <p> - Young M. de Rastignac had come to spend a few days with his family. He had - spoken of Lucien in terms that set Paris gossip circulating in Angouleme, - till at last it reached the journalist’s mother and sister. Eve went to - Mme. de Rastignac, asked the favor of an interview with her son, spoke of - all her fears, and asked him for the truth. In a moment Eve heard of her - brother’s connection with the actress Coralie, of his duel with Michel - Chrestien, arising out of his own treacherous behavior to Daniel d’Arthez; - she received, in short, a version of Lucien’s history, colored by the - personal feeling of a clever and envious dandy. Rastignac expressed - sincere admiration for the abilities so terribly compromised, and a - patriotic fear for the future of a native genius; spite and jealousy - masqueraded as pity and friendliness. He spoke of Lucien’s blunders. It - seemed that Lucien had forfeited the favor of a very great person, and - that a patent conferring the right to bear the name and arms of Rubempre - had actually been made out and subsequently torn up. - </p> - <p> - “If your brother, madame, had been well advised, he would have been on the - way to honors, and Mme. de Bargeton’s husband by this time; but what can - you expect? He deserted her and insulted her. She is now Mme. la Comtesse - Sixte du Chatelet, to her own great regret, for she loved Lucien.” - </p> - <p> - “Is it possible!” exclaimed Mme. Sechard. - </p> - <p> - “Your brother is like a young eagle, blinded by the first rays of glory - and luxury. When an eagle falls, who can tell how far he may sink before - he drops to the bottom of some precipice? The fall of a great man is - always proportionately great.” - </p> - <p> - Eve came away with a great dread in her heart; those last words pierced - her like an arrow. She had been wounded to the quick. She said not a word - to anybody, but again and again a tear rolled down her cheeks, and fell - upon the child at her breast. So hard is it to give up illusions - sanctioned by family feeling, illusions that have grown with our growth, - that Eve had doubted Eugene de Rastignac. She would rather hear a true - friend’s account of her brother. Lucien had given them d’Arthez’s address - in the days when he was full of enthusiasm for the brotherhood; she wrote - a pathetic letter to d’Arthez, and received the following reply:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - <i>D’Arthez to Mme. Sechard.</i> - - “MADAME,—You ask me to tell you the truth about the life that - your brother is leading in Paris; you are anxious for - enlightenment as to his prospects; and to encourage a frank answer - on my part, you repeat certain things that M. de Rastignac has - told you, asking me if they are true. With regard to the purely - personal matter, madame, M. de Rastignac’s confidences must be - corrected in Lucien’s favor. Your brother wrote a criticism of my - book, and brought it to me in remorse, telling me that he could - not bring himself to publish it, although obedience to the orders - of his party might endanger one who was very dear to him. Alas! - madame, a man of letters must needs comprehend all passions, since - it is his pride to express them; I understood that where a - mistress and a friend are involved, the friend is inevitably - sacrificed. I smoothed your brother’s way; I corrected his - murderous article myself, and gave it my full approval. - - “You ask whether Lucien has kept my friendship and esteem; to this - it is difficult to make an answer. Your brother is on a road that - leads him to ruin. At this moment I still feel sorry for him; - before long I shall have forgotten him, of set purpose, not so - much on account of what he has done already as for that which he - inevitably will do. Your Lucien is not a poet, he has the poetic - temper; he dreams, he does not think; he spends himself in - emotion, he does not create. He is, in fact—permit me to say it - —a womanish creature that loves to shine, the Frenchman’s great - failing. Lucien will always sacrifice his best friend for the - pleasure of displaying his own wit. He would not hesitate to sign - a pact with the Devil to-morrow if so he might secure a few years - of luxurious and glorious life. Nay, has he not done worse - already? He has bartered his future for the short-lived delights - of living openly with an actress. So far, he has not seen the - dangers of his position; the girl’s youth and beauty and devotion - (for she worships him) have closed his eyes to the truth; he - cannot see that no glory or success or fortune can induce the - world to accept the position. Very well, as it is now, so it will - be with each new temptation—your brother will not look beyond the - enjoyment of the moment. Do not be alarmed: Lucien will never go - so far as a crime, he has not the strength of character; but he - would take the fruits of a crime, he would share the benefit but - not the risk—a thing that seems abhorrent to the whole world, - even to scoundrels. Oh, he would despise himself, he would repent; - but bring him once more to the test, and he would fail again; for - he is weak of will, he cannot resist the allurements of pleasure, - nor forego the least of his ambitions. He is indolent, like all - who would fain be poets; he thinks it clever to juggle with the - difficulties of life instead of facing and overcoming them. He - will be brave at one time, cowardly at another, and deserves - neither credit for his courage, nor blame for his cowardice. - Lucien is like a harp with strings that are slackened or tightened - by the atmosphere. He might write a great book in a glad or angry - mood, and care nothing for the success that he had desired for so - long. - - “When he first came to Paris he fell under the influence of an - unprincipled young fellow, and was dazzled by his companion’s - adroitness and experience in the difficulties of a literary life. - This juggler completely bewitched Lucien; he dragged him into a - life which a man cannot lead and respect himself, and, unluckily - for Lucien, love shed its magic over the path. The admiration that - is given too readily is a sign of want of judgment; a poet ought - not to be paid in the same coin as a dancer on the tight-rope. We - all felt hurt when intrigue and literary rascality were preferred - to the courage and honor of those who counseled Lucien rather to - face the battle than to filch success, to spring down into the - arena rather than become a trumpet in the orchestra. - - “Society, madame, oddly enough, shows plentiful indulgence to - young men of Lucien’s stamp; they are popular, the world is - fascinated by their external gifts and good looks. Nothing is - asked of them, all their sins are forgiven; they are treated like - perfect natures, others are blind to their defects, they are the - world’s spoiled children. And, on the other hand, the world is - stern beyond measure to strong and complete natures. Perhaps in - this apparently flagrant injustice society acts sublimely, taking - a harlequin at his just worth, asking nothing of him but - amusement, promptly forgetting him; and asking divine great deeds - of those before whom she bends the knee. Everything is judged by - laws of its being; the diamond must be flawless; the ephemeral - creation of fashion may be flimsy, bizarre, inconsequent. So - Lucien may perhaps succeed to admiration in spite of his mistakes; - he has only to profit by some happy vein or to be among good - companions; but if an evil angel crosses his path, he will go to - the very depths of hell. ‘Tis a brilliant assemblage of good - qualities embroidered upon too slight a tissue; time wears the - flowers away till nothing but the web is left; and if that is poor - stuff, you behold a rag at the last. So long as Lucien is young, - people will like him; but where will he be as a man of thirty? - That is the question which those who love him sincerely are bound - to ask themselves. If I alone had come to think in this way of - Lucien, I might perhaps have spared you the pain which my plain - speaking will give you; but to evade the questions put by your - anxiety, and to answer a cry of anguish like your letter with - commonplaces, seemed to me alike unworthy of you and of me, whom - you esteem too highly; and besides, those of my friends who knew - Lucien are unanimous in their judgment. So it appeared to me to be - a duty to put the truth before you, terrible though it may be. - Anything may be expected of Lucien, anything good or evil. That is - our opinion, and this letter is summed up in that sentence. If the - vicissitudes of his present way of life (a very wretched and - slippery one) should bring the poet back to you, use all your - influence to keep him among you; for until his character has - acquired stability, Paris will not be safe for him. He used to - speak of you, you and your husband, as his guardian angels; he has - forgotten you, no doubt; but he will remember you again when - tossed by tempest, with no refuge left to him but his home. Keep - your heart for him, madame; he will need it. - - “Permit me, madame, to convey to you the expression of the sincere - respect of a man to whom your rare qualities are known, a man who - honors your mother’s fears so much, that he desires to style - himself your devoted servant, - - “D’ARTHEZ.” - </pre> - <p> - Two days after the letter came, Eve was obliged to find a wet-nurse; her - milk had dried up. She had made a god of her brother; now, in her eyes, he - was depraved through the exercise of his noblest faculties; he was - wallowing in the mire. She, noble creature that she was, was incapable of - swerving from honesty and scrupulous delicacy, from all the pious - traditions of the hearth, which still burns so clearly and sheds its light - abroad in quiet country homes. Then David had been right in his forecasts! - The leaden hues of grief overspread Eve’s white brow. She told her husband - her secret in one of the pellucid talks in which married lovers tell - everything to each other. The tones of David’s voice brought comfort. - Though the tears stood in his eyes when he knew that grief had dried his - wife’s fair breast, and knew Eve’s despair that she could not fulfil a - mother’s duties, he held out reassuring hopes. - </p> - <p> - “Your brother’s imagination has let him astray, you see, child. It is so - natural that a poet should wish for blue and purple robes, and hurry as - eagerly after festivals as he does. It is a bird that loves glitter and - luxury with such simple sincerity, that God forgives him if man condemns - him for it.” - </p> - <p> - “But he is draining our lives!” exclaimed poor Eve. - </p> - <p> - “He is draining our lives just now, but only a few months ago he saved us - by sending us the first fruits of his earnings,” said the good David. He - had the sense to see that his wife was in despair, was going beyond the - limit, and that love for Lucien would very soon come back. “Fifty years - ago, or thereabouts, Mercier said in his <i>Tableau de Paris</i> that a - man cannot live by literature, poetry, letters, or science, by the - creatures of his brain, in short; and Lucien, poet that he is, would not - believe the experience of five centuries. The harvests that are watered - with ink are only reaped ten or twelve years after the sowing, if indeed - there is any harvest after all. Lucien has taken the green wheat for the - sheaves. He will have learned something of life, at any rate. He was the - dupe of a woman at the outset; he was sure to be duped afterwards by the - world and false friends. He has bought his experience dear, that is all. - Our ancestors used to say, ‘If the son of the house brings back his two - ears and his honor safe, all is well——‘” - </p> - <p> - “Honor!” poor Eve broke in. “Oh, but Lucien has fallen in so many ways! - Writing against his conscience! Attacking his best friend! Living upon an - actress! Showing himself in public with her. Bringing us to lie on straw——” - </p> - <p> - “Oh, that is nothing——!” cried David, and suddenly stopped - short. The secret of Lucien’s forgery had nearly escaped him, and, - unluckily, his start left a vague, uneasy impression on Eve. - </p> - <p> - “What do you mean by nothing?” she answered. “And where shall we find the - money to meet bills for three thousand francs?” - </p> - <p> - “We shall be obliged to renew the lease with Cerizet, to begin with,” said - David. “The Cointets have been allowing him fifteen per cent on the work - done for them, and in that way alone he has made six hundred francs, - besides contriving to make five hundred francs by job printing.” - </p> - <p> - “If the Cointets know that, perhaps they will not renew the lease. They - will be afraid of him, for Cerizet is a dangerous man.” - </p> - <p> - “Eh! what is that to me!” cried David, “we shall be rich in a very little - while. When Lucien is rich, dear angel, he will have nothing but good - qualities.” - </p> - <p> - “Oh! David, my dear, my dear; what is this that you have said - unthinkingly? Then Lucien fallen into the clutches of poverty would not - have the force of character to resist evil? And you think just as M. - d’Arthez thinks! No one is great unless he has strength of character, and - Lucien is weak. An angel must not be tempted—what is that?” - </p> - <p> - “What but a nature that is noble only in its own region, its own sphere, - its heaven? I will spare him the struggle; Lucien is not meant for it. - Look here! I am so near the end now that I can talk to you about the - means.” - </p> - <p> - He drew several sheets of white paper from his pocket, brandished them in - triumph, and laid them on his wife’s lap. - </p> - <p> - “A ream of this paper, royal size, would cost five francs at the most,” he - added, while Eve handled the specimens with almost childish surprise. - </p> - <p> - “Why, how did you make these sample bits?” she asked. - </p> - <p> - “With an old kitchen sieve of Marion’s.” - </p> - <p> - “And are you not satisfied yet?” asked Eve. - </p> - <p> - “The problem does not lie in the manufacturing process; it is a question - of the first cost of the pulp. Alas, child, I am only a late comer in a - difficult path. As long ago as 1794, Mme. Masson tried to use printed - paper a second time; she succeeded, but what a price it cost! The Marquis - of Salisbury tried to use straw as a material in 1800, and the same idea - occurred to Seguin in France in 1801. Those sheets in your hand are made - from the common rush, the <i>arundo phragmites</i>, but I shall try - nettles and thistles; for if the material is to continue to be cheap, one - must look for something that will grow in marshes and waste lands where - nothing else can be grown. The whole secret lies in the preparation of the - stems. At present my method is not quite simple enough. Still, in spite of - this difficulty, I feel sure that I can give the French paper trade the - privilege of our literature; papermaking will be for France what coal and - iron and coarse potter’s clay are for England—a monopoly. I mean to - be the Jacquart of the trade.” - </p> - <p> - Eve rose to her feet. David’s simple-mindedness had roused her to - enthusiasm, to admiration; she held out her arms to him and held him - tightly to her, while she laid her head upon his shoulder. - </p> - <p> - “You give me my reward as if I had succeeded already,” he said. - </p> - <p> - For all answer, Eve held up her sweet face, wet with tears, to his, and - for a moment she could not speak. - </p> - <p> - “The kiss was not for the man of genius,” she said, “but for my comforter. - Here is a rising glory for the glory that has set; and, in the midst of my - grief for the brother that has fallen so low, my husband’s greatness is - revealed to me.—Yes, you will be great, great like the Graindorges, - the Rouvets, and Van Robais, and the Persian who discovered madder, like - all the men you have told me about; great men whom nobody remembers, - because their good deeds were obscure industrial triumphs.” - </p> - <p> - “What are they doing just now?” - </p> - <p> - It was Boniface Cointet who spoke. He was walking up and down outside in - the Place du Murier with Cerizet watching the silhouettes of the husband - and wife on the blinds. He always came at midnight for a chat with - Cerizet, for the latter played the spy upon his former master’s every - movement. - </p> - <p> - “He is showing her the paper he made this morning, no doubt,” said - Cerizet. - </p> - <p> - “What is it made of?” asked the paper manufacturer. - </p> - <p> - “Impossible to guess,” answered Cerizet; “I made a hole in the roof and - scrambled up and watched the gaffer; he was boiling pulp in a copper pan - all last night. There was a heap of stuff in a corner, but I could make - nothing of it; it looked like a heap of tow, as near as I could make out.” - </p> - <p> - “Go no farther,” said Boniface Cointet in unctuous tones; “it would not be - right. Mme. Sechard will offer to renew your lease; tell her that you are - thinking of setting up for yourself. Offer her half the value of the plant - and license, and, if she takes the bid, come to me. In any case, spin the - matter out. . . . Have they no money?” - </p> - <p> - “Not a sou,” said Cerizet. - </p> - <p> - “Not a sou,” repeated tall Cointet.—“I have them now,” said he to - himself. - </p> - <p> - Metivier, paper manufacturers’ wholesale agent, and Cointet Brothers, - printers and paper manufacturers, were also bankers in all but name. This - surreptitious banking system defies all the ingenuity of the Inland - Revenue Department. Every banker is required to take out a license which, - in Paris, costs five hundred francs; but no hitherto devised method of - controlling commerce can detect the delinquents, or compel them to pay - their due to the Government. And though Metivier and the Cointets were - “outside brokers,” in the language of the Stock Exchange, none the less - among them they could set some hundreds of thousands of francs moving - every three months in the markets of Paris, Bordeaux, and Angouleme. Now - it so fell out that that very evening Cointet Brothers had received - Lucien’s forged bills in the course of business. Upon this debt, tall - Cointet forthwith erected a formidable engine, pointed, as will presently - be seen, against the poor, patient inventor. - </p> - <p> - By seven o’clock next morning, Boniface Cointet was taking a walk by the - mill stream that turned the wheels in his big factory; the sound of the - water covered his talk, for he was talking with a companion, a young man - of nine-and-twenty, who had been appointed attorney to the Court of First - Instance in Angouleme some six weeks ago. The young man’s name was Pierre - Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “You are a schoolfellow of David Sechard’s, are you not?” asked tall - Cointet by way of greeting to the young attorney. Petit-Claud had lost no - time in answering the wealthy manufacturer’s summons. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, sir,” said Petit-Claud, keeping step with tall Cointet. - </p> - <p> - “Have you renewed the acquaintance?” - </p> - <p> - “We have met once or twice at most since he came back. It could hardly - have been otherwise. In Paris I was buried away in the office or at the - courts on week-days, and on Sundays and holidays I was hard at work - studying, for I had only myself to look to.” (Tall Cointet nodded - approvingly.) “When we met again, David and I, he asked me what I had done - with myself. I told him that after I had finished my time at Poitiers, I - had risen to be Maitre Olivet’s head-clerk, and that some time or other I - hoped to make a bid for his berth. I know a good deal more of Lucien - Chardon (de Rubempre he calls himself now), he was Mme. de Bargeton’s - lover, our great poet, David Sechard’s brother-in-law, in fact.” - </p> - <p> - “Then you can go and tell David of your appointment, and offer him your - services,” said tall Cointet. - </p> - <p> - “One can’t do that,” said the young attorney. - </p> - <p> - “He has never had a lawsuit, and he has no attorney, so one can do that,” - said Cointet, scanning the other narrowly from behind his colored - spectacles. - </p> - <p> - A certain quantity of gall mingled with the blood in Pierre Petit-Claud’s - veins; his father was a tailor in L’Houmeau, and his schoolfellows had - looked down upon him. His complexion was of the muddy and unwholesome kind - which tells a tale of bad health, late hours and penury, and almost always - of a bad disposition. The best description of him may be given in two - familiar expressions—he was sharp and snappish. His cracked voice - suited his sour face, meagre look, and magpie eyes of no particular color. - A magpie eye, according to Napoleon, is a sure sign of dishonesty. “Look - at So-and-so,” he said to Las Cases at Saint Helena, alluding to a - confidential servant whom he had been obliged to dismiss for malversation. - “I do not know how I could have been deceived in him for so long; he has a - magpie eye.” Tall Cointet, surveying the weedy little lawyer, noted his - face pitted with smallpox, the thin hair, and the forehead, bald already, - receding towards a bald cranium; saw, too, the confession of weakness in - his attitude with the hand on the hip. “Here is my man,” said he to - himself. - </p> - <p> - As a matter of fact, this Petit-Claud, who had drunk scorn like water, was - eaten up with a strong desire to succeed in life; he had no money, but - nevertheless he had the audacity to buy his employer’s connection for - thirty thousand francs, reckoning upon a rich marriage to clear off the - debt, and looking to his employer, after the usual custom, to find him a - wife, for an attorney always has an interest in marrying his successor, - because he is the sooner paid off. But if Petit-Claud counted upon his - employer, he counted yet more upon himself. He had more than average - ability, and that of a kind not often found in the provinces, and rancor - was the mainspring of his power. A mighty hatred makes a mighty effort. - </p> - <p> - There is a great difference between a country attorney and an attorney in - Paris; tall Cointet was too clever not to know this, and to turn the - meaner passions that move a pettifogging lawyer to good account. An - eminent attorney in Paris, and there are many who may be so qualified, is - bound to possess to some extent the diplomate’s qualities; he had so much - business to transact, business in which large interests are involved; - questions of such wide interest are submitted to him that he does not look - upon procedure as machinery for bringing money into his pocket, but as a - weapon of attack and defence. A country attorney, on the other hand, - cultivates the science of costs, <i>broutille</i>, as it is called in - Paris, a host of small items that swell lawyers’ bills and require stamped - paper. These weighty matters of the law completely fill the country - attorney’s mind; he has a bill of costs always before his eyes, whereas - his brother of Paris thinks of nothing but his fees. The fee is a - honorarium paid by a client over and above the bill of costs, for the more - or less skilful conduct of his case. One-half of the bill of costs goes to - the Treasury, whereas the entire fee belongs to the attorney. Let us admit - frankly that the fees received are seldom as large as the fees demanded - and deserved by a clever lawyer. Wherefore, in Paris, attorneys, doctors, - and barristers, like courtesans with a chance-come lover, take very - considerable precautions against the gratitude of clients. The client - before and after the lawsuit would furnish a subject worthy of Meissonier; - there would be brisk bidding among attorneys for the possession of two - such admirable bits of genre. - </p> - <p> - There is yet another difference between the Parisian and the country - attorney. An attorney in Paris very seldom appears in court, though he is - sometimes called upon to act as arbitrator (<i>refere</i>). Barristers, at - the present day, swarm in the provinces; but in 1822 the country attorney - very often united the functions of solicitor and counsel. As a result of - this double life, the attorney acquired the peculiar intellectual defects - of the barrister, and retained the heavy responsibilities of the attorney. - He grew talkative and fluent, and lost his lucidity of judgment, the first - necessity for the conduct of affairs. If a man of more than ordinary - ability tries to do the work of two men, he is apt to find that the two - men are mediocrities. The Paris attorney never spends himself in forensic - eloquence; and as he seldom attempts to argue for and against, he has some - hope of preserving his mental rectitude. It is true that he brings the - balista of the law to work, and looks for the weapons in the armory of - judicial contradictions, but he keeps his own convictions as to the case, - while he does his best to gain the day. In a word, a man loses his head - not so much by thinking as by uttering thoughts. The spoken word convinces - the utterer; but a man can act against his own bad judgment without - warping it, and contrive to win in a bad cause without maintaining that it - is a good one, like the barrister. Perhaps for this very reason an old - attorney is the more likely of the two to make a good judge. - </p> - <p> - A country attorney, as we have seen, has plenty of excuses for his - mediocrity; he takes up the cause of petty passions, he undertakes - pettifogging business, he lives by charging expenses, he strains the Code - of procedure and pleads in court. In a word, his weak points are legion; - and if by chance you come across a remarkable man practising as a country - attorney, he is indeed above the average level. - </p> - <p> - “I thought, sir, that you sent for me on your own affairs,” said - Petit-Claud, and a glance that put an edge on his words fell upon tall - Cointet’s impenetrable blue spectacles. - </p> - <p> - “Let us have no beating about the bush,” returned Boniface Cointet. - “Listen to me.” - </p> - <p> - After that beginning, big with mysterious import, Cointet set himself down - upon a bench, and beckoned Petit-Claud to do likewise. - </p> - <p> - “When M. du Hautoy came to Angouleme in 1804, on his way to his consulship - at Valence, he made the acquaintance of Mme. de Senonches, then Mlle. - Zephirine, and had a daughter by her,” added Cointet for the attorney’s - ear——“Yes,” he continued, as Petit-Claud gave a start; “yes, - and Mlle. Zephirine’s marriage with M. de Senoches soon followed the birth - of the child. The girl was brought up in my mother’s house; she is the - Mlle. Francoise de la Haye in whom Mme. de Senoches takes an interest; she - is her godmother in the usual style. Now, my mother farmed land belonging - to old Mme. de Cardanet, Mlle. Zephirine’s grandmother; and as she knew - the secret of the sole heiress of the Cardanets and the Senonches of the - older branch, they made me trustee for the little sum which M. Francois du - Hautoy meant for the girl’s fortune. I made my own fortune with those ten - thousand francs, which amount to thirty thousand at the present day. Mme. - de Senonches is sure to give the wedding clothes, and some plate and - furniture to her goddaughter. Now, I can put you in the way of marrying - the girl, my lad,” said Cointet, slapping Petit-Claud on the knee; “and - when you marry Francoise de la Haye, you will have a large number of the - aristocracy of Angouleme as your clients. This understanding between us - (under the rose) will open up magnificent prospects for you. Your position - will be as much as any one could want; in fact, they don’t ask better, I - know.” - </p> - <p> - “What is to be done?” Petit-Claud asked eagerly. “You have an attorney, - Maitre Cachan——” - </p> - <p> - “And, moreover, I shall not leave Cachan at once for you; I shall only be - your client later on,” said Cointet significantly. “What is to be done, do - you ask, my friend? Eh! why, David Sechard’s business. The poor devil has - three thousand francs’ worth of bills to meet; he will not meet them; you - will stave off legal proceedings in such a way as to increase the expenses - enormously. Don’t trouble yourself; go on, pile on items. Doublon, my - process-server, will act under Cachan’s directions, and he will lay on - like a blacksmith. A word to the wise is sufficient. Now, young man?——” - </p> - <p> - An eloquent pause followed, and the two men looked at each other. - </p> - <p> - “We have never seen each other,” Cointet resumed; “I have not said a - syllable to you; you know nothing about M. du Hautoy, nor Mme. de - Senonches, nor Mlle. de la Haye; only, when the time comes, two months - hence, you will propose for the young lady. If we should want to see each - other, you will come here after dark. Let us have nothing in writing.” - </p> - <p> - “Then you mean to ruin Sechard?” asked Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “Not exactly; but he must be in jail for some time——” - </p> - <p> - “And what is the object?” - </p> - <p> - “Do you think that I am noodle enough to tell you that? If you have wit - enough to find out, you will have sense enough to hold your tongue.” - </p> - <p> - “Old Sechard has plenty of money,” said Petit-Claud. He was beginning - already to enter into Boniface Cointet’s notions, and foresaw a possible - cause of failure. - </p> - <p> - “So long as the father lives, he will not give his son a farthing; and the - old printer has no mind as yet to send in an order for his funeral cards.” - </p> - <p> - “Agreed!” said Petit-Claud, promptly making up his mind. “I don’t ask you - for guarantees; I am an attorney. If any one plays me a trick, there will - be an account to settle between us.” - </p> - <p> - “The rogue will go far,” thought Cointet; he bade Petit-Claud - good-morning. - </p> - <p> - The day after this conference was the 30th of April, and the Cointets - presented the first of the three bills forged by Lucien. Unluckily, the - bill was brought to poor Mme. Sechard; and she, seeing at once that the - signature was not in her husband’s handwriting, sent for David and asked - him point-blank: - </p> - <p> - “You did not put your name to that bill, did you?” - </p> - <p> - “No,” said he; “your brother was so pressed for time that he signed for - me.” - </p> - <p> - Eve returned the bill to the bank messenger sent by the Cointets. - </p> - <p> - “We cannot meet it,” she said; then, feeling that her strength was - failing, she went up to her room. David followed her. - </p> - <p> - “Go quickly to the Cointets, dear,” Eve said faintly; “they will have some - consideration for you; beg them to wait; and call their attention besides - to the fact that when Cerizet’s lease is renewed, they will owe you a - thousand francs.” - </p> - <p> - David went forthwith to his enemies. Now, any foreman may become a master - printer, but there are not always the makings of a good man of business in - a skilled typographer; David knew very little of business; when, - therefore, with a heavily-beating heart and a sensation of throttling, - David had put his excuses badly enough and formulated his request, the - answer—“This is nothing to do with us; the bill has been passed on - to us by Metivier; Metivier will pay us. Apply to M. Metivier”—cut - him short at once. - </p> - <p> - “Oh!” cried Eve when she heard the result, “as soon as the bill is - returned to M. Metivier, we may be easy.” - </p> - <p> - At two o’clock the next day, Victor-Ange-Hermenegilde Doublon, bailiff, - made protest for non-payment at two o’clock, a time when the Place du - Murier is full of people; so that though Doublon was careful to stand and - chat at the back door with Marion and Kolb, the news of the protest was - known all over the business world of Angouleme that evening. Tall Cointet - had enjoined it upon Master Doublon to show the Sechards the greatest - consideration; but when all was said and done, could the bailiff’s - hypocritical regard for appearances save Eve and David from the disgrace - of a suspension of payment? Let each judge for himself. A tolerably long - digression of this kind will seem all too short; and ninety out of every - hundred readers shall seize with avidity upon details that possess all the - piquancy of novelty, thus establishing yet once again the trust of the - well-known axiom, that there is nothing so little known as that which - everybody is supposed to know—the Law of the Land, to wit. - </p> - <p> - And of a truth, for the immense majority of Frenchmen, a minute - description of some part of the machinery of banking will be as - interesting as any chapter of foreign travel. When a tradesman living in - one town gives a bill to another tradesman elsewhere (as David was - supposed to have done for Lucien’s benefit), the transaction ceases to be - a simple promissory note, given in the way of business by one tradesman to - another in the same place, and becomes in some sort a letter of exchange. - When, therefore, Metivier accepted Lucien’s three bills, he was obliged to - send them for collection to his correspondents in Angouleme—to - Cointet Brothers, that is to say. Hence, likewise, a certain initial loss - for Lucien in exchange on Angouleme, taking the practical shape of an - abatement of so much per cent over and above the discount. In this way - Sechard’s bills had passed into circulation in the bank. You would not - believe how greatly the quality of banker, united with the august title of - creditor, changes the debtor’s position. For instance, when a bill has - been passed through the bank (please note that expression), and - transferred from the money market in Paris to the financial world of - Angouleme, if that bill is protested, then the bankers in Angouleme must - draw up a detailed account of the expenses of protest and return; ‘tis a - duty which they owe to themselves. Joking apart, no account of the most - romantic adventure could be more mildly improbable than this of the - journey made by a bill. Behold a certain article in the Code of commerce - authorizing the most ingenious pleasantries after Mascarille’s manner, and - the interpretation thereof shall make apparent manifold atrocities lurking - beneath the formidable word “legal.” - </p> - <p> - Master Doublon registered the protest and went himself with it to MM. - Cointet Brothers. The firm had a standing account with their bailiff; he - gave them six months’ credit; and the lynxes of Angouleme practically took - a twelvemonth, though tall Cointet would say month by month to the lynxes’ - jackal, “Do you want any money, Doublon?” Nor was this all. Doublon gave - the influential house a rebate upon every transaction; it was the merest - trifle, one franc fifty centimes on a protest, for instance. - </p> - <p> - Tall Cointet quietly sat himself down at his desk and took out a small - sheet of paper with a thirty-five centime stamp upon it, chatting as he - did so with Doublon as to the standing of some of the local tradesmen. - </p> - <p> - “Well, are you satisfied with young Gannerac?” - </p> - <p> - “He is not doing badly. Lord, a carrier drives a trade——” - </p> - <p> - “Drives a trade, yes; but, as a matter of fact, his expenses are a heavy - pull on him; his wife spends a good deal, so they tell me——” - </p> - <p> - “Of <i>his</i> money?” asked Doublon, with a knowing look. - </p> - <p> - The lynx meanwhile had finished ruling his sheet of paper, and now - proceeded to trace the ominous words at the head of the following account - in bold characters:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - ACCOUNT OF EXPENSES OF PROTEST AND RETURN. - - <i>To one bill for</i> one thousand francs, <i>bearing date of February the - tenth, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, drawn by</i> Sechard junior <i>of - Angouleme, to order of</i> Lucien Chardon, <i>otherwise</i> de Rubempre, - <i>endorsed to order of</i> Metivier, <i>and finally to our order, matured - the thirtieth of April last, protested by</i> Doublon, <i>process-server, - on the first of May, eighteen hundred and twenty-two.</i> - fr. c. - Principal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1000 — - Expenses of Protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 35 - Bank charges, one-half per cent. . . . . . . 5 — - Brokerage, one-quarter per cent. . . . . . . 2 50 - Stamp on re-draft and present account. . . . 1 35 - Interest and postage . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 — - ____ ____ - 1024 20 - Exchange at the rate of one and a quarter - per cent on 1024 fr. 20 c.. . . . . . . . 13 25 - ____ ____ - Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - - <i>One thousand and thirty-seven francs forty-five centimes, for - which we repay ourselves by our draft at sight upon M. Metivier, - Rue Serpente, Paris, payable to order of M. Gannerac of L’Houmeau.</i> - - ANGOULEME, May 2, 1822 COINTET BROTHERS. -</pre> - <p> - At the foot of this little memorandum, drafted with the ease that comes of - long practice (for the writer chatted with Doublon as he wrote), there - appeared the subjoined form of declaration:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “We, the undersigned, Postel of L’Houmeau, pharmaceutical chemist, - and Gannerac, forwarding agent, merchant of this town, hereby - certify that the present rate of exchange on Paris is one and a - quarter per cent. - - “ANGOULEME, May 2, 1822.” - </pre> - <p> - “Here, Doublon, be so good as to step round and ask Postel and Gannerac to - put their names to this declaration, and bring it back with you to-morrow - morning.” - </p> - <p> - And Doublon, quite accustomed as he was to these instruments of torture, - forthwith went, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Evidently - the protest might have been sent in an envelope, as in Paris, and even so - all Angouleme was sure to hear of the poor Sechards’ unlucky predicament. - How they all blamed his want of business energy! His excessive fondness - for his wife had been the ruin of him, according to some; others - maintained that it was his affection for his brother-in-law; and what - shocking conclusions did they not draw from these premises! A man ought - never to embrace the interests of his kith and kin. Old Sechard’s - hard-hearted conduct met with approval, and people admired him for his - treatment of his son! - </p> - <p> - And now, all you who for any reason whatsoever should forget to “honor - your engagements,” look well into the methods of the banking business, by - which one thousand francs may be made to pay interest at the rate of - twenty-eight francs in ten minutes, without breaking the law of the land. - </p> - <p> - The thousand francs, the one incontestable item in the account, comes - first. - </p> - <p> - The second item is shared between the bailiff and the Inland Revenue - Department. The six francs due to the State for providing a piece of - stamped paper, and putting the debtor’s mortification on record, will - probably ensure a long life to this abuse; and as you already know, one - franc fifty centimes from this item found its way into the banker’s - pockets in the shape of Doublon’s rebate. - </p> - <p> - “Bank charges one-half per cent,” runs the third item, which appears upon - the ingenious plea that if a banker has not received payment, he has for - all practical purposes discounted a bill. And although the contrary may be - the case, if you fail to receive a thousand francs, it seems to be very - much the same thing as if you had paid them away. Everybody who has - discounted a bill knows that he has to pay more than the six per cent - fixed by law; for a small percentage appears under the humble title of - “charges,” representing a premium on the financial genius and skill with - which the capitalist puts his money out to interest. The more money he - makes out of you, the more he asks. Wherefore it would be undoubtedly - cheaper to discount a bill with a fool, if fools there be in the - profession of bill-discounting. - </p> - <p> - The law requires the banker to obtain a stock-broker’s certificate for the - rate of exchange. When a place is so unlucky as to boast no stock - exchange, two merchants act instead. This is the significance of the item - “brokerage”; it is a fixed charge of a quarter per cent on the amount of - the protested bill. The custom is to consider the amount as paid to the - merchants who act for the stock-broker, and the banker quietly puts the - money into his cash-box. So much for the third item in this delightful - account. - </p> - <p> - The fourth includes the cost of the piece of stamped paper on which the - account itself appears, as well as the cost of the stamp for re-draft, as - it is ingeniously named, viz., the banker’s draft upon his colleague in - Paris. - </p> - <p> - The fifth is a charge for postage and the legal interest due upon the - amount for the time that it may happen to be absent from the banker’s - strong box. - </p> - <p> - The final item, the exchange, is the object for which the bank exists, - which is to say, for the transmission of sums of money from one place to - another. - </p> - <p> - Now, sift this account thoroughly, and what do you find? The method of - calculation closely resembles Polichinelle’s arithmetic in Lablache’s - Neapolitan song, “fifteen and five make twenty-two.” The signatures of - Messieurs Postel and Gannerac were obviously given to oblige in the way of - business; the Cointets would act at need for Gannerac as Gannerac acted - for the Cointets. It was a practical application of the well-known - proverb, “Reach me the rhubarb and I will pass you the senna.” Cointet - Brothers, moreover, kept a standing account with Metivier; there was no - need of a re-draft, and no re-draft was made. A returned bill between the - two firms simply meant a debit or credit entry and another line in a - ledger. - </p> - <p> - This highly-colored account, therefore, is reduced to the one thousand - francs, with an additional thirteen francs for expenses of protest, and - half per cent for a month’s delay, one thousand and eighteen francs it may - be in all. - </p> - <p> - Suppose that in a large banking-house a bill for a thousand francs is - daily protested on an average, then the banker receives twenty-eight - francs a day by the grace of God and the constitution of the banking - system, that all powerful invention due to the Jewish intellect of the - Middle Ages, which after six centuries still controls monarchs and - peoples. In other words, a thousand francs would bring such a house - twenty-eight francs per day, or ten thousand two hundred and twenty francs - per annum. Triple the average of protests, and consequently of expenses, - and you shall derive an income of thirty thousand francs per annum, - interest upon purely fictitious capital. For which reason, nothing is more - lovingly cultivated than these little “accounts of expenses.” - </p> - <p> - If David Sechard had come to pay his bill on the 3rd of May, that is, the - day after it was protested, MM. Cointet Brothers would have met him at - once with, “We have returned your bill to M. Metivier,” although, as a - matter of fact, the document would have been lying upon the desk. A banker - has a right to make out the account of expenses on the evening of the day - when the bill is protested, and he uses the right to “sweat the silver - crowns,” in the country banker’s phrase. - </p> - <p> - The Kellers, with correspondents all over the world, make twenty thousand - francs per annum by charges for postage alone; accounts of expenses of - protest pay for Mme. la Baronne de Nucingen’s dresses, opera box, and - carriage. The charge for postage is a more shocking swindle, because a - house will settle ten matters of business in as many lines of a single - letter. And of the tithe wrung from misfortune, the Government, strange to - say! takes its share, and the national revenue is swelled by a tax on - commercial failure. And the Bank? from the august height of a - counting-house she flings an observation, full of commonsense, at the - debtor, “How is it?” asks she, “that you cannot meet your bill?” and, - unluckily, there is no reply to the question. Wherefore, the “account of - expenses” is an account bristling with dreadful fictions, fit to cause any - debtor, who henceforth shall reflect upon this instructive page, a - salutary shudder. - </p> - <p> - On the 4th of May, Metivier received the account from Cointet Brothers, - with instructions to proceed against M. Lucien Chardon, otherwise de - Rubempre, with the utmost rigor of the law. - </p> - <p> - Eve also wrote to M. Metivier, and a few days later received an answer - which reassured her completely:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - <i>To M. Sechard, Junior, Printer, Angouleme.</i> - - “I have duly received your esteemed favor of the 5th instant. From - your explanation of the bill due on April 30th, I understand that - you have obliged your brother-in-law, M. de Rubempre, who is - spending so much that it will be doing you a service to summons - him. His present position is such that he is likely to delay - payment for long. If your brother-in-law should refuse payment, I - shall rely upon the credit of your old-established house.—I sign - myself now, as ever, your obedient servant, - “Metivier.” - </pre> - <p> - “Well,” said Eve, commenting upon the letter to David, “Lucien will know - when they summons him that we could not pay.” - </p> - <p> - What a change wrought in Eve those few words meant! The love that grew - deeper as she came to know her husband’s character better and better, was - taking the place of love for her brother in her heart. But to how many - illusions had she not bade farewell? - </p> - <p> - And now let us trace out the whole history of the bill and the account of - expenses in the business world of Paris. The law enacts that the third - holder, the technical expression for the third party into whose hands the - bill passes, is at liberty to proceed for the whole amount against any one - of the various endorsers who appears to him to be most likely to make - prompt payment. M. Metivier, using this discretion, served a summons upon - Lucien. Behold the successive stages of the proceedings, all of them - perfectly futile. Metivier, with the Cointets behind him, knew that Lucien - was not in a position to pay, but insolvency in fact is not insolvency in - law until it has been formally proved. - </p> - <p> - Formal proof of Lucien’s inability to pay was obtained in the following - manner: - </p> - <p> - On the 5th of May, Metivier’s process-server gave Lucien notice of the - protest and an account of the expense thereof, and summoned him to appear - before the Tribunal of Commerce, or County Court, of Paris, to hear a vast - number of things: this, among others, that he was liable to imprisonment - as a merchant. By the time that Lucien, hard pressed and hunted down on - all sides, read this jargon, he received notice of judgment against him by - default. Coralie, his mistress, ignorant of the whole matter, imagined - that Lucien had obliged his brother-in-law, and handed him all the - documents together—too late. An actress sees so much of bailiffs, - duns, and writs, upon the stage, that she looks on all stamped paper as a - farce. - </p> - <p> - Tears filled Lucien’s eyes; he was unhappy on Sechard’s account, he was - ashamed of the forgery, he wished to pay, he desired to gain time. - Naturally he took counsel of his friends. But by the time Lousteau, - Blondet, Bixiou, and Nathan had told the poet to snap his fingers at a - court only established for tradesmen, Lucien was already in the clutches - of the law. He beheld upon his door the little yellow placard which leaves - its reflection on the porter’s countenance, and exercises a most - astringent influence upon credit; striking terror into the heart of the - smallest tradesman, and freezing the blood in the veins of a poet - susceptible enough to care about the bits of wood, silken rags, dyed - woolen stuffs, and multifarious gimcracks entitled furniture. - </p> - <p> - When the broker’s men came for Coralie’s furniture, the author of the <i>Marguerites</i> - fled to a friend of Bixiou’s, one Desroches, a barrister, who burst out - laughing at the sight of Lucien in such a state about nothing at all. - </p> - <p> - “That is nothing, my dear fellow. Do you want to gain time?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, as much possible.” - </p> - <p> - “Very well, apply for stay of execution. Go and look up Masson, he is a - solicitor in the Commercial Court, and a friend of mine. Take your - documents to him. He will make a second application for you, and give - notice of objection to the jurisdiction of the court. There is not the - least difficulty; you are a journalist, your name is well known enough. If - they summons you before a civil court, come to me about it, that will be - my affair; I engage to send anybody who offers to annoy the fair Coralie - about his business.” - </p> - <p> - On the 28th of May, Lucien’s case came on in the civil court, and judgment - was given before Desroches expected it. Lucien’s creditor was pushing on - the proceedings against him. A second execution was put in, and again - Coralie’s pilasters were gilded with placards. Desroches felt rather - foolish; a colleague had “caught him napping,” to use his own expression. - He demurred, not without reason, that the furniture belonged to Mlle. - Coralie, with whom Lucien was living, and demanded an order for inquiry. - Thereupon the judge referred the matter to the registrar for inquiry, the - furniture was proved to belong to the actress, and judgment was entered - accordingly. Metivier appealed, and judgment was confirmed on appeal on - the 30th of June. - </p> - <p> - On the 7th of August, Maitre Cachan received by the coach a bulky package - endorsed, “Metivier <i>versus</i> Sechard and Lucien Chardon.” - </p> - <p> - The first document was a neat little bill, of which a copy (accuracy - guaranteed) is here given for the reader’s benefit:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - <i>To Bill due the last day of April, drawn by</i> - Sechard, junior, <i>to order of</i> Lucien de - Rubempre, <i>together with expenses of fr. c. - protest and return</i> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - May 5th—Serving notice of protest and - summons to appear before the - Tribunal of Commerce in - Paris, May 7th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - “ 7th—Judgment by default and - warrant of arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 — - “ 10th—Notification of judgment . . . . . . . . . 8 50 - “ 12th—Warrant of execution . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 - “ 14th—Inventory and appraisement - previous to execution. . . . . . . . . . . 16 — - “ 18th—Expenses of affixing placards. . . . . . . 15 25 - “ 19th—Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 — - “ 24th—Verification of inventory, and - application for stay of execution - on the part of the said - Lucien de Rubempre, objecting - to the jurisdiction of the Court. . . . . . 12 — - “ 27th—Order of the Court upon application - duly repeated, and transfer of - of case to the Civil Court. . . . . . . . . 35 — - ____ ____ - Carried forward. . . . . . . . . . . . 1177 45 - - fr. c. - Brought forward 1177 45 - May 28th—Notice of summary proceedings in - the Civil Court at the instance - of Metivier, represented by - counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 50 - June 2nd—Judgment, after hearing both - parties, condemning Lucien for - expenses of protest and return; - the plaintiff to bear costs - of proceedings in the - Commercial Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 — - “ 6th—Notification of judgment. . . . . . . . . . 10 — - - “ 15th—Warrant of execution. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 - “ 19th—Inventory and appraisement preparatory - to execution; interpleader summons by - the Demoiselle Coralie, claiming goods - and chattels taken in execution; demand - for immediate special inquiry before - further proceedings be taken . . . . . . . 20 — - “ “ —Judge’s order referring matter to - registrar for immediate special inquiry. . 40 — - “ “ —Judgment in favor of the said - Mademoiselle Coralie . . . . . . . . . . . 250 — - “ 20th—Appeal by Metivier . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 — - “ 30th—Confirmation of judgment . . . . . . . . . 250 — - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1926 45 - __________ - - Bill matured May 31st, with expenses of fr. c. - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 - - Bill matured June 30th, with expenses of - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 - __________ -</pre> - <p> - This document was accompanied by a letter from Metivier, instructing - Maitre Cachan, notary of Angouleme, to prosecute David Sechard with the - utmost rigor of the law. Wherefore Maitre Victor-Ange-Hermenegilde Doublon - summoned David Sechard before the Tribunal of Commerce in Angouleme for - the sum-total of four thousand and eighteen francs eighty-five centimes, - the amount of the three bills and expenses already incurred. On the - morning of the very day when Doublon served the writ upon Eve, requiring - her to pay a sum so enormous in her eyes, there came a letter like a - thunderbolt from Metivier:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - <i>To Monsieur Sechard, Junior, Printer, Angouleme.</i> - - “SIR,—Your brother-in-law, M. Chardon, is so shamelessly - dishonest, that he declares his furniture to be the property of an - actress with whom he is living. You ought to have informed me - candidly of these circumstances, and not have allowed me to go to - useless expense over law proceedings. I have received no answer - to my letter of the 10th of May last. You must not, therefore, - take it amiss if I ask for immediate repayment of the three bills - and the expenses to which I have been put.—Yours, etc., - “METIVIER.” - </pre> - <p> - Eve had heard nothing during these months, and supposed, in her ignorance - of commercial law, that her brother had made reparation for his sins by - meeting the forged bills. - </p> - <p> - “Be quick, and go at once to Petit-Claud, dear,” she said; “tell him about - it, and ask his advice.” - </p> - <p> - David hurried to his schoolfellow’s office. - </p> - <p> - “When you came to tell me of your appointment and offered me your - services, I did not think that I should need them so soon,” he said. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud studied the fine face of this man who sat opposite him in the - office chair, and scarcely listened to the details of the case, for he - knew more of them already than the speaker. As soon as he saw Sechard’s - anxiety, he said to himself, “The trick has succeeded.” - </p> - <p> - This kind of comedy is often played in an attorney’s office. “Why are the - Cointets persecuting him?” Petit-Claud wondered within himself, for the - attorney can use his wit to read his clients’ thoughts as clearly as the - ideas of their opponents, and it is his business to see both sides of the - judicial web. - </p> - <p> - “You want to gain time,” he said at last, when Sechard had come to an end. - “How long do you want? Something like three or four months?” - </p> - <p> - “Oh! four months! that would be my salvation,” exclaimed David. - Petit-Claud appeared to him as an angel. - </p> - <p> - “Very well. No one shall lay hands on any of your furniture, and no one - shall arrest you for four months——But it will cost you a great - deal,” said Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “Eh! what does that matter to me?” cried Sechard. - </p> - <p> - “You are expecting some money to come in; but are you sure of it?” asked - Petit-Claud, astonished at the way in which his client walked into the - toils. - </p> - <p> - “In three months’ time I shall have plenty of money,” said the inventor, - with an inventor’s hopeful confidence. - </p> - <p> - “Your father is still above ground,” suggested Petit-Claud; “he is in no - hurry to leave his vines.” - </p> - <p> - “Do you think that I am counting on my father’s death?” returned David. “I - am on the track of a trade secret, the secret of making a sheet of paper - as strong as Dutch paper, without a thread of cotton in it, and at a cost - of fifty per cent less than cotton pulp.” - </p> - <p> - “There is a fortune in that!” exclaimed Petit-Claud. He knew now what the - tall Cointet meant. - </p> - <p> - “A large fortune, my friend, for in ten years’ time the demand for paper - will be ten times larger than it is to-day. Journalism will be the craze - of our day.” - </p> - <p> - “Nobody knows your secret?” - </p> - <p> - “Nobody except my wife.” - </p> - <p> - “You have not told any one what you mean to do—the Cointets, for - example?” - </p> - <p> - “I did say something about it, but in general terms, I think.” - </p> - <p> - A sudden spark of generosity flashed through Petit-Claud’s rancorous soul; - he tried to reconcile Sechard’s interests with the Cointet’s projects and - his own. - </p> - <p> - “Listen, David, we are old schoolfellows, you and I; I will fight your - case; but understand this clearly—the defence, in the teeth of the - law, will cost you five or six thousand francs! Do not compromise your - prospects. I think you will be compelled to share the profits of your - invention with some one of our paper manufacturers. Let us see now. You - will think twice before you buy or build a paper mill; and there is the - cost of the patent besides. All this means time, and money too. The - servers of writs will be down upon you too soon, perhaps, although we are - going to give them the slip——” - </p> - <p> - “I have my secret,” said David, with the simplicity of the man of books. - </p> - <p> - “Well and good, your secret will be your plank of safety,” said - Petit-Claud; his first loyal intention of avoiding a lawsuit by a - compromise was frustrated. “I do not wish to know it; but mind this that I - tell you. Work in the bowels of the earth if you can, so that no one may - watch you and gain a hint from your ways of working, or your plank will be - stolen from under your feet. An inventor and a simpleton often live in the - same skin. Your mind runs so much on your secrets that you cannot think of - everything. People will begin to have their suspicions at last, and the - place is full of paper manufacturers. So many manufacturers, so many - enemies for you! You are like a beaver with the hunters about you; do not - give them your skin——” - </p> - <p> - “Thank you, dear fellow, I have told myself all this,” exclaimed Sechard, - “but I am obliged to you for showing so much concern for me and for your - forethought. It does not really matter to me myself. An income of twelve - hundred francs would be enough for me, and my father ought by rights to - leave me three times as much some day. Love and thought make up my life—a - divine life. I am working for Lucien’s sake and for my wife’s.” - </p> - <p> - “Come, give me this power of attorney, and think of nothing but your - discovery. If there should be any danger of arrest, I will let you know in - time, for we must think of all possibilities. And let me tell you again to - allow no one of whom you are not so sure as you are of yourself to come - into your place.” - </p> - <p> - “Cerizet did not care to continue the lease of the plant and premises, - hence our little money difficulties. We have no one at home now but Marion - and Kolb, an Alsacien as trusty as a dog, and my wife and her mother——” - </p> - <p> - “One word,” said Petit-Claud, “don’t trust that dog——” - </p> - <p> - “You do not know him,” exclaimed David; “he is like a second self.” - </p> - <p> - “May I try him?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” said Sechard. - </p> - <p> - “There, good-bye, but send Mme. Sechard to me; I must have a power of - attorney from your wife. And bear in mind, my friend, that there is a fire - burning in your affairs,” said Petit-Claud, by way of warning of all the - troubles gathering in the law courts to burst upon David’s head. - </p> - <p> - “Here am I with one foot in Burgundy and the other in Champagne,” he added - to himself as he closed the office door on David. - </p> - <p> - Harassed by money difficulties, beset with fears for his wife’s health, - stung to the quick by Lucien’s disgrace, David had worked on at his - problem. He had been trying to find a single process to replace the - various operations of pounding and maceration to which all flax or cotton - or rags, any vegetable fibre, in fact, must be subjected; and as he went - to Petit-Claud’s office, he abstractedly chewed a bit of nettle stalk that - had been steeping in water. On his way home, tolerably satisfied with his - interview, he felt a little pellet sticking between his teeth. He laid it - on his hand, flattened it out, and saw that the pulp was far superior to - any previous result. The want of cohesion is the great drawback of all - vegetable fibre; straw, for instance, yields a very brittle paper, which - may almost be called metallic and resonant. These chances only befall bold - inquirers into Nature’s methods! - </p> - <p> - “Now,” said he to himself, “I must contrive to do by machinery and some - chemical agency the thing that I myself have done unconsciously.” - </p> - <p> - When his wife saw him, his face was radiant with belief in victory. There - were traces of tears in Eve’s face. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! my darling, do not trouble yourself; Petit-Claud will guarantee that - we shall not be molested for several months to come. There will be a good - deal of expense over it; but, as Petit-Claud said when he came to the door - with me, ‘A Frenchman has a right to keep his creditors waiting, provided - he repays them capital, interest, and costs.’—Very well, then, we - shall do that——” - </p> - <p> - “And live meanwhile?” asked poor Eve, who thought of everything. - </p> - <p> - “Ah! that is true,” said David, carrying his hand to his ear after the - unaccountable fashion of most perplexed mortals. - </p> - <p> - “Mother will look after little Lucien, and I can go back to work again,” - said she. - </p> - <p> - “Eve! oh, my Eve!” cried David, holding his wife closely to him.—“At - Saintes, not very far from here, in the sixteenth century, there lived one - of the very greatest of Frenchmen, for he was not merely the inventor of - glaze, he was the glorious precursor of Buffon and Cuvier besides; he was - the first geologist, good, simple soul that he was. Bernard Palissy - endured the martyrdom appointed for all seekers into secrets but his wife - and children and all his neighbors were against him. His wife used to sell - his tools; nobody understood him, he wandered about the countryside, he - was hunted down, they jeered at him. But I—am loved——” - </p> - <p> - “Dearly loved!” said Eve, with the quiet serenity of the love that is sure - of itself. - </p> - <p> - “And so may well endure all that poor Bernard Palissy suffered—Bernard - Palissy, the discoverer of Ecouen ware, the Huguenot excepted by Charles - IX. on the day of Saint-Bartholomew. He lived to be rich and honored in - his old age, and lectured on the ‘Science of Earths,’ as he called it, in - the face of Europe.” - </p> - <p> - “So long as my fingers can hold an iron, you shall want for nothing,” - cried the poor wife, in tones that told of the deepest devotion. “When I - was Mme. Prieur’s forewoman I had a friend among the girls, Basine - Clerget, a cousin of Postel’s, a very good child; well, Basine told me the - other day when she brought back the linen, that she was taking Mme. - Prieur’s business; I will work for her.” - </p> - <p> - “Ah! you shall not work there for long,” said David; “I have found out——” - </p> - <p> - Eve, watching his face, saw the sublime belief in success which sustains - the inventor, the belief that gives him courage to go forth into the - virgin forests of the country of Discovery; and, for the first time in her - life, she answered that confident look with a half-sad smile. David bent - his head mournfully. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! my dear! I am not laughing! I did not doubt! It was not a sneer!” - cried Eve, on her knees before her husband. “But I see plainly now that - you were right to tell me nothing about your experiments and your hopes. - Ah! yes, dear, an inventor should endure the long painful travail of a - great idea alone, he should not utter a word of it even to his wife .... A - woman is a woman still. This Eve of yours could not help smiling when she - heard you say, ‘I have found out,’ for the seventeenth time this month.” - </p> - <p> - David burst out laughing so heartily at his own expense that Eve caught - his hand in hers and kissed it reverently. It was a delicious moment for - them both, one of those roses of love and tenderness that grow beside the - desert paths of the bitterest poverty, nay, at times in yet darker depths. - </p> - <p> - As the storm of misfortune grew, Eve’s courage redoubled; the greatness of - her husband’s nature, his inventor’s simplicity, the tears that now and - again she saw in the eyes of this dreamer of dreams with the tender heart,—all - these things aroused in her an unsuspected energy of resistance. Once - again she tried the plan that had succeeded so well already. She wrote to - M. Metivier, reminding him that the printing office was for sale, offered - to pay him out of the proceeds, and begged him not to ruin David with - needless costs. Metivier received the heroic letter, and shammed dead. His - head-clerk replied that in the absence of M. Metivier he could not take it - upon himself to stay proceedings, for his employer had made it a rule to - let the law take its course. Eve wrote again, offering this time to renew - the bills and pay all the costs hitherto incurred. To this the clerk - consented, provided that Sechard senior guaranteed payment. So Eve walked - over to Marsac, taking Kolb and her mother with her. She braved the old - vinedresser, and so charming was she, that the old man’s face relaxed, and - the puckers smoothed out at the sight of her; but when, with inward - quakings, she came to speak of a guarantee, she beheld a sudden and - complete change of the tippleographic countenance. - </p> - <p> - “If I allowed my son to put his hand to the lips of my cash box whenever - he had a mind, he would plunge it deep into the vitals, he would take all - I have!” cried old Sechard. “That is the way with children; they eat up - their parents’ purse. What did I do myself, eh? <i>I</i> never cost my - parents a farthing. Your printing office is standing idle. The rats and - the mice do all the printing that is done in it. . . . You have a pretty - face; I am very fond of you; you are a careful, hard-working woman; but - that son of mine!—Do you know what David is? I’ll tell you—he - is a scholar that will never do a stroke of work! If I had reared him, as - I was reared myself, without knowing his letters, and if I had made a - ‘bear’ of him, like his father before him, he would have money saved and - put out to interest by now. . . . Oh! he is my cross, that fellow is, look - you! And, unluckily, he is all the family I have, for there is never like - to be a later edition. And when he makes you unhappy——” - </p> - <p> - Eve protested with a vehement gesture of denial. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, he does,” affirmed old Sechard; “you had to find a wet-nurse for the - child. Come, come, I know all about it, you are in the county court, and - the whole town is talking about you. I was only a ‘bear,’ <i>I</i> have no - book learning, <i>I</i> was not foreman at the Didots’, the first printers - in the world; but yet I never set eyes on a bit of stamped paper. Do you - know what I say to myself as I go to and fro among my vines, looking after - them and getting in my vintage, and doing my bits of business?—I say - to myself, ‘You are taking a lot of trouble, poor old chap; working to - pile one silver crown on another, you will leave a fine property behind - you, and the bailiffs and the lawyers will get it all; . . . or else it - will go in nonsensical notions and crotchets.’—Look you here, child; - you are the mother of yonder little lad; it seemed to me as I held him at - the font with Mme. Chardon that I could see his old grandfather’s copper - nose on his face; very well, think less of Sechard and more of that little - rascal. I can trust no one but you; you will prevent him from squandering - my property—my poor property.” - </p> - <p> - “But, dear papa Sechard, your son will be a credit to you, you will see; - he will make money and be a rich man one of these days, and wear the Cross - of the Legion of Honor at his buttonhole.” - </p> - <p> - “What is he going to do to get it?” - </p> - <p> - “You will see. But, meanwhile, would a thousand crowns ruin you? A - thousand crowns would put an end to the proceedings. Well, if you cannot - trust him, lend the money to me; I will pay it back; you could make it a - charge on my portion, on my earnings——” - </p> - <p> - “Then has some one brought David into a court of law?” cried the - vinedresser, amazed to find that the gossip was really true. “See what - comes of knowing how to write your name! And how about my rent! Oh! little - girl, I must go to Angouleme at once and ask Cachan’s advice, and see that - I am straight. You did right well to come over. Forewarned is forearmed.” - </p> - <p> - After two hours of argument Eve was fain to go, defeated by the - unanswerable <i>dictum</i>, “Women never understand business.” She had - come with a faint hope, she went back again almost heartbroken, and - reached home just in time to receive notice of judgment; Sechard must pay - Metivier in full. The appearance of a bailiff at a house door is an event - in a country town, and Doublon had come far too often of late. The whole - neighborhood was talking about the Sechards. Eve dared not leave her - house; she dreaded to hear the whispers as she passed. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! my brother, my brother!” cried poor Eve, as she hurried into the - passage and up the stairs, “I can never forgive you, unless it was——” - </p> - <p> - “Alas! it was that, or suicide,” said David, who had followed her. - </p> - <p> - “Let us say no more about it,” she said quietly. “The woman who dragged - him down into the depths of Paris has much to answer for; and your father, - my David, is quite inexorable! Let us bear it in silence.” - </p> - <p> - A discreet rapping at the door cut short some word of love on David’s - lips. Marion appeared, towing the big, burly Kolb after her across the - outer room. - </p> - <p> - “Madame,” said Marion, “we have known, Kolb and I, that you and the master - were very much put about; and as we have eleven hundred francs of savings - between us, we thought we could not do better than put them in the - mistress’ hands——” - </p> - <p> - “Die misdress,” echoed Kolb fervently. - </p> - <p> - “Kolb,” cried David, “you and I will never part. Pay a thousand francs on - account to Maitre Cachan, and take a receipt for it; we will keep the - rest. And, Kolb, no power on earth must extract a word from you as to my - work, or my absences from home, or the things you may see me bring back; - and if I send you to look for plants for me, you know, no human being must - set eyes on you. They will try to corrupt you, my good Kolb; they will - offer you thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of francs, to tell——” - </p> - <p> - “Dey may offer me millions,” cried Kolb, “but not ein vort from me shall - dey traw. Haf I not peen in der army, and know my orders?” - </p> - <p> - “Well, you are warned. March, and ask M. Petit-Claud to go with you as - witness.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” said the Alsacien. “Some tay I hope to be rich enough to dust der - chacket of dat man of law. I don’t like his gountenance.” - </p> - <p> - “Kolb is a good man, madame,” said Big Marion; “he is as strong as a Turk, - and as meek as a lamb. Just the one that would make a woman happy. It was - his notion, too, to invest our savings this way—‘safings,’ as he - calls them. Poor man, if he doesn’t speak right, he thinks right, and I - understand him all the same. He has a notion of working for somebody else, - so as to save us his keep——” - </p> - <p> - “Surely we shall be rich, if it is only to repay these good folk,” said - David, looking at his wife. - </p> - <p> - Eve thought it quite simple; it was no surprise to her to find other - natures on a level with her own. The dullest—nay, the most - indifferent—observer could have seen all the beauty of her nature in - her way of receiving this service. - </p> - <p> - “You will be rich some day, dear master,” said Marion; “your bread is - ready baked. Your father has just bought another farm, he is putting by - money for you; that he is.” - </p> - <p> - And under the circumstances, did not Marion show an exquisite delicacy of - feeling by belittling, as it were, her kindness in this way? - </p> - <p> - French procedure, like all things human, has its defects; nevertheless, - the sword of justice, being a two-edged weapon, is excellently adapted - alike for attack or defence. Procedure, moreover, has its amusing side; - for when opposed, lawyers arrive at an understanding, as they well may do, - without exchanging a word; through their manner of conducting their case, - a suit becomes a kind of war waged on the lines laid down by the first - Marshal Biron, who, at the siege of Rouen, it may be remembered, received - his son’s project for taking the city in two days with the remark, “You - must be in a great hurry to go and plant cabbages!” Let two - commanders-in-chief spare their troops as much as possible, let them - imitate the Austrian generals who give the men time to eat their soup - though they fail to effect a juncture, and escape reprimand from the Aulic - Council; let them avoid all decisive measures, and they shall carry on a - war for ever. Maitre Cachan, Petit-Claud, and Doublon, did better than the - Austrian generals; they took for their example Quintus Fabius Cunctator—the - Austrian of antiquity. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud, malignant as a mule, was not long in finding out all the - advantages of his position. No sooner had Boniface Cointet guaranteed his - costs than he vowed to lead Cachan a dance, and to dazzle the paper - manufacturer with a brilliant display of genius in the creation of items - to be charged to Metivier. Unluckily for the fame of the young forensic - Figaro, the writer of this history is obliged to pass over the scene of - his exploits in as great a hurry as if he trod on burning coals; but a - single bill of costs, in the shape of the specimen sent from Paris, will - no doubt suffice for the student of contemporary manners. Let us follow - the example set us by the Bulletins of the Grande Armee, and give a - summary of Petit-Claud’s valiant feats and exploits in the province of - pure law; they will be the better appreciated for concise treatment. - </p> - <p> - David Sechard was summoned before the Tribunal of Commerce at Angouleme - for the 3rd of July, made default, and notice of judgment was served on - the 8th. On the 10th, Doublon obtained an execution warrant, and attempted - to put in an execution on the 12th. On this Petit-Claud applied for an - interpleader summons, and served notice on Metivier for that day - fortnight. Metivier made application for a hearing without delay, and on - the 19th, Sechard’s application was dismissed. Hard upon this followed - notice of judgment, authorizing the issue of an execution warrant on the - 22nd, a warrant of arrest on the 23rd, and bailiff’s inventory previous to - the execution on the 24th. Metivier, Doublon, Cachan & Company were - proceeding at this furious pace, when Petit-Claud suddenly pulled them up, - and stayed execution by lodging notice of appeal on the Court-Royal. - Notice of appeal, duly reiterated on the 25th of July, drew Metivier off - to Poitiers. - </p> - <p> - “Come!” said Petit-Claud to himself, “there we are likely to stop for some - time to come.” - </p> - <p> - No sooner was the storm passed over to Poitiers, and an attorney - practising in the Court-Royal instructed to defend the case, than - Petit-Claud, a champion facing both ways, made application in Mme. - Sechard’s name for the immediate separation of her estate from her - husband’s; using “all diligence” (in legal language) to such purpose, that - he obtained an order from the court on the 28th, and inserted notice at - once in the <i>Charente Courier</i>. Now David the lover had settled ten - thousand francs upon his wife in the marriage contract, making over to her - as security the fixtures of the printing office and the household - furniture; and Petit-Claud therefore constituted Mme. Sechard her - husband’s creditor for that small amount, drawing up a statement of her - claims on the estate in the presence of a notary on the 1st of August. - </p> - <p> - While Petit-Claud was busy securing the household property of his clients, - he gained the day at Poitiers on the point of law on which the demurrer - and appeals were based. He held that, as the court of the Seine had - ordered the plaintiff to pay costs of proceedings in the Paris commercial - court, David was so much the less liable for expenses of litigation - incurred upon Lucien’s account. The Court-Royal took this view of the - case, and judgment was entered accordingly. David Sechard was ordered to - pay the amount in dispute in the Angouleme Court, less the law expenses - incurred in Paris; these Metivier must pay, and each side must bear its - own costs in the appeal to the Court-Royal. - </p> - <p> - David Sechard was duly notified of the result on the 17th of August. On - the 18th the judgment took the practical shape of an order to pay capital, - interest, and costs, followed up by notice of an execution for the morrow. - Upon this Petit-Claud intervened and put in a claim for the furniture as - the wife’s property duly separated from her husband’s; and what was more, - Petit-Claud produced Sechard senior upon the scene of action. The old - vinegrower had become his client on this wise. He came to Angouleme on the - day after Eve’s visit, and went to Maitre Cachan for advice. His son owed - him arrears of rent; how could he come by this rent in the scrimmage in - which his son was engaged? - </p> - <p> - “I am engaged by the other side,” pronounced Cachan, “and I cannot appear - for the father when I am suing the son; but go to Petit-Claud, he is very - clever, he may perhaps do even better for you than I should do.” - </p> - <p> - Cachan and Petit-Claud met at the Court. - </p> - <p> - “I have sent you Sechard senior,” said Cachan; “take the case for me in - exchange.” Lawyers do each other services of this kind in country towns as - well as in Paris. - </p> - <p> - The day after Sechard senior gave Petit-Claud his confidence, the tall - Cointet paid a visit to his confederate. - </p> - <p> - “Try to give old Sechard a lesson,” he said. “He is the kind of man that - will never forgive his son for costing him a thousand francs or so; the - outlay will dry up any generous thoughts in his mind, if he ever has any.” - </p> - <p> - “Go back to your vines,” said Petit-Claud to his new client. “Your son is - not very well off; do not eat him out of house and home. I will send for - you when the time comes.” - </p> - <p> - On behalf of Sechard senior, therefore, Petit-Claud claimed that the - presses, being fixtures, were so much the more to be regarded as tools and - implements of trade, and the less liable to seizure, in that the house had - been a printing office since the reign of Louis XIV. Cachan, on Metivier’s - account, waxed indignant at this. In Paris Lucien’s furniture had belonged - to Coralie, and here again in Angouleme David’s goods and chattels all - belonged to his wife or his father; pretty things were said in court. - Father and son were summoned; such claims could not be allowed to stand. - </p> - <p> - “We mean to unmask the frauds intrenched behind bad faith of the most - formidable kind; here is the defence of dishonesty bristling with the - plainest and most innocent articles of the Code, and why?—to avoid - repayment of three thousand francs; obtained how?—from poor - Metivier’s cash box! And yet there are those who dare to say a word - against bill-discounters! What times we live in! . . . Now, I put it to - you—what is this but taking your neighbor’s money? . . . You will - surely not sanction a claim which would bring immorality to the very core - of justice!” - </p> - <p> - Cachan’s eloquence produced an effect on the court. A divided judgment was - given in favor of Mme. Sechard, the house furniture being held to be her - property; and against Sechard senior, who was ordered to pay costs—four - hundred and thirty-four francs, sixty-five centimes. - </p> - <p> - “It is kind of old Sechard,” laughed the lawyers; “he would have a finger - in the pie, so let him pay!” - </p> - <p> - Notice of judgment was given on the 26th of August; the presses and plant - could be seized on the 28th. Placards were posted. Application was made - for an order empowering them to sell on the spot. Announcements of the - sale appeared in the papers, and Doublon flattered himself that the - inventory should be verified and the auction take place on the 2nd of - September. - </p> - <p> - By this time David Sechard owed Metivier five thousand two hundred and - seventy-five francs, twenty-five centimes (to say nothing of interest), by - formal judgment confirmed by appeal, the bill of costs having been duly - taxed. Likewise to Petit-Claud he owed twelve hundred francs, exclusive of - the fees, which were left to David’s generosity with the generous - confidence displayed by the hackney coachman who has driven you so quickly - over the road on which you desire to go. - </p> - <p> - Mme. Sechard owed Petit-Claud something like three hundred and fifty - francs and fees besides; and of old Sechard, besides four hundred and - thirty-four francs, sixty-five centimes, the little attorney demanded a - hundred crowns by way of fee. Altogether, the Sechard family owed about - ten thousand francs. This is what is called “putting fire into the bed - straw.” - </p> - <p> - Apart from the utility of these documents to other nations who thus may - behold the battery of French law in action, the French legislator ought to - know the lengths to which the abuse of procedure may be carried, always - supposing that the said legislator can find time for reading. Surely some - sort of regulation might be devised, some way of forbidding lawyers to - carry on a case until the sum in dispute is more than eaten up in costs? - Is there not something ludicrous in the idea of submitting a square yard - of soil and an estate of thousands of acres to the same legal formalities? - These bare outlines of the history of the various stages of procedure - should open the eyes of Frenchmen to the meaning of the words “legal - formalities, justice, and costs,” little as the immense majority of the - nations know about them. - </p> - <p> - Five thousand pounds’ weight of type in the printing office were worth two - thousand francs as old metal; the three presses were valued at six hundred - francs; the rest of the plant would fetch the price of old iron and - firewood. The household furniture would have brought in a thousand francs - at most. The whole personal property of Sechard junior therefore - represented the sum of four thousand francs; and Cachan and Petit-Claud - made claims for seven thousand francs in costs already incurred, to say - nothing of expenses to come, for the blossom gave promise of fine fruits - enough, as the reader will shortly see. Surely the lawyers of France and - Navarre, nay, even of Normandy herself, will not refuse Petit-Claud his - meed of admiration and respect? Surely, too, kind hearts will give Marion - and Kolb a tear of sympathy? - </p> - <p> - All through the war Kolb sat on a chair in the doorway, acting as - watch-dog, when David had nothing else for him to do. It was Kolb who - received all the notifications, and a clerk of Petit-Claud’s kept watch - over Kolb. No sooner were the placards announcing the auction put up on - the premises than Kolb tore them down; he hurried round the town after the - bill-poster, tearing the placards from the walls. - </p> - <p> - “Ah, scountrels!” he cried, “to dorment so goot a man; and they calls it - chustice!” - </p> - <p> - Marion made half a franc a day by working half time in a paper mill as a - machine tender, and her wages contributed to the support of the household. - Mme. Chardon went back uncomplainingly to her old occupation, sitting up - night after night, and bringing home her wages at the end of the week. - Poor Mme. Chardon! Twice already she had made a nine days’ prayer for - those she loved, wondering that God should be deaf to her petitions, and - blind to the light of the candles on His altar. - </p> - <p> - On the 2nd of September, a letter came from Lucien, the first since the - letter of the winter, which David had kept from his wife’s knowledge—the - announcement of the three bills which bore David’s signature. This time - Lucien wrote to Eve. - </p> - <p> - “The third since he left us!” she said. Poor sister, she was afraid to - open the envelope that covered the fatal sheet. - </p> - <p> - She was feeding the little one when the post came in; they could not - afford a wet-nurse now, and the child was being brought up by hand. Her - state of mind may be imagined, and David’s also, when he had been roused - to read the letter, for David had been at work all night, and only lay - down at daybreak. - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - <i>Lucien to Eve.</i> - - “PARIS, August 29th. - - “MY DEAR SISTER,—Two days ago, at five o’clock in the morning, - one of God’s noblest creatures breathed her last in my arms; she - was the one woman on earth capable of loving me as you and mother - and David love me, giving me besides that unselfish affection, - something that neither mother nor sister can give—the utmost - bliss of love. Poor Coralie, after giving up everything for my - sake, may perhaps have died for me—for me, who at this moment - have not the wherewithal to bury her. She could have solaced my - life; you, and you alone, my dear good angels, can console me for - her death. God has forgiven her, I think, the innocent girl, for - she died like a Christian. Oh, this Paris! Eve, Paris is the glory - and the shame of France. Many illusions I have lost here already, - and I have others yet to lose, when I begin to beg for the little - money needed before I can lay the body of my angel in consecrated - earth. - “Your unhappy brother, - “Lucien.” - - “P. S. I must have given you much trouble by my heedlessness; some - day you will know all, and you will forgive me. You must be quite - easy now; a worthy merchant, a M. Camusot, to whom I once caused - cruel pangs, promised to arrange everything, seeing that Coralie - and I were so much distressed.” - </pre> - <p> - “The sheet is still moist with his tears,” said Eve, looking at the letter - with a heart so full of sympathy that something of the old love for Lucien - shone in her eyes. - </p> - <p> - “Poor fellow, he must have suffered cruelly if he has been loved as he - says!” exclaimed Eve’s husband, happy in his love; and these two forgot - all their own troubles at this cry of a supreme sorrow. Just at that - moment Marion rushed in. - </p> - <p> - “Madame,” she panted, “here they are! Here they are!” - </p> - <p> - “Who is here?” - </p> - <p> - “Doublon and his men, bad luck to them! Kolb will not let them come in; - they have come to sell us up.” - </p> - <p> - “No, no, they are not going to sell you up, never fear,” cried a voice in - the next room, and Petit-Claud appeared upon the scene. “I have just - lodged notice of appeal. We ought not to sit down under a judgment that - attaches a stigma of bad faith to us. I did not think it worth while to - fight the case here. I let Cachan talk to gain time for you; I am sure of - gaining the day at Poitiers——” - </p> - <p> - “But how much will it cost to win the day?” asked Mme. Sechard. - </p> - <p> - “Fees if you win, one thousand francs if we lose our case.” - </p> - <p> - “Oh, dear!” cried poor Eve; “why, the remedy is worse than the disease!” - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud was not a little confused at this cry of innocence enlightened - by the progress of the flames of litigation. It struck him too that Eve - was a very beautiful woman. In the middle of the discussion old Sechard - arrived, summoned by Petit-Claud. The old man’s presence in the chamber - where his little grandson in the cradle lay smiling at misfortune - completed the scene. The young attorney at once addressed the newcomer - with: - </p> - <p> - “You owe me seven hundred francs for the interpleader, Papa Sechard; but - you can charge the amount to your son in addition to the arrears of rent.” - </p> - <p> - The vinedresser felt the sting of the sarcasm conveyed by Petit-Claud’s - tone and manner. - </p> - <p> - “It would have cost you less to give security for the debt at first,” said - Eve, leaving the cradle to greet her father-in-law with a kiss. - </p> - <p> - David, quite overcome by the sight of the crowd outside the house (for - Kolb’s resistance to Doublon’s men had collected a knot of people), could - only hold out a hand to his father; he did not say a word. - </p> - <p> - “And how, pray, do I come to owe you seven hundred francs?” the old man - asked, looking at Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “Why, in the first place, I am engaged by you. Your rent is in question; - so, as far as I am concerned, you and our debtor are one and the same - person. If your son does not pay my costs in the case, you must pay them - yourself.—But this is nothing. In a few hours David will be put in - prison; will you allow him to go?” - </p> - <p> - “What does he owe?” - </p> - <p> - “Something like five or six thousand francs, besides the amounts owing to - you and to his wife.” - </p> - <p> - The speech roused all the old man’s suspicions at once. He looked round - the little blue-and-white bedroom at the touching scene before his eyes—at - a beautiful woman weeping over a cradle, at David bowed down by anxieties, - and then again at the lawyer. This was a trap set for him by that lawyer; - perhaps they wanted to work upon his paternal feelings, to get money out - of him? That was what it all meant. He took alarm. He went over to the - cradle and fondled the child, who held out both little arms to him. No - heir to an English peerage could be more tenderly cared for than this - little one in that house of trouble; his little embroidered cap was lined - with pale pink. - </p> - <p> - “Eh! let David get out of it as best he may. I am thinking of this child - here,” cried the old grandfather, “and the child’s mother will approve of - that. David that knows so much must know how to pay his debts.” - </p> - <p> - “Now I will just put your meaning into plain language,” said Petit-Claud - ironically. “Look here, Papa Sechard, you are jealous of your son. Hear - the truth! you put David into his present position by selling the business - to him for three times its value. You ruined him to make an extortionate - bargain! Yes, don’t you shake your head; you sold the newspaper to the - Cointets and pocketed all the proceeds, and that was as much as the whole - business was worth. You bear David a grudge, not merely because you have - plundered him, but because, also, your own son is a man far above - yourself. You profess to be prodigiously fond of your grandson, to cloak - your want of feeling for your son and his wife, because you ought to pay - down money <i>hic et nunc</i> for them, while you need only show a - posthumous affection for your grandson. You pretend to be fond of the - little fellow, lest you should be taxed with want of feeling for your own - flesh and blood. That is the bottom of it, Papa Sechard.” - </p> - <p> - “Did you fetch me over to hear this?” asked the old man, glowering at his - lawyer, his daughter-in-law, and his son in turn. - </p> - <p> - “Monsieur!” protested poor Eve, turning to Petit-Claud, “have you vowed to - ruin us? My husband had never uttered a word against his father.” (Here - the old man looked cunningly at her.) “David has told me scores of times - that you loved him in your way,” she added, looking at her father-in-law, - and understanding his suspicions. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud was only following out the tall Cointet’s instructions. He was - widening the breach between the father and son, lest Sechard senior should - extricate David from his intolerable position. “The day that David Sechard - goes to prison shall be the day of your introduction to Mme. de - Senonches,” the “tall Cointet” had said no longer ago than yesterday. - </p> - <p> - Mme. Sechard, with the quick insight of love, had divined Petit-Claud’s - mercenary hostility, even as she had once before felt instinctively that - Cerizet was a traitor. As for David, his astonishment may be imagined; he - could not understand how Petit-Claud came to know so much of his father’s - nature and his own history. Upright and honorable as he was, he did not - dream of the relations between his lawyer and the Cointets; nor, for that - matter, did he know that the Cointets were at work behind Metivier. - Meanwhile old Sechard took his son’s silence as an insult, and - Petit-Claud, taking advantage of his client’s bewilderment, beat a - retreat. - </p> - <p> - “Good-bye, my dear David; you have had warning, notice of appeal doesn’t - invalidate the warrant for arrest. It is the only course left open to your - creditors, and it will not be long before they take it. So, go away at - once——Or, rather, if you will take my advice, go to the - Cointets and see them about it. They have capital. If your invention is - perfected and answers the purpose, go into partnership with them. After - all, they are very good fellows——” - </p> - <p> - “Your invention?” broke in old Sechard. - </p> - <p> - “Why, do you suppose that your son is fool enough to let his business slip - away from him without thinking of something else?” exclaimed the attorney. - “He is on the brink of the discovery of a way of making paper at a cost of - three francs per ream, instead of ten, he tells me.” - </p> - <p> - “One more dodge for taking me in! You are all as thick as thieves in a - fair. If David has found out such a plan, he has no need of me—he is - a millionaire! Good-bye, my dears, and a good-day to you all,” and the old - man disappeared down the staircase. - </p> - <p> - “Find some way of hiding yourself,” was Petit-Claud’s parting word to - David, and with that he hurried out to exasperate old Sechard still - further. He found the vinegrower growling to himself outside in the Place - du Murier, went with him as far as L’Houmeau, and there left him with a - threat of putting in an execution for the costs due to him unless they - were paid before the week was out. - </p> - <p> - “I will pay you if you will show me how to disinherit my son without - injuring my daughter-in-law or the boy,” said old Sechard, and they parted - forthwith. - </p> - <p> - “How well the ‘tall Cointet’ knows the folk he is dealing with! It is just - as he said; those seven hundred francs will prevent the father from paying - seven thousand,” the little lawyer thought within himself as he climbed - the path to Angouleme. “Still, that old slyboots of a paper-maker must not - overreach us; it is time to ask him for something besides promises.” - </p> - <p> - “Well, David dear, what do you mean to do?” asked Eve, when the lawyer had - followed her father-in-law. - </p> - <p> - “Marion, put your biggest pot on the fire!” called David; “I have my - secret fast.” - </p> - <p> - At this Eve put on her bonnet and shawl and walking shoes with feverish - haste. - </p> - <p> - “Kolb, my friend, get ready to go out,” she said, “and come with me; if - there is any way out of this hell, I must find it.” - </p> - <p> - When Eve had gone out, Marion spoke to David. “Do be sensible, sir,” she - said, “or the mistress will fret herself to death. Make some money to pay - off your debts, and then you can try to find treasure at your ease——” - </p> - <p> - “Don’t talk, Marion,” said David; “I am going to overcome my last - difficulty, and then I can apply for the patent and the improvement on the - patent at the same time.” - </p> - <p> - This “improvement on the patent” is the curse of the French patentee. A - man may spend ten years of his life in working out some obscure industrial - problem; and when he has invented some piece of machinery, or made a - discovery of some kind, he takes out a patent and imagines that he has a - right to his own invention; then there comes a competitor; and unless the - first inventor has foreseen all possible contingencies, the second comer - makes an “improvement on the patent” with a screw or a nut, and takes the - whole thing out of his hands. The discovery of a cheap material for paper - pulp, therefore, is by no means the conclusion of the whole matter. David - Sechard was anxiously looking ahead on all sides lest the fortune sought - in the teeth of such difficulties should be snatched out of his hands at - the last. Dutch paper as flax paper is still called, though it is no - longer made in Holland, is slightly sized; but every sheet is sized - separately by hand, and this increases the cost of production. If it were - possible to discover some way of sizing the paper in the pulping-trough, - with some inexpensive glue, like that in use to-day (though even now it is - not quite perfect), there would be no “improvement on the patent” to fear. - For the past month, accordingly, David had been making experiments in - sizing pulp. He had two discoveries before him. - </p> - <p> - Eve went to see her mother. Fortunately, it so happened that Mme. Chardon - was nursing the deputy-magistrate’s wife, who had just given the Milauds - of Nevers an heir presumptive; and Eve, in her distrust of all attorneys - and notaries, took into her head to apply for advice to the legal guardian - of widows and orphans. She wanted to know if she could relieve David from - his embarrassments by taking them upon herself and selling her claims upon - the estate, and besides, she had some hope of discovering the truth as to - Petit-Claud’s unaccountable conduct. The official, struck with Mme. - Sechard’s beauty, received her not only with the respect due to a woman - but with a sort of courtesy to which Eve was not accustomed. She saw in - the magistrate’s face an expression which, since her marriage, she had - seen in no eyes but Kolb’s; and for a beautiful woman like Eve, this - expression is the criterion by which men are judged. When passion, or - self-interest, or age dims that spark of unquestioning fealty that gleams - in a young man’s eyes, a woman feels a certain mistrust of him, and begins - to observe him critically. The Cointets, Cerizet, and Petit-Claud—all - the men whom Eve felt instinctively to be her enemies—had turned - hard, indifferent eyes on her; with the deputy-magistrate, therefore, she - felt at ease, although, in spite of his kindly courtesy, he swept all her - hopes away by his first words. - </p> - <p> - “It is not certain, madame, that the Court-Royal will reverse the judgment - of the court restricting your lien on your husband’s property, for payment - of moneys due to you by the terms of your marriage-contract, to household - goods and chattels. Your privilege ought not to be used to defraud the - other creditors. But in any case, you will be allowed to take your share - of the proceeds with the other creditors, and your father-in-law likewise, - as a privileged creditor, for arrears of rent. When the court has given - the order, other points may be raised as to the ‘contribution,’ as we call - it, when a schedule of the debts is drawn up, and the creditors are paid a - dividend in proportion to their claims. - </p> - <p> - “Then M. Petit-Claud is bringing us to bankruptcy,” she cried. - </p> - <p> - “Petit-Claud is carrying out your husband’s instructions,” said the - magistrate; “he is anxious to gain time, so his attorney says. In my - opinion, you would perhaps do better to waive the appeal and buy in at the - sale the indispensable implements for carrying on the business; you and - your father-in-law together might do this, you to the extent of your claim - through your marriage contract, and he for his arrears of rent. But that - would be bringing the matter to an end too soon perhaps. The lawyers are - making a good thing out of your case.” - </p> - <p> - “But then I should be entirely in M. Sechard’s father’s hands. I should - owe him the hire of the machinery as well as the house-rent; and my - husband would still be open to further proceedings from M. Metivier, for - M. Metivier would have had almost nothing.” - </p> - <p> - “That is true, madame.” - </p> - <p> - “Very well, then we should be even worse off than we are.” - </p> - <p> - “The arm of the law, madame, is at the creditor’s disposal. You have - received three thousand francs, and you must of necessity repay the - money.” - </p> - <p> - “Oh, sir, can you think that we are capable——” Eve suddenly - came to a stop. She saw that her justification might injure her brother. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! I know quite well that it is an obscure affair, that the debtors on - the one side are honest, scrupulous, and even behaving handsomely; and the - creditor, on the other, is only a cat’s-paw——” - </p> - <p> - Eve, aghast, looked at him with bewildered eyes. - </p> - <p> - “You can understand,” he continued, with a look full of homely shrewdness, - “that we on the bench have plenty of time to think over all that goes on - under our eyes, while the gentlemen in court are arguing with each other.” - </p> - <p> - Eve went home in despair over her useless effort. That evening at seven - o’clock, Doublon came with the notification of imprisonment for debt. The - proceedings had reached the acute stage. - </p> - <p> - “After this, I can only go out after nightfall,” said David. - </p> - <p> - Eve and Mme. Chardon burst into tears. To be in hiding was for them a - shameful thing. As for Kolb and Marion, they were more alarmed for David - because they had long since made up their minds that there was no guile in - their master’s nature; so frightened were they on his account, that they - came upstairs under pretence of asking whether they could do anything, and - found Eve and Mme. Chardon in tears; the three whose life had been so - straightforward hitherto were overcome by the thought that David must go - into hiding. And how, moreover, could they hope to escape the invisible - spies who henceforth would dog every least movement of a man, unluckily so - absent-minded? - </p> - <p> - “Gif montame vill vait ein liddle kvarter hour, she can regonnoitre der - enemy’s camp,” put in Kolb. “You shall see dot I oonderstand mein pizness; - for gif I look like ein German, I am ein drue Vrenchman, and vat is more, - I am ver’ conning.” - </p> - <p> - “Oh! madame, do let him go,” begged Marion. “He is only thinking of saving - his master; he hasn’t another thought in his head. Kolb is not an - Alsacien, he is—eh! well—a regular Newfoundland dog for - rescuing folk.” - </p> - <p> - “Go, my good Kolb,” said David; “we have still time to do something.” - </p> - <p> - Kolb hurried off to pay a visit to the bailiff; and it so fell out that - David’s enemies were in Doublon’s office, holding a council as to the best - way of securing him. - </p> - <p> - The arrest of a debtor is an unheard-of thing in the country, an abnormal - proceeding if ever there was one. Everybody, in the first place, knows - everybody else, and creditor and debtor being bound to meet each other - daily all their lives long, nobody likes to take this odious course. When - a defaulter—to use the provincial term for a debtor, for they do not - mince their words in the provinces when speaking of this legalized method - of helping yourself to another man’s goods—when a defaulter plans a - failure on a large scale, he takes sanctuary in Paris. Paris is a kind of - City of Refuge for provincial bankrupts, an almost impenetrable retreat; - the writ of the pursuing bailiff has no force beyond the limits of his - jurisdiction, and there are other obstacles rendering it almost invalid. - Wherefore the Paris bailiff is empowered to enter the house of a third - party to seize the person of the debtor, while for the bailiff of the - provinces the domicile is absolutely inviolable. The law probably makes - this exception as to Paris, because there it is the rule for two or more - families to live under the same roof; but in the provinces the bailiff who - wishes to make forcible entry must have an order from the Justice of the - Peace; and so wide a discretion is allowed the Justice of the Peace, that - he is practically able to give or withhold assistance to the bailiffs. To - the honor of the Justices, it should be said, that they dislike the - office, and are by no means anxious to assist blind passions or revenge. - </p> - <p> - There are, besides, other and no less serious difficulties in the way of - arrest for debt—difficulties which tend to temper the severity of - legislation, and public opinion not infrequently makes a dead letter of - the law. In great cities there are poor or degraded wretches enough; - poverty and vice know no scruples, and consent to play the spy, but in a - little country town, people know each other too well to earn wages of the - bailiff; the meanest creature who should lend himself to dirty work of - this kind would be forced to leave the place. In the absence of recognized - machinery, therefore, the arrest of a debtor is a problem presenting no - small difficulty; it becomes a kind of strife of ingenuity between the - bailiff and the debtor, and matter for many pleasant stories in the - newspapers. - </p> - <p> - Cointet the elder did not choose to appear in the affair; but the fat - Cointet openly said that he was acting for Metivier, and went to Doublon, - taking Cerizet with him. Cerizet was his foreman now, and had promised his - co-operation in return for a thousand-franc note. Doublon could reckon - upon two of his understrappers, and thus the Cointets had four bloodhounds - already on the victim’s track. At the actual time of arrest, Doublon could - furthermore count upon the police force, who are bound, if required, to - assist a bailiff in the performance of his duty. The two men, Doublon - himself, and the visitors were all closeted together in the private - office, beyond the public office, on the ground floor. - </p> - <p> - A tolerably wide-paved lobby, a kind of passage-way, led to the public - office. The gilded scutcheons of the court, with the word “Bailiff” - printed thereon in large black letters, hung outside on the house wall on - either side the door. Both office windows gave upon the street, and were - protected by heavy iron bars; but the private office looked into the - garden at the back, wherein Doublon, an adorer of Pomona, grew espaliers - with marked success. Opposite the office door you beheld the door of the - kitchen, and, beyond the kitchen, the staircase that ascended to the first - story. The house was situated in a narrow street at the back of the new - Law Courts, then in process of construction, and only finished after 1830.—These - details are necessary if Kolb’s adventures are to be intelligible to the - reader. - </p> - <p> - It was Kolb’s idea to go to the bailiff, to pretend to be willing to - betray his master, and in this way to discover the traps which would be - laid for David. Kolb told the servant who opened the door that he wanted - to speak to M. Doublon on business. The servant was busy washing up her - plates and dishes, and not very well pleased at Kolb’s interruption; she - pushed open the door of the outer office, and bade him wait there till her - master was at liberty; then, as he was a stranger to her, she told the - master in the private office that “a man” wanted to speak to him. Now, “a - man” so invariably means “a peasant,” that Doublon said, “Tell him to - wait,” and Kolb took a seat close to the door of the private office. There - were voices talking within. - </p> - <p> - “Ah, by the by, how do you mean to set about it? For, if we can catch him - to-morrow, it will be so much time saved.” It was the fat Cointet who - spoke. - </p> - <p> - “Nothing easier; the gaffer has come fairly by his nickname,” said - Cerizet. - </p> - <p> - At the sound of the fat Cointet’s voice, Kolb guessed at once that they - were talking about his master, especially as the sense of the words began - to dawn upon him; but, when he recognized Cerizet’s tones, his - astonishment grew more and more. - </p> - <p> - “Und dat fellow haf eaten his pread!” he thought, horror-stricken. - </p> - <p> - “We must do it in this way, boys,” said Doublon. “We will post our men, at - good long intervals, about the Rue de Beaulieu and the Place du Murier in - every direction, so that we can follow the gaffer (I like that word) - without his knowledge. We will not lose sight of him until he is safe - inside the house where he means to lie in hiding (as he thinks); there we - will leave him in peace for awhile; then some fine day we will come across - him before sunrise or sunset.” - </p> - <p> - “But what is he doing now, at this moment? He may be slipping through our - fingers,” said the fat Cointet. - </p> - <p> - “He is in his house,” answered Doublon; “if he left it, I should know. I - have one witness posted in the Place du Murier, another at the corner of - the Law Courts, and another thirty paces from the house. If our man came - out, they would whistle; he could not make three paces from his door but I - should know of it at once from the signal.” - </p> - <p> - (Bailiffs speak of their understrappers by the polite title of - “witnesses.”) - </p> - <p> - Here was better hap than Kolb had expected! He went noiselessly out of the - office, and spoke to the maid in the kitchen. - </p> - <p> - “Meestair Touplon ees encaged for som time to kom,” he said; “I vill kom - back early to-morrow morning.” - </p> - <p> - A sudden idea had struck the Alsacien, and he proceeded to put it into - execution. Kolb had served in a cavalry regiment; he hurried off to see a - livery stable-keeper, an acquaintance of his, picked out a horse, had it - saddled, and rushed back to the Place du Murier. He found Madame Eve in - the lowest depths of despondency. - </p> - <p> - “What is it, Kolb?” asked David, when the Alsacien’s face looked in upon - them, scared but radiant. - </p> - <p> - “You have scountrels all arount you. De safest way ees to hide de master. - Haf montame thought of hiding the master anywheres?” - </p> - <p> - When Kolb, honest fellow, had explained the whole history of Cerizet’s - treachery, of the circle traced about the house, and of the fat Cointet’s - interest in the affair, and given the family some inkling of the schemes - set on foot by the Cointets against the master,—then David’s real - position gradually became fatally clear. - </p> - <p> - “It is the Cointet’s doing!” cried poor Eve, aghast at the news; “<i>they</i> - are proceeding against you! that accounts for Metivier’s hardness. . . . - They are paper-makers—David! they want your secret!” - </p> - <p> - “But what can we do to escape them?” exclaimed Mme. Chardon. - </p> - <p> - “If de misdress had some liddle blace vere the master could pe hidden,” - said Kolb; “I bromise to take him dere so dot nopody shall know.” - </p> - <p> - “Wait till nightfall, and go to Basine Clerget,” said Eve. “I will go now - and arrange it all with her. In this case, Basine will be like another - self to me.” - </p> - <p> - “Spies will follow you,” David said at last, recovering some presence of - mind. “How can we find a way of communicating with Basine if none of us - can go to her?” - </p> - <p> - “Montame kan go,” said Kolb. “Here ees my scheme—I go out mit der - master, ve draws der vischtlers on our drack. Montame kan go to - Montemoiselle Clerchet; nopody vill vollow her. I haf a horse; I take de - master oop behint; und der teufel is in it if they katches us.” - </p> - <p> - “Very well; good-bye, dear,” said poor Eve, springing to her husband’s - arms; “none of us can go to see you, the risk is too great. We must say - good-bye for the whole time that your imprisonment lasts. We will write to - each other; Basine will post your letters, and I will write under cover to - her.” - </p> - <p> - No sooner did David and Kolb come out of the house than they heard a sharp - whistle, and were followed to the livery stable. Once there, Kolb took his - master up behind him, with a caution to keep tight hold. - </p> - <p> - “Veestle avay, mind goot vriends! I care not von rap,” cried Kolb. “You - vill not datch an old trooper,” and the old cavalry man clapped both spurs - to his horse, and was out into the country and the darkness not merely - before the spies could follow, but before they had time to discover the - direction that he took. - </p> - <p> - Eve meanwhile went out on the tolerably ingenious pretext of asking advise - of Postel, sat awhile enduring the insulting pity that spends itself in - words, left the Postel family, and stole away unseen to Basine Clerget, - told her troubles, and asked for help and shelter. Basine, for greater - safety, had brought Eve into her bedroom, and now she opened the door of a - little closet, lighted only by a skylight in such a way that prying eyes - could not see into it. The two friends unstopped the flue which opened - into the chimney of the stove in the workroom, where the girls heated - their irons. Eve and Basine spread ragged coverlets over the brick floor - to deaden any sound that David might make, put in a truckle bed, a stove - for his experiments, and a table and a chair. Basine promised to bring - food in the night; and as no one had occasion to enter her room, David - might defy his enemies one and all, or even detectives. - </p> - <p> - “At last!” Eve said, with her arms about her friend, “at last he is in - safety.” - </p> - <p> - Eve went back to Postel to submit a fresh doubt that had occurred to her, - she said. She would like the opinion of such an experienced member of the - Chamber of Commerce; she so managed that he escorted her home, and - listened patiently to his commiseration. - </p> - <p> - “Would this have happened if you had married me?”—all the little - druggist’s remarks were pitched in this key. - </p> - <p> - Then he went home again to find Mme. Postel jealous of Mme. Sechard, and - furious with her spouse for his polite attention to that beautiful woman. - The apothecary advanced the opinion that little red-haired women were - preferable to tall, dark women, who, like fine horses, were always in the - stable, he said. He gave proofs of his sincerity, no doubt, for Mme. - Postel was very sweet to him next day. - </p> - <p> - “We may be easy,” Eve said to her mother and Marion, whom she found still - “in a taking,” in the latter’s phrase. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! they are gone,” said Marion, when Eve looked unthinkingly round the - room. - </p> - <p> - One league out of Angouleme on the main road to Paris, Kolb stopped. - </p> - <p> - “Vere shall we go?” - </p> - <p> - “To Marsac,” said David; “since we are on the way already, I will try once - more to soften my father’s heart.” - </p> - <p> - “I would rader mount to der assault of a pattery,” said Kolb, “your - resbected fader haf no heart whatefer.” - </p> - <p> - The ex-pressman had no belief in his son; he judged him from the outside - point of view, and waited for results. He had no idea, to begin with, that - he had plundered David, nor did he make allowance for the very different - circumstances under which they had begun life; he said to himself, “I set - him up with a printing-house, just as I found it myself; and he, knowing a - thousand times more than I did, cannot keep it going.” He was mentally - incapable of understanding his son; he laid the blame of failure upon him, - and even prided himself, as it were on his superiority to a far greater - intellect than his own, with the thought, “I am securing his bread for - him.” - </p> - <p> - Moralists will never succeed in making us comprehend the full extent of - the influence of sentiment upon self-interest, an influence every whit as - strong as the action of interest upon our sentiments; for every law of our - nature works in two ways, and acts and reacts upon us. - </p> - <p> - David, on his side, understood his father, and in his sublime charity - forgave him. Kolb and David reached Marsac at eight o’clock, and suddenly - came in upon the old man as he was finishing his dinner, which, by force - of circumstances, came very near bedtime. - </p> - <p> - “I see you because there is no help for it,” said old Sechard with a sour - smile. - </p> - <p> - “Und how should you and mein master meet? He soars in der shkies, and you - are always mit your vines! You bay for him, that’s vot you are a fader for——” - </p> - <p> - “Come, Kolb, off with you. Put up the horse at Mme. Courtois’ so as to - save inconvenience here; fathers are always in the right, remember that.” - </p> - <p> - Kolb went off, growling like a chidden dog, obedient but protesting; and - David proposed to give his father indisputable proof of his discovery, - while reserving his secret. He offered to give him an interest in the - affair in return for money paid down; a sufficient sum to release him from - his present difficulties, with or without a further amount of capital to - be employed in developing the invention. - </p> - <p> - “And how are you going to prove to me that you can make good paper that - costs nothing out of nothing, eh?” asked the ex-printer, giving his son a - glance, vinous, it may be, but keen, inquisitive, and covetous; a look - like a flash of lightning from a sodden cloud; for the old “bear,” - faithful to his traditions, never went to bed without a nightcap, - consisting of a couple of bottles of excellent old wine, which he “tippled - down” of an evening, to use his own expression. - </p> - <p> - “Nothing simpler,” said David; “I have none of the paper about me, for I - came here to be out of Doublon’s way; and having come so far, I thought I - might as well come to you at Marsac as borrow of a money-lender. I have - nothing on me but my clothes. Shut me up somewhere on the premises, so - that nobody can come in and see me at work, and——” - </p> - <p> - “What? you will not let me see you at your work then?” asked the old man, - with an ugly look at his son. - </p> - <p> - “You have given me to understand plainly, father, that in matters of - business there is no question of father and son——” - </p> - <p> - “Ah! you distrust the father that gave you life!” - </p> - <p> - “No; the other father who took away the means of earning a livelihood.” - </p> - <p> - “Each for himself, you are right!” said the old man. “Very good, I will - put you in the cellar.” - </p> - <p> - “I will go down there with Kolb. You must let me have a large pot for my - pulp,” said David; then he continued, without noticing the quick look his - father gave him,—“and you must find artichoke and asparagus stalks - for me, and nettles, and the reeds that you cut by the stream side, and - to-morrow morning I will come out of your cellar with some splendid - paper.” - </p> - <p> - “If you can do that,” hiccoughed the “bear,” “I will let you have, perhaps—I - will see, that is, if I can let you have—pshaw! twenty-five thousand - francs. On condition, mind, that you make as much for me every year.” - </p> - <p> - “Put me to the proof, I am quite willing,” cried David. “Kolb! take the - horse and go to Mansle, quick, buy a large hair sieve for me of a cooper, - and some glue of the grocer, and come back again as soon as you can.” - </p> - <p> - “There! drink,” said old Sechard, putting down a bottle of wine, a loaf, - and the cold remains of the dinner. “You will need your strength. I will - go and look for your bits of green stuff; green rags you use for your - pulp, and a trifle too green, I am afraid.” - </p> - <p> - Two hours later, towards eleven o’clock that night, David and Kolb took up - their quarters in a little out-house against the cellar wall; they found - the floor paved with runnel tiles, and all the apparatus used in Angoumois - for the manufacture of Cognac brandy. - </p> - <p> - “Pans and firewood! Why, it is as good as a factory made on purpose!” - cried David. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, good-night,” said old Sechard; “I shall lock you in, and let - both the dogs loose; nobody will bring you any paper, I am sure. You show - me those sheets to-morrow, and I give you my word I will be your partner - and the business will be straightforward and properly managed.” - </p> - <p> - David and Kolb, locked into the distillery, spent nearly two hours in - macerating the stems, using a couple of logs for mallets. The fire blazed - up, the water boiled. About two o’clock in the morning, Kolb heard a sound - which David was too busy to notice, a kind of deep breath like a - suppressed hiccough. Snatching up one of the two lighted dips, he looked - round the walls, and beheld old Sechard’s empurpled countenance filling up - a square opening above a door hitherto hidden by a pile of empty casks in - the cellar itself. The cunning old man had brought David and Kolb into his - underground distillery by the outer door, through which the casks were - rolled when full. The inner door had been made so that he could roll his - puncheons straight from the cellar into the distillery, instead of taking - them round through the yard. - </p> - <p> - “Aha! thees eies not fair blay, you vant to shvindle your son!” cried the - Alsacien. “Do you kow vot you do ven you trink ein pottle of vine? You gif - goot trink to ein bad scountrel.” - </p> - <p> - “Oh, father!” cried David. - </p> - <p> - “I came to see if you wanted anything,” said old Sechard, half sobered by - this time. - </p> - <p> - “Und it was for de inderest vot you take in us dot you brought der liddle - ladder!” commented Kolb, as he pushed the casks aside and flung open the - door; and there, in fact, on a short step-ladder, the old man stood in his - shirt. - </p> - <p> - “Risking your health!” said David. - </p> - <p> - “I think I must be walking in my sleep,” said old Sechard, coming down in - confusion. “Your want of confidence in your father set me dreaming; I - dreamed you were making a pact with the Devil to do impossible things.” - </p> - <p> - “Der teufel,” said Kolb; “dot is your own bassion for de liddle - goldfinches.” - </p> - <p> - “Go back to bed again, father,” said David; “lock us in if you will, but - you may save yourself the trouble of coming down again. Kolb will mount - guard.” - </p> - <p> - At four o’clock in the morning David came out of the distillery; he had - been careful to leave no sign of his occupation behind him; but he brought - out some thirty sheets of paper that left nothing to be desired in - fineness, whiteness, toughness, and strength, all of them bearing by way - of water-mark the impress of the uneven hairs of the sieve. The old man - took up the samples and put his tongue to them, the lifelong habit of the - pressman, who tests papers in this way. He felt it between his thumb and - finger, crumpled and creased it, put it through all the trials by which a - printer assays the quality of a sample submitted to him, and when it was - found wanting in no respect, he still would not allow that he was beaten. - </p> - <p> - “We have yet to know how it takes an impression,” he said, to avoid - praising his son. - </p> - <p> - “Funny man!” exclaimed Kolb. - </p> - <p> - The old man was cool enough now. He cloaked his feigned hesitation with - paternal dignity. - </p> - <p> - “I wish to tell you in fairness, father, that even now it seems to me that - paper costs more than it ought to do; I want to solve the problem of - sizing it in the pulping-trough. I have just that one improvement to - make.” - </p> - <p> - “Oho! so you are trying to trick me!” - </p> - <p> - “Well, shall I tell you? I can size the pulp as it is, but so far I cannot - do it evenly, and the surface is as rough as a burr!” - </p> - <p> - “Very good, size your pulp in the trough, and you shall have my money.” - </p> - <p> - “Mein master will nefer see de golor of your money,” declared Kolb. - </p> - <p> - “Father,” he began, “I have never borne you any grudge for making over the - business to me at such an exorbitant valuation; I have seen the father - through it all. I have said to myself—‘The old man has worked very - hard, and he certainly gave me a better bringing up than I had a right to - expect; let him enjoy the fruits of his toil in peace, and in his own way.—I - even gave up my mother’s money to you. I began encumbered with debt, and - bore all the burdens that you put upon me without a murmur. Well, harassed - for debts that were not of my making, with no bread in the house, and my - feet held to the flames, I have found out the secret. I have struggled on - patiently till my strength is exhausted. It is perhaps your duty to help - me, but do not give <i>me</i> a thought; think of a woman and a little - one” (David could not keep back the tears at this); “think of them, and - give them help and protection.—Kolb and Marion have given me their - savings; will you do less?” he cried at last, seeing that his father was - as cold as the impression-stone. - </p> - <p> - “And that was not enough for you,” said the old man, without the slightest - sense of shame; “why, you would waste the wealth of the Indies! - Good-night! I am too ignorant to lend a hand in schemes got up on purpose - to exploit me. A monkey will never gobble down a bear” (alluding to the - workshop nicknames); “I am a vinegrower, I am not a banker. And what is - more, look you, business between father and son never turns out well. Stay - and eat your dinner here; you shan’t say that you came for nothing.” - </p> - <p> - There are some deep-hearted natures that can force their own pain down - into inner depths unsuspected by those dearest to them; and with them, - when anguish forces its way to the surface and is visible, it is only - after a mighty upheaval. David’s nature was one of these. Eve had - thoroughly understood the noble character of the man. But now that the - depths had been stirred, David’s father took the wave of anguish that - passed over his son’s features for a child’s trick, an attempt to “get - round” his father, and his bitter grief for mortification over the failure - of the attempt. Father and son parted in anger. - </p> - <p> - David and Kolb reached Angouleme on the stroke of midnight. They came back - on foot, and steathily, like burglars. Before one o’clock in the morning - David was installed in the impenetrable hiding-place prepared by his wife - in Basine Clerget’s house. No one saw him enter it, and the pity that - henceforth should shelter David was the most resourceful pity of all—the - pity of a work-girl. - </p> - <p> - Kolb bragged that day that he had saved his master on horseback, and only - left him in a carrier’s van well on the way to Limoges. A sufficient - provision of raw material had been laid up in Basine’s cellar, and Kolb, - Marion, Mme. Sechard, and her mother had no communication with the house. - </p> - <p> - Two days after the scene at Marsac, old Sechard came hurrying to Angouleme - and his daughter-in-law. Covetousness had brought him. There were three - clear weeks ahead before the vintage began, and he thought he would be on - the look-out for squalls, to use his own expression. To this end he took - up his quarters in one of the attics which he had reserved by the terms of - the lease, wilfully shutting his eyes to the bareness and want that made - his son’s home desolate. If they owed him rent, they could well afford to - keep him. He ate his food from a tinned iron plate, and made no marvel at - it. “I began in the same way,” he told his daughter-in-law, when she - apologized for the absence of silver spoons. - </p> - <p> - Marion was obliged to run into debt for necessaries for them all. Kolb was - earning a franc for daily wage as a brick-layer’s laborer; and at last - poor Eve, who, for the sake of her husband and child, had sacrificed her - last resources to entertain David’s father, saw that she had only ten - francs left. She had hoped to the last to soften the old miser’s heart by - her affectionate respect, and patience, and pretty attentions; but old - Sechard was obdurate as ever. When she saw him turn the same cold eyes on - her, the same look that the Cointets had given her, and Petit-Claud and - Cerizet, she tried to watch and guess old Sechard’s intentions. Trouble - thrown away! Old Sechard, never sober, never drunk, was inscrutable; - intoxication is a double veil. If the old man’s tipsiness was sometimes - real, it was quite often feigned for the purpose of extracting David’s - secret from his wife. Sometimes he coaxed, sometimes he frightened his - daughter-in-law. - </p> - <p> - “I will drink up my property; <i>I will buy an annuity</i>,” he would - threaten when Eve told him that she knew nothing. - </p> - <p> - The humiliating struggle was wearing her out; she kept silence at last, - lest she should show disrespect to her husband’s father. - </p> - <p> - “But, father,” she said one day when driven to extremity, “there is a very - simple way of finding out everything. Pay David’s debts; he will come - home, and you can settle it between you.” - </p> - <p> - “Ha! that is what you want to get out of me, is it?” he cried. “It is as - well to know!” - </p> - <p> - But if Sechard had no belief in his son, he had plenty of faith in the - Cointets. He went to consult them, and the Cointets dazzled him of set - purpose, telling him that his son’s experiments might mean millions of - francs. - </p> - <p> - “If David can prove that he has succeeded, I shall not hesitate to go into - partnership with him, and reckon his discovery as half the capital,” the - tall Cointet told him. - </p> - <p> - The suspicious old man learned a good deal over nips of brandy with the - work-people, and something more by questioning Petit-Claud and feigning - stupidity; and at length he felt convinced that the Cointets were the real - movers behind Metivier; they were plotting to ruin Sechard’s printing - establishment, and to lure him (Sechard) on to pay his son’s debts by - holding out the discovery as a bait. The old man of the people did not - suspect that Petit-Claud was in the plot, nor had he any idea of the toils - woven to ensnare the great secret. A day came at last when he grew angry - and out of patience with the daughter-in-law who would not so much as tell - him where David was hiding; he determined to force the laboratory door, - for he had discovered that David was wont to make his experiments in the - workshop where the rollers were melted down. - </p> - <p> - He came downstairs very early one morning and set to work upon the lock. - </p> - <p> - “Hey! Papa Sechard, what are you doing there?” Marion called out. (She had - risen at daybreak to go to her papermill, and now she sprang across to the - workshop.) - </p> - <p> - “I am in my own house, am I not?” said the old man, in some confusion. - </p> - <p> - “Oh, indeed, are you turning thief in your old age? You are not drunk this - time either——I shall go straight to the mistress and tell - her.” - </p> - <p> - “Hold your tongue, Marion,” said Sechard, drawing two crowns of six francs - each from his pocket. “There——” - </p> - <p> - “I will hold my tongue, but don’t you do it again,” said Marion, shaking - her finger at him, “or all Angouleme shall hear of it.” - </p> - <p> - The old man had scarcely gone out, however, when Marion went up to her - mistress. - </p> - <p> - “Look, madame,” she said, “I have had twelve francs out of your - father-in-law, and here they are——” - </p> - <p> - “How did you do it?” - </p> - <p> - “What was he wanting to do but to take a look at the master’s pots and - pans and stuff, to find out the secret, forsooth. I knew quite well that - there was nothing in the little place, but I frightened him and talked as - if he were setting about robbing his son, and he gave me twelve francs to - say nothing about it.” - </p> - <p> - Just at that moment Basine came in radiant, and with a letter for her - friend, a letter from David written on magnificent paper, which she handed - over when they were alone. - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “MY ADORED EVE,—I am writing to you the first letter on my first - sheet of paper made by the new process. I have solved the problem - of sizing the pulp in the trough at last. A pound of pulp costs - five sous, even supposing that the raw material is grown on good - soil with special culture; three francs’ worth of sized pulp will - make a ream of paper, at twelve pounds to the ream. I am quite - sure that I can lessen the weight of books by one-half. The - envelope, the letter, and samples enclosed are all manufactured in - different ways. I kiss you; you shall have wealth now to add to - our happiness, everything else we had before.” - </pre> - <p> - “There!” said Eve, handing the samples to her father-in-law, “when the - vintage is over let your son have the money, give him a chance to make his - fortune, and you shall be repaid ten times over; he has succeeded at - last!” - </p> - <p> - Old Sechard hurried at once to the Cointets. Every sample was tested and - minutely examined; the prices, from three to ten francs per ream, were - noted on each separate slip; some were sized, others unsized; some were of - almost metallic purity, others soft as Japanese paper; in color there was - every possible shade of white. If old Sechard and the two Cointets had - been Jews examining diamonds, their eyes could not have glistened more - eagerly. - </p> - <p> - “Your son is on the right track,” the fat Cointet said at length. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, pay his debts,” returned old Sechard. - </p> - <p> - “By all means, if he will take us into partnership,” said the tall - Cointet. - </p> - <p> - “You are extortioners!” cried old Sechard. “You have been suing him under - Metivier’s name, and you mean me to buy you off; that is the long and the - short of it. Not such a fool, gentlemen——” - </p> - <p> - The brothers looked at one another, but they contrived to hide their - surprise at the old miser’s shrewdness. - </p> - <p> - “We are not millionaires,” said fat Cointet; “we do not discount bills for - amusement. We should think ourselves well off if we could pay ready money - for our bits of accounts for rags, and we still give bills to our dealer.” - </p> - <p> - “The experiment ought to be tried first on a much larger scale,” the tall - Cointet said coldly; “sometimes you try a thing with a saucepan and - succeed, and fail utterly when you experiment with bulk. You should help - your son out of difficulties.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes; but when my son is at liberty, would he take me as his partner?” - </p> - <p> - “That is no business of ours,” said the fat Cointet. “My good man, do you - suppose that when you have paid some ten thousand francs for your son, - that there is an end of it? It will cost two thousand francs to take out a - patent; there will be journeys to Paris; and before going to any expense, - it would be prudent to do as my brother suggests, and make a thousand - reams or so; to try several whole batches to make sure. You see, there is - nothing you must be so much on your guard against as an inventor.” - </p> - <p> - “I have a liking for bread ready buttered myself,” added the tall Cointet. - </p> - <p> - All through that night the old man ruminated over this dilemma—“If I - pay David’s debts, he will be set at liberty, and once set at liberty, he - need not share his fortune with me unless he chooses. He knows very well - that I cheated him over the first partnership, and he will not care to try - a second; so it is to my interest to keep him shut up, the wretched boy.” - </p> - <p> - The Cointets knew enough of Sechard senior to see that they should hunt in - couples. All three said to themselves—“Experiments must be tried - before the discovery can take any practical shape. David Sechard must be - set at liberty before those experiments can be made; and David Sechard, - set at liberty, will slip through our fingers.” - </p> - <p> - Everybody involved, moreover, had his own little afterthought. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud, for instance, said, “As soon as I am married, I will slip my - neck out of the Cointets’ yoke; but till then I shall hold on.” - </p> - <p> - The tall Cointet thought, “I would rather have David under lock and key, - and then I should be master of the situation.” - </p> - <p> - Old Sechard, too, thought, “If I pay my son’s debts, he will repay me with - a ‘Thank you!’” - </p> - <p> - Eve, hard pressed (for the old man threatened now to turn her out of the - house), would neither reveal her husband’s hiding-place, nor even send - proposals of a safe-conduct. She could not feel sure of finding so safe a - refuge a second time. - </p> - <p> - “Set your son at liberty,” she told her father-in-law, “and then you shall - know everything.” - </p> - <p> - The four interested persons sat, as it were, with a banquet spread before - them, none of them daring to begin, each one suspicious and watchful of - his neighbor. A few days after David went into hiding, Petit-Claud went to - the mill to see the tall Cointet. - </p> - <p> - “I have done my best,” he said; “David has gone into prison of his own - accord somewhere or other; he is working out some improvement there in - peace. It is no fault of mine if you have not gained your end; are you - going to keep your promise?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, if we succeed,” said the tall Cointet. “Old Sechard was here only a - day or two ago; he came to ask us some questions as to paper-making. The - old miser has got wind of his son’s invention; he wants to turn it to his - own account, so there is some hope of a partnership. You are with the - father and the son——” - </p> - <p> - “Be the third person in the trinity and give them up,” smiled Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” said Cointet. “When you have David in prison, or bound to us by a - deed of partnership, you shall marry Mlle. de la Haye.” - </p> - <p> - “Is that your <i>ultimatum</i>?” - </p> - <p> - “My <i>sine qua non</i>,” said Cointet, “since we are speaking in foreign - languages.” - </p> - <p> - “Then here is mine in plain language,” Petit-Claud said drily. - </p> - <p> - “Ah! let us have it,” answered Cointet, with some curiosity. - </p> - <p> - “You will present me to-morrow to Mme. de Sononches, and do something - definite for me; you will keep your word, in short; or I will clear off - Sechard’s debts myself, sell my practice, and go into partnership with - him. I will not be duped. You have spoken out, and I am doing the same. I - have given proof, give me proof of your sincerity. You have all, and I - have nothing. If you won’t do fairly by me, I know your cards, and I shall - play for my own hand.” - </p> - <p> - The tall Cointet took his hat and umbrella, his face at the same time - taking its Jesuitical expression, and out he went, bidding Petit-Claud - come with him. - </p> - <p> - “You shall see, my friend, whether I have prepared your way for you,” said - he. - </p> - <p> - The shrewd paper-manufacturer saw his danger at a glance; and saw, too, - that with a man like Petit-Claud it was better to play above board. Partly - to be prepared for contingencies, partly to satisfy his conscience, he had - dropped a word or two to the point in the ear of the ex-consul-general, - under the pretext of putting Mlle. de la Haye’s financial position before - that gentleman. - </p> - <p> - “I have the man for Francoise,” he had said; “for with thirty thousand - francs of <i>dot</i>, a girl must not expect too much nowadays.” - </p> - <p> - “We will talk it over later on,” answered Francis du Hautoy, - ex-consul-general. “Mme. de Senonches’ positon has altered very much since - Mme. de Bargeton went away; we very likely might marry Francoise to some - elderly country gentleman.” - </p> - <p> - “She would disgrace herself if you did,” Cointet returned in his dry way. - “Better marry her to some capable, ambitious young man; you could help him - with your influence, and he would make a good position for his wife.” - </p> - <p> - “We shall see,” said Francis du Hautoy; “her godmother ought to be - consulted first, in any case.” - </p> - <p> - When M. de Bargeton died, his wife sold the great house in the Rue du - Minage. Mme. de Senonches, finding her own house scarcely large enough, - persuaded M. de Senonches to buy the Hotel de Bargeton, the cradle of - Lucien Chardon’s ambitions, the scene of the earliest events in his - career. Zephirine de Senonches had it in mind to succeed to Mme. de - Bargeton; she, too, would be a kind of queen in Angouleme; she would have - “a salon,” and be a great lady, in short. There was a schism in Angouleme, - a strife dating from the late M. de Bargeton’s duel with M. de Chandour. - Some maintained that Louise de Negrepelisse was blameless, others believed - in Stanislas de Chandour’s scandals. Mme. de Senonches declared for the - Bargetons, and began by winning over that faction. Many frequenters of the - Hotel de Bargeton had been so accustomed for years to their nightly game - of cards in the house that they could not leave it, and Mme. de Senonches - turned this fact to account. She received every evening, and certainly - gained all the ground lost by Amelie de Chandour, who set up for a rival. - </p> - <p> - Francis du Hautoy, living in the inmost circle of nobility in Angouleme, - went so far as to think of marrying Francoise to old M. de Severac, Mme. - du Brossard having totally failed to capture that gentleman for her - daughter; and when Mme. de Bargeton reappeared as the prefect’s wife, - Zephirine’s hopes for her dear goddaughter waxed high, indeed. The - Comtesse du Chatelet, so she argued, would be sure to use her influence - for her champion. - </p> - <p> - Boniface Cointet had Angouleme at his fingers’ ends; he saw all the - difficulties at a glance, and resolved to sweep them out of the way by a - bold stroke that only a Tartuffe’s brain could invent. The puny lawyer was - not a little amused to find his fellow-conspirator keeping his word with - him; not a word did Petit-Claud utter; he respected the musings of his - companion, and they walked the whole way from the paper-mill to the Rue du - Minage in silence. - </p> - <p> - “Monsieur and madame are at breakfast”—this announcement met the - ill-timed visitors on the steps. - </p> - <p> - “Take in our names, all the same,” said the tall Cointet; and feeling sure - of his position, he followed immediately behind the servant and introduced - his companion to the elaborately-affected Zephirine, who was breakfasting - in company with M. Francis du Hautoy and Mlle. de la Haye. M. de Senonches - had gone, as usual, for a day’s shooting over M. de Pimentel’s land. - </p> - <p> - “M. Petit-Claud is the young lawyer of whom I spoke to you, madame; he - will go through the trust accounts when your fair ward comes of age.” - </p> - <p> - The ex-diplomatist made a quick scrutiny of Petit-Claud, who, for his - part, was looking furtively at the “fair ward.” As for Zephirine, who - heard of the matter for the first time, her surprise was so great that she - dropped her fork. - </p> - <p> - Mlle. de la Haye, a shrewish young woman with an ill-tempered face, a - waist that could scarcely be called slender, a thin figure, and colorless, - fair hair, in spite of a certain little air that she had, was by no means - easy to marry. The “parentage unknown” on her birth certificate was the - real bar to her entrance into the sphere where her godmother’s affection - stove to establish her. Mlle. de la Haye, ignorant of her real position, - was very hard to please; the richest merchant in L’Houmeau had found no - favor in her sight. Cointet saw the sufficiently significant expression of - the young lady’s face at the sight of the little lawyer, and turning, - beheld a precisely similar grimace on Petit-Claud’s countenance. Mme. de - Senonches and Francis looked at each other, as if in search of an excuse - for getting rid of the visitors. All this Cointet saw. He asked M. du - Hautoy for the favor of a few minutes’ speech with him, and the pair went - together into the drawing-room. - </p> - <p> - “Fatherly affection is blinding you, sir,” he said bluntly. “You will not - find it an easy thing to marry your daughter; and, acting in your interest - throughout, I have put you in a position from which you cannot draw back; - for I am fond of Francoise, she is my ward. Now—Petit-Claud knows <i>everything</i>! - His overweening ambition is a guarantee for our dear child’s happiness; - for, in the first place, Francoise will do as she likes with her husband; - and, in the second, he wants your influence. You can ask the new prefect - for the post of crown attorney for him in the court here. M. Milaud is - definitely appointed to Nevers, Petit-Claud will sell his practice, you - will have no difficulty in obtaining a deputy public prosecutor’s place - for him; and it will not be long before he becomes attorney for the crown, - president of the court, deputy, what you will.” - </p> - <p> - Francis went back to the dining-room and behaved charmingly to his - daughter’s suitor. He gave Mme. de Senonches a look, and brought the scene - to a close with an invitation to dine with them on the morrow; Petit-Claud - must come and discuss the business in hand. He even went downstairs and as - far as the corner with the visitors, telling Petit-Claud that after - Cointet’s recommendation, both he and Mme. de Senonches were disposed to - approve all that Mlle. de la Haye’s trustee had arranged for the welfare - of that little angel. - </p> - <p> - “Oh!” cried Petit-Claud, as they came away, “what a plain girl! I have - been taken in——” - </p> - <p> - “She looks a lady-like girl,” returned Cointet, “and besides, if she were - a beauty, would they give her to you? Eh! my dear fellow, thirty thousand - francs and the influence of Mme. de Senonches and the Comtesse du - Chatelet! Many a small landowner would be wonderfully glad of the chance, - and all the more so since M. Francis du Hautoy is never likely to marry, - and all that he has will go to the girl. Your marriage is as good as - settled.” - </p> - <p> - “How?” - </p> - <p> - “That is what I am just going to tell you,” returned Cointet, and he gave - his companion an account of his recent bold stroke. “M. Milaud is just - about to be appointed attorney for the crown at Nevers, my dear fellow,” - he continued; “sell your practice, and in ten years’ time you will be - Keeper of the Seals. You are not the kind of a man to draw back from any - service required of you by the Court.” - </p> - <p> - “Very well,” said Petit-Claud, his zeal stirred by the prospect of such a - career, “very well, be in the Place du Murier to-morrow at half-past four; - I will see old Sechard in the meantime; we will have a deed of partnership - drawn up, and the father and the son shall be bound thereby, and delivered - to the third person of the trinity—Cointet, to wit.” - </p> - <p> - To return to Lucien in Paris. On the morrow of the loss announced in his - letter, he obtained a <i>visa</i> for his passport, bought a stout holly - stick, and went to the Rue d’Enfer to take a place in the little market - van, which took him as far as Longjumeau for half a franc. He was going - home to Angouleme. At the end of the first day’s tramp he slept in a - cowshed, two leagues from Arpajon. He had come no farther than Orleans - before he was very weary, and almost ready to break down, but there he - found a boatman willing to bring him as far as Tours for three francs, and - food during the journey cost him but forty sous. Five days of walking - brought him from Tours to Poitiers, and left him with but five francs in - his pockets, but he summoned up all his remaining strength for the journey - before him. - </p> - <p> - He was overtaken by night in the open country, and had made up his mind to - sleep out of doors, when a traveling carriage passed by, slowly climbing - the hillside, and, all unknown to the postilion, the occupants, and the - servant, he managed to slip in among the luggage, crouching in between two - trunks lest he should be shaken off by the jolting of the carriage—and - so he slept. - </p> - <p> - He awoke with the sun shining into his eyes, and the sound of voices in - his ears. The carriage had come to a standstill. Looking about him, he - knew that he was at Mansle, the little town where he had waited for Mme. - de Bargeton eighteen months before, when his heart was full of hope and - love and joy. A group of post-boys eyed him curiously and suspiciously, - covered with dust as he was, wedged in among the luggage. Lucien jumped - down, but before he could speak two travelers stepped out of the caleche, - and the words died away on his lips; for there stood the new Prefect of - the Charente, Sixte du Chatelet, and his wife, Louise de Negrepelisse. - </p> - <p> - “Chance gave us a traveling-companion, if we had but known!” said the - Countess. “Come in with us, monsieur.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien gave the couple a distant bow and a half-humbled half-defiant - glance; then he turned away into a cross-country road in search of some - farmhouse, where he might make a breakfast on milk and bread, and rest - awhile, and think quietly over the future. He still had three francs left. - On and on he walked with the hurrying pace of fever, noticing as he went, - down by the riverside, that the country grew more and more picturesque. It - was near mid-day when he came upon a sheet of water with willows growing - about the margin, and stopped for awhile to rest his eyes on the cool, - thick-growing leaves; and something of the grace of the fields entered - into his soul. - </p> - <p> - In among the crests of the willows, he caught a glimpse of a mill near-by - on a branch stream, and of the thatched roof of the mill-house where the - house-leeks were growing. For all ornament, the quaint cottage was covered - with jessamine and honeysuckle and climbing hops, and the garden about it - was gay with phloxes and tall, juicy-leaved plants. Nets lay drying in the - sun along a paved causeway raised above the highest flood level, and - secured by massive piles. Ducks were swimming in the clear mill-pond below - the currents of water roaring over the wheel. As the poet came nearer he - heard the clack of the mill, and saw the good-natured, homely woman of the - house knitting on a garden bench, and keeping an eye upon a little one who - was chasing the hens about. - </p> - <p> - Lucien came forward. “My good woman,” he said, “I am tired out; I have a - fever on me, and I have only three francs; will you undertake to give me - brown bread and milk, and let me sleep in the barn for a week? I shall - have time to write to my people, and they will either come to fetch me or - send me money.” - </p> - <p> - “I am quite willing, always supposing that my husband has no objection.—Hey! - little man!” - </p> - <p> - The miller came up, gave Lucien a look over, and took his pipe out of his - mouth to remark, “Three francs for a weeks board? You might as well pay - nothing at all.” - </p> - <p> - “Perhaps I shall end as a miller’s man,” thought the poet, as his eyes - wandered over the lovely country. Then the miller’s wife made a bed ready - for him, and Lucien lay down and slept so long that his hostess was - frightened. - </p> - <p> - “Courtois,” she said, next day at noon, “just go in and see whether that - young man is dead or alive; he has been lying there these fourteen hours.” - </p> - <p> - The miller was busy spreading out his fishing-nets and lines. “It is my - belief,” he said, “that the pretty fellow yonder is some starveling - play-actor without a brass farthing to bless himself with.” - </p> - <p> - “What makes you think that, little man?” asked the mistress of the mill. - </p> - <p> - “Lord, he is not a prince, nor a lord, nor a member of parliament, nor a - bishop; why are his hands as white as if he did nothing?” - </p> - <p> - “Then it is very strange that he does not feel hungry and wake up,” - retorted the miller’s wife; she had just prepared breakfast for - yesterday’s chance guest. “A play-actor, is he?” she continued. “Where - will he be going? It is too early yet for the fair at Angouleme.” - </p> - <p> - But neither the miller nor his wife suspected that (actors, princes, and - bishops apart) there is a kind of being who is both prince and actor, and - invested besides with a magnificent order of priesthood—that the - Poet seems to do nothing, yet reigns over all humanity when he can paint - humanity. - </p> - <p> - “What can he be?” Courtois asked of his wife. - </p> - <p> - “Suppose it should be dangerous to take him in?” queried she. - </p> - <p> - “Pooh! thieves look more alive than that; we should have been robbed by - this time,” returned her spouse. - </p> - <p> - “I am neither a prince nor a thief, nor a bishop nor an actor,” Lucien - said wearily; he must have overheard the colloquy through the window, and - now he suddenly appeared. “I am poor, I am tired out, I have come on foot - from Paris. My name is Lucien de Rubempre, and my father was M. Chardon, - who used to have Postel’s business in L’Houmeau. My sister married David - Sechard, the printer in the Place du Murier at Angouleme.” - </p> - <p> - “Stop a bit,” said the miller, “that printer is the son of the old - skinflint who farms his own land at Marsac, isn’t he?” - </p> - <p> - “The very same,” said Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “He is a queer kind of father, he is!” Courtois continued. “He is worth - two hundred thousand francs and more, without counting his money-box, and - he has sold his son up, they say.” - </p> - <p> - When body and soul have been broken by a prolonged painful struggle, there - comes a crisis when a strong nature braces itself for greater effort; but - those who give way under the strain either die or sink into - unconsciousness like death. That hour of crisis had struck for Lucien; at - the vague rumor of the catastrophe that had befallen David he seemed - almost ready to succumb. “Oh! my sister!” he cried. “Oh, God! what have I - done? Base wretch that I am!” - </p> - <p> - He dropped down on the wooden bench, looking white and powerless as a - dying man; the miller’s wife brought out a bowl of milk and made him - drink, but he begged the miller to help him back to his bed, and asked to - be forgiven for bringing a dying man into their house. He thought his last - hour had come. With the shadow of death, thoughts of religion crossed a - brain so quick to conceive picturesque fancies; he would see the cure, he - would confess and receive the last sacraments. The moan, uttered in the - faint voice by a young man with such a comely face and figure, went to - Mme. Courtois’ heart. - </p> - <p> - “I say, little man, just take the horse and go to Marsac and ask Dr. - Marron to come and see this young man; he is in a very bad way, it seems - to me, and you might bring the cure as well. Perhaps they may know more - about that printer in the Place du Murier than you do, for Postel married - M. Marron’s daughter.” - </p> - <p> - Courtois departed. The miller’s wife tried to make Lucien take food; like - all country-bred folk, she was full of the idea that sick folk must be - made to eat. He took no notice of her, but gave way to a violent storm of - remorseful grief, a kind of mental process of counter-irritation, which - relieved him. - </p> - <p> - The Courtois’ mill lies a league away from Marsac, the town of the - district, and the half-way between Mansle and Angouleme; so it was not - long before the good miller came back with the doctor and the cure. Both - functionaries had heard rumors coupling Lucien’s name with the name of - Mme. de Bargeton; and now when the whole department was talking of the - lady’s marriage to the new Prefect and her return to Angouleme as the - Comtesse du Chatelet, both cure and doctor were consumed with a violent - curiosity to know why M. de Bargeton’s widow had not married the young - poet with whom she had left Angouleme. And when they heard, furthermore, - that Lucien was at the mill, they were eager to know whether the poet had - come to the rescue of his brother-in-law. Curiosity and humanity alike - prompted them to go at once to the dying man. Two hours after Courtois set - out, Lucien heard the rattle of old iron over the stony causeway, the - country doctor’s ramshackle chaise came up to the door, and out stepped - MM. Marron, for the cure was the doctor’s uncle. Lucien’s bedside visitors - were as intimate with David’s father as country neighbors usually are in a - small vine-growing township. The doctor looked at the dying man, felt his - pulse, and examined his tongue; then he looked at the miller’s wife, and - smiled reassuringly. - </p> - <p> - “Mme. Courtois,” said he, “if, as I do not doubt, you have a bottle of - good wine somewhere in the cellar, and a fat eel in your fish-pond, put - them before your patient, it is only exhaustion; there is nothing the - matter with him. Our great man will be on his feet again directly.” - </p> - <p> - “Ah! monsieur,” said Lucien, “it is not the body, it is the mind that - ails. These good people have told me tidings that nearly killed me; I have - just heard the bad news of my sister, Mme. Sechard. Mme. Courtois says - that your daughter is married to Postel, monsieur, so you must know - something of David Sechard’s affairs; oh, for heaven’s sake, monsieur, - tell me what you know!” - </p> - <p> - “Why, he must be in prison,” began the doctor; “his father would not help - him——” - </p> - <p> - “<i>In prison</i>!” repeated Lucien, “and why?” - </p> - <p> - “Because some bills came from Paris; he had overlooked them, no doubt, for - he does not pay much attention to his business, they say,” said Dr. - Marron. - </p> - <p> - “Pray leave me with M. le Cure,” said the poet, with a visible change of - countenance. The doctor and the miller and his wife went out of the room, - and Lucien was left alone with the old priest. - </p> - <p> - “Sir,” he said, “I feel that death is near, and I deserve to die. I am a - very miserable wretch; I can only cast myself into the arms of religion. - I, sir, <i>I</i> have brought all these troubles on my sister and brother, - for David Sechard has been a brother to me. I drew those bills that David - could not meet! . . . I have ruined him. In my terrible misery, I forgot - the crime. A millionaire put an end to the proceedings, and I quite - believed that he had met the bills; but nothing of the kind has been done, - it seems.” And Lucien told the tale of his sorrows. The story, as he told - it in his feverish excitement, was worthy of the poet. He besought the - cure to go to Angouleme and to ask for news of Eve and his mother, Mme. - Chardon, and to let him know the truth, and whether it was still possible - to repair the evil. - </p> - <p> - “I shall live till you come back, sir,” he added, as the hot tears fell. - “If my mother, and sister, and David do not cast me off, I shall not die.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien’s remorse was terrible to see, the tears, the eloquence, the young - white face with the heartbroken, despairing look, the tales of sorrow upon - sorrow till human strength could no more endure, all these things aroused - the cure’s pity and interest. - </p> - <p> - “In the provinces, as in Paris,” he said, “you must believe only half of - all that you hear. Do not alarm yourself; a piece of hearsay, three - leagues away from Angouleme, is sure to be far from the truth. Old - Sechard, our neighbor, left Marsac some days ago; very likely he is busy - settling his son’s difficulties. I am going to Angouleme; I will come back - and tell you whether you can return home; your confessions and repentance - will help to plead your cause.” - </p> - <p> - The cure did not know that Lucien had repented so many times during the - last eighteen months, that penitence, however impassioned, had come to be - a kind of drama with him, played to perfection, played so far in all good - faith, but none the less a drama. To the cure succeeded the doctor. He saw - that the patient was passing through a nervous crisis, and the danger was - beginning to subside. The doctor-nephew spoke as comfortably as the - cure-uncle, and at length the patient was persuaded to take nourishment. - </p> - <p> - Meanwhile the cure, knowing the manners and customs of the countryside, - had gone to Mansle; the coach from Ruffec to Angouleme was due to pass - about that time, and he found a vacant place in it. He would go to his - grand-nephew Postel in L’Houmeau (David’s former rival) and make inquiries - of him. From the assiduity with which the little druggist assisted his - venerable relative to alight from the abominable cage which did duty as a - coach between Ruffec and Angouleme, it was apparent to the meanest - understanding that M. and Mme. Postel founded their hopes of future ease - upon the old cure’s will. - </p> - <p> - “Have you breakfasted? Will you take something? We did not in the least - expect you! This is a pleasant surprise!” Out came questions innumerable - in a breath. - </p> - <p> - Mme. Postel might have been born to be the wife of an apothecary in - L’Houmeau. She was a common-looking woman, about the same height as little - Postel himself, such good looks as she possessed being entirely due to - youth and health. Her florid auburn hair grew very low upon her forehead. - Her demeanor and language were in keeping with homely features, a round - countenance, the red cheeks of a country damsel, and eyes that might - almost be described as yellow. Everything about her said plainly enough - that she had been married for expectations of money. After a year of - married life, therefore, she ruled the house; and Postel, only too happy - to have discovered the heiress, meekly submitted to his wife. Mme. Leonie - Postel, <i>nee</i> Marron, was nursing her first child, the darling of the - old cure, the doctor, and Postel, a repulsive infant, with a strong - likeness to both parents. - </p> - <p> - “Well, uncle,” said Leonie, “what has brought you to Angouleme, since you - will not take anything, and no sooner come in than you talk of going?” - </p> - <p> - But when the venerable ecclesiastic brought out the names of David Sechard - and Eve, little Postel grew very red, and Leonie, his wife, felt it - incumbent upon her to give him a jealous glance—the glance that a - wife never fails to give when she is perfectly sure of her husband, and - gives a look into the past by way of a caution for the future. - </p> - <p> - “What have yonder folk done to you, uncle, that you should mix yourself up - in their affairs?” inquired Leonie, with very perceptible tartness. - </p> - <p> - “They are in trouble, my girl,” said the cure, and he told the Postels - about Lucien at the Courtois’ mill. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! so that is the way he came back from Paris, is it?” exclaimed Postel. - “Yet he had some brains, poor fellow, and he was ambitious, too. He went - out to look for wool, and comes home shorn. But what does he want here? - His sister is frightfully poor; for all these geniuses, David and Lucien - alike, know very little about business. There was some talk of him at the - Tribunal, and, as judge, I was obliged to sign the warrant of execution. - It was a painful duty. I do not know whether the sister’s circumstances - are such that Lucien can go to her; but in any case the little room that - he used to occupy here is at liberty, and I shall be pleased to offer it - to him.” - </p> - <p> - “That is right, Postel,” said the priest; he bestowed a kiss on the infant - slumbering in Leonie’s arms, and, adjusting his cocked hat, prepared to - walk out of the shop. - </p> - <p> - “You will dine with us, uncle, of course,” said Mme. Postel; “if once you - meddle in these people’s affairs, it will be some time before you have - done. My husband will drive you back again in his little pony-cart.” - </p> - <p> - Husband and wife stood watching their valued, aged relative on his way - into Angouleme. “He carries himself well for his age, all the same,” - remarked the druggist. - </p> - <p> - By this time David had been in hiding for eleven days in a house only two - doors away from the druggist’s shop, which the worthy ecclesiastic had - just quitted to climb the steep path into Angouleme with the news of - Lucien’s present condition. - </p> - <p> - When the Abbe Marron debouched upon the Place du Murier he found three - men, each one remarkable in his own way, and all of them bearing with - their whole weight upon the present and future of the hapless voluntary - prisoner. There stood old Sechard, the tall Cointet, and his confederate, - the puny limb of the law, three men representing three phases of greed as - widely different as the outward forms of the speakers. The first had it in - his mind to sell his own son; the second, to betray his client; and the - third, while bargaining for both iniquities, was inwardly resolved to pay - for neither. It was nearly five o’clock. Passers-by on their way home to - dinner stopped a moment to look at the group. - </p> - <p> - “What the devil can old Sechard and the tall Cointet have to say to each - other?” asked the more curious. - </p> - <p> - “There was something on foot concerning that miserable wretch that leaves - his wife and child and mother-in-law to starve,” suggested some. - </p> - <p> - “Talk of sending a boy to Paris to learn his trade!” said a provincial - oracle. - </p> - <p> - “M. le Cure, what brings you here, eh?” exclaimed old Sechard, catching - sight of the Abbe as soon as he appeared. - </p> - <p> - “I have come on account of your family,” answered the old man. - </p> - <p> - “Here is another of my son’s notions!” exclaimed old Sechard. - </p> - <p> - “It would not cost you much to make everybody happy all round,” said the - priest, looking at the windows of the printing-house. Mme. Sechard’s - beautiful face appeared at that moment between the curtains; she was - hushing her child’s cries by tossing him in her arms and singing to him. - </p> - <p> - “Are you bringing news of my son?” asked old Sechard, “or what is more to - the purpose—money?” - </p> - <p> - “No,” answered M. Marron, “I am bringing the sister news of her brother.” - </p> - <p> - “Of Lucien?” cried Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “Yes. He walked all the way from Paris, poor young man. I found him at the - Courtois’ house; he was worn out with misery and fatigue. Oh! he is very - much to be pitied.” - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud took the tall Cointet by the arm, saying aloud, “If we are - going to dine with Mme. de Senonches, it is time to dress.” When they had - come away a few paces, he added, for his companion’s benefit, “Catch the - cub, and you will soon have the dam; we have David now——” - </p> - <p> - “I have found you a wife, find me a partner,” said the tall Cointet with a - treacherous smile. - </p> - <p> - “Lucien is an old school-fellow of mine; we used to be chums. I shall be - sure to hear something from him in a week’s time. Have the banns put up, - and I will engage to put David in prison. When he is on the jailer’s - register I shall have done my part.” - </p> - <p> - “Ah!” exclaimed the tall Cointet under his breath, “we might have the - patent taken out in our name; that would be the thing!” - </p> - <p> - A shiver ran through the meagre little attorney when he heard those words. - </p> - <p> - Meanwhile Eve beheld her father-in-law enter with the Abbe Marron, who had - let fall a word which unfolded the whole tragedy. - </p> - <p> - “Here is our cure, Mme. Sechard,” the old man said, addressing his - daughter-in-law, “and pretty tales about your brother he has to tell us, - no doubt!” - </p> - <p> - “Oh!” cried poor Eve, cut to the heart; “what can have happened now?” - </p> - <p> - The cry told so unmistakably of many sorrows, of great dread on so many - grounds, that the Abbe Marron made haste to say, “Reassure yourself, - madame; he is living.” - </p> - <p> - Eve turned to the vinegrower. - </p> - <p> - “Father,” she said, “perhaps you will be good enough to go to my mother; - she must hear all that this gentleman has to tell us of Lucien.” - </p> - <p> - The old man went in search of Mme. Chardon, and addressed her in this - wise: - </p> - <p> - “Go and have it out with the Abbe Marron; he is a good sort, priest though - he is. Dinner will be late, no doubt. I shall come back again in an hour,” - and the old man went out. Insensible as he was to everything but the clink - of money and the glitter of gold, he left Mme. Chardon without caring to - notice the effect of the shock that he had given her. - </p> - <p> - Mme. Chardon had changed so greatly during the last eighteen months, that - in that short time she no longer looked like the same woman. The troubles - hanging over both of her children, her abortive hopes for Lucien, the - unexpected deterioration in one in whose powers and honesty she had for so - long believed,—all these things had told heavily upon her. Mme. - Chardon was not only noble by birth, she was noble by nature; she idolized - her children; consequently, during the last six months she had suffered as - never before since her widowhood. Lucien might have borne the name of - Lucien de Rubempre by royal letters patent; he might have founded the - family anew, revived the title, and borne the arms; he might have made a - great name—he had thrown the chance away; nay, he had fallen into - the mire! - </p> - <p> - For Mme. Chardon the mother was a harder judge than Eve the sister. When - she heard of the bills, she looked upon Lucien as lost. A mother is often - fain to shut her eyes, but she always knows the child that she held at her - breast, the child that has been always with her in the house; and so when - Eve and David discussed Lucien’s chances of success in Paris, and Lucien’s - mother to all appearance shared Eve’s illusions, in her inmost heart there - was a tremor of fear lest David should be right, for a mother’s - consciousness bore a witness to the truth of his words. So well did she - know Eve’s sensitive nature, that she could not bring herself to speak of - her fears; she was obliged to choke them down and keep such silence as - mothers alone can keep when they know how to love their children. - </p> - <p> - And Eve, on her side, had watched her mother, and saw the ravages of - hidden grief with a feeling of dread; her mother was not growing old, she - was failing from day to day. Mother and daughter lived a live of generous - deception, and neither was deceived. The brutal old vinegrower’s speech - was the last drop that filled the cup of affliction to overflowing. The - words struck a chill to Mme. Chardon’s heart. - </p> - <p> - “Here is my mother, monsieur,” said Eve, and the Abbe, looking up, saw a - white-haired woman with a face as thin and worn as the features of some - aged nun, and yet grown beautiful with the calm and sweet expression that - devout submission gives to the faces of women who walk by the will of God, - as the saying is. Then the Abbe understood the lives of the mother and - daughter, and had no more sympathy left for Lucien; he shuddered to think - of all that the victims had endured. - </p> - <p> - “Mother,” said Eve, drying her eyes as she spoke, “poor Lucien is not very - far away, he is at Marsac.” - </p> - <p> - “And why is he not here?” asked Mme. Chardon. - </p> - <p> - Then the Abbe told the whole story as Lucien had told it to him—the - misery of the journey, the troubles of the last days in Paris. He - described the poet’s agony of mind when he heard of the havoc wrought at - home by his imprudence, and his apprehension as to the reception awaiting - him at Angouleme. - </p> - <p> - “He has doubts of us; has it come to this?” said Mme. Chardon. - </p> - <p> - “The unhappy young man has come back to you on foot, enduring the most - terrible hardships by the way; he is prepared to enter the humblest walks - in life—if so he may make reparation.” - </p> - <p> - “Monsieur,” Lucien’s sister said, “in spite of the wrong he has done us, I - love my brother still, as we love the dead body when the soul has left it; - and even so, I love him more than many sisters love their brothers. He has - made us poor indeed; but let him come to us, he shall share the last crust - of bread, anything indeed that he has left us. Oh, if he had never left - us, monsieur, we should not have lost our heart’s treasure.” - </p> - <p> - “And the woman who took him from us brought him back on her carriage!” - exclaimed Mme. Chardon. “He went away sitting by Mme. de Bargeton’s side - in her caleche, and he came back behind it.” - </p> - <p> - “Can I do anything for you?” asked the good cure, seeking an opportunity - to take leave. - </p> - <p> - “A wound in the purse is not fatal, they say, monsieur,” said Mme. - Chardon, “but the patient must be his own doctor.” - </p> - <p> - “If you have sufficient influence with my father-in-law to induce him to - help his son, you would save a whole family,” said Eve. - </p> - <p> - “He has no belief in you, and he seemed to me to be very much exasperated - against your husband,” answered the old cure. He retained an impression, - from the ex-pressman’s rambling talk, that the Sechards’ affairs were a - kind of wasps’ nest with which it was imprudent to meddle, and his mission - being fulfilled, he went to dine with his nephew Postel. That worthy, like - the rest of Angouleme, maintained that the father was in the right, and - soon dissipated any little benevolence that the old gentleman was disposed - to feel towards the son and his family. - </p> - <p> - “With those that squander money something may be done,” concluded little - Postel, “but those that make experiments are the ruin of you.” - </p> - <p> - The cure went home; his curiosity was thoroughly satisfied, and this is - the end and object of the exceeding interest taken in other people’s - business in the provinces. In the course of the evening the poet was duly - informed of all that had passed in the Sechard family, and the journey was - represented as a pilgrimage undertaken from motives of the purest charity. - </p> - <p> - “You have run your brother-in-law and sister into debt to the amount of - ten or twelve thousand francs,” said the Abbe as he drew to an end, “and - nobody hereabouts has that trifling amount to lend a neighbor, my dear - sir. We are not rich in Angoumois. When you spoke to me of your bills, I - thought that a much smaller amount was involved.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien thanked the old man for his good offices. “The promise of - forgiveness which you have brought is for me a priceless gift.” - </p> - <p> - Very early the next morning Lucien set out from Marsac, and reached - Angouleme towards nine o’clock. He carried nothing but his walking-stick; - the short jacket that he wore was considerably the worst for his journey, - his black trousers were whitened with dust, and a pair of worn boots told - sufficiently plainly that their owner belonged to the hapless tribe of - tramps. He knew well enough that the contrast between his departure and - return was bound to strike his fellow-townsmen; he did not try to hide the - fact from himself. But just then, with his heart swelling beneath the - oppression of remorse awakened in him by the old cure’s story, he accepted - his punishment for the moment, and made up his mind to brave the eyes of - his acquaintances. Within himself he said, “I am behaving heroically.” - </p> - <p> - Poetic temperaments of this stamp begin as their own dupes. He walked up - through L’Houmeau, shame at the manner of his return struggling with the - charm of old associations as he went. His heart beat quickly as he passed - Postel’s shop; but, very luckily for him, the only persons inside it were - Leonie and her child. And yet, vanity was still so strong in him, that he - could feel glad that his father’s name had been painted out on the - shop-front; for Postel, since his marriage, had redecorated his abode, and - the word “Pharmacy” now alone appeared there, in the Paris fashion, in big - letters. - </p> - <p> - When Lucien reached the steps by the Palet Gate, he felt the influence of - his native air, his misfortunes no longer weighed upon him. “I shall see - them again!” he said to himself, with a thrill of delight. - </p> - <p> - He reached the Place du Murier, and had not met a soul, a piece of luck - that he scarcely hoped for, he who once had gone about his native place - with a conqueror’s air. Marion and Kolb, on guard at the door, flew out - upon the steps, crying out, “Here he is!” - </p> - <p> - Lucien saw the familiar workshop and courtyard, and on the staircase met - his mother and sister, and for a moment, while their arms were about him, - all three almost forgot their troubles. In family life we almost always - compound with our misfortunes; we make a sort of bed to rest upon; and, if - it is hard, hope to make it tolerable. If Lucien looked the picture of - despair, poetic charm was not wanting to the picture. His face had been - tanned by the sunlight of the open road, and the deep sadness visible in - his features overshadowed his poet’s brow. The change in him told so - plainly of sufferings endured, his face was so worn by sharp misery, that - no one could help pitying him. Imagination had fared forth into the world - and found sad reality at the home-coming. Eve was smiling in the midst of - her joy, as the saints smile upon martyrdom. The face of a young and very - fair woman grows sublimely beautiful at the touch of grief; Lucien - remembered the innocent girlish face that he saw last before he went to - Paris, and the look of gravity that had come over it spoke so eloquently - that he could not but feel a painful impression. The first quick, natural - outpouring of affection was followed at once by a reaction on either side; - they were afraid to speak; and when Lucien almost involuntarily looked - round for another who should have been there, Eve burst into tears, and - Lucien did the same, but Mme. Chardon’s haggard face showed no sign of - emotion. Eve rose to her feet and went downstairs, partly to spare her - brother a word of reproach, partly to speak to Marion. - </p> - <p> - “Lucien is so fond of strawberries, child, we must find some strawberries - for him.” - </p> - <p> - “Oh, I was sure that you would want to welcome M. Lucien; you shall have a - nice little breakfast and a good dinner, too.” - </p> - <p> - “Lucien,” said Mme. Chardon when the mother and son were left alone, “you - have a great deal to repair here. You went away that we all might be proud - of you; you have plunged us into want. You have all but destroyed your - brother’s opportunity of making a fortune that he only cared to win for - the sake of his new family. Nor is this all that you have destroyed——” - said the mother. - </p> - <p> - There was a dreadful pause; Lucien took his mother’s reproaches in - silence. - </p> - <p> - “Now begin to work,” Mme. Chardon went on more gently. “You tried to - revive the noble family of whom I come; I do not blame you for it. But the - man who undertakes such a task needs money above all things, and must bear - a high heart in him; both were wanting in your case. We believed in you - once, our belief has been shaken. This was a hard-working, contented - household, making its way with difficulty; you have troubled their peace. - The first offence may be forgiven, but it must be the last. We are in a - very difficult position here; you must be careful, and take your sister’s - advice, Lucien. The school of trouble is a very hard one, but Eve has - learned much by her lessons; she has grown grave and thoughtful, she is a - mother. In her devotion to our dear David she has taken all the family - burdens upon herself; indeed, through your wrongdoing she has come to be - my only comfort.” - </p> - <p> - “You might be still more severe, my mother,” Lucien said, as he kissed - her. “I accept your forgiveness, for I will not need it a second time.” - </p> - <p> - Eve came into the room, saw her brother’s humble attitude, and knew that - he had been forgiven. Her kindness brought a smile for him to her lips, - and Lucien answered with tear-filled eyes. A living presence acts like a - charm, changing the most hostile positions of lovers or of families, no - matter how just the resentment. Is it that affection finds out the ways of - the heart, and we love to fall into them again? Does the phenomenon come - within the province of the science of magnetism? Or is it reason that - tells us that we must either forgive or never see each other again? - Whether the cause be referred to mental, physical, or spiritual - conditions, everyone knows the effect; every one has felt that the looks, - the actions or gestures of the beloved awaken some vestige of tenderness - in those most deeply sinned against and grievously wronged. Though it is - hard for the mind to forget, though we still smart under the injury, the - heart returns to its allegiance in spite of all. Poor Eve listened to her - brother’s confidences until breakfast-time; and whenever she looked at him - she was no longer mistress of her eyes; in that intimate talk she could - not control her voice. And with the comprehension of the conditions of - literary life in Paris, she understood that the struggle had been too much - for Lucien’s strength. The poet’s delight as he caressed his sister’s - child, his deep grief over David’s absence, mingled with joy at seeing his - country and his own folk again, the melancholy words that he let fall,—all - these things combined to make that day a festival. When Marion brought in - the strawberries, he was touched to see that Eve had remembered his taste - in spite of her distress, and she, his sister, must make ready a room for - the prodigal brother and busy herself for Lucien. It was a truce, as it - were, to misery. Old Sechard himself assisted to bring about this - revulsion of feeling in the two women—“You are making as much of him - as if he were bringing you any amount of money!” - </p> - <p> - “And what has my brother done that we should not make much of him?” cried - Eve, jealously screening Lucien. - </p> - <p> - Nevertheless, when the first expansion was over, shades of truth came out. - It was not long before Lucien felt the difference between the old - affection and the new. Eve respected David from the depths of her heart; - Lucien was beloved for his own sake, as we love a mistress still in spite - of the disasters she causes. Esteem, the very foundation on which - affection is based, is the solid stuff to which affection owes I know not - what of certainty and security by which we live; and this was lacking - between Mme. Chardon and her son, between the sister and the brother. - Mother and daughter did not put entire confidence in him, as they would - have done if he had not lost his honor; and he felt this. The opinion - expressed in d’Arthez’s letter was Eve’s own estimate of her brother; - unconsciously she revealed it by her manner, tones, and gestures. Oh! - Lucien was pitied, that was true; but as for all that he had been, the - pride of the household, the great man of the family, the hero of the - fireside,—all this, like their fair hopes of him, was gone, never to - return. They were so afraid of his heedlessness that he was not told where - David was hidden. Lucien wanted to see his brother; but this Eve, - insensible to the caresses which accompanied his curious questionings, was - not the Eve of L’Houmeau, for whom a glance from him had been an order - that must be obeyed. When Lucien spoke of making reparation, and talked as - though he could rescue David, Eve only answered: - </p> - <p> - “Do not interfere; we have enemies of the most treacherous and dangerous - kind.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien tossed his head, as one who should say, “I have measured myself - against Parisians,” and the look in his sister’s eyes said unmistakably, - “Yes, but you were defeated.” - </p> - <p> - “Nobody cares for me now,” Lucien thought. “In the home circle, as in the - world without, success is a necessity.” - </p> - <p> - The poet tried to explain their lack of confidence in him; he had not been - at home two days before a feeling of vexation rather than of angry - bitterness gained hold on him. He applied Parisian standards to the quiet, - temperate existence of the provinces, quite forgetting that the narrow, - patient life of the household was the result of his own misdoings. - </p> - <p> - “They are <i>bourgeoises</i>, they cannot understand me,” he said, setting - himself apart from his sister and mother and David, now that they could no - longer be deceived as to his real character and his future. - </p> - <p> - Many troubles and shocks of fortune had quickened the intuitive sense in - both the women. Eve and Mme. Chardon guessed the thoughts in Lucien’s - inmost soul; they felt that he misjudged them; they saw him mentally - isolating himself. - </p> - <p> - “Paris has changed him very much,” they said between themselves. They were - indeed reaping the harvest of egoism which they themselves had fostered. - </p> - <p> - It was inevitable but that the leaven should work in all three; and this - most of all in Lucien, because he felt that he was so heavily to blame. As - for Eve, she was just the kind of sister to beg an erring brother to - “Forgive me for your trespasses;” but when the union of two souls had been - as perfect since life’s very beginnings, as it had been with Eve and - Lucien, any blow dealt to that fair ideal is fatal. Scoundrels can draw - knives on each other and make it up again afterwards, while a look or a - word is enough to sunder two lovers for ever. In the recollection of an - almost perfect life of heart and heart lies the secret of many an - estrangement that none can explain. Two may live together without full - trust in their hearts if only their past holds no memories of complete and - unclouded love; but for those who once have known that intimate life, it - becomes intolerable to keep perpetual watch over looks and words. Great - poets know this; Paul and Virginie die before youth is over; can we think - of Paul and Virginie estranged? Let us know that, to the honor of Lucien - and Eve, the grave injury done was not the source of the pain; it was - entirely a matter of feeling upon either side, for the poet in fault, as - for the sister who was in no way to blame. Things had reached the point - when the slightest misunderstanding, or little quarrel, or a fresh - disappointment in Lucien would end in final estrangement. Money - difficulties may be arranged, but feelings are inexorable. - </p> - <p> - Next day Lucien received a copy of the local paper. He turned pale with - pleasure when he saw his name at the head of one of the first “leaders” in - that highly respectable sheet, which like the provincial academies that - Voltaire compared to a well-bred miss, was never talked about. - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “Let Franche-Comte boast of giving the light to Victor Hugo, to - Charles Nodier, and Cuvier,” ran the article, “Brittany of - producing a Chateaubriand and a Lammenais, Normandy of Casimir - Delavigne, and Touraine of the author of <i>Eloa</i>; Angoumois that - gave birth, in the days of Louis XIII., to our illustrious - fellow-countryman Guez, better known under the name of Balzac, - our Angoumois need no longer envy Limousin her Dupuytren, nor - Auvergne, the country of Montlosier, nor Bordeaux, birthplace of - so many great men; for we too have our poet!—The writer of the - beautiful sonnets entitled the <i>Marguerites</i> unites his poet’s fame - to the distinction of a prose writer, for to him we also owe the - magnificent romance of <i>The Archer of Charles IX.</i> Some day our - nephews will be proud to be the fellow-townsmen of Lucien Chardon, - a rival of Petrarch!!!” - </pre> - <p> - (The country newspapers of those days were sown with notes of admiration, - as reports of English election speeches are studded with “cheers” in - brackets.) - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “In spite of his brilliant success in Paris, our young poet has - not forgotten the Hotel de Bargeton, the cradle of his triumphs; - nor the fact that the wife of M. le Comte du Chatelet, our - Prefect, encouraged his early footsteps in the pathway of the - Muses. He has come back among us once more! All L’Houmeau was - thrown into excitement yesterday by the appearance of our Lucien - de Rubempre. The news of his return produced a profound sensation - throughout the town. Angouleme certainly will not allow L’Houmeau - to be beforehand in doing honor to the poet who in journalism and - literature has so gloriously represented our town in Paris. Lucien - de Rubempre, a religious and Royalist poet, has braved the fury of - parties; he has come home, it is said, for repose after the - fatigue of a struggle which would try the strength of an even - greater intellectual athlete than a poet and a dreamer. - - “There is some talk of restoring our great poet to the title of - the illustrious house of de Rubempre, of which his mother, Madame - Chardon, is the last survivor, and it is added that Mme. la - Comtesse du Chatelet was the first to think of this eminently - politic idea. The revival of an ancient and almost extinct family - by young talent and newly won fame is another proof that the - immortal author of the Charter still cherishes the desire - expressed by the words ‘Union and oblivion.’ - - “Our poet is staying with his sister, Mme. Sechard.” - </pre> - <p> - Under the heading “Angouleme” followed some items of news:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “Our Prefect, M. le Comte du Chatelet, Gentleman in Ordinary to - His Majesty, has just been appointed Extraordinary Councillor of - State. - - “All the authorities called yesterday on M. le Prefet. - - “Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet will receive on Thursdays. - - “The Mayor of Escarbas, M. de Negrepelisse, the representative of - the younger branch of the d’Espard family, and father of Mme. du - Chatelet, recently raised to the rank of a Count and Peer of - France and a Commander of the Royal Order of St. Louis, has been - nominated for the presidency of the electoral college of Angouleme - at the forthcoming elections.” - </pre> - <p> - “There!” said Lucien, taking the paper to his sister. Eve read the article - with attention, and returned with the sheet with a thoughtful air. - </p> - <p> - “What do you say to that?” asked he, surprised at a reserve that seemed so - like indifference. - </p> - <p> - “The Cointets are proprietors of that paper, dear,” she said; “they put in - exactly what they please, and it is not at all likely that the prefecture - or the palace have forced their hands. Can you imagine that your old rival - the prefect would be generous enough to sing your praises? Have you - forgotten that the Cointets are suing us under Metivier’s name? and that - they are trying to turn David’s discovery to their own advantage? I do not - know the source of this paragraph, but it makes me uneasy. You used to - rouse nothing but envious feeling and hatred here; a prophet has no honor - in his own country, and they slandered you, and now in a moment it is all - changed——” - </p> - <p> - “You do not know the vanity of country towns,” said Lucien. “A whole - little town in the south turned out not so long ago to welcome a young man - that had won the first prize in some competition; they looked on him as a - budding great man.” - </p> - <p> - “Listen, dear Lucien; I do not want to preach to you, I will say - everything in a very few words—you must suspect every little thing - here.” - </p> - <p> - “You are right,” said Lucien, but he was surprised at his sister’s lack of - enthusiasm. He himself was full of delight to find his humiliating and - shame-stricken return to Angouleme changed into a triumph in this way. - </p> - <p> - “You have no belief in the little fame that has cost so dear!” he said - again after a long silence. Something like a storm had been gathering in - his heart during the past hour. For all answer Eve gave him a look, and - Lucien felt ashamed of his accusation. - </p> - <p> - Dinner was scarcely over when a messenger came from the prefecture with a - note addressed to M. Chardon. That note appeared to decide the day for the - poet’s vanity; the world contending against the family for him had won. - </p> - <p> - “M. le Comte Sixte du Chatelet and Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet request - the honor of M. Lucien Chardon’s company at dinner on the fifteenth of - September. R. S. V. P.” - </p> - <p> - Enclosed with the invitation there was a card— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - LE COMTE SIXTE DU CHATELET, - Gentleman of the Bedchamber, Prefect of the Charente, - Councillor of State. -</pre> - <p> - “You are in favor,” said old Sechard; “they are talking about you in the - town as if you were somebody! Angouleme and L’Houmeau are disputing as to - which shall twist wreaths for you.” - </p> - <p> - “Eve, dear,” Lucien whispered to his sister, “I am exactly in the same - condition as I was before in L’Houmeau when Mme. de Bargeton sent me the - first invitation—I have not a dress suit for the prefect’s - dinner-party.” - </p> - <p> - “Do you really mean to accept the invitation?” Eve asked in alarm, and a - dispute sprang up between the brother and sister. Eve’s provincial good - sense told her that if you appear in society, it must be with a smiling - face and faultless costume. “What will come of the prefect’s dinner?” she - wondered. “What has Lucien to do with the great people of Angouleme? Are - they plotting something against him?” but she kept these thoughts to - herself. - </p> - <p> - Lucien spoke the last word at bedtime: “You do not know my influence. The - prefect’s wife stands in fear of a journalist; and besides, Louise de - Negrepelisse lives on in the Comtesse du Chatelet, and a woman with her - influence can rescue David. I am going to tell her about my brother’s - invention, and it would be a mere nothing to her to obtain a subsidy of - ten thousand francs from the Government for him.” - </p> - <p> - At eleven o’clock that night the whole household was awakened by the town - band, reinforced by the military band from the barracks. The Place du - Murier was full of people. The young men of Angouleme were giving Lucien - Chardon de Rubempre a serenade. Lucien went to his sister’s window and - made a speech after the last performance. - </p> - <p> - “I thank my fellow-townsmen for the honor that they do me,” he said in the - midst of a great silence; “I will strive to be worthy of it; they will - pardon me if I say no more; I am so much moved by this incident that I - cannot speak.” - </p> - <p> - “Hurrah for the writer of <i>The Archer of Charles IX.</i>! . . . Hurrah - for the poet of the <i>Marguerites</i>! . . . Long live Lucien de - Rubempre!” - </p> - <p> - After these three salvos, taken up by some few voices, three crowns and a - quantity of bouquets were adroitly flung into the room through the open - window. Ten minutes later the Place du Murier was empty, and silence - prevailed in the streets. - </p> - <p> - “I would rather have ten thousand francs,” said old Sechard, fingering the - bouquets and garlands with a satirical expression. “You gave them daisies, - and they give you posies in return; you deal in flowers.” - </p> - <p> - “So that is your opinion of the honors shown me by my fellow-townsmen, is - it?” asked Lucien. All his melancholy had left him, his face was radiant - with good humor. “If you knew mankind, Papa Sechard, you would see that no - moment in one’s life comes twice. Such a triumph as this can only be due - to genuine enthusiasm! . . . My dear mother, my good sister, this wipes - out many mortifications.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien kissed them; for when joy overflows like a torrent flood, we are - fain to pour it out into a friend’s heart. “When an author is intoxicated - with success, he will hug his porter if there is nobody else on hand,” - according to Bixiou. - </p> - <p> - “Why, darling, why are you crying?” he said, looking into Eve’s face. “Ah! - I know, you are crying for joy!” - </p> - <p> - “Oh me!” said her mother, shaking her head as she spoke. “Lucien has - forgotten everything already; not merely his own troubles, but ours as - well.” - </p> - <p> - Mother and daughter separated, and neither dared to utter all her - thoughts. - </p> - <p> - In a country eaten up with the kind of social insubordination disguised by - the word Equality, a triumph of any kind whatsoever is a sort of miracle - which requires, like some other miracles for that matter, the co-operation - of skilled labor. Out of ten ovations offered to ten living men, selected - for this distinction by a grateful country, you may be quite sure that - nine are given from considerations connected as remotely as possible with - the conspicuous merits of the renowned recipient. What was Voltaire’s - apotheosis at the Theatre-Francais but the triumph of eighteenth century - philosophy? A triumph in France means that everybody else feels that he is - adorning his own temples with the crown that he sets on the idol’s head. - </p> - <p> - The women’s presentiments proved correct. The distinguished provincial’s - reception was antipathetic to Angoumoisin immobility; it was too evidently - got up by some interested persons or by enthusiastic stage mechanics, a - suspicious combination. Eve, moreover, like most of her sex, was - distrustful by instinct, even when reason failed to justify her suspicions - to herself. “Who can be so fond of Lucien that he could rouse the town for - him?” she wondered as she fell asleep. “The <i>Marguerites</i> are not - published yet; how can they compliment him on a future success?” - </p> - <p> - The ovation was, in fact, the work of Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud had dined with Mme. de Senonches, for the first time, on the - evening of the day that brought the cure of Marsac to Angouleme with the - news of Lucien’s return. That same evening he made formal application for - the hand of Mlle. de la Haye. It was a family dinner, one of the solemn - occasions marked not so much by the number of the guests as by the - splendor of their toilettes. Consciousness of the performance weighs upon - the family party, and every countenance looks significant. Francoise was - on exhibition. Mme. de Senonches had sported her most elaborate costume - for the occasion; M. du Hautoy wore a black coat; M. de Senonches had - returned from his visit to the Pimentels on the receipt of a note from his - wife, informing him that Mme. du Chatelet was to appear at their house for - the first time since her arrival, and that a suitor in form for Francoise - would appear on the scenes. Boniface Cointet also was there, in his best - maroon coat of clerical cut, with a diamond pin worth six thousand francs - displayed in his shirt frill—the revenge of the rich merchant upon a - poverty-stricken aristocracy. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud himself, scoured and combed, had carefully removed his gray - hairs, but he could not rid himself of his wizened air. The puny little - man of law, tightly buttoned into his clothes, reminded you of a torpid - viper; for if hope had brought a spark of life into his magpie eyes, his - face was icily rigid, and so well did he assume an air of gravity, that an - ambitious public prosecutor could not have been more dignified. - </p> - <p> - Mme. de Senonches had told her intimate friends that her ward would meet - her betrothed that evening, and that Mme. du Chatelet would appear at the - Hotel de Senonches for the first time; and having particularly requested - them to keep these matters secret, she expected to find her rooms crowded. - The Comte and Comtesse du Chatelet had left cards everywhere officially, - but they meant the honor of a personal visit to play a part in their - policy. So aristocratic Angouleme was in such a prodigious ferment of - curiosity, that certain of the Chandour camp proposed to go to the Hotel - de Bargeton that evening. (They persistently declined to call the house by - its new name.) - </p> - <p> - Proofs of the Countess’ influence had stirred up ambition in many - quarters; and not only so, it was said that the lady had changed so much - for the better that everybody wished to see and judge for himself. - Petit-Claud learned great news on the way to the house; Cointet told him - that Zephirine had asked leave to present her dear Francoise’s betrothed - to the Countess, and that the Countess had granted the favor. Petit-Claud - had seen at once that Lucien’s return put Louise de Negrepelisse in a - false position; and now, in a moment, he flattered himself that he saw a - way to take advantage of it. - </p> - <p> - M. and Mme. de Senonches had undertaken such heavy engagements when they - bought the house, that, in provincial fashion, they thought it imprudent - to make any changes in it. So when Madame du Chatelet was announced, - Zephirine went up to her with—“Look, dear Louise, you are still in - your old home!” indicating, as she spoke, the little chandelier, the - paneled wainscot, and the furniture, which once had dazzled Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “I wish least of all to remember it, dear,” Madame la Prefete answered - graciously, looking round on the assemblage. - </p> - <p> - Every one admitted that Louise de Negrepelisse was not like the same - woman. If the provincial had undergone a change, the woman herself had - been transformed by those eighteen months in Paris, by the first happiness - of a still recent second marriage, and the kind of dignity that power - confers. The Comtesse du Chatelet bore the same resemblance to Mme. de - Bargeton that a girl of twenty bears to her mother. - </p> - <p> - She wore a charming cap of lace and flowers, fastened by a diamond-headed - pin; the ringlets that half hid the contours of her face added to her look - of youth, and suited her style of beauty. Her foulard gown, designed by - the celebrated Victorine, with a pointed bodice, exquisitely fringed, set - off her figure to advantage; and a silken lace scarf, adroitly thrown - about a too long neck, partly concealed her shoulders. She played with the - dainty scent-bottle, hung by a chain from her bracelet; she carried her - fan and her handkerchief with ease—pretty trifles, as dangerous as a - sunken reef for the provincial dame. The refined taste shown in the least - details, the carriage and manner modeled upon Mme. d’Espard, revealed a - profound study of the Faubourg Saint-Germain. - </p> - <p> - As for the elderly beau of the Empire, he seemed since his marriage to - have followed the example of the species of melon that turns from green to - yellow in a night. All the youth that Sixte had lost seemed to appear in - his wife’s radiant countenance; provincial pleasantries passed from ear to - ear, circulating the more readily because the women were furious at the - new superiority of the sometime queen of Angouleme; and the persistent - intruder paid the penalty of his wife’s offence. - </p> - <p> - The rooms were almost as full as on that memorable evening of Lucien’s - readings from Chenier. Some faces were missing: M. de Chandour and Amelie, - M. de Pimental and the Rastignacs—and M. de Bargeton was no longer - there; but the Bishop came, as before, with his vicars-general in his - train. Petit-Claud was much impressed by the sight of the great world of - Angouleme. Four months ago he had no hope of entering the circle, to-day - he felt his detestation of “the classes” sensibly diminished. He thought - the Comtesse du Chatelet a most fascinating woman. “It is she who can - procure me the appointment of deputy public prosecutor,” he said to - himself. - </p> - <p> - Louise chatted for an equal length of time with each of the women; her - tone varied with the importance of the person addressed and the position - taken up by the latter with regard to her journey to Paris with Lucien. - The evening was half over when she withdrew to the boudoir with the - Bishop. Zephirine came over to Petit-Claud, and laid her hand on his arm. - His heart beat fast as his hostess brought him to the room where Lucien’s - troubles first began, and were now about to come to a crisis. - </p> - <p> - “This is M. Petit-Claud, dear; I recommend him to you the more warmly - because anything that you may do for him will doubtless benefit my ward.” - </p> - <p> - “You are an attorney, are you not, monsieur?” said the august - Negrepelisse, scanning Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “Alas! yes, <i>Madame la Comtesse</i>.” (The son of the tailor in - L’Houmeau had never once had occasion to use those three words in his life - before, and his mouth was full of them.) “But it rests with you, Madame la - Comtesse, whether or no I shall act for the Crown. M. Milaud is going to - Nevers, it is said——” - </p> - <p> - “But a man is usually second deputy and then first deputy, is he not?” - broke in the Countess. “I should like to see you in the first deputy’s - place at once. But I should like first to have some assurance of your - devotion to the cause of our legitimate sovereigns, to religion, and more - especially to M. de Villele, if I am to interest myself on your behalf to - obtain the favor.” - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud came nearer. “Madame,” he said in her ear, “I am the man to - yield the King absolute obedience.” - </p> - <p> - “That is just what <i>we</i> want to-day,” said the Countess, drawing back - a little to make him understand that she had no wish for promises given - under his breath. “So long as you satisfy Mme. de Senonches, you can count - upon me,” she added, with a royal movement of her fan. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud looked toward the door of the boudoir, and saw Cointet - standing there. “Madame,” he said, “Lucien is here, in Angouleme.” - </p> - <p> - “Well, sir?” asked the Countess, in tones that would have put an end to - all power of speech in an ordinary man. - </p> - <p> - “Mme. la Comtesse does not understand,” returned Petit-Claud, bringing out - that most respectful formula again. “How does Mme. la Comtesse wish that - the great man of her making should be received in Angouleme? There is no - middle course; he must be received or despised here.” - </p> - <p> - This was a dilemma to which Louise de Negrepelisse had never given a - thought; it touched her closely, yet rather for the sake of the past than - of the future. And as for Petit-Claud, his plan for arresting David - Sechard depended upon the lady’s actual feelings towards Lucien. He - waited. - </p> - <p> - “M. Petit-Claud,” said the Countess, with haughty dignity, “you mean to be - on the side of the Government. Learn that the first principle of - government is this—never to have been in the wrong, and that the - instinct of power and the sense of dignity is even stronger in women than - in governments.” - </p> - <p> - “That is just what I thought, madame,” he answered quickly, observing the - Countess meanwhile with attention the more profound because it was - scarcely visible. “Lucien came here in the depths of misery. But if he - must receive an ovation, I can compel him to leave Angouleme by the means - of the ovation itself. His sister and brother-in-law, David Sechard, are - hard pressed for debts.” - </p> - <p> - In the Countess’ haughty face there was a swift, barely perceptible - change; it was not satisfaction, but the repression of satisfaction. - Surprised that Petit-Claud should have guessed her wishes, she gave him a - glance as she opened her fan, and Francoise de la Haye’s entrance at that - moment gave her time to find an answer. - </p> - <p> - “It will not be long before you are public prosecutor, monsieur,” she - said, with a significant smile. That speech did not commit her in any way, - but it was explicit enough. Francoise had come in to thank the Countess. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! madame, then I shall owe the happiness of my life to you,” she - exclaimed, bending girlishly to add in the Countess’ ear, “To marry a - petty provincial attorney would be like being burned by slow fires.” - </p> - <p> - It was Francis, with his knowledge of officialdom, who had prompted - Zephirine to make this set upon Louise. - </p> - <p> - “In the very earliest days after promotion,” so the ex-consul-general told - his fair friend, “everybody, prefect, or monarch, or man of business, is - burning to exert his influence for his friends; but a patron soon finds - out the inconveniences of patronage, and then turns from fire to ice. - Louise will do more now for Petit-Claud than she would do for her husband - in three months’ time.” - </p> - <p> - “Madame la Comtesse is thinking of all that our poet’s triumph entails?” - continued Petit-Claud. “She should receive Lucien before there is an end - of the nine-days’ wonder.” - </p> - <p> - The Countess terminated the audience with a bow, and rose to speak with - Mme. de Pimentel, who came to the boudoir. The news of old Negrepelisse’s - elevation to a marquisate had greatly impressed the Marquise; she judged - it expedient to be amiable to a woman so clever as to rise the higher for - an apparent fall. - </p> - <p> - “Do tell me, dear, why you took the trouble to put your father in the - House of Peers?” said the Marquise, in the course of a little confidential - conversation, in which she bent the knee before the superiority of “her - dear Louise.” - </p> - <p> - “They were all the more ready to grant the favor because my father has no - son to succeed him, dear, and his vote will always be at the disposal of - the Crown; but if we should have sons, I quite expect that my oldest will - succeed to his grandfather’s name, title, and peerage.” - </p> - <p> - Mme. de Pimentel saw, to her annoyance, that it was idle to expect a - mother ambitious for children not yet in existence to further her own - private designs of raising M. de Pimentel to a peerage. - </p> - <p> - “I have the Countess,” Petit-Claud told Cointet when they came away. “I - can promise you your partnership. I shall be deputy prosecutor before the - month is out, and Sechard will be in your power. Try to find a buyer for - my connection; it has come to be the first in Angouleme in my hands during - the last five months——” - </p> - <p> - “Once put <i>you</i> on the horse, and there is no need to do more,” said - Cointet, half jealous of his own work. - </p> - <p> - The causes of Lucien’s triumphant reception in his native town must now be - plain to everybody. Louise du Chatelet followed the example of that King - of France who left the Duke of Orleans unavenged; she chose to forget the - insults received in Paris by Mme. de Bargeton. She would patronize Lucien, - and overwhelming him with her patronage, would completely crush him and - get rid of him by fair means. Petit-Claud knew the whole tale of the - cabals in Paris through town gossip, and shrewdly guessed how a woman must - hate the man who would not love when she was fain of his love. - </p> - <p> - The ovation justified the past of Louise de Negrepelisse. The next day - Petit-Claud appeared at Mme. Sechard’s house, heading a deputation of six - young men of the town, all of them Lucien’s schoolfellows. He meant to - finish his work, to intoxicate Lucien completely, and to have him in his - power. Lucien’s old schoolfellows at the Angouleme grammar-school wished - to invite the author of the <i>Marguerites</i> and <i>The Archer of - Charles IX.</i> to a banquet given in honor of the great man arisen from - their ranks. - </p> - <p> - “Come, this is your doing, Petit-Claud!” exclaimed Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “Your return has stirred our conceit,” said Petit-Claud; “we made it a - point of honor to get up a subscription, and we will have a tremendous - affair for you. The masters and the headmaster will be there, and, at the - present rate, we shall, no doubt, have the authorities too.” - </p> - <p> - “For what day?” asked Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “Sunday next.” - </p> - <p> - “That is quite out of the question,” said Lucien. “I cannot accept an - invitation for the next ten days, but then I will gladly——” - </p> - <p> - “Very well,” said Petit-Claud, “so be it then, in ten days’ time.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien behaved charmingly to his old schoolfellows, and they regarded him - with almost respectful admiration. He talked away very wittily for half an - hour; he had been set upon a pedestal, and wished to justify the opinion - of his fellow-townsmen; so he stood with his hands thrust into his - pockets, and held forth from the height to which he had been raised. He - was modest and good-natured, as befitted genius in dressing-gown and - slippers; he was the athlete, wearied by a wrestling bout with Paris, and - disenchanted above all things; he congratulated the comrades who had never - left the dear old province, and so forth, and so forth. They were - delighted with him. He took Petit-Claud aside, and asked him for the real - truth about David’s affairs, reproaching him for allowing his - brother-in-law to go into hiding, and tried to match his wits against the - little lawyer. Petit-Claud made an effort over himself, and gave his - acquaintance to understand that he (Petit-Claud) was only an insignificant - little country attorney, with no sort of craft nor subtlety. - </p> - <p> - The whole machinery of modern society is so infinitely more complex than - in ancient times, that the subdivision of human faculty is the result. The - great men of the days of old were perforce universal geniuses, appearing - at rare intervals like lighted torches in an antique world. In the course - of ages the intellect began to work on special lines, but the great man - still could “take all knowledge for his province.” A man “full cautelous,” - as was said of Louis XI., for instance, could apply that special faculty - in every direction, but to-day the single quality is subdivided, and every - profession has its special craft. A peasant or a pettifogging solicitor - might very easily overreach an astute diplomate over a bargain in some - remote country village; and the wiliest journalist may prove the veriest - simpleton in a piece of business. Lucien could but be a puppet in the - hands of Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - That guileful practitioner, as might have been expected, had written the - article himself; Angouleme and L’Houmeau, thus put on their mettle, - thought it incumbent upon them to pay honor to Lucien. His - fellow-citizens, assembled in the Place du Murier, were Cointets’ - workpeople from the papermills and printing-house, with a sprinkling of - Lucien’s old schoolfellows and the clerks in the employ of Messieurs - Petit-Claud and Cachan. As for the attorney himself, he was once more - Lucien’s chum of old days; and he thought, not without reason, that before - very long he should learn David’s whereabouts in some unguarded moment. - And if David came to grief through Lucien’s fault, the poet would find - Angouleme too hot to hold him. Petit-Claud meant to secure his hold; he - posed, therefore, as Lucien’s inferior. - </p> - <p> - “What better could I have done?” he said accordingly. “My old chum’s - sister was involved, it is true, but there are some positions that simply - cannot be maintained in a court of law. David asked me on the first of - June to ensure him a quiet life for three months; he had a quiet life - until September, and even so I have kept his property out of his - creditors’ power, for I shall gain my case in the Court-Royal; I contend - that the wife is a privileged creditor, and her claim is absolute, unless - there is evidence of intent to defraud. As for you, you have come back in - misfortune, but you are a genius.”—(Lucien turned about as if the - incense were burned too close to his face.)—“Yes, my dear fellow, a - <i>genius</i>. I have read your <i>Archer of Charles IX.</i>; it is more - than a romance, it is literature. Only two living men could have written - the preface—Chateaubriand and Lucien.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien accepted that d’Arthez had written the preface. Ninety-nine writers - out of a hundred would have done the same. - </p> - <p> - “Well, nobody here seemed to have heard of you!” Petit-Claud continued, - with apparent indignation. “When I saw the general indifference, I made up - my mind to change all that. I wrote that article in the paper——” - </p> - <p> - “What? did you write it?” exclaimed Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “I myself. Angouleme and L’Houmeau were stirred to rivalry; I arranged for - a meeting of your old schoolfellows, and got up yesterday’s serenade; and - when once the enthusiasm began to grow, we started a committee for the - dinner. ‘If David is in hiding,’ said I to myself, ‘Lucien shall be - crowned at any rate.’ And I have done even better than that,” continued - Petit-Claud; “I have seen the Comtesse du Chatelet and made her understand - that she owes it to herself to extricate David from his position; she can - do it, and she ought to do it. If David had really discovered the secret - of which he spoke to me, the Government ought to lend him a hand, it would - not ruin the Government; and think what a fine thing for a prefect to have - half the credit of the great invention for the well-timed help. It would - set people talking about him as an enlightened administrator.—Your - sister has taken fright at our musketry practice; she was scared of the - smoke. A battle in the law-courts costs quite as much as a battle on the - field; but David has held his ground, he has his secret. They cannot stop - him, and they will not pull him up now.” - </p> - <p> - “Thanks, my dear fellow; I see that I can take you into my confidence; you - shall help me to carry out my plan.” - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud looked at Lucien, and his gimlet face was a point of - interrogation. - </p> - <p> - “I intend to rescue Sechard,” Lucien said, with a certain importance. “I - brought his misfortunes upon him; I mean to make full reparation. . . . I - have more influence over Louise——” - </p> - <p> - “Who is Louise?” - </p> - <p> - “The Comtesse du Chatelet!” - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud started. - </p> - <p> - “I have more influence over her than she herself suspects,” said Lucien; - “only, my dear fellow, if I can do something with your authorities here, I - have no decent clothes.”—Petit-Claud made as though he would offer - his purse. - </p> - <p> - “Thank you,” said Lucien, grasping Petit-Claud’s hand. “In ten days’ time - I will pay a visit to the Countess and return your call.” - </p> - <p> - The shook hands like old comrades, and separated. - </p> - <p> - “He ought to be a poet” said Petit-Claud to himself; “he is quite mad.” - </p> - <p> - “There are no friends like one’s school friends; it is a true saying,” - Lucien thought at he went to find his sister. - </p> - <p> - “What can Petit-Claud have promised to do that you should be so friendly - with him, my Lucien?” asked Eve. “Be on your guard with him.” - </p> - <p> - “With <i>him</i>?” cried Lucien. “Listen, Eve,” he continued, seeming to - bethink himself; “you have no faith in me now; you do not trust me, so it - is not likely you will trust Petit-Claud; but in ten or twelve days you - will change your mind,” he added, with a touch of fatuity. And he went to - his room, and indited the following epistle to Lousteau:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - <i>Lucien to Lousteau.</i> - - “MY FRIEND,—Of the pair of us, I alone can remember that bill for - a thousand francs that I once lent you; and I know how things will - be with you when you open this letter too well, alas! not to add - immediately that I do not expect to be repaid in current coin of - the realm; no, I will take it in credit from you, just as one - would ask Florine for pleasure. We have the same tailor; - therefore, you can order a complete outfit for me on the shortest - possible notice. I am not precisely wearing Adam’s costume, but I - cannot show myself here. To my astonishment, the honors paid by - the departments to a Parisian celebrity awaited me. I am the hero - of a banquet, for all the world as if I were a Deputy of the Left. - Now, after that, do you understand that I must have a black coat? - Promise to pay; have it put down to your account, try the - advertisement dodge, rehearse an unpublished scene between Don - Juan and M. Dimanche, for I must have a gala suit at all costs. I - have nothing, nothing but rags: start with that; it is August, the - weather is magnificent, ergo see that I receive by the end of the - week a charming morning suit, dark bronze-green jacket, and three - waistcoats, one a brimstone yellow, one a plaid, and the third - must be white; furthermore, let there be three pairs of trousers - of the most fetching kind—one pair of white English stuff, one - pair of nankeen, and a third of thin black kerseymere; lastly, - send a black dress-coat and a black satin waistcoat. If you have - picked up another Florine somewhere, I beg her good offices for - two cravats. So far this is nothing; I count upon you and your - skill in these matters; I am not much afraid of the tailor. But - the ingenuity of poverty, assuredly the most active of all poisons - at work in the system of man (<i>id est</i> the Parisian), an ingenuity - that would catch Satan himself napping, has failed so far to - discover a way to obtain a hat on credit!—How many a time, my - dear friend, have we deplored this! When one of us shall bring a - hat that costs one thousand francs into fashion, then, and not - till then, can we afford to wear them; until that day comes we are - bound to have cash enough in our pockets to pay for a hat. Ah! - what an ill turn the Comedie-Francaise did us with, ‘Lafleur, you - will put gold in my pockets!’ - - “I write with a profound sense of all the difficulties involved by - the demand. Enclose with the above a pair of boots, a pair of - pumps, a hat, half a dozen pairs of gloves. ‘Tis asking the - impossible; I know it. But what is a literary life but a - periodical recurrence of the impossible? Work the miracle, write a - long article, or play some small scurvy trick, and I will hold - your debt as fully discharged—this is all I say to you. It is a - debt of honor after all, my dear fellow, and due these twelve - months; you ought to blush for yourself if you have any blushes - left. - - “Joking apart, my dear Lousteau, I am in serious difficulties, as - you may judge for yourself when I tell you that Mme. de Bargeton - has married Chatelet, and Chatelet is prefect of Angouleme. The - precious pair can do a good deal for my brother-in-law; he is in - hiding at this moment on account of that letter of exchange, and - the horrid business is all my doing. So it is a question of - appearing before Mme. la Prefete and regaining my influence at all - costs. It is shocking, is it not, that David Sechard’s fate should - hang upon a neat pair of shoes, a pair of open-worked gray silk - stockings (mind you, remember them), and a new hat? I shall give - out that I am sick and ill, and take to my bed, like Duvicquet, to - save the trouble of replying to the pressing invitations of my - fellow-townsmen. My fellow-townsmen, dear boy, have treated me to - a fine serenade. <i>My fellow-townsmen</i>, forsooth! I begin to wonder - how many fools go to make up that word, since I learned that two - or three of my old schoolfellows worked up the capital of the - Angoumois to this pitch of enthusiasm. - - “If you could contrive to slip a few lines as to my reception in - among the news items, I should be several inches taller for it - here; and besides, I should make Mme. la Prefete feel that, if I - have not friends, I have some credit, at any rate, with the - Parisian press. I give up none of my hopes, and I will return the - compliment. If you want a good, solid, substantial article for - some magazine or other, I have time enough now to think something - out. I only say the word, my dear friend; I count upon you as you - may count upon me, and I am yours sincerely. - - “LUCIEN DE R. - - “P. S.—Send the things to the coach office to wait until called - for.” - </pre> - <p> - Lucien held up his head again. In this mood he wrote the letter, and as he - wrote his thoughts went back to Paris. He had spent six days in the - provinces, and the uneventful quietness of provincial life had already - entered into his soul; his mind returned to those dear old miserable days - with a vague sense of regret. The Comtesse du Chatelet filled his thoughts - for a whole week; and at last he came to attach so much importance to his - reappearance, that he hurried down to the coach office in L’Houmeau after - nightfall in a perfect agony of suspense, like a woman who has set her - last hopes upon a new dress, and waits in despair until it arrives. - </p> - <p> - “Ah! Lousteau, all your treasons are forgiven,” he said to himself, as he - eyed the packages, and knew from the shape of them that everything had - been sent. Inside the hatbox he found a note from Lousteau:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - FLORINE’S DRAWING-ROOM. - - “MY DEAR BOY,—The tailor behaved very well; but as thy profound - retrospective glance led thee to forbode, the cravats, the hats, - and the silk hosen perplexed our souls, for there was nothing in - our purse to be perplexed thereby. As said Blondet, so say we; - there is a fortune awaiting the establishment which will supply - young men with inexpensive articles on credit; for when we do not - pay in the beginning, we pay dear in the end. And by the by, did - not the great Napoleon, who missed a voyage to the Indies for want - of boots, say that, ‘If a thing is easy, it is never done?’ So - everything went well—except the boots. I beheld a vision of thee, - fully dressed, but without a hat! appareled in waistcoats, yet - shoeless! and bethought me of sending a pair of moccasins given to - Florine as a curiosity by an American. Florine offered the huge - sum of forty francs, that we might try our luck at play for you. - Nathan, Blondet, and I had such luck (as we were not playing for - ourselves) that we were rich enough to ask La Torpille, des - Lupeaulx’s sometime ‘rat,’ to supper. Frascati certainly owed us - that much. Florine undertook the shopping, and added three fine - shirts to the purchases. Nathan sends you a cane. Blondet, who won - three hundred francs, is sending you a gold chain; and the gold - watch, the size of a forty-franc piece, is from La Torpille; some - idiot gave the thing to her, and it will not go. ‘Trumpery - rubbish,’ she says, ‘like the man that owned it.’ Bixiou, who came - to find us up at the <i>Rocher de Cancale</i>, wished to enclose a bottle - of Portugal water in the package. Said our first comic man, ‘If - this can make him happy, let him have it!’ growling it out in a - deep bass voice with the <i>bourgeois</i> pomposity that he can act to - the life. Which things, my dear boy, ought to prove to you how - much we care for our friends in adversity. Florine, whom I have - had the weakness to forgive, begs you to send us an article on - Nathan’s hat. Fare thee well, my son. I can only commiserate you - on finding yourself back in the same box from which you emerged - when you discovered your old comrade. - - “ETIENNE L.” - </pre> - <p> - “Poor fellows! They have been gambling for me,” said Lucien; he was quite - touched by the letter. A waft of the breeze from an unhealthy country, - from the land where one has suffered most, may seem to bring the odors of - Paradise; and in a dull life there is an indefinable sweetness in memories - of past pain. - </p> - <p> - Eve was struck dumb with amazement when her brother came down in his new - clothes. She did not recognize him. - </p> - <p> - “Now I can walk out in Beaulieu,” he cried; “they shall not say it of me - that I came back in rags. Look, here is a watch which I shall return to - you, for it is mine; and, like its owner, it is erratic in its ways.” - </p> - <p> - “What a child he is!” exclaimed Eve. “It is impossible to bear you any - grudge.” - </p> - <p> - “Then do you imagine, my dear girl, that I sent for all this with the - silly idea of shining in Angouleme? I don’t care <i>that</i> for - Angouleme” (twirling his cane with the engraved gold knob). “I intend to - repair the wrong I have done, and this is my battle array.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien’s success in this kind was his one real triumph; but the triumph, - be it said, was immense. If admiration freezes some people’s tongues, envy - loosens at least as many more, and if women lost their heads over Lucien, - men slandered him. He might have cried, in the words of the songwriter, “I - thank thee, my coat!” He left two cards at the prefecture, and another - upon Petit-Claud. The next day, the day of the banquet, the following - paragraph appeared under the heading “Angouleme” in the Paris newspapers:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “ANGOULEME. - - “The return of the author of <i>The Archer of Charles IX.</i> has been - the signal for an ovation which does equal honor to the town and - to M. Lucien de Rubempre, the young poet who has made so brilliant - a beginning; the writer of the one French historical novel not - written in the style of Scott, and of a preface which may be - called a literary event. The town hastened to offer him a - patriotic banquet on his return. The name of the - recently-appointed prefect is associated with the public - demonstration in honor of the author of the <i>Marguerites</i>, whose - talent received such warm encouragement from Mme. du Chatelet at - the outset of his career.” - </pre> - <p> - In France, when once the impulse is given, nobody can stop. The colonel of - the regiment offered to put his band at the disposal of the committee. The - landlord of the <i>Bell</i> (renowned for truffled turkeys, despatched in - the most wonderful porcelain jars to the uttermost parts of the earth), - the famous innkeeper of L’Houmeau, would supply the repast. At five - o’clock some forty persons, all in state and festival array, were - assembled in his largest ball, decorated with hangings, crowns of laurel, - and bouquets. The effect was superb. A crowd of onlookers, some hundred - persons, attracted for the most part by the military band in the yard, - represented the citizens of Angouleme. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud went to the window. “All Angouleme is here,” he said, looking - out. - </p> - <p> - “I can make nothing of this,” remarked little Postel to his wife (they had - come out to hear the band play). “Why, the prefect and the - receiver-general, and the colonel and the superintendent of the powder - factory, and our mayor and deputy, and the headmaster of the school, and - the manager of the foundry at Ruelle, and the public prosecutor, M. - Milaud, and all the authorities, have just gone in!” - </p> - <p> - The bank struck up as they sat down to table with variations on the air <i>Vive - le roy, vive la France</i>, a melody which has never found popular favor. - It was then five o’clock in the evening; it was eight o’clock before - dessert was served. Conspicuous among the sixty-five dishes appeared an - Olympus in confectionery, surmounted by a figure of France modeled in - chocolate, to give the signal for toasts and speeches. - </p> - <p> - “Gentlemen,” called the prefect, rising to his feet, “the King! the - rightful ruler of France! To what do we owe the generation of poets and - thinkers who maintain the sceptre of letters in the hands of France, if - not to the peace which the Bourbons have restored——” - </p> - <p> - “Long live the King!” cried the assembled guests (ministerialists - predominated). - </p> - <p> - The venerable headmaster rose. - </p> - <p> - “To the hero of the day,” he said, “to the young poet who combines the - gift of the <i>prosateur</i> with the charm and poetic faculty of Petrarch - in that sonnet-form which Boileau declares to be so difficult.” - </p> - <p> - Cheers. - </p> - <p> - The colonel rose next. “Gentlemen, to the Royalist! for the hero of this - evening had the courage to fight for sound principles!” - </p> - <p> - “Bravo!” cried the prefect, leading the applause. - </p> - <p> - Then Petit-Claud called upon all Lucien’s schoolfellows there present. “To - the pride of the grammar-school of Angouleme! to the venerable headmaster - so dear to us all, to whom the acknowledgment for some part of our triumph - is due!” - </p> - <p> - The old headmaster dried his eyes; he had not expected this toast. Lucien - rose to his feet, the whole room was suddenly silent, and the poet’s face - grew white. In that pause the old headmaster, who sat on his left, crowned - him with a laurel wreath. A round of applause followed, and when Lucien - spoke it was with tears in his eyes and a sob in his throat. - </p> - <p> - “He is drunk,” remarked the attorney-general-designate to his neighbor, - Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “My dear fellow-countrymen, my dear comrades,” Lucien said at last, “I - could wish that all France might witness this scene; for thus men rise to - their full stature, and in such ways as these our land demands great deeds - and noble work of us. And when I think of the little that I have done, and - of this great honor shown to me to-day, I can only feel confused and - impose upon the future the task of justifying your reception of me. The - recollection of this moment will give me renewed strength for efforts to - come. Permit me to indicate for your homage my earliest muse and - protectress, and to associate her name with that of my birthplace; so—to - the Comtesse du Chatelet and the noble town of Angouleme!” - </p> - <p> - “He came out of that pretty well!” said the public prosecutor, nodding - approval; “our speeches were all prepared, and his was improvised.” - </p> - <p> - At ten o’clock the party began to break up, and little knots of guests - went home together. David Sechard heard the unwonted music. - </p> - <p> - “What is going on in L’Houmeau?” he asked of Basine. - </p> - <p> - “They are giving a dinner to your brother-in-law, Lucien——” - </p> - <p> - “I know that he would feel sorry to miss me there,” he said. - </p> - <p> - At midnight Petit-Claud walked home with Lucien. As they reached the Place - du Murier, Lucien said, “Come life, come death, we are friends, my dear - fellow.” - </p> - <p> - “My marriage contract,” said the lawyer, “with Mlle. Francoise de la Haye - will be signed to-morrow at Mme. de Senonches’ house; do me the pleasure - of coming. Mme. de Senonches implored me to bring you, and you will meet - Mme. du Chatelet; they are sure to tell her of your speech, and she will - feel flattered by it.” - </p> - <p> - “I knew what I was about,” said Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! you will save David.” - </p> - <p> - “I am sure I shall,” the poet replied. - </p> - <p> - Just at that moment David appeared as if by magic in the Place du Murier. - This was how it had come about. He felt that he was in a rather difficult - position; his wife insisted that Lucien must neither go to David nor know - of his hiding-place; and Lucien all the while was writing the most - affectionate letters, saying that in a few days’ time all should be set - right; and even as Basine Clerget explained the reason why the band - played, she put two letters into his hands. The first was from Eve. - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “DEAREST,” she wrote, “do as if Lucien were not here; do not - trouble yourself in the least; our whole security depends upon the - fact that your enemies cannot find you; get that idea firmly into - your head. I have more confidence in Kolb and Marion and Basine - than in my own brother; such is my misfortune. Alas! poor Lucien - is not the ingenuous and tender-hearted poet whom we used to know; - and it is simply because he is trying to interfere on your behalf, - and because he imagines that he can discharge our debts (and this - from pride, my David), that I am afraid of him. Some fine clothes - have been sent from Paris for him, and five gold pieces in a - pretty purse. He gave the money to me, and we are living on it. - - “We have one enemy the less. Your father has gone, thanks to - Petit-Claud. Petit-Claud unraveled his designs, and put an end to - them at once by telling him that you would do nothing without - consulting him, and that he (Petit-Claud) would not allow you to - concede a single point in the matter of the invention until you - had been promised an indemnity of thirty thousand francs; fifteen - thousand to free you from embarrassment, and fifteen thousand more - to be yours in any case, whether your invention succeeds or no. I - cannot understand Petit-Claud. I embrace you, dear, a wife’s kiss - for her husband in trouble. Our little Lucien is well. How strange - it is to watch him grow rosy and strong, like a flower, in these - stormy days! Mother prays God for you now, as always, and sends - love only less tender than mine.—Your - “EVE.” - </pre> - <p> - As a matter of fact, Petit-Claud and the Cointets had taken fright at old - Sechard’s peasant shrewdness, and got rid of him so much the more easily - because it was now vintage time at Marsac. Eve’s letter enclosed another - from Lucien:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “MY DEAR DAVID,—Everything is going well. I am armed <i>cap-a-pie</i>; - to-day I open the campaign, and in forty-eight hours I shall have - made great progress. How glad I shall be to embrace you when you - are free again and my debts are all paid! My mother and sister - persist in mistrusting me; their suspicion wounds me to the quick. - As if I did not know already that you are hiding with Basine, for - every time that Basine comes to the house I hear news of you and - receive answers to my letters; and besides, it is plain that my - sister could not find any one else to trust. It hurts me cruelly - to think that I shall be so near you to-day, and yet that you will - not be present at this banquet in my honor. I owe my little - triumph to the vainglory of Angouleme; in a few days it will be - quite forgotten, and you alone would have taken a real pleasure in - it. But, after all, in a little while you will pardon everything - to one who counts it more than all the triumphs in the world to be - your brother, - “LUCIEN.” - </pre> - <p> - Two forces tugged sharply at David’s heart; he adored his wife; and if he - held Lucien in somewhat less esteem, his friendship was scarcely - diminished. In solitude our feelings have unrestricted play; and a man - preoccupied like David, with all-absorbing thoughts, will give way to - impulses for which ordinary life would have provided a sufficient - counterpoise. As he read Lucien’s letter to the sound of military music, - and heard of this unlooked-for recognition, he was deeply touched by that - expression of regret. He had known how it would be. A very slight - expression of feeling appeals irresistibly to a sensitive soul, for they - are apt to credit others with like depths. How should the drop fall unless - the cup were full to the brim? - </p> - <p> - So at midnight, in spite of all Basine’s entreaties, David must go to see - Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “Nobody will be out in the streets at this time of night,” he said; “I - shall not be seen, and they cannot arrest me. Even if I should meet - people, I can make use of Kolb’s way of going into hiding. And besides, it - is so intolerably long since I saw my wife and child.” - </p> - <p> - The reasoning was plausible enough; Basine gave way, and David went. - Petit-Claud was just taking leave as he came up and at his cry of <i>“Lucien!”</i> - the two brothers flung their arms about each other with tears in their - eyes. - </p> - <p> - Life holds not many moments such as these. Lucien’s heart went out in - response to this friendship for its own sake. There was never question of - debtor and creditor between them, and the offender met with no reproaches - save his own. David, generous and noble that he was, was longing to bestow - pardon; he meant first of all to read Lucien a lecture, and scatter the - clouds that overspread the love of the brother and sister; and with these - ends in view, the lack of money and its consequent dangers disappeared - entirely from his mind. - </p> - <p> - “Go home,” said Petit-Claud, addressing his client; “take advantage of - your imprudence to see your wife and child again, at any rate; and you - must not be seen, mind you!—How unlucky!” he added, when he was - alone in the Place du Murier. “If only Cerizet were here——” - </p> - <p> - The buildings magniloquently styled the Angouleme Law Courts were then in - process of construction. Petit-Claud muttered these words to himself as he - passed by the hoardings, and heard a tap upon the boards, and a voice - issuing from a crack between two planks. - </p> - <p> - “Here I am,” said Cerizet; “I saw David coming out of L’Houmeau. I was - beginning to have my suspicions about his retreat, and now I am sure; and - I know where to have him. But I want to know something of Lucien’s plans - before I set the snare for David; and here are you sending him into the - house! Find some excuse for stopping here, at least, and when David and - Lucien come out, send them round this way; they will think they are quite - alone, and I shall overhear their good-bye.” - </p> - <p> - “You are a very devil,” muttered Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “Well, I’m blessed if a man wouldn’t do anything for the thing you - promised me.” - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud walked away from the hoarding, and paced up and down in the - Place du Murier; he watched the windows of the room where the family sat - together, and thought of his own prospects to keep up his courage. - Cerizet’s cleverness had given him the chance of striking the final blow. - Petit-Claud was a double-dealer of the profoundly cautious stamp that is - never caught by the bait of a present satisfaction, nor entangled by a - personal attachment, after his first initiation into the strategy of - self-seeking and the instability of the human heart. So, from the very - first, he had put little trust in Cointet. He foresaw that his marriage - negotiations might very easily be broken off, saw also that in that case - he could not accuse Cointet of bad faith, and he had taken his measures - accordingly. But since his success at the Hotel de Bargeton, Petit-Claud’s - game was above board. A certain under-plot of his was useless now, and - even dangerous to a man with his political ambitions. He had laid the - foundations of his future importance in the following manner:— - </p> - <p> - Gannerac and a few of the wealthy men of business in L’Houmeau formed a - sort of Liberal clique in constant communication (through commercial - channels) with the leaders of the Opposition. The Villele ministry, - accepted by the dying Louis XVIII., gave the signal for a change of - tactics in the Opposition camp; for, since the death of Napoleon, the - liberals had ceased to resort to the dangerous expedient of conspiracy. - They were busy organizing resistance by lawful means throughout the - provinces, and aiming at securing control of the great bulk of electors by - convincing the masses. Petit-Claud, a rabid Liberal, and a man of - L’Houmeau, was the instigator, the secret counselor, and the very life of - this movement in the lower town, which groaned under the tyranny of the - aristocrats at the upper end. He was the first to see the danger of - leaving the whole press of the department in the control of the Cointets; - the Opposition must have its organ; it would not do to be behind other - cities. - </p> - <p> - “If each one of us gives Gannerac a bill for five hundred francs, he would - have some twenty thousand francs and more; we might buy up Sechard’s - printing-office, and we could do as we liked with the master-printer if we - lent him the capital,” Petit-Claud had said. - </p> - <p> - Others had taken up the idea, and in this way Petit-Claud strengthened his - position with regard to David on the one side and the Cointets on the - other. Casting about him for a tool for his party, he naturally thought - that a rogue of Cerizet’s calibre was the very man for the purpose. - </p> - <p> - “If you can find Sechard’s hiding-place and put him in our hands, somebody - will lend you twenty thousand francs to buy his business, and very likely - there will be a newspaper to print. So, set about it,” he had said. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud put more faith in Cerizet’s activity than in all the Doublons - in existence; and then it was that he promised Cointet that Sechard should - be arrested. But now that the little lawyer cherished hopes of office, he - saw that he must turn his back upon the Liberals; and, meanwhile, the - amount for the printing-office had been subscribed in L’Houmeau. - Petit-Claud decided to allow things to take their natural course. - </p> - <p> - “Pooh!” he thought, “Cerizet will get into trouble with his paper, and - give me an opportunity of displaying my talents.” - </p> - <p> - He walked up to the door of the printing-office and spoke to Kolb, the - sentinel. “Go up and warn David that he had better go now,” he said, “and - take every precaution. I am going home; it is one o’clock.” - </p> - <p> - Marion came to take Kolb’s place. Lucien and David came down together and - went out, Kolb a hundred paces ahead of them, and Marion at the same - distance behind. The two friends walked past the hoarding, Lucien talking - eagerly the while. - </p> - <p> - “My plan is extremely simple, David; but how could I tell you about it - while Eve was there? She would never understand. I am quite sure that at - the bottom of Louise’s heart there is a feeling that I can rouse, and I - should like to arouse it if it is only to avenge myself upon that idiot - the prefect. If our love affair only lasts for a week, I will contrive to - send an application through her for the subvention of twenty thousand - francs for you. I am going to see her again to-morrow in the little - boudoir where our old affair of the heart began; Petit-Claud says that the - room is the same as ever; I shall play my part in the comedy; and I will - send word by Basine to-morrow morning to tell you whether the actor was - hissed. You may be at liberty by then, who knows?—Now do you - understand how it was that I wanted clothes from Paris? One cannot act the - lover’s part in rags.” - </p> - <p> - At six o’clock that morning Cerizet went to Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “Doublon can be ready to take his man to-morrow at noon, I will answer for - it,” he said; “I know one of Mlle. Clerget’s girls, do you understand?” - Cerizet unfolded his plan, and Petit-Claud hurried to find Cointet. - </p> - <p> - “If M. Francis du Hautoy will settle his property on Francoise, you shall - sign a deed of partnership with Sechard in two days. I shall not be - married for a week after the contract is signed, so we shall both be - within the terms of our little agreement, tit for tat. To-night, however, - we must keep a close watch over Lucien and Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet, - for the whole business lies in that. . . . If Lucien hopes to succeed - through the Countess’ influence, I have David safe——” - </p> - <p> - “You will be Keeper of the Seals yet, it is my belief,” said Cointet. - </p> - <p> - “And why not? No one objects to M. de Peyronnet,” said Petit-Claud. He had - not altogether sloughed his skin of Liberalism. - </p> - <p> - Mlle. de la Haye’s ambiguous position brought most of the upper town to - the signing of the marriage contract. The comparative poverty of the young - couple and the absence of a <i>corbeille</i> quickened the interest that - people love to exhibit; for it is with beneficence as with ovations, we - prefer the deeds of charity which gratify self-love. The Marquise de - Pimentel, the Comtesse du Chatelet, M. de Senonches, and one or two - frequenters of the house had given Francoise a few wedding presents, which - made great talk in the city. These pretty trifles, together with the - trousseau which Zephirine had been preparing for the past twelve months, - the godfather’s jewels, and the usual wedding gifts, consoled Francoise - and roused the curiosity of some mothers of daughters. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud and Cointet had both remarked that their presence in the - Angouleme Olympus was endured rather than courted. Cointet was Francoise’s - trustee and quasi-guardian; and if Petit-Claud was to sign the contract, - Petit-Claud’s presence was as necessary as the attendance of the man to be - hanged at an execution; but though, once married, Mme. Petit-Claud might - keep her right of entry to her godmother’s house, Petit-Claud foresaw some - difficulty on his own account, and resolved to be beforehand with these - haughty personages. - </p> - <p> - He felt ashamed of his parents. He had sent his mother to stay at Mansle; - now he begged her to say that she was out of health and to give her - consent in writing. So humiliating was it to be without relations, - protectors, or witnesses to his signature, that Petit-Claud thought - himself in luck that he could bring a presentable friend at the Countess’ - request. He called to take up Lucien, and they drove to the Hotel de - Bargeton. - </p> - <p> - On that memorable evening the poet dressed to outshine every man present. - Mme. de Senonches had spoken of him as the hero of the hour, and a first - interview between two estranged lovers is the kind of scene that - provincials particularly love. Lucien had come to be the lion of the - evening; he was said to be so handsome, so much changed, so wonderful, - that every well-born woman in Angouleme was curious to see him again. - Following the fashion of the transition period between the eighteenth - century small clothes and the vulgar costume of the present day, he wore - tight-fitting black trousers. Men still showed their figures in those - days, to the utter despair of lean, clumsily-made mortals; and Lucien was - an Apollo. The open-work gray silk stockings, the neat shoes, and the - black satin waistcoat were scrupulously drawn over his person, and seemed - to cling to him. His forehead looked the whiter by contrast with the - thick, bright curls that rose above it with studied grace. The proud eyes - were radiant. The hands, small as a woman’s, never showed to better - advantage than when gloved. He had modeled himself upon de Marsay, the - famous Parisian dandy, holding his hat and cane in one hand, and keeping - the other free for the very occasional gestures which illustrated his - talk. - </p> - <p> - Lucien had quite intended to emulate the famous false modesty of those who - bend their heads to pass beneath the Porte Saint-Denis, and to slip - unobserved into the room; but Petit-Claud, having but one friend, made him - useful. He brought Lucien almost pompously through a crowded room to Mme. - de Senonches. The poet heard a murmur as he passed; not so very long ago - that hum of voices would have turned his head, to-day he was quite - different; he did not doubt that he himself was greater than the whole - Olympus put together. - </p> - <p> - “Madame,” he said, addressing Mme. de Senonches, “I have already - congratulated my friend Petit-Claud (a man with the stuff in him of which - Keepers of the Seals are made) on the honor of his approaching connection - with you, slight as are the ties between godmother and goddaughter——” - (this with the air of a man uttering an epigram, by no means lost upon any - woman in the room, for every woman was listening without appearing to do - so.) “And as for myself,” he continued, “I am delighted to have the - opportunity of paying my homage to you.” - </p> - <p> - He spoke easily and fluently, as some great lord might speak under the - roof of his inferiors; and as he listened to Zephirine’s involved reply, - he cast a glance over the room to consider the effect that he wished to - make. The pause gave him time to discover Francis du Hautoy and the - prefect; to bow gracefully to each with the proper shade of difference in - his smile, and, finally, to approach Mme. du Chatelet as if he had just - caught sight of her. That meeting was the real event of the evening. No - one so much as thought of the marriage contract lying in the adjoining - bedroom, whither Francoise and the notary led guest after guest to sign - the document. Lucien made a step towards Louise de Negrepelisse, and then - spoke with that grace of manner now associated, for her, with memories of - Paris. - </p> - <p> - “Do I owe to you, madame, the pleasure of an invitation to dine at the - Prefecture the day after to-morrow?” he said. - </p> - <p> - “You owe it solely to your fame, monsieur,” Louise answered drily, - somewhat taken aback by the turn of a phrase by which Lucien deliberately - tried to wound her pride. - </p> - <p> - “Ah! Madame la Comtesse, I cannot bring you the guest if the man is in - disgrace,” said Lucien, and, without waiting for an answer, he turned and - greeted the Bishop with stately grace. - </p> - <p> - “Your lordship’s prophecy has been partially fulfilled,” he said, and - there was a winning charm in his tones; “I will endeavor to fulfil it to - the letter. I consider myself very fortunate since this evening brings me - an opportunity of paying my respects to you.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien drew the Bishop into a conversation that lasted for ten minutes. - The women looked on Lucien as a phenomenon. His unexpected insolence had - struck Mme. du Chatelet dumb; she could not find an answer. Looking round - the room, she saw that every woman admired Lucien; she watched group after - group repeating the phrases by which Lucien crushed her with seeming - disdain, and her heart contracted with a spasm of mortification. - </p> - <p> - “Suppose that he should not come to the Prefecture after this, what talk - there would be!” she thought. “Where did he learn this pride? Can Mlle. - des Touches have taken a fancy for him? . . . He is so handsome. They say - that she hurried to see him in Paris the day after that actress died. . . - . Perhaps he has come to the rescue of his brother-in-law, and happened to - be behind our caleche at Mansle by accident. Lucien looked at us very - strangely that morning.” - </p> - <p> - A crowd of thoughts crossed Louise’s brain, and unluckily for her, she - continued to ponder visibly as she watched Lucien. He was talking with the - Bishop as if he were the king of the room; making no effort to find any - one out, waiting till others came to him, looking round about him with - varying expression, and as much at his ease as his model de Marsay. M. de - Senonches appeared at no great distance, but Lucien still stood beside the - prelate. - </p> - <p> - At the end of ten minutes Louise could contain herself no longer. She rose - and went over to the Bishop and said: - </p> - <p> - “What is being said, my lord, that you smile so often?” - </p> - <p> - Lucien drew back discreetly, and left Mme. du Chatelet with his lordship. - </p> - <p> - “Ah! Mme. la Comtesse, what a clever young fellow he is! He was explaining - to me that he owed all he is to you——” - </p> - <p> - “<i>I</i> am not ungrateful, madame,” said Lucien, with a reproachful - glance that charmed the Countess. - </p> - <p> - “Let us have an understanding,” she said, beckoning him with her fan. - “Come into the boudoir. My Lord Bishop, you shall judge between us.” - </p> - <p> - “She has found a funny task for his lordship,” said one of the Chandour - camp, sufficiently audibly. - </p> - <p> - “Judge between us!” repeated Lucien, looking from the prelate to the lady; - “then, is one of us in fault?” - </p> - <p> - Louise de Negrepelisse sat down on the sofa in the familiar boudoir. She - made the Bishop sit on one side and Lucien on the other, then she began to - speak. But Lucien, to the joy and surprise of his old love, honored her - with inattention; her words fell unheeded on his ears; he sat like Pasta - in <i>Tancredi</i>, with the words <i>O patria!</i> upon her lips, the - music of the great cavatina <i>Dell Rizzo</i> might have passed into his - face. Indeed, Coralie’s pupil had contrived to bring the tears to his - eyes. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! Louise, how I loved you!” he murmured, careless of the Bishop’s - presence, heedless of the conversation, as soon as he knew that the - Countess had seen the tears. - </p> - <p> - “Dry your eyes, or you will ruin me here a second time,” she said in an - aside that horrified the prelate. - </p> - <p> - “And once is enough,” was Lucien’s quick retort. “That speech from Mme. - d’Espard’s cousin would dry the eyes of a weeping Magdalene. Oh me! for a - little moment old memories, and lost illusions, and my twentieth year came - back to me, and you have——” - </p> - <p> - His lordship hastily retreated to the drawing-room at this; it seemed to - him that his dignity was like to be compromised by this sentimental pair. - Every one ostentatiously refrained from interrupting them, and a quarter - of an hour went by; till at last Sixte du Chatelet, vexed by the laughter - and talk, and excursions to the boudoir door, went in with a countenance - distinctly overclouded, and found Louise and Lucien talking excitedly. - </p> - <p> - “Madame,” said Sixte in his wife’s ear, “you know Angouleme better than I - do, and surely you should think of your position as Mme. la Prefete and of - the Government?” - </p> - <p> - “My dear,” said Louise, scanning her responsible editor with a haughtiness - that made him quake, “I am talking with M. de Rubempre of matters which - interest you. It is a question of rescuing an inventor about to fall a - victim to the basest machinations; you will help us. As to those ladies - yonder, and their opinion of me, you shall see how I will freeze the venom - of their tongues.” - </p> - <p> - She came out of the boudoir on Lucien’s arm, and drew him across to sign - the contract with a great lady’s audacity. - </p> - <p> - “Write your name after mine,” she said, handing him the pen. And Lucien - submissively signed in the place indicated beneath her name. - </p> - <p> - “M. de Senonches, would you have recognized M. de Rubempre?” she - continued, and the insolent sportsman was compelled to greet Lucien. - </p> - <p> - She returned to the drawing-room on Lucien’s arm, and seated him on the - awe-inspiring central sofa between herself and Zephirine. There, enthroned - like a queen, she began, at first in a low voice, a conversation in which - epigram evidently was not wanting. Some of her old friends, and several - women who paid court to her, came to join the group, and Lucien soon - became the hero of the circle. The Countess drew him out on the subject of - life in Paris; his satirical talk flowed with spontaneous and incredible - spirit; he told anecdotes of celebrities, those conversational luxuries - which the provincial devours with such avidity. His wit was as much - admired as his good looks. And Mme. la Comtesse Sixte du Chatelet, - preparing Lucien’s triumph so patiently, sat like a player enraptured with - the sound of his instrument; she gave him opportunities for a reply; she - looked round the circle for applause so openly, that not a few of the - women began to think that their return together was something more than a - coincidence, and that Lucien and Louise, loving with all their hearts, had - been separated by a double treason. Pique, very likely, had brought about - this ill-starred match with Chatelet. And a reaction set in against the - prefect. - </p> - <p> - Before the Countess rose to go at one o’clock in the morning, she turned - to Lucien and said in a low voice, “Do me the pleasure of coming - punctually to-morrow evening.” Then, with the friendliest little nod, she - went, saying a few words to Chatelet, who was looking for his hat. - </p> - <p> - “If Mme. du Chatelet has given me a correct idea of the state of affairs, - count on me, my dear Lucien,” said the prefect, preparing to hurry after - his wife. She was going away without him, after the Paris fashion. “Your - brother-in-law may consider that his troubles are at an end,” he added as - he went. - </p> - <p> - “M. le Comte surely owes me so much,” smiled Lucien. - </p> - <p> - Cointet and Petit-Claud heard these farewell speeches. - </p> - <p> - “Well, well, we are done for now,” Cointet muttered in his confederate’s - ear. Petit-Claud, thunderstruck by Lucien’s success, amazed by his - brilliant wit and varying charm, was gazing at Francoise de la Haye; the - girl’s whole face was full of admiration for Lucien. “Be like your - friend,” she seemed to say to her betrothed. A gleam of joy flitted over - Petit-Claud’s countenance. - </p> - <p> - “We still have a whole day before the prefect’s dinner; I will answer for - everything.” - </p> - <p> - An hour later, as Petit-Claud and Lucien walked home together, Lucien - talked of his success. “Well, my dear fellow, I came, I saw, I conquered! - Sechard will be very happy in a few hours’ time.” - </p> - <p> - “Just what I wanted to know,” thought Petit-Claud. Aloud he said—“I - thought you were simply a poet, Lucien, but you are a Lauzun too, that is - to say—twice a poet,” and they shook hands—for the last time, - as it proved. - </p> - <p> - “Good news, dear Eve,” said Lucien, waking his sister, “David will have no - debts in less than a month!” - </p> - <p> - “How is that?” - </p> - <p> - “Well, my Louise is still hidden by Mme. du Chatelet’s petticoat. She - loves me more than ever; she will send a favorable report of our discovery - to the Minister of the Interior through her husband. So we have only to - endure our troubles for one month, while I avenge myself on the prefect - and complete the happiness of his married life.” - </p> - <p> - Eve listened, and thought that she must be dreaming. - </p> - <p> - “I saw the little gray drawing-room where I trembled like a child two - years ago; it seemed as if scales fell from my eyes when I saw the - furniture and the pictures and the faces again. How Paris changes one’s - ideas!” - </p> - <p> - “Is that a good thing?” asked Eve, at last beginning to understand. - </p> - <p> - “Come, come; you are still asleep. We will talk about it to-morrow after - breakfast.” - </p> - <p> - Cerizet’s plot was exceedingly simple, a commonplace stratagem familiar to - the provincial bailiff. Its success entirely depends upon circumstances, - and in this case it was certain, so intimate was Cerizet’s knowledge of - the characters and hopes of those concerned. Cerizet had been a kind of - Don Juan among the young work-girls, ruling his victims by playing one off - against another. Since he had been the Cointet’s extra foreman, he had - singled out one of Basine Clerget’s assistants, a girl almost as handsome - as Mme. Sechard. Henriette Signol’s parents owned a small vineyard two - leagues out of Angouleme, on the road to Saintes. The Signols, like - everybody else in the country, could not afford to keep their only child - at home; so they meant her to go out to service, in country phrase. The - art of clear-starching is a part of every country housemaid’s training; - and so great was Mme. Prieur’s reputation, that the Signols sent Henriette - to her as apprentice, and paid for their daughter’s board and lodging. - </p> - <p> - Mme. Prieur was one of the old-fashioned mistresses, who consider that - they fill a parent’s place towards their apprentices. They were part of - the family; she took them with her to church, and looked scrupulously - after them. Henriette Signol was a tall, fine-looking girl, with bold - eyes, and long, thick, dark hair, and the pale, very fair complexion of - girls in the South—white as a magnolia flower. For which reasons - Henriette was one of the first on whom Cerizet cast his eyes; but - Henriette came of “honest farmer folk,” and only yielded at last to - jealousy, to bad example, and the treacherous promise of subsequent - marriage. By this time Cerizet was the Cointet’s foreman. When he learned - that the Signols owned a vineyard worth some ten or twelve thousand - francs, and a tolerably comfortable cottage, he hastened to make it - impossible for Henriette to marry any one else. Affairs had reached this - point when Petit-Claud held out the prospect of a printing office and - twenty thousand francs of borrowed capital, which was to prove a yoke upon - the borrower’s neck. Cerizet was dazzled, the offer turned his head; - Henriette Signol was now only an obstacle in the way of his ambitions, and - he neglected the poor girl. Henriette, in her despair, clung more closely - to her seducer as he tried to shake her off. When Cerizet began to suspect - that David was hiding in Basine’s house, his views with regard to - Henriette underwent another change, though he treated her as before. A - kind of frenzy works in a girl’s brain when she must marry her seducer to - conceal her dishonor, and Cerizet was on the watch to turn this madness to - his own account. - </p> - <p> - During the morning of the day when Lucien had set himself to reconquer his - Louise, Cerizet told Basine’s secret to Henriette, giving her to - understand at the same time that their marriage and future prospects - depended upon the discovery of David’s hiding-place. Thus instructed, - Henriette easily made certain of the fact that David was in Basine - Clerget’s inner room. It never occurred to the girl that she was doing - wrong to act the spy, and Cerizet involved her in the guilt of betrayal by - this first step. - </p> - <p> - Lucien was still sleeping while Cerizet, closeted with Petit-Claud, heard - the history of the important trifles with which all Angouleme presently - would ring. - </p> - <p> - The Cointets’ foreman gave a satisfied nod as Petit-Claud came to an end. - “Lucien surely has written you a line since he came back, has he not?” he - asked. - </p> - <p> - “This is all that I have,” answered the lawyer, and he held out a note on - Mme. Sechard’s writing-paper. - </p> - <p> - “Very well,” said Cerizet, “let Doublon be in wait at the Palet Gate about - ten minutes before sunset; tell him to post his gendarmes, and you shall - have our man.” - </p> - <p> - “Are you sure of <i>your</i> part of the business?” asked Petit-Claud, - scanning Cerizet. - </p> - <p> - “I rely on chance,” said the ex-street boy, “and she is a saucy huzzy; she - does not like honest folk. - </p> - <p> - “You must succeed,” said Cerizet. “You have pushed me into this dirty - business; you may as well let me have a few banknotes to wipe off the - stains.”—Then detecting a look that he did not like in the - attorney’s face, he continued, with a deadly glance, “If you have cheated - me, sir, if you don’t buy the printing-office for me within a week—you - will leave a young widow;” he lowered his voice. - </p> - <p> - “If we have David on the jail register at six o’clock, come round to M. - Gannerac’s at nine, and we will settle your business,” said Petit-Claud - peremptorily. - </p> - <p> - “Agreed. Your will shall be done, governor,” said Cerizet. - </p> - <p> - Cerizet understood the art of washing paper, a dangerous art for the - Treasury. He washed out Lucien’s four lines and replaced them, imitating - the handwriting with a dexterity which augured ill for his own future:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “MY DEAR DAVID,—Your business is settled; you need not fear to go - to the prefect. You can go out at sunset. I will come to meet you - and tell you what to do at the prefecture.—Your brother, - “LUCIEN.” - </pre> - <p> - At noon Lucien wrote to David, telling him of his evening’s success. The - prefect would be sure to lend his influence, he said; he was full of - enthusiasm over the invention, and was drawing up a report that very day - to send to the Government. Marion carried the letter to Basine, taking - some of Lucien’s linen to the laundry as a pretext for the errand. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud had told Cerizet that a letter would in all probability be - sent. Cerizet called for Mlle. Signol, and the two walked by the Charente. - Henriette’s integrity must have held out for a long while, for the walk - lasted for two hours. A whole future of happiness and ease and the - interests of a child were at stake, and Cerizet asked a mere trifle of - her. He was very careful besides to say nothing of the consequences of - that trifle. She was only to carry a letter and a message, that was all; - but it was the greatness of the reward for the trifling service that - frightened Henriette. Nevertheless, Cerizet gained her consent at last; - she would help him in his stratagem. - </p> - <p> - At five o’clock Henriette must go out and come in again, telling Basine - Clerget that Mme. Sechard wanted to speak to her at once. Fifteen minutes - after Basine’s departure she must go upstairs, knock at the door of the - inner room, and give David the forged note. That was all. Cerizet looked - to chance to manage the rest. - </p> - <p> - For the first time in twelve months, Eve felt the iron grasp of necessity - relax a little. She began at last to hope. She, too, would enjoy her - brother’s visit; she would show herself abroad on the arm of a man feted - in his native town, adored by the women, beloved by the proud Comtesse du - Chatelet. She dressed herself prettily, and proposed to walk out after - dinner with her brother to Beaulieu. In September all Angouleme comes out - at that hour to breathe the fresh air. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! that is the beautiful Mme. Sechard,” voices said here and there. - </p> - <p> - “I should never have believed it of her,” said a woman. - </p> - <p> - “The husband is in hiding, and the wife walks abroad,” said Mme. Postel - for young Mme. Sechard’s benefit. - </p> - <p> - “Oh, let us go home,” said poor Eve; “I have made a mistake.” - </p> - <p> - A few minutes before sunset, the sound of a crowd rose from the steps that - lead down to L’Houmeau. Apparently some crime had been committed, for - persons coming from L’Houmeau were talking among themselves. Curiosity - drew Lucien and Eve towards the steps. - </p> - <p> - “A thief has just been arrested no doubt, the man looks as pale as death,” - one of these passers-by said to the brother and sister. The crowd grew - larger. - </p> - <p> - Lucien and Eve watched a group of some thirty children, old women and men, - returning from work, clustering about the gendarmes, whose gold-laced caps - gleamed above the heads of the rest. About a hundred persons followed the - procession, the crowd gathering like a storm cloud. - </p> - <p> - “Oh! it is my husband!” Eve cried out. - </p> - <p> - <i>“David!”</i> exclaimed Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “It is his wife,” said voices, and the crowd made way. - </p> - <p> - “What made you come out?” asked Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “Your letter,” said David, haggard and white. - </p> - <p> - “I knew it!” said Eve, and she fainted away. Lucien raised his sister, and - with the help of two strangers he carried her home; Marion laid her in - bed, and Kolb rushed off for a doctor. Eve was still insensible when the - doctor arrived; and Lucien was obliged to confess to his mother that he - was the cause of David’s arrest; for he, of course, knew nothing of the - forged letter and Cerizet’s stratagem. Then he went up to his room and - locked himself in, struck dumb by the malediction in his mother’s eyes. - </p> - <p> - In the dead of night he wrote one more letter amid constant interruptions; - the reader can divine the agony of the writer’s mind from those phrases, - jerked out, as it were, one by one:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “MY BELOVED SISTER,—We have seen each other for the last time. My - resolution is final, and for this reason. In many families there - is one unlucky member, a kind of disease in their midst. I am that - unlucky one in our family. The observation is not mine; it was - made at a friendly supper one evening at the <i>Rocher de Cancale</i> by - a diplomate who has seen a great deal of the world. While we - laughed and joked, he explained the reason why some young lady or - some other remained unmarried, to the astonishment of the world - —it was ‘a touch of her father,’ he said, and with that he unfolded - his theory of inherited weaknesses. He told us how such and such a - family would have flourished but for the mother; how it was that a - son had ruined his father, or a father had stripped his children - of prospects and respectability. It was said laughingly, but we - thought of so many cases in point in ten minutes that I was struck - with the theory. The amount of truth in it furnished all sorts of - wild paradoxes, which journalists maintain cleverly enough for - their own amusement when there is nobody else at hand to mystify. - I bring bad luck to our family. My heart is full of love for you, - yet I behave like an enemy. The blow dealt unintentionally is the - cruelest blow of all. While I was leading a bohemian life in - Paris, a life made up of pleasure and misery; taking good - fellowship for friendship, forsaking my true friends for those who - wished to exploit me, and succeeded; forgetful of you, or - remembering you only to cause you trouble,—all that while you - were walking in the humble path of hard work, making your way - slowly but surely to the fortune which I tried so madly to snatch. - While you grew better, I grew worse; a fatal element entered into - my life through my own choice. Yes, unbounded ambition makes an - obscure existence simply impossible for me. I have tastes and - remembrances of past pleasures that poison the enjoyments within - my reach; once I should have been satisfied with them, now it is - too late. Oh, dear Eve, no one can think more hardly of me than I - do myself; my condemnation is absolute and pitiless. The struggle - in Paris demands steady effort; my will power is spasmodic, my - brain works intermittently. The future is so appalling that I do - not care to face it, and the present is intolerable. - - “I wanted to see you again. I should have done better to stay in - exile all my days. But exile without means of subsistence would be - madness; I will not add another folly to the rest. Death is better - than a maimed life; I cannot think of myself in any position in - which my overweening vanity would not lead me into folly. - - “Some human beings are like the figure 0, another must be put - before it, and they acquire ten times their value. I am nothing - unless a strong inexorable will is wedded to mine. Mme. de - Bargeton was in truth my wife; when I refused to leave Coralie for - her I spoiled my life. You and David might have been excellent - pilots for me, but you are not strong enough to tame my weakness, - which in some sort eludes control. I like an easy life, a life - without cares; to clear an obstacle out of my way I can descend to - baseness that sticks at nothing. I was born a prince. I have more - than the requisite intellectual dexterity for success, but only by - moments; and the prizes of a career so crowded by ambitious - competitors are to those who expend no more than the necessary - strength, and retain a sufficient reserve when they reach the - goal. - - “I shall do harm again with the best intentions in the world. Some - men are like oaks, I am a delicate shrub it may be, and I - forsooth, must needs aspire to be a forest cedar. - - “There you have my bankrupt’s schedule. The disproportion between - my powers and my desires, my want of balance, in short, will bring - all my efforts to nothing. There are many such characters among - men of letters, many men whose intellectual powers and character - are always at variance, who will one thing and wish another. What - would become of me? I can see it all beforehand, as I think of - this and that great light that once shone on Paris, now utterly - forgotten. On the threshold of old age I shall be a man older than - my age, needy and without a name. My whole soul rises up against - the thought of such a close; I will not be a social rag. Ah, dear - sister, loved and worshiped at least as much for your severity at - the last as for your tenderness at the first—if we have paid so - dear for my joy at seeing you all once more, you and David may - perhaps some day think that you could grudge no price however high - for a little last happiness for an unhappy creature who loved you. - Do not try to find me, Eve; do not seek to know what becomes of - me. My intellect for once shall be backed by my will. - Renunciation, my angel, is daily death of self; my renunciation - will only last for one day; I will take advantage now of that - day. . . . - - “<i>Two o’clock</i>. - - “Yes, I have quite made up my mind. Farewell for ever, dear Eve. - There is something sweet in the thought that I shall live only in - your hearts henceforth, and I wish no other burying place. Once - more, farewell. . . . That is the last word from your brother - - “LUCIEN.” - </pre> - <p> - Lucien read the letter over, crept noiselessly down stairs, and left it in - the child’s cradle; amid falling tears he set a last kiss on the forehead - of his sleeping sister; then he went out. He put out his candle in the - gray dusk, took a last look at the old house, stole softly along the - passage, and opened the street door; but in spite of his caution, he - awakened Kolb, who slept on a mattress on the workshop floor. - </p> - <p> - “Who goes there?” cried Kolb. - </p> - <p> - “It is I, Lucien; I am going away, Kolb.” - </p> - <p> - “You vould haf done better gif you at nefer kom,” Kolb muttered audibly. - </p> - <p> - “I should have done better still if I had never come into the world,” - Lucien answered. “Good-bye, Kolb; I don’t bear you any grudge for thinking - as I think myself. Tell David that I was sorry I could not bid him - good-bye, and say that this was my last thought.” - </p> - <p> - By the time the Alsacien was up and dressed, Lucien had shut the house - door, and was on his way towards the Charente by the Promenade de - Beaulieu. He might have been going to a festival, for he had put on his - new clothes from Paris and his dandy’s trinkets for a drowning shroud. - Something in Lucien’s tone had struck Kolb. At first the man thought of - going to ask his mistress whether she knew that her brother had left the - house; but as the deepest silence prevailed, he concluded that the - departure had been arranged beforehand, and lay down again and slept. - </p> - <p> - Little, considering the gravity of the question, has been written on the - subject of suicide; it has not been studied. Perhaps it is a disease that - cannot be observed. Suicide is one effect of a sentiment which we will - call self-esteem, if you will, to prevent confusion by using the word - “honor.” When a man despises himself, and sees that others despise him, - when real life fails to fulfil his hopes, then comes the moment when he - takes his life, and thereby does homage to society—shorn of his - virtues or his splendor, he does not care to face his fellows. Among - atheists—Christians being without the question of suicide—among - atheists, whatever may be said to the contrary, none but a base coward can - take up a dishonored life. - </p> - <p> - There are three kinds of suicide—the first is only the last and - acute stage of a long illness, and this kind belongs distinctly to - pathology; the second is the suicide of despair; and the third the suicide - based on logical argument. Despair and deductive reasoning had brought - Lucien to this pass, but both varieties are curable; it is only the - pathological suicide that is inevitable. Not infrequently you find all - three causes combined, as in the case of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. - </p> - <p> - Lucien having made up his mind fell to considering methods. The poet would - fain die as became a poet. At first he thought of throwing himself into - the Charente and making an end then and there; but as he came down the - steps from Beaulieu for the last time, he heard the whole town talking of - his suicide; he saw the horrid sight of a drowned dead body, and thought - of the recognition and the inquest; and, like some other suicides, felt - that vanity reached beyond death. - </p> - <p> - He remembered the day spent at Courtois’ mill, and his thoughts returned - to the round pool among the willows that he saw as he came along by the - little river, such a pool as you often find on small streams, with a - still, smooth surface that conceals great depths beneath. The water is - neither green nor blue nor white nor tawny; it is like a polished steel - mirror. No sword-grass grows about the margin; there are no blue water - forget-me-nots, nor broad lily leaves; the grass at the brim is short and - thick, and the weeping willows that droop over the edge grow picturesquely - enough. It is easy to imagine a sheer precipice beneath filled with water - to the brim. Any man who should have the courage to fill his pockets with - pebbles would not fail to find death, and never be seen thereafter. - </p> - <p> - At the time while he admired the lovely miniature of a landscape, the poet - had thought to himself, “‘Tis a spot to make your mouth water for a <i>noyade</i>.” - </p> - <p> - He thought of it now as he went down into L’Houmeau; and when he took his - way towards Marsac, with the last sombre thoughts gnawing at his heart, it - was with the firm resolve to hide his death. There should be no inquest - held over him, he would not be laid in earth; no one should see him in the - hideous condition of the corpse that floats on the surface of the water. - Before long he reached one of the slopes, common enough on all French - highroads, and commonest of all between Angouleme and Poitiers. He saw the - coach from Bordeaux to Paris coming up at full speed behind him, and knew - that the passengers would probably alight to walk up the hill. He did not - care to be seen just then. Turning off sharply into a beaten track, he - began to pick the flowers in a vineyard hard by. - </p> - <p> - When Lucien came back to the road with a great bunch of the yellow - stone-crop which grows everywhere upon the stony soil of the vineyards, he - came out upon a traveler dressed in black from head to foot. The stranger - wore powder, there were silver buckles on his shoes of Orleans leather, - and his brown face was scarred and seamed as if he had fallen into the - fire in infancy. The traveler, so obviously clerical in his dress, was - walking slowly and smoking a cigar. He turned as Lucien jumped down from - the vineyard into the road. The deep melancholy on the handsome young - face, the poet’s symbolical flowers, and his elegant dress seemed to - strike the stranger. He looked at Lucien with something of the expression - of a hunter that has found his quarry at last after long and fruitless - search. He allowed Lucien to come alongside in nautical phrase; then he - slackened his pace, and appeared to look along the road up the hill; - Lucien, following the direction of his eyes, saw a light traveling - carriage with two horses, and a post-boy standing beside it. - </p> - <p> - “You have allowed the coach to pass you, monsieur; you will lose your - place unless you care to take a seat in my caleche and overtake the mail, - for it is rather quicker traveling post than by the public conveyance.” - The traveler spoke with extreme politeness and a very marked Spanish - accent. - </p> - <p> - Without waiting for an answer, he drew a cigar-case from his pocket, - opened it, and held it out to Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “I am not on a journey,” said Lucien, “and I am too near the end of my - stage to indulge in the pleasure of smoking——” - </p> - <p> - “You are very severe with yourself,” returned the Spaniard. “Though I am a - canon of the cathedral of Toledo, I occasionally smoke a cigarette. God - gave us tobacco to allay our passions and our pains. You seem to be - downcast, or at any rate, you carry the symbolical flower of sorrow in - your hand, like the rueful god Hymen. Come! all your troubles will vanish - away with the smoke,” and again the ecclesiastic held out his little straw - case; there was something fascinating in his manner, and kindliness - towards Lucien lighted up his eyes. - </p> - <p> - “Forgive me, father” Lucien answered stiffly; “there is no cigar that can - scatter my troubles.” Tears came to his eyes at the words. - </p> - <p> - “It must surely be Divine Providence that prompted me to take a little - exercise to shake off a traveler’s morning drowsiness,” said the - churchman. “A divine prompting to fulfil my mission here on earth by - consoling you.—What great trouble can you have at your age?” - </p> - <p> - “Your consolations, father, can do nothing for me. You are a Spaniard, I - am a Frenchman; you believe in the commandments of the Church, I am an - atheist.” - </p> - <p> - “<i>Santa Virgen del Pilar</i>! you are an atheist!” cried the other, - laying a hand on Lucien’s arm with maternal solicitude. “Ah! here is one - of the curious things I promised myself to see in Paris. We, in Spain, do - not believe in atheists. There is no country but France where one can have - such opinions at nineteen years.” - </p> - <p> - “Oh! I am an atheist in the fullest sense of the word. I have no belief in - God, in society, in happiness. Take a good look at me, father; for in a - few hours’ time life will be over for me. My last sun has risen,” said - Lucien; with a sort of rhetorical effect he waved his hand towards the - sky. - </p> - <p> - “How so; what have you done that you must die? Who has condemned you to - die?” - </p> - <p> - “A tribunal from which there is no appeal—I myself.” - </p> - <p> - “You, child!” cried the priest. “Have you killed a man? Is the scaffold - waiting for you? Let us reason together a little. If you are resolved, as - you say, to return to nothingness, everything on earth is indifferent to - you, is it not?” - </p> - <p> - Lucien bowed assent. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, then; can you not tell me about your troubles? Some little - affair of the heart has taken a bad turn, no doubt?” - </p> - <p> - Lucien shrugged his shoulders very significantly. - </p> - <p> - “Are you resolved to kill yourself to escape dishonor, or do you despair - of life? Very good. You can kill yourself at Poitiers quite as easily as - at Angouleme, and at Tours it will be no harder than at Poitiers. The - quicksands of the Loire never give up their prey——” - </p> - <p> - “No, father,” said Lucien; “I have settled it all. Not three weeks ago I - chanced upon the most charming raft that can ferry a man sick and tired of - this life into the other world——” - </p> - <p> - “The other world? You are not an atheist.” - </p> - <p> - “Oh! by another world I mean my next transformation, animal or plant.” - </p> - <p> - “Have you some incurable disease?” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, father.” - </p> - <p> - “Ah! now we come to the point. What is it?” - </p> - <p> - “Poverty.” - </p> - <p> - The priest looked at Lucien. “The diamond does not know its own value,” he - said, and there was an inexpressible charm, and a touch of something like - irony in his smile. - </p> - <p> - “None but a priest could flatter a poor man about to die,” exclaimed - Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “You are not going to die,” the Spaniard returned authoritatively. - </p> - <p> - “I have heard many times of men that were robbed on the highroad, but I - have never yet heard of one that found a fortune there,” said Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “You will hear of one now,” said the priest, glancing towards the carriage - to measure the time still left for their walk together. “Listen to me,” he - continued, with his cigar between his teeth; “if you are poor, that is no - reason why you should die. I need a secretary, for mine has just died at - Barcelona. I am in the same position as the famous Baron Goertz, minister - of Charles XII. He was traveling toward Sweden (just as I am going to - Paris), and in some little town or other he chanced upon the son of a - goldsmith, a young man of remarkable good looks, though they could - scarcely equal yours. . . . Baron Goertz discerned intelligence in the - young man (just as I see poetry on your brow); he took him into his - traveling carriage, as I shall take you very shortly; and of a boy - condemned to spend his days in burnishing spoons and forks and making - trinkets in some little town like Angouleme, he made a favorite, as you - shall be mine. - </p> - <p> - “Arrived at Stockholm, he installed his secretary and overwhelmed him with - work. The young man spent his nights in writing, and, like all great - workers, he contracted a bad habit, a trick—he took to chewing - paper. The late M. de Malesherbes use to rap people over the knuckles; and - he did this once, by the by, to somebody or other whose suit depended upon - him. The handsome young secretary began by chewing blank paper, found it - insipid for a while, and acquired a taste for manuscript as having more - flavor. People did not smoke as yet in those days. At last, from flavor to - flavor, he began to chew parchment and swallow it. Now, at that time a - treaty was being negotiated between Russia and Sweden. The States-General - insisted that Charles XII. should make peace (much as they tried in France - to make Napoleon treat for peace in 1814) and the basis of these - negotiations was the treaty between the two powers with regard to Finland. - Goertz gave the original into his secretary’s keeping; but when the time - came for laying the draft before the States-General, a trifling difficulty - arose; the treaty was not to be found. The States-General believed that - the Minister, pandering to the King’s wishes, had taken it into his head - to get rid of the document. Baron Goertz was, in fact, accused of this, - and the secretary owned that he had eaten the treaty. He was tried and - convicted and condemned to death.—But you have not come to that yet, - so take a cigar and smoke till we reach the caleche.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien took a cigar and lit it, Spanish fashion, at the priest’s cigar. - “He is right,” he thought; “I can take my life at any time.” - </p> - <p> - “It often happens that a young man’s fortunes take a turn when despair is - darkest,” the Spaniard continued. “That is what I wished to tell you, but - I preferred to prove it by a case in point. Here was the handsome young - secretary lying under sentence of death, and his case the more desperate - because, as he had been condemned by the States-General, the King could - not pardon him, but he connived at his escape. The secretary stole away in - a fishing-boat with a few crowns in his pocket, and reached the court of - Courland with a letter of introduction from Goertz, explaining his - secretary’s adventures and his craze for paper. The Duke of Courland was a - spendthrift; he had a steward and a pretty wife—three several causes - of ruin. He placed the charming young stranger with his steward. - </p> - <p> - “If you can imagine that the sometime secretary had been cured of his - depraved taste by a sentence of death, you do not know the grip that a - man’s failings have upon him; let a man discover some satisfaction for - himself, and the headsman will not keep him from it.—How is it that - the vice has this power? Is it inherent strength in the vice, or inherent - weakness in human nature? Are there certain tastes that should be regarded - as verging on insanity? For myself, I cannot help laughing at the - moralists who try to expel such diseases by fine phrases.—Well, it - so fell out that the steward refused a demand for money; and the Duke - taking fright at this, called for an audit. Sheer imbecility! Nothing - easier than to make out a balance-sheet; the difficulty never lies there. - The steward gave his secretary all the necessary documents for compiling a - schedule of the civil list of Courland. He had nearly finished it when, in - the dead of night, the unhappy paper-eater discovered that he was chewing - up one of the Duke’s discharges for a considerable sum. He had eaten half - the signature! Horror seized upon him; he fled to the Duchess, flung - himself at her feet, told her of his craze, and implored the aid of his - sovereign lady, implored her in the middle of the night. The handsome - young face made such an impression on the Duchess that she married him as - soon as she was left a widow. And so in the mid-eighteenth century, in a - land where the king-at-arms is king, the goldsmith’s son became a prince, - and something more. On the death of Catherine I. he was regent; he ruled - the Empress Anne, and tried to be the Richelieu of Russia. Very well, - young man; now know this—if you are handsomer than Biron, I, simple - canon that I am, am worth more than a Baron Goertz. So get in; we will - find a duchy of Courland for you in Paris, or failing the duchy, we shall - certainly find the duchess.” - </p> - <p> - The Spanish priest laid a hand on Lucien’s arm, and literally forced him - into the traveling carriage. The postilion shut the door. - </p> - <p> - “Now speak; I am listening,” said the canon of Toledo, to Lucien’s - bewilderment. “I am an old priest; you can tell me everything, there is - nothing to fear. So far we have only run through our patrimony or - squandered mamma’s money. We have made a flitting from our creditors, and - we are honor personified down to the tips of our elegant little boots. . . - . Come, confess, boldly; it will be just as if you were talking to - yourself.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien felt like that hero of an Eastern tale, the fisher who tried to - drown himself in mid-ocean, and sank down to find himself a king of - countries under the sea. The Spanish priest seemed so really affectionate, - that the poet hesitated no longer; between Angouleme and Ruffec he told - the story of his whole life, omitting none of his misdeeds, and ended with - the final catastrophe which he had brought about. The tale only gained in - poetic charm because this was the third time he had told it in the past - fortnight. Just as he made an end they passed the house of the Rastignac - family. - </p> - <p> - “Young Rastignac left that place for Paris,” said Lucien; “he is certainly - not my equal, but he has had better luck.” - </p> - <p> - The Spaniard started at the name. “Oh!” he said. - </p> - <p> - “Yes. That shy little place belongs to his father. As I was telling you - just now, he was the lover of Mme. de Nucingen, the famous banker’s wife. - I drifted into poetry; he was cleverer, he took the practical side.” - </p> - <p> - The priest stopped the caleche; and was so far curious as to walk down the - little avenue that led to the house, showing more interest in the place - than Lucien expected from a Spanish ecclesiastic. - </p> - <p> - “Then, do you know the Rastignacs?” asked Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “I know every one in Paris,” said the Spaniard, taking his place again in - the carriage. “And so for want of ten or twelve thousand francs, you were - about to take your life; you are a child, you know neither men nor things. - A man’s future is worth the value that he chooses to set upon it, and you - value yours at twelve thousand francs! Well, I will give more than that - for you any time. As for your brother-in-law’s imprisonment, it is the - merest trifle. If this dear M. Sechard has made a discovery, he will be a - rich man some day, and a rich man has never been imprisoned for debt. You - do not seem to me to be strong in history. History is of two kinds—there - is the official history taught in schools, a lying compilation <i>ad usum - delphini</i>; and there is the secret history which deals with the real - causes of events—a scandalous chronicle. Let me tell you briefly a - little story which you have not heard. There was, once upon a time, a man, - young and ambitious, and a priest to boot. He wanted to enter upon a - political career, so he fawned on the Queen’s favorite; the favorite took - an interest in him, gave him the rank of minister, and a seat at the - council board. One evening somebody wrote to the young aspirant, thinking - to do him a service (never do a service, by the by, unless you are asked), - and told him that his benefactor’s life was in danger. The King’s wrath - was kindled against his rival; to-morrow, if the favorite went to the - palace, he would certainly be stabbed; so said the letter. Well, now, - young man, what would you have done?” - </p> - <p> - “I should have gone at once to warn my benefactor,” Lucien exclaimed - quickly. - </p> - <p> - “You are indeed the child which your story reveals!” said the priest. “Our - man said to himself, ‘If the King is resolved to go to such lengths, it is - all over with my benefactor; I must receive this letter too late;’ so he - slept on till the favorite was stabbed——” - </p> - <p> - “He was a monster!” said Lucien, suspecting that the priest meant to sound - him. - </p> - <p> - “So are all great men; this one was the Cardinal de Richelieu, and his - benefactor was the Marechal d’Ancre. You really do not know your history - of France, you see. Was I not right when I told you that history as taught - in schools is simply a collection of facts and dates, more than doubtful - in the first place, and with no bearing whatever on the gist of the - matter. You are told that such a person as Jeanne Darc once existed; where - is the use of that? Have you never drawn your own conclusions from that - fact? never seen that if France had accepted the Angevin dynasty of the - Plantagenets, the two peoples thus reunited would be ruling the world - to-day, and the islands that now brew political storms for the continent - would be French provinces? . . . Why, have you so much as studied the - means by which simple merchants like the Medicis became Grand Dukes of - Tuscany?” - </p> - <p> - “A poet in France is not bound to be ‘as learned as a Benedictine,’” said - Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “Well, they became Grand-Dukes as Richelieu became a minister. If you had - looked into history for the causes of events instead of getting the - headings by heart, you would have found precepts for your guidance in this - life. These real facts taken at random from among so many supply you with - the axiom—‘Look upon men, and on women most of all, as your - instruments; but never let them see this.’ If some one higher in place can - be useful to you, worship him as your god; and never leave him until he - has paid the price of your servility to the last farthing. In your - intercourse with men, in short, be grasping and mean as a Jew; all that - the Jew does for money, you must do for power. And besides all this, when - a man has fallen from power, care no more for him than if he had ceased to - exist. And do you ask why you must do these things? You mean to rule the - world, do you not? You must begin by obeying and studying it. Scholars - study books; politicians study men, and their interests and the springs of - action. Society and mankind in masses are fatalists; they bow down and - worship the accomplished fact. Do you know why I am giving you this little - history lesson? It seems to me that your ambition is boundless——” - </p> - <p> - “Yes, father.” - </p> - <p> - “I saw that myself,” said the priest. “But at this moment you are - thinking, ‘Here is this Spanish canon inventing anecdotes and straining - history to prove to me that I have too much virtue——‘” - </p> - <p> - Lucien began to smile; his thoughts had been read so clearly. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, let us take facts that every schoolboy knows. One day France - is almost entirely overrun by the English; the King has only a single - province left. Two figures arise from among the people—a poor herd - girl, that very Jeanne Darc of whom we were speaking, and a burgher named - Jacques Coeur. The girl brings the power of virginity, the strength of her - arm; the burgher gives his gold, and the kingdom is saved. The maid is - taken prisoner, and the King, who could have ransomed her, leaves her to - be burned alive. The King allows his courtier to accuse the great burgher - of capital crime, and they rob him and divide all his wealth among - themselves. The spoils of an innocent man, hunted down, brought to bay, - and driven into exile by the Law, went to enrich five noble houses; and - the father of the Archbishop of Bourges left the kingdom for ever without - one sou of all his possessions in France, and no resource but moneys - remitted to Arabs and Saracens in Egypt. It is open to you to say that - these examples are out of date, that three centuries of public education - have since elapsed, and that the outlines of those ages are more or less - dim figures. Well, young man, do you believe in the last demi-god of - France, in Napoleon? One of his generals was in disgrace all through his - career; Napoleon made him a marshal grudgingly, and never sent him on - service if he could help it. That marshal was Kellermann. Do you know the - reason of the grudge? . . . Kellermann saved France and the First Consul - at Marengo by a brilliant charge; the ranks applauded under fire and in - the thick of the carnage. That heroic charge was not even mentioned in the - bulletin. Napoleon’s coolness toward Kellermann, Fouche’s fall, and - Talleyrand’s disgrace were all attributable to the same cause; it is the - ingratitude of a Charles VII., or a Richelieu, or ——” - </p> - <p> - “But, father,” said Lucien, “suppose that you should save my life and make - my fortune, you are making the ties of gratitude somewhat slight.” - </p> - <p> - “Little rogue,” said the Abbe, smiling as he pinched Lucien’s ear with an - almost royal familiarity. “If you are ungrateful to me, it will be because - you are a strong man, and I shall bend before you. But you are not that - just yet; as a simple ‘prentice you have tried to be master too soon, the - common fault of Frenchmen of your generation. Napoleon’s example has - spoiled them all. You send in your resignation because you have not the - pair of epaulettes that you fancied. But have you attempted to bring the - full force of your will and every action of your life to bear upon your - one idea?” - </p> - <p> - “Alas! no.” - </p> - <p> - “You have been inconsistent, as the English say,” smiled the canon. - </p> - <p> - “What I have been matters nothing now,” said Lucien, “if I can be nothing - in the future.” - </p> - <p> - “If at the back of all your good qualities there is power <i>semper virens</i>,” - continued the priest, not averse to show that he had a little Latin, - “nothing in this world can resist you. I have taken enough of a liking for - you already——” - </p> - <p> - Lucien smiled incredulously. - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” said the priest, in answer to the smile, “you interest me as much - as if you had been my son; and I am strong enough to afford to talk to you - as openly as you have just done to me. Do you know what it is that I like - about you?—This: you have made a sort of <i>tabula rasa</i> within - yourself, and are ready to hear a sermon on morality that you will hear - nowhere else; for mankind in the mass are even more consummate hypocrites - than any one individual can be when his interests demand a piece of - acting. Most of us spend a good part of our lives in clearing our minds of - the notions that sprang up unchecked during our nonage. This is called - ‘getting our experience.’” - </p> - <p> - Lucien, listening, thought within himself, “Here is some old intriguer - delighted with a chance of amusing himself on a journey. He is pleased - with the idea of bringing about a change of opinion in a poor wretch on - the brink of suicide; and when he is tired of his amusement, he will drop - me. Still he understands paradox, and seems to be quite a match for - Blondet or Lousteau.” - </p> - <p> - But in spite of these sage reflections, the diplomate’s poison had sunk - deeply into Lucien’s soul; the ground was ready to receive it, and the - havoc wrought was the greater because such famous examples were cited. - Lucien fell under the charm of his companion’s cynical talk, and clung the - more willingly to life because he felt that this arm which drew him up - from the depths was a strong one. - </p> - <p> - In this respect the ecclesiastic had evidently won the day; and, indeed, - from time to time a malicious smile bore his cynical anecdotes company. - </p> - <p> - “If your system of morality at all resembles your manner of regarding - history,” said Lucien, “I should dearly like to know the motive of your - present act of charity, for such it seems to be.” - </p> - <p> - “There, young man, I have come to the last head of my sermon; you will - permit me to reserve it, for in that case we shall not part company - to-day,” said the canon, with the tact of the priest who sees that his - guile has succeeded. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, talk morality,” said Lucien. To himself he said, “I will draw - him out.” - </p> - <p> - “Morality begins with the law,” said the priest. “If it were simply a - question of religion, laws would be superfluous; religious peoples have - few laws. The laws of statecraft are above civil law. Well, do you care to - know the inscription which a politician can read, written at large over - your nineteenth century? In 1793 the French invented the idea of the - sovereignty of the people—and the sovereignty of the people came to - an end under the absolute ruler in the Emperor. So much for your history - as a nation. Now for your private manners. Mme. Tallien and Mme. - Beauharnais both acted alike. Napoleon married the one, and made her your - Empress; the other he would never receive at court, princess though she - was. The sans-culotte of 1793 takes the Iron Crown in 1804. The fanatical - lovers of Equality or Death conspire fourteen years afterwards with a - Legitimist aristocracy to bring back Louis XVIII. And that same - aristocracy, lording it to-day in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, has done - worse—has been merchant, usurer, pastry-cook, farmer, and shepherd. - So in France systems political and moral have started from one point and - reached another diametrically opposed; and men have expressed one kind of - opinion and acted on another. There has been no consistency in national - policy, nor in the conduct of individuals. You cannot be said to have any - morality left. Success is the supreme justification of all actions - whatsoever. The fact in itself is nothing; the impression that it makes - upon others is everything. Hence, please observe a second precept: Present - a fair exterior to the world, keep the seamy side of life to yourself, and - turn a resplendent countenance upon others. Discretion, the motto of every - ambitious man, is the watchword of our Order; take it for your own. Great - men are guilty of almost as many base deeds as poor outcasts; but they are - careful to do these things in shadow and to parade their virtues in the - light, or they would not be great men. Your insignificant man leaves his - virtues in the shade; he publicly displays his pitiable side, and is - despised accordingly. You, for instance, have hidden your titles to - greatness and made a display of your worst failings. You openly took an - actress for your mistress, lived with her and upon her; you were by no - means to blame for this; everybody admitted that both of you were - perfectly free to do as you liked; but you ran full tilt against the ideas - of the world, and the world has not shown you the consideration that is - shown to those who obey the rules of the game. If you had left Coralie to - this M. Camusot, if you had hidden your relations with her, you might have - married Mme. de Bargeton; you would now be prefect of Angouleme and - Marquis de Rubempre. - </p> - <p> - “Change your tactics, bring your good looks, your charm, your wit, your - poetry to the front. If you indulge in small discreditable courses, let it - be within four walls, and you will never again be guilty of a blot on the - decorations of this great theatrical scene called society. Napoleon called - this ‘washing dirty linen at home.’ The corollary follows naturally on - this second precept—Form is everything. Be careful to grasp the - meaning of that word ‘form.’ There are people who, for want of knowing - better, will help themselves to money under pressure of want, and take it - by force. These people are called criminals; and, perforce, they square - accounts with Justice. A poor man of genius discovers some secret, some - invention as good as a treasure; you lend him three thousand francs (for - that, practically, the Cointets have done; they hold your bills, and they - are about to rob your brother-in-law); you torment him until he reveals or - partly reveals his secret; you settle your accounts with your own - conscience, and your conscience does not drag you into the assize court. - </p> - <p> - “The enemies of social order, beholding this contrast, take occasion to - yap at justice, and wax wroth in the name of the people, because, - forsooth, burglars and fowl-stealers are sent to the hulks, while a man - who brings whole families to ruin by a fraudulent bankruptcy is let off - with a few months’ imprisonment. But these hypocrites know quite well that - the judge who passes sentence on the thief is maintaining the barrier set - between the poor and the rich, and that if that barrier were overturned, - social chaos would ensue; while, in the case of the bankrupt, the man who - steals an inheritance cleverly, and the banker who slaughters a business - for his own benefit, money merely changes hands, that is all. - </p> - <p> - “Society, my son, is bound to draw those distinctions which I have pointed - out for your benefit. The one great point is this—you must be a - match for society. Napoleon, Richelieu, and the Medicis were a match for - their generations. And as for you, you value yourself at twelve thousand - francs! You of this generation in France worship the golden calf; what - else is the religion of your Charter that will not recognize a man - politically unless he owns property? What is this but the command, ‘Strive - to be rich?’ Some day, when you shall have made a fortune without breaking - the law, you will be rich; you will be the Marquis de Rubempre, and you - can indulge in the luxury of honor. You will be so extremely sensitive on - the point of honor that no one will dare to accuse you of past - shortcomings if in the process of making your way you should happen to - smirch it now and again, which I myself should never advise,” he added, - patting Lucien’s hand. - </p> - <p> - “So what must you put in that comely head of yours? Simply this and - nothing more—propose to yourself a brilliant and conspicuous goal, - and go towards it secretly; let no one see your methods or your progress. - You have behaved like a child; be a man, be a hunter, lie in wait for your - quarry in the world of Paris, wait for your chance and your game; you need - not be particular nor mindful of your dignity, as it is called; we are all - of us slaves to something, to some failing of our own or to necessity; but - keep that law of laws—secrecy.” - </p> - <p> - “Father, you frighten me,” said Lucien; “this seems to me to be a - highwayman’s theory.” - </p> - <p> - “And you are right,” said the canon, “but it is no invention of mine. All - <i>parvenus</i> reason in this way—the house of Austria and the - house of France alike. You have nothing, you say? The Medicis, Richelieu, - and Napoleon started from precisely your standpoint; but <i>they</i>, my - child, considered that their prospects were worth ingratitude, treachery, - and the most glaring inconsistencies. You must dare all things to gain all - things. Let us discuss it. Suppose that you sit down to a game of <i>bouillotte</i>, - do you begin to argue over the rules of the game? There they are, you - accept them.” - </p> - <p> - “Come, now,” thought Lucien, “he can play <i>bouillotte</i>.” - </p> - <p> - “And what do you do?” continued the priest; “do you practise openness, - that fairest of virtues? Not merely do you hide your tactics, but you do - your best to make others believe that you are on the brink of ruin as soon - as you are sure of winning the game. In short, you dissemble, do you not? - You lie to win four or five louis d’or. What would you think of a player - so generous as to proclaim that he held a hand full of trumps? Very well; - the ambitious man who carries virtue’s precepts into the arena when his - antagonists have left them behind is behaving like a child. Old men of the - world might say to him, as card-players would say to the man who declines - to take advantage of his trumps, ‘Monsieur, you ought not to play at <i>bouillotte</i>.’ - </p> - <p> - “Did you make the rules of the game of ambition? Why did I tell you to be - a match for society?—Because, in these days, society by degrees has - usurped so many rights over the individual, that the individual is - compelled to act in self-defence. There is no question of laws now, their - place has been taken by custom, which is to say grimacings, and forms must - always be observed.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien started with surprise. - </p> - <p> - “Ah, my child!” said the priest, afraid that he had shocked Lucien’s - innocence; “did you expect to find the Angel Gabriel in an Abbe loaded - with all the iniquities of the diplomacy and counter-diplomacy of two - kings? I am an agent between Ferdinand VII. and Louis XVIII., two—kings - who owe their crowns to profound—er—combinations, let us say. - I believe in God, but I have a still greater belief in our Order, and our - Order has no belief save in temporal power. In order to strengthen and - consolidate the temporal power, our Order upholds the Catholic Apostolic - and Roman Church, which is to say, the doctrines which dispose the world - at large to obedience. We are the Templars of modern times; we have a - doctrine of our own. Like the Templars, we have been dispersed, and for - the same reasons; we are almost a match for the world. If you will enlist - as a soldier, I will be your captain. Obey me as a wife obeys her husband, - as a child obeys his mother, and I will guarantee that you shall be - Marquis de Rubempre in less than six months; you shall marry into one of - the proudest houses in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and some day you shall - sit on a bench with peers of France. What would you have been at this - moment if I had not amused you by my conversation?—An undiscovered - corpse in a deep bed of mud. Well and good, now for an effort of - imagination——” - </p> - <p> - Lucien looked curiously at his protector. - </p> - <p> - “Here, in this caleche beside the Abbe Carlos Herrera, canon of Toledo, - secret envoy from His Majesty Ferdinand VII. to his Majesty the King of - France, bearer of a despatch thus worded it may be—‘When you have - delivered me, hang all those whom I favor at this moment, more especially - the bearer of this despatch, for then he can tell no tales’—well, - beside this envoy sits a young man who has nothing in common with that - poet recently deceased. I have fished you out of the water, I have brought - you to life again, you belong to me as the creature belongs to the - creator, as the efrits of fairytales belong to the genii, as the janissary - to the Sultan, as the soul to the body. I will sustain you in the way to - power with a strong hand; and at the same time I promise that your life - shall be a continual course of pleasure, honors, and enjoyment. You shall - never want for money. You shall shine, you shall go bravely in the eyes of - the world; while I, crouching in the mud, will lay a firm foundation for - the brilliant edifice of your fortunes. For I love power for its own sake. - I shall always rejoice in your enjoyment, forbidden to me. In short, my - self shall become your self! Well, if a day should come when this pact - between man and the tempter, this agreement between the child and the - diplomatist should no longer suit your ideas, you can still look about for - some quiet spot, like that pool of which you were speaking, and drown - yourself; you will only be as you are now, or a little more or a little - less wretched and dishonored.” - </p> - <p> - “This is not like the Archbishop of Granada’s homily,” said Lucien as they - stopped to change horses. - </p> - <p> - “Call this concentrated education by what name you will, my son, for you - are my son, I adopt you henceforth, and shall make you my heir; it is the - Code of ambition. God’s elect are few and far between. There is no choice, - you must bury yourself in the cloister (and there you very often find the - world again in miniature) or accept the Code.” - </p> - <p> - “Perhaps it would be better not to be so wise,” said Lucien, trying to - fathom this terrible priest. - </p> - <p> - “What!” rejoined the canon. “You begin to play before you know the rules - of the game, and now you throw it up just as your chances are best, and - you have a substantial godfather to back you! And you do not even care to - play a return match? You do not mean to say that you have no mind to be - even with those who drove you from Paris?” - </p> - <p> - Lucien quivered; the sounds that rang through every nerve seemed to come - from some bronze instrument, some Chinese gong. - </p> - <p> - “I am only a poor priest,” returned his mentor, and a grim expression, - dreadful to behold, appeared for a moment on a face burned to a copper-red - by the sun of Spain, “I am only a poor priest; but if I had been - humiliated, vexed, tormented, betrayed, and sold as you have been by the - scoundrels of whom you have told me, I should do like an Arab of the - desert—I would devote myself body and soul to vengeance. I might end - by dangling from a gibbet, garroted, impaled, guillotined in your French - fashion, I should not care a rap; but they should not have my head until I - had crushed my enemies under my heel.” - </p> - <p> - Lucien was silent; he had no wish to draw the priest out any further. - </p> - <p> - “Some are descended from Cain and some from Abel,” the canon concluded; “I - myself am of mixed blood—Cain for my enemies, Abel for my friends. - Woe to him that shall awaken Cain! After all, you are a Frenchman; I am a - Spaniard, and, what is more, a canon.” - </p> - <p> - “What a Tartar!” thought Lucien, scanning the protector thus sent to him - by Heaven. - </p> - <p> - There was no sign of the Jesuit, nor even of the ecclesiastic, about the - Abbe Carlos Herrera. His hands were large, he was thick-set and - broad-chested, evidently he possessed the strength of a Hercules; his - terrific expression was softened by benignity assumed at will; but a - complexion of impenetrable bronze inspired feelings of repulsion rather - than attachment for the man. - </p> - <p> - The strange diplomatist looked somewhat like a bishop, for he wore powder - on his long, thick hair, after the fashion of the Prince de Talleyrand; a - gold cross, hanging from a strip of blue ribbon with a white border, - indicated an ecclesiastical dignitary. The outlines beneath the black silk - stockings would not have disgraced an athlete. The exquisite neatness of - his clothes and person revealed an amount of care which a simple priest, - and, above all, a Spanish priest, does not always take with his - appearance. A three-cornered hat lay on the front seat of the carriage, - which bore the arms of Spain. - </p> - <p> - In spite of the sense of repulsion, the effect made by the man’s - appearance was weakened by his manner, fierce and yet winning as it was; - he evidently laid himself out to please Lucien, and the winning manner - became almost coaxing. Yet Lucien noticed the smallest trifles uneasily. - He felt that the moment of decision had come; they had reached the second - stage beyond Ruffec, and the decision meant life or death. - </p> - <p> - The Spaniard’s last words vibrated through many chords in his heart, and, - to the shame of both, it must be said that all that was worst in Lucien - responded to an appeal deliberately made to his evil impulses, and the - eyes that studied the poet’s beautiful face had read him very clearly. - Lucien beheld Paris once more; in imagination he caught again at the reins - of power let fall from his unskilled hands, and he avenged himself! The - comparisons which he himself had drawn so lately between the life of Paris - and life in the provinces faded from his mind with the more painful - motives for suicide; he was about to return to his natural sphere, and - this time with a protector, a political intriguer unscrupulous as - Cromwell. - </p> - <p> - “I was alone, now there will be two of us,” he told himself. And then this - priest had been more and more interested as he told of his sins one after - another. The man’s charity had grown with the extent of his misdoings; - nothing had astonished this confessor. And yet, what could be the motive - of a mover in the intrigues of kings? Lucien at first was fain to be - content with the banal answer—the Spanish are a generous race. The - Spaniard is generous! even so the Italian is jealous and a poisoner, the - Frenchman fickle, the German frank, the Jew ignoble, and the Englishman - noble. Reverse these verdicts and you shall arrive within a reasonable - distance of the truth! The Jews have monopolized the gold of the world; - they compose <i>Robert the Devil</i>, act <i>Phedre</i>, sing <i>William - Tell</i>, give commissions for pictures and build palaces, write <i>Reisebilder</i> - and wonderful verse; they are more powerful than ever, their religion is - accepted, they have lent money to the Holy Father himself! As for Germany, - a foreigner is often asked whether he has a contract in writing, and this - is in the smallest matters, so tricky are they in their dealings. In - France the spectacle of national blunders has never lacked national - applause for the past fifty years; we continue to wear hats which no - mortal can explain, and every change of government is made on the express - condition that things shall remain exactly as they were before. England - flaunts her perfidy in the face of the world, and her abominable treachery - is only equaled by her greed. All the gold of two Indies passed through - the hands of Spain, and now she has nothing left. There is no country in - the world where poison is so little in request as in Italy, no country - where manners are easier or more gentle. As for the Spaniard, he has - traded largely on the reputation of the Moor. - </p> - <p> - As the Canon of Toledo returned to the caleche, he had spoken a word to - the post-boy. “Drive post-haste,” he said, “and there will be three francs - for drink-money for you.” Then, seeing that Lucien hesitated, “Come! - come!” he exclaimed, and Lucien took his place again, telling himself that - he meant to try the effect of the <i>argumentum ad hominem</i>. - </p> - <p> - “Father,” he began, “after pouring out, with all the coolness in the - world, a series of maxims which the vulgar would consider profoundly - immoral——” - </p> - <p> - “And so they are,” said the priest; “that is why Jesus Christ said that it - must needs be that offences come, my son; and that is why the world - displays such horror of offences.” - </p> - <p> - “A man of your stamp will not be surprised by the question which I am - about to ask?” - </p> - <p> - “Indeed, my son, you do not know me,” said Carlos Herrera. “Do you suppose - that I should engage a secretary unless I knew that I could depend upon - his principles sufficiently to be sure that he would not rob me? I like - you. You are as innocent in every way as a twenty-year-old suicide. Your - question?” - </p> - <p> - “Why do you take an interest in me? What price do you set on my obedience? - Why should you give me everything? What is your share?” - </p> - <p> - The Spaniard looked at Lucien, and a smile came over his face. - </p> - <p> - “Let us wait till we come to the next hill; we can walk up and talk out in - the open. The back seat of a traveling carriage is not the place for - confidences.” - </p> - <p> - They traveled in silence for sometime; the rapidity of the movement seemed - to increase Lucien’s moral intoxication. - </p> - <p> - “Here is a hill, father,” he said at last awakening from a kind of dream. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, we will walk.” The Abbe called to the postilion to stop, and - the two sprang out upon the road. - </p> - <p> - “You child,” said the Spaniard, taking Lucien by the arm, “have you ever - thought over Otway’s <i>Venice Preserved</i>? Did you understand the - profound friendship between man and man which binds Pierre and Jaffier - each to each so closely that a woman is as nothing in comparison, and all - social conditions are changed?—Well, so much for the poet.” - </p> - <p> - “So the canon knows something of the drama,” thought Lucien. “Have you - read Voltaire?” he asked. - </p> - <p> - “I have done better,” said the other; “I put his doctrine in practice.” - </p> - <p> - “You do not believe in God?” - </p> - <p> - “Come! it is I who am the atheist, is it?” the Abbe said, smiling. “Let us - come to practical matters, my child,” he added, putting an arm round - Lucien’s waist. “I am forty-six years old, I am the natural son of a great - lord; consequently, I have no family, and I have a heart. But, learn this, - carve it on that still so soft brain of yours—man dreads to be - alone. And of all kinds of isolation, inward isolation is the most - appalling. The early anchorite lived with God; he dwelt in the spirit - world, the most populous world of all. The miser lives in a world of - imagination and fruition; his whole life and all that he is, even his sex, - lies in his brain. A man’s first thought, be he leper or convict, - hopelessly sick or degraded, is to find another with a like fate to share - it with him. He will exert the utmost that is in him, every power, all his - vital energy, to satisfy that craving; it is his very life. But for that - tyrannous longing, would Satan have found companions? There is a whole - poem yet to be written, a first part of <i>Paradise Lost</i>; Milton’s - poem is only the apology for the revolt.” - </p> - <p> - “It would be the Iliad of Corruption,” said Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “Well, I am alone, I live alone. If I wear the priest’s habit, I have not - a priest’s heart. I like to devote myself to some one; that is my - weakness. That is my life, that is how I came to be a priest. I am not - afraid of ingratitude, and I am grateful. The Church is nothing to me; it - is an idea. I am devoted to the King of Spain, but you cannot give - affection to a King of Spain; he is my protector, he towers above me. I - want to love my creature, to mould him, fashion him to my use, and love - him as a father loves his child. I shall drive in your tilbury, my boy, - enjoy your success with women, and say to myself, ‘This fine young fellow, - this Marquis de Rubempre, my creation whom I have brought into this great - world, is my very Self; his greatness is my doing, he speaks or is silent - with my voice, he consults me in everything.’ The Abbe de Vermont felt - thus for Marie-Antoinette.” - </p> - <p> - “He led her to the scaffold.” - </p> - <p> - “He did not love the Queen,” said the priest. “HE only loved the Abbe de - Vermont.” - </p> - <p> - “Must I leave desolation behind me?” - </p> - <p> - “I have money, you shall draw on me.” - </p> - <p> - “I would do a great deal just now to rescue David Sechard,” said Lucien, - in the tone of one who has given up all idea of suicide. - </p> - <p> - “Say but one word, my son, and by to-morrow morning he shall have money - enough to set him free.” - </p> - <p> - “What! Would you give me twelve thousand francs?” - </p> - <p> - “Ah! child, do you not see that we are traveling on at the rate of four - leagues an hour? We shall dine at Poitiers before long, and there, if you - decide to sign the pact, to give me a single proof of obedience, a great - proof that I shall require, then the Bordeaux coach shall carry fifteen - thousand francs to your sister——” - </p> - <p> - “Where is the money?” - </p> - <p> - The Spaniard made no answer, and Lucien said within himself, “There I had - him; he was laughing at me.” - </p> - <p> - In another moment they took their places. Neither of them said a word. - Silently the Abbe groped in the pocket of the coach, and drew out a - traveler’s leather pouch with three divisions in it; thence he took a - hundred Portuguese moidores, bringing out his large hand filled with gold - three times. - </p> - <p> - “Father, I am yours,” said Lucien, dazzled by the stream of gold. - </p> - <p> - “Child!” said the priest, and set a tender kiss on Lucien’s forehead. - “There is twice as much still left in the bag, besides the money for - traveling expenses.” - </p> - <p> - “And you are traveling alone!” cried Lucien. - </p> - <p> - “What is that?” asked the Spaniard. “I have more than a hundred thousand - crowns in drafts on Paris. A diplomatist without money is in your position - of this morning—a poet without a will of his own!” - </p> - <p> - As Lucien took his place in the caleche beside the so-called Spanish - diplomatist, Eve rose to give her child a draught of milk, found the fatal - letter in the cradle, and read it. A sudden cold chilled the damps of - morning slumber, dizziness came over her, she could not see. She called - aloud to Marion and Kolb. - </p> - <p> - “Has my brother gone out?” she asked, and Kolb answered at once with, - “Yes, Montame, pefore tay.” - </p> - <p> - “Keep this that I am going to tell you a profound secret,” said Eve. “My - brother has gone no doubt to make away with himself. Hurry, both of you, - make inquiries cautiously, and look along the river.” - </p> - <p> - Eve was left alone in a dull stupor, dreadful to see. Her trouble was at - its height when Petit-Claud came in at seven o’clock to talk over the - steps to be taken in David’s case. At such a time, any voice in the world - may speak, and we let them speak. - </p> - <p> - “Our poor, dear David is in prison, madame,” so began Petit-Claud. “I - foresaw all along that it would end in this. I advised him at the time to - go into partnership with his competitors the Cointets; for while your - husband has simply the idea, they have the means of putting it into - practical shape. So as soon as I heard of his arrest yesterday evening, - what did I do but hurry away to find the Cointets and try to obtain such - concessions as might satisfy you. If you try to keep the discovery to - yourselves, you will continue to live a life of shifts and chicanery. You - must give in, or else when you are exhausted and at the last gasp, you - will end by making a bargain with some capitalist or other, and perhaps to - your own detriment, whereas to-day I hope to see you make a good one with - MM. Cointet. In this way you will save yourselves the hardships and the - misery of the inventor’s duel with the greed of the capitalist and the - indifference of the public. Let us see! If the MM. Cointet should pay your - debts—if, over and above your debts, they should pay you a further - sum of money down, whether or no the invention succeeds; while at the same - time it is thoroughly understood that if it succeeds a certain proportion - of the profits of working the patent shall be yours, would you not be - doing very well?—You yourself, madame, would then be the proprietor - of the plant in the printing-office. You would sell the business, no - doubt; it is quite worth twenty thousand francs. I will undertake to find - you a buyer at that price. - </p> - <p> - “Now if you draw up a deed of partnership with the MM. Cointet, and - receive fifteen thousand francs of capital; and if you invest it in the - funds at the present moment, it will bring you in an income of two - thousand francs. You can live on two thousand francs in the provinces. - Bear in mind, too, madame, that, given certain contingencies, there will - be yet further payments. I say ‘contingencies,’ because we must lay our - accounts with failure. - </p> - <p> - “Very well,” continued Petit-Claud, “now these things I am sure that I can - obtain for you. First of all, David’s release from prison; secondly, - fifteen thousand francs, a premium paid on his discovery, whether the - experiments fail or succeed; and lastly, a partnership between David and - the MM. Cointet, to be taken out after private experiment made jointly. - The deed of partnership for the working of the patent should be drawn up - on the following basis: The MM. Cointet to bear all the expenses, the - capital invested by David to be confined to the expenses of procuring the - patent, and his share of the profits to be fixed at twenty-five per cent. - You are a clear-headed and very sensible woman, qualities which are not - often found combined with great beauty; think over these proposals, and - you will see that they are very favorable.” - </p> - <p> - Poor Eve in her despair burst into tears. “Ah, sir! why did you not come - yesterday evening to tell me this? We should have been spared disgrace and—and - something far worse——” - </p> - <p> - “I was talking with the Cointets until midnight. They are behind Metivier, - as you must have suspected. But how has something worse than our poor - David’s arrest happened since yesterday evening?” - </p> - <p> - “Here is the awful news that I found when I awoke this morning,” she said, - holding out Lucien’s letter. “You have just given me proof of your - interest in us; you are David’s friend and Lucien’s; I need not ask you to - keep the secret——” - </p> - <p> - “You need not feel the least anxiety,” said Petit-Claud, as he returned - the letter. “Lucien will not take his life. Your husband’s arrest was his - doing; he was obliged to find some excuse for leaving you, and this exit - of his looks to me like a piece of stage business.” - </p> - <p> - The Cointets had gained their ends. They had tormented the inventor and - his family, until, worn out by the torture, the victims longed for a - respite, and then seized their opportunity and made the offer. Not every - inventor has the tenacity of the bull-dog that will perish with his teeth - fast set in his capture; the Cointets had shrewdly estimated David’s - character. The tall Cointet looked upon David’s imprisonment as the first - scene of the first act of the drama. The second act opened with the - proposal which Petit-Claud had just made. As arch-schemer, the attorney - looked upon Lucien’s frantic folly as a bit of unhoped-for luck, a chance - that would finally decide the issues of the day. - </p> - <p> - Eve was completely prostrated by this event; Petit-Claud saw this, and - meant to profit by her despair to win her confidence, for he saw at last - how much she influenced her husband. So far from discouraging Eve, he - tried to reassure her, and very cleverly diverted her thoughts to the - prison. She should persuade David to take the Cointets into partnership. - </p> - <p> - “David told me, madame, that he only wished for a fortune for your sake - and your brother’s; but it should be clear to you by now that to try to - make a rich man of Lucien would be madness. The youngster would run - through three fortunes.” - </p> - <p> - Eve’s attitude told plainly enough that she had no more illusions left - with regard to her brother. The lawyer waited a little so that her silence - should have the weight of consent. - </p> - <p> - “Things being so, it is now a question of you and your child,” he said. - “It rests with you to decide whether an income of two thousand francs will - be enough for your welfare, to say nothing of old Sechard’s property. Your - father-in-law’s income has amounted to seven or eight thousand francs for - a long time past, to say nothing of capital lying out at interest. So, - after all, you have a good prospect before you. Why torment yourself?” - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud left Eve Sechard to reflect upon this prospect. The whole - scheme had been drawn up with no little skill by the tall Cointet the - evening before. - </p> - <p> - “Give them the glimpse of a possibility of money in hand,” the lynx had - said, when Petit-Claud brought the news of the arrest; “once let them grow - accustomed to that idea, and they are ours; we will drive a bargain, and - little by little we shall bring them down to our price for the secret.” - </p> - <p> - The argument of the second act of the commercial drama was in a manner - summed up in that speech. - </p> - <p> - Mme. Sechard, heartbroken and full of dread for her brother’s fate, - dressed and came downstairs. An agony of terror seized her when she - thought that she must cross Angouleme alone on the way to the prison. - Petit-Claud gave little thought to his fair client’s distress. When he - came back to offer his arm, it was from a tolerably Machiavellian motive; - but Eve gave him credit for delicate consideration, and he allowed her to - thank him for it. The little attention, at such a moment, from so hard a - man, modified Mme. Sechard’s previous opinion of Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “I am taking you round by the longest way,” he said, “and we shall meet - nobody.” - </p> - <p> - “For the first time in my life, monsieur, I feel that I have no right to - hold up my head before other people; I had a sharp lesson given to me last - night——” - </p> - <p> - “It will be the first and the last.” - </p> - <p> - “Oh! I certainly shall not stay in the town now——” - </p> - <p> - “Let me know if your husband consents to the proposals that are all but - definitely offered by the Cointets,” said Petit-Claud at the gate of the - prison; “I will come at once with an order for David’s release from - Cachan, and in all likelihood he will not go back again to prison.” - </p> - <p> - This suggestion, made on the very threshold of the jail, was a piece of - cunning strategy—a <i>combinazione</i>, as the Italians call an - indefinable mixture of treachery and truth, a cunningly planned fraud - which does not break the letter of the law, or a piece of deft trickery - for which there is no legal remedy. St. Bartholomew’s for instance, was a - political combination. - </p> - <p> - Imprisonment for debt, for reasons previously explained, is such a rare - occurrence in the provinces, that there is no house of detention, and a - debtor is perforce imprisoned with the accused, convicted, and condemned—the - three graduated subdivisions of the class generically styled criminal. - David was put for the time being in a cell on the ground floor from which - some prisoner had probably been recently discharged at the end of his - time. Once inscribed on the jailer’s register, with the amount allowed by - the law for a prisoner’s board for one month, David confronted a big, - stout man, more powerful than the King himself in a prisoner’s eyes; this - was the jailer. - </p> - <p> - An instance of a thin jailer is unknown in the provinces. The place, to - begin with, is almost a sinecure, and a jailer is a kind of innkeeper who - pays no rent and lives very well, while his prisoners fare very ill; for, - like an innkeeper, he gives them rooms according to their payments. He - knew David by name, and what was more, knew about David’s father, and - thought that he might venture to let the printer have a good room on - credit for one night; for David was penniless. - </p> - <p> - The prison of Angouleme was built in the Middle Ages, and has no more - changed than the old cathedral. It is built against the old <i>presidial</i>, - or ancient court of appeal, and people still call it the <i>maison de - justice</i>. It boasts the conventional prison gateway, the solid-looking, - nail-studded door, the low, worn archway which the better deserves the - qualification “cyclopean,” because the jailer’s peephole or <i>judas</i> - looks out like a single eye from the front of the building. As you enter - you find yourself in a corridor which runs across the entire width of the - building, with a row of doors of cells that give upon the prison yard and - are lighted by high windows covered with a square iron grating. The - jailer’s house is separated from these cells by an archway in the middle, - through which you catch a glimpse of the iron gate of the prison yard. The - jailer installed David in a cell next to the archway, thinking that he - would like to have a man of David’s stamp as a near neighbor for the sake - of company. - </p> - <p> - “This is the best room,” he said. David was struck dumb with amazement at - the sight of it. - </p> - <p> - The stone walls were tolerably damp. The windows, set high in the wall, - were heavily barred; the stone-paved floor was cold as ice, and from the - corridor outside came the sound of the measured tramp of the warder, - monotonous as waves on the beach. “You are a prisoner! you are watched and - guarded!” said the footsteps at every moment of every hour. All these small - things together produce a prodigious effect upon the minds of honest folk. - David saw that the bed was execrable, but the first night in a prison is - full of violent agitation, and only on the second night does the prisoner - notice that his couch is hard. The jailer was graciously disposed; he - naturally suggested that his prisoner should walk in the yard until - nightfall. - </p> - <p> - David’s hour of anguish only began when he was locked into his cell for - the night. Lights are not allowed in the cells. A prisoner detained on - arrest used to be subjected to rules devised for malefactors, unless he - brought a special exemption signed by the public prosecutor. The jailer - certainly might allow David to sit by his fire, but the prisoner must go - back to his cell at locking-up time. Poor David learned the horrors of - prison life by experience, the rough coarseness of the treatment revolted - him. Yet a revulsion, familiar to those who live by thought, passed over - him. He detached himself from his loneliness, and found a way of escape in - a poet’s waking dream. - </p> - <p> - At last the unhappy man’s thoughts turned to his own affairs. The - stimulating influence of a prison upon conscience and self-scrutiny is - immense. David asked himself whether he had done his duty as the head of a - family. What despairing grief his wife must feel at this moment! Why had - he not done as Marion had said, and earned money enough to pursue his - investigations at leisure? - </p> - <p> - “How can I stay in Angouleme after such a disgrace? And when I come out of - prison, what will become of us? Where shall we go?” - </p> - <p> - Doubts as to his process began to occur to him, and he passed through an - agony which none save inventors can understand. Going from doubt to doubt, - David began to see his real position more clearly; and to himself he said, - as the Cointets had said to old Sechard, as Petit-Claud had just said to - Eve, “Suppose that all should go well, what does it amount to in practice? - The first thing to be done is to take out a patent, and money is needed - for that—and experiments must be tried on a large scale in a - paper-mill, which means that the discovery must pass into other hands. Oh! - Petit-Claud was right!” - </p> - <p> - A very vivid light sometimes dawns in the darkest prison. - </p> - <p> - “Pshaw!” said David; “I shall see Petit-Claud to-morrow no doubt,” and he - turned and slept on the filthy mattress covered with coarse brown sacking. - </p> - <p> - So when Eve unconsciously played into the hands of the enemy that morning, - she found her husband more than ready to listen to proposals. She put her - arms about him and kissed him, and sat down on the edge of the bed (for - there was but one chair of the poorest and commonest kind in the cell). - Her eyes fell on the unsightly pail in a corner, and over the walls - covered with inscriptions left by David’s predecessors, and tears filled - the eyes that were red with weeping. She had sobbed long and very - bitterly, but the sight of her husband in a felon’s cell drew fresh tears. - </p> - <p> - “And the desire of fame may lead one to this!” she cried. “Oh! my angel, - give up your career. Let us walk together along the beaten track; we will - not try to make haste to be rich, David.... I need very little to be very - happy, especially now, after all that we have been through .... And if you - only knew—the disgrace of arrest is not the worst.... Look.” - </p> - <p> - She held out Lucien’s letter, and when David had read it, she tried to - comfort him by repeating Petit-Claud’s bitter comment. - </p> - <p> - “If Lucien has taken his life, the thing is done by now,” said David; “if - he has not made away with himself by this time, he will not kill himself. - As he himself says, ‘his courage cannot last longer than a morning——‘” - </p> - <p> - “But the suspense!” cried Eve, forgiving almost everything at the thought - of death. Then she told her husband of the proposals which Petit-Claud - professed to have received from the Cointets. David accepted them at once - with manifest pleasure. - </p> - <p> - “We shall have enough to live upon in a village near L’Houmeau, where the - Cointets’ paper-mill stands. I want nothing now but a quiet life,” said - David. “If Lucien has punished himself by death, we can wait so long as - father lives; and if Lucien is still living, poor fellow, he will learn to - adapt himself to our narrow ways. The Cointets certainly will make money - by my discovery; but, after all, what am I compared with our country? One - man in it, that is all; and if the whole country is benefited, I shall be - content. There! dear Eve, neither you nor I were meant to be successful in - business. We do not care enough about making a profit; we have not the - dogged objection to parting with our money, even when it is legally owing, - which is a kind of virtue of the counting-house, for these two sorts of - avarice are called prudence and a faculty of business.” - </p> - <p> - Eve felt overjoyed; she and her husband held the same views, and this is - one of the sweetest flowers of love; for two human beings who love each - other may not be of the same mind, nor take the same view of their - interests. She wrote to Petit-Claud telling him that they both consented - to the general scheme, and asked him to release David. Then she begged the - jailer to deliver the message. - </p> - <p> - Ten minutes later Petit-Claud entered the dismal place. “Go home, madame,” - he said, addressing Eve, “we will follow you.—Well, my dear friend” - (turning to David), “so you allowed them to catch you! Why did you come - out? How came you to make such a mistake?” - </p> - <p> - “Eh! how could I do otherwise? Look at this letter that Lucien wrote.” - </p> - <p> - David held out a sheet of paper. It was Cerizet’s forged letter. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud read it, looked at it, fingered the paper as he talked, and - still taking, presently, as if through absence of mind, folded it up and - put it in his pocket. Then he linked his arm in David’s, and they went out - together, the order for release having come during the conversation. - </p> - <p> - It was like heaven to David to be at home again. He cried like a child - when he took little Lucien in his arms and looked round his room after - three weeks of imprisonment, and the disgrace, according to provincial - notions, of the last few hours. Kolb and Marion had come back. Marion had - heard in L’Houmeau that Lucien had been seen walking along on the Paris - road, somewhere beyond Marsac. Some country folk, coming in to market, had - noticed his fine clothes. Kolb, therefore, had set out on horseback along - the highroad, and heard at last at Mansle that Lucien was traveling post - in a caleche—M. Marron had recognized him as he passed. - </p> - <p> - “What did I tell you?” said Petit-Claud. “That fellow is not a poet; he is - a romance in heaven knows how many chapters.” - </p> - <p> - “Traveling post!” repeated Eve. “Where can he be going this time?” - </p> - <p> - “Now go to see the Cointets, they are expecting you,” said Petit-Claud, - turning to David. - </p> - <p> - “Ah, monsieur!” cried the beautiful Eve, “pray do your best for our - interests; our whole future lies in your hands.” - </p> - <p> - “If you prefer it, madame, the conference can be held here. I will leave - David with you. The Cointets will come this evening, and you shall see if - I can defend your interests.” - </p> - <p> - “Ah! monsieur, I should be very glad,” said Eve. - </p> - <p> - “Very well,” said Petit-Claud; “this evening, at seven o’clock.” - </p> - <p> - “Thank you,” said Eve; and from her tone and glance Petit-Claud knew that - he had made great progress in his fair client’s confidence. - </p> - <p> - “You have nothing to fear; you see I was right,” he added. “Your brother - is a hundred miles away from suicide, and when all comes to all, perhaps - you will have a little fortune this evening. A <i>bona-fide</i> purchaser - for the business has turned up.” - </p> - <p> - “If that is the case,” said Eve, “why should we not wait awhile before - binding ourselves to the Cointets?” - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud saw the danger. “You are forgetting, madame,” he said, “that - you cannot sell your business until you have paid M. Metivier; for a - distress warrant has been issued.” - </p> - <p> - As soon as Petit-Claud reached home he sent for Cerizet, and when the - printer’s foreman appeared, drew him into the embrasure of the window. - </p> - <p> - “To-morrow evening,” he said, “you will be the proprietor of the Sechards’ - printing-office, and then there are those behind you who have influence - enough to transfer the license;” (then in a lowered voice), “but you have - no mind to end in the hulks, I suppose?” - </p> - <p> - “The hulks! What’s that? What’s that?” - </p> - <p> - “Your letter to David was a forgery. It is in my possession. What would - Henriette say in a court of law? I do not want to ruin you,” he added - hastily, seeing how white Cerizet’s face grew. - </p> - <p> - “You want something more of me?” cried Cerizet. - </p> - <p> - “Well, here it is,” said Petit-Claud. “Follow me carefully. You will be a - master printer in Angouleme in two months’ time . . . but you will not - have paid for your business—you will not pay for it in ten years. - You will work a long while yet for those that have lent you the money, and - you will be the cat’s-paw of the Liberal party. . . . Now <i>I</i> shall - draw up your agreement with Gannerac, and I can draw it up in such a way - that you will have the business in your own hands one of these days. But—if - the Liberals start a paper, if you bring it out, and if I am deputy public - prosecutor, then you will come to an understanding with the Cointets and - publish articles of such a nature that they will have the paper - suppressed. . . . The Cointets will pay you handsomely for that service. . - . . I know, of course, that you will be a hero, a victim of persecution; - you will be a personage among the Liberals—a Sergeant Mercier, a - Paul-Louis Courier, a Manual on a small scale. I will take care that they - leave you your license. In fact, on the day when the newspaper is - suppressed, I will burn this letter before your eyes. . . . Your fortune - will not cost you much.” - </p> - <p> - A working man has the haziest notions as to the law with regard to - forgery; and Cerizet, who beheld himself already in the dock, breathed - again. - </p> - <p> - “In three years’ time,” continued Petit-Claud, “I shall be public - prosecutor in Angouleme. You may have need of me some day; bear that in - mind.” - </p> - <p> - “It’s agreed,” said Cerizet, “but you don’t know me. Burn that letter now - and trust to my gratitude.” - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud looked Cerizet in the face. It was a duel in which one man’s - gaze is a scalpel with which he essays to probe the soul of another, and - the eyes of that other are a theatre, as it were, to which all his virtue - is summoned for display. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud did not utter a word. He lighted a taper and burned the - letter. “He has his way to make,” he said to himself. - </p> - <p> - “Here is one that will go through fire and water for you,” said Cerizet. - </p> - <p> - David awaited the interview with the Cointets with a vague feeling of - uneasiness; not, however, on account of the proposed partnership, nor for - his own interests—he felt nervous as to their opinion of his work. - He was in something the same position as a dramatic author before his - judges. The inventor’s pride in the discovery so nearly completed left no - room for any other feelings. - </p> - <p> - At seven o’clock that evening, while Mme. du Chatelet, pleading a sick - headache, had gone to her room in her unhappiness over the rumors of - Lucien’s departure; while M. de Comte, left to himself, was entertaining - his guests at dinner—the tall Cointet and his stout brother, - accompanied by Petit-Claud, opened negotiations with the competitor who - had delivered himself up, bound hand and foot. - </p> - <p> - A difficulty awaited them at the outset. How was it possible to draw up a - deed of partnership unless they knew David’s secret? And if David divulged - his secret, he would be at the mercy of the Cointets. Petit-Claud arranged - that the deed of partnership should be the first drawn up. Thereupon the - tall Cointet asked to see some specimens of David’s work, and David - brought out the last sheet that he had made, guaranteeing the price of - production. - </p> - <p> - “Well,” said Petit-Claud, “there you have the basis of the agreement ready - made. You can go into partnership on the strength of those samples, - inserting a clause to protect yourselves in case the conditions of the - patent are not fulfilled in the manufacturing process.” - </p> - <p> - “It is one thing to make samples of paper on a small scale in your own - room with a small mould, monsieur, and another to turn out a quantity,” - said the tall Cointet, addressing David. “Quite another thing, as you may - judge from this single fact. We manufacture colored papers. We buy parcels - of coloring absolutely identical. Every cake of indigo used for ‘blueing’ - our post-demy is taken from a batch supplied by the same maker. Well, we - have never yet been able to obtain two batches of precisely the same - shade. There are variations in the material which we cannot detect. The - quantity and the quality of the pulp modify every question at once. - Suppose that you have in a caldron a quantity of ingredients of some kind - (I don’t ask to know what they are), you can do as you like with them, the - treatment can be uniformly applied, you can manipulate, knead, and pestle - the mass at your pleasure until you have a homogeneous substance. But who - will guarantee that it will be the same with a batch of five hundred - reams, and that your plan will succeed in bulk?” - </p> - <p> - David, Eve, and Petit-Claud looked at one another; their eyes said many - things. - </p> - <p> - “Take a somewhat similar case,” continued the tall Cointet after a pause. - “You cut two or three trusses of meadow hay, and store it in a loft before - ‘the heat is out of the grass,’ as the peasants say; the hay ferments, but - no harm comes of it. You follow up your experiment by storing a couple of - thousand trusses in a wooden barn—and, of course, the hay smoulders, - and the barn blazes up like a lighted match. You are an educated man,” - continued Cointet; “you can see the application for yourself. So far, you - have only cut your two trusses of hay; we are afraid of setting fire to - our paper-mill by bringing in a couple of thousand trusses. In other - words, we may spoil more than one batch, make heavy losses, and find - ourselves none the better for laying out a good deal of money.” - </p> - <p> - David was completely floored by this reasoning. Practical wisdom spoke in - matter-of-fact language to theory, whose word is always for the future. - </p> - <p> - “Devil fetch me, if I’ll sign such a deed of partnership!” the stout - Cointet cried bluntly. “You may throw away your money if you like, - Boniface; as for me, I shall keep mine. Here is my offer—to pay M. - Sechard’s debts <i>and</i> six thousand francs, and another three thousand - francs in bills at twelve and fifteen months,” he added. “That will be - quite enough risk to run.—We have a balance of twelve thousand - francs against Metivier. That will make fifteen thousand francs.—That - is all that I would pay for the secret if I were going to exploit it for - myself. So this is the great discovery that you were talking about, - Boniface! Many thanks! I thought you had more sense. No, you can’t call - this business.” - </p> - <p> - “The question for you,” said Petit-Claud, undismayed by the explosion, - “resolves itself into this: ‘Do you care to risk twenty thousand francs to - buy a secret that may make rich men of you?’ Why, the risk usually is in - proportion to the profit, gentlemen. You stake twenty thousand francs on - your luck. A gambler puts down a louis at roulette for a chance of winning - thirty-six, but he knows that the louis is lost. Do the same.” - </p> - <p> - “I must have time to think it over,” said the stout Cointet; “I am not so - clever as my brother. I am a plain, straight-forward sort of chap, that - only knows one thing—how to print prayer-books at twenty sous and - sell them for two francs. Where I see an invention that has only been - tried once, I see ruin. You succeed with the first batch, you spoil the - next, you go on, and you are drawn in; for once put an arm into that - machinery, the rest of you follows,” and he related an anecdote very much - to the point—how a Bordeaux merchant had ruined himself by following - a scientific man’s advice, and trying to bring the Landes into - cultivation; and followed up the tale with half-a-dozen similar instances - of agricultural and commercial failures nearer home in the departments of - the Charente and Dordogne. He waxed warm over his recitals. He would not - listen to another word. Petit-Claud’s demurs, so far from soothing the - stout Cointet, appeared to irritate him. - </p> - <p> - “I would rather give more for a certainty, if I made only a small profit - on it,” he said, looking at his brother. “It is my opinion that things - have gone far enough for business,” he concluded. - </p> - <p> - “Still you came here for something, didn’t you?” asked Petit-Claud. “What - is your offer?” - </p> - <p> - “I offer to release M. Sechard, and, if his plan succeeds, to give him - thirty per cent of the profits,” the stout Cointet answered briskly. - </p> - <p> - “But, monsieur,” objected Eve, “how should we live while the experiments - were being made? My husband has endured the disgrace of imprisonment - already; he may as well go back to prison, it makes no difference now, and - we will pay our debts ourselves——” - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud laid a finger on his lips in warning. - </p> - <p> - “You are unreasonable,” said he, addressing the brothers. “You have seen - the paper; M. Sechard’s father told you that he had shut his son up, and - that he had made capital paper in a single night from materials that must - have cost a mere nothing. You are here to make an offer. Are you - purchasers, yes or no?” - </p> - <p> - “Stay,” said the tall Cointet, “whether my brother is willing or no, I - will risk this much myself. I will pay M. Sechard’s debts, I will pay six - thousand francs over and above the debts, and M. Sechard shall have thirty - per cent of the profits. But mind this—if in the space of one year - he fails to carry out the undertakings which he himself will make in the - deed of partnership, he must return the six thousand francs, and we shall - keep the patent and extricate ourselves as best we may.” - </p> - <p> - “Are you sure of yourself?” asked Petit-Claud, taking David aside. - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” said David. He was deceived by the tactics of the brothers, and - afraid lest the stout Cointet should break off the negotiations on which - his future depended. - </p> - <p> - “Very well, I will draft the deed,” said Petit-Claud, addressing the rest - of the party. “Each of you shall have a copy to-night, and you will have - all to-morrow morning in which to think it over. To-morrow afternoon at - four o’clock, when the court rises, you will sign the agreement. You, - gentlemen, will withdraw Metivier’s suit, and I, for my part, will write - to stop proceedings in the Court-Royal; we will give notice on either side - that the affair has been settled out of court.” - </p> - <p> - David Sechard’s undertakings were thus worded in the deed:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “M. David Sechard, printer of Angouleme, affirming that he has - discovered a method of sizing paper-pulp in the vat, and also a - method of affecting a reduction of fifty per cent in the price of - all kinds of manufactured papers, by introducing certain vegetable - substances into the pulp, either by intermixture of such - substances with the rags already in use, or by employing them - solely without the addition of rags: a partnership for working the - patent to be presently applied for is entered upon by M. David - Sechard and the firm of Cointet Brothers, subject to the following - conditional clauses and stipulations.” - </pre> - <p> - One of the clauses so drafted that David Sechard forfeited all his rights - if he failed to fulfil his engagements within the year; the tall Cointet - was particularly careful to insert that clause, and David Sechard allowed - it to pass. - </p> - <p> - When Petit-Claud appeared with a copy of the agreement next morning at - half-past seven o’clock, he brought news for David and his wife. Cerizet - offered twenty-two thousand francs for the business. The whole affair - could be signed and settled in the course of the evening. “But if the - Cointets knew about it,” he added, “they would be quite capable of - refusing to sign the deed of partnership, of harassing you, and selling - you up.” - </p> - <p> - “Are you sure of payment?” asked Eve. She had thought it hopeless to try - to sell the business; and now, to her astonishment, a bargain which would - have been their salvation three months ago was concluded in this summary - fashion. - </p> - <p> - “The money has been deposited with me,” he answered succinctly. - </p> - <p> - “Why, here is magic at work!” said David, and he asked Petit-Claud for an - explanation of this piece of luck. - </p> - <p> - “No,” said Petit-Claud, “it is very simple. The merchants in L’Houmeau - want a newspaper.” - </p> - <p> - “But I am bound not to publish a paper,” said David. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, you are bound, but is your successor?—However it is,” he - continued, “do not trouble yourself at all; sell the business, pocket the - proceeds, and leave Cerizet to find his way through the conditions of the - sale—he can take care of himself.” - </p> - <p> - “Yes,” said Eve. - </p> - <p> - “And if it turns out that you may not print a newspaper in Angouleme,” - said Petit-Claud, “those who are finding the capital for Cerizet will - bring out the paper in L’Houmeau.” - </p> - <p> - The prospect of twenty-two thousand francs, of want now at end, dazzled - Eve. The partnership and its hopes took a second place. And, therefore, M. - and Mme. Sechard gave way on a final point of dispute. The tall Cointet - insisted that the patent should be taken out in the name of any one of the - partners. What difference could it make? The stout Cointet said the last - word. - </p> - <p> - “He is finding the money for the patent; he is bearing the expenses of the - journey—another two thousand francs over and above the rest of the - expenses. He must take it out in his own name, or we will not stir in the - matter.” - </p> - <p> - The lynx gained a victory at all points. The deed of partnership was - signed that afternoon at half-past four. - </p> - <p> - The tall Cointet politely gave Mme. Sechard a dozen thread-pattern forks - and spoons and a beautiful Ternaux shawl, by way of pin-money, said he, - and to efface any unpleasant impression made in the heat of discussion. - The copies of the draft had scarcely been made out, Cachan had barely had - time to send the documents to Petit-Claud, together with the three unlucky - forged bills, when the Sechards heard a deafening rumble in the street, a - dray from the Messageries stopped before the door, and Kolb’s voice made - the staircase ring again. - </p> - <p> - “Montame! montame! vifteen tausend vrancs, vrom Boidiers” (Poitiers). - “Goot money! vrom Monziere Lucien!” - </p> - <p> - “Fifteen thousand francs!” cried Eve, throwing up her arms. - </p> - <p> - “Yes, madame,” said the carman in the doorway, “fifteen thousand francs, - brought by the Bordeaux coach, and they didn’t want any more neither! I - have two men downstairs bringing up the bags. M. Lucien Chardon de - Rubempre is the sender. I have brought up a little leather bag for you, - containing five hundred francs in gold, and a letter it’s likely.” - </p> - <p> - Eve thought that she must be dreaming as she read:— - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - “MY DEAR SISTER,—Here are fifteen thousand francs. Instead of - taking my life, I have sold it. I am no longer my own; I am only - the secretary of a Spanish diplomatist; I am his creature. A new - and dreadful life is beginning for me. Perhaps I should have done - better to drown myself. - - “Good-bye. David will be released, and with the four thousand - francs he can buy a little paper-mill, no doubt, and make his - fortune. Forget me, all of you. This is the wish of your unhappy - brother. - “LUCIEN.” - </pre> - <p> - “It is decreed that my poor boy should be unlucky in everything, and even - when he does well, as he said himself,” said Mme. Chardon, as she watched - the men piling up the bags. - </p> - <p> - “We have had a narrow escape!” exclaimed the tall Cointet, when he was - once more in the Place du Murier. “An hour later the glitter of the silver - would have thrown a new light on the deed of partnership. Our man would - have fought shy of it. We have his promise now, and in three months’ time - we shall know what to do.” - </p> - <p> - That very evening, at seven o’clock, Cerizet bought the business, and the - money was paid over, the purchaser undertaking to pay rent for the last - quarter. The next day Eve sent forty thousand francs to the - Receiver-General, and bought two thousand five hundred francs of <i>rentes</i> - in her husband’s name. Then she wrote to her father-in-law and asked him - to find a small farm, worth about ten thousand francs, for her near - Marsac. She meant to invest her own fortune in this way. - </p> - <p> - The tall Cointet’s plot was formidably simple. From the very first he - considered that the plan of sizing the pulp in the vat was impracticable. - The real secret of fortune lay in the composition of the pulp, in the - cheap vegetable fibre as a substitute for rags. He made up his mind, - therefore, to lay immense stress on the secondary problem of sizing the - pulp, and to pass over the discovery of cheap raw material, and for the - following reasons: - </p> - <p> - The Angouleme paper-mills manufacture paper for stationers. Notepaper, - foolscap, crown, and post-demy are all necessarily sized; and these papers - have been the pride of the Angouleme mills for a long while past, - stationery being the specialty of the Charente. This fact gave color to - the Cointet’s urgency upon the point of sizing in the pulping-trough; but, - as a matter of fact, they cared nothing for this part of David’s - researches. The demand for writing-paper is exceedingly small compared - with the almost unlimited demand for unsized paper for printers. As - Boniface Cointet traveled to Paris to take out the patent in his own name, - he was projecting plans that were like to work a revolution in his - paper-mill. Arrived in Paris, he took up his quarters with Metivier, and - gave his instructions to his agent. Metivier was to call upon the - proprietors of newspapers, and offer to deliver paper at prices below - those quoted by all other houses; he could guarantee in each case that the - paper should be a better color, and in every way superior to the best - kinds hitherto in use. Newspapers are always supplied by contract; there - would be time before the present contracts expired to complete all the - subterranean operations with buyers, and to obtain a monopoly of the - trade. Cointet calculated that he could rid himself of Sechard while - Metivier was taking orders from the principal Paris newspapers, which even - then consumed two hundred reams daily. Cointet naturally offered Metivier - a large commission on the contracts, for he wished to secure a clever - representative on the spot, and to waste no time in traveling to and fro. - And in this manner the fortunes of the firm of Metivier, one of the - largest houses in the paper trade, were founded. The tall Cointet went - back to Angouleme to be present at Petit-Claud’s wedding, with a mind at - rest as to the future. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud had sold his professional connection, and was only waiting for - M. Milaud’s promotion to take the public prosecutor’s place, which had - been promised to him by the Comtesse du Chatelet. The public prosecutor’s - second deputy was appointed first deputy to the Court of Limoges, the - Keeper of the Seals sent a man of his own to Angouleme, and the post of - first deputy was kept vacant for a couple of months. The interval was - Petit-Claud’s honeymoon. - </p> - <p> - While Boniface Cointet was in Paris, David made a first experimental batch - of unsized paper far superior to that in common use for newspapers. He - followed it up with a second batch of magnificent vellum paper for fine - printing, and this the Cointets used for a new edition of their diocesan - prayer-book. The material had been privately prepared by David himself; he - would have no helpers but Kolb and Marion. - </p> - <p> - When Boniface came back the whole affair wore a different aspect; he - looked at the samples, and was fairly satisfied. - </p> - <p> - “My good friend,” he said, “the whole trade of Angouleme is in crown - paper. We must make the best possible crown paper at half the present - price; that is the first and foremost question for us.” - </p> - <p> - Then David tried to size the pulp for the desired paper, and the result - was a harsh surface with grains of size distributed all over it. On the - day when the experiment was concluded and David held the sheets in his - hand, he went away to find a spot where he could be alone and swallow his - bitter disappointment. But Boniface Cointet went in search of him and - comforted him. Boniface was delightfully amiable. - </p> - <p> - “Do not lose heart,” he said; “go on! I am a good fellow, I understand - you; I will stand by you to the end.” - </p> - <p> - “Really,” David said to his wife at dinner, “we are with good people; I - should not have expected that the tall Cointet would be so generous.” And - he repeated his conversation with his wily partner. - </p> - <p> - Three months were spent in experiments. David slept at the mill; he noted - the effects of various preparations upon the pulp. At one time he - attributed his non-success to an admixture of rag-pulp with his own - ingredients, and made a batch entirely composed of the new material; at - another, he endeavored to size pulp made exclusively from rags; - persevering in his experiments under the eyes of the tall Cointet, whom he - had ceased to mistrust, until he had tried every possible combination of - pulp and size. David lived in the paper-mill for the first six months of - 1823—if it can be called living, to leave food untasted, and go in - neglect of person and dress. He wrestled so desperately with the - difficulties, that anybody but the Cointets would have seen the sublimity - of the struggle, for the brave fellow was not thinking of his own - interests. The moment had come when he cared for nothing but the victory. - With marvelous sagacity he watched the unaccountable freaks of the - semi-artificial substances called into existence by man for ends of his - own; substances in which nature had been tamed, as it were, and her tacit - resistance overcome; and from these observations drew great conclusions; - finding, as he did, that such creations can only be obtained by following - the laws of the more remote affinities of things, of “a second nature,” as - he called it, in substances. - </p> - <p> - Towards the end of August he succeeded to some extent in sizing the paper - pulp in the vat; the result being a kind of paper identical with a make in - use for printers’ proofs at the present day—a kind of paper that - cannot be depended upon, for the sizing itself is not always certain. This - was a great result, considering the condition of the paper trade in 1823, - and David hoped to solve the final difficulties of the problem, but—it - had cost ten thousand francs. - </p> - <p> - Singular rumors were current at this time in Angouleme and L’Houmeau. It - was said that David Sechard was ruining the firm of Cointet Brothers. - Experiments had eaten up twenty thousand francs; and the result, said - gossip, was wretchedly bad paper. Other manufacturers took fright at this, - hugged themselves on their old-fashioned methods, and, being jealous of - the Cointets, spread rumors of the approaching fall of that ambitious - house. As for the tall Cointet, he set up the new machinery for making - lengths of paper in a ribbon, and allowed people to believe that he was - buying plant for David’s experiments. Then the cunning Cointet used - David’s formula for pulp, while urging his partner to give his whole - attention to the sizing process; and thousands of reams of the new paper - were despatched to Metivier in Paris. - </p> - <p> - When September arrived, the tall Cointet took David aside, and, learning - that the latter meditated a crowning experiment, dissuaded him from - further attempts. - </p> - <p> - “Go to Marsac, my dear David, see your wife, and take a rest after your - labors; we don’t want to ruin ourselves,” said Cointet in the friendliest - way. “This great triumph of yours, after all, is only a starting-point. We - shall wait now for awhile before trying any new experiments. To be fair! - see what has come of them. We are not merely paper-makers, we are printers - besides and bankers, and people say that you are ruining us.” - </p> - <p> - David Sechard’s gesture of protest on behalf of his good faith was sublime - in its simplicity. - </p> - <p> - “Not that fifty thousand francs thrown into the Charente would ruin us,” - said Cointet, in reply to mute protest, “but we do not wish to be obliged - to pay cash for everything in consequence of slanders that shake our - credit; <i>that</i> would bring us to a standstill. We have reached the - term fixed by our agreement, and we are bound on either side to think over - our position.” - </p> - <p> - “He is right,” thought David. He had forgotten the routine work of the - business, thoroughly absorbed as he had been in experiments on a large - scale. - </p> - <p> - David went to Marsac. For the past six months he had gone over on Saturday - evening, returning again to L’Houmeau on Tuesday morning. Eve, after much - counsel from her father-in-law, had bought a house called the Verberie, - with three acres of land and a croft planted with vines, which lay like a - wedge in the old man’s vineyard. Here, with her mother and Marion, she - lived a very frugal life, for five thousand francs of the purchase money - still remained unpaid. It was a charming little domain, the prettiest bit - of property in Marsac. The house, with a garden before it and a yard at - the back, was built of white tufa ornamented with carvings, cut without - great expense in that easily wrought stone, and roofed with slate. The - pretty furniture from the house in Angouleme looked prettier still at - Marsac, for there was not the slightest attempt at comfort or luxury in - the country in those days. A row of orange-trees, pomegranates, and rare - plants stood before the house on the side of the garden, set there by the - last owner, an old general who died under M. Marron’s hands. - </p> - <p> - David was enjoying his holiday sitting under an orange-tree with his wife, - and father, and little Lucien, when the bailiff from Mansle appeared. - Cointet Brothers gave their partner formal notice to appoint an arbitrator - to settle disputes, in accordance with a clause in the agreement. The - Cointets demanded that the six thousand francs should be refunded, and the - patent surrendered in consideration of the enormous outlay made to no - purpose. - </p> - <p> - “People say that you are ruining them,” said old Sechard. “Well, well, of - all that you have done, that is the one thing that I am glad to know.” - </p> - <p> - At nine o’clock the next morning Eve and David stood in Petit-Claud’s - waiting-room. The little lawyer was the guardian of the widow and orphan - by virtue of his office, and it seemed to them that they could take no - other advice. Petit-Claud was delighted to see his clients, and insisted - that M. and Mme. Sechard should do him the pleasure of breakfasting with - him. - </p> - <p> - “Do the Cointets want six thousand francs of you?” he asked, smiling. “How - much is still owing of the purchase-money of the Verberie?” - </p> - <p> - “Five thousand francs, monsieur,” said Eve, “but I have two thousand——” - </p> - <p> - “Keep your money,” Petit-Claud broke in. “Let us see: five thousand—why, - you want quite another ten thousand francs to settle yourselves - comfortably down yonder. Very good, in two hours’ time the Cointets shall - bring you fifteen thousand francs——” - </p> - <p> - Eve started with surprise. - </p> - <p> - “If you will renounce all claims to the profits under the deed of - partnership, and come to an amicable settlement,” said Petit-Claud. “Does - that suit you?” - </p> - <p> - “Will it really be lawfully ours?” asked Eve. - </p> - <p> - “Very much so,” said the lawyer, smiling. “The Cointets have worked you - trouble enough; I should like to make an end of their pretensions. Listen - to me; I am a magistrate now, and it is my duty to tell you the truth. - Very good. The Cointets are playing you false at this moment, but you are - in their hands. If you accept battle, you might possibly gain the lawsuit - which they will bring. Do you wish to be where you are now after ten years - of litigation? Experts’ fees and expenses of arbitration will be - multiplied, the most contradictory opinions will be given, and you must - take your chance. And,” he added, smiling again, “there is no attorney - here that can defend you, so far as I see. My successor has not much - ability. There, a bad compromise is better than a successful lawsuit.” - </p> - <p> - “Any arrangement that will give us a quiet life will do for me,” said - David. - </p> - <p> - Petit-Claud called to his servant. - </p> - <p> - “Paul! go and ask M. Segaud, my successor, to come here.—He shall go - to see the Cointets while we breakfast” said Petit-Claud, addressing his - former clients, “and in a few hours’ time you will be on your way home to - Marsac, ruined, but with minds at rest. Ten thousand francs will bring you - in another five hundred francs of income, and you will live comfortably on - your bit of property.” - </p> - <p> - Two hours later, as Petit-Claud had prophesied, Maitre Segaud came back - with an agreement duly drawn up and signed by the Cointets, and fifteen - notes each for a thousand francs. - </p> - <p> - “We are much indebted to you,” said Sechard, turning to Petit-Claud. - </p> - <p> - “Why, I have just this moment ruined you,” said Petit-Claud, looking at - his astonished former clients. “I tell you again, I have ruined you, as - you will see as time goes on; but I know you, you would rather be ruined - than wait for a fortune which perhaps might come too late.” - </p> - <p> - “We are not mercenary, monsieur,” said Madame Eve. “We thank you for - giving us the means of happiness; we shall always feel grateful to you.” - </p> - <p> - “Great heavens! don’t call down blessings on <i>me</i>!” cried - Petit-Claud. “It fills me with remorse; but to-day, I think, I have made - full reparation. If I am a magistrate, it is entirely owing to you; and if - anybody is to feel grateful, it is I. Good-bye.” - </p> - <p> - As time went on, Kolb changed his opinion of Sechard senior; and as for - the old man, he took a liking to Kolb when he found that, like himself, - the Alsacien could neither write nor read a word, and that it was easy to - make him tipsy. The old “bear” imparted his ideas on vine culture and the - sale of a vintage to the ex-cuirassier, and trained him with a view to - leaving a man with a head on his shoulders to look after his children when - he should be gone; for he grew childish at the last, and great were his - fears as to the fate of his property. He had chosen Courtois the miller as - his confidant. “You will see how things will go with my children when I am - under ground. Lord! it makes me shudder to think of it.” - </p> - <p> - Old Sechard died in the month of March, 1929, leaving about two hundred - thousand francs in land. His acres added to the Verberie made a fine - property, which Kolb had managed to admiration for some two years. - </p> - <p> - David and his wife found nearly a hundred thousand crowns in gold in the - house. The department of the Charente had valued old Sechard’s money at a - million; rumor, as usual, exaggerating the amount of a hoard. Eve and - David had barely thirty thousand francs of income when they added their - little fortune to the inheritance; they waited awhile, and so it fell out - that they invested their capital in Government securities at the time of - the Revolution of July. - </p> - <p> - Then, and not until then, could the department of the Charente and David - Sechard form some idea of the wealth of the tall Cointet. Rich to the - extent of several millions of francs, the elder Cointet became a deputy, - and is at this day a peer of France. It is said that he will be Minister - of Commerce in the next Government; for in 1842 he married Mlle. Popinot, - daughter of M. Anselme Popinot, one of the most influential statesmen of - the dynasty, deputy and mayor of an arrondissement in Paris. - </p> - <p> - David Sechard’s discovery has been assimilated by the French manufacturing - world, as food is assimilated by a living body. Thanks to the introduction - of materials other than rags, France can produce paper more cheaply than - any other European country. Dutch paper, as David foresaw, no longer - exists. Sooner or later it will be necessary, no doubt, to establish a - Royal Paper Manufactory; like the Gobelins, the Sevres porcelain works, - the Savonnerie, and the Imprimerie royale, which so far have escaped the - destruction threatened by <i>bourgeois</i> vandalism. - </p> - <p> - David Sechard, beloved by his wife, father of two boys and a girl, has the - good taste to make no allusion to his past efforts. Eve had the sense to - dissuade him from following his terrible vocation; for the inventor like - Moses on Mount Horeb, is consumed by the burning bush. He cultivates - literature by way of recreation, and leads a comfortable life of leisure, - befitting the landowner who lives on his own estate. He has bidden - farewell for ever to glory, and bravely taken his place in the class of - dreamers and collectors; for he dabbles in entomology, and is at present - investigating the transformations of insects which science only knows in - the final stage. - </p> - <p> - Everybody has heard of Petit-Claud’s success as attorney-general; he is - the rival of the great Vinet of Provins, and it is his ambition to be - President of the Court-Royal of Poitiers. - </p> - <p> - Cerizet has been in trouble so frequently for political offences that he - has been a good deal talked about; and as one of the boldest <i>enfants - perdus</i> of the Liberal party he was nicknamed the “Brave Cerizet.” When - Petit-Claud’s successor compelled him to sell his business in Angouleme, - he found a fresh career on the provincial stage, where his talents as an - actor were like to be turned to brilliant account. The chief stage - heroine, however, obliged him to go to Paris to find a cure for love among - the resources of science, and there he tried to curry favor with the - Liberal party. - </p> - <p> - As for Lucien, the story of his return to Paris belongs to the <i>Scenes - of Parisian</i> life. - </p> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <h2> - ADDENDUM - </h2> - <p> - Note: Eve and David is the part three of a trilogy. Part one is entitled - Two Poets and part two is A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. In other - addendum references parts one and three are usually combined under the - title Lost Illusions. - </p> - <p> - The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - Cerizet - Two Poets - A Man of Business - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - The Middle Classes - - Chardon, Madame (nee Rubempre) - Two Poets - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Chatelet, Sixte, Baron du - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - The Thirteen - - Chatelet, Marie-Louise-Anais de Negrepelisse, Baronne du - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Government Clerks - - Cointet, Boniface - Two Poets - The Firm of Nucingen - The Member for Arcis - - Cointet, Jean - Two Poets - - Collin, Jacques - Father Goriot - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - The Member for Arcis - - Conti, Gennaro - Beatrix - - Courtois - Two Poets - - Courtois, Madame - Two Poets - - Hautoy, Francis du - Two Poets - - Herrera, Carlos - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Marron - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Marsay, Henri de - The Thirteen - The Unconscious Humorists - Another Study of Woman - The Lily of the Valley - Father Goriot - Jealousies of a Country Town - Ursule Mirouet - A Marriage Settlement - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Letters of Two Brides - The Ball at Sceaux - Modeste Mignon - The Secrets of a Princess - The Gondreville Mystery - A Daughter of Eve - - Metivier - The Government Clerks - The Middle Classes - - Milaud - The Muse of the Department - - Nucingen, Baron Frederic de - The Firm of Nucingen - Father Goriot - Pierrette - Cesar Birotteau - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - Another Study of Woman - The Secrets of a Princess - A Man of Business - Cousin Betty - The Muse of the Department - The Unconscious Humorists - - Nucingen, Baronne Delphine de - Father Goriot - The Thirteen - Eugenie Grandet - Cesar Birotteau - Melmoth Reconciled - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Commission in Lunacy - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - Modeste Mignon - The Firm of Nucingen - Another Study of Woman - A Daughter of Eve - The Member for Arcis - - Petit-Claud - Two Poets - - Pimentel, Marquis and Marquise de - Two Poets - - Postel - Two Poets - - Prieur, Madame - Two Poets - - Rastignac, Baron and Baronne de (Eugene’s parents) - Father Goriot - Two Poets - - Rastignac, Eugene de - Father Goriot - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - The Ball at Sceaux - The Commission in Lunacy - A Study of Woman - Another Study of Woman - The Magic Skin - The Secrets of a Princess - A Daughter of Eve - The Gondreville Mystery - The Firm of Nucingen - Cousin Betty - The Member for Arcis - The Unconscious Humorists - - Rubempre, Lucien-Chardon de - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Government Clerks - Ursule Mirouet - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Sechard, Jerome-Nicholas - Two Poets - - Sechard, David - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial At Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Sechard, Madame David - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial At Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life - - Senonches, Jacques de - Two Poets - - Senonches, Madame Jacques de - Two Poets - - Touches, Mademoiselle Felicite des - Beatrix - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - A Bachelor’s Establishment - Another Study of Woman - A Daughter of Eve - Honorine - Beatrix - The Muse of the Department - - Victorine - Massimilla Doni - Letters of Two Brides - Gaudissart II -</pre> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eve and David, by Honore de Balzac - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVE AND DAVID *** - -***** This file should be named 1639-h.htm or 1639-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/1639/ - -Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Eve and David - -Author: Honore de Balzac - -Translator: Ellen Marriage - -Release Date: February, 1999 [Etext #1639] -Posting Date: February 27, 2010 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVE AND DAVID *** - - - - -Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny - - - - - -EVE AND DAVID - -(Lost Illusions Part III) - - -By Honore De Balzac - - - -Translated By Ellen Marriage - - - - PREPARER'S NOTE - - Eve and David is part three of a trilogy. Eve and David's story - begins in part one, Two Poets. Part one also introduces Eve's - brother, Lucien. Part two, A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, - centers on Lucien's life in Paris. For part three the action once - more returns to Eve and David in Angouleme. In many references parts - one and three are combined under the title Lost Illusions and A - Distinguished Provincial at Paris is given its individual title. - Following this trilogy Lucien's story is continued in another book, - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life. - - - - - -EVE AND DAVID - - -Lucien had gone to Paris; and David Sechard, with the courage -and intelligence of the ox which painters give the Evangelist for -accompanying symbol, set himself to make the large fortune for which he -had wished that evening down by the Charente, when he sat with Eve by -the weir, and she gave him her hand and her heart. He wanted to make the -money quickly, and less for himself than for Eve's sake and Lucien's. He -would place his wife amid the elegant and comfortable surroundings that -were hers by right, and his strong arm should sustain her brother's -ambitions--this was the programme that he saw before his eyes in letters -of fire. - -Journalism and politics, the immense development of the book trade, -of literature and of the sciences; the increase of public interest in -matters touching the various industries in the country; in fact, the -whole social tendency of the epoch following the establishment of the -Restoration produced an enormous increase in the demand for paper. The -supply required was almost ten times as large as the quantity in which -the celebrated Ouvrard speculated at the outset of the Revolution. -Then Ouvrard could buy up first the entire stock of paper and then the -manufacturers; but in the year 1821 there were so many paper-mills in -France, that no one could hope to repeat his success; and David had -neither audacity enough nor capital enough for such speculation. -Machinery for producing paper in any length was just coming into use -in England. It was one of the most urgent needs of the time, therefore, -that the paper trade should keep pace with the requirements of the -French system of civil government, a system by which the right of -discussion was to be extended to every man, and the whole fabric based -upon continual expression of individual opinion; a grave misfortune, for -the nation that deliberates is but little wont to act. - -So, strange coincidence! while Lucien was drawn into the great machinery -of journalism, where he was like to leave his honor and his intelligence -torn to shreds, David Sechard, at the back of his printing-house, -foresaw all the practical consequences of the increased activity of the -periodical press. He saw the direction in which the spirit of the age -was tending, and sought to find means to the required end. He saw also -that there was a fortune awaiting the discoverer of cheap paper, and the -event has justified his clearsightedness. Within the last fifteen years, -the Patent Office has received more than a hundred applications from -persons claiming to have discovered cheap substances to be employed in -the manufacture of paper. David felt more than ever convinced that this -would be no brilliant triumph, it is true, but a useful and immensely -profitable discovery; and after his brother-in-law went to Paris, he -became more and more absorbed in the problem which he had set himself to -solve. - -The expenses of his marriage and of Lucien's journey to Paris had -exhausted all his resources; he confronted the extreme of poverty at -the very outset of married life. He had kept one thousand francs for the -working expenses of the business, and owed a like sum, for which he had -given a bill to Postel the druggist. So here was a double problem for -this deep thinker; he must invent a method of making cheap paper, and -that quickly; he must make the discovery, in fact, in order to apply the -proceeds to the needs of the household and of the business. What words -can describe the brain that can forget the cruel preoccupations caused -by hidden want, by the daily needs of a family and the daily drudgery of -a printer's business, which requires such minute, painstaking care; and -soar, with the enthusiasm and intoxication of the man of science, into -the regions of the unknown in quest of a secret which daily eludes the -most subtle experiment? And the inventor, alas! as will shortly be seen, -has plenty of woes to endure, besides the ingratitude of the many; idle -folk that can do nothing themselves tell them, "Such a one is a born -inventor; he could not do otherwise. He no more deserves credit for his -invention than a prince for being born to rule! He is simply exercising -his natural faculties, and his work is its own reward," and the people -believe them. - -Marriage brings profound mental and physical perturbations into a -girl's life; and if she marries under the ordinary conditions of -lower middle-class life, she must moreover begin to study totally new -interests and initiate herself in the intricacies of business. With -marriage, therefore, she enters upon a phase of her existence when she -is necessarily on the watch before she can act. Unfortunately, David's -love for his wife retarded this training; he dared not tell her the -real state of affairs on the day after their wedding, nor for some time -afterwards. His father's avarice condemned him to the most grinding -poverty, but he could not bring himself to spoil the honeymoon by -beginning his wife's commercial education and prosaic apprenticeship to -his laborious craft. So it came to pass that housekeeping, no less than -working expenses, ate up the thousand francs, his whole fortune. For -four months David gave no thought to the future, and his wife remained -in ignorance. The awakening was terrible! Postel's bill fell due; there -was no money to meet it, and Eve knew enough of the debt and its cause -to give up her bridal trinkets and silver. - -That evening Eve tried to induce David to talk of their affairs, for she -had noticed that he was giving less attention to the business and more -to the problem of which he had once spoken to her. Since the first few -weeks of married life, in fact, David spent most of his time in the -shed in the backyard, in the little room where he was wont to mould his -ink-rollers. Three months after his return to Angouleme, he had replaced -the old fashioned round ink-balls by rollers made of strong glue and -treacle, and an ink-table, on which the ink was evenly distributed, an -improvement so obvious that Cointet Brothers no sooner saw it than they -adopted the plan themselves. - -By the partition wall of this kitchen, as it were, David had set up a -little furnace with a copper pan, ostensibly to save the cost of fuel -over the recasting of his rollers, though the moulds had not been used -twice, and hung there rusting upon the wall. Nor was this all; a solid -oak door had been put in by his orders, and the walls were lined with -sheet-iron; he even replaced the dirty window sash by panes of ribbed -glass, so that no one without could watch him at his work. - -When Eve began to speak about the future, he looked uneasily at her, -and cut her short at the first word by saying, "I know all that you must -think, child, when you see that the workshop is left to itself, and -that I am dead, as it were, to all business interests; but see," he -continued, bringing her to the window, and pointing to the mysterious -shed, "there lies our fortune. For some months yet we must endure our -lot, but let us bear it patiently; leave me to solve the problem of -which I told you, and all our troubles will be at an end." - -David was so good, his devotion was so thoroughly to be taken upon his -word, that the poor wife, with a wife's anxiety as to daily expenses, -determined to spare her husband the household cares and to take the -burden upon herself. So she came down from the pretty blue-and-white -room, where she sewed and talked contentedly with her mother, took -possession of one of the two dens at the back of the printing-room, -and set herself to learn the business routine of typography. Was it not -heroism in a wife who expected ere long to be a mother? - -During the past few months David's workmen had left him one by one; -there was not enough work for them to do. Cointet Brothers, on the other -hand, were overwhelmed with orders; they were employing all the workmen -of the department; the alluring prospect of high wages even brought them -a few from Bordeaux, more especially apprentices, who thought themselves -sufficiently expert to cancel their articles and go elsewhere. When -Eve came to look into the affairs of Sechard's printing works, she -discovered that he employed three persons in all. - -First in order stood Cerizet, an apprentice of Didot's, whom David had -chosen to train. Most foremen have some one favorite among the great -numbers of workers under them, and David had brought Cerizet to -Angouleme, where he had been learning more of the business. Marion, as -much attached to the house as a watch-dog, was the second; and the third -was Kolb, an Alsacien, at one time a porter in the employ of the Messrs. -Didot. Kolb had been drawn for military service, chance brought him to -Angouleme, and David recognized the man's face at a review just as -his time was about to expire. Kolb came to see David, and was smitten -forthwith by the charms of the portly Marion; she possessed all the -qualities which a man of his class looks for in a wife--the robust -health that bronzes the cheeks, the strength of a man (Marion could lift -a form of type with ease), the scrupulous honesty on which an Alsacien -sets such store, the faithful service which bespeaks a sterling -character, and finally, the thrift which had saved a little sum of a -thousand francs, besides a stock of clothing and linen, neat and -clean, as country linen can be. Marion herself, a big, stout woman -of thirty-six, felt sufficiently flattered by the admiration of a -cuirassier, who stood five feet seven in his stockings, a well-built -warrior, strong as a bastion, and not unnaturally suggested that -he should become a printer. So, by the time Kolb received his full -discharge, Marion and David between them had transformed him into a -tolerably creditable "bear," though their pupil could neither read nor -write. - -Job printing, as it is called, was not so abundant at this season but -that Cerizet could manage it without help. Cerizet, compositor, clicker, -and foreman, realized in his person the "phenomenal triplicity" of Kant; -he set up type, read proof, took orders, and made out invoices; but the -most part of the time he had nothing to do, and used to read novels in -his den at the back of the workshop while he waited for an order for a -bill-head or a trade circular. Marion, trained by old Sechard, prepared -and wetted down the paper, helped Kolb with the printing, hung the -sheets to dry, and cut them to size; yet cooked the dinner, none the -less, and did her marketing very early of a morning. - -Eve told Cerizet to draw out a balance-sheet for the last six months, -and found that the gross receipts amounted to eight hundred francs. On -the other hand, wages at the rate of three francs per day--two francs to -Cerizet, and one to Kolb--reached a total of six hundred francs; and as -the goods supplied for the work printed and delivered amounted to some -hundred odd francs, it was clear to Eve that David had been carrying -on business at a loss during the first half-year of their married life. -There was nothing to show for rent, nothing for Marion's wages, nor for -the interest on capital represented by the plant, the license, and -the ink; nothing, finally, by way of allowance for the host of things -included in the technical expression "wear and tear," a word which owes -its origin to the cloths and silks which are used to moderate the force -of the impression, and to save wear to the type; a square of stuff (the -_blanket_) being placed between the platen and the sheet of paper in the -press. - -Eve made a rough calculation of the resources of the printing office and -of the output, and saw how little hope there was for a business drained -dry by the all-devouring activity of the brothers Cointet; for by this -time the Cointets were not only contract printers to the town and the -prefecture, and printers to the Diocese by special appointment--they -were paper-makers and proprietors of a newspaper to boot. That -newspaper, sold two years ago by the Sechards, father and son, for -twenty-two thousand francs, was now bringing in eighteen thousand francs -per annum. Eve began to understand the motives lurking beneath the -apparent generosity of the brothers Cointet; they were leaving the -Sechard establishment just sufficient work to gain a pittance, but not -enough to establish a rival house. - -When Eve took the management of the business, she began by taking stock. -She set Kolb and Marion and Cerizet to work, and the workshop was put to -rights, cleaned out, and set in order. Then one evening when David came -in from a country excursion, followed by an old woman with a huge bundle -tied up in a cloth, Eve asked counsel of him as to the best way of -turning to profit the odds and ends left them by old Sechard, promising -that she herself would look after the business. Acting upon her -husband's advice, Mme. Sechard sorted all the remnants of paper which -she found, and printed old popular legends in double columns upon a -single sheet, such as peasants paste on their walls, the histories -of _The Wandering Jew_, _Robert the Devil_, _La Belle Maguelonne_ and -sundry miracles. Eve sent Kolb out as a hawker. - -Cerizet had not a moment to spare now; he was composing the naive pages, -with the rough cuts that adorned them, from morning to night; Marion -was able to manage the taking off; and all domestic cares fell to Mme. -Chardon, for Eve was busy coloring the prints. Thanks to Kolb's activity -and honesty, Eve sold three thousand broad sheets at a penny apiece, and -made three hundred francs in all at a cost of thirty francs. - -But when every peasant's hut and every little wine-shop for twenty -leagues round was papered with these legends, a fresh speculation -must be discovered; the Alsacien could not go beyond the limits of the -department. Eve, turning over everything in the whole printing house, -had found a collection of figures for printing a "Shepherd's Calendar," -a kind of almanac meant for those who cannot read, letterpress being -replaced by symbols, signs, and pictures in colored inks, red, black and -blue. Old Sechard, who could neither read nor write himself, had made a -good deal of money at one time by bringing out an almanac in hieroglyph. -It was in book form, a single sheet folded to make one hundred and -twenty-eight pages. - -Thoroughly satisfied with the success of the broad sheets, a piece -of business only undertaken by country printing offices, Mme. Sechard -invested all the proceeds in the _Shepherd's Calendar_, and began it -upon a large scale. Millions of copies of this work are sold annually -in France. It is printed upon even coarser paper than the _Almanac of -Liege_, a ream (five hundred sheets) costing in the first instance about -four francs; while the printed sheets sell at the rate of a halfpenny -apiece--twenty-five francs per ream. - -Mme. Sechard determined to use one hundred reams for the first -impression; fifty thousand copies would bring in two thousand francs. A -man so deeply absorbed in his work as David in his researches is seldom -observant; yet David, taking a look round his workshop, was astonished -to hear the groaning of a press and to see Cerizet always on his feet, -setting up type under Mme. Sechard's direction. There was a pretty -triumph for Eve on the day when David came in to see what she was doing, -and praised the idea, and thought the calendar an excellent stroke of -business. Furthermore, David promised to give advice in the matter of -colored inks, for an almanac meant to appeal to the eye; and finally, he -resolved to recast the ink-rollers himself in his mysterious workshop, -so as to help his wife as far as he could in her important little -enterprise. - -But just as the work began with strenuous industry, there came letters -from Lucien in Paris, heart-sinking letters that told his mother and -sister and brother-in-law of his failure and distress; and when Eve, -Mme. Chardon, and David each secretly sent money to their poet, it must -be plain to the reader that the three hundred francs they sent were like -their very blood. The overwhelming news, the disheartening sense that -work as bravely as she might, she made so little, left Eve looking -forward with a certain dread to an event which fills the cup of -happiness to the full. The time was coming very near now, and to herself -she said, "If my dear David has not reached the end of his researches -before my confinement, what will become of us? And who will look after -our poor printing office and the business that is growing up?" - -The _Shepherd's Calendar_ ought by rights to have been ready before the -1st of January, but Cerizet was working unaccountably slowly; all the -work of composing fell to him; and Mme. Sechard, knowing so little, -could not find fault, and was fain to content herself with watching the -young Parisian. - -Cerizet came from the great Foundling Hospital in Paris. He had been -apprenticed to the MM. Didot, and between the ages of fourteen and -seventeen he was David Sechard's fanatical worshiper. David put him -under one of the cleverest workmen, and took him for his copy-holder, -his page. Cerizet's intelligence naturally interested David; he won -the lad's affection by procuring amusements now and again for him, -and comforts from which he was cut off by poverty. Nature had endowed -Cerizet with an insignificant, rather pretty little countenance, red -hair, and a pair of dull blue eyes; he had come to Angouleme and brought -the manners of the Parisian street-boy with him. He was formidable by -reason of a quick, sarcastic turn and a spiteful disposition. Perhaps -David looked less strictly after him in Angouleme; or, perhaps, as the -lad grew older, his mentor put more trust in him, or in the sobering -influences of a country town; but be that as it may, Cerizet (all -unknown to his sponsor) was going completely to the bad, and the -printer's apprentice was acting the part of a Don Juan among little work -girls. His morality, learned in Paris drinking-saloons, laid down the -law of self-interest as the sole rule of guidance; he knew, moreover, -that next year he would be "drawn for a soldier," to use the popular -expression, saw that he had no prospects, and ran into debt, thinking -that soon he should be in the army, and none of his creditors would run -after him. David still possessed some ascendency over the young fellow, -due not to his position as master, nor yet to the interest that he -had taken in his pupil, but to the great intellectual power which the -sometime street-boy fully recognized. - -Before long Cerizet began to fraternize with the Cointets' workpeople, -drawn to them by the mutual attraction of blouse and jacket, and the -class feeling, which is, perhaps, strongest of all in the lowest ranks -of society. In their company Cerizet forgot the little good doctrine -which David had managed to instil into him; but, nevertheless, when the -others joked the boy about the presses in his workshop ("old sabots," as -the "bears" contemptuously called them), and showed him the magnificent -machines, twelve in number, now at work in the Cointets' great printing -office, where the single wooden press was only used for experiments, -Cerizet would stand up for David and fling out at the braggarts. - -"My gaffer will go farther with his 'sabots' than yours with their -cast-iron contrivances that turn out mass books all day long," he -would boast. "He is trying to find out a secret that will lick all the -printing offices in France and Navarre." - -"And meantime you take your orders from a washer-woman, you snip of a -foreman, on two francs a day." - -"She is pretty though," retorted Cerizet; "it is better to have her to -look at than the phizes of your gaffers." - -"And do you live by looking at his wife?" - -From the region of the wineshop, or from the door of the printing -office, where these bickerings took place, a dim light began to break in -upon the brothers Cointet as to the real state of things in the Sechard -establishment. They came to hear of Eve's experiment, and held it -expedient to stop these flights at once, lest the business should begin -to prosper under the poor young wife's management. - -"Let us give her a rap over the knuckles, and disgust her with the -business," said the brothers Cointet. - -One of the pair, the practical printer, spoke to Cerizet, and asked him -to do the proof-reading for them by piecework, to relieve their reader, -who had more than he could manage. So it came to pass that Cerizet -earned more by a few hours' work of an evening for the brothers Cointet -than by a whole day's work for David Sechard. Other transactions -followed; the Cointets seeing no small aptitude in Cerizet, he was told -that it was a pity that he should be in a position so little favorable -to his interests. - -"You might be foreman some day in a big printing office, making -six francs a day," said one of the Cointets one day, "and with your -intelligence you might come to have a share in the business." - -"Where is the use of my being a good foreman?" returned Cerizet. "I am -an orphan, I shall be drawn for the army next year, and if I get a bad -number who is there to pay some one else to take my place?" - -"If you make yourself useful," said the well-to-do printer, "why should -not somebody advance the money?" - -"It won't be my gaffer in any case!" said Cerizet. - -"Pooh! Perhaps by that time he will have found out the secret." - -The words were spoken in a way that could not but rouse the worst -thoughts in the listener; and Cerizet gave the papermaker and printer a -very searching look. - -"I do not know what he is busy about," he began prudently, as the master -said nothing, "but he is not the kind of man to look for capitals in the -lower case!" - -"Look here, my friend," said the printer, taking up half-a-dozen sheets -of the diocesan prayer-book and holding them out to Cerizet, "if you -can correct these for us by to-morrow, you shall have eighteen francs -to-morrow for them. We are not shabby here; we put our competitor's -foreman in the way of making money. As a matter of fact, we might let -Mme. Sechard go too far to draw back with her _Shepherd's Calendar_, -and ruin her; very well, we give you permission to tell her that we -are bringing out a _Shepherd's Calendar_ of our own, and to call her -attention too to the fact that she will not be the first in the field." - -Cerizet's motive for working so slowly on the composition of the almanac -should be clear enough by this time. - -When Eve heard that the Cointets meant to spoil her poor little -speculation, dread seized upon her; at first she tried to see a proof of -attachment in Cerizet's hypocritical warning of competition; but before -long she saw signs of an over-keen curiosity in her sole compositor--the -curiosity of youth, she tried to think. - -"Cerizet," she said one morning, "you stand about on the threshold, and -wait for M. Sechard in the passage, to pry into his private affairs; -when he comes out into the yard to melt down the rollers, you are there -looking at him, instead of getting on with the almanac. These things -are not right, especially when you see that I, his wife, respect his -secrets, and take so much trouble on myself to leave him free to give -himself up to his work. If you had not wasted time, the almanac would -be finished by now, and Kolb would be selling it, and the Cointets could -have done us no harm." - -"Eh! madame," answered Cerizet. "Here am I doing five francs' worth of -composing for two francs a day, and don't you think that that is enough? -Why, if I did not read proofs of an evening for the Cointets, I might -feed myself on husks." - -"You are turning ungrateful early," said Eve, deeply hurt, not so much -by Cerizet's grumbling as by his coarse tone, threatening attitude, and -aggressive stare; "you will get on in life." - -"Not with a woman to order me about though, for it is not often that the -month has thirty days in it then." - -Feeling wounded in her womanly dignity, Eve gave Cerizet a withering -look and went upstairs again. At dinner-time she spoke to David. - -"Are you sure, dear, of that little rogue Cerizet?" - -"Cerizet!" said David. "Why, he was my youngster; I trained him, I took -him on as my copy-holder. I put him to composing; anything that he is he -owes to me, in fact! You might as well ask a father if he is sure of his -child." - -Upon this, Eve told her husband that Cerizet was reading proofs for the -Cointets. - -"Poor fellow! he must live," said David, humbled by the consciousness -that he had not done his duty as a master. - -"Yes, but there is a difference, dear, between Kolb and Cerizet--Kolb -tramps about twenty leagues every day, spends fifteen or twenty sous, -and brings us back seven and eight and sometimes nine francs of sales; -and when his expenses are paid, he never asks for more than his wages. -Kolb would sooner cut off his hand than work a lever for the Cointets; -Kolb would not peer among the things that you throw out into the yard if -people offered him a thousand crowns to do it; but Cerizet picks them up -and looks at them." - -It is hard for noble natures to think evil, to believe in ingratitude; -only through rough experience do they learn the extent of human -corruption; and even when there is nothing left them to learn in this -kind, they rise to an indulgence which is the last degree of contempt. - -"Pooh! pure Paris street-boy's curiosity," cried David. - -"Very well, dear, do me the pleasure to step downstairs and look at the -work done by this boy of yours, and tell me then whether he ought not to -have finished our almanac this month." - -David went into the workshop after dinner, and saw that the calendar -should have been set up in a week. Then, when he heard that the Cointets -were bringing out a similar almanac, he came to the rescue. He took -command of the printing office, Kolb helped at home instead of selling -broadsheets. Kolb and Marion pulled off the impressions from one form -while David worked another press with Cerizet, and superintended the -printing in various inks. Every sheet must be printed four separate -times, for which reason none but small houses will attempt to produce -a _Shepherd's Calendar_, and that only in the country where labor is -cheap, and the amount of capital employed in the business is so small -that the interest amounts to little. Wherefore, a press which turns out -beautiful work cannot compete in the printing of such sheets, coarse -though they may be. - -So, for the first time since old Sechard retired, two presses were at -work in the old house. The calendar was, in its way, a masterpiece; but -Eve was obliged to sell it for less than a halfpenny, for the Cointets -were supplying hawkers at the rate of three centimes per copy. Eve made -no loss on the copies sold to hawkers; on Kolb's sales, made directly, -she gained; but her little speculation was spoiled. Cerizet saw that -his fair employer distrusted him; in his own conscience he posed as the -accuser, and said to himself, "You suspect me, do you? I will have -my revenge," for the Paris street-boy is made on this wise. Cerizet -accordingly took pay out of all proportion to the work of proof-reading -done for the Cointets, going to their office every evening for the -sheets, and returning them in the morning. He came to be on familiar -terms with them through the daily chat, and at length saw a chance of -escaping the military service, a bait held out to him by the brothers. -So far from requiring prompting from the Cointets, he was the first to -propose the espionage and exploitation of David's researches. - -Eve saw how little she could depend upon Cerizet, and to find another -Kolb was simply impossible; she made up her mind to dismiss her one -compositor, for the insight of a woman who loves told her that Cerizet -was a traitor; but as this meant a deathblow to the business, she took -a man's resolution. She wrote to M. Metivier, with whom David and the -Cointets and almost every papermaker in the department had business -relations, and asked him to put the following advertisement into a trade -paper: - - -"FOR SALE, as a going concern, a Printing Office, with License and -Plant; situated at Angouleme. Apply for particulars to M. Metivier, Rue -Serpente." - - -The Cointets saw the advertisement. "That little woman has a head on her -shoulders," they said. "It is time that we took her business under our -own control, by giving her enough work to live upon; we might find a -real competitor in David's successor; it is in our interest to keep an -eye upon that workshop." - -The Cointets went to speak to David Sechard, moved thereto by this -thought. Eve saw them, knew that her stratagem had succeeded at once, -and felt a thrill of the keenest joy. They stated their proposal. They -had more work than they could undertake, their presses could not keep -pace with the work, would M. Sechard print for them? They had sent to -Bordeaux for workmen, and could find enough to give full employment to -David's three presses. - -"Gentlemen," said Eve, while Cerizet went across to David's workshop to -announce the two printers, "while my husband was with the MM. Didot he -came to know of excellent workers, honest and industrious men; he will -choose his successor, no doubt, from among the best of them. If he sold -his business outright for some twenty thousand francs, it might bring -us in a thousand francs per annum; that would be better than losing a -thousand yearly over such trade as you leave us. Why did you envy us the -poor little almanac speculation, especially as we have always brought it -out?" - -"Oh, why did you not give us notice, madame? We would not have -interfered with you," one of the brothers answered blandly (he was known -as the "tall Cointet"). - -"Oh, come gentlemen! you only began your almanac after Cerizet told you -that I was bringing out mine." - -She spoke briskly, looking full at "the tall Cointet" as she spoke. He -lowered his eyes; Cerizet's treachery was proven to her. - -This brother managed the business and the paper-mill; he was by far the -cleverer man of business of the two. Jean showed no small ability in the -conduct of the printing establishment, but in intellectual capacity he -might be said to take colonel's rank, while Boniface was a general. Jean -left the command to Boniface. This latter was thin and spare in person; -his face, sallow as an altar candle, was mottled with reddish patches; -his lips were pinched; there was something in his eyes that reminded you -of a cat's eyes. Boniface Cointet never excited himself; he would listen -to the grossest insults with the serenity of a bigot, and reply in -a smooth voice. He went to mass, he went to confession, he took the -sacrament. Beneath his caressing manners, beneath an almost spiritless -look, lurked the tenacity and ambition of the priest, and the greed of -the man of business consumed with a thirst for riches and honors. In -the year 1820 "tall Cointet" wanted all that the _bourgeoisie_ -finally obtained by the Revolution of 1830. In his heart he hated the -aristocrats, and in religion he was indifferent; he was as much or as -little of a bigot as Bonaparte was a member of the Mountain; yet his -vertebral column bent with a flexibility wonderful to behold before the -noblesse and the official hierarchy; for the powers that be, he humbled -himself, he was meek and obsequious. One final characteristic will -describe him for those who are accustomed to dealings with all kinds of -men, and can appreciate its value--Cointet concealed the expression of -his eyes by wearing colored glasses, ostensibly to preserve his sight -from the reflection of the sunlight on the white buildings in the -streets; for Angouleme, being set upon a hill, is exposed to the full -glare of the sun. Tall Cointet was really scarcely above middle height; -he looked much taller than he actually was by reason of the thinness, -which told of overwork and a brain in continual ferment. His lank, sleek -gray hair, cut in somewhat ecclesiastical fashion; the black trousers, -black stockings, black waistcoat, and long puce-colored greatcoat -(styled a _levite_ in the south), all completed his resemblance to a -Jesuit. - -Boniface was called "tall Cointet" to distinguish him from his brother, -"fat Cointet," and the nicknames expressed a difference in character -as well as a physical difference between a pair of equally redoubtable -personages. As for Jean Cointet, a jolly, stout fellow, with a face from -a Flemish interior, colored by the southern sun of Angouleme, thick-set, -short and paunchy as Sancho Panza; with a smile on his lips and a pair -of sturdy shoulders, he was a striking contrast to his older brother. -Nor was the difference only physical and intellectual. Jean might almost -be called Liberal in politics; he belonged to the Left Centre, only went -to mass on Sundays, and lived on a remarkably good understanding with -the Liberal men of business. There were those in L'Houmeau who said that -this divergence between the brothers was more apparent than real. Tall -Cointet turned his brother's seeming good nature to advantage very -skilfully. Jean was his bludgeon. It was Jean who gave all the hard -words; it was Jean who conducted the executions which little beseemed -the elder brother's benevolence. Jean took the storms department; he -would fly into a rage, and propose terms that nobody would think -of accepting, to pave the way for his brother's less unreasonable -propositions. And by such policy the pair attained their ends, sooner or -later. - -Eve, with a woman's tact, had soon divined the characters of the two -brothers; she was on her guard with foes so formidable. David, informed -beforehand of everything by his wife, lent a profoundly inattentive mind -to his enemies' proposals. - -"Come to an understanding with my wife," he said, as he left the -Cointets in the office and went back to his laboratory. "Mme. Sechard -knows more about the business than I do myself. I am interested in -something that will pay better than this poor place; I hope to find a -way to retrieve the losses that I have made through you----" - -"And how?" asked the fat Cointet, chuckling. - -Eve gave her husband a look that meant, "Be careful!" - -"You will be my tributaries," said David, "and all other consumers of -papers besides." - -"Then what are you investigating?" asked the hypocritical Boniface -Cointet. - -Boniface's question slipped out smoothly and insinuatingly, and again -Eve's eyes implored her husband to give an answer that was no answer, or -to say nothing at all. - -"I am trying to produce paper at fifty per cent less than the present -cost price," and he went. He did not see the glances exchanged between -the brothers. "That is an inventor, a man of his build cannot sit with -his hands before him.--Let us exploit him," said Boniface's eyes. "How -can we do it?" said Jean's. - -Mme. Sechard spoke. "David treats me just in the same way," she said. -"If I show any curiosity, he feels suspicious of my name, no doubt, and -out comes that remark of his; it is only a formula, after all." - -"If your husband can work out the formula, he will certainly make a -fortune more quickly than by printing; I am not surprised that he -leaves the business to itself," said Boniface, looking across the empty -workshop, where Kolb, seated upon a wetting-board, was rubbing his bread -with a clove of garlic; "but it would not suit our views to see this -place in the hands of an energetic, pushing, ambitious competitor," -he continued, "and perhaps it might be possible to arrive at an -understanding. Suppose, for instance, that you consented for a -consideration to allow us to put in one of our own men to work your -presses for our benefit, but nominally for you; the thing is sometimes -done in Paris. We would find the fellow work enough to enable him to -rent your place and pay you well, and yet make a profit for himself." - -"It depends on the amount," said Eve Sechard. "What is your offer?" she -added, looking at Boniface to let him see that she understood his scheme -perfectly well. - -"What is your own idea?" Jean Cointet put in briskly. - -"Three thousand francs for six months," said she. - -"Why, my dear young lady, you were proposing to sell the place outright -for twenty thousand francs," said Boniface with much suavity. "The -interest on twenty thousand francs is only twelve hundred francs per -annum at six per cent." - -For a moment Eve was thrown into confusion; she saw the need for -discretion in matters of business. - -"You wish to use our presses and our name as well," she said; "and, as -I have already shown you, I can still do a little business. And then we -pay rent to M. Sechard senior, who does not load us with presents." - -After two hours of debate, Eve obtained two thousand francs for -six months, one thousand to be paid in advance. When everything was -concluded, the brothers informed her that they meant to put in Cerizet -as lessee of the premises. In spite of herself, Eve started with -surprise. - -"Isn't it better to have somebody who knows the workshop?" asked the fat -Cointet. - -Eve made no reply; she took leave of the brothers, vowing inwardly to -look after Cerizet. - -"Well, here are our enemies in the place!" laughed David, when Eve -brought out the papers for his signature at dinner-time. - -"Pshaw!" said she, "I will answer for Kolb and Marion; they alone -would look after things. Besides, we shall be making an income of four -thousand francs from the workshop, which only costs us money as it is; -and looking forward, I see a year in which you may realize your hopes." - -"You were born to be the wife of a scientific worker, as you said by the -weir," said David, grasping her hand tenderly. - -But though the Sechard household had money sufficient that winter, -they were none the less subjected to Cerizet's espionage, and all -unconsciously became dependent upon Boniface Cointet. - -"We have them now!" the manager of the paper-mill had exclaimed as he -left the house with his brother the printer. "They will begin to regard -the rent as regular income; they will count upon it and run themselves -into debt. In six months' time we will decline to renew the agreement, -and then we shall see what this man of genius has at the bottom of his -mind; we will offer to help him out of his difficulty by taking him into -partnership and exploiting his discovery." - -Any shrewd man of business who should have seen tall Cointet's face as -he uttered those words, "taking him into partnership," would have known -that it behooves a man to be even more careful in the selection of the -partner whom he takes before the Tribunal of Commerce than in the -choice of the wife whom he weds at the Mayor's office. Was it not enough -already, and more than enough, that the ruthless hunters were on the -track of the quarry? How should David and his wife, with Kolb and Marion -to help them, escape the toils of a Boniface Cointet? - -A draft for five hundred francs came from Lucien, and this, with -Cerizet's second payment, enabled them to meet all the expenses of Mme. -Sechard's confinement. Eve and the mother and David had thought that -Lucien had forgotten them, and rejoiced over this token of remembrance -as they rejoiced over his success, for his first exploits in journalism -made even more noise in Angouleme than in Paris. - -But David, thus lulled into a false security, was to receive a -staggering blow, a cruel letter from Lucien:-- - - - _Lucien to David._ - - "MY DEAR DAVID,--I have drawn three bills on you, and negotiated - them with Metivier; they fall due in one, two, and three months' - time. I took this hateful course, which I know will burden you - heavily, because the one alternative was suicide. I will explain - my necessity some time, and I will try besides to send the amounts - as the bills fall due. - - "Burn this letter; say nothing to my mother and sister; for, I - confess it, I have counted upon you, upon the heroism known so - well to your despairing brother, - - "LUCIEN DE RUBEMPRE." - - -By this time Eve had recovered from her confinement. - -"Your brother, poor fellow, is in desperate straits," David told her. "I -have sent him three bills for a thousand francs at one, two, and three -months; just make a note of them," and he went out into the fields to -escape his wife's questionings. - -But Eve had felt very uneasy already. It was six months since Lucien -had written to them. She talked over the news with her mother till her -forebodings grew so dark that she made up her mind to dissipate them. -She would take a bold step in her despair. - -Young M. de Rastignac had come to spend a few days with his family. -He had spoken of Lucien in terms that set Paris gossip circulating in -Angouleme, till at last it reached the journalist's mother and sister. -Eve went to Mme. de Rastignac, asked the favor of an interview with her -son, spoke of all her fears, and asked him for the truth. In a moment -Eve heard of her brother's connection with the actress Coralie, of his -duel with Michel Chrestien, arising out of his own treacherous behavior -to Daniel d'Arthez; she received, in short, a version of Lucien's -history, colored by the personal feeling of a clever and envious dandy. -Rastignac expressed sincere admiration for the abilities so terribly -compromised, and a patriotic fear for the future of a native genius; -spite and jealousy masqueraded as pity and friendliness. He spoke of -Lucien's blunders. It seemed that Lucien had forfeited the favor of a -very great person, and that a patent conferring the right to bear the -name and arms of Rubempre had actually been made out and subsequently -torn up. - -"If your brother, madame, had been well advised, he would have been on -the way to honors, and Mme. de Bargeton's husband by this time; but what -can you expect? He deserted her and insulted her. She is now Mme. la -Comtesse Sixte du Chatelet, to her own great regret, for she loved -Lucien." - -"Is it possible!" exclaimed Mme. Sechard. - -"Your brother is like a young eagle, blinded by the first rays of glory -and luxury. When an eagle falls, who can tell how far he may sink before -he drops to the bottom of some precipice? The fall of a great man is -always proportionately great." - -Eve came away with a great dread in her heart; those last words pierced -her like an arrow. She had been wounded to the quick. She said not a -word to anybody, but again and again a tear rolled down her cheeks, and -fell upon the child at her breast. So hard is it to give up illusions -sanctioned by family feeling, illusions that have grown with our growth, -that Eve had doubted Eugene de Rastignac. She would rather hear a -true friend's account of her brother. Lucien had given them d'Arthez's -address in the days when he was full of enthusiasm for the brotherhood; -she wrote a pathetic letter to d'Arthez, and received the following -reply:-- - - - _D'Arthez to Mme. Sechard._ - - "MADAME,--You ask me to tell you the truth about the life that - your brother is leading in Paris; you are anxious for - enlightenment as to his prospects; and to encourage a frank answer - on my part, you repeat certain things that M. de Rastignac has - told you, asking me if they are true. With regard to the purely - personal matter, madame, M. de Rastignac's confidences must be - corrected in Lucien's favor. Your brother wrote a criticism of my - book, and brought it to me in remorse, telling me that he could - not bring himself to publish it, although obedience to the orders - of his party might endanger one who was very dear to him. Alas! - madame, a man of letters must needs comprehend all passions, since - it is his pride to express them; I understood that where a - mistress and a friend are involved, the friend is inevitably - sacrificed. I smoothed your brother's way; I corrected his - murderous article myself, and gave it my full approval. - - "You ask whether Lucien has kept my friendship and esteem; to this - it is difficult to make an answer. Your brother is on a road that - leads him to ruin. At this moment I still feel sorry for him; - before long I shall have forgotten him, of set purpose, not so - much on account of what he has done already as for that which he - inevitably will do. Your Lucien is not a poet, he has the poetic - temper; he dreams, he does not think; he spends himself in - emotion, he does not create. He is, in fact--permit me to say it - --a womanish creature that loves to shine, the Frenchman's great - failing. Lucien will always sacrifice his best friend for the - pleasure of displaying his own wit. He would not hesitate to sign - a pact with the Devil to-morrow if so he might secure a few years - of luxurious and glorious life. Nay, has he not done worse - already? He has bartered his future for the short-lived delights - of living openly with an actress. So far, he has not seen the - dangers of his position; the girl's youth and beauty and devotion - (for she worships him) have closed his eyes to the truth; he - cannot see that no glory or success or fortune can induce the - world to accept the position. Very well, as it is now, so it will - be with each new temptation--your brother will not look beyond the - enjoyment of the moment. Do not be alarmed: Lucien will never go - so far as a crime, he has not the strength of character; but he - would take the fruits of a crime, he would share the benefit but - not the risk--a thing that seems abhorrent to the whole world, - even to scoundrels. Oh, he would despise himself, he would repent; - but bring him once more to the test, and he would fail again; for - he is weak of will, he cannot resist the allurements of pleasure, - nor forego the least of his ambitions. He is indolent, like all - who would fain be poets; he thinks it clever to juggle with the - difficulties of life instead of facing and overcoming them. He - will be brave at one time, cowardly at another, and deserves - neither credit for his courage, nor blame for his cowardice. - Lucien is like a harp with strings that are slackened or tightened - by the atmosphere. He might write a great book in a glad or angry - mood, and care nothing for the success that he had desired for so - long. - - "When he first came to Paris he fell under the influence of an - unprincipled young fellow, and was dazzled by his companion's - adroitness and experience in the difficulties of a literary life. - This juggler completely bewitched Lucien; he dragged him into a - life which a man cannot lead and respect himself, and, unluckily - for Lucien, love shed its magic over the path. The admiration that - is given too readily is a sign of want of judgment; a poet ought - not to be paid in the same coin as a dancer on the tight-rope. We - all felt hurt when intrigue and literary rascality were preferred - to the courage and honor of those who counseled Lucien rather to - face the battle than to filch success, to spring down into the - arena rather than become a trumpet in the orchestra. - - "Society, madame, oddly enough, shows plentiful indulgence to - young men of Lucien's stamp; they are popular, the world is - fascinated by their external gifts and good looks. Nothing is - asked of them, all their sins are forgiven; they are treated like - perfect natures, others are blind to their defects, they are the - world's spoiled children. And, on the other hand, the world is - stern beyond measure to strong and complete natures. Perhaps in - this apparently flagrant injustice society acts sublimely, taking - a harlequin at his just worth, asking nothing of him but - amusement, promptly forgetting him; and asking divine great deeds - of those before whom she bends the knee. Everything is judged by - laws of its being; the diamond must be flawless; the ephemeral - creation of fashion may be flimsy, bizarre, inconsequent. So - Lucien may perhaps succeed to admiration in spite of his mistakes; - he has only to profit by some happy vein or to be among good - companions; but if an evil angel crosses his path, he will go to - the very depths of hell. 'Tis a brilliant assemblage of good - qualities embroidered upon too slight a tissue; time wears the - flowers away till nothing but the web is left; and if that is poor - stuff, you behold a rag at the last. So long as Lucien is young, - people will like him; but where will he be as a man of thirty? - That is the question which those who love him sincerely are bound - to ask themselves. If I alone had come to think in this way of - Lucien, I might perhaps have spared you the pain which my plain - speaking will give you; but to evade the questions put by your - anxiety, and to answer a cry of anguish like your letter with - commonplaces, seemed to me alike unworthy of you and of me, whom - you esteem too highly; and besides, those of my friends who knew - Lucien are unanimous in their judgment. So it appeared to me to be - a duty to put the truth before you, terrible though it may be. - Anything may be expected of Lucien, anything good or evil. That is - our opinion, and this letter is summed up in that sentence. If the - vicissitudes of his present way of life (a very wretched and - slippery one) should bring the poet back to you, use all your - influence to keep him among you; for until his character has - acquired stability, Paris will not be safe for him. He used to - speak of you, you and your husband, as his guardian angels; he has - forgotten you, no doubt; but he will remember you again when - tossed by tempest, with no refuge left to him but his home. Keep - your heart for him, madame; he will need it. - - "Permit me, madame, to convey to you the expression of the sincere - respect of a man to whom your rare qualities are known, a man who - honors your mother's fears so much, that he desires to style - himself your devoted servant, - - "D'ARTHEZ." - - -Two days after the letter came, Eve was obliged to find a wet-nurse; her -milk had dried up. She had made a god of her brother; now, in her eyes, -he was depraved through the exercise of his noblest faculties; he was -wallowing in the mire. She, noble creature that she was, was incapable -of swerving from honesty and scrupulous delicacy, from all the pious -traditions of the hearth, which still burns so clearly and sheds its -light abroad in quiet country homes. Then David had been right in his -forecasts! The leaden hues of grief overspread Eve's white brow. She -told her husband her secret in one of the pellucid talks in which -married lovers tell everything to each other. The tones of David's voice -brought comfort. Though the tears stood in his eyes when he knew that -grief had dried his wife's fair breast, and knew Eve's despair that she -could not fulfil a mother's duties, he held out reassuring hopes. - -"Your brother's imagination has let him astray, you see, child. It is so -natural that a poet should wish for blue and purple robes, and hurry as -eagerly after festivals as he does. It is a bird that loves glitter and -luxury with such simple sincerity, that God forgives him if man condemns -him for it." - -"But he is draining our lives!" exclaimed poor Eve. - -"He is draining our lives just now, but only a few months ago he saved -us by sending us the first fruits of his earnings," said the good David. -He had the sense to see that his wife was in despair, was going beyond -the limit, and that love for Lucien would very soon come back. "Fifty -years ago, or thereabouts, Mercier said in his _Tableau de Paris_ that -a man cannot live by literature, poetry, letters, or science, by the -creatures of his brain, in short; and Lucien, poet that he is, would not -believe the experience of five centuries. The harvests that are watered -with ink are only reaped ten or twelve years after the sowing, if indeed -there is any harvest after all. Lucien has taken the green wheat for the -sheaves. He will have learned something of life, at any rate. He was the -dupe of a woman at the outset; he was sure to be duped afterwards by the -world and false friends. He has bought his experience dear, that is all. -Our ancestors used to say, 'If the son of the house brings back his two -ears and his honor safe, all is well----'" - -"Honor!" poor Eve broke in. "Oh, but Lucien has fallen in so many ways! -Writing against his conscience! Attacking his best friend! Living upon -an actress! Showing himself in public with her. Bringing us to lie on -straw----" - -"Oh, that is nothing----!" cried David, and suddenly stopped short. The -secret of Lucien's forgery had nearly escaped him, and, unluckily, his -start left a vague, uneasy impression on Eve. - -"What do you mean by nothing?" she answered. "And where shall we find -the money to meet bills for three thousand francs?" - -"We shall be obliged to renew the lease with Cerizet, to begin with," -said David. "The Cointets have been allowing him fifteen per cent on -the work done for them, and in that way alone he has made six hundred -francs, besides contriving to make five hundred francs by job printing." - -"If the Cointets know that, perhaps they will not renew the lease. They -will be afraid of him, for Cerizet is a dangerous man." - -"Eh! what is that to me!" cried David, "we shall be rich in a very -little while. When Lucien is rich, dear angel, he will have nothing but -good qualities." - -"Oh! David, my dear, my dear; what is this that you have said -unthinkingly? Then Lucien fallen into the clutches of poverty would not -have the force of character to resist evil? And you think just as M. -d'Arthez thinks! No one is great unless he has strength of character, -and Lucien is weak. An angel must not be tempted--what is that?" - -"What but a nature that is noble only in its own region, its own sphere, -its heaven? I will spare him the struggle; Lucien is not meant for it. -Look here! I am so near the end now that I can talk to you about the -means." - -He drew several sheets of white paper from his pocket, brandished them -in triumph, and laid them on his wife's lap. - -"A ream of this paper, royal size, would cost five francs at the most," -he added, while Eve handled the specimens with almost childish surprise. - -"Why, how did you make these sample bits?" she asked. - -"With an old kitchen sieve of Marion's." - -"And are you not satisfied yet?" asked Eve. - -"The problem does not lie in the manufacturing process; it is a question -of the first cost of the pulp. Alas, child, I am only a late comer in -a difficult path. As long ago as 1794, Mme. Masson tried to use printed -paper a second time; she succeeded, but what a price it cost! The -Marquis of Salisbury tried to use straw as a material in 1800, and the -same idea occurred to Seguin in France in 1801. Those sheets in your -hand are made from the common rush, the _arundo phragmites_, but I -shall try nettles and thistles; for if the material is to continue to be -cheap, one must look for something that will grow in marshes and waste -lands where nothing else can be grown. The whole secret lies in the -preparation of the stems. At present my method is not quite simple -enough. Still, in spite of this difficulty, I feel sure that I can give -the French paper trade the privilege of our literature; papermaking -will be for France what coal and iron and coarse potter's clay are for -England--a monopoly. I mean to be the Jacquart of the trade." - -Eve rose to her feet. David's simple-mindedness had roused her to -enthusiasm, to admiration; she held out her arms to him and held him -tightly to her, while she laid her head upon his shoulder. - -"You give me my reward as if I had succeeded already," he said. - -For all answer, Eve held up her sweet face, wet with tears, to his, and -for a moment she could not speak. - -"The kiss was not for the man of genius," she said, "but for my -comforter. Here is a rising glory for the glory that has set; and, -in the midst of my grief for the brother that has fallen so low, my -husband's greatness is revealed to me.--Yes, you will be great, great -like the Graindorges, the Rouvets, and Van Robais, and the Persian who -discovered madder, like all the men you have told me about; great men -whom nobody remembers, because their good deeds were obscure industrial -triumphs." - - -"What are they doing just now?" - -It was Boniface Cointet who spoke. He was walking up and down outside in -the Place du Murier with Cerizet watching the silhouettes of the husband -and wife on the blinds. He always came at midnight for a chat with -Cerizet, for the latter played the spy upon his former master's every -movement. - -"He is showing her the paper he made this morning, no doubt," said -Cerizet. - -"What is it made of?" asked the paper manufacturer. - -"Impossible to guess," answered Cerizet; "I made a hole in the roof and -scrambled up and watched the gaffer; he was boiling pulp in a copper pan -all last night. There was a heap of stuff in a corner, but I could make -nothing of it; it looked like a heap of tow, as near as I could make -out." - -"Go no farther," said Boniface Cointet in unctuous tones; "it would not -be right. Mme. Sechard will offer to renew your lease; tell her that you -are thinking of setting up for yourself. Offer her half the value of the -plant and license, and, if she takes the bid, come to me. In any case, -spin the matter out. . . . Have they no money?" - -"Not a sou," said Cerizet. - -"Not a sou," repeated tall Cointet.--"I have them now," said he to -himself. - -Metivier, paper manufacturers' wholesale agent, and Cointet Brothers, -printers and paper manufacturers, were also bankers in all but name. -This surreptitious banking system defies all the ingenuity of the Inland -Revenue Department. Every banker is required to take out a license -which, in Paris, costs five hundred francs; but no hitherto devised -method of controlling commerce can detect the delinquents, or compel -them to pay their due to the Government. And though Metivier and the -Cointets were "outside brokers," in the language of the Stock Exchange, -none the less among them they could set some hundreds of thousands of -francs moving every three months in the markets of Paris, Bordeaux, and -Angouleme. Now it so fell out that that very evening Cointet Brothers -had received Lucien's forged bills in the course of business. Upon this -debt, tall Cointet forthwith erected a formidable engine, pointed, as -will presently be seen, against the poor, patient inventor. - -By seven o'clock next morning, Boniface Cointet was taking a walk by the -mill stream that turned the wheels in his big factory; the sound of the -water covered his talk, for he was talking with a companion, a young -man of nine-and-twenty, who had been appointed attorney to the Court of -First Instance in Angouleme some six weeks ago. The young man's name was -Pierre Petit-Claud. - -"You are a schoolfellow of David Sechard's, are you not?" asked tall -Cointet by way of greeting to the young attorney. Petit-Claud had lost -no time in answering the wealthy manufacturer's summons. - -"Yes, sir," said Petit-Claud, keeping step with tall Cointet. - -"Have you renewed the acquaintance?" - -"We have met once or twice at most since he came back. It could hardly -have been otherwise. In Paris I was buried away in the office or at -the courts on week-days, and on Sundays and holidays I was hard at -work studying, for I had only myself to look to." (Tall Cointet nodded -approvingly.) "When we met again, David and I, he asked me what I -had done with myself. I told him that after I had finished my time at -Poitiers, I had risen to be Maitre Olivet's head-clerk, and that some -time or other I hoped to make a bid for his berth. I know a good deal -more of Lucien Chardon (de Rubempre he calls himself now), he was Mme. -de Bargeton's lover, our great poet, David Sechard's brother-in-law, in -fact." - -"Then you can go and tell David of your appointment, and offer him your -services," said tall Cointet. - -"One can't do that," said the young attorney. - -"He has never had a lawsuit, and he has no attorney, so one can do -that," said Cointet, scanning the other narrowly from behind his colored -spectacles. - -A certain quantity of gall mingled with the blood in Pierre -Petit-Claud's veins; his father was a tailor in L'Houmeau, and his -schoolfellows had looked down upon him. His complexion was of the muddy -and unwholesome kind which tells a tale of bad health, late hours and -penury, and almost always of a bad disposition. The best description of -him may be given in two familiar expressions--he was sharp and snappish. -His cracked voice suited his sour face, meagre look, and magpie eyes of -no particular color. A magpie eye, according to Napoleon, is a sure -sign of dishonesty. "Look at So-and-so," he said to Las Cases at Saint -Helena, alluding to a confidential servant whom he had been obliged to -dismiss for malversation. "I do not know how I could have been deceived -in him for so long; he has a magpie eye." Tall Cointet, surveying the -weedy little lawyer, noted his face pitted with smallpox, the thin hair, -and the forehead, bald already, receding towards a bald cranium; saw, -too, the confession of weakness in his attitude with the hand on the -hip. "Here is my man," said he to himself. - -As a matter of fact, this Petit-Claud, who had drunk scorn like water, -was eaten up with a strong desire to succeed in life; he had no money, -but nevertheless he had the audacity to buy his employer's connection -for thirty thousand francs, reckoning upon a rich marriage to clear off -the debt, and looking to his employer, after the usual custom, to find -him a wife, for an attorney always has an interest in marrying his -successor, because he is the sooner paid off. But if Petit-Claud counted -upon his employer, he counted yet more upon himself. He had more than -average ability, and that of a kind not often found in the provinces, -and rancor was the mainspring of his power. A mighty hatred makes a -mighty effort. - -There is a great difference between a country attorney and an attorney -in Paris; tall Cointet was too clever not to know this, and to turn -the meaner passions that move a pettifogging lawyer to good account. An -eminent attorney in Paris, and there are many who may be so qualified, -is bound to possess to some extent the diplomate's qualities; he had -so much business to transact, business in which large interests are -involved; questions of such wide interest are submitted to him that he -does not look upon procedure as machinery for bringing money into his -pocket, but as a weapon of attack and defence. A country attorney, on -the other hand, cultivates the science of costs, _broutille_, as it is -called in Paris, a host of small items that swell lawyers' bills and -require stamped paper. These weighty matters of the law completely fill -the country attorney's mind; he has a bill of costs always before his -eyes, whereas his brother of Paris thinks of nothing but his fees. The -fee is a honorarium paid by a client over and above the bill of costs, -for the more or less skilful conduct of his case. One-half of the bill -of costs goes to the Treasury, whereas the entire fee belongs to the -attorney. Let us admit frankly that the fees received are seldom as -large as the fees demanded and deserved by a clever lawyer. Wherefore, -in Paris, attorneys, doctors, and barristers, like courtesans with -a chance-come lover, take very considerable precautions against the -gratitude of clients. The client before and after the lawsuit would -furnish a subject worthy of Meissonier; there would be brisk bidding -among attorneys for the possession of two such admirable bits of genre. - -There is yet another difference between the Parisian and the country -attorney. An attorney in Paris very seldom appears in court, though he -is sometimes called upon to act as arbitrator (_refere_). Barristers, -at the present day, swarm in the provinces; but in 1822 the country -attorney very often united the functions of solicitor and counsel. As -a result of this double life, the attorney acquired the peculiar -intellectual defects of the barrister, and retained the heavy -responsibilities of the attorney. He grew talkative and fluent, and -lost his lucidity of judgment, the first necessity for the conduct of -affairs. If a man of more than ordinary ability tries to do the work of -two men, he is apt to find that the two men are mediocrities. The Paris -attorney never spends himself in forensic eloquence; and as he seldom -attempts to argue for and against, he has some hope of preserving his -mental rectitude. It is true that he brings the balista of the law -to work, and looks for the weapons in the armory of judicial -contradictions, but he keeps his own convictions as to the case, while -he does his best to gain the day. In a word, a man loses his head not so -much by thinking as by uttering thoughts. The spoken word convinces the -utterer; but a man can act against his own bad judgment without warping -it, and contrive to win in a bad cause without maintaining that it is -a good one, like the barrister. Perhaps for this very reason an old -attorney is the more likely of the two to make a good judge. - -A country attorney, as we have seen, has plenty of excuses for his -mediocrity; he takes up the cause of petty passions, he undertakes -pettifogging business, he lives by charging expenses, he strains the -Code of procedure and pleads in court. In a word, his weak points are -legion; and if by chance you come across a remarkable man practising as -a country attorney, he is indeed above the average level. - -"I thought, sir, that you sent for me on your own affairs," said -Petit-Claud, and a glance that put an edge on his words fell upon tall -Cointet's impenetrable blue spectacles. - -"Let us have no beating about the bush," returned Boniface Cointet. -"Listen to me." - -After that beginning, big with mysterious import, Cointet set himself -down upon a bench, and beckoned Petit-Claud to do likewise. - -"When M. du Hautoy came to Angouleme in 1804, on his way to his -consulship at Valence, he made the acquaintance of Mme. de Senonches, -then Mlle. Zephirine, and had a daughter by her," added Cointet for -the attorney's ear----"Yes," he continued, as Petit-Claud gave a start; -"yes, and Mlle. Zephirine's marriage with M. de Senoches soon followed -the birth of the child. The girl was brought up in my mother's house; -she is the Mlle. Francoise de la Haye in whom Mme. de Senoches takes an -interest; she is her godmother in the usual style. Now, my mother farmed -land belonging to old Mme. de Cardanet, Mlle. Zephirine's grandmother; -and as she knew the secret of the sole heiress of the Cardanets and the -Senonches of the older branch, they made me trustee for the little sum -which M. Francois du Hautoy meant for the girl's fortune. I made my own -fortune with those ten thousand francs, which amount to thirty thousand -at the present day. Mme. de Senonches is sure to give the wedding -clothes, and some plate and furniture to her goddaughter. Now, I can -put you in the way of marrying the girl, my lad," said Cointet, slapping -Petit-Claud on the knee; "and when you marry Francoise de la Haye, -you will have a large number of the aristocracy of Angouleme as your -clients. This understanding between us (under the rose) will open up -magnificent prospects for you. Your position will be as much as any one -could want; in fact, they don't ask better, I know." - -"What is to be done?" Petit-Claud asked eagerly. "You have an attorney, -Maitre Cachan----" - -"And, moreover, I shall not leave Cachan at once for you; I shall only -be your client later on," said Cointet significantly. "What is to be -done, do you ask, my friend? Eh! why, David Sechard's business. The poor -devil has three thousand francs' worth of bills to meet; he will not -meet them; you will stave off legal proceedings in such a way as to -increase the expenses enormously. Don't trouble yourself; go on, pile on -items. Doublon, my process-server, will act under Cachan's directions, -and he will lay on like a blacksmith. A word to the wise is sufficient. -Now, young man?----" - -An eloquent pause followed, and the two men looked at each other. - -"We have never seen each other," Cointet resumed; "I have not said -a syllable to you; you know nothing about M. du Hautoy, nor Mme. de -Senonches, nor Mlle. de la Haye; only, when the time comes, two months -hence, you will propose for the young lady. If we should want to see -each other, you will come here after dark. Let us have nothing in -writing." - -"Then you mean to ruin Sechard?" asked Petit-Claud. - -"Not exactly; but he must be in jail for some time----" - -"And what is the object?" - -"Do you think that I am noodle enough to tell you that? If you have wit -enough to find out, you will have sense enough to hold your tongue." - -"Old Sechard has plenty of money," said Petit-Claud. He was beginning -already to enter into Boniface Cointet's notions, and foresaw a possible -cause of failure. - -"So long as the father lives, he will not give his son a farthing; and -the old printer has no mind as yet to send in an order for his funeral -cards." - -"Agreed!" said Petit-Claud, promptly making up his mind. "I don't ask -you for guarantees; I am an attorney. If any one plays me a trick, there -will be an account to settle between us." - -"The rogue will go far," thought Cointet; he bade Petit-Claud -good-morning. - -The day after this conference was the 30th of April, and the Cointets -presented the first of the three bills forged by Lucien. Unluckily, the -bill was brought to poor Mme. Sechard; and she, seeing at once that the -signature was not in her husband's handwriting, sent for David and asked -him point-blank: - -"You did not put your name to that bill, did you?" - -"No," said he; "your brother was so pressed for time that he signed for -me." - -Eve returned the bill to the bank messenger sent by the Cointets. - -"We cannot meet it," she said; then, feeling that her strength was -failing, she went up to her room. David followed her. - -"Go quickly to the Cointets, dear," Eve said faintly; "they will have -some consideration for you; beg them to wait; and call their attention -besides to the fact that when Cerizet's lease is renewed, they will owe -you a thousand francs." - -David went forthwith to his enemies. Now, any foreman may become a -master printer, but there are not always the makings of a good man of -business in a skilled typographer; David knew very little of business; -when, therefore, with a heavily-beating heart and a sensation of -throttling, David had put his excuses badly enough and formulated his -request, the answer--"This is nothing to do with us; the bill has -been passed on to us by Metivier; Metivier will pay us. Apply to M. -Metivier"--cut him short at once. - -"Oh!" cried Eve when she heard the result, "as soon as the bill is -returned to M. Metivier, we may be easy." - -At two o'clock the next day, Victor-Ange-Hermenegilde Doublon, bailiff, -made protest for non-payment at two o'clock, a time when the Place du -Murier is full of people; so that though Doublon was careful to stand -and chat at the back door with Marion and Kolb, the news of the protest -was known all over the business world of Angouleme that evening. Tall -Cointet had enjoined it upon Master Doublon to show the Sechards the -greatest consideration; but when all was said and done, could the -bailiff's hypocritical regard for appearances save Eve and David from -the disgrace of a suspension of payment? Let each judge for himself. -A tolerably long digression of this kind will seem all too short; -and ninety out of every hundred readers shall seize with avidity upon -details that possess all the piquancy of novelty, thus establishing yet -once again the trust of the well-known axiom, that there is nothing so -little known as that which everybody is supposed to know--the Law of the -Land, to wit. - -And of a truth, for the immense majority of Frenchmen, a minute -description of some part of the machinery of banking will be as -interesting as any chapter of foreign travel. When a tradesman living -in one town gives a bill to another tradesman elsewhere (as David was -supposed to have done for Lucien's benefit), the transaction ceases -to be a simple promissory note, given in the way of business by one -tradesman to another in the same place, and becomes in some sort a -letter of exchange. When, therefore, Metivier accepted Lucien's three -bills, he was obliged to send them for collection to his correspondents -in Angouleme--to Cointet Brothers, that is to say. Hence, likewise, a -certain initial loss for Lucien in exchange on Angouleme, taking the -practical shape of an abatement of so much per cent over and above the -discount. In this way Sechard's bills had passed into circulation in the -bank. You would not believe how greatly the quality of banker, united -with the august title of creditor, changes the debtor's position. For -instance, when a bill has been passed through the bank (please note -that expression), and transferred from the money market in Paris to -the financial world of Angouleme, if that bill is protested, then the -bankers in Angouleme must draw up a detailed account of the expenses -of protest and return; 'tis a duty which they owe to themselves. Joking -apart, no account of the most romantic adventure could be more mildly -improbable than this of the journey made by a bill. Behold a certain -article in the Code of commerce authorizing the most ingenious -pleasantries after Mascarille's manner, and the interpretation thereof -shall make apparent manifold atrocities lurking beneath the formidable -word "legal." - -Master Doublon registered the protest and went himself with it to MM. -Cointet Brothers. The firm had a standing account with their bailiff; -he gave them six months' credit; and the lynxes of Angouleme practically -took a twelvemonth, though tall Cointet would say month by month to -the lynxes' jackal, "Do you want any money, Doublon?" Nor was this all. -Doublon gave the influential house a rebate upon every transaction; -it was the merest trifle, one franc fifty centimes on a protest, for -instance. - -Tall Cointet quietly sat himself down at his desk and took out a small -sheet of paper with a thirty-five centime stamp upon it, chatting as he -did so with Doublon as to the standing of some of the local tradesmen. - -"Well, are you satisfied with young Gannerac?" - -"He is not doing badly. Lord, a carrier drives a trade----" - -"Drives a trade, yes; but, as a matter of fact, his expenses are a heavy -pull on him; his wife spends a good deal, so they tell me----" - -"Of _his_ money?" asked Doublon, with a knowing look. - -The lynx meanwhile had finished ruling his sheet of paper, and now -proceeded to trace the ominous words at the head of the following -account in bold characters:-- - - - ACCOUNT OF EXPENSES OF PROTEST AND RETURN. - - _To one bill for_ one thousand francs, _bearing date of February the - tenth, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, drawn by_ Sechard junior _of - Angouleme, to order of_ Lucien Chardon, _otherwise_ de Rubempre, - _endorsed to order of_ Metivier, _and finally to our order, matured - the thirtieth of April last, protested by_ Doublon, _process-server, - on the first of May, eighteen hundred and twenty-two._ - fr. c. - Principal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1000 -- - Expenses of Protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 35 - Bank charges, one-half per cent. . . . . . . 5 -- - Brokerage, one-quarter per cent. . . . . . . 2 50 - Stamp on re-draft and present account. . . . 1 35 - Interest and postage . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 -- - ____ ____ - 1024 20 - Exchange at the rate of one and a quarter - per cent on 1024 fr. 20 c.. . . . . . . . 13 25 - ____ ____ - Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - - _One thousand and thirty-seven francs forty-five centimes, for - which we repay ourselves by our draft at sight upon M. Metivier, - Rue Serpente, Paris, payable to order of M. Gannerac of L'Houmeau._ - - ANGOULEME, May 2, 1822 COINTET BROTHERS. - - -At the foot of this little memorandum, drafted with the ease that comes -of long practice (for the writer chatted with Doublon as he wrote), -there appeared the subjoined form of declaration:-- - - - "We, the undersigned, Postel of L'Houmeau, pharmaceutical chemist, - and Gannerac, forwarding agent, merchant of this town, hereby - certify that the present rate of exchange on Paris is one and a - quarter per cent. - - "ANGOULEME, May 2, 1822." - - -"Here, Doublon, be so good as to step round and ask Postel and Gannerac -to put their names to this declaration, and bring it back with you -to-morrow morning." - -And Doublon, quite accustomed as he was to these instruments of torture, -forthwith went, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Evidently -the protest might have been sent in an envelope, as in Paris, and -even so all Angouleme was sure to hear of the poor Sechards' unlucky -predicament. How they all blamed his want of business energy! His -excessive fondness for his wife had been the ruin of him, according -to some; others maintained that it was his affection for his -brother-in-law; and what shocking conclusions did they not draw from -these premises! A man ought never to embrace the interests of his kith -and kin. Old Sechard's hard-hearted conduct met with approval, and -people admired him for his treatment of his son! - -And now, all you who for any reason whatsoever should forget to "honor -your engagements," look well into the methods of the banking business, -by which one thousand francs may be made to pay interest at the rate -of twenty-eight francs in ten minutes, without breaking the law of the -land. - -The thousand francs, the one incontestable item in the account, comes -first. - -The second item is shared between the bailiff and the Inland Revenue -Department. The six francs due to the State for providing a piece of -stamped paper, and putting the debtor's mortification on record, will -probably ensure a long life to this abuse; and as you already know, -one franc fifty centimes from this item found its way into the banker's -pockets in the shape of Doublon's rebate. - -"Bank charges one-half per cent," runs the third item, which appears -upon the ingenious plea that if a banker has not received payment, -he has for all practical purposes discounted a bill. And although the -contrary may be the case, if you fail to receive a thousand francs, -it seems to be very much the same thing as if you had paid them away. -Everybody who has discounted a bill knows that he has to pay more than -the six per cent fixed by law; for a small percentage appears under -the humble title of "charges," representing a premium on the financial -genius and skill with which the capitalist puts his money out to -interest. The more money he makes out of you, the more he asks. -Wherefore it would be undoubtedly cheaper to discount a bill with a -fool, if fools there be in the profession of bill-discounting. - -The law requires the banker to obtain a stock-broker's certificate for -the rate of exchange. When a place is so unlucky as to boast no stock -exchange, two merchants act instead. This is the significance of the -item "brokerage"; it is a fixed charge of a quarter per cent on the -amount of the protested bill. The custom is to consider the amount -as paid to the merchants who act for the stock-broker, and the banker -quietly puts the money into his cash-box. So much for the third item in -this delightful account. - -The fourth includes the cost of the piece of stamped paper on which the -account itself appears, as well as the cost of the stamp for re-draft, -as it is ingeniously named, viz., the banker's draft upon his colleague -in Paris. - -The fifth is a charge for postage and the legal interest due upon the -amount for the time that it may happen to be absent from the banker's -strong box. - -The final item, the exchange, is the object for which the bank exists, -which is to say, for the transmission of sums of money from one place to -another. - -Now, sift this account thoroughly, and what do you find? The method of -calculation closely resembles Polichinelle's arithmetic in Lablache's -Neapolitan song, "fifteen and five make twenty-two." The signatures of -Messieurs Postel and Gannerac were obviously given to oblige in the way -of business; the Cointets would act at need for Gannerac as Gannerac -acted for the Cointets. It was a practical application of the well-known -proverb, "Reach me the rhubarb and I will pass you the senna." Cointet -Brothers, moreover, kept a standing account with Metivier; there was no -need of a re-draft, and no re-draft was made. A returned bill between -the two firms simply meant a debit or credit entry and another line in a -ledger. - -This highly-colored account, therefore, is reduced to the one thousand -francs, with an additional thirteen francs for expenses of protest, and -half per cent for a month's delay, one thousand and eighteen francs it -may be in all. - -Suppose that in a large banking-house a bill for a thousand francs is -daily protested on an average, then the banker receives twenty-eight -francs a day by the grace of God and the constitution of the banking -system, that all powerful invention due to the Jewish intellect of -the Middle Ages, which after six centuries still controls monarchs and -peoples. In other words, a thousand francs would bring such a house -twenty-eight francs per day, or ten thousand two hundred and twenty -francs per annum. Triple the average of protests, and consequently of -expenses, and you shall derive an income of thirty thousand francs -per annum, interest upon purely fictitious capital. For which reason, -nothing is more lovingly cultivated than these little "accounts of -expenses." - -If David Sechard had come to pay his bill on the 3rd of May, that is, -the day after it was protested, MM. Cointet Brothers would have met him -at once with, "We have returned your bill to M. Metivier," although, as -a matter of fact, the document would have been lying upon the desk. A -banker has a right to make out the account of expenses on the evening of -the day when the bill is protested, and he uses the right to "sweat the -silver crowns," in the country banker's phrase. - -The Kellers, with correspondents all over the world, make twenty -thousand francs per annum by charges for postage alone; accounts of -expenses of protest pay for Mme. la Baronne de Nucingen's dresses, opera -box, and carriage. The charge for postage is a more shocking swindle, -because a house will settle ten matters of business in as many lines of -a single letter. And of the tithe wrung from misfortune, the Government, -strange to say! takes its share, and the national revenue is swelled by -a tax on commercial failure. And the Bank? from the august height of a -counting-house she flings an observation, full of commonsense, at the -debtor, "How is it?" asks she, "that you cannot meet your bill?" and, -unluckily, there is no reply to the question. Wherefore, the "account of -expenses" is an account bristling with dreadful fictions, fit to cause -any debtor, who henceforth shall reflect upon this instructive page, a -salutary shudder. - -On the 4th of May, Metivier received the account from Cointet Brothers, -with instructions to proceed against M. Lucien Chardon, otherwise de -Rubempre, with the utmost rigor of the law. - -Eve also wrote to M. Metivier, and a few days later received an answer -which reassured her completely:-- - - - _To M. Sechard, Junior, Printer, Angouleme._ - - "I have duly received your esteemed favor of the 5th instant. From - your explanation of the bill due on April 30th, I understand that - you have obliged your brother-in-law, M. de Rubempre, who is - spending so much that it will be doing you a service to summons - him. His present position is such that he is likely to delay - payment for long. If your brother-in-law should refuse payment, I - shall rely upon the credit of your old-established house.--I sign - myself now, as ever, your obedient servant, - "Metivier." - - -"Well," said Eve, commenting upon the letter to David, "Lucien will know -when they summons him that we could not pay." - -What a change wrought in Eve those few words meant! The love that grew -deeper as she came to know her husband's character better and better, -was taking the place of love for her brother in her heart. But to how -many illusions had she not bade farewell? - -And now let us trace out the whole history of the bill and the account -of expenses in the business world of Paris. The law enacts that the -third holder, the technical expression for the third party into whose -hands the bill passes, is at liberty to proceed for the whole amount -against any one of the various endorsers who appears to him to be most -likely to make prompt payment. M. Metivier, using this discretion, -served a summons upon Lucien. Behold the successive stages of the -proceedings, all of them perfectly futile. Metivier, with the Cointets -behind him, knew that Lucien was not in a position to pay, but -insolvency in fact is not insolvency in law until it has been formally -proved. - -Formal proof of Lucien's inability to pay was obtained in the following -manner: - -On the 5th of May, Metivier's process-server gave Lucien notice of -the protest and an account of the expense thereof, and summoned him to -appear before the Tribunal of Commerce, or County Court, of Paris, to -hear a vast number of things: this, among others, that he was liable to -imprisonment as a merchant. By the time that Lucien, hard pressed -and hunted down on all sides, read this jargon, he received notice of -judgment against him by default. Coralie, his mistress, ignorant of the -whole matter, imagined that Lucien had obliged his brother-in-law, and -handed him all the documents together--too late. An actress sees so -much of bailiffs, duns, and writs, upon the stage, that she looks on all -stamped paper as a farce. - -Tears filled Lucien's eyes; he was unhappy on Sechard's account, he -was ashamed of the forgery, he wished to pay, he desired to gain time. -Naturally he took counsel of his friends. But by the time Lousteau, -Blondet, Bixiou, and Nathan had told the poet to snap his fingers at a -court only established for tradesmen, Lucien was already in the clutches -of the law. He beheld upon his door the little yellow placard which -leaves its reflection on the porter's countenance, and exercises a most -astringent influence upon credit; striking terror into the heart of -the smallest tradesman, and freezing the blood in the veins of a poet -susceptible enough to care about the bits of wood, silken rags, dyed -woolen stuffs, and multifarious gimcracks entitled furniture. - -When the broker's men came for Coralie's furniture, the author of the -_Marguerites_ fled to a friend of Bixiou's, one Desroches, a barrister, -who burst out laughing at the sight of Lucien in such a state about -nothing at all. - -"That is nothing, my dear fellow. Do you want to gain time?" - -"Yes, as much possible." - -"Very well, apply for stay of execution. Go and look up Masson, he is -a solicitor in the Commercial Court, and a friend of mine. Take your -documents to him. He will make a second application for you, and give -notice of objection to the jurisdiction of the court. There is not the -least difficulty; you are a journalist, your name is well known enough. -If they summons you before a civil court, come to me about it, that -will be my affair; I engage to send anybody who offers to annoy the fair -Coralie about his business." - -On the 28th of May, Lucien's case came on in the civil court, and -judgment was given before Desroches expected it. Lucien's creditor was -pushing on the proceedings against him. A second execution was put in, -and again Coralie's pilasters were gilded with placards. Desroches felt -rather foolish; a colleague had "caught him napping," to use his own -expression. He demurred, not without reason, that the furniture belonged -to Mlle. Coralie, with whom Lucien was living, and demanded an order for -inquiry. Thereupon the judge referred the matter to the registrar for -inquiry, the furniture was proved to belong to the actress, and judgment -was entered accordingly. Metivier appealed, and judgment was confirmed -on appeal on the 30th of June. - -On the 7th of August, Maitre Cachan received by the coach a bulky -package endorsed, "Metivier _versus_ Sechard and Lucien Chardon." - -The first document was a neat little bill, of which a copy (accuracy -guaranteed) is here given for the reader's benefit:-- - - - _To Bill due the last day of April, drawn by_ - Sechard, junior, _to order of_ Lucien de - Rubempre, _together with expenses of fr. c. - protest and return_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - May 5th--Serving notice of protest and - summons to appear before the - Tribunal of Commerce in - Paris, May 7th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - " 7th--Judgment by default and - warrant of arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 -- - " 10th--Notification of judgment . . . . . . . . . 8 50 - " 12th--Warrant of execution . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 - " 14th--Inventory and appraisement - previous to execution. . . . . . . . . . . 16 -- - " 18th--Expenses of affixing placards. . . . . . . 15 25 - " 19th--Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 -- - " 24th--Verification of inventory, and - application for stay of execution - on the part of the said - Lucien de Rubempre, objecting - to the jurisdiction of the Court. . . . . . 12 -- - " 27th--Order of the Court upon application - duly repeated, and transfer of - of case to the Civil Court. . . . . . . . . 35 -- - ____ ____ - Carried forward. . . . . . . . . . . . 1177 45 - - fr. c. - Brought forward 1177 45 - May 28th--Notice of summary proceedings in - the Civil Court at the instance - of Metivier, represented by - counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 50 - June 2nd--Judgment, after hearing both - parties, condemning Lucien for - expenses of protest and return; - the plaintiff to bear costs - of proceedings in the - Commercial Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 -- - " 6th--Notification of judgment. . . . . . . . . . 10 -- - - " 15th--Warrant of execution. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 50 - " 19th--Inventory and appraisement preparatory - to execution; interpleader summons by - the Demoiselle Coralie, claiming goods - and chattels taken in execution; demand - for immediate special inquiry before - further proceedings be taken . . . . . . . 20 -- - " " --Judge's order referring matter to - registrar for immediate special inquiry. . 40 -- - " " --Judgment in favor of the said - Mademoiselle Coralie . . . . . . . . . . . 250 -- - " 20th--Appeal by Metivier . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 -- - " 30th--Confirmation of judgment . . . . . . . . . 250 -- - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1926 45 - __________ - - Bill matured May 31st, with expenses of fr. c. - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 - - Bill matured June 30th, with expenses of - protest and return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1037 45 - Serving notice of protest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 75 - ____ ____ - Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 20 - __________ - - -This document was accompanied by a letter from Metivier, instructing -Maitre Cachan, notary of Angouleme, to prosecute David Sechard with -the utmost rigor of the law. Wherefore Maitre Victor-Ange-Hermenegilde -Doublon summoned David Sechard before the Tribunal of Commerce in -Angouleme for the sum-total of four thousand and eighteen francs -eighty-five centimes, the amount of the three bills and expenses already -incurred. On the morning of the very day when Doublon served the writ -upon Eve, requiring her to pay a sum so enormous in her eyes, there came -a letter like a thunderbolt from Metivier:-- - - - _To Monsieur Sechard, Junior, Printer, Angouleme._ - - "SIR,--Your brother-in-law, M. Chardon, is so shamelessly - dishonest, that he declares his furniture to be the property of an - actress with whom he is living. You ought to have informed me - candidly of these circumstances, and not have allowed me to go to - useless expense over law proceedings. I have received no answer - to my letter of the 10th of May last. You must not, therefore, - take it amiss if I ask for immediate repayment of the three bills - and the expenses to which I have been put.--Yours, etc., - "METIVIER." - - -Eve had heard nothing during these months, and supposed, in her -ignorance of commercial law, that her brother had made reparation for -his sins by meeting the forged bills. - -"Be quick, and go at once to Petit-Claud, dear," she said; "tell him -about it, and ask his advice." - -David hurried to his schoolfellow's office. - -"When you came to tell me of your appointment and offered me your -services, I did not think that I should need them so soon," he said. - -Petit-Claud studied the fine face of this man who sat opposite him in -the office chair, and scarcely listened to the details of the case, -for he knew more of them already than the speaker. As soon as he saw -Sechard's anxiety, he said to himself, "The trick has succeeded." - -This kind of comedy is often played in an attorney's office. "Why are -the Cointets persecuting him?" Petit-Claud wondered within himself, for -the attorney can use his wit to read his clients' thoughts as clearly as -the ideas of their opponents, and it is his business to see both sides -of the judicial web. - -"You want to gain time," he said at last, when Sechard had come to an -end. "How long do you want? Something like three or four months?" - -"Oh! four months! that would be my salvation," exclaimed David. -Petit-Claud appeared to him as an angel. - -"Very well. No one shall lay hands on any of your furniture, and no one -shall arrest you for four months----But it will cost you a great deal," -said Petit-Claud. - -"Eh! what does that matter to me?" cried Sechard. - -"You are expecting some money to come in; but are you sure of it?" asked -Petit-Claud, astonished at the way in which his client walked into the -toils. - -"In three months' time I shall have plenty of money," said the inventor, -with an inventor's hopeful confidence. - -"Your father is still above ground," suggested Petit-Claud; "he is in no -hurry to leave his vines." - -"Do you think that I am counting on my father's death?" returned David. -"I am on the track of a trade secret, the secret of making a sheet of -paper as strong as Dutch paper, without a thread of cotton in it, and at -a cost of fifty per cent less than cotton pulp." - -"There is a fortune in that!" exclaimed Petit-Claud. He knew now what -the tall Cointet meant. - -"A large fortune, my friend, for in ten years' time the demand for paper -will be ten times larger than it is to-day. Journalism will be the craze -of our day." - -"Nobody knows your secret?" - -"Nobody except my wife." - -"You have not told any one what you mean to do--the Cointets, for -example?" - -"I did say something about it, but in general terms, I think." - -A sudden spark of generosity flashed through Petit-Claud's rancorous -soul; he tried to reconcile Sechard's interests with the Cointet's -projects and his own. - -"Listen, David, we are old schoolfellows, you and I; I will fight your -case; but understand this clearly--the defence, in the teeth of the -law, will cost you five or six thousand francs! Do not compromise your -prospects. I think you will be compelled to share the profits of your -invention with some one of our paper manufacturers. Let us see now. You -will think twice before you buy or build a paper mill; and there is -the cost of the patent besides. All this means time, and money too. The -servers of writs will be down upon you too soon, perhaps, although we -are going to give them the slip----" - -"I have my secret," said David, with the simplicity of the man of books. - -"Well and good, your secret will be your plank of safety," said -Petit-Claud; his first loyal intention of avoiding a lawsuit by a -compromise was frustrated. "I do not wish to know it; but mind this that -I tell you. Work in the bowels of the earth if you can, so that no one -may watch you and gain a hint from your ways of working, or your plank -will be stolen from under your feet. An inventor and a simpleton often -live in the same skin. Your mind runs so much on your secrets that you -cannot think of everything. People will begin to have their suspicions -at last, and the place is full of paper manufacturers. So many -manufacturers, so many enemies for you! You are like a beaver with the -hunters about you; do not give them your skin----" - -"Thank you, dear fellow, I have told myself all this," exclaimed -Sechard, "but I am obliged to you for showing so much concern for me and -for your forethought. It does not really matter to me myself. An income -of twelve hundred francs would be enough for me, and my father ought by -rights to leave me three times as much some day. Love and thought make -up my life--a divine life. I am working for Lucien's sake and for my -wife's." - -"Come, give me this power of attorney, and think of nothing but your -discovery. If there should be any danger of arrest, I will let you know -in time, for we must think of all possibilities. And let me tell you -again to allow no one of whom you are not so sure as you are of yourself -to come into your place." - -"Cerizet did not care to continue the lease of the plant and premises, -hence our little money difficulties. We have no one at home now but -Marion and Kolb, an Alsacien as trusty as a dog, and my wife and her -mother----" - -"One word," said Petit-Claud, "don't trust that dog----" - -"You do not know him," exclaimed David; "he is like a second self." - -"May I try him?" - -"Yes," said Sechard. - -"There, good-bye, but send Mme. Sechard to me; I must have a power of -attorney from your wife. And bear in mind, my friend, that there is a -fire burning in your affairs," said Petit-Claud, by way of warning of -all the troubles gathering in the law courts to burst upon David's head. - -"Here am I with one foot in Burgundy and the other in Champagne," he -added to himself as he closed the office door on David. - -Harassed by money difficulties, beset with fears for his wife's health, -stung to the quick by Lucien's disgrace, David had worked on at his -problem. He had been trying to find a single process to replace the -various operations of pounding and maceration to which all flax or -cotton or rags, any vegetable fibre, in fact, must be subjected; and as -he went to Petit-Claud's office, he abstractedly chewed a bit of nettle -stalk that had been steeping in water. On his way home, tolerably -satisfied with his interview, he felt a little pellet sticking between -his teeth. He laid it on his hand, flattened it out, and saw that the -pulp was far superior to any previous result. The want of cohesion is -the great drawback of all vegetable fibre; straw, for instance, yields -a very brittle paper, which may almost be called metallic and resonant. -These chances only befall bold inquirers into Nature's methods! - -"Now," said he to himself, "I must contrive to do by machinery and some -chemical agency the thing that I myself have done unconsciously." - -When his wife saw him, his face was radiant with belief in victory. -There were traces of tears in Eve's face. - -"Oh! my darling, do not trouble yourself; Petit-Claud will guarantee -that we shall not be molested for several months to come. There will be -a good deal of expense over it; but, as Petit-Claud said when he came -to the door with me, 'A Frenchman has a right to keep his creditors -waiting, provided he repays them capital, interest, and costs.'--Very -well, then, we shall do that----" - -"And live meanwhile?" asked poor Eve, who thought of everything. - -"Ah! that is true," said David, carrying his hand to his ear after the -unaccountable fashion of most perplexed mortals. - -"Mother will look after little Lucien, and I can go back to work again," -said she. - -"Eve! oh, my Eve!" cried David, holding his wife closely to him.--"At -Saintes, not very far from here, in the sixteenth century, there -lived one of the very greatest of Frenchmen, for he was not merely the -inventor of glaze, he was the glorious precursor of Buffon and Cuvier -besides; he was the first geologist, good, simple soul that he was. -Bernard Palissy endured the martyrdom appointed for all seekers into -secrets but his wife and children and all his neighbors were against -him. His wife used to sell his tools; nobody understood him, he wandered -about the countryside, he was hunted down, they jeered at him. But I--am -loved----" - -"Dearly loved!" said Eve, with the quiet serenity of the love that is -sure of itself. - -"And so may well endure all that poor Bernard Palissy suffered--Bernard -Palissy, the discoverer of Ecouen ware, the Huguenot excepted by Charles -IX. on the day of Saint-Bartholomew. He lived to be rich and honored in -his old age, and lectured on the 'Science of Earths,' as he called it, -in the face of Europe." - -"So long as my fingers can hold an iron, you shall want for nothing," -cried the poor wife, in tones that told of the deepest devotion. "When -I was Mme. Prieur's forewoman I had a friend among the girls, Basine -Clerget, a cousin of Postel's, a very good child; well, Basine told me -the other day when she brought back the linen, that she was taking Mme. -Prieur's business; I will work for her." - -"Ah! you shall not work there for long," said David; "I have found -out----" - -Eve, watching his face, saw the sublime belief in success which sustains -the inventor, the belief that gives him courage to go forth into the -virgin forests of the country of Discovery; and, for the first time in -her life, she answered that confident look with a half-sad smile. David -bent his head mournfully. - -"Oh! my dear! I am not laughing! I did not doubt! It was not a sneer!" -cried Eve, on her knees before her husband. "But I see plainly now that -you were right to tell me nothing about your experiments and your hopes. -Ah! yes, dear, an inventor should endure the long painful travail of a -great idea alone, he should not utter a word of it even to his wife -.... A woman is a woman still. This Eve of yours could not help smiling -when she heard you say, 'I have found out,' for the seventeenth time -this month." - -David burst out laughing so heartily at his own expense that Eve caught -his hand in hers and kissed it reverently. It was a delicious moment for -them both, one of those roses of love and tenderness that grow beside -the desert paths of the bitterest poverty, nay, at times in yet darker -depths. - -As the storm of misfortune grew, Eve's courage redoubled; the greatness -of her husband's nature, his inventor's simplicity, the tears that now -and again she saw in the eyes of this dreamer of dreams with the -tender heart,--all these things aroused in her an unsuspected energy -of resistance. Once again she tried the plan that had succeeded so -well already. She wrote to M. Metivier, reminding him that the printing -office was for sale, offered to pay him out of the proceeds, and begged -him not to ruin David with needless costs. Metivier received the heroic -letter, and shammed dead. His head-clerk replied that in the absence of -M. Metivier he could not take it upon himself to stay proceedings, for -his employer had made it a rule to let the law take its course. Eve -wrote again, offering this time to renew the bills and pay all the costs -hitherto incurred. To this the clerk consented, provided that Sechard -senior guaranteed payment. So Eve walked over to Marsac, taking Kolb and -her mother with her. She braved the old vinedresser, and so charming was -she, that the old man's face relaxed, and the puckers smoothed out at -the sight of her; but when, with inward quakings, she came to speak of a -guarantee, she beheld a sudden and complete change of the tippleographic -countenance. - -"If I allowed my son to put his hand to the lips of my cash box whenever -he had a mind, he would plunge it deep into the vitals, he would take -all I have!" cried old Sechard. "That is the way with children; they -eat up their parents' purse. What did I do myself, eh? _I_ never cost my -parents a farthing. Your printing office is standing idle. The rats and -the mice do all the printing that is done in it. . . . You have a pretty -face; I am very fond of you; you are a careful, hard-working woman; but -that son of mine!--Do you know what David is? I'll tell you--he is a -scholar that will never do a stroke of work! If I had reared him, as -I was reared myself, without knowing his letters, and if I had made a -'bear' of him, like his father before him, he would have money saved and -put out to interest by now. . . . Oh! he is my cross, that fellow is, -look you! And, unluckily, he is all the family I have, for there is -never like to be a later edition. And when he makes you unhappy----" - -Eve protested with a vehement gesture of denial. - -"Yes, he does," affirmed old Sechard; "you had to find a wet-nurse for -the child. Come, come, I know all about it, you are in the county court, -and the whole town is talking about you. I was only a 'bear,' _I_ have -no book learning, _I_ was not foreman at the Didots', the first printers -in the world; but yet I never set eyes on a bit of stamped paper. Do -you know what I say to myself as I go to and fro among my vines, looking -after them and getting in my vintage, and doing my bits of business?--I -say to myself, 'You are taking a lot of trouble, poor old chap; working -to pile one silver crown on another, you will leave a fine property -behind you, and the bailiffs and the lawyers will get it all; . . . or -else it will go in nonsensical notions and crotchets.'--Look you here, -child; you are the mother of yonder little lad; it seemed to me as -I held him at the font with Mme. Chardon that I could see his old -grandfather's copper nose on his face; very well, think less of Sechard -and more of that little rascal. I can trust no one but you; you will -prevent him from squandering my property--my poor property." - -"But, dear papa Sechard, your son will be a credit to you, you will see; -he will make money and be a rich man one of these days, and wear the -Cross of the Legion of Honor at his buttonhole." - -"What is he going to do to get it?" - -"You will see. But, meanwhile, would a thousand crowns ruin you? A -thousand crowns would put an end to the proceedings. Well, if you cannot -trust him, lend the money to me; I will pay it back; you could make it a -charge on my portion, on my earnings----" - -"Then has some one brought David into a court of law?" cried the -vinedresser, amazed to find that the gossip was really true. "See what -comes of knowing how to write your name! And how about my rent! Oh! -little girl, I must go to Angouleme at once and ask Cachan's advice, and -see that I am straight. You did right well to come over. Forewarned is -forearmed." - -After two hours of argument Eve was fain to go, defeated by the -unanswerable _dictum_, "Women never understand business." She had come -with a faint hope, she went back again almost heartbroken, and reached -home just in time to receive notice of judgment; Sechard must pay -Metivier in full. The appearance of a bailiff at a house door is an -event in a country town, and Doublon had come far too often of late. The -whole neighborhood was talking about the Sechards. Eve dared not leave -her house; she dreaded to hear the whispers as she passed. - -"Oh! my brother, my brother!" cried poor Eve, as she hurried into the -passage and up the stairs, "I can never forgive you, unless it was----" - -"Alas! it was that, or suicide," said David, who had followed her. - -"Let us say no more about it," she said quietly. "The woman who dragged -him down into the depths of Paris has much to answer for; and your -father, my David, is quite inexorable! Let us bear it in silence." - -A discreet rapping at the door cut short some word of love on David's -lips. Marion appeared, towing the big, burly Kolb after her across the -outer room. - -"Madame," said Marion, "we have known, Kolb and I, that you and the -master were very much put about; and as we have eleven hundred francs of -savings between us, we thought we could not do better than put them in -the mistress' hands----" - -"Die misdress," echoed Kolb fervently. - -"Kolb," cried David, "you and I will never part. Pay a thousand francs -on account to Maitre Cachan, and take a receipt for it; we will keep the -rest. And, Kolb, no power on earth must extract a word from you as to my -work, or my absences from home, or the things you may see me bring back; -and if I send you to look for plants for me, you know, no human being -must set eyes on you. They will try to corrupt you, my good Kolb; -they will offer you thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of francs, to -tell----" - -"Dey may offer me millions," cried Kolb, "but not ein vort from me shall -dey traw. Haf I not peen in der army, and know my orders?" - -"Well, you are warned. March, and ask M. Petit-Claud to go with you as -witness." - -"Yes," said the Alsacien. "Some tay I hope to be rich enough to dust der -chacket of dat man of law. I don't like his gountenance." - -"Kolb is a good man, madame," said Big Marion; "he is as strong as a -Turk, and as meek as a lamb. Just the one that would make a woman happy. -It was his notion, too, to invest our savings this way--'safings,' as he -calls them. Poor man, if he doesn't speak right, he thinks right, and -I understand him all the same. He has a notion of working for somebody -else, so as to save us his keep----" - -"Surely we shall be rich, if it is only to repay these good folk," said -David, looking at his wife. - -Eve thought it quite simple; it was no surprise to her to find -other natures on a level with her own. The dullest--nay, the most -indifferent--observer could have seen all the beauty of her nature in -her way of receiving this service. - -"You will be rich some day, dear master," said Marion; "your bread is -ready baked. Your father has just bought another farm, he is putting by -money for you; that he is." - -And under the circumstances, did not Marion show an exquisite delicacy -of feeling by belittling, as it were, her kindness in this way? - -French procedure, like all things human, has its defects; nevertheless, -the sword of justice, being a two-edged weapon, is excellently adapted -alike for attack or defence. Procedure, moreover, has its amusing side; -for when opposed, lawyers arrive at an understanding, as they well may -do, without exchanging a word; through their manner of conducting their -case, a suit becomes a kind of war waged on the lines laid down by the -first Marshal Biron, who, at the siege of Rouen, it may be remembered, -received his son's project for taking the city in two days with the -remark, "You must be in a great hurry to go and plant cabbages!" Let -two commanders-in-chief spare their troops as much as possible, let them -imitate the Austrian generals who give the men time to eat their soup -though they fail to effect a juncture, and escape reprimand from the -Aulic Council; let them avoid all decisive measures, and they shall -carry on a war for ever. Maitre Cachan, Petit-Claud, and Doublon, did -better than the Austrian generals; they took for their example Quintus -Fabius Cunctator--the Austrian of antiquity. - -Petit-Claud, malignant as a mule, was not long in finding out all the -advantages of his position. No sooner had Boniface Cointet guaranteed -his costs than he vowed to lead Cachan a dance, and to dazzle the paper -manufacturer with a brilliant display of genius in the creation of items -to be charged to Metivier. Unluckily for the fame of the young forensic -Figaro, the writer of this history is obliged to pass over the scene of -his exploits in as great a hurry as if he trod on burning coals; but a -single bill of costs, in the shape of the specimen sent from Paris, will -no doubt suffice for the student of contemporary manners. Let us follow -the example set us by the Bulletins of the Grande Armee, and give a -summary of Petit-Claud's valiant feats and exploits in the province of -pure law; they will be the better appreciated for concise treatment. - -David Sechard was summoned before the Tribunal of Commerce at Angouleme -for the 3rd of July, made default, and notice of judgment was served -on the 8th. On the 10th, Doublon obtained an execution warrant, and -attempted to put in an execution on the 12th. On this Petit-Claud -applied for an interpleader summons, and served notice on Metivier for -that day fortnight. Metivier made application for a hearing without -delay, and on the 19th, Sechard's application was dismissed. Hard upon -this followed notice of judgment, authorizing the issue of an execution -warrant on the 22nd, a warrant of arrest on the 23rd, and bailiff's -inventory previous to the execution on the 24th. Metivier, Doublon, -Cachan & Company were proceeding at this furious pace, when Petit-Claud -suddenly pulled them up, and stayed execution by lodging notice of -appeal on the Court-Royal. Notice of appeal, duly reiterated on the 25th -of July, drew Metivier off to Poitiers. - -"Come!" said Petit-Claud to himself, "there we are likely to stop for -some time to come." - -No sooner was the storm passed over to Poitiers, and an attorney -practising in the Court-Royal instructed to defend the case, than -Petit-Claud, a champion facing both ways, made application in Mme. -Sechard's name for the immediate separation of her estate from her -husband's; using "all diligence" (in legal language) to such purpose, -that he obtained an order from the court on the 28th, and inserted -notice at once in the _Charente Courier_. Now David the lover had -settled ten thousand francs upon his wife in the marriage contract, -making over to her as security the fixtures of the printing office and -the household furniture; and Petit-Claud therefore constituted Mme. -Sechard her husband's creditor for that small amount, drawing up a -statement of her claims on the estate in the presence of a notary on the -1st of August. - -While Petit-Claud was busy securing the household property of his -clients, he gained the day at Poitiers on the point of law on which the -demurrer and appeals were based. He held that, as the court of the -Seine had ordered the plaintiff to pay costs of proceedings in the Paris -commercial court, David was so much the less liable for expenses of -litigation incurred upon Lucien's account. The Court-Royal took this -view of the case, and judgment was entered accordingly. David Sechard -was ordered to pay the amount in dispute in the Angouleme Court, less -the law expenses incurred in Paris; these Metivier must pay, and each -side must bear its own costs in the appeal to the Court-Royal. - -David Sechard was duly notified of the result on the 17th of August. -On the 18th the judgment took the practical shape of an order to pay -capital, interest, and costs, followed up by notice of an execution for -the morrow. Upon this Petit-Claud intervened and put in a claim for the -furniture as the wife's property duly separated from her husband's; and -what was more, Petit-Claud produced Sechard senior upon the scene of -action. The old vinegrower had become his client on this wise. He came -to Angouleme on the day after Eve's visit, and went to Maitre Cachan for -advice. His son owed him arrears of rent; how could he come by this rent -in the scrimmage in which his son was engaged? - -"I am engaged by the other side," pronounced Cachan, "and I cannot -appear for the father when I am suing the son; but go to Petit-Claud, he -is very clever, he may perhaps do even better for you than I should do." - -Cachan and Petit-Claud met at the Court. - -"I have sent you Sechard senior," said Cachan; "take the case for me in -exchange." Lawyers do each other services of this kind in country towns -as well as in Paris. - -The day after Sechard senior gave Petit-Claud his confidence, the tall -Cointet paid a visit to his confederate. - -"Try to give old Sechard a lesson," he said. "He is the kind of man that -will never forgive his son for costing him a thousand francs or so; the -outlay will dry up any generous thoughts in his mind, if he ever has -any." - -"Go back to your vines," said Petit-Claud to his new client. "Your son -is not very well off; do not eat him out of house and home. I will send -for you when the time comes." - -On behalf of Sechard senior, therefore, Petit-Claud claimed that the -presses, being fixtures, were so much the more to be regarded as tools -and implements of trade, and the less liable to seizure, in that the -house had been a printing office since the reign of Louis XIV. Cachan, -on Metivier's account, waxed indignant at this. In Paris Lucien's -furniture had belonged to Coralie, and here again in Angouleme David's -goods and chattels all belonged to his wife or his father; pretty things -were said in court. Father and son were summoned; such claims could not -be allowed to stand. - -"We mean to unmask the frauds intrenched behind bad faith of the most -formidable kind; here is the defence of dishonesty bristling with the -plainest and most innocent articles of the Code, and why?--to avoid -repayment of three thousand francs; obtained how?--from poor Metivier's -cash box! And yet there are those who dare to say a word against -bill-discounters! What times we live in! . . . Now, I put it to -you--what is this but taking your neighbor's money? . . . You will -surely not sanction a claim which would bring immorality to the very -core of justice!" - -Cachan's eloquence produced an effect on the court. A divided judgment -was given in favor of Mme. Sechard, the house furniture being held to -be her property; and against Sechard senior, who was ordered to pay -costs--four hundred and thirty-four francs, sixty-five centimes. - -"It is kind of old Sechard," laughed the lawyers; "he would have a -finger in the pie, so let him pay!" - -Notice of judgment was given on the 26th of August; the presses and -plant could be seized on the 28th. Placards were posted. Application was -made for an order empowering them to sell on the spot. Announcements of -the sale appeared in the papers, and Doublon flattered himself that the -inventory should be verified and the auction take place on the 2nd of -September. - -By this time David Sechard owed Metivier five thousand two hundred and -seventy-five francs, twenty-five centimes (to say nothing of interest), -by formal judgment confirmed by appeal, the bill of costs having been -duly taxed. Likewise to Petit-Claud he owed twelve hundred francs, -exclusive of the fees, which were left to David's generosity with the -generous confidence displayed by the hackney coachman who has driven you -so quickly over the road on which you desire to go. - -Mme. Sechard owed Petit-Claud something like three hundred and fifty -francs and fees besides; and of old Sechard, besides four hundred and -thirty-four francs, sixty-five centimes, the little attorney demanded a -hundred crowns by way of fee. Altogether, the Sechard family owed about -ten thousand francs. This is what is called "putting fire into the bed -straw." - -Apart from the utility of these documents to other nations who thus may -behold the battery of French law in action, the French legislator ought -to know the lengths to which the abuse of procedure may be carried, -always supposing that the said legislator can find time for reading. -Surely some sort of regulation might be devised, some way of forbidding -lawyers to carry on a case until the sum in dispute is more than eaten -up in costs? Is there not something ludicrous in the idea of submitting -a square yard of soil and an estate of thousands of acres to the same -legal formalities? These bare outlines of the history of the various -stages of procedure should open the eyes of Frenchmen to the meaning of -the words "legal formalities, justice, and costs," little as the immense -majority of the nations know about them. - -Five thousand pounds' weight of type in the printing office were worth -two thousand francs as old metal; the three presses were valued at six -hundred francs; the rest of the plant would fetch the price of old iron -and firewood. The household furniture would have brought in a thousand -francs at most. The whole personal property of Sechard junior therefore -represented the sum of four thousand francs; and Cachan and Petit-Claud -made claims for seven thousand francs in costs already incurred, to say -nothing of expenses to come, for the blossom gave promise of fine fruits -enough, as the reader will shortly see. Surely the lawyers of France and -Navarre, nay, even of Normandy herself, will not refuse Petit-Claud -his meed of admiration and respect? Surely, too, kind hearts will give -Marion and Kolb a tear of sympathy? - -All through the war Kolb sat on a chair in the doorway, acting as -watch-dog, when David had nothing else for him to do. It was Kolb who -received all the notifications, and a clerk of Petit-Claud's kept watch -over Kolb. No sooner were the placards announcing the auction put up on -the premises than Kolb tore them down; he hurried round the town after -the bill-poster, tearing the placards from the walls. - -"Ah, scountrels!" he cried, "to dorment so goot a man; and they calls it -chustice!" - -Marion made half a franc a day by working half time in a paper mill as -a machine tender, and her wages contributed to the support of the -household. Mme. Chardon went back uncomplainingly to her old occupation, -sitting up night after night, and bringing home her wages at the end -of the week. Poor Mme. Chardon! Twice already she had made a nine days' -prayer for those she loved, wondering that God should be deaf to her -petitions, and blind to the light of the candles on His altar. - -On the 2nd of September, a letter came from Lucien, the first since -the letter of the winter, which David had kept from his wife's -knowledge--the announcement of the three bills which bore David's -signature. This time Lucien wrote to Eve. - -"The third since he left us!" she said. Poor sister, she was afraid to -open the envelope that covered the fatal sheet. - -She was feeding the little one when the post came in; they could not -afford a wet-nurse now, and the child was being brought up by hand. Her -state of mind may be imagined, and David's also, when he had been roused -to read the letter, for David had been at work all night, and only lay -down at daybreak. - - - _Lucien to Eve._ - - "PARIS, August 29th. - - "MY DEAR SISTER,--Two days ago, at five o'clock in the morning, - one of God's noblest creatures breathed her last in my arms; she - was the one woman on earth capable of loving me as you and mother - and David love me, giving me besides that unselfish affection, - something that neither mother nor sister can give--the utmost - bliss of love. Poor Coralie, after giving up everything for my - sake, may perhaps have died for me--for me, who at this moment - have not the wherewithal to bury her. She could have solaced my - life; you, and you alone, my dear good angels, can console me for - her death. God has forgiven her, I think, the innocent girl, for - she died like a Christian. Oh, this Paris! Eve, Paris is the glory - and the shame of France. Many illusions I have lost here already, - and I have others yet to lose, when I begin to beg for the little - money needed before I can lay the body of my angel in consecrated - earth. - "Your unhappy brother, - "Lucien." - - "P. S. I must have given you much trouble by my heedlessness; some - day you will know all, and you will forgive me. You must be quite - easy now; a worthy merchant, a M. Camusot, to whom I once caused - cruel pangs, promised to arrange everything, seeing that Coralie - and I were so much distressed." - - -"The sheet is still moist with his tears," said Eve, looking at the -letter with a heart so full of sympathy that something of the old love -for Lucien shone in her eyes. - -"Poor fellow, he must have suffered cruelly if he has been loved as he -says!" exclaimed Eve's husband, happy in his love; and these two forgot -all their own troubles at this cry of a supreme sorrow. Just at that -moment Marion rushed in. - -"Madame," she panted, "here they are! Here they are!" - -"Who is here?" - -"Doublon and his men, bad luck to them! Kolb will not let them come in; -they have come to sell us up." - -"No, no, they are not going to sell you up, never fear," cried a voice -in the next room, and Petit-Claud appeared upon the scene. "I have just -lodged notice of appeal. We ought not to sit down under a judgment that -attaches a stigma of bad faith to us. I did not think it worth while to -fight the case here. I let Cachan talk to gain time for you; I am sure -of gaining the day at Poitiers----" - -"But how much will it cost to win the day?" asked Mme. Sechard. - -"Fees if you win, one thousand francs if we lose our case." - -"Oh, dear!" cried poor Eve; "why, the remedy is worse than the disease!" - -Petit-Claud was not a little confused at this cry of innocence -enlightened by the progress of the flames of litigation. It struck him -too that Eve was a very beautiful woman. In the middle of the discussion -old Sechard arrived, summoned by Petit-Claud. The old man's presence -in the chamber where his little grandson in the cradle lay smiling at -misfortune completed the scene. The young attorney at once addressed the -newcomer with: - -"You owe me seven hundred francs for the interpleader, Papa Sechard; -but you can charge the amount to your son in addition to the arrears of -rent." - -The vinedresser felt the sting of the sarcasm conveyed by Petit-Claud's -tone and manner. - -"It would have cost you less to give security for the debt at first," -said Eve, leaving the cradle to greet her father-in-law with a kiss. - -David, quite overcome by the sight of the crowd outside the house (for -Kolb's resistance to Doublon's men had collected a knot of people), -could only hold out a hand to his father; he did not say a word. - -"And how, pray, do I come to owe you seven hundred francs?" the old man -asked, looking at Petit-Claud. - -"Why, in the first place, I am engaged by you. Your rent is in question; -so, as far as I am concerned, you and our debtor are one and the same -person. If your son does not pay my costs in the case, you must pay -them yourself.--But this is nothing. In a few hours David will be put in -prison; will you allow him to go?" - -"What does he owe?" - -"Something like five or six thousand francs, besides the amounts owing -to you and to his wife." - -The speech roused all the old man's suspicions at once. He looked round -the little blue-and-white bedroom at the touching scene before his -eyes--at a beautiful woman weeping over a cradle, at David bowed down by -anxieties, and then again at the lawyer. This was a trap set for him by -that lawyer; perhaps they wanted to work upon his paternal feelings, to -get money out of him? That was what it all meant. He took alarm. He went -over to the cradle and fondled the child, who held out both little arms -to him. No heir to an English peerage could be more tenderly cared for -than this little one in that house of trouble; his little embroidered -cap was lined with pale pink. - -"Eh! let David get out of it as best he may. I am thinking of this child -here," cried the old grandfather, "and the child's mother will approve -of that. David that knows so much must know how to pay his debts." - -"Now I will just put your meaning into plain language," said Petit-Claud -ironically. "Look here, Papa Sechard, you are jealous of your son. -Hear the truth! you put David into his present position by selling the -business to him for three times its value. You ruined him to make an -extortionate bargain! Yes, don't you shake your head; you sold the -newspaper to the Cointets and pocketed all the proceeds, and that was -as much as the whole business was worth. You bear David a grudge, not -merely because you have plundered him, but because, also, your own son -is a man far above yourself. You profess to be prodigiously fond of -your grandson, to cloak your want of feeling for your son and his wife, -because you ought to pay down money _hic et nunc_ for them, while you -need only show a posthumous affection for your grandson. You pretend -to be fond of the little fellow, lest you should be taxed with want of -feeling for your own flesh and blood. That is the bottom of it, Papa -Sechard." - -"Did you fetch me over to hear this?" asked the old man, glowering at -his lawyer, his daughter-in-law, and his son in turn. - -"Monsieur!" protested poor Eve, turning to Petit-Claud, "have you vowed -to ruin us? My husband had never uttered a word against his father." -(Here the old man looked cunningly at her.) "David has told me scores -of times that you loved him in your way," she added, looking at her -father-in-law, and understanding his suspicions. - -Petit-Claud was only following out the tall Cointet's instructions. He -was widening the breach between the father and son, lest Sechard senior -should extricate David from his intolerable position. "The day that -David Sechard goes to prison shall be the day of your introduction -to Mme. de Senonches," the "tall Cointet" had said no longer ago than -yesterday. - -Mme. Sechard, with the quick insight of love, had divined Petit-Claud's -mercenary hostility, even as she had once before felt instinctively that -Cerizet was a traitor. As for David, his astonishment may be imagined; -he could not understand how Petit-Claud came to know so much of his -father's nature and his own history. Upright and honorable as he was, he -did not dream of the relations between his lawyer and the Cointets; -nor, for that matter, did he know that the Cointets were at work behind -Metivier. Meanwhile old Sechard took his son's silence as an insult, -and Petit-Claud, taking advantage of his client's bewilderment, beat a -retreat. - -"Good-bye, my dear David; you have had warning, notice of appeal doesn't -invalidate the warrant for arrest. It is the only course left open to -your creditors, and it will not be long before they take it. So, go away -at once----Or, rather, if you will take my advice, go to the Cointets -and see them about it. They have capital. If your invention is perfected -and answers the purpose, go into partnership with them. After all, they -are very good fellows----" - -"Your invention?" broke in old Sechard. - -"Why, do you suppose that your son is fool enough to let his business -slip away from him without thinking of something else?" exclaimed the -attorney. "He is on the brink of the discovery of a way of making paper -at a cost of three francs per ream, instead of ten, he tells me." - -"One more dodge for taking me in! You are all as thick as thieves in a -fair. If David has found out such a plan, he has no need of me--he is a -millionaire! Good-bye, my dears, and a good-day to you all," and the old -man disappeared down the staircase. - -"Find some way of hiding yourself," was Petit-Claud's parting word to -David, and with that he hurried out to exasperate old Sechard still -further. He found the vinegrower growling to himself outside in the -Place du Murier, went with him as far as L'Houmeau, and there left him -with a threat of putting in an execution for the costs due to him unless -they were paid before the week was out. - -"I will pay you if you will show me how to disinherit my son without -injuring my daughter-in-law or the boy," said old Sechard, and they -parted forthwith. - -"How well the 'tall Cointet' knows the folk he is dealing with! It is -just as he said; those seven hundred francs will prevent the father from -paying seven thousand," the little lawyer thought within himself as -he climbed the path to Angouleme. "Still, that old slyboots of a -paper-maker must not overreach us; it is time to ask him for something -besides promises." - - - -"Well, David dear, what do you mean to do?" asked Eve, when the lawyer -had followed her father-in-law. - -"Marion, put your biggest pot on the fire!" called David; "I have my -secret fast." - -At this Eve put on her bonnet and shawl and walking shoes with feverish -haste. - -"Kolb, my friend, get ready to go out," she said, "and come with me; if -there is any way out of this hell, I must find it." - -When Eve had gone out, Marion spoke to David. "Do be sensible, sir," she -said, "or the mistress will fret herself to death. Make some money -to pay off your debts, and then you can try to find treasure at your -ease----" - -"Don't talk, Marion," said David; "I am going to overcome my last -difficulty, and then I can apply for the patent and the improvement on -the patent at the same time." - -This "improvement on the patent" is the curse of the French patentee. -A man may spend ten years of his life in working out some obscure -industrial problem; and when he has invented some piece of machinery, or -made a discovery of some kind, he takes out a patent and imagines that -he has a right to his own invention; then there comes a competitor; and -unless the first inventor has foreseen all possible contingencies, the -second comer makes an "improvement on the patent" with a screw or a nut, -and takes the whole thing out of his hands. The discovery of a cheap -material for paper pulp, therefore, is by no means the conclusion of -the whole matter. David Sechard was anxiously looking ahead on all sides -lest the fortune sought in the teeth of such difficulties should be -snatched out of his hands at the last. Dutch paper as flax paper is -still called, though it is no longer made in Holland, is slightly sized; -but every sheet is sized separately by hand, and this increases the cost -of production. If it were possible to discover some way of sizing the -paper in the pulping-trough, with some inexpensive glue, like that in -use to-day (though even now it is not quite perfect), there would be no -"improvement on the patent" to fear. For the past month, accordingly, -David had been making experiments in sizing pulp. He had two discoveries -before him. - -Eve went to see her mother. Fortunately, it so happened that Mme. -Chardon was nursing the deputy-magistrate's wife, who had just given the -Milauds of Nevers an heir presumptive; and Eve, in her distrust of all -attorneys and notaries, took into her head to apply for advice to the -legal guardian of widows and orphans. She wanted to know if she could -relieve David from his embarrassments by taking them upon herself and -selling her claims upon the estate, and besides, she had some hope of -discovering the truth as to Petit-Claud's unaccountable conduct. The -official, struck with Mme. Sechard's beauty, received her not only with -the respect due to a woman but with a sort of courtesy to which Eve was -not accustomed. She saw in the magistrate's face an expression which, -since her marriage, she had seen in no eyes but Kolb's; and for a -beautiful woman like Eve, this expression is the criterion by which men -are judged. When passion, or self-interest, or age dims that spark of -unquestioning fealty that gleams in a young man's eyes, a woman feels -a certain mistrust of him, and begins to observe him critically. -The Cointets, Cerizet, and Petit-Claud--all the men whom Eve felt -instinctively to be her enemies--had turned hard, indifferent eyes on -her; with the deputy-magistrate, therefore, she felt at ease, although, -in spite of his kindly courtesy, he swept all her hopes away by his -first words. - -"It is not certain, madame, that the Court-Royal will reverse the -judgment of the court restricting your lien on your husband's property, -for payment of moneys due to you by the terms of your marriage-contract, -to household goods and chattels. Your privilege ought not to be used -to defraud the other creditors. But in any case, you will be allowed -to take your share of the proceeds with the other creditors, and your -father-in-law likewise, as a privileged creditor, for arrears of rent. -When the court has given the order, other points may be raised as to the -'contribution,' as we call it, when a schedule of the debts is drawn up, -and the creditors are paid a dividend in proportion to their claims. - -"Then M. Petit-Claud is bringing us to bankruptcy," she cried. - -"Petit-Claud is carrying out your husband's instructions," said the -magistrate; "he is anxious to gain time, so his attorney says. In my -opinion, you would perhaps do better to waive the appeal and buy in at -the sale the indispensable implements for carrying on the business; you -and your father-in-law together might do this, you to the extent of your -claim through your marriage contract, and he for his arrears of rent. -But that would be bringing the matter to an end too soon perhaps. The -lawyers are making a good thing out of your case." - -"But then I should be entirely in M. Sechard's father's hands. I should -owe him the hire of the machinery as well as the house-rent; and my -husband would still be open to further proceedings from M. Metivier, for -M. Metivier would have had almost nothing." - -"That is true, madame." - -"Very well, then we should be even worse off than we are." - -"The arm of the law, madame, is at the creditor's disposal. You have -received three thousand francs, and you must of necessity repay the -money." - -"Oh, sir, can you think that we are capable----" Eve suddenly came to a -stop. She saw that her justification might injure her brother. - -"Oh! I know quite well that it is an obscure affair, that the debtors on -the one side are honest, scrupulous, and even behaving handsomely; and -the creditor, on the other, is only a cat's-paw----" - -Eve, aghast, looked at him with bewildered eyes. - -"You can understand," he continued, with a look full of homely -shrewdness, "that we on the bench have plenty of time to think over all -that goes on under our eyes, while the gentlemen in court are arguing -with each other." - -Eve went home in despair over her useless effort. That evening at seven -o'clock, Doublon came with the notification of imprisonment for debt. -The proceedings had reached the acute stage. - -"After this, I can only go out after nightfall," said David. - -Eve and Mme. Chardon burst into tears. To be in hiding was for them a -shameful thing. As for Kolb and Marion, they were more alarmed for David -because they had long since made up their minds that there was no guile -in their master's nature; so frightened were they on his account, -that they came upstairs under pretence of asking whether they could do -anything, and found Eve and Mme. Chardon in tears; the three whose life -had been so straightforward hitherto were overcome by the thought that -David must go into hiding. And how, moreover, could they hope to escape -the invisible spies who henceforth would dog every least movement of a -man, unluckily so absent-minded? - -"Gif montame vill vait ein liddle kvarter hour, she can regonnoitre -der enemy's camp," put in Kolb. "You shall see dot I oonderstand mein -pizness; for gif I look like ein German, I am ein drue Vrenchman, and -vat is more, I am ver' conning." - -"Oh! madame, do let him go," begged Marion. "He is only thinking of -saving his master; he hasn't another thought in his head. Kolb is not -an Alsacien, he is--eh! well--a regular Newfoundland dog for rescuing -folk." - -"Go, my good Kolb," said David; "we have still time to do something." - -Kolb hurried off to pay a visit to the bailiff; and it so fell out that -David's enemies were in Doublon's office, holding a council as to the -best way of securing him. - -The arrest of a debtor is an unheard-of thing in the country, an -abnormal proceeding if ever there was one. Everybody, in the first -place, knows everybody else, and creditor and debtor being bound to meet -each other daily all their lives long, nobody likes to take this odious -course. When a defaulter--to use the provincial term for a debtor, for -they do not mince their words in the provinces when speaking of this -legalized method of helping yourself to another man's goods--when a -defaulter plans a failure on a large scale, he takes sanctuary in Paris. -Paris is a kind of City of Refuge for provincial bankrupts, an almost -impenetrable retreat; the writ of the pursuing bailiff has no force -beyond the limits of his jurisdiction, and there are other obstacles -rendering it almost invalid. Wherefore the Paris bailiff is empowered -to enter the house of a third party to seize the person of the debtor, -while for the bailiff of the provinces the domicile is absolutely -inviolable. The law probably makes this exception as to Paris, because -there it is the rule for two or more families to live under the same -roof; but in the provinces the bailiff who wishes to make forcible -entry must have an order from the Justice of the Peace; and so wide a -discretion is allowed the Justice of the Peace, that he is practically -able to give or withhold assistance to the bailiffs. To the honor of the -Justices, it should be said, that they dislike the office, and are by no -means anxious to assist blind passions or revenge. - -There are, besides, other and no less serious difficulties in the way -of arrest for debt--difficulties which tend to temper the severity of -legislation, and public opinion not infrequently makes a dead letter -of the law. In great cities there are poor or degraded wretches enough; -poverty and vice know no scruples, and consent to play the spy, but in -a little country town, people know each other too well to earn wages of -the bailiff; the meanest creature who should lend himself to dirty -work of this kind would be forced to leave the place. In the absence -of recognized machinery, therefore, the arrest of a debtor is a problem -presenting no small difficulty; it becomes a kind of strife of ingenuity -between the bailiff and the debtor, and matter for many pleasant stories -in the newspapers. - -Cointet the elder did not choose to appear in the affair; but the -fat Cointet openly said that he was acting for Metivier, and went to -Doublon, taking Cerizet with him. Cerizet was his foreman now, and had -promised his co-operation in return for a thousand-franc note. Doublon -could reckon upon two of his understrappers, and thus the Cointets had -four bloodhounds already on the victim's track. At the actual time of -arrest, Doublon could furthermore count upon the police force, who are -bound, if required, to assist a bailiff in the performance of his -duty. The two men, Doublon himself, and the visitors were all closeted -together in the private office, beyond the public office, on the ground -floor. - -A tolerably wide-paved lobby, a kind of passage-way, led to the public -office. The gilded scutcheons of the court, with the word "Bailiff" -printed thereon in large black letters, hung outside on the house wall -on either side the door. Both office windows gave upon the street, and -were protected by heavy iron bars; but the private office looked into -the garden at the back, wherein Doublon, an adorer of Pomona, grew -espaliers with marked success. Opposite the office door you beheld -the door of the kitchen, and, beyond the kitchen, the staircase that -ascended to the first story. The house was situated in a narrow street -at the back of the new Law Courts, then in process of construction, -and only finished after 1830.--These details are necessary if Kolb's -adventures are to be intelligible to the reader. - -It was Kolb's idea to go to the bailiff, to pretend to be willing to -betray his master, and in this way to discover the traps which would be -laid for David. Kolb told the servant who opened the door that he wanted -to speak to M. Doublon on business. The servant was busy washing up her -plates and dishes, and not very well pleased at Kolb's interruption; she -pushed open the door of the outer office, and bade him wait there till -her master was at liberty; then, as he was a stranger to her, she told -the master in the private office that "a man" wanted to speak to him. -Now, "a man" so invariably means "a peasant," that Doublon said, "Tell -him to wait," and Kolb took a seat close to the door of the private -office. There were voices talking within. - -"Ah, by the by, how do you mean to set about it? For, if we can catch -him to-morrow, it will be so much time saved." It was the fat Cointet -who spoke. - -"Nothing easier; the gaffer has come fairly by his nickname," said -Cerizet. - -At the sound of the fat Cointet's voice, Kolb guessed at once that they -were talking about his master, especially as the sense of the words -began to dawn upon him; but, when he recognized Cerizet's tones, his -astonishment grew more and more. - -"Und dat fellow haf eaten his pread!" he thought, horror-stricken. - -"We must do it in this way, boys," said Doublon. "We will post our -men, at good long intervals, about the Rue de Beaulieu and the Place du -Murier in every direction, so that we can follow the gaffer (I like that -word) without his knowledge. We will not lose sight of him until he is -safe inside the house where he means to lie in hiding (as he thinks); -there we will leave him in peace for awhile; then some fine day we will -come across him before sunrise or sunset." - -"But what is he doing now, at this moment? He may be slipping through -our fingers," said the fat Cointet. - -"He is in his house," answered Doublon; "if he left it, I should know. I -have one witness posted in the Place du Murier, another at the corner of -the Law Courts, and another thirty paces from the house. If our man came -out, they would whistle; he could not make three paces from his door but -I should know of it at once from the signal." - -(Bailiffs speak of their understrappers by the polite title of -"witnesses.") - -Here was better hap than Kolb had expected! He went noiselessly out of -the office, and spoke to the maid in the kitchen. - -"Meestair Touplon ees encaged for som time to kom," he said; "I vill kom -back early to-morrow morning." - -A sudden idea had struck the Alsacien, and he proceeded to put it into -execution. Kolb had served in a cavalry regiment; he hurried off to see -a livery stable-keeper, an acquaintance of his, picked out a horse, had -it saddled, and rushed back to the Place du Murier. He found Madame Eve -in the lowest depths of despondency. - -"What is it, Kolb?" asked David, when the Alsacien's face looked in upon -them, scared but radiant. - -"You have scountrels all arount you. De safest way ees to hide de -master. Haf montame thought of hiding the master anywheres?" - -When Kolb, honest fellow, had explained the whole history of Cerizet's -treachery, of the circle traced about the house, and of the fat -Cointet's interest in the affair, and given the family some inkling -of the schemes set on foot by the Cointets against the master,--then -David's real position gradually became fatally clear. - -"It is the Cointet's doing!" cried poor Eve, aghast at the news; "_they_ -are proceeding against you! that accounts for Metivier's hardness. . . . -They are paper-makers--David! they want your secret!" - -"But what can we do to escape them?" exclaimed Mme. Chardon. - -"If de misdress had some liddle blace vere the master could pe hidden," -said Kolb; "I bromise to take him dere so dot nopody shall know." - -"Wait till nightfall, and go to Basine Clerget," said Eve. "I will -go now and arrange it all with her. In this case, Basine will be like -another self to me." - -"Spies will follow you," David said at last, recovering some presence of -mind. "How can we find a way of communicating with Basine if none of us -can go to her?" - -"Montame kan go," said Kolb. "Here ees my scheme--I go out mit der -master, ve draws der vischtlers on our drack. Montame kan go to -Montemoiselle Clerchet; nopody vill vollow her. I haf a horse; I take de -master oop behint; und der teufel is in it if they katches us." - -"Very well; good-bye, dear," said poor Eve, springing to her husband's -arms; "none of us can go to see you, the risk is too great. We must say -good-bye for the whole time that your imprisonment lasts. We will write -to each other; Basine will post your letters, and I will write under -cover to her." - -No sooner did David and Kolb come out of the house than they heard a -sharp whistle, and were followed to the livery stable. Once there, Kolb -took his master up behind him, with a caution to keep tight hold. - -"Veestle avay, mind goot vriends! I care not von rap," cried Kolb. "You -vill not datch an old trooper," and the old cavalry man clapped both -spurs to his horse, and was out into the country and the darkness -not merely before the spies could follow, but before they had time to -discover the direction that he took. - -Eve meanwhile went out on the tolerably ingenious pretext of asking -advise of Postel, sat awhile enduring the insulting pity that spends -itself in words, left the Postel family, and stole away unseen to Basine -Clerget, told her troubles, and asked for help and shelter. Basine, for -greater safety, had brought Eve into her bedroom, and now she opened the -door of a little closet, lighted only by a skylight in such a way that -prying eyes could not see into it. The two friends unstopped the flue -which opened into the chimney of the stove in the workroom, where the -girls heated their irons. Eve and Basine spread ragged coverlets over -the brick floor to deaden any sound that David might make, put in a -truckle bed, a stove for his experiments, and a table and a chair. -Basine promised to bring food in the night; and as no one had occasion -to enter her room, David might defy his enemies one and all, or even -detectives. - -"At last!" Eve said, with her arms about her friend, "at last he is in -safety." - -Eve went back to Postel to submit a fresh doubt that had occurred to -her, she said. She would like the opinion of such an experienced member -of the Chamber of Commerce; she so managed that he escorted her home, -and listened patiently to his commiseration. - -"Would this have happened if you had married me?"--all the little -druggist's remarks were pitched in this key. - -Then he went home again to find Mme. Postel jealous of Mme. Sechard, -and furious with her spouse for his polite attention to that beautiful -woman. The apothecary advanced the opinion that little red-haired women -were preferable to tall, dark women, who, like fine horses, were always -in the stable, he said. He gave proofs of his sincerity, no doubt, for -Mme. Postel was very sweet to him next day. - -"We may be easy," Eve said to her mother and Marion, whom she found -still "in a taking," in the latter's phrase. - -"Oh! they are gone," said Marion, when Eve looked unthinkingly round the -room. - - - -One league out of Angouleme on the main road to Paris, Kolb stopped. - -"Vere shall we go?" - -"To Marsac," said David; "since we are on the way already, I will try -once more to soften my father's heart." - -"I would rader mount to der assault of a pattery," said Kolb, "your -resbected fader haf no heart whatefer." - -The ex-pressman had no belief in his son; he judged him from the outside -point of view, and waited for results. He had no idea, to begin with, -that he had plundered David, nor did he make allowance for the very -different circumstances under which they had begun life; he said to -himself, "I set him up with a printing-house, just as I found it myself; -and he, knowing a thousand times more than I did, cannot keep it going." -He was mentally incapable of understanding his son; he laid the blame of -failure upon him, and even prided himself, as it were on his superiority -to a far greater intellect than his own, with the thought, "I am -securing his bread for him." - -Moralists will never succeed in making us comprehend the full extent of -the influence of sentiment upon self-interest, an influence every whit -as strong as the action of interest upon our sentiments; for every law -of our nature works in two ways, and acts and reacts upon us. - -David, on his side, understood his father, and in his sublime charity -forgave him. Kolb and David reached Marsac at eight o'clock, and -suddenly came in upon the old man as he was finishing his dinner, which, -by force of circumstances, came very near bedtime. - -"I see you because there is no help for it," said old Sechard with a -sour smile. - -"Und how should you and mein master meet? He soars in der shkies, and -you are always mit your vines! You bay for him, that's vot you are a -fader for----" - -"Come, Kolb, off with you. Put up the horse at Mme. Courtois' so as -to save inconvenience here; fathers are always in the right, remember -that." - -Kolb went off, growling like a chidden dog, obedient but protesting; and -David proposed to give his father indisputable proof of his discovery, -while reserving his secret. He offered to give him an interest in the -affair in return for money paid down; a sufficient sum to release him -from his present difficulties, with or without a further amount of -capital to be employed in developing the invention. - -"And how are you going to prove to me that you can make good paper that -costs nothing out of nothing, eh?" asked the ex-printer, giving his son -a glance, vinous, it may be, but keen, inquisitive, and covetous; a -look like a flash of lightning from a sodden cloud; for the old "bear," -faithful to his traditions, never went to bed without a nightcap, -consisting of a couple of bottles of excellent old wine, which he -"tippled down" of an evening, to use his own expression. - -"Nothing simpler," said David; "I have none of the paper about me, for I -came here to be out of Doublon's way; and having come so far, I thought -I might as well come to you at Marsac as borrow of a money-lender. I -have nothing on me but my clothes. Shut me up somewhere on the premises, -so that nobody can come in and see me at work, and----" - -"What? you will not let me see you at your work then?" asked the old -man, with an ugly look at his son. - -"You have given me to understand plainly, father, that in matters of -business there is no question of father and son----" - -"Ah! you distrust the father that gave you life!" - -"No; the other father who took away the means of earning a livelihood." - -"Each for himself, you are right!" said the old man. "Very good, I will -put you in the cellar." - -"I will go down there with Kolb. You must let me have a large pot for -my pulp," said David; then he continued, without noticing the quick look -his father gave him,--"and you must find artichoke and asparagus stalks -for me, and nettles, and the reeds that you cut by the stream side, -and to-morrow morning I will come out of your cellar with some splendid -paper." - -"If you can do that," hiccoughed the "bear," "I will let you have, -perhaps--I will see, that is, if I can let you have--pshaw! twenty-five -thousand francs. On condition, mind, that you make as much for me every -year." - -"Put me to the proof, I am quite willing," cried David. "Kolb! take -the horse and go to Mansle, quick, buy a large hair sieve for me of a -cooper, and some glue of the grocer, and come back again as soon as you -can." - -"There! drink," said old Sechard, putting down a bottle of wine, a loaf, -and the cold remains of the dinner. "You will need your strength. I will -go and look for your bits of green stuff; green rags you use for your -pulp, and a trifle too green, I am afraid." - -Two hours later, towards eleven o'clock that night, David and Kolb took -up their quarters in a little out-house against the cellar wall; they -found the floor paved with runnel tiles, and all the apparatus used in -Angoumois for the manufacture of Cognac brandy. - -"Pans and firewood! Why, it is as good as a factory made on purpose!" -cried David. - -"Very well, good-night," said old Sechard; "I shall lock you in, and -let both the dogs loose; nobody will bring you any paper, I am sure. You -show me those sheets to-morrow, and I give you my word I will be your -partner and the business will be straightforward and properly managed." - -David and Kolb, locked into the distillery, spent nearly two hours -in macerating the stems, using a couple of logs for mallets. The fire -blazed up, the water boiled. About two o'clock in the morning, Kolb -heard a sound which David was too busy to notice, a kind of deep breath -like a suppressed hiccough. Snatching up one of the two lighted dips, he -looked round the walls, and beheld old Sechard's empurpled countenance -filling up a square opening above a door hitherto hidden by a pile of -empty casks in the cellar itself. The cunning old man had brought David -and Kolb into his underground distillery by the outer door, through -which the casks were rolled when full. The inner door had been made -so that he could roll his puncheons straight from the cellar into the -distillery, instead of taking them round through the yard. - -"Aha! thees eies not fair blay, you vant to shvindle your son!" cried -the Alsacien. "Do you kow vot you do ven you trink ein pottle of vine? -You gif goot trink to ein bad scountrel." - -"Oh, father!" cried David. - -"I came to see if you wanted anything," said old Sechard, half sobered -by this time. - -"Und it was for de inderest vot you take in us dot you brought der -liddle ladder!" commented Kolb, as he pushed the casks aside and flung -open the door; and there, in fact, on a short step-ladder, the old man -stood in his shirt. - -"Risking your health!" said David. - -"I think I must be walking in my sleep," said old Sechard, coming down -in confusion. "Your want of confidence in your father set me dreaming; I -dreamed you were making a pact with the Devil to do impossible things." - -"Der teufel," said Kolb; "dot is your own bassion for de liddle -goldfinches." - -"Go back to bed again, father," said David; "lock us in if you will, but -you may save yourself the trouble of coming down again. Kolb will mount -guard." - -At four o'clock in the morning David came out of the distillery; he -had been careful to leave no sign of his occupation behind him; but he -brought out some thirty sheets of paper that left nothing to be desired -in fineness, whiteness, toughness, and strength, all of them bearing by -way of water-mark the impress of the uneven hairs of the sieve. The old -man took up the samples and put his tongue to them, the lifelong habit -of the pressman, who tests papers in this way. He felt it between his -thumb and finger, crumpled and creased it, put it through all the trials -by which a printer assays the quality of a sample submitted to him, and -when it was found wanting in no respect, he still would not allow that -he was beaten. - -"We have yet to know how it takes an impression," he said, to avoid -praising his son. - -"Funny man!" exclaimed Kolb. - -The old man was cool enough now. He cloaked his feigned hesitation with -paternal dignity. - -"I wish to tell you in fairness, father, that even now it seems to me -that paper costs more than it ought to do; I want to solve the problem -of sizing it in the pulping-trough. I have just that one improvement to -make." - -"Oho! so you are trying to trick me!" - -"Well, shall I tell you? I can size the pulp as it is, but so far I -cannot do it evenly, and the surface is as rough as a burr!" - -"Very good, size your pulp in the trough, and you shall have my money." - -"Mein master will nefer see de golor of your money," declared Kolb. - -"Father," he began, "I have never borne you any grudge for making over -the business to me at such an exorbitant valuation; I have seen the -father through it all. I have said to myself--'The old man has worked -very hard, and he certainly gave me a better bringing up than I had a -right to expect; let him enjoy the fruits of his toil in peace, and -in his own way.--I even gave up my mother's money to you. I began -encumbered with debt, and bore all the burdens that you put upon me -without a murmur. Well, harassed for debts that were not of my making, -with no bread in the house, and my feet held to the flames, I have -found out the secret. I have struggled on patiently till my strength is -exhausted. It is perhaps your duty to help me, but do not give _me_ a -thought; think of a woman and a little one" (David could not keep -back the tears at this); "think of them, and give them help and -protection.--Kolb and Marion have given me their savings; will you -do less?" he cried at last, seeing that his father was as cold as the -impression-stone. - -"And that was not enough for you," said the old man, without the -slightest sense of shame; "why, you would waste the wealth of the -Indies! Good-night! I am too ignorant to lend a hand in schemes got -up on purpose to exploit me. A monkey will never gobble down a bear" -(alluding to the workshop nicknames); "I am a vinegrower, I am not a -banker. And what is more, look you, business between father and son -never turns out well. Stay and eat your dinner here; you shan't say that -you came for nothing." - -There are some deep-hearted natures that can force their own pain down -into inner depths unsuspected by those dearest to them; and with them, -when anguish forces its way to the surface and is visible, it is only -after a mighty upheaval. David's nature was one of these. Eve had -thoroughly understood the noble character of the man. But now that the -depths had been stirred, David's father took the wave of anguish that -passed over his son's features for a child's trick, an attempt to "get -round" his father, and his bitter grief for mortification over the -failure of the attempt. Father and son parted in anger. - -David and Kolb reached Angouleme on the stroke of midnight. They came -back on foot, and steathily, like burglars. Before one o'clock in the -morning David was installed in the impenetrable hiding-place prepared -by his wife in Basine Clerget's house. No one saw him enter it, and the -pity that henceforth should shelter David was the most resourceful pity -of all--the pity of a work-girl. - -Kolb bragged that day that he had saved his master on horseback, -and only left him in a carrier's van well on the way to Limoges. A -sufficient provision of raw material had been laid up in Basine's -cellar, and Kolb, Marion, Mme. Sechard, and her mother had no -communication with the house. - -Two days after the scene at Marsac, old Sechard came hurrying to -Angouleme and his daughter-in-law. Covetousness had brought him. There -were three clear weeks ahead before the vintage began, and he thought he -would be on the look-out for squalls, to use his own expression. To this -end he took up his quarters in one of the attics which he had reserved -by the terms of the lease, wilfully shutting his eyes to the bareness -and want that made his son's home desolate. If they owed him rent, they -could well afford to keep him. He ate his food from a tinned iron -plate, and made no marvel at it. "I began in the same way," he told his -daughter-in-law, when she apologized for the absence of silver spoons. - -Marion was obliged to run into debt for necessaries for them all. Kolb -was earning a franc for daily wage as a brick-layer's laborer; and -at last poor Eve, who, for the sake of her husband and child, had -sacrificed her last resources to entertain David's father, saw that she -had only ten francs left. She had hoped to the last to soften the old -miser's heart by her affectionate respect, and patience, and pretty -attentions; but old Sechard was obdurate as ever. When she saw him turn -the same cold eyes on her, the same look that the Cointets had given -her, and Petit-Claud and Cerizet, she tried to watch and guess old -Sechard's intentions. Trouble thrown away! Old Sechard, never sober, -never drunk, was inscrutable; intoxication is a double veil. If the old -man's tipsiness was sometimes real, it was quite often feigned for the -purpose of extracting David's secret from his wife. Sometimes he coaxed, -sometimes he frightened his daughter-in-law. - -"I will drink up my property; _I will buy an annuity_," he would -threaten when Eve told him that she knew nothing. - -The humiliating struggle was wearing her out; she kept silence at last, -lest she should show disrespect to her husband's father. - -"But, father," she said one day when driven to extremity, "there is a -very simple way of finding out everything. Pay David's debts; he will -come home, and you can settle it between you." - -"Ha! that is what you want to get out of me, is it?" he cried. "It is as -well to know!" - -But if Sechard had no belief in his son, he had plenty of faith in the -Cointets. He went to consult them, and the Cointets dazzled him of set -purpose, telling him that his son's experiments might mean millions of -francs. - -"If David can prove that he has succeeded, I shall not hesitate to -go into partnership with him, and reckon his discovery as half the -capital," the tall Cointet told him. - -The suspicious old man learned a good deal over nips of brandy with the -work-people, and something more by questioning Petit-Claud and feigning -stupidity; and at length he felt convinced that the Cointets were -the real movers behind Metivier; they were plotting to ruin Sechard's -printing establishment, and to lure him (Sechard) on to pay his son's -debts by holding out the discovery as a bait. The old man of the people -did not suspect that Petit-Claud was in the plot, nor had he any idea of -the toils woven to ensnare the great secret. A day came at last when he -grew angry and out of patience with the daughter-in-law who would not -so much as tell him where David was hiding; he determined to force the -laboratory door, for he had discovered that David was wont to make his -experiments in the workshop where the rollers were melted down. - -He came downstairs very early one morning and set to work upon the lock. - -"Hey! Papa Sechard, what are you doing there?" Marion called out. (She -had risen at daybreak to go to her papermill, and now she sprang across -to the workshop.) - -"I am in my own house, am I not?" said the old man, in some confusion. - -"Oh, indeed, are you turning thief in your old age? You are not drunk -this time either----I shall go straight to the mistress and tell her." - -"Hold your tongue, Marion," said Sechard, drawing two crowns of six -francs each from his pocket. "There----" - -"I will hold my tongue, but don't you do it again," said Marion, shaking -her finger at him, "or all Angouleme shall hear of it." - -The old man had scarcely gone out, however, when Marion went up to her -mistress. - -"Look, madame," she said, "I have had twelve francs out of your -father-in-law, and here they are----" - -"How did you do it?" - -"What was he wanting to do but to take a look at the master's pots and -pans and stuff, to find out the secret, forsooth. I knew quite well that -there was nothing in the little place, but I frightened him and talked -as if he were setting about robbing his son, and he gave me twelve -francs to say nothing about it." - -Just at that moment Basine came in radiant, and with a letter for her -friend, a letter from David written on magnificent paper, which she -handed over when they were alone. - - - "MY ADORED EVE,--I am writing to you the first letter on my first - sheet of paper made by the new process. I have solved the problem - of sizing the pulp in the trough at last. A pound of pulp costs - five sous, even supposing that the raw material is grown on good - soil with special culture; three francs' worth of sized pulp will - make a ream of paper, at twelve pounds to the ream. I am quite - sure that I can lessen the weight of books by one-half. The - envelope, the letter, and samples enclosed are all manufactured in - different ways. I kiss you; you shall have wealth now to add to - our happiness, everything else we had before." - - -"There!" said Eve, handing the samples to her father-in-law, "when the -vintage is over let your son have the money, give him a chance to make -his fortune, and you shall be repaid ten times over; he has succeeded at -last!" - -Old Sechard hurried at once to the Cointets. Every sample was tested and -minutely examined; the prices, from three to ten francs per ream, were -noted on each separate slip; some were sized, others unsized; some were -of almost metallic purity, others soft as Japanese paper; in color there -was every possible shade of white. If old Sechard and the two Cointets -had been Jews examining diamonds, their eyes could not have glistened -more eagerly. - -"Your son is on the right track," the fat Cointet said at length. - -"Very well, pay his debts," returned old Sechard. - -"By all means, if he will take us into partnership," said the tall -Cointet. - -"You are extortioners!" cried old Sechard. "You have been suing him -under Metivier's name, and you mean me to buy you off; that is the long -and the short of it. Not such a fool, gentlemen----" - -The brothers looked at one another, but they contrived to hide their -surprise at the old miser's shrewdness. - -"We are not millionaires," said fat Cointet; "we do not discount bills -for amusement. We should think ourselves well off if we could pay ready -money for our bits of accounts for rags, and we still give bills to our -dealer." - -"The experiment ought to be tried first on a much larger scale," the -tall Cointet said coldly; "sometimes you try a thing with a saucepan and -succeed, and fail utterly when you experiment with bulk. You should help -your son out of difficulties." - -"Yes; but when my son is at liberty, would he take me as his partner?" - -"That is no business of ours," said the fat Cointet. "My good man, do -you suppose that when you have paid some ten thousand francs for your -son, that there is an end of it? It will cost two thousand francs to -take out a patent; there will be journeys to Paris; and before going to -any expense, it would be prudent to do as my brother suggests, and make -a thousand reams or so; to try several whole batches to make sure. You -see, there is nothing you must be so much on your guard against as an -inventor." - -"I have a liking for bread ready buttered myself," added the tall -Cointet. - -All through that night the old man ruminated over this dilemma--"If I -pay David's debts, he will be set at liberty, and once set at liberty, -he need not share his fortune with me unless he chooses. He knows very -well that I cheated him over the first partnership, and he will not -care to try a second; so it is to my interest to keep him shut up, the -wretched boy." - -The Cointets knew enough of Sechard senior to see that they should hunt -in couples. All three said to themselves--"Experiments must be tried -before the discovery can take any practical shape. David Sechard must be -set at liberty before those experiments can be made; and David Sechard, -set at liberty, will slip through our fingers." - -Everybody involved, moreover, had his own little afterthought. - -Petit-Claud, for instance, said, "As soon as I am married, I will slip -my neck out of the Cointets' yoke; but till then I shall hold on." - -The tall Cointet thought, "I would rather have David under lock and key, -and then I should be master of the situation." - -Old Sechard, too, thought, "If I pay my son's debts, he will repay me -with a 'Thank you!'" - -Eve, hard pressed (for the old man threatened now to turn her out of the -house), would neither reveal her husband's hiding-place, nor even send -proposals of a safe-conduct. She could not feel sure of finding so safe -a refuge a second time. - -"Set your son at liberty," she told her father-in-law, "and then you -shall know everything." - -The four interested persons sat, as it were, with a banquet spread -before them, none of them daring to begin, each one suspicious and -watchful of his neighbor. A few days after David went into hiding, -Petit-Claud went to the mill to see the tall Cointet. - -"I have done my best," he said; "David has gone into prison of his own -accord somewhere or other; he is working out some improvement there in -peace. It is no fault of mine if you have not gained your end; are you -going to keep your promise?" - -"Yes, if we succeed," said the tall Cointet. "Old Sechard was here only -a day or two ago; he came to ask us some questions as to paper-making. -The old miser has got wind of his son's invention; he wants to turn it -to his own account, so there is some hope of a partnership. You are with -the father and the son----" - -"Be the third person in the trinity and give them up," smiled -Petit-Claud. - -"Yes," said Cointet. "When you have David in prison, or bound to us by a -deed of partnership, you shall marry Mlle. de la Haye." - -"Is that your _ultimatum_?" - -"My _sine qua non_," said Cointet, "since we are speaking in foreign -languages." - -"Then here is mine in plain language," Petit-Claud said drily. - -"Ah! let us have it," answered Cointet, with some curiosity. - -"You will present me to-morrow to Mme. de Sononches, and do something -definite for me; you will keep your word, in short; or I will clear off -Sechard's debts myself, sell my practice, and go into partnership with -him. I will not be duped. You have spoken out, and I am doing the same. -I have given proof, give me proof of your sincerity. You have all, and -I have nothing. If you won't do fairly by me, I know your cards, and I -shall play for my own hand." - -The tall Cointet took his hat and umbrella, his face at the same time -taking its Jesuitical expression, and out he went, bidding Petit-Claud -come with him. - -"You shall see, my friend, whether I have prepared your way for you," -said he. - -The shrewd paper-manufacturer saw his danger at a glance; and saw, too, -that with a man like Petit-Claud it was better to play above board. -Partly to be prepared for contingencies, partly to satisfy his -conscience, he had dropped a word or two to the point in the ear of -the ex-consul-general, under the pretext of putting Mlle. de la Haye's -financial position before that gentleman. - -"I have the man for Francoise," he had said; "for with thirty thousand -francs of _dot_, a girl must not expect too much nowadays." - -"We will talk it over later on," answered Francis du Hautoy, -ex-consul-general. "Mme. de Senonches' positon has altered very much -since Mme. de Bargeton went away; we very likely might marry Francoise -to some elderly country gentleman." - -"She would disgrace herself if you did," Cointet returned in his dry -way. "Better marry her to some capable, ambitious young man; you could -help him with your influence, and he would make a good position for his -wife." - -"We shall see," said Francis du Hautoy; "her godmother ought to be -consulted first, in any case." - -When M. de Bargeton died, his wife sold the great house in the Rue du -Minage. Mme. de Senonches, finding her own house scarcely large enough, -persuaded M. de Senonches to buy the Hotel de Bargeton, the cradle of -Lucien Chardon's ambitions, the scene of the earliest events in his -career. Zephirine de Senonches had it in mind to succeed to Mme. de -Bargeton; she, too, would be a kind of queen in Angouleme; she would -have "a salon," and be a great lady, in short. There was a schism in -Angouleme, a strife dating from the late M. de Bargeton's duel with M. -de Chandour. Some maintained that Louise de Negrepelisse was blameless, -others believed in Stanislas de Chandour's scandals. Mme. de Senonches -declared for the Bargetons, and began by winning over that faction. Many -frequenters of the Hotel de Bargeton had been so accustomed for years to -their nightly game of cards in the house that they could not leave it, -and Mme. de Senonches turned this fact to account. She received every -evening, and certainly gained all the ground lost by Amelie de Chandour, -who set up for a rival. - -Francis du Hautoy, living in the inmost circle of nobility in Angouleme, -went so far as to think of marrying Francoise to old M. de Severac, -Mme. du Brossard having totally failed to capture that gentleman for her -daughter; and when Mme. de Bargeton reappeared as the prefect's wife, -Zephirine's hopes for her dear goddaughter waxed high, indeed. The -Comtesse du Chatelet, so she argued, would be sure to use her influence -for her champion. - -Boniface Cointet had Angouleme at his fingers' ends; he saw all the -difficulties at a glance, and resolved to sweep them out of the way by -a bold stroke that only a Tartuffe's brain could invent. The puny lawyer -was not a little amused to find his fellow-conspirator keeping his word -with him; not a word did Petit-Claud utter; he respected the musings of -his companion, and they walked the whole way from the paper-mill to the -Rue du Minage in silence. - -"Monsieur and madame are at breakfast"--this announcement met the -ill-timed visitors on the steps. - -"Take in our names, all the same," said the tall Cointet; and feeling -sure of his position, he followed immediately behind the servant and -introduced his companion to the elaborately-affected Zephirine, who was -breakfasting in company with M. Francis du Hautoy and Mlle. de la Haye. -M. de Senonches had gone, as usual, for a day's shooting over M. de -Pimentel's land. - -"M. Petit-Claud is the young lawyer of whom I spoke to you, madame; he -will go through the trust accounts when your fair ward comes of age." - -The ex-diplomatist made a quick scrutiny of Petit-Claud, who, for his -part, was looking furtively at the "fair ward." As for Zephirine, who -heard of the matter for the first time, her surprise was so great that -she dropped her fork. - -Mlle. de la Haye, a shrewish young woman with an ill-tempered face, -a waist that could scarcely be called slender, a thin figure, and -colorless, fair hair, in spite of a certain little air that she had, -was by no means easy to marry. The "parentage unknown" on her birth -certificate was the real bar to her entrance into the sphere where her -godmother's affection stove to establish her. Mlle. de la Haye, ignorant -of her real position, was very hard to please; the richest merchant in -L'Houmeau had found no favor in her sight. Cointet saw the sufficiently -significant expression of the young lady's face at the sight of the -little lawyer, and turning, beheld a precisely similar grimace on -Petit-Claud's countenance. Mme. de Senonches and Francis looked at each -other, as if in search of an excuse for getting rid of the visitors. All -this Cointet saw. He asked M. du Hautoy for the favor of a few minutes' -speech with him, and the pair went together into the drawing-room. - -"Fatherly affection is blinding you, sir," he said bluntly. "You will -not find it an easy thing to marry your daughter; and, acting in your -interest throughout, I have put you in a position from which you cannot -draw back; for I am fond of Francoise, she is my ward. Now--Petit-Claud -knows _everything_! His overweening ambition is a guarantee for our dear -child's happiness; for, in the first place, Francoise will do as she -likes with her husband; and, in the second, he wants your influence. You -can ask the new prefect for the post of crown attorney for him in the -court here. M. Milaud is definitely appointed to Nevers, Petit-Claud -will sell his practice, you will have no difficulty in obtaining a -deputy public prosecutor's place for him; and it will not be long before -he becomes attorney for the crown, president of the court, deputy, what -you will." - -Francis went back to the dining-room and behaved charmingly to his -daughter's suitor. He gave Mme. de Senonches a look, and brought the -scene to a close with an invitation to dine with them on the morrow; -Petit-Claud must come and discuss the business in hand. He even -went downstairs and as far as the corner with the visitors, telling -Petit-Claud that after Cointet's recommendation, both he and Mme. de -Senonches were disposed to approve all that Mlle. de la Haye's trustee -had arranged for the welfare of that little angel. - -"Oh!" cried Petit-Claud, as they came away, "what a plain girl! I have -been taken in----" - -"She looks a lady-like girl," returned Cointet, "and besides, if she -were a beauty, would they give her to you? Eh! my dear fellow, thirty -thousand francs and the influence of Mme. de Senonches and the Comtesse -du Chatelet! Many a small landowner would be wonderfully glad of the -chance, and all the more so since M. Francis du Hautoy is never likely -to marry, and all that he has will go to the girl. Your marriage is as -good as settled." - -"How?" - -"That is what I am just going to tell you," returned Cointet, and he -gave his companion an account of his recent bold stroke. "M. Milaud is -just about to be appointed attorney for the crown at Nevers, my dear -fellow," he continued; "sell your practice, and in ten years' time you -will be Keeper of the Seals. You are not the kind of a man to draw back -from any service required of you by the Court." - -"Very well," said Petit-Claud, his zeal stirred by the prospect of such -a career, "very well, be in the Place du Murier to-morrow at half-past -four; I will see old Sechard in the meantime; we will have a deed of -partnership drawn up, and the father and the son shall be bound thereby, -and delivered to the third person of the trinity--Cointet, to wit." - - - -To return to Lucien in Paris. On the morrow of the loss announced in -his letter, he obtained a _visa_ for his passport, bought a stout holly -stick, and went to the Rue d'Enfer to take a place in the little market -van, which took him as far as Longjumeau for half a franc. He was going -home to Angouleme. At the end of the first day's tramp he slept in a -cowshed, two leagues from Arpajon. He had come no farther than Orleans -before he was very weary, and almost ready to break down, but there he -found a boatman willing to bring him as far as Tours for three francs, -and food during the journey cost him but forty sous. Five days of -walking brought him from Tours to Poitiers, and left him with but five -francs in his pockets, but he summoned up all his remaining strength for -the journey before him. - -He was overtaken by night in the open country, and had made up his -mind to sleep out of doors, when a traveling carriage passed by, slowly -climbing the hillside, and, all unknown to the postilion, the occupants, -and the servant, he managed to slip in among the luggage, crouching in -between two trunks lest he should be shaken off by the jolting of the -carriage--and so he slept. - -He awoke with the sun shining into his eyes, and the sound of voices in -his ears. The carriage had come to a standstill. Looking about him, he -knew that he was at Mansle, the little town where he had waited for Mme. -de Bargeton eighteen months before, when his heart was full of hope and -love and joy. A group of post-boys eyed him curiously and suspiciously, -covered with dust as he was, wedged in among the luggage. Lucien -jumped down, but before he could speak two travelers stepped out of the -caleche, and the words died away on his lips; for there stood the new -Prefect of the Charente, Sixte du Chatelet, and his wife, Louise de -Negrepelisse. - -"Chance gave us a traveling-companion, if we had but known!" said the -Countess. "Come in with us, monsieur." - -Lucien gave the couple a distant bow and a half-humbled half-defiant -glance; then he turned away into a cross-country road in search of some -farmhouse, where he might make a breakfast on milk and bread, and rest -awhile, and think quietly over the future. He still had three francs -left. On and on he walked with the hurrying pace of fever, noticing -as he went, down by the riverside, that the country grew more and more -picturesque. It was near mid-day when he came upon a sheet of water with -willows growing about the margin, and stopped for awhile to rest his -eyes on the cool, thick-growing leaves; and something of the grace of -the fields entered into his soul. - -In among the crests of the willows, he caught a glimpse of a mill -near-by on a branch stream, and of the thatched roof of the mill-house -where the house-leeks were growing. For all ornament, the quaint cottage -was covered with jessamine and honeysuckle and climbing hops, and the -garden about it was gay with phloxes and tall, juicy-leaved plants. Nets -lay drying in the sun along a paved causeway raised above the highest -flood level, and secured by massive piles. Ducks were swimming in the -clear mill-pond below the currents of water roaring over the wheel. -As the poet came nearer he heard the clack of the mill, and saw the -good-natured, homely woman of the house knitting on a garden bench, and -keeping an eye upon a little one who was chasing the hens about. - -Lucien came forward. "My good woman," he said, "I am tired out; I have a -fever on me, and I have only three francs; will you undertake to give me -brown bread and milk, and let me sleep in the barn for a week? I shall -have time to write to my people, and they will either come to fetch me -or send me money." - -"I am quite willing, always supposing that my husband has no -objection.--Hey! little man!" - -The miller came up, gave Lucien a look over, and took his pipe out of -his mouth to remark, "Three francs for a weeks board? You might as well -pay nothing at all." - -"Perhaps I shall end as a miller's man," thought the poet, as his eyes -wandered over the lovely country. Then the miller's wife made a bed -ready for him, and Lucien lay down and slept so long that his hostess -was frightened. - -"Courtois," she said, next day at noon, "just go in and see whether -that young man is dead or alive; he has been lying there these fourteen -hours." - -The miller was busy spreading out his fishing-nets and lines. "It is -my belief," he said, "that the pretty fellow yonder is some starveling -play-actor without a brass farthing to bless himself with." - -"What makes you think that, little man?" asked the mistress of the mill. - -"Lord, he is not a prince, nor a lord, nor a member of parliament, nor a -bishop; why are his hands as white as if he did nothing?" - -"Then it is very strange that he does not feel hungry and wake up," -retorted the miller's wife; she had just prepared breakfast for -yesterday's chance guest. "A play-actor, is he?" she continued. "Where -will he be going? It is too early yet for the fair at Angouleme." - -But neither the miller nor his wife suspected that (actors, princes, and -bishops apart) there is a kind of being who is both prince and actor, -and invested besides with a magnificent order of priesthood--that the -Poet seems to do nothing, yet reigns over all humanity when he can paint -humanity. - -"What can he be?" Courtois asked of his wife. - -"Suppose it should be dangerous to take him in?" queried she. - -"Pooh! thieves look more alive than that; we should have been robbed by -this time," returned her spouse. - -"I am neither a prince nor a thief, nor a bishop nor an actor," Lucien -said wearily; he must have overheard the colloquy through the window, -and now he suddenly appeared. "I am poor, I am tired out, I have come -on foot from Paris. My name is Lucien de Rubempre, and my father was -M. Chardon, who used to have Postel's business in L'Houmeau. My sister -married David Sechard, the printer in the Place du Murier at Angouleme." - -"Stop a bit," said the miller, "that printer is the son of the old -skinflint who farms his own land at Marsac, isn't he?" - -"The very same," said Lucien. - -"He is a queer kind of father, he is!" Courtois continued. "He is worth -two hundred thousand francs and more, without counting his money-box, -and he has sold his son up, they say." - -When body and soul have been broken by a prolonged painful struggle, -there comes a crisis when a strong nature braces itself for greater -effort; but those who give way under the strain either die or sink into -unconsciousness like death. That hour of crisis had struck for Lucien; -at the vague rumor of the catastrophe that had befallen David he seemed -almost ready to succumb. "Oh! my sister!" he cried. "Oh, God! what have -I done? Base wretch that I am!" - -He dropped down on the wooden bench, looking white and powerless as a -dying man; the miller's wife brought out a bowl of milk and made him -drink, but he begged the miller to help him back to his bed, and asked -to be forgiven for bringing a dying man into their house. He thought -his last hour had come. With the shadow of death, thoughts of religion -crossed a brain so quick to conceive picturesque fancies; he would see -the cure, he would confess and receive the last sacraments. The moan, -uttered in the faint voice by a young man with such a comely face and -figure, went to Mme. Courtois' heart. - -"I say, little man, just take the horse and go to Marsac and ask Dr. -Marron to come and see this young man; he is in a very bad way, it seems -to me, and you might bring the cure as well. Perhaps they may know -more about that printer in the Place du Murier than you do, for Postel -married M. Marron's daughter." - -Courtois departed. The miller's wife tried to make Lucien take food; -like all country-bred folk, she was full of the idea that sick folk -must be made to eat. He took no notice of her, but gave way to a -violent storm of remorseful grief, a kind of mental process of -counter-irritation, which relieved him. - -The Courtois' mill lies a league away from Marsac, the town of the -district, and the half-way between Mansle and Angouleme; so it was not -long before the good miller came back with the doctor and the cure. Both -functionaries had heard rumors coupling Lucien's name with the name of -Mme. de Bargeton; and now when the whole department was talking of the -lady's marriage to the new Prefect and her return to Angouleme as the -Comtesse du Chatelet, both cure and doctor were consumed with a violent -curiosity to know why M. de Bargeton's widow had not married the young -poet with whom she had left Angouleme. And when they heard, furthermore, -that Lucien was at the mill, they were eager to know whether the poet -had come to the rescue of his brother-in-law. Curiosity and humanity -alike prompted them to go at once to the dying man. Two hours after -Courtois set out, Lucien heard the rattle of old iron over the stony -causeway, the country doctor's ramshackle chaise came up to the door, -and out stepped MM. Marron, for the cure was the doctor's uncle. -Lucien's bedside visitors were as intimate with David's father as -country neighbors usually are in a small vine-growing township. The -doctor looked at the dying man, felt his pulse, and examined his tongue; -then he looked at the miller's wife, and smiled reassuringly. - -"Mme. Courtois," said he, "if, as I do not doubt, you have a bottle of -good wine somewhere in the cellar, and a fat eel in your fish-pond, put -them before your patient, it is only exhaustion; there is nothing the -matter with him. Our great man will be on his feet again directly." - -"Ah! monsieur," said Lucien, "it is not the body, it is the mind that -ails. These good people have told me tidings that nearly killed me; I -have just heard the bad news of my sister, Mme. Sechard. Mme. Courtois -says that your daughter is married to Postel, monsieur, so you must know -something of David Sechard's affairs; oh, for heaven's sake, monsieur, -tell me what you know!" - -"Why, he must be in prison," began the doctor; "his father would not -help him----" - -"_In prison_!" repeated Lucien, "and why?" - -"Because some bills came from Paris; he had overlooked them, no doubt, -for he does not pay much attention to his business, they say," said Dr. -Marron. - -"Pray leave me with M. le Cure," said the poet, with a visible change -of countenance. The doctor and the miller and his wife went out of the -room, and Lucien was left alone with the old priest. - -"Sir," he said, "I feel that death is near, and I deserve to die. I am a -very miserable wretch; I can only cast myself into the arms of religion. -I, sir, _I_ have brought all these troubles on my sister and brother, -for David Sechard has been a brother to me. I drew those bills that -David could not meet! . . . I have ruined him. In my terrible misery, -I forgot the crime. A millionaire put an end to the proceedings, and I -quite believed that he had met the bills; but nothing of the kind has -been done, it seems." And Lucien told the tale of his sorrows. The -story, as he told it in his feverish excitement, was worthy of the poet. -He besought the cure to go to Angouleme and to ask for news of Eve and -his mother, Mme. Chardon, and to let him know the truth, and whether it -was still possible to repair the evil. - -"I shall live till you come back, sir," he added, as the hot tears fell. -"If my mother, and sister, and David do not cast me off, I shall not -die." - -Lucien's remorse was terrible to see, the tears, the eloquence, the -young white face with the heartbroken, despairing look, the tales of -sorrow upon sorrow till human strength could no more endure, all these -things aroused the cure's pity and interest. - -"In the provinces, as in Paris," he said, "you must believe only half -of all that you hear. Do not alarm yourself; a piece of hearsay, three -leagues away from Angouleme, is sure to be far from the truth. Old -Sechard, our neighbor, left Marsac some days ago; very likely he is busy -settling his son's difficulties. I am going to Angouleme; I will come -back and tell you whether you can return home; your confessions and -repentance will help to plead your cause." - -The cure did not know that Lucien had repented so many times during the -last eighteen months, that penitence, however impassioned, had come to -be a kind of drama with him, played to perfection, played so far in all -good faith, but none the less a drama. To the cure succeeded the doctor. -He saw that the patient was passing through a nervous crisis, and the -danger was beginning to subside. The doctor-nephew spoke as comfortably -as the cure-uncle, and at length the patient was persuaded to take -nourishment. - -Meanwhile the cure, knowing the manners and customs of the countryside, -had gone to Mansle; the coach from Ruffec to Angouleme was due to pass -about that time, and he found a vacant place in it. He would go to -his grand-nephew Postel in L'Houmeau (David's former rival) and make -inquiries of him. From the assiduity with which the little druggist -assisted his venerable relative to alight from the abominable cage which -did duty as a coach between Ruffec and Angouleme, it was apparent to -the meanest understanding that M. and Mme. Postel founded their hopes of -future ease upon the old cure's will. - -"Have you breakfasted? Will you take something? We did not in the least -expect you! This is a pleasant surprise!" Out came questions innumerable -in a breath. - -Mme. Postel might have been born to be the wife of an apothecary in -L'Houmeau. She was a common-looking woman, about the same height as -little Postel himself, such good looks as she possessed being entirely -due to youth and health. Her florid auburn hair grew very low upon -her forehead. Her demeanor and language were in keeping with homely -features, a round countenance, the red cheeks of a country damsel, and -eyes that might almost be described as yellow. Everything about her -said plainly enough that she had been married for expectations of -money. After a year of married life, therefore, she ruled the house; and -Postel, only too happy to have discovered the heiress, meekly submitted -to his wife. Mme. Leonie Postel, _nee_ Marron, was nursing her first -child, the darling of the old cure, the doctor, and Postel, a repulsive -infant, with a strong likeness to both parents. - -"Well, uncle," said Leonie, "what has brought you to Angouleme, since -you will not take anything, and no sooner come in than you talk of -going?" - -But when the venerable ecclesiastic brought out the names of David -Sechard and Eve, little Postel grew very red, and Leonie, his wife, felt -it incumbent upon her to give him a jealous glance--the glance that a -wife never fails to give when she is perfectly sure of her husband, and -gives a look into the past by way of a caution for the future. - -"What have yonder folk done to you, uncle, that you should mix yourself -up in their affairs?" inquired Leonie, with very perceptible tartness. - -"They are in trouble, my girl," said the cure, and he told the Postels -about Lucien at the Courtois' mill. - -"Oh! so that is the way he came back from Paris, is it?" exclaimed -Postel. "Yet he had some brains, poor fellow, and he was ambitious, too. -He went out to look for wool, and comes home shorn. But what does he -want here? His sister is frightfully poor; for all these geniuses, David -and Lucien alike, know very little about business. There was some talk -of him at the Tribunal, and, as judge, I was obliged to sign the warrant -of execution. It was a painful duty. I do not know whether the sister's -circumstances are such that Lucien can go to her; but in any case the -little room that he used to occupy here is at liberty, and I shall be -pleased to offer it to him." - -"That is right, Postel," said the priest; he bestowed a kiss on the -infant slumbering in Leonie's arms, and, adjusting his cocked hat, -prepared to walk out of the shop. - -"You will dine with us, uncle, of course," said Mme. Postel; "if once -you meddle in these people's affairs, it will be some time before -you have done. My husband will drive you back again in his little -pony-cart." - -Husband and wife stood watching their valued, aged relative on his way -into Angouleme. "He carries himself well for his age, all the same," -remarked the druggist. - -By this time David had been in hiding for eleven days in a house only -two doors away from the druggist's shop, which the worthy ecclesiastic -had just quitted to climb the steep path into Angouleme with the news of -Lucien's present condition. - -When the Abbe Marron debouched upon the Place du Murier he found three -men, each one remarkable in his own way, and all of them bearing with -their whole weight upon the present and future of the hapless -voluntary prisoner. There stood old Sechard, the tall Cointet, and his -confederate, the puny limb of the law, three men representing three -phases of greed as widely different as the outward forms of the -speakers. The first had it in his mind to sell his own son; the -second, to betray his client; and the third, while bargaining for both -iniquities, was inwardly resolved to pay for neither. It was nearly five -o'clock. Passers-by on their way home to dinner stopped a moment to look -at the group. - -"What the devil can old Sechard and the tall Cointet have to say to each -other?" asked the more curious. - -"There was something on foot concerning that miserable wretch that -leaves his wife and child and mother-in-law to starve," suggested some. - -"Talk of sending a boy to Paris to learn his trade!" said a provincial -oracle. - -"M. le Cure, what brings you here, eh?" exclaimed old Sechard, catching -sight of the Abbe as soon as he appeared. - -"I have come on account of your family," answered the old man. - -"Here is another of my son's notions!" exclaimed old Sechard. - -"It would not cost you much to make everybody happy all round," said -the priest, looking at the windows of the printing-house. Mme. Sechard's -beautiful face appeared at that moment between the curtains; she was -hushing her child's cries by tossing him in her arms and singing to him. - -"Are you bringing news of my son?" asked old Sechard, "or what is more -to the purpose--money?" - -"No," answered M. Marron, "I am bringing the sister news of her -brother." - -"Of Lucien?" cried Petit-Claud. - -"Yes. He walked all the way from Paris, poor young man. I found him at -the Courtois' house; he was worn out with misery and fatigue. Oh! he is -very much to be pitied." - -Petit-Claud took the tall Cointet by the arm, saying aloud, "If we are -going to dine with Mme. de Senonches, it is time to dress." When they -had come away a few paces, he added, for his companion's benefit, "Catch -the cub, and you will soon have the dam; we have David now----" - -"I have found you a wife, find me a partner," said the tall Cointet with -a treacherous smile. - -"Lucien is an old school-fellow of mine; we used to be chums. I shall be -sure to hear something from him in a week's time. Have the banns put -up, and I will engage to put David in prison. When he is on the jailer's -register I shall have done my part." - -"Ah!" exclaimed the tall Cointet under his breath, "we might have the -patent taken out in our name; that would be the thing!" - -A shiver ran through the meagre little attorney when he heard those -words. - -Meanwhile Eve beheld her father-in-law enter with the Abbe Marron, who -had let fall a word which unfolded the whole tragedy. - -"Here is our cure, Mme. Sechard," the old man said, addressing his -daughter-in-law, "and pretty tales about your brother he has to tell us, -no doubt!" - -"Oh!" cried poor Eve, cut to the heart; "what can have happened now?" - -The cry told so unmistakably of many sorrows, of great dread on so many -grounds, that the Abbe Marron made haste to say, "Reassure yourself, -madame; he is living." - -Eve turned to the vinegrower. - -"Father," she said, "perhaps you will be good enough to go to my mother; -she must hear all that this gentleman has to tell us of Lucien." - -The old man went in search of Mme. Chardon, and addressed her in this -wise: - -"Go and have it out with the Abbe Marron; he is a good sort, priest -though he is. Dinner will be late, no doubt. I shall come back again in -an hour," and the old man went out. Insensible as he was to everything -but the clink of money and the glitter of gold, he left Mme. Chardon -without caring to notice the effect of the shock that he had given her. - -Mme. Chardon had changed so greatly during the last eighteen months, -that in that short time she no longer looked like the same woman. The -troubles hanging over both of her children, her abortive hopes for -Lucien, the unexpected deterioration in one in whose powers and honesty -she had for so long believed,--all these things had told heavily upon -her. Mme. Chardon was not only noble by birth, she was noble by nature; -she idolized her children; consequently, during the last six months -she had suffered as never before since her widowhood. Lucien might have -borne the name of Lucien de Rubempre by royal letters patent; he might -have founded the family anew, revived the title, and borne the arms; he -might have made a great name--he had thrown the chance away; nay, he had -fallen into the mire! - -For Mme. Chardon the mother was a harder judge than Eve the sister. -When she heard of the bills, she looked upon Lucien as lost. A mother -is often fain to shut her eyes, but she always knows the child that -she held at her breast, the child that has been always with her in the -house; and so when Eve and David discussed Lucien's chances of success -in Paris, and Lucien's mother to all appearance shared Eve's illusions, -in her inmost heart there was a tremor of fear lest David should be -right, for a mother's consciousness bore a witness to the truth of his -words. So well did she know Eve's sensitive nature, that she could not -bring herself to speak of her fears; she was obliged to choke them down -and keep such silence as mothers alone can keep when they know how to -love their children. - -And Eve, on her side, had watched her mother, and saw the ravages of -hidden grief with a feeling of dread; her mother was not growing old, -she was failing from day to day. Mother and daughter lived a live -of generous deception, and neither was deceived. The brutal old -vinegrower's speech was the last drop that filled the cup of affliction -to overflowing. The words struck a chill to Mme. Chardon's heart. - -"Here is my mother, monsieur," said Eve, and the Abbe, looking up, saw a -white-haired woman with a face as thin and worn as the features of some -aged nun, and yet grown beautiful with the calm and sweet expression -that devout submission gives to the faces of women who walk by the will -of God, as the saying is. Then the Abbe understood the lives of the -mother and daughter, and had no more sympathy left for Lucien; he -shuddered to think of all that the victims had endured. - -"Mother," said Eve, drying her eyes as she spoke, "poor Lucien is not -very far away, he is at Marsac." - -"And why is he not here?" asked Mme. Chardon. - -Then the Abbe told the whole story as Lucien had told it to him--the -misery of the journey, the troubles of the last days in Paris. He -described the poet's agony of mind when he heard of the havoc wrought -at home by his imprudence, and his apprehension as to the reception -awaiting him at Angouleme. - -"He has doubts of us; has it come to this?" said Mme. Chardon. - -"The unhappy young man has come back to you on foot, enduring the most -terrible hardships by the way; he is prepared to enter the humblest -walks in life--if so he may make reparation." - -"Monsieur," Lucien's sister said, "in spite of the wrong he has done us, -I love my brother still, as we love the dead body when the soul has left -it; and even so, I love him more than many sisters love their brothers. -He has made us poor indeed; but let him come to us, he shall share the -last crust of bread, anything indeed that he has left us. Oh, if he had -never left us, monsieur, we should not have lost our heart's treasure." - -"And the woman who took him from us brought him back on her carriage!" -exclaimed Mme. Chardon. "He went away sitting by Mme. de Bargeton's side -in her caleche, and he came back behind it." - -"Can I do anything for you?" asked the good cure, seeking an opportunity -to take leave. - -"A wound in the purse is not fatal, they say, monsieur," said Mme. -Chardon, "but the patient must be his own doctor." - -"If you have sufficient influence with my father-in-law to induce him to -help his son, you would save a whole family," said Eve. - -"He has no belief in you, and he seemed to me to be very much -exasperated against your husband," answered the old cure. He retained -an impression, from the ex-pressman's rambling talk, that the Sechards' -affairs were a kind of wasps' nest with which it was imprudent to -meddle, and his mission being fulfilled, he went to dine with his nephew -Postel. That worthy, like the rest of Angouleme, maintained that the -father was in the right, and soon dissipated any little benevolence that -the old gentleman was disposed to feel towards the son and his family. - -"With those that squander money something may be done," concluded little -Postel, "but those that make experiments are the ruin of you." - -The cure went home; his curiosity was thoroughly satisfied, and this -is the end and object of the exceeding interest taken in other people's -business in the provinces. In the course of the evening the poet was -duly informed of all that had passed in the Sechard family, and the -journey was represented as a pilgrimage undertaken from motives of the -purest charity. - -"You have run your brother-in-law and sister into debt to the amount of -ten or twelve thousand francs," said the Abbe as he drew to an end, "and -nobody hereabouts has that trifling amount to lend a neighbor, my dear -sir. We are not rich in Angoumois. When you spoke to me of your bills, I -thought that a much smaller amount was involved." - -Lucien thanked the old man for his good offices. "The promise of -forgiveness which you have brought is for me a priceless gift." - -Very early the next morning Lucien set out from Marsac, and -reached Angouleme towards nine o'clock. He carried nothing but his -walking-stick; the short jacket that he wore was considerably the worst -for his journey, his black trousers were whitened with dust, and a pair -of worn boots told sufficiently plainly that their owner belonged to the -hapless tribe of tramps. He knew well enough that the contrast between -his departure and return was bound to strike his fellow-townsmen; he -did not try to hide the fact from himself. But just then, with his heart -swelling beneath the oppression of remorse awakened in him by the old -cure's story, he accepted his punishment for the moment, and made up his -mind to brave the eyes of his acquaintances. Within himself he said, "I -am behaving heroically." - -Poetic temperaments of this stamp begin as their own dupes. He walked up -through L'Houmeau, shame at the manner of his return struggling with -the charm of old associations as he went. His heart beat quickly as he -passed Postel's shop; but, very luckily for him, the only persons inside -it were Leonie and her child. And yet, vanity was still so strong in -him, that he could feel glad that his father's name had been painted out -on the shop-front; for Postel, since his marriage, had redecorated his -abode, and the word "Pharmacy" now alone appeared there, in the Paris -fashion, in big letters. - -When Lucien reached the steps by the Palet Gate, he felt the influence -of his native air, his misfortunes no longer weighed upon him. "I shall -see them again!" he said to himself, with a thrill of delight. - -He reached the Place du Murier, and had not met a soul, a piece of luck -that he scarcely hoped for, he who once had gone about his native place -with a conqueror's air. Marion and Kolb, on guard at the door, flew out -upon the steps, crying out, "Here he is!" - -Lucien saw the familiar workshop and courtyard, and on the staircase -met his mother and sister, and for a moment, while their arms were about -him, all three almost forgot their troubles. In family life we almost -always compound with our misfortunes; we make a sort of bed to rest -upon; and, if it is hard, hope to make it tolerable. If Lucien looked -the picture of despair, poetic charm was not wanting to the picture. -His face had been tanned by the sunlight of the open road, and the deep -sadness visible in his features overshadowed his poet's brow. The change -in him told so plainly of sufferings endured, his face was so worn by -sharp misery, that no one could help pitying him. Imagination had fared -forth into the world and found sad reality at the home-coming. Eve was -smiling in the midst of her joy, as the saints smile upon martyrdom. -The face of a young and very fair woman grows sublimely beautiful at the -touch of grief; Lucien remembered the innocent girlish face that he saw -last before he went to Paris, and the look of gravity that had come over -it spoke so eloquently that he could not but feel a painful impression. -The first quick, natural outpouring of affection was followed at once -by a reaction on either side; they were afraid to speak; and when Lucien -almost involuntarily looked round for another who should have been -there, Eve burst into tears, and Lucien did the same, but Mme. Chardon's -haggard face showed no sign of emotion. Eve rose to her feet and went -downstairs, partly to spare her brother a word of reproach, partly to -speak to Marion. - -"Lucien is so fond of strawberries, child, we must find some -strawberries for him." - -"Oh, I was sure that you would want to welcome M. Lucien; you shall have -a nice little breakfast and a good dinner, too." - -"Lucien," said Mme. Chardon when the mother and son were left alone, -"you have a great deal to repair here. You went away that we all -might be proud of you; you have plunged us into want. You have all but -destroyed your brother's opportunity of making a fortune that he only -cared to win for the sake of his new family. Nor is this all that you -have destroyed----" said the mother. - -There was a dreadful pause; Lucien took his mother's reproaches in -silence. - -"Now begin to work," Mme. Chardon went on more gently. "You tried to -revive the noble family of whom I come; I do not blame you for it. But -the man who undertakes such a task needs money above all things, and -must bear a high heart in him; both were wanting in your case. -We believed in you once, our belief has been shaken. This was a -hard-working, contented household, making its way with difficulty; you -have troubled their peace. The first offence may be forgiven, but it -must be the last. We are in a very difficult position here; you must be -careful, and take your sister's advice, Lucien. The school of trouble is -a very hard one, but Eve has learned much by her lessons; she has grown -grave and thoughtful, she is a mother. In her devotion to our dear David -she has taken all the family burdens upon herself; indeed, through your -wrongdoing she has come to be my only comfort." - -"You might be still more severe, my mother," Lucien said, as he kissed -her. "I accept your forgiveness, for I will not need it a second time." - -Eve came into the room, saw her brother's humble attitude, and knew that -he had been forgiven. Her kindness brought a smile for him to her lips, -and Lucien answered with tear-filled eyes. A living presence acts like a -charm, changing the most hostile positions of lovers or of families, no -matter how just the resentment. Is it that affection finds out the ways -of the heart, and we love to fall into them again? Does the phenomenon -come within the province of the science of magnetism? Or is it reason -that tells us that we must either forgive or never see each other -again? Whether the cause be referred to mental, physical, or spiritual -conditions, everyone knows the effect; every one has felt that the -looks, the actions or gestures of the beloved awaken some vestige of -tenderness in those most deeply sinned against and grievously wronged. -Though it is hard for the mind to forget, though we still smart under -the injury, the heart returns to its allegiance in spite of all. Poor -Eve listened to her brother's confidences until breakfast-time; and -whenever she looked at him she was no longer mistress of her eyes; -in that intimate talk she could not control her voice. And with -the comprehension of the conditions of literary life in Paris, she -understood that the struggle had been too much for Lucien's strength. -The poet's delight as he caressed his sister's child, his deep grief -over David's absence, mingled with joy at seeing his country and his -own folk again, the melancholy words that he let fall,--all these -things combined to make that day a festival. When Marion brought in the -strawberries, he was touched to see that Eve had remembered his taste in -spite of her distress, and she, his sister, must make ready a room for -the prodigal brother and busy herself for Lucien. It was a truce, as -it were, to misery. Old Sechard himself assisted to bring about this -revulsion of feeling in the two women--"You are making as much of him as -if he were bringing you any amount of money!" - -"And what has my brother done that we should not make much of him?" -cried Eve, jealously screening Lucien. - -Nevertheless, when the first expansion was over, shades of truth came -out. It was not long before Lucien felt the difference between the old -affection and the new. Eve respected David from the depths of her heart; -Lucien was beloved for his own sake, as we love a mistress still in -spite of the disasters she causes. Esteem, the very foundation on which -affection is based, is the solid stuff to which affection owes I know -not what of certainty and security by which we live; and this was -lacking between Mme. Chardon and her son, between the sister and the -brother. Mother and daughter did not put entire confidence in him, as -they would have done if he had not lost his honor; and he felt this. -The opinion expressed in d'Arthez's letter was Eve's own estimate of -her brother; unconsciously she revealed it by her manner, tones, and -gestures. Oh! Lucien was pitied, that was true; but as for all that he -had been, the pride of the household, the great man of the family, the -hero of the fireside,--all this, like their fair hopes of him, was gone, -never to return. They were so afraid of his heedlessness that he was not -told where David was hidden. Lucien wanted to see his brother; but -this Eve, insensible to the caresses which accompanied his curious -questionings, was not the Eve of L'Houmeau, for whom a glance from -him had been an order that must be obeyed. When Lucien spoke of making -reparation, and talked as though he could rescue David, Eve only -answered: - -"Do not interfere; we have enemies of the most treacherous and dangerous -kind." - -Lucien tossed his head, as one who should say, "I have measured myself -against Parisians," and the look in his sister's eyes said unmistakably, -"Yes, but you were defeated." - -"Nobody cares for me now," Lucien thought. "In the home circle, as in -the world without, success is a necessity." - -The poet tried to explain their lack of confidence in him; he had not -been at home two days before a feeling of vexation rather than of angry -bitterness gained hold on him. He applied Parisian standards to the -quiet, temperate existence of the provinces, quite forgetting that -the narrow, patient life of the household was the result of his own -misdoings. - -"They are _bourgeoises_, they cannot understand me," he said, setting -himself apart from his sister and mother and David, now that they could -no longer be deceived as to his real character and his future. - -Many troubles and shocks of fortune had quickened the intuitive sense -in both the women. Eve and Mme. Chardon guessed the thoughts in Lucien's -inmost soul; they felt that he misjudged them; they saw him mentally -isolating himself. - -"Paris has changed him very much," they said between themselves. They -were indeed reaping the harvest of egoism which they themselves had -fostered. - -It was inevitable but that the leaven should work in all three; and this -most of all in Lucien, because he felt that he was so heavily to blame. -As for Eve, she was just the kind of sister to beg an erring brother to -"Forgive me for your trespasses;" but when the union of two souls had -been as perfect since life's very beginnings, as it had been with Eve -and Lucien, any blow dealt to that fair ideal is fatal. Scoundrels can -draw knives on each other and make it up again afterwards, while a look -or a word is enough to sunder two lovers for ever. In the recollection -of an almost perfect life of heart and heart lies the secret of many an -estrangement that none can explain. Two may live together without full -trust in their hearts if only their past holds no memories of complete -and unclouded love; but for those who once have known that intimate -life, it becomes intolerable to keep perpetual watch over looks and -words. Great poets know this; Paul and Virginie die before youth is -over; can we think of Paul and Virginie estranged? Let us know that, to -the honor of Lucien and Eve, the grave injury done was not the source of -the pain; it was entirely a matter of feeling upon either side, for the -poet in fault, as for the sister who was in no way to blame. Things -had reached the point when the slightest misunderstanding, or little -quarrel, or a fresh disappointment in Lucien would end in final -estrangement. Money difficulties may be arranged, but feelings are -inexorable. - -Next day Lucien received a copy of the local paper. He turned pale with -pleasure when he saw his name at the head of one of the first "leaders" -in that highly respectable sheet, which like the provincial academies -that Voltaire compared to a well-bred miss, was never talked about. - - - "Let Franche-Comte boast of giving the light to Victor Hugo, to - Charles Nodier, and Cuvier," ran the article, "Brittany of - producing a Chateaubriand and a Lammenais, Normandy of Casimir - Delavigne, and Touraine of the author of _Eloa_; Angoumois that - gave birth, in the days of Louis XIII., to our illustrious - fellow-countryman Guez, better known under the name of Balzac, - our Angoumois need no longer envy Limousin her Dupuytren, nor - Auvergne, the country of Montlosier, nor Bordeaux, birthplace of - so many great men; for we too have our poet!--The writer of the - beautiful sonnets entitled the _Marguerites_ unites his poet's fame - to the distinction of a prose writer, for to him we also owe the - magnificent romance of _The Archer of Charles IX._ Some day our - nephews will be proud to be the fellow-townsmen of Lucien Chardon, - a rival of Petrarch!!!" - - -(The country newspapers of those days were sown with notes of -admiration, as reports of English election speeches are studded with -"cheers" in brackets.) - - - "In spite of his brilliant success in Paris, our young poet has - not forgotten the Hotel de Bargeton, the cradle of his triumphs; - nor the fact that the wife of M. le Comte du Chatelet, our - Prefect, encouraged his early footsteps in the pathway of the - Muses. He has come back among us once more! All L'Houmeau was - thrown into excitement yesterday by the appearance of our Lucien - de Rubempre. The news of his return produced a profound sensation - throughout the town. Angouleme certainly will not allow L'Houmeau - to be beforehand in doing honor to the poet who in journalism and - literature has so gloriously represented our town in Paris. Lucien - de Rubempre, a religious and Royalist poet, has braved the fury of - parties; he has come home, it is said, for repose after the - fatigue of a struggle which would try the strength of an even - greater intellectual athlete than a poet and a dreamer. - - "There is some talk of restoring our great poet to the title of - the illustrious house of de Rubempre, of which his mother, Madame - Chardon, is the last survivor, and it is added that Mme. la - Comtesse du Chatelet was the first to think of this eminently - politic idea. The revival of an ancient and almost extinct family - by young talent and newly won fame is another proof that the - immortal author of the Charter still cherishes the desire - expressed by the words 'Union and oblivion.' - - "Our poet is staying with his sister, Mme. Sechard." - - -Under the heading "Angouleme" followed some items of news:-- - - - "Our Prefect, M. le Comte du Chatelet, Gentleman in Ordinary to - His Majesty, has just been appointed Extraordinary Councillor of - State. - - "All the authorities called yesterday on M. le Prefet. - - "Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet will receive on Thursdays. - - "The Mayor of Escarbas, M. de Negrepelisse, the representative of - the younger branch of the d'Espard family, and father of Mme. du - Chatelet, recently raised to the rank of a Count and Peer of - France and a Commander of the Royal Order of St. Louis, has been - nominated for the presidency of the electoral college of Angouleme - at the forthcoming elections." - - -"There!" said Lucien, taking the paper to his sister. Eve read the -article with attention, and returned with the sheet with a thoughtful -air. - -"What do you say to that?" asked he, surprised at a reserve that seemed -so like indifference. - -"The Cointets are proprietors of that paper, dear," she said; "they -put in exactly what they please, and it is not at all likely that the -prefecture or the palace have forced their hands. Can you imagine -that your old rival the prefect would be generous enough to sing -your praises? Have you forgotten that the Cointets are suing us under -Metivier's name? and that they are trying to turn David's discovery to -their own advantage? I do not know the source of this paragraph, but -it makes me uneasy. You used to rouse nothing but envious feeling -and hatred here; a prophet has no honor in his own country, and they -slandered you, and now in a moment it is all changed----" - -"You do not know the vanity of country towns," said Lucien. "A whole -little town in the south turned out not so long ago to welcome a young -man that had won the first prize in some competition; they looked on him -as a budding great man." - -"Listen, dear Lucien; I do not want to preach to you, I will say -everything in a very few words--you must suspect every little thing -here." - -"You are right," said Lucien, but he was surprised at his sister's lack -of enthusiasm. He himself was full of delight to find his humiliating -and shame-stricken return to Angouleme changed into a triumph in this -way. - -"You have no belief in the little fame that has cost so dear!" he said -again after a long silence. Something like a storm had been gathering in -his heart during the past hour. For all answer Eve gave him a look, and -Lucien felt ashamed of his accusation. - -Dinner was scarcely over when a messenger came from the prefecture with -a note addressed to M. Chardon. That note appeared to decide the day for -the poet's vanity; the world contending against the family for him had -won. - - -"M. le Comte Sixte du Chatelet and Mme. la Comtesse du Chatelet request -the honor of M. Lucien Chardon's company at dinner on the fifteenth of -September. R. S. V. P." - - -Enclosed with the invitation there was a card-- - - - LE COMTE SIXTE DU CHATELET, - Gentleman of the Bedchamber, Prefect of the Charente, - Councillor of State. - - -"You are in favor," said old Sechard; "they are talking about you in the -town as if you were somebody! Angouleme and L'Houmeau are disputing as -to which shall twist wreaths for you." - -"Eve, dear," Lucien whispered to his sister, "I am exactly in the same -condition as I was before in L'Houmeau when Mme. de Bargeton sent me -the first invitation--I have not a dress suit for the prefect's -dinner-party." - -"Do you really mean to accept the invitation?" Eve asked in alarm, and a -dispute sprang up between the brother and sister. Eve's provincial good -sense told her that if you appear in society, it must be with a smiling -face and faultless costume. "What will come of the prefect's dinner?" -she wondered. "What has Lucien to do with the great people of Angouleme? -Are they plotting something against him?" but she kept these thoughts to -herself. - -Lucien spoke the last word at bedtime: "You do not know my influence. -The prefect's wife stands in fear of a journalist; and besides, Louise -de Negrepelisse lives on in the Comtesse du Chatelet, and a woman -with her influence can rescue David. I am going to tell her about my -brother's invention, and it would be a mere nothing to her to obtain a -subsidy of ten thousand francs from the Government for him." - -At eleven o'clock that night the whole household was awakened by the -town band, reinforced by the military band from the barracks. The Place -du Murier was full of people. The young men of Angouleme were giving -Lucien Chardon de Rubempre a serenade. Lucien went to his sister's -window and made a speech after the last performance. - -"I thank my fellow-townsmen for the honor that they do me," he said in -the midst of a great silence; "I will strive to be worthy of it; they -will pardon me if I say no more; I am so much moved by this incident -that I cannot speak." - -"Hurrah for the writer of _The Archer of Charles IX._! . . . Hurrah for -the poet of the _Marguerites_! . . . Long live Lucien de Rubempre!" - -After these three salvos, taken up by some few voices, three crowns and -a quantity of bouquets were adroitly flung into the room through the -open window. Ten minutes later the Place du Murier was empty, and -silence prevailed in the streets. - -"I would rather have ten thousand francs," said old Sechard, fingering -the bouquets and garlands with a satirical expression. "You gave them -daisies, and they give you posies in return; you deal in flowers." - -"So that is your opinion of the honors shown me by my fellow-townsmen, -is it?" asked Lucien. All his melancholy had left him, his face was -radiant with good humor. "If you knew mankind, Papa Sechard, you would -see that no moment in one's life comes twice. Such a triumph as this can -only be due to genuine enthusiasm! . . . My dear mother, my good sister, -this wipes out many mortifications." - -Lucien kissed them; for when joy overflows like a torrent flood, we -are fain to pour it out into a friend's heart. "When an author is -intoxicated with success, he will hug his porter if there is nobody else -on hand," according to Bixiou. - -"Why, darling, why are you crying?" he said, looking into Eve's face. -"Ah! I know, you are crying for joy!" - -"Oh me!" said her mother, shaking her head as she spoke. "Lucien has -forgotten everything already; not merely his own troubles, but ours as -well." - -Mother and daughter separated, and neither dared to utter all her -thoughts. - -In a country eaten up with the kind of social insubordination disguised -by the word Equality, a triumph of any kind whatsoever is a sort of -miracle which requires, like some other miracles for that matter, the -co-operation of skilled labor. Out of ten ovations offered to ten living -men, selected for this distinction by a grateful country, you may be -quite sure that nine are given from considerations connected as remotely -as possible with the conspicuous merits of the renowned recipient. What -was Voltaire's apotheosis at the Theatre-Francais but the triumph of -eighteenth century philosophy? A triumph in France means that everybody -else feels that he is adorning his own temples with the crown that he -sets on the idol's head. - -The women's presentiments proved correct. The distinguished provincial's -reception was antipathetic to Angoumoisin immobility; it was too -evidently got up by some interested persons or by enthusiastic stage -mechanics, a suspicious combination. Eve, moreover, like most of her -sex, was distrustful by instinct, even when reason failed to justify her -suspicions to herself. "Who can be so fond of Lucien that he could rouse -the town for him?" she wondered as she fell asleep. "The _Marguerites_ -are not published yet; how can they compliment him on a future success?" - -The ovation was, in fact, the work of Petit-Claud. - -Petit-Claud had dined with Mme. de Senonches, for the first time, on the -evening of the day that brought the cure of Marsac to Angouleme with the -news of Lucien's return. That same evening he made formal application -for the hand of Mlle. de la Haye. It was a family dinner, one of the -solemn occasions marked not so much by the number of the guests as by -the splendor of their toilettes. Consciousness of the performance -weighs upon the family party, and every countenance looks significant. -Francoise was on exhibition. Mme. de Senonches had sported her most -elaborate costume for the occasion; M. du Hautoy wore a black coat; M. -de Senonches had returned from his visit to the Pimentels on the receipt -of a note from his wife, informing him that Mme. du Chatelet was to -appear at their house for the first time since her arrival, and that -a suitor in form for Francoise would appear on the scenes. Boniface -Cointet also was there, in his best maroon coat of clerical cut, with a -diamond pin worth six thousand francs displayed in his shirt frill--the -revenge of the rich merchant upon a poverty-stricken aristocracy. - -Petit-Claud himself, scoured and combed, had carefully removed his gray -hairs, but he could not rid himself of his wizened air. The puny little -man of law, tightly buttoned into his clothes, reminded you of a torpid -viper; for if hope had brought a spark of life into his magpie eyes, his -face was icily rigid, and so well did he assume an air of gravity, that -an ambitious public prosecutor could not have been more dignified. - -Mme. de Senonches had told her intimate friends that her ward would meet -her betrothed that evening, and that Mme. du Chatelet would appear -at the Hotel de Senonches for the first time; and having particularly -requested them to keep these matters secret, she expected to find -her rooms crowded. The Comte and Comtesse du Chatelet had left cards -everywhere officially, but they meant the honor of a personal visit to -play a part in their policy. So aristocratic Angouleme was in such -a prodigious ferment of curiosity, that certain of the Chandour camp -proposed to go to the Hotel de Bargeton that evening. (They persistently -declined to call the house by its new name.) - -Proofs of the Countess' influence had stirred up ambition in many -quarters; and not only so, it was said that the lady had changed so -much for the better that everybody wished to see and judge for himself. -Petit-Claud learned great news on the way to the house; Cointet told him -that Zephirine had asked leave to present her dear Francoise's -betrothed to the Countess, and that the Countess had granted the -favor. Petit-Claud had seen at once that Lucien's return put Louise de -Negrepelisse in a false position; and now, in a moment, he flattered -himself that he saw a way to take advantage of it. - -M. and Mme. de Senonches had undertaken such heavy engagements when they -bought the house, that, in provincial fashion, they thought it imprudent -to make any changes in it. So when Madame du Chatelet was announced, -Zephirine went up to her with--"Look, dear Louise, you are still in your -old home!" indicating, as she spoke, the little chandelier, the paneled -wainscot, and the furniture, which once had dazzled Lucien. - -"I wish least of all to remember it, dear," Madame la Prefete answered -graciously, looking round on the assemblage. - -Every one admitted that Louise de Negrepelisse was not like the same -woman. If the provincial had undergone a change, the woman herself -had been transformed by those eighteen months in Paris, by the first -happiness of a still recent second marriage, and the kind of dignity -that power confers. The Comtesse du Chatelet bore the same resemblance -to Mme. de Bargeton that a girl of twenty bears to her mother. - -She wore a charming cap of lace and flowers, fastened by a -diamond-headed pin; the ringlets that half hid the contours of her face -added to her look of youth, and suited her style of beauty. Her foulard -gown, designed by the celebrated Victorine, with a pointed bodice, -exquisitely fringed, set off her figure to advantage; and a silken -lace scarf, adroitly thrown about a too long neck, partly concealed her -shoulders. She played with the dainty scent-bottle, hung by a chain from -her bracelet; she carried her fan and her handkerchief with ease--pretty -trifles, as dangerous as a sunken reef for the provincial dame. The -refined taste shown in the least details, the carriage and manner -modeled upon Mme. d'Espard, revealed a profound study of the Faubourg -Saint-Germain. - -As for the elderly beau of the Empire, he seemed since his marriage to -have followed the example of the species of melon that turns from green -to yellow in a night. All the youth that Sixte had lost seemed to appear -in his wife's radiant countenance; provincial pleasantries passed from -ear to ear, circulating the more readily because the women were furious -at the new superiority of the sometime queen of Angouleme; and the -persistent intruder paid the penalty of his wife's offence. - -The rooms were almost as full as on that memorable evening of Lucien's -readings from Chenier. Some faces were missing: M. de Chandour and -Amelie, M. de Pimental and the Rastignacs--and M. de Bargeton was no -longer there; but the Bishop came, as before, with his vicars-general -in his train. Petit-Claud was much impressed by the sight of the great -world of Angouleme. Four months ago he had no hope of entering the -circle, to-day he felt his detestation of "the classes" sensibly -diminished. He thought the Comtesse du Chatelet a most fascinating -woman. "It is she who can procure me the appointment of deputy public -prosecutor," he said to himself. - -Louise chatted for an equal length of time with each of the women; her -tone varied with the importance of the person addressed and the position -taken up by the latter with regard to her journey to Paris with Lucien. -The evening was half over when she withdrew to the boudoir with the -Bishop. Zephirine came over to Petit-Claud, and laid her hand on his -arm. His heart beat fast as his hostess brought him to the room where -Lucien's troubles first began, and were now about to come to a crisis. - -"This is M. Petit-Claud, dear; I recommend him to you the more warmly -because anything that you may do for him will doubtless benefit my -ward." - -"You are an attorney, are you not, monsieur?" said the august -Negrepelisse, scanning Petit-Claud. - -"Alas! yes, _Madame la Comtesse_." (The son of the tailor in L'Houmeau -had never once had occasion to use those three words in his life before, -and his mouth was full of them.) "But it rests with you, Madame la -Comtesse, whether or no I shall act for the Crown. M. Milaud is going to -Nevers, it is said----" - -"But a man is usually second deputy and then first deputy, is he not?" -broke in the Countess. "I should like to see you in the first deputy's -place at once. But I should like first to have some assurance of your -devotion to the cause of our legitimate sovereigns, to religion, and -more especially to M. de Villele, if I am to interest myself on your -behalf to obtain the favor." - -Petit-Claud came nearer. "Madame," he said in her ear, "I am the man to -yield the King absolute obedience." - -"That is just what _we_ want to-day," said the Countess, drawing back -a little to make him understand that she had no wish for promises given -under his breath. "So long as you satisfy Mme. de Senonches, you can -count upon me," she added, with a royal movement of her fan. - -Petit-Claud looked toward the door of the boudoir, and saw Cointet -standing there. "Madame," he said, "Lucien is here, in Angouleme." - -"Well, sir?" asked the Countess, in tones that would have put an end to -all power of speech in an ordinary man. - -"Mme. la Comtesse does not understand," returned Petit-Claud, bringing -out that most respectful formula again. "How does Mme. la Comtesse wish -that the great man of her making should be received in Angouleme? There -is no middle course; he must be received or despised here." - -This was a dilemma to which Louise de Negrepelisse had never given a -thought; it touched her closely, yet rather for the sake of the past -than of the future. And as for Petit-Claud, his plan for arresting David -Sechard depended upon the lady's actual feelings towards Lucien. He -waited. - -"M. Petit-Claud," said the Countess, with haughty dignity, "you mean -to be on the side of the Government. Learn that the first principle -of government is this--never to have been in the wrong, and that the -instinct of power and the sense of dignity is even stronger in women -than in governments." - -"That is just what I thought, madame," he answered quickly, observing -the Countess meanwhile with attention the more profound because it was -scarcely visible. "Lucien came here in the depths of misery. But if -he must receive an ovation, I can compel him to leave Angouleme by -the means of the ovation itself. His sister and brother-in-law, David -Sechard, are hard pressed for debts." - -In the Countess' haughty face there was a swift, barely perceptible -change; it was not satisfaction, but the repression of satisfaction. -Surprised that Petit-Claud should have guessed her wishes, she gave him -a glance as she opened her fan, and Francoise de la Haye's entrance at -that moment gave her time to find an answer. - -"It will not be long before you are public prosecutor, monsieur," she -said, with a significant smile. That speech did not commit her in any -way, but it was explicit enough. Francoise had come in to thank the -Countess. - -"Oh! madame, then I shall owe the happiness of my life to you," she -exclaimed, bending girlishly to add in the Countess' ear, "To marry a -petty provincial attorney would be like being burned by slow fires." - -It was Francis, with his knowledge of officialdom, who had prompted -Zephirine to make this set upon Louise. - -"In the very earliest days after promotion," so the ex-consul-general -told his fair friend, "everybody, prefect, or monarch, or man of -business, is burning to exert his influence for his friends; but a -patron soon finds out the inconveniences of patronage, and then turns -from fire to ice. Louise will do more now for Petit-Claud than she would -do for her husband in three months' time." - -"Madame la Comtesse is thinking of all that our poet's triumph entails?" -continued Petit-Claud. "She should receive Lucien before there is an end -of the nine-days' wonder." - -The Countess terminated the audience with a bow, and rose to speak -with Mme. de Pimentel, who came to the boudoir. The news of old -Negrepelisse's elevation to a marquisate had greatly impressed the -Marquise; she judged it expedient to be amiable to a woman so clever as -to rise the higher for an apparent fall. - -"Do tell me, dear, why you took the trouble to put your father in -the House of Peers?" said the Marquise, in the course of a little -confidential conversation, in which she bent the knee before the -superiority of "her dear Louise." - -"They were all the more ready to grant the favor because my father has -no son to succeed him, dear, and his vote will always be at the disposal -of the Crown; but if we should have sons, I quite expect that my oldest -will succeed to his grandfather's name, title, and peerage." - -Mme. de Pimentel saw, to her annoyance, that it was idle to expect a -mother ambitious for children not yet in existence to further her own -private designs of raising M. de Pimentel to a peerage. - -"I have the Countess," Petit-Claud told Cointet when they came away. "I -can promise you your partnership. I shall be deputy prosecutor before -the month is out, and Sechard will be in your power. Try to find a buyer -for my connection; it has come to be the first in Angouleme in my hands -during the last five months----" - -"Once put _you_ on the horse, and there is no need to do more," said -Cointet, half jealous of his own work. - -The causes of Lucien's triumphant reception in his native town must now -be plain to everybody. Louise du Chatelet followed the example of that -King of France who left the Duke of Orleans unavenged; she chose to -forget the insults received in Paris by Mme. de Bargeton. She would -patronize Lucien, and overwhelming him with her patronage, would -completely crush him and get rid of him by fair means. Petit-Claud knew -the whole tale of the cabals in Paris through town gossip, and shrewdly -guessed how a woman must hate the man who would not love when she was -fain of his love. - -The ovation justified the past of Louise de Negrepelisse. The next day -Petit-Claud appeared at Mme. Sechard's house, heading a deputation of -six young men of the town, all of them Lucien's schoolfellows. He meant -to finish his work, to intoxicate Lucien completely, and to have him in -his power. Lucien's old schoolfellows at the Angouleme grammar-school -wished to invite the author of the _Marguerites_ and _The Archer of -Charles IX._ to a banquet given in honor of the great man arisen from -their ranks. - -"Come, this is your doing, Petit-Claud!" exclaimed Lucien. - -"Your return has stirred our conceit," said Petit-Claud; "we made it a -point of honor to get up a subscription, and we will have a tremendous -affair for you. The masters and the headmaster will be there, and, at -the present rate, we shall, no doubt, have the authorities too." - -"For what day?" asked Lucien. - -"Sunday next." - -"That is quite out of the question," said Lucien. "I cannot accept an -invitation for the next ten days, but then I will gladly----" - -"Very well," said Petit-Claud, "so be it then, in ten days' time." - -Lucien behaved charmingly to his old schoolfellows, and they regarded -him with almost respectful admiration. He talked away very wittily for -half an hour; he had been set upon a pedestal, and wished to justify the -opinion of his fellow-townsmen; so he stood with his hands thrust into -his pockets, and held forth from the height to which he had been raised. -He was modest and good-natured, as befitted genius in dressing-gown and -slippers; he was the athlete, wearied by a wrestling bout with Paris, -and disenchanted above all things; he congratulated the comrades who had -never left the dear old province, and so forth, and so forth. They were -delighted with him. He took Petit-Claud aside, and asked him for the -real truth about David's affairs, reproaching him for allowing his -brother-in-law to go into hiding, and tried to match his wits against -the little lawyer. Petit-Claud made an effort over himself, and gave -his acquaintance to understand that he (Petit-Claud) was only an -insignificant little country attorney, with no sort of craft nor -subtlety. - -The whole machinery of modern society is so infinitely more complex than -in ancient times, that the subdivision of human faculty is the result. -The great men of the days of old were perforce universal geniuses, -appearing at rare intervals like lighted torches in an antique world. In -the course of ages the intellect began to work on special lines, but the -great man still could "take all knowledge for his province." A man "full -cautelous," as was said of Louis XI., for instance, could apply that -special faculty in every direction, but to-day the single quality is -subdivided, and every profession has its special craft. A peasant or a -pettifogging solicitor might very easily overreach an astute diplomate -over a bargain in some remote country village; and the wiliest -journalist may prove the veriest simpleton in a piece of business. -Lucien could but be a puppet in the hands of Petit-Claud. - -That guileful practitioner, as might have been expected, had written -the article himself; Angouleme and L'Houmeau, thus put on their -mettle, thought it incumbent upon them to pay honor to Lucien. His -fellow-citizens, assembled in the Place du Murier, were Cointets' -workpeople from the papermills and printing-house, with a sprinkling -of Lucien's old schoolfellows and the clerks in the employ of Messieurs -Petit-Claud and Cachan. As for the attorney himself, he was once more -Lucien's chum of old days; and he thought, not without reason, that -before very long he should learn David's whereabouts in some unguarded -moment. And if David came to grief through Lucien's fault, the poet -would find Angouleme too hot to hold him. Petit-Claud meant to secure -his hold; he posed, therefore, as Lucien's inferior. - -"What better could I have done?" he said accordingly. "My old chum's -sister was involved, it is true, but there are some positions that -simply cannot be maintained in a court of law. David asked me on the -first of June to ensure him a quiet life for three months; he had a -quiet life until September, and even so I have kept his property out -of his creditors' power, for I shall gain my case in the Court-Royal; -I contend that the wife is a privileged creditor, and her claim is -absolute, unless there is evidence of intent to defraud. As for you, -you have come back in misfortune, but you are a genius."--(Lucien turned -about as if the incense were burned too close to his face.)--"Yes, my -dear fellow, a _genius_. I have read your _Archer of Charles IX._; it -is more than a romance, it is literature. Only two living men could have -written the preface--Chateaubriand and Lucien." - -Lucien accepted that d'Arthez had written the preface. Ninety-nine -writers out of a hundred would have done the same. - -"Well, nobody here seemed to have heard of you!" Petit-Claud continued, -with apparent indignation. "When I saw the general indifference, I made -up my mind to change all that. I wrote that article in the paper----" - -"What? did you write it?" exclaimed Lucien. - -"I myself. Angouleme and L'Houmeau were stirred to rivalry; I arranged -for a meeting of your old schoolfellows, and got up yesterday's -serenade; and when once the enthusiasm began to grow, we started a -committee for the dinner. 'If David is in hiding,' said I to myself, -'Lucien shall be crowned at any rate.' And I have done even better than -that," continued Petit-Claud; "I have seen the Comtesse du Chatelet and -made her understand that she owes it to herself to extricate David from -his position; she can do it, and she ought to do it. If David had really -discovered the secret of which he spoke to me, the Government ought to -lend him a hand, it would not ruin the Government; and think what a fine -thing for a prefect to have half the credit of the great invention -for the well-timed help. It would set people talking about him as an -enlightened administrator.--Your sister has taken fright at our musketry -practice; she was scared of the smoke. A battle in the law-courts costs -quite as much as a battle on the field; but David has held his ground, -he has his secret. They cannot stop him, and they will not pull him up -now." - -"Thanks, my dear fellow; I see that I can take you into my confidence; -you shall help me to carry out my plan." - -Petit-Claud looked at Lucien, and his gimlet face was a point of -interrogation. - -"I intend to rescue Sechard," Lucien said, with a certain importance. "I -brought his misfortunes upon him; I mean to make full reparation. . . . -I have more influence over Louise----" - -"Who is Louise?" - -"The Comtesse du Chatelet!" - -Petit-Claud started. - -"I have more influence over her than she herself suspects," said Lucien; -"only, my dear fellow, if I can do something with your authorities here, -I have no decent clothes."--Petit-Claud made as though he would offer -his purse. - -"Thank you," said Lucien, grasping Petit-Claud's hand. "In ten days' -time I will pay a visit to the Countess and return your call." - -The shook hands like old comrades, and separated. - -"He ought to be a poet" said Petit-Claud to himself; "he is quite mad." - -"There are no friends like one's school friends; it is a true saying," -Lucien thought at he went to find his sister. - -"What can Petit-Claud have promised to do that you should be so friendly -with him, my Lucien?" asked Eve. "Be on your guard with him." - -"With _him_?" cried Lucien. "Listen, Eve," he continued, seeming to -bethink himself; "you have no faith in me now; you do not trust me, so -it is not likely you will trust Petit-Claud; but in ten or twelve days -you will change your mind," he added, with a touch of fatuity. And he -went to his room, and indited the following epistle to Lousteau:-- - - - _Lucien to Lousteau._ - - "MY FRIEND,--Of the pair of us, I alone can remember that bill for - a thousand francs that I once lent you; and I know how things will - be with you when you open this letter too well, alas! not to add - immediately that I do not expect to be repaid in current coin of - the realm; no, I will take it in credit from you, just as one - would ask Florine for pleasure. We have the same tailor; - therefore, you can order a complete outfit for me on the shortest - possible notice. I am not precisely wearing Adam's costume, but I - cannot show myself here. To my astonishment, the honors paid by - the departments to a Parisian celebrity awaited me. I am the hero - of a banquet, for all the world as if I were a Deputy of the Left. - Now, after that, do you understand that I must have a black coat? - Promise to pay; have it put down to your account, try the - advertisement dodge, rehearse an unpublished scene between Don - Juan and M. Dimanche, for I must have a gala suit at all costs. I - have nothing, nothing but rags: start with that; it is August, the - weather is magnificent, ergo see that I receive by the end of the - week a charming morning suit, dark bronze-green jacket, and three - waistcoats, one a brimstone yellow, one a plaid, and the third - must be white; furthermore, let there be three pairs of trousers - of the most fetching kind--one pair of white English stuff, one - pair of nankeen, and a third of thin black kerseymere; lastly, - send a black dress-coat and a black satin waistcoat. If you have - picked up another Florine somewhere, I beg her good offices for - two cravats. So far this is nothing; I count upon you and your - skill in these matters; I am not much afraid of the tailor. But - the ingenuity of poverty, assuredly the most active of all poisons - at work in the system of man (_id est_ the Parisian), an ingenuity - that would catch Satan himself napping, has failed so far to - discover a way to obtain a hat on credit!--How many a time, my - dear friend, have we deplored this! When one of us shall bring a - hat that costs one thousand francs into fashion, then, and not - till then, can we afford to wear them; until that day comes we are - bound to have cash enough in our pockets to pay for a hat. Ah! - what an ill turn the Comedie-Francaise did us with, 'Lafleur, you - will put gold in my pockets!' - - "I write with a profound sense of all the difficulties involved by - the demand. Enclose with the above a pair of boots, a pair of - pumps, a hat, half a dozen pairs of gloves. 'Tis asking the - impossible; I know it. But what is a literary life but a - periodical recurrence of the impossible? Work the miracle, write a - long article, or play some small scurvy trick, and I will hold - your debt as fully discharged--this is all I say to you. It is a - debt of honor after all, my dear fellow, and due these twelve - months; you ought to blush for yourself if you have any blushes - left. - - "Joking apart, my dear Lousteau, I am in serious difficulties, as - you may judge for yourself when I tell you that Mme. de Bargeton - has married Chatelet, and Chatelet is prefect of Angouleme. The - precious pair can do a good deal for my brother-in-law; he is in - hiding at this moment on account of that letter of exchange, and - the horrid business is all my doing. So it is a question of - appearing before Mme. la Prefete and regaining my influence at all - costs. It is shocking, is it not, that David Sechard's fate should - hang upon a neat pair of shoes, a pair of open-worked gray silk - stockings (mind you, remember them), and a new hat? I shall give - out that I am sick and ill, and take to my bed, like Duvicquet, to - save the trouble of replying to the pressing invitations of my - fellow-townsmen. My fellow-townsmen, dear boy, have treated me to - a fine serenade. _My fellow-townsmen_, forsooth! I begin to wonder - how many fools go to make up that word, since I learned that two - or three of my old schoolfellows worked up the capital of the - Angoumois to this pitch of enthusiasm. - - "If you could contrive to slip a few lines as to my reception in - among the news items, I should be several inches taller for it - here; and besides, I should make Mme. la Prefete feel that, if I - have not friends, I have some credit, at any rate, with the - Parisian press. I give up none of my hopes, and I will return the - compliment. If you want a good, solid, substantial article for - some magazine or other, I have time enough now to think something - out. I only say the word, my dear friend; I count upon you as you - may count upon me, and I am yours sincerely. - - "LUCIEN DE R. - - "P. S.--Send the things to the coach office to wait until called - for." - - -Lucien held up his head again. In this mood he wrote the letter, and as -he wrote his thoughts went back to Paris. He had spent six days in the -provinces, and the uneventful quietness of provincial life had already -entered into his soul; his mind returned to those dear old miserable -days with a vague sense of regret. The Comtesse du Chatelet filled -his thoughts for a whole week; and at last he came to attach so much -importance to his reappearance, that he hurried down to the coach office -in L'Houmeau after nightfall in a perfect agony of suspense, like a -woman who has set her last hopes upon a new dress, and waits in despair -until it arrives. - -"Ah! Lousteau, all your treasons are forgiven," he said to himself, as -he eyed the packages, and knew from the shape of them that everything -had been sent. Inside the hatbox he found a note from Lousteau:-- - - - FLORINE'S DRAWING-ROOM. - - "MY DEAR BOY,--The tailor behaved very well; but as thy profound - retrospective glance led thee to forbode, the cravats, the hats, - and the silk hosen perplexed our souls, for there was nothing in - our purse to be perplexed thereby. As said Blondet, so say we; - there is a fortune awaiting the establishment which will supply - young men with inexpensive articles on credit; for when we do not - pay in the beginning, we pay dear in the end. And by the by, did - not the great Napoleon, who missed a voyage to the Indies for want - of boots, say that, 'If a thing is easy, it is never done?' So - everything went well--except the boots. I beheld a vision of thee, - fully dressed, but without a hat! appareled in waistcoats, yet - shoeless! and bethought me of sending a pair of moccasins given to - Florine as a curiosity by an American. Florine offered the huge - sum of forty francs, that we might try our luck at play for you. - Nathan, Blondet, and I had such luck (as we were not playing for - ourselves) that we were rich enough to ask La Torpille, des - Lupeaulx's sometime 'rat,' to supper. Frascati certainly owed us - that much. Florine undertook the shopping, and added three fine - shirts to the purchases. Nathan sends you a cane. Blondet, who won - three hundred francs, is sending you a gold chain; and the gold - watch, the size of a forty-franc piece, is from La Torpille; some - idiot gave the thing to her, and it will not go. 'Trumpery - rubbish,' she says, 'like the man that owned it.' Bixiou, who came - to find us up at the _Rocher de Cancale_, wished to enclose a bottle - of Portugal water in the package. Said our first comic man, 'If - this can make him happy, let him have it!' growling it out in a - deep bass voice with the _bourgeois_ pomposity that he can act to - the life. Which things, my dear boy, ought to prove to you how - much we care for our friends in adversity. Florine, whom I have - had the weakness to forgive, begs you to send us an article on - Nathan's hat. Fare thee well, my son. I can only commiserate you - on finding yourself back in the same box from which you emerged - when you discovered your old comrade. - - "ETIENNE L." - - -"Poor fellows! They have been gambling for me," said Lucien; he was -quite touched by the letter. A waft of the breeze from an unhealthy -country, from the land where one has suffered most, may seem to bring -the odors of Paradise; and in a dull life there is an indefinable -sweetness in memories of past pain. - -Eve was struck dumb with amazement when her brother came down in his new -clothes. She did not recognize him. - -"Now I can walk out in Beaulieu," he cried; "they shall not say it of me -that I came back in rags. Look, here is a watch which I shall return to -you, for it is mine; and, like its owner, it is erratic in its ways." - -"What a child he is!" exclaimed Eve. "It is impossible to bear you any -grudge." - -"Then do you imagine, my dear girl, that I sent for all this with the -silly idea of shining in Angouleme? I don't care _that_ for Angouleme" -(twirling his cane with the engraved gold knob). "I intend to repair the -wrong I have done, and this is my battle array." - -Lucien's success in this kind was his one real triumph; but the triumph, -be it said, was immense. If admiration freezes some people's tongues, -envy loosens at least as many more, and if women lost their heads over -Lucien, men slandered him. He might have cried, in the words of -the songwriter, "I thank thee, my coat!" He left two cards at the -prefecture, and another upon Petit-Claud. The next day, the day of the -banquet, the following paragraph appeared under the heading "Angouleme" -in the Paris newspapers:-- - - - "ANGOULEME. - - "The return of the author of _The Archer of Charles IX._ has been - the signal for an ovation which does equal honor to the town and - to M. Lucien de Rubempre, the young poet who has made so brilliant - a beginning; the writer of the one French historical novel not - written in the style of Scott, and of a preface which may be - called a literary event. The town hastened to offer him a - patriotic banquet on his return. The name of the - recently-appointed prefect is associated with the public - demonstration in honor of the author of the _Marguerites_, whose - talent received such warm encouragement from Mme. du Chatelet at - the outset of his career." - - -In France, when once the impulse is given, nobody can stop. The -colonel of the regiment offered to put his band at the disposal of the -committee. The landlord of the _Bell_ (renowned for truffled turkeys, -despatched in the most wonderful porcelain jars to the uttermost parts -of the earth), the famous innkeeper of L'Houmeau, would supply the -repast. At five o'clock some forty persons, all in state and festival -array, were assembled in his largest ball, decorated with hangings, -crowns of laurel, and bouquets. The effect was superb. A crowd of -onlookers, some hundred persons, attracted for the most part by the -military band in the yard, represented the citizens of Angouleme. - -Petit-Claud went to the window. "All Angouleme is here," he said, -looking out. - -"I can make nothing of this," remarked little Postel to his wife -(they had come out to hear the band play). "Why, the prefect and the -receiver-general, and the colonel and the superintendent of the powder -factory, and our mayor and deputy, and the headmaster of the school, -and the manager of the foundry at Ruelle, and the public prosecutor, M. -Milaud, and all the authorities, have just gone in!" - -The bank struck up as they sat down to table with variations on the air -_Vive le roy, vive la France_, a melody which has never found popular -favor. It was then five o'clock in the evening; it was eight o'clock -before dessert was served. Conspicuous among the sixty-five dishes -appeared an Olympus in confectionery, surmounted by a figure of France -modeled in chocolate, to give the signal for toasts and speeches. - -"Gentlemen," called the prefect, rising to his feet, "the King! the -rightful ruler of France! To what do we owe the generation of poets and -thinkers who maintain the sceptre of letters in the hands of France, if -not to the peace which the Bourbons have restored----" - -"Long live the King!" cried the assembled guests (ministerialists -predominated). - -The venerable headmaster rose. - -"To the hero of the day," he said, "to the young poet who combines the -gift of the _prosateur_ with the charm and poetic faculty of Petrarch in -that sonnet-form which Boileau declares to be so difficult." - -Cheers. - -The colonel rose next. "Gentlemen, to the Royalist! for the hero of this -evening had the courage to fight for sound principles!" - -"Bravo!" cried the prefect, leading the applause. - -Then Petit-Claud called upon all Lucien's schoolfellows there present. -"To the pride of the grammar-school of Angouleme! to the venerable -headmaster so dear to us all, to whom the acknowledgment for some part -of our triumph is due!" - -The old headmaster dried his eyes; he had not expected this toast. -Lucien rose to his feet, the whole room was suddenly silent, and the -poet's face grew white. In that pause the old headmaster, who sat on his -left, crowned him with a laurel wreath. A round of applause followed, -and when Lucien spoke it was with tears in his eyes and a sob in his -throat. - -"He is drunk," remarked the attorney-general-designate to his neighbor, -Petit-Claud. - -"My dear fellow-countrymen, my dear comrades," Lucien said at last, "I -could wish that all France might witness this scene; for thus men rise -to their full stature, and in such ways as these our land demands great -deeds and noble work of us. And when I think of the little that I -have done, and of this great honor shown to me to-day, I can only -feel confused and impose upon the future the task of justifying your -reception of me. The recollection of this moment will give me renewed -strength for efforts to come. Permit me to indicate for your homage my -earliest muse and protectress, and to associate her name with that of -my birthplace; so--to the Comtesse du Chatelet and the noble town of -Angouleme!" - -"He came out of that pretty well!" said the public prosecutor, nodding -approval; "our speeches were all prepared, and his was improvised." - -At ten o'clock the party began to break up, and little knots of guests -went home together. David Sechard heard the unwonted music. - -"What is going on in L'Houmeau?" he asked of Basine. - -"They are giving a dinner to your brother-in-law, Lucien----" - -"I know that he would feel sorry to miss me there," he said. - -At midnight Petit-Claud walked home with Lucien. As they reached the -Place du Murier, Lucien said, "Come life, come death, we are friends, my -dear fellow." - -"My marriage contract," said the lawyer, "with Mlle. Francoise de la -Haye will be signed to-morrow at Mme. de Senonches' house; do me the -pleasure of coming. Mme. de Senonches implored me to bring you, and you -will meet Mme. du Chatelet; they are sure to tell her of your speech, -and she will feel flattered by it." - -"I knew what I was about," said Lucien. - -"Oh! you will save David." - -"I am sure I shall," the poet replied. - -Just at that moment David appeared as if by magic in the Place du -Murier. This was how it had come about. He felt that he was in a rather -difficult position; his wife insisted that Lucien must neither go to -David nor know of his hiding-place; and Lucien all the while was writing -the most affectionate letters, saying that in a few days' time all -should be set right; and even as Basine Clerget explained the reason why -the band played, she put two letters into his hands. The first was from -Eve. - - - "DEAREST," she wrote, "do as if Lucien were not here; do not - trouble yourself in the least; our whole security depends upon the - fact that your enemies cannot find you; get that idea firmly into - your head. I have more confidence in Kolb and Marion and Basine - than in my own brother; such is my misfortune. Alas! poor Lucien - is not the ingenuous and tender-hearted poet whom we used to know; - and it is simply because he is trying to interfere on your behalf, - and because he imagines that he can discharge our debts (and this - from pride, my David), that I am afraid of him. Some fine clothes - have been sent from Paris for him, and five gold pieces in a - pretty purse. He gave the money to me, and we are living on it. - - "We have one enemy the less. Your father has gone, thanks to - Petit-Claud. Petit-Claud unraveled his designs, and put an end to - them at once by telling him that you would do nothing without - consulting him, and that he (Petit-Claud) would not allow you to - concede a single point in the matter of the invention until you - had been promised an indemnity of thirty thousand francs; fifteen - thousand to free you from embarrassment, and fifteen thousand more - to be yours in any case, whether your invention succeeds or no. I - cannot understand Petit-Claud. I embrace you, dear, a wife's kiss - for her husband in trouble. Our little Lucien is well. How strange - it is to watch him grow rosy and strong, like a flower, in these - stormy days! Mother prays God for you now, as always, and sends - love only less tender than mine.--Your - "EVE." - - -As a matter of fact, Petit-Claud and the Cointets had taken fright at -old Sechard's peasant shrewdness, and got rid of him so much the more -easily because it was now vintage time at Marsac. Eve's letter enclosed -another from Lucien:-- - - - "MY DEAR DAVID,--Everything is going well. I am armed _cap-a-pie_; - to-day I open the campaign, and in forty-eight hours I shall have - made great progress. How glad I shall be to embrace you when you - are free again and my debts are all paid! My mother and sister - persist in mistrusting me; their suspicion wounds me to the quick. - As if I did not know already that you are hiding with Basine, for - every time that Basine comes to the house I hear news of you and - receive answers to my letters; and besides, it is plain that my - sister could not find any one else to trust. It hurts me cruelly - to think that I shall be so near you to-day, and yet that you will - not be present at this banquet in my honor. I owe my little - triumph to the vainglory of Angouleme; in a few days it will be - quite forgotten, and you alone would have taken a real pleasure in - it. But, after all, in a little while you will pardon everything - to one who counts it more than all the triumphs in the world to be - your brother, - "LUCIEN." - - -Two forces tugged sharply at David's heart; he adored his wife; and -if he held Lucien in somewhat less esteem, his friendship was scarcely -diminished. In solitude our feelings have unrestricted play; and a man -preoccupied like David, with all-absorbing thoughts, will give way -to impulses for which ordinary life would have provided a sufficient -counterpoise. As he read Lucien's letter to the sound of military music, -and heard of this unlooked-for recognition, he was deeply touched by -that expression of regret. He had known how it would be. A very slight -expression of feeling appeals irresistibly to a sensitive soul, for -they are apt to credit others with like depths. How should the drop fall -unless the cup were full to the brim? - -So at midnight, in spite of all Basine's entreaties, David must go to -see Lucien. - -"Nobody will be out in the streets at this time of night," he said; -"I shall not be seen, and they cannot arrest me. Even if I should meet -people, I can make use of Kolb's way of going into hiding. And besides, -it is so intolerably long since I saw my wife and child." - -The reasoning was plausible enough; Basine gave way, and David went. -Petit-Claud was just taking leave as he came up and at his cry of -_"Lucien!"_ the two brothers flung their arms about each other with -tears in their eyes. - -Life holds not many moments such as these. Lucien's heart went out in -response to this friendship for its own sake. There was never question -of debtor and creditor between them, and the offender met with no -reproaches save his own. David, generous and noble that he was, was -longing to bestow pardon; he meant first of all to read Lucien a -lecture, and scatter the clouds that overspread the love of the brother -and sister; and with these ends in view, the lack of money and its -consequent dangers disappeared entirely from his mind. - -"Go home," said Petit-Claud, addressing his client; "take advantage of -your imprudence to see your wife and child again, at any rate; and you -must not be seen, mind you!--How unlucky!" he added, when he was alone -in the Place du Murier. "If only Cerizet were here----" - -The buildings magniloquently styled the Angouleme Law Courts were then -in process of construction. Petit-Claud muttered these words to himself -as he passed by the hoardings, and heard a tap upon the boards, and a -voice issuing from a crack between two planks. - -"Here I am," said Cerizet; "I saw David coming out of L'Houmeau. I was -beginning to have my suspicions about his retreat, and now I am sure; -and I know where to have him. But I want to know something of Lucien's -plans before I set the snare for David; and here are you sending him -into the house! Find some excuse for stopping here, at least, and when -David and Lucien come out, send them round this way; they will think -they are quite alone, and I shall overhear their good-bye." - -"You are a very devil," muttered Petit-Claud. - -"Well, I'm blessed if a man wouldn't do anything for the thing you -promised me." - -Petit-Claud walked away from the hoarding, and paced up and down in the -Place du Murier; he watched the windows of the room where the family -sat together, and thought of his own prospects to keep up his courage. -Cerizet's cleverness had given him the chance of striking the final -blow. Petit-Claud was a double-dealer of the profoundly cautious -stamp that is never caught by the bait of a present satisfaction, nor -entangled by a personal attachment, after his first initiation into the -strategy of self-seeking and the instability of the human heart. So, -from the very first, he had put little trust in Cointet. He foresaw that -his marriage negotiations might very easily be broken off, saw also that -in that case he could not accuse Cointet of bad faith, and he had -taken his measures accordingly. But since his success at the Hotel de -Bargeton, Petit-Claud's game was above board. A certain under-plot of -his was useless now, and even dangerous to a man with his political -ambitions. He had laid the foundations of his future importance in the -following manner:-- - -Gannerac and a few of the wealthy men of business in L'Houmeau formed -a sort of Liberal clique in constant communication (through commercial -channels) with the leaders of the Opposition. The Villele ministry, -accepted by the dying Louis XVIII., gave the signal for a change of -tactics in the Opposition camp; for, since the death of Napoleon, the -liberals had ceased to resort to the dangerous expedient of conspiracy. -They were busy organizing resistance by lawful means throughout the -provinces, and aiming at securing control of the great bulk of electors -by convincing the masses. Petit-Claud, a rabid Liberal, and a man of -L'Houmeau, was the instigator, the secret counselor, and the very life -of this movement in the lower town, which groaned under the tyranny of -the aristocrats at the upper end. He was the first to see the danger -of leaving the whole press of the department in the control of the -Cointets; the Opposition must have its organ; it would not do to be -behind other cities. - -"If each one of us gives Gannerac a bill for five hundred francs, -he would have some twenty thousand francs and more; we might buy -up Sechard's printing-office, and we could do as we liked with the -master-printer if we lent him the capital," Petit-Claud had said. - -Others had taken up the idea, and in this way Petit-Claud strengthened -his position with regard to David on the one side and the Cointets on -the other. Casting about him for a tool for his party, he naturally -thought that a rogue of Cerizet's calibre was the very man for the -purpose. - -"If you can find Sechard's hiding-place and put him in our hands, -somebody will lend you twenty thousand francs to buy his business, and -very likely there will be a newspaper to print. So, set about it," he -had said. - -Petit-Claud put more faith in Cerizet's activity than in all the -Doublons in existence; and then it was that he promised Cointet that -Sechard should be arrested. But now that the little lawyer cherished -hopes of office, he saw that he must turn his back upon the Liberals; -and, meanwhile, the amount for the printing-office had been subscribed -in L'Houmeau. Petit-Claud decided to allow things to take their natural -course. - -"Pooh!" he thought, "Cerizet will get into trouble with his paper, and -give me an opportunity of displaying my talents." - -He walked up to the door of the printing-office and spoke to Kolb, the -sentinel. "Go up and warn David that he had better go now," he said, -"and take every precaution. I am going home; it is one o'clock." - -Marion came to take Kolb's place. Lucien and David came down together -and went out, Kolb a hundred paces ahead of them, and Marion at the -same distance behind. The two friends walked past the hoarding, Lucien -talking eagerly the while. - -"My plan is extremely simple, David; but how could I tell you about it -while Eve was there? She would never understand. I am quite sure that at -the bottom of Louise's heart there is a feeling that I can rouse, and I -should like to arouse it if it is only to avenge myself upon that idiot -the prefect. If our love affair only lasts for a week, I will contrive -to send an application through her for the subvention of twenty thousand -francs for you. I am going to see her again to-morrow in the little -boudoir where our old affair of the heart began; Petit-Claud says that -the room is the same as ever; I shall play my part in the comedy; and I -will send word by Basine to-morrow morning to tell you whether the -actor was hissed. You may be at liberty by then, who knows?--Now do you -understand how it was that I wanted clothes from Paris? One cannot act -the lover's part in rags." - -At six o'clock that morning Cerizet went to Petit-Claud. - -"Doublon can be ready to take his man to-morrow at noon, I will -answer for it," he said; "I know one of Mlle. Clerget's girls, do you -understand?" Cerizet unfolded his plan, and Petit-Claud hurried to find -Cointet. - -"If M. Francis du Hautoy will settle his property on Francoise, you -shall sign a deed of partnership with Sechard in two days. I shall not -be married for a week after the contract is signed, so we shall both -be within the terms of our little agreement, tit for tat. To-night, -however, we must keep a close watch over Lucien and Mme. la Comtesse du -Chatelet, for the whole business lies in that. . . . If Lucien hopes to -succeed through the Countess' influence, I have David safe----" - -"You will be Keeper of the Seals yet, it is my belief," said Cointet. - -"And why not? No one objects to M. de Peyronnet," said Petit-Claud. He -had not altogether sloughed his skin of Liberalism. - -Mlle. de la Haye's ambiguous position brought most of the upper town -to the signing of the marriage contract. The comparative poverty of the -young couple and the absence of a _corbeille_ quickened the interest -that people love to exhibit; for it is with beneficence as with -ovations, we prefer the deeds of charity which gratify self-love. The -Marquise de Pimentel, the Comtesse du Chatelet, M. de Senonches, and -one or two frequenters of the house had given Francoise a few wedding -presents, which made great talk in the city. These pretty trifles, -together with the trousseau which Zephirine had been preparing for the -past twelve months, the godfather's jewels, and the usual wedding -gifts, consoled Francoise and roused the curiosity of some mothers of -daughters. - -Petit-Claud and Cointet had both remarked that their presence in -the Angouleme Olympus was endured rather than courted. Cointet was -Francoise's trustee and quasi-guardian; and if Petit-Claud was to sign -the contract, Petit-Claud's presence was as necessary as the attendance -of the man to be hanged at an execution; but though, once married, Mme. -Petit-Claud might keep her right of entry to her godmother's house, -Petit-Claud foresaw some difficulty on his own account, and resolved to -be beforehand with these haughty personages. - -He felt ashamed of his parents. He had sent his mother to stay at -Mansle; now he begged her to say that she was out of health and to give -her consent in writing. So humiliating was it to be without relations, -protectors, or witnesses to his signature, that Petit-Claud thought -himself in luck that he could bring a presentable friend at the -Countess' request. He called to take up Lucien, and they drove to the -Hotel de Bargeton. - -On that memorable evening the poet dressed to outshine every man -present. Mme. de Senonches had spoken of him as the hero of the hour, -and a first interview between two estranged lovers is the kind of scene -that provincials particularly love. Lucien had come to be the lion -of the evening; he was said to be so handsome, so much changed, so -wonderful, that every well-born woman in Angouleme was curious to see -him again. Following the fashion of the transition period between the -eighteenth century small clothes and the vulgar costume of the present -day, he wore tight-fitting black trousers. Men still showed their -figures in those days, to the utter despair of lean, clumsily-made -mortals; and Lucien was an Apollo. The open-work gray silk stockings, -the neat shoes, and the black satin waistcoat were scrupulously drawn -over his person, and seemed to cling to him. His forehead looked the -whiter by contrast with the thick, bright curls that rose above it -with studied grace. The proud eyes were radiant. The hands, small as -a woman's, never showed to better advantage than when gloved. He had -modeled himself upon de Marsay, the famous Parisian dandy, holding -his hat and cane in one hand, and keeping the other free for the very -occasional gestures which illustrated his talk. - -Lucien had quite intended to emulate the famous false modesty of those -who bend their heads to pass beneath the Porte Saint-Denis, and to slip -unobserved into the room; but Petit-Claud, having but one friend, made -him useful. He brought Lucien almost pompously through a crowded room -to Mme. de Senonches. The poet heard a murmur as he passed; not so very -long ago that hum of voices would have turned his head, to-day he was -quite different; he did not doubt that he himself was greater than the -whole Olympus put together. - -"Madame," he said, addressing Mme. de Senonches, "I have already -congratulated my friend Petit-Claud (a man with the stuff in him of -which Keepers of the Seals are made) on the honor of his approaching -connection with you, slight as are the ties between godmother and -goddaughter----" (this with the air of a man uttering an epigram, by -no means lost upon any woman in the room, for every woman was listening -without appearing to do so.) "And as for myself," he continued, "I am -delighted to have the opportunity of paying my homage to you." - -He spoke easily and fluently, as some great lord might speak under the -roof of his inferiors; and as he listened to Zephirine's involved reply, -he cast a glance over the room to consider the effect that he wished -to make. The pause gave him time to discover Francis du Hautoy and the -prefect; to bow gracefully to each with the proper shade of difference -in his smile, and, finally, to approach Mme. du Chatelet as if he -had just caught sight of her. That meeting was the real event of the -evening. No one so much as thought of the marriage contract lying in -the adjoining bedroom, whither Francoise and the notary led guest -after guest to sign the document. Lucien made a step towards Louise de -Negrepelisse, and then spoke with that grace of manner now associated, -for her, with memories of Paris. - -"Do I owe to you, madame, the pleasure of an invitation to dine at the -Prefecture the day after to-morrow?" he said. - -"You owe it solely to your fame, monsieur," Louise answered drily, -somewhat taken aback by the turn of a phrase by which Lucien -deliberately tried to wound her pride. - -"Ah! Madame la Comtesse, I cannot bring you the guest if the man is in -disgrace," said Lucien, and, without waiting for an answer, he turned -and greeted the Bishop with stately grace. - -"Your lordship's prophecy has been partially fulfilled," he said, and -there was a winning charm in his tones; "I will endeavor to fulfil it to -the letter. I consider myself very fortunate since this evening brings -me an opportunity of paying my respects to you." - -Lucien drew the Bishop into a conversation that lasted for ten minutes. -The women looked on Lucien as a phenomenon. His unexpected insolence -had struck Mme. du Chatelet dumb; she could not find an answer. Looking -round the room, she saw that every woman admired Lucien; she watched -group after group repeating the phrases by which Lucien crushed her with -seeming disdain, and her heart contracted with a spasm of mortification. - -"Suppose that he should not come to the Prefecture after this, what talk -there would be!" she thought. "Where did he learn this pride? Can Mlle. -des Touches have taken a fancy for him? . . . He is so handsome. They -say that she hurried to see him in Paris the day after that actress -died. . . . Perhaps he has come to the rescue of his brother-in-law, and -happened to be behind our caleche at Mansle by accident. Lucien looked -at us very strangely that morning." - -A crowd of thoughts crossed Louise's brain, and unluckily for her, she -continued to ponder visibly as she watched Lucien. He was talking with -the Bishop as if he were the king of the room; making no effort to find -any one out, waiting till others came to him, looking round about him -with varying expression, and as much at his ease as his model de Marsay. -M. de Senonches appeared at no great distance, but Lucien still stood -beside the prelate. - -At the end of ten minutes Louise could contain herself no longer. She -rose and went over to the Bishop and said: - -"What is being said, my lord, that you smile so often?" - -Lucien drew back discreetly, and left Mme. du Chatelet with his -lordship. - -"Ah! Mme. la Comtesse, what a clever young fellow he is! He was -explaining to me that he owed all he is to you----" - -"_I_ am not ungrateful, madame," said Lucien, with a reproachful glance -that charmed the Countess. - -"Let us have an understanding," she said, beckoning him with her fan. -"Come into the boudoir. My Lord Bishop, you shall judge between us." - -"She has found a funny task for his lordship," said one of the Chandour -camp, sufficiently audibly. - -"Judge between us!" repeated Lucien, looking from the prelate to the -lady; "then, is one of us in fault?" - -Louise de Negrepelisse sat down on the sofa in the familiar boudoir. She -made the Bishop sit on one side and Lucien on the other, then she began -to speak. But Lucien, to the joy and surprise of his old love, honored -her with inattention; her words fell unheeded on his ears; he sat like -Pasta in _Tancredi_, with the words _O patria!_ upon her lips, the music -of the great cavatina _Dell Rizzo_ might have passed into his face. -Indeed, Coralie's pupil had contrived to bring the tears to his eyes. - -"Oh! Louise, how I loved you!" he murmured, careless of the Bishop's -presence, heedless of the conversation, as soon as he knew that the -Countess had seen the tears. - -"Dry your eyes, or you will ruin me here a second time," she said in an -aside that horrified the prelate. - -"And once is enough," was Lucien's quick retort. "That speech from Mme. -d'Espard's cousin would dry the eyes of a weeping Magdalene. Oh me! for -a little moment old memories, and lost illusions, and my twentieth year -came back to me, and you have----" - -His lordship hastily retreated to the drawing-room at this; it seemed -to him that his dignity was like to be compromised by this sentimental -pair. Every one ostentatiously refrained from interrupting them, and a -quarter of an hour went by; till at last Sixte du Chatelet, vexed by the -laughter and talk, and excursions to the boudoir door, went in with a -countenance distinctly overclouded, and found Louise and Lucien talking -excitedly. - -"Madame," said Sixte in his wife's ear, "you know Angouleme better than -I do, and surely you should think of your position as Mme. la Prefete -and of the Government?" - -"My dear," said Louise, scanning her responsible editor with a -haughtiness that made him quake, "I am talking with M. de Rubempre of -matters which interest you. It is a question of rescuing an inventor -about to fall a victim to the basest machinations; you will help us. -As to those ladies yonder, and their opinion of me, you shall see how I -will freeze the venom of their tongues." - -She came out of the boudoir on Lucien's arm, and drew him across to sign -the contract with a great lady's audacity. - -"Write your name after mine," she said, handing him the pen. And Lucien -submissively signed in the place indicated beneath her name. - -"M. de Senonches, would you have recognized M. de Rubempre?" she -continued, and the insolent sportsman was compelled to greet Lucien. - -She returned to the drawing-room on Lucien's arm, and seated him on -the awe-inspiring central sofa between herself and Zephirine. -There, enthroned like a queen, she began, at first in a low voice, a -conversation in which epigram evidently was not wanting. Some of her -old friends, and several women who paid court to her, came to join the -group, and Lucien soon became the hero of the circle. The Countess drew -him out on the subject of life in Paris; his satirical talk flowed with -spontaneous and incredible spirit; he told anecdotes of celebrities, -those conversational luxuries which the provincial devours with such -avidity. His wit was as much admired as his good looks. And Mme. la -Comtesse Sixte du Chatelet, preparing Lucien's triumph so patiently, sat -like a player enraptured with the sound of his instrument; she gave him -opportunities for a reply; she looked round the circle for applause so -openly, that not a few of the women began to think that their return -together was something more than a coincidence, and that Lucien and -Louise, loving with all their hearts, had been separated by a double -treason. Pique, very likely, had brought about this ill-starred match -with Chatelet. And a reaction set in against the prefect. - -Before the Countess rose to go at one o'clock in the morning, she -turned to Lucien and said in a low voice, "Do me the pleasure of coming -punctually to-morrow evening." Then, with the friendliest little nod, -she went, saying a few words to Chatelet, who was looking for his hat. - -"If Mme. du Chatelet has given me a correct idea of the state of -affairs, count on me, my dear Lucien," said the prefect, preparing to -hurry after his wife. She was going away without him, after the Paris -fashion. "Your brother-in-law may consider that his troubles are at an -end," he added as he went. - -"M. le Comte surely owes me so much," smiled Lucien. - -Cointet and Petit-Claud heard these farewell speeches. - -"Well, well, we are done for now," Cointet muttered in his confederate's -ear. Petit-Claud, thunderstruck by Lucien's success, amazed by his -brilliant wit and varying charm, was gazing at Francoise de la Haye; -the girl's whole face was full of admiration for Lucien. "Be like your -friend," she seemed to say to her betrothed. A gleam of joy flitted over -Petit-Claud's countenance. - -"We still have a whole day before the prefect's dinner; I will answer -for everything." - -An hour later, as Petit-Claud and Lucien walked home together, -Lucien talked of his success. "Well, my dear fellow, I came, I saw, I -conquered! Sechard will be very happy in a few hours' time." - -"Just what I wanted to know," thought Petit-Claud. Aloud he said--"I -thought you were simply a poet, Lucien, but you are a Lauzun too, that -is to say--twice a poet," and they shook hands--for the last time, as it -proved. - -"Good news, dear Eve," said Lucien, waking his sister, "David will have -no debts in less than a month!" - -"How is that?" - -"Well, my Louise is still hidden by Mme. du Chatelet's petticoat. -She loves me more than ever; she will send a favorable report of our -discovery to the Minister of the Interior through her husband. So we -have only to endure our troubles for one month, while I avenge myself on -the prefect and complete the happiness of his married life." - -Eve listened, and thought that she must be dreaming. - -"I saw the little gray drawing-room where I trembled like a child two -years ago; it seemed as if scales fell from my eyes when I saw the -furniture and the pictures and the faces again. How Paris changes one's -ideas!" - -"Is that a good thing?" asked Eve, at last beginning to understand. - -"Come, come; you are still asleep. We will talk about it to-morrow after -breakfast." - -Cerizet's plot was exceedingly simple, a commonplace stratagem -familiar to the provincial bailiff. Its success entirely depends -upon circumstances, and in this case it was certain, so intimate was -Cerizet's knowledge of the characters and hopes of those concerned. -Cerizet had been a kind of Don Juan among the young work-girls, ruling -his victims by playing one off against another. Since he had been the -Cointet's extra foreman, he had singled out one of Basine Clerget's -assistants, a girl almost as handsome as Mme. Sechard. Henriette -Signol's parents owned a small vineyard two leagues out of Angouleme, -on the road to Saintes. The Signols, like everybody else in the country, -could not afford to keep their only child at home; so they meant her to -go out to service, in country phrase. The art of clear-starching is -a part of every country housemaid's training; and so great was -Mme. Prieur's reputation, that the Signols sent Henriette to her as -apprentice, and paid for their daughter's board and lodging. - -Mme. Prieur was one of the old-fashioned mistresses, who consider that -they fill a parent's place towards their apprentices. They were part of -the family; she took them with her to church, and looked scrupulously -after them. Henriette Signol was a tall, fine-looking girl, with bold -eyes, and long, thick, dark hair, and the pale, very fair complexion -of girls in the South--white as a magnolia flower. For which reasons -Henriette was one of the first on whom Cerizet cast his eyes; but -Henriette came of "honest farmer folk," and only yielded at last to -jealousy, to bad example, and the treacherous promise of subsequent -marriage. By this time Cerizet was the Cointet's foreman. When he -learned that the Signols owned a vineyard worth some ten or twelve -thousand francs, and a tolerably comfortable cottage, he hastened to -make it impossible for Henriette to marry any one else. Affairs had -reached this point when Petit-Claud held out the prospect of a printing -office and twenty thousand francs of borrowed capital, which was to -prove a yoke upon the borrower's neck. Cerizet was dazzled, the offer -turned his head; Henriette Signol was now only an obstacle in the way -of his ambitions, and he neglected the poor girl. Henriette, in her -despair, clung more closely to her seducer as he tried to shake her off. -When Cerizet began to suspect that David was hiding in Basine's house, -his views with regard to Henriette underwent another change, though he -treated her as before. A kind of frenzy works in a girl's brain when she -must marry her seducer to conceal her dishonor, and Cerizet was on the -watch to turn this madness to his own account. - -During the morning of the day when Lucien had set himself to reconquer -his Louise, Cerizet told Basine's secret to Henriette, giving her to -understand at the same time that their marriage and future prospects -depended upon the discovery of David's hiding-place. Thus instructed, -Henriette easily made certain of the fact that David was in Basine -Clerget's inner room. It never occurred to the girl that she was doing -wrong to act the spy, and Cerizet involved her in the guilt of betrayal -by this first step. - -Lucien was still sleeping while Cerizet, closeted with Petit-Claud, -heard the history of the important trifles with which all Angouleme -presently would ring. - -The Cointets' foreman gave a satisfied nod as Petit-Claud came to an -end. "Lucien surely has written you a line since he came back, has he -not?" he asked. - -"This is all that I have," answered the lawyer, and he held out a note -on Mme. Sechard's writing-paper. - -"Very well," said Cerizet, "let Doublon be in wait at the Palet Gate -about ten minutes before sunset; tell him to post his gendarmes, and you -shall have our man." - -"Are you sure of _your_ part of the business?" asked Petit-Claud, -scanning Cerizet. - -"I rely on chance," said the ex-street boy, "and she is a saucy huzzy; -she does not like honest folk. - -"You must succeed," said Cerizet. "You have pushed me into this dirty -business; you may as well let me have a few banknotes to wipe off the -stains."--Then detecting a look that he did not like in the attorney's -face, he continued, with a deadly glance, "If you have cheated me, sir, -if you don't buy the printing-office for me within a week--you will -leave a young widow;" he lowered his voice. - -"If we have David on the jail register at six o'clock, come round to M. -Gannerac's at nine, and we will settle your business," said Petit-Claud -peremptorily. - -"Agreed. Your will shall be done, governor," said Cerizet. - -Cerizet understood the art of washing paper, a dangerous art for the -Treasury. He washed out Lucien's four lines and replaced them, imitating -the handwriting with a dexterity which augured ill for his own future:-- - - - "MY DEAR DAVID,--Your business is settled; you need not fear to go - to the prefect. You can go out at sunset. I will come to meet you - and tell you what to do at the prefecture.--Your brother, - "LUCIEN." - - -At noon Lucien wrote to David, telling him of his evening's success. -The prefect would be sure to lend his influence, he said; he was full of -enthusiasm over the invention, and was drawing up a report that very day -to send to the Government. Marion carried the letter to Basine, taking -some of Lucien's linen to the laundry as a pretext for the errand. - -Petit-Claud had told Cerizet that a letter would in all probability -be sent. Cerizet called for Mlle. Signol, and the two walked by the -Charente. Henriette's integrity must have held out for a long while, for -the walk lasted for two hours. A whole future of happiness and ease and -the interests of a child were at stake, and Cerizet asked a mere trifle -of her. He was very careful besides to say nothing of the consequences -of that trifle. She was only to carry a letter and a message, that was -all; but it was the greatness of the reward for the trifling service -that frightened Henriette. Nevertheless, Cerizet gained her consent at -last; she would help him in his stratagem. - -At five o'clock Henriette must go out and come in again, telling Basine -Clerget that Mme. Sechard wanted to speak to her at once. Fifteen -minutes after Basine's departure she must go upstairs, knock at the door -of the inner room, and give David the forged note. That was all. Cerizet -looked to chance to manage the rest. - - - -For the first time in twelve months, Eve felt the iron grasp of -necessity relax a little. She began at last to hope. She, too, would -enjoy her brother's visit; she would show herself abroad on the arm of a -man feted in his native town, adored by the women, beloved by the proud -Comtesse du Chatelet. She dressed herself prettily, and proposed to -walk out after dinner with her brother to Beaulieu. In September all -Angouleme comes out at that hour to breathe the fresh air. - -"Oh! that is the beautiful Mme. Sechard," voices said here and there. - -"I should never have believed it of her," said a woman. - -"The husband is in hiding, and the wife walks abroad," said Mme. Postel -for young Mme. Sechard's benefit. - -"Oh, let us go home," said poor Eve; "I have made a mistake." - -A few minutes before sunset, the sound of a crowd rose from the steps -that lead down to L'Houmeau. Apparently some crime had been committed, -for persons coming from L'Houmeau were talking among themselves. -Curiosity drew Lucien and Eve towards the steps. - -"A thief has just been arrested no doubt, the man looks as pale as -death," one of these passers-by said to the brother and sister. The -crowd grew larger. - -Lucien and Eve watched a group of some thirty children, old women -and men, returning from work, clustering about the gendarmes, whose -gold-laced caps gleamed above the heads of the rest. About a hundred -persons followed the procession, the crowd gathering like a storm cloud. - -"Oh! it is my husband!" Eve cried out. - -_"David!"_ exclaimed Lucien. - -"It is his wife," said voices, and the crowd made way. - -"What made you come out?" asked Lucien. - -"Your letter," said David, haggard and white. - -"I knew it!" said Eve, and she fainted away. Lucien raised his sister, -and with the help of two strangers he carried her home; Marion laid her -in bed, and Kolb rushed off for a doctor. Eve was still insensible when -the doctor arrived; and Lucien was obliged to confess to his mother that -he was the cause of David's arrest; for he, of course, knew nothing of -the forged letter and Cerizet's stratagem. Then he went up to his room -and locked himself in, struck dumb by the malediction in his mother's -eyes. - -In the dead of night he wrote one more letter amid constant -interruptions; the reader can divine the agony of the writer's mind from -those phrases, jerked out, as it were, one by one:-- - - - "MY BELOVED SISTER,--We have seen each other for the last time. My - resolution is final, and for this reason. In many families there - is one unlucky member, a kind of disease in their midst. I am that - unlucky one in our family. The observation is not mine; it was - made at a friendly supper one evening at the _Rocher de Cancale_ by - a diplomate who has seen a great deal of the world. While we - laughed and joked, he explained the reason why some young lady or - some other remained unmarried, to the astonishment of the world - --it was 'a touch of her father,' he said, and with that he unfolded - his theory of inherited weaknesses. He told us how such and such a - family would have flourished but for the mother; how it was that a - son had ruined his father, or a father had stripped his children - of prospects and respectability. It was said laughingly, but we - thought of so many cases in point in ten minutes that I was struck - with the theory. The amount of truth in it furnished all sorts of - wild paradoxes, which journalists maintain cleverly enough for - their own amusement when there is nobody else at hand to mystify. - I bring bad luck to our family. My heart is full of love for you, - yet I behave like an enemy. The blow dealt unintentionally is the - cruelest blow of all. While I was leading a bohemian life in - Paris, a life made up of pleasure and misery; taking good - fellowship for friendship, forsaking my true friends for those who - wished to exploit me, and succeeded; forgetful of you, or - remembering you only to cause you trouble,--all that while you - were walking in the humble path of hard work, making your way - slowly but surely to the fortune which I tried so madly to snatch. - While you grew better, I grew worse; a fatal element entered into - my life through my own choice. Yes, unbounded ambition makes an - obscure existence simply impossible for me. I have tastes and - remembrances of past pleasures that poison the enjoyments within - my reach; once I should have been satisfied with them, now it is - too late. Oh, dear Eve, no one can think more hardly of me than I - do myself; my condemnation is absolute and pitiless. The struggle - in Paris demands steady effort; my will power is spasmodic, my - brain works intermittently. The future is so appalling that I do - not care to face it, and the present is intolerable. - - "I wanted to see you again. I should have done better to stay in - exile all my days. But exile without means of subsistence would be - madness; I will not add another folly to the rest. Death is better - than a maimed life; I cannot think of myself in any position in - which my overweening vanity would not lead me into folly. - - "Some human beings are like the figure 0, another must be put - before it, and they acquire ten times their value. I am nothing - unless a strong inexorable will is wedded to mine. Mme. de - Bargeton was in truth my wife; when I refused to leave Coralie for - her I spoiled my life. You and David might have been excellent - pilots for me, but you are not strong enough to tame my weakness, - which in some sort eludes control. I like an easy life, a life - without cares; to clear an obstacle out of my way I can descend to - baseness that sticks at nothing. I was born a prince. I have more - than the requisite intellectual dexterity for success, but only by - moments; and the prizes of a career so crowded by ambitious - competitors are to those who expend no more than the necessary - strength, and retain a sufficient reserve when they reach the - goal. - - "I shall do harm again with the best intentions in the world. Some - men are like oaks, I am a delicate shrub it may be, and I - forsooth, must needs aspire to be a forest cedar. - - "There you have my bankrupt's schedule. The disproportion between - my powers and my desires, my want of balance, in short, will bring - all my efforts to nothing. There are many such characters among - men of letters, many men whose intellectual powers and character - are always at variance, who will one thing and wish another. What - would become of me? I can see it all beforehand, as I think of - this and that great light that once shone on Paris, now utterly - forgotten. On the threshold of old age I shall be a man older than - my age, needy and without a name. My whole soul rises up against - the thought of such a close; I will not be a social rag. Ah, dear - sister, loved and worshiped at least as much for your severity at - the last as for your tenderness at the first--if we have paid so - dear for my joy at seeing you all once more, you and David may - perhaps some day think that you could grudge no price however high - for a little last happiness for an unhappy creature who loved you. - Do not try to find me, Eve; do not seek to know what becomes of - me. My intellect for once shall be backed by my will. - Renunciation, my angel, is daily death of self; my renunciation - will only last for one day; I will take advantage now of that - day. . . . - - "_Two o'clock_. - - "Yes, I have quite made up my mind. Farewell for ever, dear Eve. - There is something sweet in the thought that I shall live only in - your hearts henceforth, and I wish no other burying place. Once - more, farewell. . . . That is the last word from your brother - - "LUCIEN." - - -Lucien read the letter over, crept noiselessly down stairs, and left -it in the child's cradle; amid falling tears he set a last kiss on the -forehead of his sleeping sister; then he went out. He put out his candle -in the gray dusk, took a last look at the old house, stole softly along -the passage, and opened the street door; but in spite of his caution, he -awakened Kolb, who slept on a mattress on the workshop floor. - -"Who goes there?" cried Kolb. - -"It is I, Lucien; I am going away, Kolb." - -"You vould haf done better gif you at nefer kom," Kolb muttered audibly. - -"I should have done better still if I had never come into the world," -Lucien answered. "Good-bye, Kolb; I don't bear you any grudge for -thinking as I think myself. Tell David that I was sorry I could not bid -him good-bye, and say that this was my last thought." - -By the time the Alsacien was up and dressed, Lucien had shut the house -door, and was on his way towards the Charente by the Promenade de -Beaulieu. He might have been going to a festival, for he had put on his -new clothes from Paris and his dandy's trinkets for a drowning shroud. -Something in Lucien's tone had struck Kolb. At first the man thought of -going to ask his mistress whether she knew that her brother had left -the house; but as the deepest silence prevailed, he concluded that the -departure had been arranged beforehand, and lay down again and slept. - -Little, considering the gravity of the question, has been written on -the subject of suicide; it has not been studied. Perhaps it is a disease -that cannot be observed. Suicide is one effect of a sentiment which we -will call self-esteem, if you will, to prevent confusion by using the -word "honor." When a man despises himself, and sees that others despise -him, when real life fails to fulfil his hopes, then comes the moment -when he takes his life, and thereby does homage to society--shorn of -his virtues or his splendor, he does not care to face his fellows. -Among atheists--Christians being without the question of suicide--among -atheists, whatever may be said to the contrary, none but a base coward -can take up a dishonored life. - -There are three kinds of suicide--the first is only the last and acute -stage of a long illness, and this kind belongs distinctly to pathology; -the second is the suicide of despair; and the third the suicide based on -logical argument. Despair and deductive reasoning had brought Lucien to -this pass, but both varieties are curable; it is only the pathological -suicide that is inevitable. Not infrequently you find all three causes -combined, as in the case of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. - -Lucien having made up his mind fell to considering methods. The poet -would fain die as became a poet. At first he thought of throwing himself -into the Charente and making an end then and there; but as he came -down the steps from Beaulieu for the last time, he heard the whole town -talking of his suicide; he saw the horrid sight of a drowned dead body, -and thought of the recognition and the inquest; and, like some other -suicides, felt that vanity reached beyond death. - -He remembered the day spent at Courtois' mill, and his thoughts returned -to the round pool among the willows that he saw as he came along by the -little river, such a pool as you often find on small streams, with a -still, smooth surface that conceals great depths beneath. The water is -neither green nor blue nor white nor tawny; it is like a polished steel -mirror. No sword-grass grows about the margin; there are no blue water -forget-me-nots, nor broad lily leaves; the grass at the brim is short -and thick, and the weeping willows that droop over the edge grow -picturesquely enough. It is easy to imagine a sheer precipice beneath -filled with water to the brim. Any man who should have the courage to -fill his pockets with pebbles would not fail to find death, and never be -seen thereafter. - -At the time while he admired the lovely miniature of a landscape, the -poet had thought to himself, "'Tis a spot to make your mouth water for a -_noyade_." - -He thought of it now as he went down into L'Houmeau; and when he took -his way towards Marsac, with the last sombre thoughts gnawing at his -heart, it was with the firm resolve to hide his death. There should be -no inquest held over him, he would not be laid in earth; no one should -see him in the hideous condition of the corpse that floats on the -surface of the water. Before long he reached one of the slopes, common -enough on all French highroads, and commonest of all between Angouleme -and Poitiers. He saw the coach from Bordeaux to Paris coming up at full -speed behind him, and knew that the passengers would probably alight -to walk up the hill. He did not care to be seen just then. Turning off -sharply into a beaten track, he began to pick the flowers in a vineyard -hard by. - -When Lucien came back to the road with a great bunch of the yellow -stone-crop which grows everywhere upon the stony soil of the vineyards, -he came out upon a traveler dressed in black from head to foot. The -stranger wore powder, there were silver buckles on his shoes of Orleans -leather, and his brown face was scarred and seamed as if he had fallen -into the fire in infancy. The traveler, so obviously clerical in his -dress, was walking slowly and smoking a cigar. He turned as Lucien -jumped down from the vineyard into the road. The deep melancholy on -the handsome young face, the poet's symbolical flowers, and his elegant -dress seemed to strike the stranger. He looked at Lucien with something -of the expression of a hunter that has found his quarry at last after -long and fruitless search. He allowed Lucien to come alongside in -nautical phrase; then he slackened his pace, and appeared to look along -the road up the hill; Lucien, following the direction of his eyes, saw a -light traveling carriage with two horses, and a post-boy standing beside -it. - -"You have allowed the coach to pass you, monsieur; you will lose your -place unless you care to take a seat in my caleche and overtake the -mail, for it is rather quicker traveling post than by the public -conveyance." The traveler spoke with extreme politeness and a very -marked Spanish accent. - -Without waiting for an answer, he drew a cigar-case from his pocket, -opened it, and held it out to Lucien. - -"I am not on a journey," said Lucien, "and I am too near the end of my -stage to indulge in the pleasure of smoking----" - -"You are very severe with yourself," returned the Spaniard. "Though I -am a canon of the cathedral of Toledo, I occasionally smoke a cigarette. -God gave us tobacco to allay our passions and our pains. You seem to be -downcast, or at any rate, you carry the symbolical flower of sorrow -in your hand, like the rueful god Hymen. Come! all your troubles will -vanish away with the smoke," and again the ecclesiastic held out his -little straw case; there was something fascinating in his manner, and -kindliness towards Lucien lighted up his eyes. - -"Forgive me, father" Lucien answered stiffly; "there is no cigar that -can scatter my troubles." Tears came to his eyes at the words. - -"It must surely be Divine Providence that prompted me to take a little -exercise to shake off a traveler's morning drowsiness," said the -churchman. "A divine prompting to fulfil my mission here on earth by -consoling you.--What great trouble can you have at your age?" - -"Your consolations, father, can do nothing for me. You are a Spaniard, -I am a Frenchman; you believe in the commandments of the Church, I am an -atheist." - -"_Santa Virgen del Pilar_! you are an atheist!" cried the other, laying -a hand on Lucien's arm with maternal solicitude. "Ah! here is one of the -curious things I promised myself to see in Paris. We, in Spain, do not -believe in atheists. There is no country but France where one can have -such opinions at nineteen years." - -"Oh! I am an atheist in the fullest sense of the word. I have no belief -in God, in society, in happiness. Take a good look at me, father; for in -a few hours' time life will be over for me. My last sun has risen," said -Lucien; with a sort of rhetorical effect he waved his hand towards the -sky. - -"How so; what have you done that you must die? Who has condemned you to -die?" - -"A tribunal from which there is no appeal--I myself." - -"You, child!" cried the priest. "Have you killed a man? Is the scaffold -waiting for you? Let us reason together a little. If you are resolved, -as you say, to return to nothingness, everything on earth is indifferent -to you, is it not?" - -Lucien bowed assent. - -"Very well, then; can you not tell me about your troubles? Some little -affair of the heart has taken a bad turn, no doubt?" - -Lucien shrugged his shoulders very significantly. - -"Are you resolved to kill yourself to escape dishonor, or do you despair -of life? Very good. You can kill yourself at Poitiers quite as easily -as at Angouleme, and at Tours it will be no harder than at Poitiers. The -quicksands of the Loire never give up their prey----" - -"No, father," said Lucien; "I have settled it all. Not three weeks ago I -chanced upon the most charming raft that can ferry a man sick and tired -of this life into the other world----" - -"The other world? You are not an atheist." - -"Oh! by another world I mean my next transformation, animal or plant." - -"Have you some incurable disease?" - -"Yes, father." - -"Ah! now we come to the point. What is it?" - -"Poverty." - -The priest looked at Lucien. "The diamond does not know its own value," -he said, and there was an inexpressible charm, and a touch of something -like irony in his smile. - -"None but a priest could flatter a poor man about to die," exclaimed -Lucien. - -"You are not going to die," the Spaniard returned authoritatively. - -"I have heard many times of men that were robbed on the highroad, but I -have never yet heard of one that found a fortune there," said Lucien. - -"You will hear of one now," said the priest, glancing towards the -carriage to measure the time still left for their walk together. "Listen -to me," he continued, with his cigar between his teeth; "if you are -poor, that is no reason why you should die. I need a secretary, for -mine has just died at Barcelona. I am in the same position as the famous -Baron Goertz, minister of Charles XII. He was traveling toward Sweden -(just as I am going to Paris), and in some little town or other he -chanced upon the son of a goldsmith, a young man of remarkable good -looks, though they could scarcely equal yours. . . . Baron Goertz -discerned intelligence in the young man (just as I see poetry on your -brow); he took him into his traveling carriage, as I shall take you very -shortly; and of a boy condemned to spend his days in burnishing spoons -and forks and making trinkets in some little town like Angouleme, he -made a favorite, as you shall be mine. - -"Arrived at Stockholm, he installed his secretary and overwhelmed him -with work. The young man spent his nights in writing, and, like all -great workers, he contracted a bad habit, a trick--he took to chewing -paper. The late M. de Malesherbes use to rap people over the knuckles; -and he did this once, by the by, to somebody or other whose suit -depended upon him. The handsome young secretary began by chewing blank -paper, found it insipid for a while, and acquired a taste for manuscript -as having more flavor. People did not smoke as yet in those days. At -last, from flavor to flavor, he began to chew parchment and swallow -it. Now, at that time a treaty was being negotiated between Russia and -Sweden. The States-General insisted that Charles XII. should make peace -(much as they tried in France to make Napoleon treat for peace in 1814) -and the basis of these negotiations was the treaty between the two -powers with regard to Finland. Goertz gave the original into his -secretary's keeping; but when the time came for laying the draft before -the States-General, a trifling difficulty arose; the treaty was not to -be found. The States-General believed that the Minister, pandering -to the King's wishes, had taken it into his head to get rid of the -document. Baron Goertz was, in fact, accused of this, and the secretary -owned that he had eaten the treaty. He was tried and convicted and -condemned to death.--But you have not come to that yet, so take a cigar -and smoke till we reach the caleche." - -Lucien took a cigar and lit it, Spanish fashion, at the priest's cigar. -"He is right," he thought; "I can take my life at any time." - -"It often happens that a young man's fortunes take a turn when despair -is darkest," the Spaniard continued. "That is what I wished to tell you, -but I preferred to prove it by a case in point. Here was the handsome -young secretary lying under sentence of death, and his case the more -desperate because, as he had been condemned by the States-General, the -King could not pardon him, but he connived at his escape. The secretary -stole away in a fishing-boat with a few crowns in his pocket, and -reached the court of Courland with a letter of introduction from Goertz, -explaining his secretary's adventures and his craze for paper. The Duke -of Courland was a spendthrift; he had a steward and a pretty wife--three -several causes of ruin. He placed the charming young stranger with his -steward. - -"If you can imagine that the sometime secretary had been cured of his -depraved taste by a sentence of death, you do not know the grip that a -man's failings have upon him; let a man discover some satisfaction for -himself, and the headsman will not keep him from it.--How is it that the -vice has this power? Is it inherent strength in the vice, or inherent -weakness in human nature? Are there certain tastes that should be -regarded as verging on insanity? For myself, I cannot help laughing at -the moralists who try to expel such diseases by fine phrases.--Well, it -so fell out that the steward refused a demand for money; and the Duke -taking fright at this, called for an audit. Sheer imbecility! Nothing -easier than to make out a balance-sheet; the difficulty never lies -there. The steward gave his secretary all the necessary documents -for compiling a schedule of the civil list of Courland. He had nearly -finished it when, in the dead of night, the unhappy paper-eater -discovered that he was chewing up one of the Duke's discharges for a -considerable sum. He had eaten half the signature! Horror seized upon -him; he fled to the Duchess, flung himself at her feet, told her of his -craze, and implored the aid of his sovereign lady, implored her in the -middle of the night. The handsome young face made such an impression on -the Duchess that she married him as soon as she was left a widow. And -so in the mid-eighteenth century, in a land where the king-at-arms is -king, the goldsmith's son became a prince, and something more. On the -death of Catherine I. he was regent; he ruled the Empress Anne, and -tried to be the Richelieu of Russia. Very well, young man; now know -this--if you are handsomer than Biron, I, simple canon that I am, am -worth more than a Baron Goertz. So get in; we will find a duchy of -Courland for you in Paris, or failing the duchy, we shall certainly find -the duchess." - -The Spanish priest laid a hand on Lucien's arm, and literally forced him -into the traveling carriage. The postilion shut the door. - -"Now speak; I am listening," said the canon of Toledo, to Lucien's -bewilderment. "I am an old priest; you can tell me everything, there -is nothing to fear. So far we have only run through our patrimony or -squandered mamma's money. We have made a flitting from our creditors, -and we are honor personified down to the tips of our elegant little -boots. . . . Come, confess, boldly; it will be just as if you were -talking to yourself." - -Lucien felt like that hero of an Eastern tale, the fisher who tried -to drown himself in mid-ocean, and sank down to find himself a king -of countries under the sea. The Spanish priest seemed so really -affectionate, that the poet hesitated no longer; between Angouleme -and Ruffec he told the story of his whole life, omitting none of his -misdeeds, and ended with the final catastrophe which he had brought -about. The tale only gained in poetic charm because this was the third -time he had told it in the past fortnight. Just as he made an end they -passed the house of the Rastignac family. - -"Young Rastignac left that place for Paris," said Lucien; "he is -certainly not my equal, but he has had better luck." - -The Spaniard started at the name. "Oh!" he said. - -"Yes. That shy little place belongs to his father. As I was telling -you just now, he was the lover of Mme. de Nucingen, the famous banker's -wife. I drifted into poetry; he was cleverer, he took the practical -side." - -The priest stopped the caleche; and was so far curious as to walk down -the little avenue that led to the house, showing more interest in the -place than Lucien expected from a Spanish ecclesiastic. - -"Then, do you know the Rastignacs?" asked Lucien. - -"I know every one in Paris," said the Spaniard, taking his place again -in the carriage. "And so for want of ten or twelve thousand francs, you -were about to take your life; you are a child, you know neither men nor -things. A man's future is worth the value that he chooses to set upon -it, and you value yours at twelve thousand francs! Well, I will -give more than that for you any time. As for your brother-in-law's -imprisonment, it is the merest trifle. If this dear M. Sechard has made -a discovery, he will be a rich man some day, and a rich man has never -been imprisoned for debt. You do not seem to me to be strong in history. -History is of two kinds--there is the official history taught in -schools, a lying compilation _ad usum delphini_; and there is the -secret history which deals with the real causes of events--a scandalous -chronicle. Let me tell you briefly a little story which you have not -heard. There was, once upon a time, a man, young and ambitious, and a -priest to boot. He wanted to enter upon a political career, so he fawned -on the Queen's favorite; the favorite took an interest in him, gave -him the rank of minister, and a seat at the council board. One evening -somebody wrote to the young aspirant, thinking to do him a service -(never do a service, by the by, unless you are asked), and told him -that his benefactor's life was in danger. The King's wrath was kindled -against his rival; to-morrow, if the favorite went to the palace, he -would certainly be stabbed; so said the letter. Well, now, young man, -what would you have done?" - -"I should have gone at once to warn my benefactor," Lucien exclaimed -quickly. - -"You are indeed the child which your story reveals!" said the priest. -"Our man said to himself, 'If the King is resolved to go to such -lengths, it is all over with my benefactor; I must receive this letter -too late;' so he slept on till the favorite was stabbed----" - -"He was a monster!" said Lucien, suspecting that the priest meant to -sound him. - -"So are all great men; this one was the Cardinal de Richelieu, and his -benefactor was the Marechal d'Ancre. You really do not know your history -of France, you see. Was I not right when I told you that history as -taught in schools is simply a collection of facts and dates, more than -doubtful in the first place, and with no bearing whatever on the gist of -the matter. You are told that such a person as Jeanne Darc once existed; -where is the use of that? Have you never drawn your own conclusions from -that fact? never seen that if France had accepted the Angevin dynasty -of the Plantagenets, the two peoples thus reunited would be ruling the -world to-day, and the islands that now brew political storms for the -continent would be French provinces? . . . Why, have you so much as -studied the means by which simple merchants like the Medicis became -Grand Dukes of Tuscany?" - -"A poet in France is not bound to be 'as learned as a Benedictine,'" -said Lucien. - -"Well, they became Grand-Dukes as Richelieu became a minister. If you -had looked into history for the causes of events instead of getting the -headings by heart, you would have found precepts for your guidance in -this life. These real facts taken at random from among so many supply -you with the axiom--'Look upon men, and on women most of all, as your -instruments; but never let them see this.' If some one higher in place -can be useful to you, worship him as your god; and never leave him until -he has paid the price of your servility to the last farthing. In your -intercourse with men, in short, be grasping and mean as a Jew; all that -the Jew does for money, you must do for power. And besides all this, -when a man has fallen from power, care no more for him than if he had -ceased to exist. And do you ask why you must do these things? You mean -to rule the world, do you not? You must begin by obeying and studying -it. Scholars study books; politicians study men, and their interests and -the springs of action. Society and mankind in masses are fatalists; they -bow down and worship the accomplished fact. Do you know why I am giving -you this little history lesson? It seems to me that your ambition is -boundless----" - -"Yes, father." - -"I saw that myself," said the priest. "But at this moment you are -thinking, 'Here is this Spanish canon inventing anecdotes and straining -history to prove to me that I have too much virtue----'" - -Lucien began to smile; his thoughts had been read so clearly. - -"Very well, let us take facts that every schoolboy knows. One day France -is almost entirely overrun by the English; the King has only a single -province left. Two figures arise from among the people--a poor herd -girl, that very Jeanne Darc of whom we were speaking, and a burgher -named Jacques Coeur. The girl brings the power of virginity, the -strength of her arm; the burgher gives his gold, and the kingdom is -saved. The maid is taken prisoner, and the King, who could have ransomed -her, leaves her to be burned alive. The King allows his courtier to -accuse the great burgher of capital crime, and they rob him and divide -all his wealth among themselves. The spoils of an innocent man, hunted -down, brought to bay, and driven into exile by the Law, went to enrich -five noble houses; and the father of the Archbishop of Bourges left the -kingdom for ever without one sou of all his possessions in France, and -no resource but moneys remitted to Arabs and Saracens in Egypt. It -is open to you to say that these examples are out of date, that three -centuries of public education have since elapsed, and that the outlines -of those ages are more or less dim figures. Well, young man, do you -believe in the last demi-god of France, in Napoleon? One of his generals -was in disgrace all through his career; Napoleon made him a marshal -grudgingly, and never sent him on service if he could help it. That -marshal was Kellermann. Do you know the reason of the grudge? . . . -Kellermann saved France and the First Consul at Marengo by a brilliant -charge; the ranks applauded under fire and in the thick of the carnage. -That heroic charge was not even mentioned in the bulletin. Napoleon's -coolness toward Kellermann, Fouche's fall, and Talleyrand's disgrace -were all attributable to the same cause; it is the ingratitude of a -Charles VII., or a Richelieu, or ----" - -"But, father," said Lucien, "suppose that you should save my life and -make my fortune, you are making the ties of gratitude somewhat slight." - -"Little rogue," said the Abbe, smiling as he pinched Lucien's ear with -an almost royal familiarity. "If you are ungrateful to me, it will be -because you are a strong man, and I shall bend before you. But you are -not that just yet; as a simple 'prentice you have tried to be master -too soon, the common fault of Frenchmen of your generation. Napoleon's -example has spoiled them all. You send in your resignation because you -have not the pair of epaulettes that you fancied. But have you attempted -to bring the full force of your will and every action of your life to -bear upon your one idea?" - -"Alas! no." - -"You have been inconsistent, as the English say," smiled the canon. - -"What I have been matters nothing now," said Lucien, "if I can be -nothing in the future." - -"If at the back of all your good qualities there is power _semper -virens_," continued the priest, not averse to show that he had a little -Latin, "nothing in this world can resist you. I have taken enough of a -liking for you already----" - -Lucien smiled incredulously. - -"Yes," said the priest, in answer to the smile, "you interest me as much -as if you had been my son; and I am strong enough to afford to talk to -you as openly as you have just done to me. Do you know what it is that -I like about you?--This: you have made a sort of _tabula rasa_ within -yourself, and are ready to hear a sermon on morality that you will -hear nowhere else; for mankind in the mass are even more consummate -hypocrites than any one individual can be when his interests demand a -piece of acting. Most of us spend a good part of our lives in clearing -our minds of the notions that sprang up unchecked during our nonage. -This is called 'getting our experience.'" - -Lucien, listening, thought within himself, "Here is some old intriguer -delighted with a chance of amusing himself on a journey. He is pleased -with the idea of bringing about a change of opinion in a poor wretch -on the brink of suicide; and when he is tired of his amusement, he will -drop me. Still he understands paradox, and seems to be quite a match for -Blondet or Lousteau." - -But in spite of these sage reflections, the diplomate's poison had sunk -deeply into Lucien's soul; the ground was ready to receive it, and the -havoc wrought was the greater because such famous examples were cited. -Lucien fell under the charm of his companion's cynical talk, and clung -the more willingly to life because he felt that this arm which drew him -up from the depths was a strong one. - -In this respect the ecclesiastic had evidently won the day; and, indeed, -from time to time a malicious smile bore his cynical anecdotes company. - -"If your system of morality at all resembles your manner of regarding -history," said Lucien, "I should dearly like to know the motive of your -present act of charity, for such it seems to be." - -"There, young man, I have come to the last head of my sermon; you will -permit me to reserve it, for in that case we shall not part company -to-day," said the canon, with the tact of the priest who sees that his -guile has succeeded. - -"Very well, talk morality," said Lucien. To himself he said, "I will -draw him out." - -"Morality begins with the law," said the priest. "If it were simply a -question of religion, laws would be superfluous; religious peoples have -few laws. The laws of statecraft are above civil law. Well, do you care -to know the inscription which a politician can read, written at large -over your nineteenth century? In 1793 the French invented the idea of -the sovereignty of the people--and the sovereignty of the people came to -an end under the absolute ruler in the Emperor. So much for your -history as a nation. Now for your private manners. Mme. Tallien and Mme. -Beauharnais both acted alike. Napoleon married the one, and made her -your Empress; the other he would never receive at court, princess though -she was. The sans-culotte of 1793 takes the Iron Crown in 1804. The -fanatical lovers of Equality or Death conspire fourteen years afterwards -with a Legitimist aristocracy to bring back Louis XVIII. And that same -aristocracy, lording it to-day in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, has done -worse--has been merchant, usurer, pastry-cook, farmer, and shepherd. So -in France systems political and moral have started from one point and -reached another diametrically opposed; and men have expressed one -kind of opinion and acted on another. There has been no consistency in -national policy, nor in the conduct of individuals. You cannot be said -to have any morality left. Success is the supreme justification of all -actions whatsoever. The fact in itself is nothing; the impression that -it makes upon others is everything. Hence, please observe a second -precept: Present a fair exterior to the world, keep the seamy side -of life to yourself, and turn a resplendent countenance upon others. -Discretion, the motto of every ambitious man, is the watchword of our -Order; take it for your own. Great men are guilty of almost as many -base deeds as poor outcasts; but they are careful to do these things in -shadow and to parade their virtues in the light, or they would not be -great men. Your insignificant man leaves his virtues in the shade; he -publicly displays his pitiable side, and is despised accordingly. You, -for instance, have hidden your titles to greatness and made a display of -your worst failings. You openly took an actress for your mistress, lived -with her and upon her; you were by no means to blame for this; everybody -admitted that both of you were perfectly free to do as you liked; but -you ran full tilt against the ideas of the world, and the world has not -shown you the consideration that is shown to those who obey the rules of -the game. If you had left Coralie to this M. Camusot, if you had hidden -your relations with her, you might have married Mme. de Bargeton; you -would now be prefect of Angouleme and Marquis de Rubempre. - -"Change your tactics, bring your good looks, your charm, your wit, your -poetry to the front. If you indulge in small discreditable courses, let -it be within four walls, and you will never again be guilty of a blot on -the decorations of this great theatrical scene called society. Napoleon -called this 'washing dirty linen at home.' The corollary follows -naturally on this second precept--Form is everything. Be careful to -grasp the meaning of that word 'form.' There are people who, for want -of knowing better, will help themselves to money under pressure of want, -and take it by force. These people are called criminals; and, perforce, -they square accounts with Justice. A poor man of genius discovers -some secret, some invention as good as a treasure; you lend him three -thousand francs (for that, practically, the Cointets have done; they -hold your bills, and they are about to rob your brother-in-law); you -torment him until he reveals or partly reveals his secret; you settle -your accounts with your own conscience, and your conscience does not -drag you into the assize court. - -"The enemies of social order, beholding this contrast, take occasion -to yap at justice, and wax wroth in the name of the people, because, -forsooth, burglars and fowl-stealers are sent to the hulks, while a man -who brings whole families to ruin by a fraudulent bankruptcy is let off -with a few months' imprisonment. But these hypocrites know quite well -that the judge who passes sentence on the thief is maintaining the -barrier set between the poor and the rich, and that if that barrier -were overturned, social chaos would ensue; while, in the case of the -bankrupt, the man who steals an inheritance cleverly, and the banker who -slaughters a business for his own benefit, money merely changes hands, -that is all. - -"Society, my son, is bound to draw those distinctions which I have -pointed out for your benefit. The one great point is this--you must be a -match for society. Napoleon, Richelieu, and the Medicis were a match for -their generations. And as for you, you value yourself at twelve thousand -francs! You of this generation in France worship the golden calf; what -else is the religion of your Charter that will not recognize a man -politically unless he owns property? What is this but the command, -'Strive to be rich?' Some day, when you shall have made a fortune -without breaking the law, you will be rich; you will be the Marquis de -Rubempre, and you can indulge in the luxury of honor. You will be so -extremely sensitive on the point of honor that no one will dare to -accuse you of past shortcomings if in the process of making your way you -should happen to smirch it now and again, which I myself should never -advise," he added, patting Lucien's hand. - -"So what must you put in that comely head of yours? Simply this and -nothing more--propose to yourself a brilliant and conspicuous goal, and -go towards it secretly; let no one see your methods or your progress. -You have behaved like a child; be a man, be a hunter, lie in wait for -your quarry in the world of Paris, wait for your chance and your game; -you need not be particular nor mindful of your dignity, as it is called; -we are all of us slaves to something, to some failing of our own or to -necessity; but keep that law of laws--secrecy." - -"Father, you frighten me," said Lucien; "this seems to me to be a -highwayman's theory." - -"And you are right," said the canon, "but it is no invention of mine. -All _parvenus_ reason in this way--the house of Austria and the house -of France alike. You have nothing, you say? The Medicis, Richelieu, and -Napoleon started from precisely your standpoint; but _they_, my child, -considered that their prospects were worth ingratitude, treachery, and -the most glaring inconsistencies. You must dare all things to gain -all things. Let us discuss it. Suppose that you sit down to a game of -_bouillotte_, do you begin to argue over the rules of the game? There -they are, you accept them." - -"Come, now," thought Lucien, "he can play _bouillotte_." - -"And what do you do?" continued the priest; "do you practise openness, -that fairest of virtues? Not merely do you hide your tactics, but you -do your best to make others believe that you are on the brink of ruin -as soon as you are sure of winning the game. In short, you dissemble, do -you not? You lie to win four or five louis d'or. What would you think of -a player so generous as to proclaim that he held a hand full of trumps? -Very well; the ambitious man who carries virtue's precepts into the -arena when his antagonists have left them behind is behaving like a -child. Old men of the world might say to him, as card-players would say -to the man who declines to take advantage of his trumps, 'Monsieur, you -ought not to play at _bouillotte_.' - -"Did you make the rules of the game of ambition? Why did I tell you to -be a match for society?--Because, in these days, society by degrees -has usurped so many rights over the individual, that the individual -is compelled to act in self-defence. There is no question of laws now, -their place has been taken by custom, which is to say grimacings, and -forms must always be observed." - -Lucien started with surprise. - -"Ah, my child!" said the priest, afraid that he had shocked Lucien's -innocence; "did you expect to find the Angel Gabriel in an Abbe loaded -with all the iniquities of the diplomacy and counter-diplomacy of two -kings? I am an agent between Ferdinand VII. and Louis XVIII., two--kings -who owe their crowns to profound--er--combinations, let us say. I -believe in God, but I have a still greater belief in our Order, and our -Order has no belief save in temporal power. In order to strengthen and -consolidate the temporal power, our Order upholds the Catholic Apostolic -and Roman Church, which is to say, the doctrines which dispose the world -at large to obedience. We are the Templars of modern times; we have a -doctrine of our own. Like the Templars, we have been dispersed, and -for the same reasons; we are almost a match for the world. If you will -enlist as a soldier, I will be your captain. Obey me as a wife obeys -her husband, as a child obeys his mother, and I will guarantee that you -shall be Marquis de Rubempre in less than six months; you shall marry -into one of the proudest houses in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and some -day you shall sit on a bench with peers of France. What would you have -been at this moment if I had not amused you by my conversation?--An -undiscovered corpse in a deep bed of mud. Well and good, now for an -effort of imagination----" - -Lucien looked curiously at his protector. - -"Here, in this caleche beside the Abbe Carlos Herrera, canon of Toledo, -secret envoy from His Majesty Ferdinand VII. to his Majesty the King -of France, bearer of a despatch thus worded it may be--'When you -have delivered me, hang all those whom I favor at this moment, more -especially the bearer of this despatch, for then he can tell no -tales'--well, beside this envoy sits a young man who has nothing in -common with that poet recently deceased. I have fished you out of -the water, I have brought you to life again, you belong to me as the -creature belongs to the creator, as the efrits of fairytales belong to -the genii, as the janissary to the Sultan, as the soul to the body. I -will sustain you in the way to power with a strong hand; and at the same -time I promise that your life shall be a continual course of pleasure, -honors, and enjoyment. You shall never want for money. You shall shine, -you shall go bravely in the eyes of the world; while I, crouching in -the mud, will lay a firm foundation for the brilliant edifice of your -fortunes. For I love power for its own sake. I shall always rejoice in -your enjoyment, forbidden to me. In short, my self shall become your -self! Well, if a day should come when this pact between man and the -tempter, this agreement between the child and the diplomatist should no -longer suit your ideas, you can still look about for some quiet spot, -like that pool of which you were speaking, and drown yourself; you will -only be as you are now, or a little more or a little less wretched and -dishonored." - -"This is not like the Archbishop of Granada's homily," said Lucien as -they stopped to change horses. - -"Call this concentrated education by what name you will, my son, for you -are my son, I adopt you henceforth, and shall make you my heir; it is -the Code of ambition. God's elect are few and far between. There is no -choice, you must bury yourself in the cloister (and there you very often -find the world again in miniature) or accept the Code." - -"Perhaps it would be better not to be so wise," said Lucien, trying to -fathom this terrible priest. - -"What!" rejoined the canon. "You begin to play before you know the rules -of the game, and now you throw it up just as your chances are best, and -you have a substantial godfather to back you! And you do not even care -to play a return match? You do not mean to say that you have no mind to -be even with those who drove you from Paris?" - -Lucien quivered; the sounds that rang through every nerve seemed to come -from some bronze instrument, some Chinese gong. - -"I am only a poor priest," returned his mentor, and a grim expression, -dreadful to behold, appeared for a moment on a face burned to a -copper-red by the sun of Spain, "I am only a poor priest; but if I had -been humiliated, vexed, tormented, betrayed, and sold as you have been -by the scoundrels of whom you have told me, I should do like an Arab of -the desert--I would devote myself body and soul to vengeance. I might -end by dangling from a gibbet, garroted, impaled, guillotined in your -French fashion, I should not care a rap; but they should not have my -head until I had crushed my enemies under my heel." - -Lucien was silent; he had no wish to draw the priest out any further. - -"Some are descended from Cain and some from Abel," the canon concluded; -"I myself am of mixed blood--Cain for my enemies, Abel for my friends. -Woe to him that shall awaken Cain! After all, you are a Frenchman; I am -a Spaniard, and, what is more, a canon." - -"What a Tartar!" thought Lucien, scanning the protector thus sent to him -by Heaven. - -There was no sign of the Jesuit, nor even of the ecclesiastic, about -the Abbe Carlos Herrera. His hands were large, he was thick-set and -broad-chested, evidently he possessed the strength of a Hercules; his -terrific expression was softened by benignity assumed at will; but a -complexion of impenetrable bronze inspired feelings of repulsion rather -than attachment for the man. - -The strange diplomatist looked somewhat like a bishop, for he wore -powder on his long, thick hair, after the fashion of the Prince de -Talleyrand; a gold cross, hanging from a strip of blue ribbon with -a white border, indicated an ecclesiastical dignitary. The outlines -beneath the black silk stockings would not have disgraced an athlete. -The exquisite neatness of his clothes and person revealed an amount of -care which a simple priest, and, above all, a Spanish priest, does not -always take with his appearance. A three-cornered hat lay on the front -seat of the carriage, which bore the arms of Spain. - -In spite of the sense of repulsion, the effect made by the man's -appearance was weakened by his manner, fierce and yet winning as it was; -he evidently laid himself out to please Lucien, and the winning manner -became almost coaxing. Yet Lucien noticed the smallest trifles uneasily. -He felt that the moment of decision had come; they had reached the -second stage beyond Ruffec, and the decision meant life or death. - -The Spaniard's last words vibrated through many chords in his heart, -and, to the shame of both, it must be said that all that was worst in -Lucien responded to an appeal deliberately made to his evil impulses, -and the eyes that studied the poet's beautiful face had read him very -clearly. Lucien beheld Paris once more; in imagination he caught again -at the reins of power let fall from his unskilled hands, and he avenged -himself! The comparisons which he himself had drawn so lately between -the life of Paris and life in the provinces faded from his mind with the -more painful motives for suicide; he was about to return to his -natural sphere, and this time with a protector, a political intriguer -unscrupulous as Cromwell. - -"I was alone, now there will be two of us," he told himself. And then -this priest had been more and more interested as he told of his sins -one after another. The man's charity had grown with the extent of his -misdoings; nothing had astonished this confessor. And yet, what could -be the motive of a mover in the intrigues of kings? Lucien at first was -fain to be content with the banal answer--the Spanish are a generous -race. The Spaniard is generous! even so the Italian is jealous and a -poisoner, the Frenchman fickle, the German frank, the Jew ignoble, and -the Englishman noble. Reverse these verdicts and you shall arrive within -a reasonable distance of the truth! The Jews have monopolized the -gold of the world; they compose _Robert the Devil_, act _Phedre_, sing -_William Tell_, give commissions for pictures and build palaces, write -_Reisebilder_ and wonderful verse; they are more powerful than ever, -their religion is accepted, they have lent money to the Holy Father -himself! As for Germany, a foreigner is often asked whether he has a -contract in writing, and this is in the smallest matters, so tricky are -they in their dealings. In France the spectacle of national blunders has -never lacked national applause for the past fifty years; we continue to -wear hats which no mortal can explain, and every change of government is -made on the express condition that things shall remain exactly as they -were before. England flaunts her perfidy in the face of the world, and -her abominable treachery is only equaled by her greed. All the gold of -two Indies passed through the hands of Spain, and now she has nothing -left. There is no country in the world where poison is so little in -request as in Italy, no country where manners are easier or more gentle. -As for the Spaniard, he has traded largely on the reputation of the -Moor. - -As the Canon of Toledo returned to the caleche, he had spoken a word -to the post-boy. "Drive post-haste," he said, "and there will be three -francs for drink-money for you." Then, seeing that Lucien hesitated, -"Come! come!" he exclaimed, and Lucien took his place again, telling -himself that he meant to try the effect of the _argumentum ad hominem_. - -"Father," he began, "after pouring out, with all the coolness in the -world, a series of maxims which the vulgar would consider profoundly -immoral----" - -"And so they are," said the priest; "that is why Jesus Christ said that -it must needs be that offences come, my son; and that is why the world -displays such horror of offences." - -"A man of your stamp will not be surprised by the question which I am -about to ask?" - -"Indeed, my son, you do not know me," said Carlos Herrera. "Do you -suppose that I should engage a secretary unless I knew that I could -depend upon his principles sufficiently to be sure that he would not rob -me? I like you. You are as innocent in every way as a twenty-year-old -suicide. Your question?" - -"Why do you take an interest in me? What price do you set on my -obedience? Why should you give me everything? What is your share?" - -The Spaniard looked at Lucien, and a smile came over his face. - -"Let us wait till we come to the next hill; we can walk up and talk out -in the open. The back seat of a traveling carriage is not the place for -confidences." - -They traveled in silence for sometime; the rapidity of the movement -seemed to increase Lucien's moral intoxication. - -"Here is a hill, father," he said at last awakening from a kind of -dream. - -"Very well, we will walk." The Abbe called to the postilion to stop, and -the two sprang out upon the road. - -"You child," said the Spaniard, taking Lucien by the arm, "have you ever -thought over Otway's _Venice Preserved_? Did you understand the profound -friendship between man and man which binds Pierre and Jaffier each to -each so closely that a woman is as nothing in comparison, and all social -conditions are changed?--Well, so much for the poet." - -"So the canon knows something of the drama," thought Lucien. "Have you -read Voltaire?" he asked. - -"I have done better," said the other; "I put his doctrine in practice." - -"You do not believe in God?" - -"Come! it is I who am the atheist, is it?" the Abbe said, smiling. "Let -us come to practical matters, my child," he added, putting an arm round -Lucien's waist. "I am forty-six years old, I am the natural son of a -great lord; consequently, I have no family, and I have a heart. But, -learn this, carve it on that still so soft brain of yours--man dreads -to be alone. And of all kinds of isolation, inward isolation is the most -appalling. The early anchorite lived with God; he dwelt in the spirit -world, the most populous world of all. The miser lives in a world of -imagination and fruition; his whole life and all that he is, even his -sex, lies in his brain. A man's first thought, be he leper or convict, -hopelessly sick or degraded, is to find another with a like fate to -share it with him. He will exert the utmost that is in him, every power, -all his vital energy, to satisfy that craving; it is his very life. But -for that tyrannous longing, would Satan have found companions? There -is a whole poem yet to be written, a first part of _Paradise Lost_; -Milton's poem is only the apology for the revolt." - -"It would be the Iliad of Corruption," said Lucien. - -"Well, I am alone, I live alone. If I wear the priest's habit, I have -not a priest's heart. I like to devote myself to some one; that is my -weakness. That is my life, that is how I came to be a priest. I am not -afraid of ingratitude, and I am grateful. The Church is nothing to me; -it is an idea. I am devoted to the King of Spain, but you cannot give -affection to a King of Spain; he is my protector, he towers above me. I -want to love my creature, to mould him, fashion him to my use, and love -him as a father loves his child. I shall drive in your tilbury, my -boy, enjoy your success with women, and say to myself, 'This fine young -fellow, this Marquis de Rubempre, my creation whom I have brought into -this great world, is my very Self; his greatness is my doing, he speaks -or is silent with my voice, he consults me in everything.' The Abbe de -Vermont felt thus for Marie-Antoinette." - -"He led her to the scaffold." - -"He did not love the Queen," said the priest. "HE only loved the Abbe de -Vermont." - -"Must I leave desolation behind me?" - -"I have money, you shall draw on me." - -"I would do a great deal just now to rescue David Sechard," said Lucien, -in the tone of one who has given up all idea of suicide. - -"Say but one word, my son, and by to-morrow morning he shall have money -enough to set him free." - -"What! Would you give me twelve thousand francs?" - -"Ah! child, do you not see that we are traveling on at the rate of four -leagues an hour? We shall dine at Poitiers before long, and there, if -you decide to sign the pact, to give me a single proof of obedience, a -great proof that I shall require, then the Bordeaux coach shall carry -fifteen thousand francs to your sister----" - -"Where is the money?" - -The Spaniard made no answer, and Lucien said within himself, "There I -had him; he was laughing at me." - -In another moment they took their places. Neither of them said a word. -Silently the Abbe groped in the pocket of the coach, and drew out a -traveler's leather pouch with three divisions in it; thence he took a -hundred Portuguese moidores, bringing out his large hand filled with -gold three times. - -"Father, I am yours," said Lucien, dazzled by the stream of gold. - -"Child!" said the priest, and set a tender kiss on Lucien's forehead. -"There is twice as much still left in the bag, besides the money for -traveling expenses." - -"And you are traveling alone!" cried Lucien. - -"What is that?" asked the Spaniard. "I have more than a hundred thousand -crowns in drafts on Paris. A diplomatist without money is in your -position of this morning--a poet without a will of his own!" - - - -As Lucien took his place in the caleche beside the so-called Spanish -diplomatist, Eve rose to give her child a draught of milk, found the -fatal letter in the cradle, and read it. A sudden cold chilled the damps -of morning slumber, dizziness came over her, she could not see. She -called aloud to Marion and Kolb. - -"Has my brother gone out?" she asked, and Kolb answered at once with, -"Yes, Montame, pefore tay." - -"Keep this that I am going to tell you a profound secret," said Eve. "My -brother has gone no doubt to make away with himself. Hurry, both of you, -make inquiries cautiously, and look along the river." - -Eve was left alone in a dull stupor, dreadful to see. Her trouble was -at its height when Petit-Claud came in at seven o'clock to talk over -the steps to be taken in David's case. At such a time, any voice in the -world may speak, and we let them speak. - -"Our poor, dear David is in prison, madame," so began Petit-Claud. "I -foresaw all along that it would end in this. I advised him at the time -to go into partnership with his competitors the Cointets; for while -your husband has simply the idea, they have the means of putting it into -practical shape. So as soon as I heard of his arrest yesterday evening, -what did I do but hurry away to find the Cointets and try to obtain such -concessions as might satisfy you. If you try to keep the discovery to -yourselves, you will continue to live a life of shifts and chicanery. -You must give in, or else when you are exhausted and at the last gasp, -you will end by making a bargain with some capitalist or other, and -perhaps to your own detriment, whereas to-day I hope to see you make -a good one with MM. Cointet. In this way you will save yourselves the -hardships and the misery of the inventor's duel with the greed of the -capitalist and the indifference of the public. Let us see! If the MM. -Cointet should pay your debts--if, over and above your debts, they -should pay you a further sum of money down, whether or no the invention -succeeds; while at the same time it is thoroughly understood that if it -succeeds a certain proportion of the profits of working the patent shall -be yours, would you not be doing very well?--You yourself, madame, would -then be the proprietor of the plant in the printing-office. You would -sell the business, no doubt; it is quite worth twenty thousand francs. I -will undertake to find you a buyer at that price. - -"Now if you draw up a deed of partnership with the MM. Cointet, and -receive fifteen thousand francs of capital; and if you invest it in -the funds at the present moment, it will bring you in an income of two -thousand francs. You can live on two thousand francs in the provinces. -Bear in mind, too, madame, that, given certain contingencies, there will -be yet further payments. I say 'contingencies,' because we must lay our -accounts with failure. - -"Very well," continued Petit-Claud, "now these things I am sure that I -can obtain for you. First of all, David's release from prison; secondly, -fifteen thousand francs, a premium paid on his discovery, whether the -experiments fail or succeed; and lastly, a partnership between David and -the MM. Cointet, to be taken out after private experiment made jointly. -The deed of partnership for the working of the patent should be drawn -up on the following basis: The MM. Cointet to bear all the expenses, the -capital invested by David to be confined to the expenses of procuring -the patent, and his share of the profits to be fixed at twenty-five per -cent. You are a clear-headed and very sensible woman, qualities which -are not often found combined with great beauty; think over these -proposals, and you will see that they are very favorable." - -Poor Eve in her despair burst into tears. "Ah, sir! why did you not come -yesterday evening to tell me this? We should have been spared disgrace -and--and something far worse----" - -"I was talking with the Cointets until midnight. They are behind -Metivier, as you must have suspected. But how has something worse than -our poor David's arrest happened since yesterday evening?" - -"Here is the awful news that I found when I awoke this morning," she -said, holding out Lucien's letter. "You have just given me proof of your -interest in us; you are David's friend and Lucien's; I need not ask you -to keep the secret----" - -"You need not feel the least anxiety," said Petit-Claud, as he returned -the letter. "Lucien will not take his life. Your husband's arrest was -his doing; he was obliged to find some excuse for leaving you, and this -exit of his looks to me like a piece of stage business." - -The Cointets had gained their ends. They had tormented the inventor and -his family, until, worn out by the torture, the victims longed for a -respite, and then seized their opportunity and made the offer. Not every -inventor has the tenacity of the bull-dog that will perish with his -teeth fast set in his capture; the Cointets had shrewdly estimated -David's character. The tall Cointet looked upon David's imprisonment -as the first scene of the first act of the drama. The second act opened -with the proposal which Petit-Claud had just made. As arch-schemer, -the attorney looked upon Lucien's frantic folly as a bit of unhoped-for -luck, a chance that would finally decide the issues of the day. - -Eve was completely prostrated by this event; Petit-Claud saw this, and -meant to profit by her despair to win her confidence, for he saw at last -how much she influenced her husband. So far from discouraging Eve, he -tried to reassure her, and very cleverly diverted her thoughts to the -prison. She should persuade David to take the Cointets into partnership. - -"David told me, madame, that he only wished for a fortune for your sake -and your brother's; but it should be clear to you by now that to try -to make a rich man of Lucien would be madness. The youngster would run -through three fortunes." - -Eve's attitude told plainly enough that she had no more illusions left -with regard to her brother. The lawyer waited a little so that her -silence should have the weight of consent. - -"Things being so, it is now a question of you and your child," he said. -"It rests with you to decide whether an income of two thousand francs -will be enough for your welfare, to say nothing of old Sechard's -property. Your father-in-law's income has amounted to seven or eight -thousand francs for a long time past, to say nothing of capital lying -out at interest. So, after all, you have a good prospect before you. Why -torment yourself?" - -Petit-Claud left Eve Sechard to reflect upon this prospect. The whole -scheme had been drawn up with no little skill by the tall Cointet the -evening before. - -"Give them the glimpse of a possibility of money in hand," the lynx had -said, when Petit-Claud brought the news of the arrest; "once let -them grow accustomed to that idea, and they are ours; we will drive a -bargain, and little by little we shall bring them down to our price for -the secret." - -The argument of the second act of the commercial drama was in a manner -summed up in that speech. - -Mme. Sechard, heartbroken and full of dread for her brother's fate, -dressed and came downstairs. An agony of terror seized her when she -thought that she must cross Angouleme alone on the way to the prison. -Petit-Claud gave little thought to his fair client's distress. When -he came back to offer his arm, it was from a tolerably Machiavellian -motive; but Eve gave him credit for delicate consideration, and he -allowed her to thank him for it. The little attention, at such a -moment, from so hard a man, modified Mme. Sechard's previous opinion of -Petit-Claud. - -"I am taking you round by the longest way," he said, "and we shall meet -nobody." - -"For the first time in my life, monsieur, I feel that I have no right -to hold up my head before other people; I had a sharp lesson given to me -last night----" - -"It will be the first and the last." - -"Oh! I certainly shall not stay in the town now----" - -"Let me know if your husband consents to the proposals that are all but -definitely offered by the Cointets," said Petit-Claud at the gate of -the prison; "I will come at once with an order for David's release from -Cachan, and in all likelihood he will not go back again to prison." - -This suggestion, made on the very threshold of the jail, was a piece of -cunning strategy--a _combinazione_, as the Italians call an indefinable -mixture of treachery and truth, a cunningly planned fraud which does not -break the letter of the law, or a piece of deft trickery for which there -is no legal remedy. St. Bartholomew's for instance, was a political -combination. - -Imprisonment for debt, for reasons previously explained, is such a rare -occurrence in the provinces, that there is no house of detention, and -a debtor is perforce imprisoned with the accused, convicted, and -condemned--the three graduated subdivisions of the class generically -styled criminal. David was put for the time being in a cell on the -ground floor from which some prisoner had probably been recently -discharged at the end of his time. Once inscribed on the jailer's -register, with the amount allowed by the law for a prisoner's board for -one month, David confronted a big, stout man, more powerful than the -King himself in a prisoner's eyes; this was the jailer. - -An instance of a thin jailer is unknown in the provinces. The place, to -begin with, is almost a sinecure, and a jailer is a kind of innkeeper -who pays no rent and lives very well, while his prisoners fare very ill; -for, like an innkeeper, he gives them rooms according to their payments. -He knew David by name, and what was more, knew about David's father, -and thought that he might venture to let the printer have a good room on -credit for one night; for David was penniless. - -The prison of Angouleme was built in the Middle Ages, and has no more -changed than the old cathedral. It is built against the old _presidial_, -or ancient court of appeal, and people still call it the _maison de -justice_. It boasts the conventional prison gateway, the solid-looking, -nail-studded door, the low, worn archway which the better deserves the -qualification "cyclopean," because the jailer's peephole or _judas_ -looks out like a single eye from the front of the building. As you enter -you find yourself in a corridor which runs across the entire width of -the building, with a row of doors of cells that give upon the prison -yard and are lighted by high windows covered with a square iron grating. -The jailer's house is separated from these cells by an archway in the -middle, through which you catch a glimpse of the iron gate of the prison -yard. The jailer installed David in a cell next to the archway, thinking -that he would like to have a man of David's stamp as a near neighbor for -the sake of company. - -"This is the best room," he said. David was struck dumb with amazement -at the sight of it. - -The stone walls were tolerably damp. The windows, set high in the wall, -were heavily barred; the stone-paved floor was cold as ice, and from -the corridor outside came the sound of the measured tramp of the warder, -monotonous as waves on the beach. "You are a prisoner! you are watched -and guarded!" said the footsteps at every moment of every hour. All -these small things together produce a prodigious effect upon the minds -of honest folk. David saw that the bed was execrable, but the first -night in a prison is full of violent agitation, and only on the second -night does the prisoner notice that his couch is hard. The jailer was -graciously disposed; he naturally suggested that his prisoner should -walk in the yard until nightfall. - -David's hour of anguish only began when he was locked into his cell for -the night. Lights are not allowed in the cells. A prisoner detained on -arrest used to be subjected to rules devised for malefactors, unless he -brought a special exemption signed by the public prosecutor. The jailer -certainly might allow David to sit by his fire, but the prisoner must go -back to his cell at locking-up time. Poor David learned the horrors -of prison life by experience, the rough coarseness of the treatment -revolted him. Yet a revulsion, familiar to those who live by thought, -passed over him. He detached himself from his loneliness, and found a -way of escape in a poet's waking dream. - -At last the unhappy man's thoughts turned to his own affairs. The -stimulating influence of a prison upon conscience and self-scrutiny is -immense. David asked himself whether he had done his duty as the head of -a family. What despairing grief his wife must feel at this moment! Why -had he not done as Marion had said, and earned money enough to pursue -his investigations at leisure? - -"How can I stay in Angouleme after such a disgrace? And when I come out -of prison, what will become of us? Where shall we go?" - -Doubts as to his process began to occur to him, and he passed through -an agony which none save inventors can understand. Going from doubt to -doubt, David began to see his real position more clearly; and to himself -he said, as the Cointets had said to old Sechard, as Petit-Claud had -just said to Eve, "Suppose that all should go well, what does it amount -to in practice? The first thing to be done is to take out a patent, and -money is needed for that--and experiments must be tried on a large scale -in a paper-mill, which means that the discovery must pass into other -hands. Oh! Petit-Claud was right!" - -A very vivid light sometimes dawns in the darkest prison. - -"Pshaw!" said David; "I shall see Petit-Claud to-morrow no doubt," and -he turned and slept on the filthy mattress covered with coarse brown -sacking. - -So when Eve unconsciously played into the hands of the enemy that -morning, she found her husband more than ready to listen to proposals. -She put her arms about him and kissed him, and sat down on the edge of -the bed (for there was but one chair of the poorest and commonest kind -in the cell). Her eyes fell on the unsightly pail in a corner, and over -the walls covered with inscriptions left by David's predecessors, and -tears filled the eyes that were red with weeping. She had sobbed long -and very bitterly, but the sight of her husband in a felon's cell drew -fresh tears. - -"And the desire of fame may lead one to this!" she cried. "Oh! my angel, -give up your career. Let us walk together along the beaten track; we -will not try to make haste to be rich, David.... I need very little -to be very happy, especially now, after all that we have been through -.... And if you only knew--the disgrace of arrest is not the worst.... -Look." - -She held out Lucien's letter, and when David had read it, she tried to -comfort him by repeating Petit-Claud's bitter comment. - -"If Lucien has taken his life, the thing is done by now," said David; -"if he has not made away with himself by this time, he will not kill -himself. As he himself says, 'his courage cannot last longer than a -morning----'" - -"But the suspense!" cried Eve, forgiving almost everything at the -thought of death. Then she told her husband of the proposals which -Petit-Claud professed to have received from the Cointets. David accepted -them at once with manifest pleasure. - -"We shall have enough to live upon in a village near L'Houmeau, where -the Cointets' paper-mill stands. I want nothing now but a quiet life," -said David. "If Lucien has punished himself by death, we can wait so -long as father lives; and if Lucien is still living, poor fellow, he -will learn to adapt himself to our narrow ways. The Cointets certainly -will make money by my discovery; but, after all, what am I compared with -our country? One man in it, that is all; and if the whole country is -benefited, I shall be content. There! dear Eve, neither you nor I were -meant to be successful in business. We do not care enough about making a -profit; we have not the dogged objection to parting with our money, -even when it is legally owing, which is a kind of virtue of the -counting-house, for these two sorts of avarice are called prudence and a -faculty of business." - -Eve felt overjoyed; she and her husband held the same views, and this is -one of the sweetest flowers of love; for two human beings who love -each other may not be of the same mind, nor take the same view of their -interests. She wrote to Petit-Claud telling him that they both consented -to the general scheme, and asked him to release David. Then she begged -the jailer to deliver the message. - -Ten minutes later Petit-Claud entered the dismal place. "Go home, -madame," he said, addressing Eve, "we will follow you.--Well, my dear -friend" (turning to David), "so you allowed them to catch you! Why did -you come out? How came you to make such a mistake?" - -"Eh! how could I do otherwise? Look at this letter that Lucien wrote." - -David held out a sheet of paper. It was Cerizet's forged letter. - -Petit-Claud read it, looked at it, fingered the paper as he talked, and -still taking, presently, as if through absence of mind, folded it up and -put it in his pocket. Then he linked his arm in David's, and they went -out together, the order for release having come during the conversation. - -It was like heaven to David to be at home again. He cried like a child -when he took little Lucien in his arms and looked round his room after -three weeks of imprisonment, and the disgrace, according to provincial -notions, of the last few hours. Kolb and Marion had come back. Marion -had heard in L'Houmeau that Lucien had been seen walking along on the -Paris road, somewhere beyond Marsac. Some country folk, coming in to -market, had noticed his fine clothes. Kolb, therefore, had set out on -horseback along the highroad, and heard at last at Mansle that Lucien -was traveling post in a caleche--M. Marron had recognized him as he -passed. - -"What did I tell you?" said Petit-Claud. "That fellow is not a poet; he -is a romance in heaven knows how many chapters." - -"Traveling post!" repeated Eve. "Where can he be going this time?" - -"Now go to see the Cointets, they are expecting you," said Petit-Claud, -turning to David. - -"Ah, monsieur!" cried the beautiful Eve, "pray do your best for our -interests; our whole future lies in your hands." - -"If you prefer it, madame, the conference can be held here. I will leave -David with you. The Cointets will come this evening, and you shall see -if I can defend your interests." - -"Ah! monsieur, I should be very glad," said Eve. - -"Very well," said Petit-Claud; "this evening, at seven o'clock." - -"Thank you," said Eve; and from her tone and glance Petit-Claud knew -that he had made great progress in his fair client's confidence. - -"You have nothing to fear; you see I was right," he added. "Your brother -is a hundred miles away from suicide, and when all comes to all, perhaps -you will have a little fortune this evening. A _bona-fide_ purchaser for -the business has turned up." - -"If that is the case," said Eve, "why should we not wait awhile before -binding ourselves to the Cointets?" - -Petit-Claud saw the danger. "You are forgetting, madame," he said, "that -you cannot sell your business until you have paid M. Metivier; for a -distress warrant has been issued." - -As soon as Petit-Claud reached home he sent for Cerizet, and when the -printer's foreman appeared, drew him into the embrasure of the window. - -"To-morrow evening," he said, "you will be the proprietor of the -Sechards' printing-office, and then there are those behind you who have -influence enough to transfer the license;" (then in a lowered voice), -"but you have no mind to end in the hulks, I suppose?" - -"The hulks! What's that? What's that?" - -"Your letter to David was a forgery. It is in my possession. What would -Henriette say in a court of law? I do not want to ruin you," he added -hastily, seeing how white Cerizet's face grew. - -"You want something more of me?" cried Cerizet. - -"Well, here it is," said Petit-Claud. "Follow me carefully. You will be -a master printer in Angouleme in two months' time . . . but you will not -have paid for your business--you will not pay for it in ten years. You -will work a long while yet for those that have lent you the money, and -you will be the cat's-paw of the Liberal party. . . . Now _I_ shall draw -up your agreement with Gannerac, and I can draw it up in such a way that -you will have the business in your own hands one of these days. But--if -the Liberals start a paper, if you bring it out, and if I am deputy -public prosecutor, then you will come to an understanding with the -Cointets and publish articles of such a nature that they will have the -paper suppressed. . . . The Cointets will pay you handsomely for that -service. . . . I know, of course, that you will be a hero, a victim -of persecution; you will be a personage among the Liberals--a Sergeant -Mercier, a Paul-Louis Courier, a Manual on a small scale. I will take -care that they leave you your license. In fact, on the day when the -newspaper is suppressed, I will burn this letter before your eyes. . . . -Your fortune will not cost you much." - -A working man has the haziest notions as to the law with regard to -forgery; and Cerizet, who beheld himself already in the dock, breathed -again. - -"In three years' time," continued Petit-Claud, "I shall be public -prosecutor in Angouleme. You may have need of me some day; bear that in -mind." - -"It's agreed," said Cerizet, "but you don't know me. Burn that letter -now and trust to my gratitude." - -Petit-Claud looked Cerizet in the face. It was a duel in which one man's -gaze is a scalpel with which he essays to probe the soul of another, -and the eyes of that other are a theatre, as it were, to which all his -virtue is summoned for display. - -Petit-Claud did not utter a word. He lighted a taper and burned the -letter. "He has his way to make," he said to himself. - -"Here is one that will go through fire and water for you," said Cerizet. - - - -David awaited the interview with the Cointets with a vague feeling of -uneasiness; not, however, on account of the proposed partnership, nor -for his own interests--he felt nervous as to their opinion of his work. -He was in something the same position as a dramatic author before his -judges. The inventor's pride in the discovery so nearly completed left -no room for any other feelings. - -At seven o'clock that evening, while Mme. du Chatelet, pleading a sick -headache, had gone to her room in her unhappiness over the rumors of -Lucien's departure; while M. de Comte, left to himself, was entertaining -his guests at dinner--the tall Cointet and his stout brother, -accompanied by Petit-Claud, opened negotiations with the competitor who -had delivered himself up, bound hand and foot. - -A difficulty awaited them at the outset. How was it possible to draw -up a deed of partnership unless they knew David's secret? And if -David divulged his secret, he would be at the mercy of the Cointets. -Petit-Claud arranged that the deed of partnership should be the first -drawn up. Thereupon the tall Cointet asked to see some specimens of -David's work, and David brought out the last sheet that he had made, -guaranteeing the price of production. - -"Well," said Petit-Claud, "there you have the basis of the agreement -ready made. You can go into partnership on the strength of those -samples, inserting a clause to protect yourselves in case the conditions -of the patent are not fulfilled in the manufacturing process." - -"It is one thing to make samples of paper on a small scale in your own -room with a small mould, monsieur, and another to turn out a quantity," -said the tall Cointet, addressing David. "Quite another thing, as you -may judge from this single fact. We manufacture colored papers. We buy -parcels of coloring absolutely identical. Every cake of indigo used -for 'blueing' our post-demy is taken from a batch supplied by the -same maker. Well, we have never yet been able to obtain two batches of -precisely the same shade. There are variations in the material which -we cannot detect. The quantity and the quality of the pulp modify every -question at once. Suppose that you have in a caldron a quantity of -ingredients of some kind (I don't ask to know what they are), you can do -as you like with them, the treatment can be uniformly applied, you can -manipulate, knead, and pestle the mass at your pleasure until you have -a homogeneous substance. But who will guarantee that it will be the same -with a batch of five hundred reams, and that your plan will succeed in -bulk?" - -David, Eve, and Petit-Claud looked at one another; their eyes said many -things. - -"Take a somewhat similar case," continued the tall Cointet after a -pause. "You cut two or three trusses of meadow hay, and store it in a -loft before 'the heat is out of the grass,' as the peasants say; the -hay ferments, but no harm comes of it. You follow up your experiment by -storing a couple of thousand trusses in a wooden barn--and, of course, -the hay smoulders, and the barn blazes up like a lighted match. You are -an educated man," continued Cointet; "you can see the application for -yourself. So far, you have only cut your two trusses of hay; we are -afraid of setting fire to our paper-mill by bringing in a couple of -thousand trusses. In other words, we may spoil more than one batch, make -heavy losses, and find ourselves none the better for laying out a good -deal of money." - -David was completely floored by this reasoning. Practical wisdom spoke -in matter-of-fact language to theory, whose word is always for the -future. - -"Devil fetch me, if I'll sign such a deed of partnership!" the stout -Cointet cried bluntly. "You may throw away your money if you like, -Boniface; as for me, I shall keep mine. Here is my offer--to pay M. -Sechard's debts _and_ six thousand francs, and another three thousand -francs in bills at twelve and fifteen months," he added. "That will be -quite enough risk to run.--We have a balance of twelve thousand francs -against Metivier. That will make fifteen thousand francs.--That is -all that I would pay for the secret if I were going to exploit it for -myself. So this is the great discovery that you were talking about, -Boniface! Many thanks! I thought you had more sense. No, you can't call -this business." - -"The question for you," said Petit-Claud, undismayed by the explosion, -"resolves itself into this: 'Do you care to risk twenty thousand francs -to buy a secret that may make rich men of you?' Why, the risk usually is -in proportion to the profit, gentlemen. You stake twenty thousand francs -on your luck. A gambler puts down a louis at roulette for a chance of -winning thirty-six, but he knows that the louis is lost. Do the same." - -"I must have time to think it over," said the stout Cointet; "I am not -so clever as my brother. I am a plain, straight-forward sort of chap, -that only knows one thing--how to print prayer-books at twenty sous and -sell them for two francs. Where I see an invention that has only been -tried once, I see ruin. You succeed with the first batch, you spoil the -next, you go on, and you are drawn in; for once put an arm into that -machinery, the rest of you follows," and he related an anecdote very -much to the point--how a Bordeaux merchant had ruined himself by -following a scientific man's advice, and trying to bring the Landes -into cultivation; and followed up the tale with half-a-dozen similar -instances of agricultural and commercial failures nearer home in -the departments of the Charente and Dordogne. He waxed warm over his -recitals. He would not listen to another word. Petit-Claud's demurs, so -far from soothing the stout Cointet, appeared to irritate him. - -"I would rather give more for a certainty, if I made only a small profit -on it," he said, looking at his brother. "It is my opinion that things -have gone far enough for business," he concluded. - -"Still you came here for something, didn't you?" asked Petit-Claud. -"What is your offer?" - -"I offer to release M. Sechard, and, if his plan succeeds, to give him -thirty per cent of the profits," the stout Cointet answered briskly. - -"But, monsieur," objected Eve, "how should we live while the experiments -were being made? My husband has endured the disgrace of imprisonment -already; he may as well go back to prison, it makes no difference now, -and we will pay our debts ourselves----" - -Petit-Claud laid a finger on his lips in warning. - -"You are unreasonable," said he, addressing the brothers. "You have seen -the paper; M. Sechard's father told you that he had shut his son up, -and that he had made capital paper in a single night from materials that -must have cost a mere nothing. You are here to make an offer. Are you -purchasers, yes or no?" - -"Stay," said the tall Cointet, "whether my brother is willing or no, I -will risk this much myself. I will pay M. Sechard's debts, I will pay -six thousand francs over and above the debts, and M. Sechard shall have -thirty per cent of the profits. But mind this--if in the space of one -year he fails to carry out the undertakings which he himself will make -in the deed of partnership, he must return the six thousand francs, and -we shall keep the patent and extricate ourselves as best we may." - -"Are you sure of yourself?" asked Petit-Claud, taking David aside. - -"Yes," said David. He was deceived by the tactics of the brothers, and -afraid lest the stout Cointet should break off the negotiations on which -his future depended. - -"Very well, I will draft the deed," said Petit-Claud, addressing the -rest of the party. "Each of you shall have a copy to-night, and you -will have all to-morrow morning in which to think it over. To-morrow -afternoon at four o'clock, when the court rises, you will sign the -agreement. You, gentlemen, will withdraw Metivier's suit, and I, for my -part, will write to stop proceedings in the Court-Royal; we will give -notice on either side that the affair has been settled out of court." - -David Sechard's undertakings were thus worded in the deed:-- - - - "M. David Sechard, printer of Angouleme, affirming that he has - discovered a method of sizing paper-pulp in the vat, and also a - method of affecting a reduction of fifty per cent in the price of - all kinds of manufactured papers, by introducing certain vegetable - substances into the pulp, either by intermixture of such - substances with the rags already in use, or by employing them - solely without the addition of rags: a partnership for working the - patent to be presently applied for is entered upon by M. David - Sechard and the firm of Cointet Brothers, subject to the following - conditional clauses and stipulations." - - -One of the clauses so drafted that David Sechard forfeited all his -rights if he failed to fulfil his engagements within the year; the -tall Cointet was particularly careful to insert that clause, and David -Sechard allowed it to pass. - -When Petit-Claud appeared with a copy of the agreement next morning at -half-past seven o'clock, he brought news for David and his wife. Cerizet -offered twenty-two thousand francs for the business. The whole affair -could be signed and settled in the course of the evening. "But if the -Cointets knew about it," he added, "they would be quite capable of -refusing to sign the deed of partnership, of harassing you, and selling -you up." - -"Are you sure of payment?" asked Eve. She had thought it hopeless to -try to sell the business; and now, to her astonishment, a bargain which -would have been their salvation three months ago was concluded in this -summary fashion. - -"The money has been deposited with me," he answered succinctly. - -"Why, here is magic at work!" said David, and he asked Petit-Claud for -an explanation of this piece of luck. - -"No," said Petit-Claud, "it is very simple. The merchants in L'Houmeau -want a newspaper." - -"But I am bound not to publish a paper," said David. - -"Yes, you are bound, but is your successor?--However it is," he -continued, "do not trouble yourself at all; sell the business, pocket -the proceeds, and leave Cerizet to find his way through the conditions -of the sale--he can take care of himself." - -"Yes," said Eve. - -"And if it turns out that you may not print a newspaper in Angouleme," -said Petit-Claud, "those who are finding the capital for Cerizet will -bring out the paper in L'Houmeau." - -The prospect of twenty-two thousand francs, of want now at end, dazzled -Eve. The partnership and its hopes took a second place. And, therefore, -M. and Mme. Sechard gave way on a final point of dispute. The tall -Cointet insisted that the patent should be taken out in the name of any -one of the partners. What difference could it make? The stout Cointet -said the last word. - -"He is finding the money for the patent; he is bearing the expenses of -the journey--another two thousand francs over and above the rest of the -expenses. He must take it out in his own name, or we will not stir in -the matter." - -The lynx gained a victory at all points. The deed of partnership was -signed that afternoon at half-past four. - -The tall Cointet politely gave Mme. Sechard a dozen thread-pattern forks -and spoons and a beautiful Ternaux shawl, by way of pin-money, said he, -and to efface any unpleasant impression made in the heat of discussion. -The copies of the draft had scarcely been made out, Cachan had barely -had time to send the documents to Petit-Claud, together with the three -unlucky forged bills, when the Sechards heard a deafening rumble in the -street, a dray from the Messageries stopped before the door, and Kolb's -voice made the staircase ring again. - -"Montame! montame! vifteen tausend vrancs, vrom Boidiers" (Poitiers). -"Goot money! vrom Monziere Lucien!" - -"Fifteen thousand francs!" cried Eve, throwing up her arms. - -"Yes, madame," said the carman in the doorway, "fifteen thousand francs, -brought by the Bordeaux coach, and they didn't want any more neither! -I have two men downstairs bringing up the bags. M. Lucien Chardon de -Rubempre is the sender. I have brought up a little leather bag for you, -containing five hundred francs in gold, and a letter it's likely." - -Eve thought that she must be dreaming as she read:-- - - - "MY DEAR SISTER,--Here are fifteen thousand francs. Instead of - taking my life, I have sold it. I am no longer my own; I am only - the secretary of a Spanish diplomatist; I am his creature. A new - and dreadful life is beginning for me. Perhaps I should have done - better to drown myself. - - "Good-bye. David will be released, and with the four thousand - francs he can buy a little paper-mill, no doubt, and make his - fortune. Forget me, all of you. This is the wish of your unhappy - brother. - "LUCIEN." - - -"It is decreed that my poor boy should be unlucky in everything, and -even when he does well, as he said himself," said Mme. Chardon, as she -watched the men piling up the bags. - -"We have had a narrow escape!" exclaimed the tall Cointet, when he was -once more in the Place du Murier. "An hour later the glitter of the -silver would have thrown a new light on the deed of partnership. Our -man would have fought shy of it. We have his promise now, and in three -months' time we shall know what to do." - -That very evening, at seven o'clock, Cerizet bought the business, and -the money was paid over, the purchaser undertaking to pay rent for -the last quarter. The next day Eve sent forty thousand francs to -the Receiver-General, and bought two thousand five hundred francs of -_rentes_ in her husband's name. Then she wrote to her father-in-law and -asked him to find a small farm, worth about ten thousand francs, for her -near Marsac. She meant to invest her own fortune in this way. - -The tall Cointet's plot was formidably simple. From the very first -he considered that the plan of sizing the pulp in the vat was -impracticable. The real secret of fortune lay in the composition of the -pulp, in the cheap vegetable fibre as a substitute for rags. He made up -his mind, therefore, to lay immense stress on the secondary problem of -sizing the pulp, and to pass over the discovery of cheap raw material, -and for the following reasons: - -The Angouleme paper-mills manufacture paper for stationers. Notepaper, -foolscap, crown, and post-demy are all necessarily sized; and these -papers have been the pride of the Angouleme mills for a long while past, -stationery being the specialty of the Charente. This fact gave color to -the Cointet's urgency upon the point of sizing in the pulping-trough; -but, as a matter of fact, they cared nothing for this part of David's -researches. The demand for writing-paper is exceedingly small compared -with the almost unlimited demand for unsized paper for printers. As -Boniface Cointet traveled to Paris to take out the patent in his own -name, he was projecting plans that were like to work a revolution in his -paper-mill. Arrived in Paris, he took up his quarters with Metivier, -and gave his instructions to his agent. Metivier was to call upon the -proprietors of newspapers, and offer to deliver paper at prices below -those quoted by all other houses; he could guarantee in each case that -the paper should be a better color, and in every way superior to the -best kinds hitherto in use. Newspapers are always supplied by contract; -there would be time before the present contracts expired to complete all -the subterranean operations with buyers, and to obtain a monopoly of -the trade. Cointet calculated that he could rid himself of Sechard while -Metivier was taking orders from the principal Paris newspapers, which -even then consumed two hundred reams daily. Cointet naturally offered -Metivier a large commission on the contracts, for he wished to secure a -clever representative on the spot, and to waste no time in traveling to -and fro. And in this manner the fortunes of the firm of Metivier, one -of the largest houses in the paper trade, were founded. The tall Cointet -went back to Angouleme to be present at Petit-Claud's wedding, with a -mind at rest as to the future. - -Petit-Claud had sold his professional connection, and was only waiting -for M. Milaud's promotion to take the public prosecutor's place, -which had been promised to him by the Comtesse du Chatelet. The public -prosecutor's second deputy was appointed first deputy to the Court of -Limoges, the Keeper of the Seals sent a man of his own to Angouleme, -and the post of first deputy was kept vacant for a couple of months. The -interval was Petit-Claud's honeymoon. - -While Boniface Cointet was in Paris, David made a first experimental -batch of unsized paper far superior to that in common use for -newspapers. He followed it up with a second batch of magnificent vellum -paper for fine printing, and this the Cointets used for a new edition of -their diocesan prayer-book. The material had been privately prepared by -David himself; he would have no helpers but Kolb and Marion. - -When Boniface came back the whole affair wore a different aspect; he -looked at the samples, and was fairly satisfied. - -"My good friend," he said, "the whole trade of Angouleme is in crown -paper. We must make the best possible crown paper at half the present -price; that is the first and foremost question for us." - -Then David tried to size the pulp for the desired paper, and the result -was a harsh surface with grains of size distributed all over it. On the -day when the experiment was concluded and David held the sheets in his -hand, he went away to find a spot where he could be alone and swallow -his bitter disappointment. But Boniface Cointet went in search of him -and comforted him. Boniface was delightfully amiable. - -"Do not lose heart," he said; "go on! I am a good fellow, I understand -you; I will stand by you to the end." - -"Really," David said to his wife at dinner, "we are with good people; -I should not have expected that the tall Cointet would be so generous." -And he repeated his conversation with his wily partner. - -Three months were spent in experiments. David slept at the mill; he -noted the effects of various preparations upon the pulp. At one time -he attributed his non-success to an admixture of rag-pulp with his own -ingredients, and made a batch entirely composed of the new material; -at another, he endeavored to size pulp made exclusively from rags; -persevering in his experiments under the eyes of the tall Cointet, whom -he had ceased to mistrust, until he had tried every possible combination -of pulp and size. David lived in the paper-mill for the first six months -of 1823--if it can be called living, to leave food untasted, and go -in neglect of person and dress. He wrestled so desperately with -the difficulties, that anybody but the Cointets would have seen the -sublimity of the struggle, for the brave fellow was not thinking of his -own interests. The moment had come when he cared for nothing but the -victory. With marvelous sagacity he watched the unaccountable freaks of -the semi-artificial substances called into existence by man for ends of -his own; substances in which nature had been tamed, as it were, and -her tacit resistance overcome; and from these observations drew great -conclusions; finding, as he did, that such creations can only be -obtained by following the laws of the more remote affinities of things, -of "a second nature," as he called it, in substances. - -Towards the end of August he succeeded to some extent in sizing the -paper pulp in the vat; the result being a kind of paper identical with -a make in use for printers' proofs at the present day--a kind of paper -that cannot be depended upon, for the sizing itself is not always -certain. This was a great result, considering the condition of the paper -trade in 1823, and David hoped to solve the final difficulties of the -problem, but--it had cost ten thousand francs. - -Singular rumors were current at this time in Angouleme and L'Houmeau. -It was said that David Sechard was ruining the firm of Cointet Brothers. -Experiments had eaten up twenty thousand francs; and the result, said -gossip, was wretchedly bad paper. Other manufacturers took fright at -this, hugged themselves on their old-fashioned methods, and, being -jealous of the Cointets, spread rumors of the approaching fall of that -ambitious house. As for the tall Cointet, he set up the new machinery -for making lengths of paper in a ribbon, and allowed people to believe -that he was buying plant for David's experiments. Then the cunning -Cointet used David's formula for pulp, while urging his partner to give -his whole attention to the sizing process; and thousands of reams of the -new paper were despatched to Metivier in Paris. - -When September arrived, the tall Cointet took David aside, and, learning -that the latter meditated a crowning experiment, dissuaded him from -further attempts. - -"Go to Marsac, my dear David, see your wife, and take a rest after -your labors; we don't want to ruin ourselves," said Cointet in the -friendliest way. "This great triumph of yours, after all, is only a -starting-point. We shall wait now for awhile before trying any new -experiments. To be fair! see what has come of them. We are not merely -paper-makers, we are printers besides and bankers, and people say that -you are ruining us." - -David Sechard's gesture of protest on behalf of his good faith was -sublime in its simplicity. - -"Not that fifty thousand francs thrown into the Charente would ruin -us," said Cointet, in reply to mute protest, "but we do not wish to be -obliged to pay cash for everything in consequence of slanders that shake -our credit; _that_ would bring us to a standstill. We have reached the -term fixed by our agreement, and we are bound on either side to think -over our position." - -"He is right," thought David. He had forgotten the routine work of the -business, thoroughly absorbed as he had been in experiments on a large -scale. - -David went to Marsac. For the past six months he had gone over on -Saturday evening, returning again to L'Houmeau on Tuesday morning. Eve, -after much counsel from her father-in-law, had bought a house called the -Verberie, with three acres of land and a croft planted with vines, which -lay like a wedge in the old man's vineyard. Here, with her mother and -Marion, she lived a very frugal life, for five thousand francs of the -purchase money still remained unpaid. It was a charming little domain, -the prettiest bit of property in Marsac. The house, with a garden before -it and a yard at the back, was built of white tufa ornamented with -carvings, cut without great expense in that easily wrought stone, and -roofed with slate. The pretty furniture from the house in Angouleme -looked prettier still at Marsac, for there was not the slightest -attempt at comfort or luxury in the country in those days. A row of -orange-trees, pomegranates, and rare plants stood before the house on -the side of the garden, set there by the last owner, an old general who -died under M. Marron's hands. - -David was enjoying his holiday sitting under an orange-tree with his -wife, and father, and little Lucien, when the bailiff from Mansle -appeared. Cointet Brothers gave their partner formal notice to appoint -an arbitrator to settle disputes, in accordance with a clause in the -agreement. The Cointets demanded that the six thousand francs should be -refunded, and the patent surrendered in consideration of the enormous -outlay made to no purpose. - -"People say that you are ruining them," said old Sechard. "Well, well, -of all that you have done, that is the one thing that I am glad to -know." - -At nine o'clock the next morning Eve and David stood in Petit-Claud's -waiting-room. The little lawyer was the guardian of the widow and orphan -by virtue of his office, and it seemed to them that they could take no -other advice. Petit-Claud was delighted to see his clients, and insisted -that M. and Mme. Sechard should do him the pleasure of breakfasting with -him. - -"Do the Cointets want six thousand francs of you?" he asked, smiling. -"How much is still owing of the purchase-money of the Verberie?" - -"Five thousand francs, monsieur," said Eve, "but I have two -thousand----" - -"Keep your money," Petit-Claud broke in. "Let us see: five -thousand--why, you want quite another ten thousand francs to settle -yourselves comfortably down yonder. Very good, in two hours' time the -Cointets shall bring you fifteen thousand francs----" - -Eve started with surprise. - -"If you will renounce all claims to the profits under the deed of -partnership, and come to an amicable settlement," said Petit-Claud. -"Does that suit you?" - -"Will it really be lawfully ours?" asked Eve. - -"Very much so," said the lawyer, smiling. "The Cointets have worked -you trouble enough; I should like to make an end of their pretensions. -Listen to me; I am a magistrate now, and it is my duty to tell you the -truth. Very good. The Cointets are playing you false at this moment, but -you are in their hands. If you accept battle, you might possibly gain -the lawsuit which they will bring. Do you wish to be where you are now -after ten years of litigation? Experts' fees and expenses of arbitration -will be multiplied, the most contradictory opinions will be given, and -you must take your chance. And," he added, smiling again, "there is no -attorney here that can defend you, so far as I see. My successor has -not much ability. There, a bad compromise is better than a successful -lawsuit." - -"Any arrangement that will give us a quiet life will do for me," said -David. - -Petit-Claud called to his servant. - -"Paul! go and ask M. Segaud, my successor, to come here.--He shall go -to see the Cointets while we breakfast" said Petit-Claud, addressing his -former clients, "and in a few hours' time you will be on your way home -to Marsac, ruined, but with minds at rest. Ten thousand francs will -bring you in another five hundred francs of income, and you will live -comfortably on your bit of property." - -Two hours later, as Petit-Claud had prophesied, Maitre Segaud came back -with an agreement duly drawn up and signed by the Cointets, and fifteen -notes each for a thousand francs. - -"We are much indebted to you," said Sechard, turning to Petit-Claud. - -"Why, I have just this moment ruined you," said Petit-Claud, looking at -his astonished former clients. "I tell you again, I have ruined you, as -you will see as time goes on; but I know you, you would rather be ruined -than wait for a fortune which perhaps might come too late." - -"We are not mercenary, monsieur," said Madame Eve. "We thank you for -giving us the means of happiness; we shall always feel grateful to you." - -"Great heavens! don't call down blessings on _me_!" cried Petit-Claud. -"It fills me with remorse; but to-day, I think, I have made full -reparation. If I am a magistrate, it is entirely owing to you; and if -anybody is to feel grateful, it is I. Good-bye." - - - -As time went on, Kolb changed his opinion of Sechard senior; and as for -the old man, he took a liking to Kolb when he found that, like himself, -the Alsacien could neither write nor read a word, and that it was easy -to make him tipsy. The old "bear" imparted his ideas on vine culture and -the sale of a vintage to the ex-cuirassier, and trained him with a view -to leaving a man with a head on his shoulders to look after his children -when he should be gone; for he grew childish at the last, and great were -his fears as to the fate of his property. He had chosen Courtois the -miller as his confidant. "You will see how things will go with my -children when I am under ground. Lord! it makes me shudder to think of -it." - -Old Sechard died in the month of March, 1929, leaving about two hundred -thousand francs in land. His acres added to the Verberie made a fine -property, which Kolb had managed to admiration for some two years. - -David and his wife found nearly a hundred thousand crowns in gold in the -house. The department of the Charente had valued old Sechard's money at -a million; rumor, as usual, exaggerating the amount of a hoard. Eve and -David had barely thirty thousand francs of income when they added their -little fortune to the inheritance; they waited awhile, and so it fell -out that they invested their capital in Government securities at the -time of the Revolution of July. - -Then, and not until then, could the department of the Charente and David -Sechard form some idea of the wealth of the tall Cointet. Rich to the -extent of several millions of francs, the elder Cointet became a deputy, -and is at this day a peer of France. It is said that he will be Minister -of Commerce in the next Government; for in 1842 he married Mlle. -Popinot, daughter of M. Anselme Popinot, one of the most influential -statesmen of the dynasty, deputy and mayor of an arrondissement in -Paris. - -David Sechard's discovery has been assimilated by the French -manufacturing world, as food is assimilated by a living body. Thanks to -the introduction of materials other than rags, France can produce paper -more cheaply than any other European country. Dutch paper, as David -foresaw, no longer exists. Sooner or later it will be necessary, no -doubt, to establish a Royal Paper Manufactory; like the Gobelins, the -Sevres porcelain works, the Savonnerie, and the Imprimerie royale, which -so far have escaped the destruction threatened by _bourgeois_ vandalism. - -David Sechard, beloved by his wife, father of two boys and a girl, has -the good taste to make no allusion to his past efforts. Eve had the -sense to dissuade him from following his terrible vocation; for the -inventor like Moses on Mount Horeb, is consumed by the burning bush. He -cultivates literature by way of recreation, and leads a comfortable life -of leisure, befitting the landowner who lives on his own estate. He has -bidden farewell for ever to glory, and bravely taken his place in the -class of dreamers and collectors; for he dabbles in entomology, and is -at present investigating the transformations of insects which science -only knows in the final stage. - -Everybody has heard of Petit-Claud's success as attorney-general; he is -the rival of the great Vinet of Provins, and it is his ambition to be -President of the Court-Royal of Poitiers. - -Cerizet has been in trouble so frequently for political offences that -he has been a good deal talked about; and as one of the boldest _enfants -perdus_ of the Liberal party he was nicknamed the "Brave Cerizet." When -Petit-Claud's successor compelled him to sell his business in Angouleme, -he found a fresh career on the provincial stage, where his talents as -an actor were like to be turned to brilliant account. The chief stage -heroine, however, obliged him to go to Paris to find a cure for love -among the resources of science, and there he tried to curry favor with -the Liberal party. - -As for Lucien, the story of his return to Paris belongs to the _Scenes -of Parisian_ life. - - - - -ADDENDUM - -Note: Eve and David is the part three of a trilogy. Part one is entitled -Two Poets and part two is A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. In other -addendum references parts one and three are usually combined under the -title Lost Illusions. - -The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. - - Cerizet - Two Poets - A Man of Business - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Middle Classes - - Chardon, Madame (nee Rubempre) - Two Poets - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - - Chatelet, Sixte, Baron du - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Thirteen - - Chatelet, Marie-Louise-Anais de Negrepelisse, Baronne du - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Government Clerks - - Cointet, Boniface - Two Poets - The Firm of Nucingen - The Member for Arcis - - Cointet, Jean - Two Poets - - Collin, Jacques - Father Goriot - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Member for Arcis - - Conti, Gennaro - Beatrix - - Courtois - Two Poets - - Courtois, Madame - Two Poets - - Hautoy, Francis du - Two Poets - - Herrera, Carlos - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - - Marron - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - - Marsay, Henri de - The Thirteen - The Unconscious Humorists - Another Study of Woman - The Lily of the Valley - Father Goriot - Jealousies of a Country Town - Ursule Mirouet - A Marriage Settlement - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Letters of Two Brides - The Ball at Sceaux - Modeste Mignon - The Secrets of a Princess - The Gondreville Mystery - A Daughter of Eve - - Metivier - The Government Clerks - The Middle Classes - - Milaud - The Muse of the Department - - Nucingen, Baron Frederic de - The Firm of Nucingen - Father Goriot - Pierrette - Cesar Birotteau - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - Another Study of Woman - The Secrets of a Princess - A Man of Business - Cousin Betty - The Muse of the Department - The Unconscious Humorists - - Nucingen, Baronne Delphine de - Father Goriot - The Thirteen - Eugenie Grandet - Cesar Birotteau - Melmoth Reconciled - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Commission in Lunacy - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - Modeste Mignon - The Firm of Nucingen - Another Study of Woman - A Daughter of Eve - The Member for Arcis - - Petit-Claud - Two Poets - - Pimentel, Marquis and Marquise de - Two Poets - - Postel - Two Poets - - Prieur, Madame - Two Poets - - Rastignac, Baron and Baronne de (Eugene's parents) - Father Goriot - Two Poets - - Rastignac, Eugene de - Father Goriot - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - The Ball at Sceaux - The Commission in Lunacy - A Study of Woman - Another Study of Woman - The Magic Skin - The Secrets of a Princess - A Daughter of Eve - The Gondreville Mystery - The Firm of Nucingen - Cousin Betty - The Member for Arcis - The Unconscious Humorists - - Rubempre, Lucien-Chardon de - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - The Government Clerks - Ursule Mirouet - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - - Sechard, Jerome-Nicholas - Two Poets - - Sechard, David - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial At Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - - Sechard, Madame David - Two Poets - A Distinguished Provincial At Paris - Scenes from a Courtesan's Life - - Senonches, Jacques de - Two Poets - - Senonches, Madame Jacques de - Two Poets - - Touches, Mademoiselle Felicite des - Beatrix - A Distinguished Provincial at Paris - A Bachelor's Establishment - Another Study of Woman - A Daughter of Eve - Honorine - Beatrix - The Muse of the Department - - Victorine - Massimilla Doni - Letters of Two Brides - Gaudissart II - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eve and David, by Honore de Balzac - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVE AND DAVID *** - -***** This file should be named 1639.txt or 1639.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/1639/ - -Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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