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diff --git a/1641.txt b/1641.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..18886b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/1641.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19990 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lesser Bourgeoisie, 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: The Lesser Bourgeoisie + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Katharine Prescott Wormeley + +Release Date: February, 1999 [Etext #1641] +Posting Date: February 27, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LESSER BOURGEOISIE *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + + + + + +THE LESSER BOURGEOISIE (The Middle Classes) + + +By Honore De Balzac + + +Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley + + + + + DEDICATION + + To Constance-Victoire. + + Here, madame, is one of those books which come into the mind, + whence no one knows, giving pleasure to the author before he can + foresee what reception the public, our great present judge, will + accord to it. Feeling almost certain of your sympathy in my + pleasure, I dedicate the book to you. Ought it not to belong to + you as the tithe formerly belonged to the Church in memory of God, + who makes all things bud and fruit in the fields and in the + intellect? + + A few lumps of clay, left by Moliere at the feet of his colossal + statue of Tartuffe, have here been kneaded by a hand more daring + than able; but, at whatever distance I may be from the greatest of + comic writers, I shall still be glad to have used these crumbs in + showing the modern Hypocrite in action. The chief encouragement + that I have had in this difficult undertaking was in finding it + apart from all religious questions,--questions which ought to be + kept out of it for the sake of one so pious as yourself; and also + because of what a great writer has lately called our present + "indifference in matters of religion." + + May the double signification of your names be for my book a + prophecy! Deign to find here the respectful gratitude of him who + ventures to call himself the most devoted of your servants. + + + De Balzac. + + + + + +THE LESSER BOURGEOISIE + +(The Middle Classes) + + + + + +PART I. THE LESSER BOURGEOIS OF PARIS + + + + +CHAPTER I. DEPARTING PARIS + +The tourniquet Saint-Jean, the narrow passage entered through a +turnstile, a description of which was said to be so wearisome in the +study entitled "A Double Life" (Scenes from Private Life), that naive +relic of old Paris, has at the present moment no existence except in our +said typography. The building of the Hotel-de-Ville, such as we now see +it, swept away a whole section of the city. + +In 1830, passers along the street could still see the turnstile painted +on the sign of a wine-merchant, but even that house, its last asylum, +has been demolished. Alas! old Paris is disappearing with frightful +rapidity. Here and there, in the course of this history of Parisian +life, will be found preserved, sometimes the type of the dwellings of +the middle ages, like that described in "Fame and Sorrow" (Scenes from +Private Life), one or two specimens of which exist to the present day; +sometimes a house like that of Judge Popinot, rue du Fouarre, a specimen +of the former bourgeoisie; here, the remains of Fulbert's house; there, +the old dock of the Seine as it was under Charles IX. Why should not the +historian of French society, a new Old Mortality, endeavor to save these +curious expressions of the past, as Walter Scott's old man rubbed up the +tombstones? Certainly, for the last ten years the outcries of literature +in this direction have not been superfluous; art is beginning to +disguise beneath its floriated ornaments those ignoble facades of what +are called in Paris "houses of product," which one of our poets has +jocosely compared to chests of drawers. + +Let us remark here, that the creation of the municipal commission +"del ornamento" which superintends at Milan the architecture of street +facades, and to which every house owner is compelled to subject his +plan, dates from the seventeenth century. Consequently, we see in that +charming capital the effects of this public spirit on the part of nobles +and burghers, while we admire their buildings so full of character and +originality. Hideous, unrestrained speculation which, year after year, +changes the uniform level of storeys, compresses a whole apartment into +the space of what used to be a salon, and wages war upon gardens, will +infallibly react on Parisian manners and morals. We shall soon be forced +to live more without than within. Our sacred private life, the freedom +and liberty of home, where will they be?--reserved for those who can +muster fifty thousand francs a year! In fact, few millionaires now allow +themselves the luxury of a house to themselves, guarded by a courtyard +on a street and protected from public curiosity by a shady garden at the +back. + +By levelling fortunes, that section of the Code which regulates +testamentary bequests, has produced these huge stone phalansteries, in +which thirty families are often lodged, returning a rental of a hundred +thousand francs a year. Fifty years hence we shall be able to count on +our fingers the few remaining houses which resemble that occupied, at +the moment our narrative begins, by the Thuillier family,--a really +curious house which deserves the honor of an exact description, if only +to compare the life of the bourgeoisie of former times with that of +to-day. + +The situation and the aspect of this house, the frame of our present +Scene of manners and morals, has, moreover, a flavor, a perfume of the +lesser bourgeoisie, which may attract or repel attention according to +the taste of each reader. + +In the first place, the Thuillier house did not belong to either +Monsieur or Madame Thuillier, but to Mademoiselle Thuillier, the sister +of Monsieur Thuillier. + +This house, bought during the first six months which followed the +revolution of July by Mademoiselle Marie-Jeanne-Brigitte Thuillier, a +spinster of full age, stands about the middle of the rue Saint-Dominique +d'Enfer, to the right as you enter by the rue d'Enfer, so that the main +building occupied by Monsieur Thuillier faces south. + +The progressive movement which is carrying the Parisian population to +the heights along the right bank of the Seine had long injured the sale +of property in what is called the "Latin quarter," when reasons, which +will be given when we come to treat of the character and habits of +Monsieur Thuillier, determined his sister to the purchase of real +estate. She obtained this property for the small sum of forty-six +thousand francs; certain extras amounted to six thousand more; in all, +the price paid was fifty-two thousand francs. A description of the +property given in the style of an advertisement, and the results +obtained by Monsieur Thuillier's exertions, will explain by what means +so many fortunes increased enormously after July, 1830, while so many +others sank. + +Toward the street the house presents a facade of rough stone covered +with plaster, cracked by weather and lined by the mason's instrument +into a semblance of blocks of cut stone. This frontage is so common in +Paris and so ugly that the city ought to offer premiums to house-owners +who would build their facades of cut-stone blocks. Seven windows lighted +the gray front of this house which was raised three storeys, ending in +a mansard roof covered with slate. The porte-cochere, heavy and solid, +showed by its workmanship and style that the front building on the +street had been erected in the days of the Empire, to utilize a part +of the courtyard of the vast old mansion, built at an epoch when the +quarter d'Enfer enjoyed a certain vogue. + +On one side was the porter's lodge; on the other the staircase of the +front building. Two wings, built against the adjoining houses, had +formerly served as stables, coach-house, kitchen and offices to the rear +dwelling; but since 1830, they had been converted into warerooms. The +one on the right was let to a certain M. Metivier, jr., wholesale dealer +in paper; that on the left to a bookseller named Barbet. The offices +of each were above the warerooms; the bookseller occupying the first +storey, and the paper-dealer the second storey of the house on the +street. Metivier, jr., who was more of a commission merchant in paper +than a regular dealer, and Barbet, much more of a money lender and +discounter than a bookseller, kept these vast warerooms for the purpose +of storing,--one, his stacks of paper, bought of needy manufacturers, +the other, editions of books given as security for loans. + +The shark of bookselling and the pike of paper-dealing lived on the best +of terms, and their mutual operations, exempt from the turmoil of retail +business, brought so few carriages into that tranquil courtyard that the +concierge was obliged to pull up the grass between the paving stones. +Messrs. Barbet and Metivier paid a few rare visits to their landlords, +and the punctuality with which they paid their rent classed them as +good tenants; in fact, they were looked upon as very honest men by the +Thuillier circle. + +As for the third floor on the street, it was made into two apartments; +one of which was occupied by M. Dutocq, clerk of the justice of peace, +a retired government employee, and a frequenter of the Thuillier +salon; the other by the hero of this Scene, about whom we must +content ourselves at the present moment by fixing the amount of his +rent,--namely, seven hundred francs a year,--and the location he had +chosen in the heart of this well-filled building, exactly three years +before the curtain rises on the present domestic drama. + +The clerk, a bachelor of fifty, occupied the larger of the two +apartments on the third floor. He kept a cook, and the rent of the +rooms was a thousand francs a year. Within two years of the time of +her purchase, Mademoiselle Thuillier was receiving seven thousand two +hundred francs in rentals, for a house which the late proprietor +had supplied with outside blinds, renovated within, and adorned with +mirrors, without being able to sell or let it. Moreover, the Thuilliers +themselves, nobly lodged, as we shall see, enjoyed also a fine +garden,--one of the finest in that quarter,--the trees of which shaded +the lonely little street named the rue Neuve-Saint-Catherine. + +Standing between the courtyard and the garden, the main building, +which they inhabited, seems to have been the caprice of some enriched +bourgeois in the reign of Louis XIV.; the dwelling, perhaps, of a +president of the parliament, or that of a tranquil savant. Its +noble free-stone blocks, damaged by time, have a certain air of +Louis-the-Fourteenth grandeur; the courses of the facade define the +storeys; panels of red brick recall the appearance of the stables at +Versailles; the windows have masks carved as ornaments in the centre +of their arches and below their sills. The door, of small panels in the +upper half and plain below, through which, when open, the garden can be +seen, is of that honest, unassuming style which was often employed in +former days for the porter's lodges of the royal chateaux. + +This building, with five windows to each course, rises two storeys above +the ground-floor, and is particularly noticeable for a roof of four +sides ending in a weather-vane, and broken here and there by tall, +handsome chimneys, and oval windows. Perhaps this structure is the +remains of some great mansion; but after examining all the existing +old maps of Paris, we find nothing which bears out this conjecture. +Moreover, the title-deeds of property under Louis XIV. was Petitot, +the celebrated painter in miniature, who obtained it originally from +President Lecamus. We may therefore believe that Lecamus lived in this +building while he was erecting his more famous mansion in the rue de +Thorigny. + +So Art and the legal robe have passed this way in turn. How many +instigations of needs and pleasures have led to the interior arrangement +of the dwelling! To right, as we enter a square hall forming a closed +vestibule, rises a stone staircase with two windows looking on the +garden. Beneath the staircase opens a door to the cellar. From this +vestibule we enter the dining-room, lighted from the courtyard, and the +dining-room communicates at its side with the kitchen, which forms a +continuation of the wing in which are the warerooms of Metivier and +Barbet. Behind the staircase extends, on the garden side, a fine study +or office with two large windows. The first and second floor form two +complete apartments, and the servants' quarters are shown by the oval +windows in the four-sided roof. + +A large porcelain stove heats the square vestibule, the two glass doors +of which, placed opposite to each other, light it. This room, paved in +black and white marble, is especially noticeable for a ceiling of beams +formerly painted and gilt, but which had since received, probably under +the Empire, a coat of plain white paint. The three doors of the study, +salon and dining-room, surmounted by oval panels, are awaiting a +restoration that is more than needed. The wood-work is heavy, but the +ornamentation is not without merit. The salon, panelled throughout, +recalls the great century by its tall mantelpiece of Languedoc marble, +its ceiling decorated at the corners, and by the style of its windows, +which still retain their little panes. The dining-room, communicating +with the salon by a double door, is floored with stone; the wood-work is +oak, unpainted, and an atrocious modern wall-paper has been substituted +for the tapestries of the olden time. The ceiling is of chestnut; +and the study, modernized by Thuillier, adds its quota to these +discordances. + +The white and gold mouldings of the salon are so effaced that nothing +remains of the gilding but reddish lines, while the white enamelling is +yellow, cracked, and peeling off. Never did the Latin saying "Otium cum +dignitate" have a greater commentary to the mind of a poet than in this +noble building. The iron-work of the staircase baluster is worthy of +the artist and the magistrate; but to find other traces of their taste +to-day in this majestic relic, the eyes of an artistic observer are +needed. + +The Thuilliers and their predecessors have frequently degraded this +jewel of the upper bourgeoisie by the habits and inventions of the +lesser bourgeoisie. Look at those walnut chairs covered with horse-hair, +that mahogany table with its oilcloth cover, that sideboard, also of +mahogany, that carpet, bought at a bargain, beneath the table, those +metal lamps, that wretched paper with its red border, those execrable +engravings, and the calico curtains with red fringes, in a dining-room, +where the friends of Petitot once feasted! Do you notice the effect +produced in the salon by those portraits of Monsieur and Madame and +Mademoiselle Thuillier by Pierre Grassou, the artist par excellence +of the modern bourgeoisie. Have you remarked the card-tables and the +consoles of the Empire, the tea-table supported by a lyre, and that +species of sofa, of gnarled mahogany, covered in painted velvet of a +chocolate tone? On the chimney-piece, with the clock (representing the +Bellona of the Empire), are candelabra with fluted columns. Curtains of +woollen damask, with under-curtains of embroidered muslin held back by +stamped brass holders, drape the windows. On the floor a cheap carpet. +The handsome vestibule has wooden benches, covered with velvet, and the +panelled walls with their fine carvings are mostly hidden by wardrobes, +brought there from time to time from the bedrooms occupied by the +Thuilliers. Fear, that hideous divinity, has caused the family to add +sheet-iron doors on the garden side and on the courtyard side, which are +folded back against the walls in the daytime, and are closed at night. + +It is easy to explain the deplorable profanation practised on this +monument of the private life of the bourgeoisie of the seventeenth +century, by the private life of the bourgeoisie of the nineteenth. At +the beginning of the Consulate, let us say, some master-mason having +bought the ancient building, took the idea of turning to account the +ground which lay between it and the street. He probably pulled down +the fine porte-cochere or entrance gate, flanked by little lodges which +guarded the charming "sejour" (to use a word of the olden time), and +proceeded, with the industry of a Parisian proprietor, to impress his +withering mark on the elegance of the old building. What a curious study +might be made of the successive title-deeds of property in Paris! A +private lunatic asylum performs its functions in the rue des Batailles +in the former dwelling of the Chevalier Pierre Bayard du Terrail, once +without fear and without reproach; a street has now been built by the +present bourgeois administration through the site of the hotel Necker. +Old Paris is departing, following its kings who abandoned it. For one +masterpiece of architecture saved from destruction by a Polish princess +(the hotel Lambert, Ile Saint-Louis, bought and occupied by the Princess +Czartoriska) how many little palaces have fallen, like this dwelling of +Petitot, into the hands of such as Thuillier. + +Here follows the causes which made Mademoiselle Thuillier the owner of +the house. + + + + +CHAPTER II. THE HISTORY OF A TYRANNY + +At the fall of the Villele ministry, Monsieur Louis-Jerome Thuillier, +who had then seen twenty-six years' service as a clerk in the ministry +of finance, became sub-director of a department thereof; but scarcely +had he enjoyed the subaltern authority of a position formerly his +lowest hope, when the events of July, 1830, forced him to resign it. +He calculated, shrewdly enough, that his pension would be honorably and +readily given by the new-comers, glad to have another office at their +disposal. He was right; for a pension of seventeen hundred francs was +paid to him immediately. + +When the prudent sub-director first talked of resigning, his sister, who +was far more the companion of his life than his wife, trembled for his +future. + +"What will become of Thuillier?" was a question which Madame and +Mademoiselle Thuillier put to each other with mutual terror in their +little lodging on a third floor of the rue d'Argenteuil. + +"Securing his pension will occupy him for a time," Mademoiselle +Thuillier said one day; "but I am thinking of investing my savings in +a way that will cut out work for him. Yes; it will be something like +administrating the finances to manage a piece of property." + +"Oh, sister! you will save his life," cried Madame Thuillier. + +"I have always looked for a crisis of this kind in Jerome's life," +replied the old maid, with a protecting air. + +Mademoiselle Thuillier had too often heard her brother remark: "Such +a one is dead; he only survived his retirement two years"; she had too +often heard Colleville, her brother's intimate friend, a government +employee like himself, say, jesting on this climacteric of bureaucrats, +"We shall all come to it, ourselves," not to appreciate the danger her +brother was running. The change from activity to leisure is, in truth, +the critical period for government employees of all kinds. + +Those of them who know not how to substitute, or perhaps cannot +substitute other occupations for the work to which they have been +accustomed, change in a singular manner; some die outright; others take +to fishing, the vacancy of that amusement resembling that of their late +employment under government; others, who are smarter men, dabble in +stocks, lose their savings, and are thankful to obtain a place in +some enterprise that is likely to succeed, after a first disaster and +liquidation, in the hands of an abler management. The late clerk then +rubs his hands, now empty, and says to himself, "I always did foresee +the success of the business." But nearly all these retired bureaucrats +have to fight against their former habits. + +"Some," Colleville used to say, "are victims to a sort of 'spleen' +peculiar to the government clerk; they die of a checked circulation; +a red-tapeworm is in their vitals. That little Poiret couldn't see the +well-known white carton without changing color at the beloved sight; he +used to turn from green to yellow." + +Mademoiselle Thuillier was considered the moving spirit of her brother's +household; she was not without decision and force of character, as the +following history will show. This superiority over those who immediately +surrounded her enabled her to judge her brother, although she adored +him. After witnessing the failure of the hopes she had set upon her +idol, she had too much real maternity in her feeling for him to let +herself be mistaken as to his social value. + +Thuillier and his sister were children of the head porter at the +ministry of finance. Jerome had escaped, thanks to his near-sightedness, +all drafts and conscriptions. The father's ambition was to make his son +a government clerk. At the beginning of this century the army presented +too many posts not to leave various vacancies in the government offices. +A deficiency of minor officials enabled old Pere Thuillier to hoist his +son upon the lowest step of the bureaucratic hierarchy. The old man died +in 1814, leaving Jerome on the point of becoming sub-director, but with +no other fortune than that prospect. The worthy Thuillier and his wife +(who died in 1810) had retired from active service in 1806, with a +pension as their only means of support; having spent what property +they had in giving Jerome the education required in these days, and in +supporting both him and his sister. + +The influence of the Restoration on the bureaucracy is well known. From +the forty and one suppressed departments a crowd of honorable employees +returned to Paris with nothing to do, and clamorous for places inferior +to those they had lately occupied. To these acquired rights were added +those of exiled families ruined by the Revolution. Pressed between the +two floods, Jerome thought himself lucky not to have been dismissed +under some frivolous pretext. He trembled until the day when, becoming +by mere chance sub-director, he saw himself secure of a retiring +pension. This cursory view of matters will serve to explain Monsieur +Thuillier's very limited scope and knowledge. He had learned the Latin, +mathematics, history, and geography that are taught in schools, but +he never got beyond what is called the second class; his father having +preferred to take advantage of a sudden opportunity to place him at the +ministry. So, while the young Thuillier was making his first records +on the Grand-Livre, he ought to have been studying his rhetoric and +philosophy. + +While grinding the ministerial machine, he had no leisure to cultivate +letters, still less the arts; but he acquired a routine knowledge of his +business, and when he had an opportunity to rise, under the Empire, +to the sphere of superior employees, he assumed a superficial air of +competence which concealed the son of a porter, though none of it rubbed +into his mind. His ignorance, however, taught him to keep silence, and +silence served him well. He accustomed himself to practise, under the +imperial regime, a passive obedience which pleased his superiors; and it +was to this quality that he owed at a later period his promotion to the +rank of sub-director. His routine habits then became great experience; +his manners and his silence concealed his lack of education, and his +absolute nullity was a recommendation, for a cipher was needed. The +government was afraid of displeasing both parties in the Chamber by +selecting a man from either side; it therefore got out of the difficulty +by resorting to the rule of seniority. That is how Thuillier became +sub-director. Mademoiselle Thuillier, knowing that her brother abhorred +reading, and could substitute no business for the bustle of a public +office, had wisely resolved to plunge him into the cares of property, +into the culture of a garden, in short, into all the infinitely petty +concerns and neighborhood intrigues which make up the life of the +bourgeoisie. + +The transplanting of the Thuillier household from the rue d'Argenteuil +to the rue Saint-Dominique d'Enfer, the business of making the purchase, +of finding a suitable porter, and then of obtaining tenants occupied +Thuillier from 1831 to 1832. When the phenomenon of the change was +accomplished, and the sister saw that Jerome had borne it fairly well, +she found him other cares and occupations (about which we shall hear +later), all based upon the character of the man himself, as to which it +will now be useful to give information. + +Though the son of a ministerial porter, Thuillier was what is called a +fine man, slender in figure, above middle height, and possessing a +face that was rather agreeable if wearing his spectacles, but frightful +without them; which is frequently the case with near-sighted persons; +for the habit of looking through glasses has covered the pupils of his +eyes with a sort of film. + +Between the ages of eighteen and thirty, young Thuillier had much +success among women, in a sphere which began with the lesser bourgeois +and ended in that of the heads of departments. Under the Empire, war +left Parisian society rather denuded of men of energy, who were mostly +on the battlefield; and perhaps, as a great physician has suggested, +this may account for the flabbiness of the generation which occupies the +middle of the nineteenth century. + +Thuillier, forced to make himself noticeable by other charms than those +of mind, learned to dance and to waltz in a way to be cited; he was +called "that handsome Thuillier"; he played billiards to perfection; he +knew how to cut out likenesses in black paper, and his friend Colleville +coached him so well that he was able to sing all the ballads of the +day. These various small accomplishments resulted in that appearance +of success which deceives youth and befogs it about the future. +Mademoiselle Thuillier, from 1806 to 1814, believed in her brother as +Mademoiselle d'Orleans believed in Louis-Philippe. She was proud of +Jerome; she expected to see him the director-general of his department +of the ministry, thanks to his successes in certain salons, where, +undoubtedly, he would never have been admitted but for the circumstances +which made society under the Empire a medley. + +But the successes of "that handsome Thuillier" were usually of short +duration; women did not care to keep his devotion any more than he +desired to make his devotion eternal. He was really an unwilling Don +Juan; the career of a "beau" wearied him to the point of aging him; his +face, covered with lines like that of an old coquette, looked a dozen +years older than the registers made him. There remained to him of all +his successes in gallantry, a habit of looking at himself in mirrors, of +buttoning his coat to define his waist, and of posing in various dancing +attitudes; all of which prolonged, beyond the period of enjoying his +advantages, the sort of lease that he held on his cognomen, "that +handsome Thuillier." + +The truth of 1806 has, however, become a fable, in 1826. He retains a +few vestiges of the former costume of the beaux of the Empire, which are +not unbecoming to the dignity of a former sub-director. He still wears +the white cravat with innumerable folds, wherein his chin is buried, and +the coquettish bow, formerly tied by the hands of beauty, the two ends +of which threaten danger to the passers to right and left. He follows +the fashions of former days, adapting them to his present needs; he tips +his hat on the back of his head, and wears shoes and thread stockings in +summer; his long-tailed coats remind one of the well-known "surtouts" +of the Empire; he has not yet abandoned his frilled shirts and his white +waistcoats; he still plays with his Empire switch, and holds himself so +erect that his back bends in. No one, seeing Thuillier promenading +on the boulevards, would take him for the son of a man who cooked the +breakfasts of the clerks at a ministry and wore the livery of Louis +XVI.; he resembles an imperial diplomatist or a sub-prefect. Now, not +only did Mademoiselle Thuillier very innocently work upon her brother's +weak spot by encouraging in him an excessive care of his person, which, +in her, was simply a continuation of her worship, but she also provided +him with family joys, by transplanting to their midst a household which +had hitherto been quasi-collateral to them. + +It was that of Monsieur Colleville, an intimate friend of Thuillier. But +before we proceed to describe Pylades let us finish with Orestes, and +explain why Thuillier--that handsome Thuillier--was left without a +family of his own--for the family, be it said, is non-existent without +children. Herein appears one of those deep mysteries which lie buried in +the arena of private life, a few shreds of which rise to the surface +at moments when the pain of a concealed situation grows poignant. This +concerns the life of Madame and Mademoiselle Thuillier; so far, we +have seen only the life (and we may call it the public life) of Jerome +Thuillier. + +Marie-Jeanne-Brigitte Thuillier, four years older than her brother, had +been utterly sacrificed to him; it was easier to give a career to one +than a "dot" to the other. Misfortune to some natures is a pharos, +which illumines to their eyes the dark low corners of social existence. +Superior to her brother both in mind and energy, Brigitte had one of +those natures which, under the hammer of persecution, gather themselves +together, become compact and powerfully resistant, not to say +inflexible. Jealous of her independence, she kept aloof from the life +of the household; choosing to make herself the sole arbiter of her own +fate. At fourteen years of age, she went to live alone in a garret, not +far from the ministry of finance, which was then in the rue Vivienne, +and also not far from the Bank of France, then, and now, in the rue de +la Vrilliere. There she bravely gave herself up to a form of industry +little known and the perquisite of a few persons, which she obtained, +thanks to the patrons of her father. It consisted in making bags to hold +coin for the Bank, the Treasury, and the great financial houses. At the +end of three years she employed two workwomen. By investing her savings +on the Grand-Livre, she found herself, in 1814, the mistress of three +thousand six hundred francs a year, earned in fifteen years. As she +spent little, and dined with her father as long as he lived, and, as +government securities were very low during the last convulsions of the +Empire, this result, which seems at first sight exaggerated, explains +itself. + +On the death of their father, Brigitte and Jerome, the former being +twenty-seven, the latter twenty-three, united their existence. Brother +and sister were bound together by an extreme affection. If Jerome, then +at the height of his success, was pinched for money, his sister, clothed +in serge, and her fingers roughened by the coarse thread with which she +sewed her bags, would give him a few louis. In Brigitte's eyes Jerome +was the handsomest and most charming man in the whole French Empire. To +keep house for this cherished brother, to be initiated into the +secrets of Lindor and Don Juan, to be his handmaiden, his spaniel, +was Brigitte's dream. She immolated herself lovingly to an idol +whose selfishness, always great, was enormously increased by her +self-sacrifice. She sold her business to her fore-woman for fifteen +thousand francs and came to live with Thuillier in the rue d'Argenteuil, +where she made herself the mother, protectress, and servant of this +spoiled child of women. Brigitte, with the natural caution of a girl who +owed everything to her own discretion and her own labor, concealed the +amount of her savings from Jerome,--fearing, no doubt, the extravagance +of a man of gallantry. She merely paid a quota of six hundred francs +a year to the expenses of the household, and this, with her brother's +eighteen hundred, enabled her to make both ends meet at the end of the +year. + +From the first days of their coming together, Thuillier listened to his +sister as to an oracle; he consulted her in his trifling affairs, kept +none of his secrets from her, and thus made her taste the fruit of +despotism which was, in truth, the one little sin of her nature. But the +sister had sacrificed everything to the brother; she had staked her all +upon his heart; she lived by him only. Brigitte's ascendancy over Jerome +was singularly proved by the marriage which she procured for him about +the year 1814. + +Seeing the tendency to enforced reduction which the new-comers to power +under the Restoration were beginning to bring about in the government +offices, and particularly since the return of the old society which +sought to ride over the bourgeoisie, Brigitte understood, far better +than her brother could explain it to her, the social crisis which +presently extinguished their common hopes. No more successes for that +handsome Thuillier in the salons of the nobles who now succeeded the +plebeians of the Empire! + +Thuillier was not enough of a person to take up a politic opinion and +choose a party; he felt, as his sister did for him, the necessity of +profiting by the remains of his youth to make a settlement. In such a +situation, a sister as jealous of her power as Brigitte naturally would, +and ought, to marry her brother, to suit herself as well as to suit him; +for she alone could make him really happy, Madame Thuillier being only +an indispensable accessory to the obtaining of two or three children. If +Brigitte did not have an intellect quite the equal of her will, at least +she had the instinct of her despotism; without, it is true, education, +she marched straight before her, with the headstrong determination of +a nature accustomed to succeed. She had the genius of housekeeping, a +faculty for economy, a thorough understanding of how to live, and a +love for work. She saw plainly that she could never succeed in marrying +Jerome into a sphere above their own, where parents might inquire +into their domestic life and feel uneasy at finding a mistress already +reigning in the home. She therefore sought in a lower grade for persons +to dazzle, and found, almost beside her, a suitable match. + +The oldest usher at the Bank, a man named Lemprun, had an only daughter, +called Celeste. Mademoiselle Celeste Lemprun would inherit the fortune +of her mother, the only daughter of a rich farmer. This fortune +consisted of some acres of land in the environs of Paris, which the +old father still worked; besides this, she would have the property of +Lemprun himself, a man who had left the firms of Thelusson and of Keller +to enter the service of the Bank of France. Lemprun, now the head of +that service, enjoyed the respect and consideration of the governors and +auditors. + +The Bank council, on hearing of the probable marriage of Celeste to +an honorable employee at the ministry of finance, promised a wedding +present of six thousand francs. This gift, added to twelve thousand +given by Pere Lemprun, and twelve thousand more from the maternal +grandfather, Sieur Galard, market-gardener at Auteuil, brought up the +dowry to thirty thousand francs. Old Galard and Monsieur and Madame +Lemprun were delighted with the marriage. Lemprun himself knew +Mademoiselle Thuillier, and considered her one of the worthiest and most +conscientious women in Paris. Brigitte then, for the first time, allowed +her investments on the Grand-Livre to shine forth, assuring Lemprun that +she should never marry; consequently, neither he nor his wife, persons +devoted to the main chance, would ever allow themselves to find fault +with Brigitte. Above all, they were greatly struck by the splendid +prospects of the handsome Thuillier, and the marriage took place, as the +conventional saying is, to the general satisfaction. + +The governor of the Bank and the secretary were the bride's witnesses; +Monsieur de la Billardiere, director of Thuillier's department, and +Monsieur Rabourdin, head of the office, being those of the groom. Six +days after the marriage old Lemprun was the victim of a daring robbery +which made a great noise in the newspapers of the day, though it was +quickly forgotten during the events of 1815. The guilty parties having +escaped detection, Lemprun wished to make up the loss; but the +Bank agreed to carry the deficit to its profit and loss account; +nevertheless, the poor old man actually died of the grief this affair +had caused him. He regarded it as an attack upon his aged honor. + +Madame Lemprun then resigned all her property to her daughter, Madame +Thuillier, and went to live with her father at Auteuil until he died +from an accident in 1817. Alarmed at the prospect of having to manage +or lease the market-garden and the farm of her father, Madame Lemprun +entreated Brigitte, whose honesty and capacity astonished her, to wind +up old Galard's affairs, and to settle the property in such a way that +her daughter should take possession of everything, securing to her +mother fifteen hundred francs a year and the house at Auteuil. The +landed property of the old farmer was sold in lots, and brought in +thirty thousand francs. Lemprun's estate had given as much more, so that +Madame Thuillier's fortune, including her "dot," amounted in 1818 to +ninety thousand francs. Joining the revenue of this property to that of +the brother and sister, the Thuillier household had an income, in 1818, +amounting to eleven thousand francs, managed by Brigitte alone on her +sole responsibility. It is necessary to begin by stating this financial +position, not only to prevent objections but to rid the drama of +difficulties. + +Brigitte began, from the first, by allowing her brother five hundred +francs a month, and by sailing the household boat at the rate of five +thousand francs a year. She granted to her sister-in-law fifty francs a +month, explaining to her carefully that she herself was satisfied with +forty. To strengthen her despotism by the power of money, Brigitte laid +by the surplus of her own funds. She made, so it was said in business +offices, usurious loans by means of her brother, who appeared as +a money-lender. If, between the years 1813 and 1830, Brigitte had +capitalized sixty thousand francs, that sum can be explained by the rise +in the Funds, and there is no need to have recourse to accusations more +or less well founded, which have nothing to do with our present history. + +From the first days of the marriage, Brigitte subdued the unfortunate +Madame Thuillier with a touch of the spur and a jerk of the bit, both +of which she made her feel severely. A further display of tyranny +was useless; the victim resigned herself at once. Celeste, thoroughly +understood by Brigitte, a girl without mind or education, accustomed +to a sedentary life and a tranquil atmosphere, was extremely gentle by +nature; she was pious in the fullest acceptation of the word; she would +willingly have expiated by the hardest punishments the involuntary +wrong of giving pain to her neighbor. She was utterly ignorant of life; +accustomed to be waited on by her mother, who did the whole service +of the house, for Celeste was unable to make much exertion, owing to +a lymphatic constitution which the least toil wearied. She was truly a +daughter of the people of Paris, where children, seldom handsome, and of +no vigor, the product of poverty and toil, of homes without fresh air, +without freedom of action, without any of the conveniences of life, meet +us at every turn. + +At the time of the marriage, Celeste was seen to be a little woman, fair +and faded almost to sickliness, fat, slow, and silly in the countenance. +Her forehead, much too large and too prominent, suggested water on the +brain, and beneath that waxen cupola her face, noticeably too small and +ending in a point like the nose of a mouse, made some people fear she +would become, sooner or later, imbecile. Her eyes, which were light +blue, and her lips, always fixed in a smile, did not contradict that +idea. On the solemn occasion of her marriage she had the manner, air, +and attitude of a person condemned to death, whose only desire is that +it might all be over speedily. + +"She is rather round," said Colleville to Thuillier. + +Brigitte was just the knife to cut into such a nature, to which her own +formed the strongest contrast. Mademoiselle Thuillier was remarkable for +her regular and correct beauty, but a beauty injured by toil which, from +her very childhood, had bent her down to painful, thankless tasks, and +by the secret privations she imposed upon herself in order to amass her +little property. Her complexion, early discolored, had something the +tint of steel. Her brown eyes were framed in brown; on the upper lip +was a brown floss like a sort of smoke. Her lips were thin, and her +imperious forehead was surmounted by hair once black, now turning to +chinchilla. She held herself as straight as the fairest beauty; but all +things else about her showed the hardiness of her life, the deadening of +her natural fire, the cost of what she was! + +To Brigitte, Celeste was simply a fortune to lay hold of, a future +mother to rule, one more subject in her empire. She soon reproached her +for being _weak_, a constant word in her vocabulary, and the jealous +old maid, who would strongly have resented any signs of activity in +her sister-in-law, now took a savage pleasure in prodding the +languid inertness of the feeble creature. Celeste, ashamed to see her +sister-in-law displaying such energy in household work, endeavored to +help her, and fell ill in consequence. Instantly, Brigitte was devoted +to her, nursed her like a beloved sister, and would say, in presence +of Thuillier: "You haven't any strength, my child; you must never do +anything again." She showed up Celeste's incapacity by that display of +sympathy with which strength, seeming to pity weakness, finds means to +boast of its own powers. + +But, as all despotic natures liking to exercise their strength are full +of tenderness for physical sufferings, Brigitte took such real care of +her sister-in-law as to satisfy Celeste's mother when she came to see +her daughter. After Madame Thuillier recovered, however, she called her, +in Celeste's hearing, "a helpless creature, good for nothing!" which +sent the poor thing crying to her room. When Thuillier found her there, +drying her eyes, he excused her sister, saying:-- + +"She is an excellent woman, but rather hasty; she loves you in her own +way; she behaves just so with me." + +Celeste, remembering the maternal care of her sister-in-law during her +illness, forgave the wound. Brigitte always treated her brother as the +king of the family; she exalted him to Celeste, and made him out an +autocrat, a Ladislas, an infallible pope. Madame Thuillier having lost +her father and grandfather, and being well-nigh deserted by her mother, +who came to see her on Thursdays only (she herself spending Sundays at +Auteuil in summer), had no one left to love except her husband, and +she did love him,--in the first place, because he was her husband, and +secondly, because he still remained to her "that handsome Thuillier." +Besides, he sometimes treated her like a wife, and all these reasons +together made her adore him. He seemed to her all the more perfect +because he often took up her defence and scolded his sister, not from +any real interest in his wife, but for pure selfishness, and in order to +have peace in the household during the very few moments that he stayed +there. + +In fact, that handsome Thuillier was never at home except at dinner, +after which meal he went out, returning very late at night. He went to +balls and other social festivities by himself, precisely as if he were +still a bachelor. Thus the two women were always alone together. Celeste +insensibly fell into a passive attitude, and became what Brigitte wanted +her,--a helot. The Queen Elizabeth of the household then passed +from despotism to a sort of pity for the poor victim who was always +sacrificed. She ended by softening her haughty ways, her cutting +speech, her contemptuous tones, as soon as she was certain that her +sister-in-law was completely under the yoke. When she saw the wounds it +made on the neck of her victim, she took care of her as a thing of her +own, and Celeste entered upon happier days. Comparing the end with the +beginning, she even felt a sort of love for her torturer. To gain +some power of self-defence, to become something less a cipher in the +household, supported, unknown to herself, by her own means, the poor +helot had but a single chance, and that chance never came to her. + +Celeste had no child. This barrenness, which, from month to month, +brought floods of tears from her eyes, was long the cause of Brigitte's +scorn; she reproached the poor woman bitterly for being fit for nothing, +not even to bear children. The old maid, who had longed to love her +brother's child as if it were her own, was unable, for years, to +reconcile herself to this irremediable sterility. + +At the time when our history begins, namely, in 1840, Celeste, then +forty-six years old, had ceased to weep; she now had the certainty of +never being a mother. And here is a strange thing. After twenty-five +years of this life, in which victory had ended by first dulling and then +breaking its own knife, Brigitte loved Celeste as much as Celeste loved +Brigitte. Time, ease, and the perpetual rubbing of domestic life, had +worn off the angles and smoothed the asperities; Celeste's resignation +and lamb-like gentleness had brought, at last, a serene and peaceful +autumn. The two women were still further united by the one sentiment +that lay within them, namely, their adoration for the lucky and selfish +Thuillier. + +Moreover, these two women, both childless, had each, like all women +who have vainly desired children, fallen in love with a child. This +fictitious motherhood, equal in strength to a real motherhood, needs an +explanation which will carry us to the very heart of our drama, and +will show the reason of the new occupation which Mademoiselle Thuillier +provided for her brother. + + + + +CHAPTER III. COLLEVILLE + +Thuillier had entered the ministry of finance as supernumerary at the +same time as Colleville, who has been mentioned already as his intimate +friend. In opposition to the well-regulated, gloomy household of +Thuillier, social nature had provided that of Colleville; and if it +is impossible not to remark that this fortuitous contrast was scarcely +moral, we must add that, before deciding that point, it would be well +to wait for the end of this drama, unfortunately too true, for which the +present historian is not responsible. + +Colleville was the only son of a talented musician, formerly first +violin at the Opera under Francoeur and Rebel, who related, at least +six times a month during his lifetime, anecdotes concerning the +representations of the "Village Seer"; and mimicked Jean-Jacques +Rousseau, taking him off to perfection. Colleville and Thuillier were +inseparable friends; they had no secrets from each other, and their +friendship, begun at fifteen years of age, had never known a cloud up to +the year 1839. The former was one of those employees who are called, +in the government offices, pluralists. These clerks are remarkable +for their industry. Colleville, a good musician, owed to the name +and influence of his father a situation as first clarionet at the +Opera-Comique, and so long as he was a bachelor, Colleville, who was +rather richer than Thuillier, shared his means with his friend. But, +unlike Thuillier, Colleville married for love a Mademoiselle Flavie, +the natural daughter of a celebrated danseuse at the Opera; her reputed +father being a certain du Bourguier, one of the richest contractors +of the day. In style and origin, Flavie was apparently destined for +a melancholy career, when Colleville, often sent to her mother's +apartments, fell in love with her and married her. Prince Galathionne, +who at that time was "protecting" the danseuse, then approaching the end +of her brilliant career, gave Flavie a "dot" of twenty thousand francs, +to which her mother added a magnificent trousseau. Other friends and +opera-comrades sent jewels and silver-ware, so that the Colleville +household was far richer in superfluities than in capital. Flavie, +brought up in opulence, began her married life in a charming apartment, +furnished by her mother's upholsterer, where the young wife, who was +full of taste for art and for artists, and possessed a certain elegance, +ruled, a queen. + +Madame Colleville was pretty and piquant, clever, gay, and graceful; +to express her in one sentence,--a charming creature. Her mother, the +danseuse, now forty-three years old, retired from the stage and went +to live in the country,--thus depriving her daughter of the resources +derived from her wasteful extravagance. Madame Colleville kept a very +agreeable but extremely free and easy household. From 1816 to 1826 she +had five children. Colleville, a musician in the evening, kept the books +of a merchant from seven to nine in the morning, and by ten o'clock he +was at his ministry. Thus, by blowing into a bit of wood by night, and +writing double-entry accounts in the early morning, he managed to eke +out his earnings to seven or eight thousand francs a year. + +Madame Colleville played the part of a "comme il faut" woman; she +received on Wednesdays, gave a concert once a month and a dinner every +fortnight. She never saw Colleville except at dinner and at night, when +he returned about twelve o'clock, at which hour she was frequently not +at home herself. She went to the theatres, where boxes were sometimes +given to her; and she would send word to Colleville to come and fetch +her from such or such a house, where she was supping and dancing. At her +own house, guests found excellent cheer, and her society, though rather +mixed, was very amusing; she received and welcomed actresses, artists, +men of letters, and a few rich men. Madame Colleville's elegance was on +a par with that of Tullia, the leading prima-donna, with whom she was +intimate; but though the Collevilles encroached on their capital and +were often in difficulty by the end of the month, Flavie was never in +debt. + +Colleville was very happy; he still loved his wife, and he made himself +her best friend. Always received by her with affectionate smiles and +sympathetic pleasure, he yielded readily to the irresistible grace +of her manners. The vehement activity with which he pursued his three +avocations was a part of his natural character and temperament. He was +a fine stout man, ruddy, jovial, extravagant, and full of ideas. In ten +years there was never a quarrel in his household. Among business men +he was looked upon, in common with all artists, as a scatter-brained +fellow; and superficial persons thought that the constant hurry of this +hard worker was only the restless coming and going of a busybody. + +Colleville had the sense to seem stupid; he boasted of his family +happiness, and gave himself unheard-of trouble in making anagrams, in +order at times to seem absorbed in that passion. The government clerks +of his division at the ministry, the office directors, and even the +heads of divisions came to his concerts; now and then he quietly +bestowed upon them opera tickets, when he needed some extra indulgence +on account of his frequent absence. Rehearsals took half the time that +he ought to have been at his desk; but the musical knowledge his father +had bequeathed to him was sufficiently genuine and well-grounded to +excuse him from all but final rehearsals. Thanks to Madame Colleville's +intimacies, both the theatre and the ministry lent themselves kindly to +the needs of this industrious pluralist, who, moreover, was bringing +up, with great care, a youth, warmly recommended to him by his wife, +a future great musician, who sometimes took his place in the orchestra +with a promise of eventually succeeding him. In fact, about the year +1827 this young man became the first clarionet when Colleville resigned +his position. + +The usual comment on Flavie was, "That little slip of a coquette, Madame +Colleville." The eldest of the Colleville children, born in 1816, was +the living image of Colleville himself. In 1818, Madame Colleville held +the cavalry in high estimation, above even art; and she distinguished +more particularly a sub-lieutenant in the dragoons of Saint-Chamans, +the young and rich Charles de Gondreville, who afterwards died in the +Spanish campaign. By that time Flavie had had a second son, whom she +henceforth dedicated to a military career. In 1820 she considered +banking the nursing mother of trade, the supporter of Nations, and she +made the great Keller, that famous banker and orator, her idol. She +then had another son, whom she named Francois, resolving to make him a +merchant,--feeling sure that Keller's influence would never fail him. +About the close of the year 1820, Thuillier, the intimate friend of +Monsieur and Madame Colleville, felt the need of pouring his sorrows +into the bosom of this excellent woman, and to her he related his +conjugal miseries. For six years he had longed to have children, but God +did not bless him; although that poor Madame Thuillier had made novenas, +and had even gone, uselessly, to Notra-Dame de Liesse! He depicted +Celeste in various lights, which brought the words "Poor Thuillier!" +from Flavie's lips. She herself was rather sad, having at the moment no +dominant opinion. She poured her own griefs into Thuillier's bosom. The +great Keller, that hero of the Left, was, in reality, extremely petty; +she had learned to know the other side of public fame, the follies of +banking, the emptiness of eloquence! The orator only spoke for show; +to her he had behaved extremely ill. Thuillier was indignant. "None +but stupid fellows know how to love," he said; "take me!" That +handsome Thuillier was henceforth supposed to be paying court to Madame +Colleville, and was rated as one of her "attentives,"--a word in vogue +during the Empire. + +"Ha! you are after my wife," said Colleville, laughing. "Take care; +she'll leave you in the lurch, like all the rest." + +A rather clever speech, by which Colleville saved his marital dignity. +From 1820 to 1821, Thuillier, in virtue of his title as friend of the +family, helped Colleville, who had formerly helped him; so much so, +that in eighteen months he had lent nearly ten thousand francs to the +Colleville establishment, with no intention of ever claiming them. In +the spring of 1821, Madame Colleville gave birth to a charming +little girl, to whom Monsieur and Madame Thuillier were godfather and +godmother. The child was baptized Celeste-Louise-Caroline-Brigitte; +Mademoiselle Thuillier wishing that her name should be given among +others to the little angel. The name of Caroline was a graceful +attention paid to Colleville. Old mother Lemprun assumed the care of +putting the baby to nurse under her own eyes at Auteuil, where Celeste +and her sister-in-law Brigitte, paid it regularly a semi-weekly visit. + +As soon as Madame Colleville recovered she said to Thuillier, frankly, +in a very serious tone:-- + +"My dear friend, if we are all to remain good friends, you must be our +friend only. Colleville is attached to you; well, that's enough for you +in this household." + +"Explain to me," said the handsome Thuillier to Tullia after this +remark, "why women are never attached to me. I am not the Apollo +Belvidere, but for all that I'm not a Vulcan; I am passably +good-looking, I have sense, I am faithful--" + +"Do you want me to tell you the truth?" replied Tullia. + +"Yes," said Thuillier. + +"Well, though we can, sometimes, love a stupid fellow, we never love a +silly one." + +Those words killed Thuillier; he never got over them; henceforth he was +a prey to melancholy and accused all women of caprice. + +The secretary-general of the ministry, des Lupeaulx, whose influence +Madame Colleville thought greater than it was, and of whom she said, +later, "That was one of my mistakes," became for a time the great man +of the Colleville salon; but as Flavie found he had no power to promote +Colleville into the upper division, she had the good sense to resent des +Lupeaulx's attentions to Madame Rabourdin (whom she called a minx), +to whose house she had never been invited, and who had twice had the +impertinence not to come to the Colleville concerts. + +Madame Colleville was deeply affected by the death of young Gondreville; +she felt, she said, the finger of God. In 1824 she turned over a new +leaf, talked of economy, stopped her receptions, busied herself with her +children, determined to become a good mother of a family; no favorite +friend was seen at her house. She went to church, reformed her dress, +wore gray, and talked Catholicism, mysticism, and so forth. All this +produced, in 1825, another little son, whom she named Theodore. Soon +after, in 1826, Colleville was appointed sub-director of the +Clergeot division, and later, in 1828, collector of taxes in a Paris +arrondissement. He also received the cross of the Legion of honor, to +enable him to put his daughter at the royal school of Saint-Denis. The +half-scholarship obtained by Keller for the eldest boy, Charles, was +transferred to the second in 1830, when Charles entered the school +of Saint-Louis on a full scholarship. The third son, taken under the +protection of Madame la Dauphine, was provided with a three-quarter +scholarship in the Henri IV. school. + +In 1830 Colleville, who had the good fortune not to lose a child, was +obliged, owing to his well-known attachment to the fallen royal family, +to send in his resignation; but he was clever enough to make a bargain +for it,--obtaining in exchange a pension of two thousand four hundred +francs, based on his period of service, and ten thousand francs +indemnity paid by his successor; he also received the rank of officer of +the Legion of honor. Nevertheless, he found himself in rather a cramped +condition when Mademoiselle Thuillier, in 1832, advised him to come and +live near them; pointing out to him the possibility of obtaining some +position in the mayor's office, which, in fact, he did obtain a few +weeks later, at a salary of three thousand francs. Thus Thuillier and +Colleville were destined to end their days together. In 1833 Madame +Colleville, then thirty-five years old, settled herself in the rue +d'Enfer, at the corner of the rue des Deux-Eglises with Celeste +and little Theodore, the other boys being at their several schools. +Colleville was equidistant between the mayor's office and the rue +Saint-Dominique d'Enfer. Thus the household, after a brilliant, +gay, headlong, reformed, and calmed existence, subsided finally into +bourgeois obscurity with five thousand four hundred francs a year for +its sole dependence. + +Celeste was by this time twelve years of age, and she promised to be +pretty. She needed masters, and her education ought to cost not less +than two thousand francs a year. The mother felt the necessity of +keeping her under the eye of her godfather and godmother. She therefore +very willingly adopted the proposal of Mademoiselle Thuillier, who, +without committing herself to any engagement, allowed Madame Colleville +to understand that the fortunes of her brother, his wife, and herself +would go, ultimately, to the little Celeste. The child had been left at +Auteuil until she was seven years of age, adored by the good old Madame +Lemprun, who died in 1829, leaving twenty thousand francs, and a house +which was sold for the enormous sum of twenty-eight thousand. The +lively little girl had seen very little of her mother, but very much +of Mademoiselle and Madame Thuillier when she first returned to the +paternal mansion in 1829; but in 1833 she fell under the dominion of +Flavie, who was then, as we have said, endeavoring to do her duty, +which, like other women instigated by remorse, she exaggerated. Without +being an unkind mother, Flavie was very stern with her daughter. She +remembered her own bringing-up, and swore within herself to make Celeste +a virtuous woman. She took her to mass, and had her prepared for her +first communion by a rector who has since become a bishop. Celeste was +all the more readily pious, because her godmother, Madame Thuillier, +was a saint, and the child adored her; she felt that the poor neglected +woman loved her better than her own mother. + +From 1833 to 1840 she received a brilliant education according to +the ideas of the bourgeoisie. The best music-masters made her a fair +musician; she could paint a water-color properly; she danced extremely +well; and she had studied the French language, history, geography, +English, Italian,--in short, all that constitutes the education of +a well-brought-up young lady. Of medium height, rather plump, +unfortunately near-sighted, she was neither plain nor pretty; not +without delicacy or even brilliancy of complexion, it is true, but +totally devoid of all distinction of manner. She had a great fund of +reserved sensibility, and her godfather and godmother, Mademoiselle +Thuillier and Colleville, were unanimous on one point,--the great +resource of mothers--namely, that Celeste was capable of attachment. One +of her beauties was a magnificent head of very fine blond hair; but her +hands and feet showed her bourgeois origin. + +Celeste endeared herself by precious qualities; she was kind, simple, +without gall of any kind; she loved her father and mother, and would +willingly sacrifice herself for their sake. Brought up to the deepest +admiration for her godfather by Brigitte (who taught her to say "Aunt +Brigitte"), and by Madame Thuillier and her own mother, Celeste imbibed +the highest idea of the ex-beau of the Empire. The house in the rue +Saint-Dominique d'Enfer produced upon her very much the effect of the +Chateau des Tuileries on a courtier of the new dynasty. + +Thuillier had not escaped the action of the administrative rolling-pin +which thins the mind as it spreads it out. Exhausted by irksome toil, as +much as by his life of gallantry, the ex-sub-director had well-nigh +lost all his faculties by the time he came to live in the rue +Saint-Dominique. But his weary face, on which there still reigned an air +of imperial haughtiness, mingled with a certain contentment, the conceit +of an upper official, made a deep impression upon Celeste. She alone +adored that haggard face. The girl, moreover, felt herself to be the +happiness of the Thuillier household. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE CIRCLE OF MONSIEUR AND MADAME THUILLIER + +The Collevilles and their children became, naturally, the nucleus of the +circle which Mademoiselle Thuillier had the ambition to group around +her brother. A former clerk in the Billardiere division of the ministry, +named Phellion, had lived for the last thirty years in their present +quarter. He was promptly greeted by Colleville and Thuillier at the +first review. Phellion proved to be one of the most respected men in the +arrondissement. He had one daughter, now married to a school-teacher in +the rue Saint-Hyacinthe, a Monsieur Barniol. Phellion's eldest son was +a professor of mathematics in a royal college; he gave lectures and +private lessons, being devoted, so his father was wont to say, to pure +mathematics. A second son was in the government School of Engineering. +Phellion had a pension of nine hundred francs, and he possessed a little +property of nine thousand and a few odd hundred francs; the fruit of his +economy and that of his wife during thirty years of toil and privation. +He was, moreover, the owner of a little house and garden where he lived +in the "impasse" des Feuillantines,--in thirty years he had never used +the old-fashioned word "cul-de-sac"! + +Dutocq, the clerk of the justice of peace, was also a former employee +at the ministry of finance. Sacrificed, in former days, to one of those +necessities which are always met with in representative government, he +had accepted the position of scapegoat, receiving, privately, a round +sum of money and the opportunity to buy his present post of clerk in the +arrondissement. This man, not very honorable, and known to be a spy in +the government offices, was never welcomed as he thought he ought to be +by the Thuilliers; but the coldness of his landlords only made him the +more persistent in going to see them. He was a bachelor and had various +vices; he therefore concealed his life carefully, knowing well how to +maintain his position by flattering his superiors. The justice of peace +was much attached to Dutocq. This man, base as he was, managed, in the +end, to make himself tolerated by the Thuilliers, chiefly by coarse and +cringing adulation. He knew the facts of Thuillier's whole life, his +relations with Colleville, and, above all, with Madame Colleville. One +and all they feared his tongue, and the Thuilliers, without admitting +him to any intimacy, endured his visits. + +The family which became the flower of the Thuillier salon was that of +a former ministerial clerk, once an object of pity in the government +offices, who, driven by poverty, left the public service, in 1827, to +fling himself into a business enterprise, having, as he thought, an +idea. Minard (that was his name) foresaw a fortune in one of those +wicked conceptions which reflect such discredit on French commerce, +but which, in the year 1827, had not yet been exposed and blasted by +publicity. Minard bought tea and mixed it with tea-leaves already used; +also he adulterated the elements of chocolate in a manner which enabled +him to sell the chocolate itself very cheaply. This trade in colonial +products, begun in the quartier Saint-Marcel, made a merchant of Minard. +He started a factory, and through these early connections he was able to +reach the sources of raw material. He then did honorably, and on a large +scale, a business begun in the first instance dishonorably. He became a +distiller, worked upon untold quantities of products, and, by the year +1835, was considered the richest merchant in the region of the Place +Maubert. By that time he had bought a handsome house in the rue des +Macons-Sorbonne; he had been assistant mayor, and in 1839 became mayor +of his arrondissement and judge in the Court of Commerce. He kept a +carriage, had a country-place near Lagny; his wife wore diamonds at the +court balls, and he prided himself on the rosette of an officer of the +Legion of honor in his buttonhole. + +Minard and his wife were exceedingly benevolent. Perhaps he wished to +return in retail to the poor the sums he had mulcted from the public +by the wholesale. Phellion, Colleville, and Thuillier met their old +comrade, Minard, at election, and an intimacy followed; all the closer +with the Thuilliers and Collevilles because Madame Minard seemed +enchanted to make an acquaintance for her daughter in Celeste +Colleville. It was at a grand ball given by the Minards that Celeste +made her first appearance in society (being at that time sixteen and a +half years old), dressed as her Christian named demanded, which seemed +to be prophetic of her coming life. Delighted to be friendly with +Mademoiselle Minard, her elder by four years, she persuaded her father +and godfather to cultivate the Minard establishment, with its gilded +salons and great opulence, where many political celebrities of the +"juste milieu" were wont to congregate, such as Monsieur Popinot, who +became, after a time, minister of commerce; Cochin, since made Baron +Cochin, a former employee at the ministry of finance, who, having a +large interest in the drug business, was now the oracle of the Lombard +and Bourdonnais quarters, conjointly with Monsieur Anselme Popinot. +Minard's eldest son, a lawyer, aiming to succeed those barristers who +were turned down from the Palais for political reasons in 1830, was +the genius of the household, and his mother, even more than his father, +aspired to marry him well. Zelie Minard, formerly a flower-maker, felt +an ardent passion for the upper social spheres, and desired to enter +them through the marriages of her son and daughter; whereas Minard, +wiser than she, and imbued with the vigor of the middle classes, which +the revolution of July had infiltrated into the fibres of government, +thought only of wealth and fortune. + +He frequented the Thuillier salon to gain information as to Celeste's +probable inheritance. He knew, like Dutocq and Phellion, the reports +occasioned by Thuillier's former intimacy with Flavie, and he saw at +a glance the idolatry of the Thuilliers for their godchild. Dutocq, to +gain admittance to Minard's house, fawned upon him grossly. When Minard, +the Rothschild of the arrondissement, appeared at the Thuilliers', he +compared him cleverly to Napoleon, finding him stout, fat, and blooming, +having left him at the ministry thin, pale, and puny. + +"You looked, in the division Billardiere," he said, "like Napoleon +before the 18th Brumaire, and I behold you now the Napoleon of the +Empire." + +Notwithstanding which flattery, Minard received Dutocq very coldly and +did not invite him to his house; consequently, he made a mortal enemy of +the former clerk. + +Monsieur and Madame Phellion, worthy as they were, could not keep +themselves from making calculations and cherishing hopes; they thought +that Celeste would be the very wife for their son the professor; +therefore, to have, as it were, a watcher in the Thuillier salon, they +introduced their son-in-law, Monsieur Barniol, a man much respected +in the faubourg Saint-Jacques, and also an old employee at the mayor's +office, an intimate friend of theirs, named Laudigeois. Thus the +Phellions formed a phalanx of seven persons; the Collevilles were not +less numerous; so that on Sundays it often appeared that thirty persons +were assembled in the Thuillier salon. Thuillier renewed acquaintance +with the Saillards, Baudoyers, and Falleixs,--all persons of +respectability in the quarter of the Palais-Royal, whom they often +invited to dinner. + +Madame Colleville was, as a woman, the most distinguished member of +this society, just as Minard junior and Professor Phellion were superior +among the men. All the others, without ideas or education, and issuing +from the lower ranks, presented the types and the absurdities of the +lesser bourgeoisie. Though all success, especially if won from distant +sources, seems to presuppose some genuine merit, Minard was really +an inflated balloon. Expressing himself in empty phrases, mistaking +sycophancy for politeness, and wordiness for wit, he uttered his +commonplaces with a brisk assurance that passed for eloquence. Certain +words which said nothing but answered all things,--progress, steam, +bitumen, National guard, order, democratic element, spirit of +association, legality, movement, resistance,--seemed, as each political +phase developed, to have been actually made for Minard, whose talk was +a paraphrase on the ideas of his newspaper. Julien Minard, the young +lawyer, suffered from his father as much as his father suffered from +his wife. Zelie had grown pretentious with wealth, without, at the same +time, learning to speak French. She was now very fat, and gave the idea, +in her rich surroundings, of a cook married to her master. + +Phellion, that type and model of the petty bourgeois, exhibited as many +virtues as he did absurdities. Accustomed to subordination during his +bureaucratic life, he respected all social superiority. He was therefore +silent before Minard. During the critical period of retirement from +office, he had held his own admirably, for the following reason. Never +until now had that worthy and excellent man been able to indulge his +own tastes. He loved the city of Paris; he was interested in its +embellishment, in the laying out of its streets; he was capable of +standing for hours to watch the demolition of houses. He might now +have been observed, stolidly planted on his legs, his nose in the air, +watching for the fall of a stone which some mason was loosening at the +top of a wall, and never moving till the stone fell; when it had fallen +he went away as happy as an academician at the fall of a romantic drama. +Veritable supernumeraries of the social comedy, Phellion, Laudigeois, +and their kind, fulfilled the functions of the antique chorus. They wept +when weeping was in order, laughed when they should laugh, and sang in +parts the public joys and sorrows; they triumphed in their corner with +the triumphs of Algiers, of Constantine, of Lisbon, of Sainte-Jean +d'Ulloa; they deplored the death of Napoleon and the fatal catastrophes +of the Saint-Merri and the rue Transnonnain, grieving over celebrated +men who were utterly unknown to them. Phellion alone presents a double +side: he divides himself conscientiously between the reasons of the +opposition and those of the government. When fighting went on in +the streets, Phellion had the courage to declare himself before his +neighbors; he went to the Place Saint-Michel, the place where his +battalion assembled; he felt for the government and did his duty. Before +and during the riot, he supported the dynasty, the product of July; but, +as soon as the political trials began, he stood by the accused. This +innocent "weather-cockism" prevails in his political opinions; he +produces, in reply to all arguments, the "colossus of the North." +England is, to his thinking, as to that of the old "Constitutionnel," +a crone with two faces,--Machiavellian Albion, and the model nation: +Machiavellian, when the interests of France and of Napoleon are +concerned; the model nation when the faults of the government are in +question. He admits, with his chosen paper, the democratic element, +but refuses in conversation all compact with the republican spirit. The +republican spirit to him means 1793, rioting, the Terror, and +agrarian law. The democratic element is the development of the lesser +bourgeoisie, the reign of Phellions. + +The worthy old man is always dignified; dignity serves to explain his +life. He has brought up his children with dignity; he has kept himself +a father in their eyes; he insists on being honored in his home, just as +he himself honors power and his superiors. He has never made debts. As +a juryman his conscience obliges him to sweat blood and water in the +effort to follow the debates of a trial; he never laughs, not even if +the judge, and audience, and all the officials laugh. Eminently useful, +he gives his services, his time, everything--except his money. Felix +Phellion, his son, the professor, is his idol; he thinks him capable of +attaining to the Academy of Sciences. Thuillier, between the audacious +nullity of Minard, and the solid silliness of Phellion, was a neutral +substance, but connected with both through his dismal experience. He +managed to conceal the emptiness of his brain by commonplace talk, just +as he covered the yellow skin of his bald pate with thready locks of his +gray hair, brought from the back of his head with infinite art by the +comb of his hairdresser. + +"In any other career," he was wont to say, speaking of the government +employ, "I should have made a very different fortune." + +He had seen the _right_, which is possible in theory and impossible in +practice,--results proving contrary to premises,--and he related the +intrigues and the injustices of the Rabourdin affair. + +"After that, one can believe all, and believe nothing," he would say. +"Ah! it is a queer thing, government! I'm very glad not to have a son, +and never to see him in the career of a place-hunter." + +Colleville, ever gay, rotund, and good-humored, a sayer of "quodlibets," +a maker of anagrams, always busy, represented the capable and bantering +bourgeois, with faculty without success, obstinate toil without result; +he was also the embodiment of jovial resignation, mind without object, +art with usefulness, for, excellent musician that he was, he never +played now except for his daughter. + +The Thuillier salon was in some sort a provincial salon, lighted, +however, by continual flashes from the Parisian conflagration; its +mediocrity and its platitudes followed the current of the times. The +popular saying and thing (for in Paris the thing and its saying are +like the horse and its rider) ricochetted, so to speak, to this company. +Monsieur Minard was always impatiently expected, for he was certain to +know the truth of important circumstances. The women of the Thuillier +salon held by the Jesuits; the men defended the University; and, as a +general thing, the women listened. A man of intelligence (could he have +borne the dulness of these evenings) would have laughed, as he would at +a comedy of Moliere, on hearing, amid endless discussion, such remarks +as the following:-- + +"How could the Revolution of 1789 have been avoided? The loans of Louis +XIV. prepared the way for it. Louis XV., an egotist, a man of narrow +mind (didn't he say, 'If I were lieutenant of police I would suppress +cabriolets'?), that dissolute king--you remember his Parc aux +Cerfs?--did much to open the abyss of revolution. Monsieur de Necker, +an evil-minded Genovese, set the thing a-going. Foreigners have always +tried to injure France. The maximum did great harm to the Revolution. +Legally Louis XVI. should never have been condemned; a jury would have +acquitted him. Why did Charles X. fall? Napoleon was a great man, and +the facts that prove his genius are anecdotal: he took five pinches of +snuff a minute out of a pocket lined with leather made in his waistcoat. +He looked into all his tradesmen's accounts; he went to Saint-Denis +to judge for himself the prices of things. Talma was his friend; Talma +taught him his gestures; nevertheless, he always refused to give Talma +the Legion of honor! The emperor mounted guard for a sentinel who went +to sleep, to save him from being shot. Those were the things that made +his soldiers adore him. Louis XVIII., who certainly had some sense, was +very unjust in calling him Monsieur de Buonaparte. The defect of the +present government is in letting itself be led instead of leading. It +holds itself too low. It is afraid of men of energy. It ought to have +torn up all the treaties of 1815 and demanded the Rhine. They keep the +same men too long in the ministry"; etc., etc. + +"Come, you've exerted your minds long enough," said Mademoiselle +Thuillier, interrupting one of these luminous talks; "the altar is +dressed; begin your little game." + +If these anterior facts and all these generalities were not placed here +as the frame of the present Scene, to give an idea of the spirit of +this society, the following drama would certainly have suffered greatly. +Moreover, this sketch is historically faithful; it shows a social +stratum of importance in any portrayal of manners and morals, especially +when we reflect that the political system of the Younger branch rests +almost wholly upon it. + +The winter of the year 1839 was, it may be said, the period when the +Thuillier salon was in its greatest glory. The Minards came nearly every +Sunday, and began their evening by spending an hour there, if they had +other engagements elsewhere. Often Minard would leave his wife at the +Thuilliers and take his son and daughter to other houses. This assiduity +on the part of the Minards was brought about by a somewhat tardy meeting +between Messieurs Metivier, Barbet, and Minard on an evening when the +two former, being tenants of Mademoiselle Thuillier, remained rather +longer than usual in discussing business with her. From Barbet, Minard +learned that the old maid had money transactions with himself and +Metivier to the amount of sixty thousand francs, besides having a large +deposit in the Bank. + +"Has she an account at the Bank?" asked Minard. + +"I believe so," replied Barbet. "I give her at least eighty thousand +francs there." + +Being on intimate terms with a governor of the Bank, Minard ascertained +that Mademoiselle Thuillier had, in point of fact, an account of over +two hundred thousand francs, the result of her quarterly deposits for +many years. Besides this, she owned the house they lived in, which was +not mortgaged, and was worth at least one hundred thousand francs, if +not more. + +"Why should Mademoiselle Thuillier work in this way?" said Minard to +Metivier. "She'd be a good match for you," he added. + +"I? oh, no," replied Metivier. "I shall do better by marrying a cousin; +my uncle Metivier has given me the succession to his business; he has a +hundred thousand francs a year and only two daughters." + +However secretive Mademoiselle Thuillier might be,--and she said nothing +of her investments to any one, not even to her brother, although a large +amount of Madame Thuillier's fortune went to swell the amount of her +own savings,--it was difficult to prevent some ray of light from gliding +under the bushel which covered her treasure. + +Dutocq, who frequented Barbet, with whom he had some resemblance in +character and countenance, had appraised, even more correctly than +Minard, the Thuillier finances. He knew that their savings amounted, in +1838, to one hundred and fifty thousand francs, and he followed their +progress secretly, calculating profits by the help of that all-wise +money-lender, Barbet. + +"Celeste will have from my brother and myself two hundred thousand +francs in ready money," the old maid had said to Barbet in confidence, +"and Madame Thuillier wishes to secure to her by the marriage contract +the ultimate possession of her own fortune. As for me, my will is made. +My brother will have everything during his lifetime, and Celeste will +be my heiress with that reservation. Monsieur Cardot, the notary, is my +executor." + +Mademoiselle Thuillier now instigated her brother to renew his former +relations with the Saillards, Baudoyers, and others, who held a position +similar to that of the Thuilliers in the quartier Saint-Antoine, of +which Monsieur Saillard was mayor. Cardot, the notary, had produced +his aspirant for Celeste's hand in the person of Monsieur Godeschal, +attorney and successor to Derville; an able man, thirty-six years of +age, who had paid one hundred thousand francs for his practice, which +the two hundred thousand of the "dot" would doubly clear off. Minard, +however, got rid of Godeschal by informing Mademoiselle Thuillier that +Celeste's sister-in-law would be the famous Mariette of the Opera. + +"She came from the stage," said Colleville, alluding to his wife, "and +there's no need she should return to it." + +"Besides, Monsieur Godeschal is too old for Celeste," remarked Brigitte. + +"And ought we not," added Madame Thuillier, timidly, "to let her marry +according to her own taste, so as to be happy?" + +The poor woman had detected in Felix Phellion a true love for Celeste; +the love that a woman crushed by Brigitte and wounded by her husband's +indifference (for Thuillier cared less for his wife than he did for +a servant) had dreamed that love might be,--bold in heart, timid +externally, sure of itself, reserved, hidden from others, but expanding +toward heaven. At twenty-three years of age, Felix Phellion was a +gentle, pure-minded young man, like all true scholars who cultivate +knowledge for knowledge's sake. He had been sacredly brought up by his +father, who, viewing all things seriously, had given him none but good +examples accompanied by trivial maxims. He was a young man of medium +height, with light chestnut hair, gray eyes, and a skin full of +freckles; gifted with a charming voice, a tranquil manner; making +few gestures; thoughtful, saying little, and that little sensible; +contradicting no one, and quite incapable of a sordid thought or a +selfish calculation. + +"That," thought Madame Thuillier, "is what I should have liked my +husband to be." + +One evening, in the month of February, 1840, the Thuillier salon +contained the various personages whose silhouettes we have just traced +out, together with some others. It was nearly the end of the month. +Barbet and Metivier having business with mademoiselle Brigitte, were +playing whist with Minard and Phellion. At another table were Julien +the advocate (a nickname given by Colleville to young Minard), Madame +Colleville, Monsieur Barniol, and Madame Phellion. "Bouillotte," at +five sous a stake, occupied Madame Minard, who knew no other game, +Colleville, old Monsieur Saillard, and Bandoze, his son-in-law. The +substitutes were Laudigeois and Dutocq. Mesdames Falleix, Baudoyer, +Barniol, and Mademoiselle Minard were playing boston, and Celeste was +sitting beside Prudence Minard. Young Phellion was listening to Madame +Thuillier and looking at Celeste. + +At a corner of the fireplace sat enthroned on a sofa the Queen Elizabeth +of the family, as simply dressed as she had been for the last thirty +years; for no prosperity could have made her change her habits. She +wore on her chinchilla hair a black gauze cap, adorned with the geranium +called Charles X.; her gown, of plum-colored stuff, made with a yoke, +cost fifteen francs, her embroidered collarette was worth six, and +it ill disguised the deep wrinkle produced by the two muscles which +fastened the head to the vertebral column. The actor, Monvel, playing +Augustus Caesar in his old age, did not present a harder and sterner +profile than that of this female autocrat, knitting socks for her +brother. Before the fireplace stood Thuillier in an attitude, ready to +go forward and meet the arriving guests; near him was a young man whose +entrance had produced a great effect, when the porter (who on Sundays +wore his best clothes and waited on the company) announced Monsieur +Olivier Vinet. + +A private communication made by Cardot to the celebrated +"procureur-general," father of this young man, was the cause of +his visit. Olivier Vinet had just been promoted from the court of +Arcis-sur-Aube to that of the Seine, where he now held the post of +substitute "procureur-de-roi." Cardot had already invited Thuillier and +the elder Vinet, who was likely to become minister of justice, with his +son, to dine with him. The notary estimated the fortunes which would +eventually fall to Celeste at seven hundred thousand francs. Vinet +junior appeared charmed to obtain the right to visit the Thuilliers +on Sundays. Great dowries make men commit great and unbecoming follies +without reserve or decency in these days. + +Ten minutes later another young man, who had been talking with Thuillier +before the arrival of Olivier Vinet, raised his voice eagerly, in a +political discussion, and forced the young magistrate to follow his +example in the vivacious argument which now ensued. The matter related +to the vote by which the Chamber of Deputies had just overthrown the +ministry of the 12th of May, refusing the allowance demanded for the Duc +de Nemours. + +"Assuredly," said the young man, "I am far from belonging to the +dynastic party; I am very far from approving of the rise of the +bourgeoisie to power. The bourgeoisie ought not, any more than the +aristocracy of other days, to assume to be the whole nation. But the +French bourgeoisie has now taken upon itself to create a new dynasty, a +royalty of its own, and behold how it treats it! When the people allowed +Napoleon to rise to power, it created with him a splendid and monumental +state of things; it was proud of his grandeur; and it nobly gave its +blood and sweat in building up the edifice of the Empire. Between +the magnificence of the aristocratic throne and those of the imperial +purple, between the great of the earth and the People, the bourgeoisie +is proving itself petty; it degrades power to its own level instead +of rising up to it. The saving of candle-ends it has so long practised +behind its counters, it now seeks to impose on its princes. What may +perhaps have been virtue in its shops is a blunder and a crime higher +up. I myself have wanted many things for the people, but I never should +have begun by lopping off ten millions of francs from the new civil +list. In becoming, as it were, nearly the whole of France, the +bourgeoisie owed to us the prosperity of the people, splendor without +ostentation, grandeur without privilege." + +The father of Olivier Vinet was just now sulking with the government. +The robe of Keeper of the Seals, which had been his dream, was slow in +coming to him. The young substitute did not, therefore, know exactly how +to answer this speech; he thought it wise to enlarge on one of its side +issues. + +"You are right, monsieur," said Olivier Vinet. "But, before manifesting +itself magnificently, the bourgeoisie has other duties to fulfil towards +France. The luxury you speak of should come after duty. That which seems +to you so blameable is the necessity of the moment. The Chamber is far +from having its full share in public affairs; the ministers are less for +France than they are for the crown, and parliament has determined that +the administration shall have, as in England, a strength and power +of its own, and not a mere borrowed power. The day on which the +administration can act for itself, and represent the Chamber as the +Chamber represents the country, parliament will be found very liberal +toward the crown. The whole question is there. I state it without +expressing my own opinion, for the duties of my post demand, in +politics, a certain fealty to the crown." + +"Setting aside the political question," replied the young man, whose +voice and accent were those of a native of Provence, "it is certainly +true that the bourgeoisie has ill understood its mission. We can see, +any day, the great law officers, attorney-generals, peers of France in +omnibuses, judges who live on their salaries, prefects without fortunes, +ministers in debt! Whereas the bourgeoisie, who have seized upon those +offices, ought to dignify them, as in the olden time when aristocracy +dignified them, and not occupy such posts solely for the purpose of +making their fortune, as scandalous disclosures have proved." + +"Who is this young man?" thought Olivier Vinet. "Is he a relative? +Cardot ought to have come with me on this first visit." + +"Who is that little monsieur?" asked Minard of Barbet. "I have seen him +here several times." + +"He is a tenant," replied Metivier, shuffling the cards. + +"A lawyer," added Barbet, in a low voice, "who occupies a small +apartment on the third floor front. Oh! _He_ doesn't amount to much; he +has nothing." + +"What is the name of that young man?" said Olivier Vinet to Thuillier. + +"Theodose de la Peyrade; he is a barrister," replied Thuillier, in a +whisper. + +At that moment the women present, as well as the men, looked at the two +young fellows, and Madame Minard remarked to Colleville:-- + +"He is rather good-looking, that stranger." + +"I have made his anagram," replied Colleville, "and his name, +Charles-Marie-Theodose de la Peyrade, prophecies: 'Eh! monsieur payera, +de la dot, des oies et le char.' Therefore, my dear Mamma Minard, be +sure you don't give him your daughter." + +"They say that young man is better-looking than my son," said Madame +Phellion to Madame Colleville. "What do you think about it?" + +"Oh! in the matter of physical beauty a woman might hesitate before +choosing," replied Madame Colleville. + +At that moment it occurred to young Vinet as he looked round the salon, +so full of the lesser bourgeoisie, that it might be a shrewd thing +to magnify that particular class; and he thereupon enlarged upon the +meaning of the young Provencal barrister, declaring that men so honored +by the confidence of the government should imitate royalty and encourage +a magnificence surpassing that of the former court. It was folly, he +said, to lay by the emoluments of an office. Besides, could it be done, +in Paris especially, where costs of living had trebled,--the apartment +of a magistrate, for instance, costing three thousand francs a year? + +"My father," he said in conclusion, "allows me three thousand francs a +year, and that, with my salary, barely allows me to maintain my rank." + +When the young substitute rode boldly into this bog-hole, the Provencal, +who had slyly enticed him there, exchanged, without being observed, a +wink with Dutocq, who was just then waiting for the place of a player at +bouillotte. + +"There is such a demand for offices," remarked the latter, "that they +talk of creating two justices of the peace to each arrondissement in +order to make a dozen new clerkships. As if they could interfere with +our rights and our salaries, which already require an exhorbitant tax!" + +"I have not yet had the pleasure of hearing you at the Palais," said +Vinet to Monsieur de la Peyrade. + +"I am advocate for the poor, and I plead only before the justice of +peace," replied la Peyrade. + +Mademoiselle Thuillier, as she listened to young Vinet's theory of the +necessity of spending an income, assumed a distant air and manner, +the significance of which was well understood by Dutocq and the young +Provencal. Vinet left the house in company with Minard and Julien the +advocate, so that the battle-field before the fire-place was abandoned +to la Peyrade and Dutocq. + +"The upper bourgeoisie," said Dutocq to Thuillier, "will behave, in +future, exactly like the old aristocracy. The nobility wanted girls with +money to manure their lands, and the parvenus of to-day want the same to +feather their nests." + +"That's exactly what Monsieur Thuillier was saying to me this morning," +remarked la Peyrade, boldly. + +"Vinet's father," said Dutocq, "married a Demoiselle de Chargeboeuf +and has caught the opinions of the nobility; he wants a fortune at any +price; his wife spends money regally." + +"Oh!" said Thuillier, in whom the jealousy between the two classes of +the bourgeoisie was fully roused, "take offices away from those fellows +and they'd fall back where they came." + +Mademoiselle was knitting with such precipitous haste that she seemed to +be propelled by a steam-engine. + +"Take my place, Monsieur Dutocq," said Madame Minard, rising. "My feet +are cold," she added, going to the fire, where the golden ornaments of +her turban made fireworks in the light of the Saint-Aurora wax-candles +that were struggling vainly to light the vast salon. + +"He is very small fry, that young substitute," said Madame Minard, +glancing at Mademoiselle Thuillier. + +"Small fry!" cried la Peyrade. "Ah, madame! how witty!" + +"But madame has so long accustomed us to that sort of thing," said the +handsome Thuillier. + +Madame Colleville was examining la Peyrade and comparing him with young +Phellion, who was just then talking to Celeste, neither of them paying +any heed to what was going on around them. This is, certainly, the +right moment to depict the singular personage who was destined to play +a signal part in the Thuillier household, and who fully deserves the +appellation of a great artist. + + + + +CHAPTER V. A PRINCIPAL PERSONAGE + +There exists in Provence, especially about Avignon, a race of men with +blond or chestnut hair, fair skin, and eyes that are almost tender, +their pupils calm, feeble, or languishing, rather than keen, ardent, or +profound, as they usually are in the eyes of Southerners. Let us remark, +in passing, that among Corsicans, a race subject to fits of anger and +dangerous irascibility, we often meet with fair skins and physical +natures of the same apparent tranquillity. These pale men, rather stout, +with somewhat dim and hazy eyes either green or blue, are the worst +species of humanity in Provence; and Charles-Marie-Theodose de la +Peyrade presents a fine type of that race, the constitution of which +deserves careful examination on the part of medical science and +philosophical physiology. There rises, at times, within such men, a +species of bile,--a bitter gall, which flies to their head and makes +them capable of ferocious actions, done, apparently, in cold blood. +Being the result of an inward intoxication, this sort of dumb violence +seems to be irreconcilable with their quasi-lymphatic outward man, and +the tranquillity of their benignant glance. + +Born in the neighborhood of Avignon, the young Provencal whose name we +have just mentioned was of middle height, well-proportioned, and rather +stout; the tone of his skin had no brilliancy; it was neither livid nor +dead-white, nor colored, but gelatinous,--that word can alone give a +true idea of the flabby, hueless envelope, beneath which were concealed +nerves that were less vigorous than capable of enormous resistance at +certain given moments. His eyes, of a pale cold blue, expressed in their +ordinary condition a species of deceptive sadness, which must have +had great charms for women. The forehead, finely cut, was not without +dignity, and it harmonized well with the soft, light chestnut hair +curling naturally, but slightly, at its tips. The nose, precisely +like that of a hunting dog, flat and furrowed at the tip, inquisitive, +intelligent, searching, always on the scent, instead of expressing +good-humor, was ironical and mocking; but this particular aspect of his +nature never showed itself openly; the young man must have ceased to +watch himself, he must have flown into fury before the power came to +him to flash out the sarcasm and the wit which embittered, tenfold, his +infernal humor. The mouth, the curving lines and pomegranate-colored +lips of which were very pleasing, seemed the admirable instrument of an +organ that was almost sweet in its middle tones, where its owner usually +kept it, but which, in its higher key, vibrated on the ear like the +sound of a gong. This falsetto was the voice of his nerves and his +anger. His face, kept expressionless by an inward command, was oval in +form. His manners, in harmony with the sacerdotal calmness of the face, +were reserved and conventional; but he had supple, pliant ways which, +though they never descended to wheedling, were not lacking in seduction; +although as soon as his back was turned their charm seemed inexplicable. +Charm, when it takes its rise in the heart, leaves deep and lasting +traces; that which is merely a product of art, or of eloquence, has only +a passing power; it produces its immediate effect, and that is all. But +how many philosophers are there in life who are able to distinguish +the difference? Almost always the trick is played (to use a popular +expression) before the ordinary run of men have perceived its methods. + +Everything about this young man of twenty-seven was in harmony with his +character; he obeyed his vocation by cultivating philanthropy,--the only +expression which explains the philanthropist. Theodose loved the People, +for he limited his love for humanity. Like the horticulturist who +devotes himself to roses, or dahlias, or heart's-ease, or geraniums, +and pays no attention to the plants his fancy has not selected, so this +young La Rochefoucault-Liancourt gave himself to the workingmen, +the proletariat and the paupers of the faubourgs Saint-Jacques and +Saint-Marceau. The strong man, the man of genius at bay, the worthy poor +of the bourgeois class, he cut them off from the bosom of his charity. +The heart of all persons with a mania is like those boxes with +compartments, in which sugarplums are kept in sorts: "suum cuique +tribuere" is their motto; they measure to each duty its dose. There are +some philanthropists who pity nothing but the man condemned to death. +Vanity is certainly the basis of philanthropy; but in the case of this +Provencal it was calculation, a predetermined course, a "liberal" and +democratic hypocrisy, played with a perfection that no other actor will +ever attain. + +Theodose did not attack the rich; he contented himself with not +understanding them; he endured them; every one, in his opinion, ought to +enjoy the fruits of his labor. He had been, he said, a fervent disciple +of Saint-Simon, but that mistake must be attributed to his youth: modern +society could have no other basis than heredity. An ardent Catholic, +like all men from the Comtat, he went to the earliest morning masses, +and thus concealed his piety. Like other philanthropists, he practised +a sordid economy, and gave to the poor his time, his legal advice, his +eloquence, and such money as he extracted for them from the rich. His +clothes, always of black cloth, were worn until the seams became white. +Nature had done a great deal for Theodose in not giving him that fine +manly Southern beauty which creates in others an imaginary expectation, +to which it is more than difficult for a man to respond. As it was, +he could be what suited him at the moment,--an agreeable man or a very +ordinary one. Never, since his admission to the Thuilliers', had +he ventured, till this evening, to raise his voice and speak as +dogmatically as he had risked doing to Olivier Vinet; but perhaps +Theodose de la Peyrade was not sorry to seize the opportunity to come +out from the shade in which he had hitherto kept himself. Besides, it +was necessary to get rid of the young substitute, just as the Minards +had previously ruined the hopes of Monsieur Godeschal. Like all superior +men (for he certainly had some superiority), Vinet had never lowered +himself to the point where the threads of these bourgeois spider-webs +became visible to him, and he had therefore plunged, like a fly, +headforemost, into the almost invisible trap to which Theodose inveigled +him. + +To complete this portrait of the poor man's lawyer we must here relate +the circumstances of his first arrival at the Thuilliers'. + +Theodose came to lodge in Mademoiselle Thuillier's house toward the +close of the year 1837. He had taken his degree about five years +earlier, and had kept the proper number of terms to become a barrister. +Circumstances, however, about which he said nothing, had interfered +to prevent his being called to the bar; he was, therefore, still a +licentiate. But soon after he was installed in the little apartment on +the third floor, with the furniture rigorously required by all members +of his noble profession,--for the guild of barristers admits no brother +unless he has a suitable study, a legal library, and can thus, as it +were, verify his claims,--Theodose de la Peyrade began to practise as a +barrister before the Royal Court of Paris. + +The whole of the year 1838 was employed in making this change in his +condition, and he led a most regular life. He studied at home in the +mornings till dinner-time, going sometimes to the Palais for important +cases. Having become very intimate with Dutocq (so Dutocq said), he +did certain services to the poor of the faubourg Saint-Jacques who were +brought to his notice by that official. He pleaded their cases before +the court, after bringing them to the notice of the attorneys, who, +according to the statutes of their order, are obliged to take turns in +doing business for the poor. As Theodose was careful to plead only safe +cases, he won them all. Those persons whom he thus obliged expressed +their gratitude and their admiration, in spite of the young lawyer's +admonitions, among their own class, and to the porters of private +houses, through whom many anecdotes rose to the ears of the proprietors. +Delighted to have in their house a tenant so worthy and so charitable, +the Thuilliers wished to attract him to their salon, and they questioned +Dutocq about him. The mayor's clerk replied as the envious reply; while +doing justice to the young man he dwelt on his remarkable avarice, which +might, however, be the effect of poverty. + +"I have had other information about him. He belongs to the Peyrades, an +old family of the 'comtat' of Avignon; he came here toward the end +of 1829, to inquire about an uncle whose fortune was said to be +considerable; he discovered the address of the old man only three days +before his death; and the furniture of the deceased merely sufficed to +bury him and pay his debts. A friend of this useless uncle gave a couple +of hundred louis to the poor fortune-hunter, advising him to finish his +legal studies and enter the judiciary career. Those two hundred +louis supported him for three years in Paris, where he lived like +an anchorite. But being unable to discover his unknown friend and +benefactor, the poor student was in abject distress in 1833. He worked +then, like so many other licentiates, in politics and literature, by +which he kept himself for a time above want--for he had nothing to +expect from his family. His father, the youngest brother of the dead +uncle, has eleven other children, who live on a small estate called Les +Canquoelles. He finally obtained a place on a ministerial newspaper, +the manager of which was the famous Cerizet, so celebrated for the +persecutions he met with, under the Restoration, on account of his +attachment to the liberals,--a man whom the new Left will never forgive +for having made his paper ministerial. As the government of these days +does very little to protect even its most devoted servants (witness the +Gisquet affair), the republicans have ended by ruining Cerizet. I tell +you this to explain how it is that Cerizet is now a copying clerk in +my office. Well, in the days when he flourished as managing editor of a +paper directed by the Perier ministry against the incendiary journals, +the 'Tribune' and others, Cerizet, who is a worthy fellow after all, +though he is too fond of women, pleasure, and good living, was very +useful to Theodose, who edited the political department of the paper; +and if it hadn't been for the death of Casimir Perier that young man +would certainly have received an appointment as substitute judge in +Paris. As it was, he dropped back in 1834-35, in spite of his talent; +for his connection with a ministerial journal of course did him harm. +'If it had not been for my religious principles,' he said to me, 'I +should have thrown myself into the Seine.' However, it seems that the +friend of his uncle must have heard of his distress, for again he sent +him a sum of money; enough to complete his terms for the bar; but, +strange to say, he has never known the name or the address of this +mysterious benefactor. After all, perhaps, under such circumstances, his +economy is excusable, and he must have great strength of mind to refuse +what the poor devils whose cases he wins by his devotion offer him. He +is indignant at the way other lawyers speculate on the possibility or +impossibility of poor creatures, unjustly sued, paying for the costs of +their defence. Oh! he'll succeed in the end. I shouldn't be surprised +to see that fellow in some very brilliant position; he has tenacity, +honesty, and courage. He studies, he delves." + +Notwithstanding the favor with which he was greeted, la Peyrade went +discreetly to the Thuilliers'. When reproached for this reserve he went +oftener, and ended by appearing every Sunday; he was invited to all +dinner-parties, and became at last so familiar in the house that +whenever he came to see Thuillier about four o'clock he was always +requested to take "pot-luck" without ceremony. Mademoiselle Thuillier +used to say:-- + +"Then we know that he will get a good dinner, poor fellow!" + +A social phenomenon which has certainly been observed, but never, as +yet, formulated, or, if you like it better, published, though it fully +deserves to be recorded, is the return of habits, mind, and manners to +primitive conditions in certain persons who, between youth and old age, +have raised themselves above their first estate. Thus Thuillier had +become, once more, morally speaking, the son of a concierge. He now made +use of many of his father's jokes, and a little of the slime of early +days was beginning to appear on the surface of his declining life. About +five or six times a month, when the soup was rich and good he would +deposit his spoon in his empty plate and say, as if the proposition were +entirely novel:-- + +"That's better than a kick on the shin-bone!" + +On hearing that witticism for the first time Theodose, to whom it was +really new, laughed so heartily that the handsome Thuillier was tickled +in his vanity as he had never been before. After that, Theodose greeted +the same speech with a knowing little smile. This slight detail will +explain how it was that on the morning of the day when Theodose had +his passage at arms with Vinet he had said to Thuillier, as they were +walking in the garden to see the effect of a frost:-- + +"You have much more wit than you give yourself credit for." + +To which he received this answer:-- + +"In any other career, my dear Theodose, I should have made my way nobly; +but the fall of the Emperor broke my neck." + +"There is still time," said the young lawyer. "In the first place, what +did that mountebank, Colleville, ever do to get the cross?" + +There la Peyrade laid his finger on a sore wound which Thuillier hid +from every eye so carefully that even his sister did not know of it; but +the young man, interested in studying these bourgeois, had divined the +secret envy that gnawed at the heart of the ex-official. + +"If you, experienced as you are, will do the honor to follow my advice," +added the philanthropist, "and, above all, not mention our compact +to any one, I will undertake to have you decorated with the Legion of +honor, to the applause of the whole quarter." + +"Oh! if we succeed in that," cried Thuillier, "you don't know what I +would do for you." + +This explains why Thuillier carried his head high when Theodose had the +audacity that evening to put opinions into his mouth. + +In art--and perhaps Moliere had placed hypocrisy in the rank of art +by classing Tartuffe forever among comedians--there exists a point of +perfection to which genius alone attains; mere talent falls below it. +There is so little difference between a work of genius and a work +of talent, that only men of genius can appreciate the distance that +separates Raffaelle from Correggio, Titian from Rubens. More than that; +common minds are easily deceived on this point. The sign of genius is a +certain appearance of facility. In fact, its work must appear, at first +sight, ordinary, so natural is it, even on the highest subjects. Many +peasant-women hold their children as the famous Madonna in the Dresden +gallery holds hers. Well, the height of art in a man of la Peyrade's +force was to oblige others to say of him later: "Everybody would have +been taken in by him." + +Now, in the salon Thuillier, he noted a dawning opposition; he perceived +in Colleville the somewhat clear-sighted and criticising nature of +an artist who has missed his vocation. The barrister felt himself +displeasing to Colleville, who (as the result of circumstances not +necessary to here report) considered himself justified in believing +in the science of anagrams. None of this anagrams had ever failed. The +clerks in the government office had laughed at him when, demanding an +anagram on the name of the poor helpless Auguste-Jean-Francois Minard, +he had produced, "J'amassai une si grande fortune"; and the event +had justified him after the lapse of ten years! Theodose, on several +occasions, had made advances to the jovial secretary of the mayor's +office, and had felt himself rebuffed by a coldness which was not +natural in so sociable a man. When the game of bouillotte came to an +end, Colleville seized the moment to draw Thuillier into the recess of a +window and say to him:-- + +"You are letting that lawyer get too much foothold in your house; he +kept the ball in his own hands all the evening." + +"Thank you, my friend; forewarned is forearmed," replied Thuillier, +inwardly scoffing at Colleville. + +Theodose, who was talking at the moment to Madame Colleville, had his +eye on the two men, and, with the same prescience by which women know +when and how they are spoken of, he perceived that Colleville was trying +to injure him in the mind of the weak and silly Thuillier. "Madame," he +said in Flavie's ear, "if any one here is capable of appreciating you +it is certainly I. You seem to me a pearl dropped into the mire. You +say you are forty-two, but a woman is no older than she looks, and many +women of thirty would be thankful to have your figure and that noble +countenance, where love has passed without ever filling the void in +your heart. You have given yourself to God, I know, and I have too much +religion myself to regret it, but I also know that you have done so +because no human being has proved worthy of you. You have been loved, +but you have never been adored--I have divined that. There is your +husband, who has not known how to please you in a position in keeping +with your deserts. He dislikes me, as if he thought I loved you; and he +prevents me from telling you of a way that I think I have found to +place you in the sphere for which you were destined. No, madame," he +continued, rising, "the Abbe Gondrin will not preach this year through +Lent at our humble Saint-Jacques du Haut-Pas; the preacher will be +Monsieur d'Estival, a compatriot of mine, and you will hear in him one +of the most impressive speakers that I have ever known,--a priest whose +outward appearance is not agreeable, but, oh! what a soul!" + +"Then my desire will be gratified," said poor Madame Thuillier. "I have +never yet been able to understand a famous preacher." + +A smile flickered on the lips of Mademoiselle Thuillier and several +others who heard the remark. + +"They devote themselves too much to theological demonstration," said +Theodose. "I have long thought so myself--but I never talk religion; if +it had not been for Madame _de_ Colleville, I--" + +"Are there demonstrations in theology?" asked the professor of +mathematics, naively, plunging headlong into the conversation. + +"I think, monsieur," replied Theodose, looking straight at Felix +Phellion, "that you cannot be serious in asking me such a question." + +"Felix," said old Phellion, coming heavily to the rescue of his son, and +catching a distressed look on the pale face of Madame Thuillier,--"Felix +separates religion into two categories; he considers it from the human +point of view and the divine point of view,--tradition and reason." + +"That is heresy, monsieur," replied Theodose. "Religion is one; it +requires, above all things, faith." + +Old Phellion, nonplussed by that remark, nodded to his wife:-- + +"It is getting late, my dear," and he pointed to the clock. + +"Oh, Monsieur Felix," said Celeste in a whisper to the candid +mathematician, "Couldn't you be, like Pascal and Bossuet, learned and +pious both?" + +The Phellions, on departing, carried the Collevilles with them. Soon no +one remained in the salon but Dutocq, Theodose, and the Thuilliers. + +The flattery administered by Theodose to Flavie seems at the first sight +coarsely commonplace, but we must here remark, in the interests of this +history, that the barrister was keeping himself as close as possible +to these vulgar minds; he was navigating their waters; he spoke their +language. His painter was Pierre Grassou, and not Joseph Bridau; his +book was "Paul and Virginia." The greatest living poet for him was +Casimire de la Vigne; to his eyes the mission of art was, above all +things, utility. Parmentier, the discoverer of the potato, was greater +to him that thirty Raffaelles; the man in the blue cloak seemed to him +a sister of charity. These were Thuillier's expressions, and Theodose +remembered them all--on occasion. + +"That young Felix Phellion," he now remarked, "is precisely the +academical man of our day; the product of knowledge which sends God +to the rear. Heavens, what are we coming to? Religion alone can save +France; nothing but the fear of hell will preserve us from domestic +robbery, which is going on at all hours in the bosom of families, and +eating into the surest fortunes. All of you have a secret warfare in +your homes." + +After this shrewd tirade, which made a great impression upon Brigitte, +he retired, followed by Dutocq, after wishing good evening to the three +Thuilliers. + +"That young man has great capacity," said Thuillier, sententiously. + +"Yes, that he has," replied Brigitte, extinguishing the lamps. + +"He has religion," said Madame Thuillier, as she left the room. + +"Monsieur," Phellion was saying to Colleville as they came abreast of +the Ecole de Mines, looking about him to see that no one was near, "it +is usually my custom to submit my insight to that of others, but it is +impossible for me not to think that that young lawyer plays the master +at our friend Thuillier's." + +"My own opinion," said Colleville, who was walking with Phellion behind +his wife, Madame Phellion, and Celeste, "is that he's a Jesuit; and I +don't like Jesuits; the best of them are no good. To my mind a Jesuit +means knavery, and knavery for knavery's sake; they deceive for the +pleasure of deceiving, and, as the saying is, to keep their hand in. +That's my opinion, and I don't mince it." + +"I understand you, monsieur," said Phellion, who was arm-in-arm with +Colleville. + +"No, Monsieur Phellion," remarked Flavie in a shrill voice, "you don't +understand Colleville; but I know what he means, and I think he had +better stop saying it. Such subjects are not to be talked of in the +street, at eleven o'clock at night, and before a young lady." + +"You are right, wife," said Colleville. + +When they reached the rue des Deux-Eglises, which Phellion was to take, +they all stopped to say good-night, and Felix Phellion, who was bring up +the rear, said to Colleville:-- + +"Monsieur, your son Francois could enter the Ecole Polytechnique if he +were well-coached; I propose to you to fit him to pass the examinations +this year." + +"That's an offer not to be refused! Thank you, my friend," said +Colleville. "We'll see about it." + +"Good!" said Phellion to his son, as they walked on. + +"Not a bad stroke!" said the mother. + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Felix. + +"You are very cleverly paying court to Celeste's parents." + +"May I never find the solution of my problem if I even thought of it!" +cried the young professor. "I discovered, when talking with the little +Collevilles, that Francois has a strong turn for mathematics, and I +thought I ought to enlighten his father." + +"Good, my son!" repeated Phellion. "I wouldn't have you otherwise. My +prayers are granted! I have a son whose honor, probity, and private and +civic virtues are all that I could wish." + +Madame Colleville, as soon as Celeste had gone to bed, said to her +husband:-- + +"Colleville, don't utter those blunt opinions about people without +knowing something about them. When you talk of Jesuits I know you mean +priests; and I wish you would do me the kindness to keep your opinions +on religion to yourself when you are in company with your daughter. +We may sacrifice our own souls, but not the souls of our children. You +don't want Celeste to be a creature without religion? And remember, +my dear, that we are at the mercy of others; we have four children to +provide for; and how do you know that, some day or other, you may not +need the services of this one or that one? Therefore don't make enemies. +You haven't any now, for you are a good-natured fellow; and, thanks to +that quality, which amounts in you to a charm, we have got along pretty +well in life, so far." + +"That's enough!" said Colleville, flinging his coat on a chair and +pulling off his cravat. "I'm wrong, and you are right, my beautiful +Flavie." + +"And on the next occasion, my dear old sheep," said the sly creature, +tapping her husband's cheek, "you must try to be polite to that young +lawyer; he is a schemer and we had better have him on our side. He is +playing comedy--well! play comedy with him; be his dupe apparently; if +he proves to have talent, if he has a future before him, make a friend +of him. Do you think I want to see you forever in the mayor's office?" + +"Come, wife Colleville," said the former clarionet, tapping his knee to +indicate the place he wished his wife to take. "Let us warm our toes and +talk.--When I look at you I am more than ever convinced that the youth +of women is in their figure." + +"And in their heart." + +"Well, both," assented Colleville; "waist slender, heart solid--" + +"No, you old stupid, deep." + +"What is good about you is that you have kept your fairness without +growing fat. But the fact is, you have such tiny bones. Flavie, it is +a fact that if I had life to live over again I shouldn't wish for any +other wife than you." + +"You know very well I have always preferred you to _others_. How unlucky +that monseigneur is dead! Do you know what I covet for you?" + +"No; what?" + +"Some office at the Hotel de Ville,--an office worth twelve thousand +francs a year; cashier, or something of that kind; either there, or at +Poissy, in the municipal department; or else as manufacturer of musical +instruments--" + +"Any one of them would suit me." + +"Well, then! if that queer barrister has power, and he certainly has +plenty of intrigue, let us manage him. I'll sound him; leave me to do +the thing--and, above all, don't thwart his game at the Thuilliers'." + +Theodose had laid a finger on a sore sport in Flavie Colleville's heart; +and this requires an explanation, which may, perhaps, have the value of +a synthetic glance at women's life. + +At forty years of age a woman, above all, if she has tasted the poisoned +apple of passion, undergoes a solemn shock; she sees two deaths before +her: that of the body and that of the heart. Dividing women into two +great categories which respond to the common ideas, and calling them +either virtuous or guilty, it is allowable to say that after that fatal +period they both suffer pangs of terrible intensity. If virtuous, and +disappointed in the deepest hopes of their nature--whether they have had +the courage to submit, whether they have buried their revolt in their +hearts or at the foot of the altar--they never admit to themselves that +all is over for them without horror. That thought has such strange and +diabolical depths that in it lies the reason of some of those apostasies +which have, at times, amazed the world and horrified it. If guilty, +women of that age fall into one of several delirious conditions which +often turn, alas! to madness, or end in suicide, or terminate in some +with passion greater than the situation itself. + +The following is the "dilemmatic" meaning of this crisis. Either they +have known happiness, known it in a virtuous life, and are unable to +breathe in any air but that surcharged with incense, or act in any but a +balmy atmosphere of flattery and worship,--if so, how is it possible +to renounce it?--or, by a phenomenon less rare than singular, they +have found only wearying pleasures while seeking for the happiness +that escaped them--sustained in that eager chase by the irritating +satisfactions of vanity, clinging to the game like a gambler to his +double or quits; for to them these last days of beauty are their last +stake against despair. + +"You have been loved, but never adored." + +That speech of Theodose, accompanied by a look which read, not into her +heart, but into her life, was the key-note to her enigma, and Flavie +felt herself divined. + +The lawyer had merely repeated ideas which literature has rendered +trivial; but what matter where the whip comes from, or how it is made, +if it touches the sensitive spot of a horse's hide? The emotion was in +Flavie, not in the speech, just as the noise is not in the avalanche, +though it produces it. + +A young officer, two fops, a banker, a clumsy youth, and Colleville, +were poor attempts at happiness. Once in her life Madame Colleville had +dreamed of it, but never attained it. Death had hastened to put an end +to the only passion in which she had found a charm. For the last two +years she had listened to the voice of religion, which told her that +neither the Church, nor its votaries, should talk of love or happiness, +but of duty and resignation; that the only happiness lay in the +satisfaction of fulfilling painful and costly duties, the rewards for +which were not in this world. All the same, however, she was conscious +of another clamoring voice; but, inasmuch as her religion was only a +mask which it suited her to wear, and not a conversion, she did not lay +it aside, thinking it a resource. Believing also that piety, false or +true, was a becoming manner in which to meet her future, she continued +in the Church, as though it were the cross-roads of a forest, where, +seated on a bench, she read the sign-posts, and waited for some lucky +chance; feeling all the while that night was coming on. + +Thus it happened that her interest was keenly excited when Theodose +put her secret condition of mind into words, seeming to promise her the +realization of her castle in the air, already built and overthrown some +six or eight times. + +From the beginning of the winter she had noticed that Theodose was +examining and studying her, though cautiously and secretly. More than +once, she had put on her gray moire silk with its black lace, and her +headdress of Mechlin with a few flowers, in order to appear to her best +advantage; and men know very well when a toilet has been made to please +them. The old beau of the Empire, that handsome Thuillier, overwhelmed +her with compliments, assuring her she was queen of the salon, but la +Peyrade said infinitely more to the purpose by a look. + +Flavie had expected, Sunday after Sunday, a declaration, saying to +herself at times:-- + +"He knows I am ruined and haven't a sou. Perhaps he is really pious." + +Theodose did nothing rashly; like a wise musician, he had marked the +place in his symphony where he intended to tap his drum. When he saw +Colleville attempting to warn Thuillier against him, he fired his +broadside, cleverly prepared during the three or four months in which he +had been studying Flavie; he now succeeded with her as he had, earlier +in the day, succeeded with Thuillier. + +While getting into bed, Theodose said to himself:-- + +"The wife is on my side; the husband can't endure me; they are now +quarrelling; and I shall get the better of it, for she does what she +likes with that man." + +The lawyer was mistaken in one thing: there was no dispute whatever, and +Colleville was sleeping peacefully beside his dear little Flavie, while +she was saying to herself:-- + +"Certainly Theodose must be a superior man." + +Many men, like la Peyrade, derive their superiority from the audacity, +or the difficulty, of an enterprise; the strength they display increases +their muscular power, and they spend it freely. Then when success is +won, or defeat is met, the public is astonished to find how small, +exhausted, and puny those men really are. After casting into the minds +of the two persons on whom Celeste's fate chiefly depended, an interest +and curiosity that were almost feverish, Theodose pretended to be a very +busy man; for five or six days he was out of the house from morning +till night, in order not to meet Flavie until the time when her interest +should increase to the point of overstepping conventionality, and also +in order to force the handsome Thuillier to come and fetch him. + +The following Sunday he felt certain he should find Madame Colleville +at church; he was not mistaken, for they came out, each of them, at the +same moment, and met at the corner of the rue des Deux-Eglises. Theodose +offered his arm, which Flavie accepted, leaving her daughter to walk in +front with her brother Anatole. This youngest child, then about twelve +years old, being destined for the seminary, was now at the Barniol +institute, where he obtained an elementary education; Barniol, the +son-in-law of the Phellions, was naturally making the tuition fees +light, with a view to the hoped-for alliance between Felix and Celeste. + +"Have you done me the honor and favor of thinking over what I said to +you so badly the other day?" asked the lawyer, in a caressing tone, +pressing the lady's arm to his heart with a movement both soft and +strong; for he seemed to wish to restrain himself and appear respectful, +in spite of his evident eagerness. "Do not misunderstand my intentions," +he continued, after receiving from Madame Colleville one of those looks +which women trained to the management of passion know how to give,--a +look that, by mere expression, can convey both severe rebuke and secret +community of sentiment. "I love you as we love a noble nature struggling +against misfortune; Christian charity enfolds both the strong and the +weak; its treasure belongs to both. Refined, graceful, elegant as you +are, made to be an ornament of the highest society, what man could see +you without feeling an immense compassion in his heart--buried here +among these odious bourgeois, who know nothing of you, not even +the aristocratic value of a single one of your attitudes, or those +enchanting inflections of your voice! Ah! if I were only rich! if I +had power! your husband, who is certainly a good fellow, should be made +receiver-general, and you yourself could get him elected deputy. But, +alas! poor ambitious man, my first duty is to silence my ambition. +Knowing myself at the bottom of the bag like the last number in a family +lottery, I can only offer you my arm and not my heart. I hope all from a +good marriage, and, believe me, I shall make my wife not only happy, but +I shall make her one of the first in the land, receiving from her the +means of success. It is so fine a day, will you not take a turn in the +Luxembourg?" he added, as they reached the rue d'Enfer at the corner +of Colleville's house, opposite to which was a passage leading to the +gardens by the stairway of a little building, the last remains of the +famous convent of the Chartreux. + +The soft yielding of the arm within his own, indicated a tacit consent +to this proposal, and as Flavie deserved the honor of a sort of +enthusiasm, he drew her vehemently along, exclaiming:-- + +"Come! we may never have so good a moment--But see!" he added, "there is +your husband at the window looking at us; let us walk slowly." + +"You have nothing to fear from Monsieur Colleville," said Flavie, +smiling; "he leaves me mistress of my own actions." + +"Ah! here, indeed, is the woman I have dreamed of," cried the Provencal, +with that ecstasy that inflames the soul only, and in tones that issue +only from Southern lips. "Pardon me, madame," he said, recovering +himself, and returning from an upper sphere to the exiled angel whom he +looked at piously,--"pardon me, I abandon what I was saying; but how +can a man help feeling for the sorrows he has known himself when he +sees them the lot of a being to whom life should bring only joy and +happiness? Your sufferings are mine; I am no more in my right place than +you are in yours; the same misfortune has made us brother and sister. +Ah! dear Flavie, the first day it was granted to me to see you--the last +Sunday in September, 1838--you were very beautiful; I shall often recall +you to memory in that pretty little gown of mousseline-de-laine of the +color of some Scottish tartan! That day I said to myself: 'Why is that +woman so often at the Thuilliers'; above all, why did she ever have +intimate relations with Thuillier himself?--'" + +"Monsieur!" said Flavie, alarmed at the singular course la Peyrade was +giving to the conversation. + +"Eh! I know all," he cried, accompanying the words with a shrug of his +shoulders. "I explain it all to my own mind, and I do not respect you +less. You now have to gather the fruits of your sin, and I will help +you. Celeste will be very rich, and in that lies your own future. You +can have only one son-in-law; chose him wisely. An ambitious man might +become a minister, but you would humble your daughter and make her +miserable; and if such a man lost his place and fortune he could +never recover it. Yes, I love you," he continued. "I love you with an +unlimited affection; you are far above the mass of petty considerations +in which silly women entangle themselves. Let us understand each other." + +Flavie was bewildered; she was, however, awake to the extreme frankness +of such language, and she said to herself, "He is not a secret +manoeuvrer, certainly." Moreover, she admitted to her own mind that no +one had ever so deeply stirred and excited her as this young man. + +"Monsieur," she said, "I do not know who could have put into your mind +so great an error as to my life, nor by what right you--" + +"Ah! pardon me, madame," interrupted the Provencal with a coolness that +smacked of contempt. "I must have dreamed it. I said to myself, 'She is +all that!' But I see I was judging from the outside. I know now why you +are living and will always live on a fourth floor in the rue d'Enfer." + +And he pointed his speech with an energetic gesture toward the +Colleville windows, which could be seen through the passage from the +alley of the Luxembourg, where they were walking alone, in that immense +tract trodden by so many and various young ambitions. + +"I have been frank, and I expected reciprocity," resumed Theodose. +"I myself have had days without food, madame; I have managed to live, +pursue my studies, obtain my degree, with two thousand francs for my +sole dependence; and I entered Paris through the Barriere d'Italie, +with five hundred francs in my pocket, firmly resolved, like one of +my compatriots, to become, some day, one of the foremost men of our +country. The man who has often picked his food from baskets of scraps +where the restaurateurs put their refuse, which are emptied at six +o'clock every morning--that man is not likely to recoil before any +means,--avowable, of course. Well, do you think me the friend of the +people?" he said, smiling. "One has to have a speaking-trumpet to reach +the ear of Fame; she doesn't listen if you speak with your lips; and +without fame of what use is talent? The poor man's advocate means to be +some day the advocate of the rich. Is that plain speaking? Don't I open +my inmost being to you? Then open your heart to me. Say to me, 'Let us +be friends,' and the day will come when we shall both be happy." + +"Good heavens! why did I ever come here? Why did I ever take your arm?" +cried Flavie. + +"Because it is in your destiny," he replied. "Ah! my dear, beloved +Flavie," he added, again pressing her arm upon his heart, "did you +expect to hear the vulgarities of love from me? We are brother and +sister; that is all." + +And he led her towards the passage to return to the rue d'Enfer. + +Flavie felt a sort of terror in the depths of the contentment which all +women find in violent emotions; and she took that terror for the sort of +fear which a new passion always excites; but for all that, she felt she +was fascinated, and she walked along in absolute silence. + +"What are you thinking of?" asked Theodose, when they reached the middle +of the passage. + +"Of what you have just said to me," she answered. + +"At our age," he said, "it is best to suppress preliminaries; we are not +children; we both belong to a sphere in which we should understand each +other. Remember this," he added, as they reached the rue d'Enfer.--"I am +wholly yours." + +So saying, he bowed low to her. + +"The iron's in the fire now!" he thought to himself as he watched his +giddy prey on her way home. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. A KEYNOTE + +When Theodose reached home he found, waiting for him on the landing, a +personage who is, as it were, the submarine current of this history; he +will be found within it like some buried church on which has risen the +facade of a palace. The sight of this man, who, after vainly ringing +at la Peyrade's door, was now trying that of Dutocq, made the Provencal +barrister tremble--but secretly, within himself, not betraying +externally his inward emotion. This man was Cerizet, whom Dutocq had +mentioned to Thuillier as his copying-clerk. + +Cerizet was only thirty-eight years old, but he looked a man of fifty, +so aged had he become from causes which age all men. His hairless head +had a yellow skull, ill-covered by a rusty, discolored wig; the mask of +his face, pale, flabby, and unnaturally rough, seemed the more horrible +because the nose was eaten away, though not sufficiently to admit of +its being replaced by a false one. From the spring of this nose at the +forehead, down to the nostrils, it remained as nature had made it; but +disease, after gnawing away the sides near the extremities, had left +two holes of fantastic shape, which vitiated pronunciation and hampered +speech. The eyes, originally handsome, but weakened by misery of all +kinds and by sleepless nights, were red around the edges, and deeply +sunken; the glance of those eyes, when the soul sent into them an +expression of malignancy, would have frightened both judges and +criminals, or any others whom nothing usually affrights. + +The mouth, toothless except for a few black fangs, was threatening; the +saliva made a foam within it, which did not, however, pass the pale +thin lips. Cerizet, a short man, less spare than shrunken, endeavored +to remedy the defects of his person by his clothes, and although his +garments were not those of opulence, he kept them in a condition +of neatness which may even have increased his forlorn appearance. +Everything about him seemed dubious; his age, his nose, his glance +inspired doubt. It was impossible to know if he were thirty-eight or +sixty; if his faded blue trousers, which fitted him well, were of a +coming or a past fashion. His boots, worn at the heels, but scrupulously +blacked, resoled for the third time, and very choice, originally, may +have trodden in their day a ministerial carpet. The frock coat, soaked +by many a down-pour, with its brandebourgs, the frogs of which were +indiscreet enough to show their skeletons, testified by its cut to +departed elegance. The satin stock-cravat fortunately concealed the +shirt, but the tongue of the buckle behind the neck had frayed the +satin, which was re-satined, that is, re-polished, by a species of oil +distilled from the wig. In the days of its youth the waistcoat was not, +of course, without freshness, but it was one of those waistcoats, bought +for four francs, which come from the hooks of the ready-made clothing +dealer. All these things were carefully brushed, and so was the shiny +and misshapen hat. They harmonized with each other, even to the black +gloves which covered the hands of this subaltern Mephistopheles, whose +whole anterior life may be summed up in a single phrase:-- + +He was an artist in evil, with whom, from the first, evil had succeeded; +a man misled by these early successes to continue the plotting of +infamous deeds within the lines of strict legality. Becoming the head of +a printing-office by betraying his master [see "Lost Illusions"], he +had afterwards been condemned to imprisonment as editor of a liberal +newspaper. In the provinces, under the Restoration, he became the bete +noire of the government, and was called "that unfortunate Cerizet" +by some, as people spoke of "the unfortunate Chauvet" and "the heroic +Mercier." He owed to this reputation of persecuted patriotism a place as +sub-prefect in 1830. Six months later he was dismissed; but he insisted +that he was judged without being heard; and he made so much talk about +it that, under the ministry of Casimir Perier, he became the editor of +an anti-republican newspaper in the pay of the government. He left that +position to go into business, one phase of which was the most nefarious +stock-company that ever fell into the hands of the correctional police. +Cerizet proudly accepted the severe sentence he received; declaring it +to be a revengeful plot on the part of the republicans, who, he said, +would never forgive him for the hard blows he had dealt them in his +journal. He spent the time of his imprisonment in a hospital. The +government by this time were ashamed of a man whose almost infamous +habits and shameful business transactions, carried on in company with a +former banker, named Claparon, led him at last into well-deserved public +contempt. + +Cerizet, thus fallen, step by step, to the lowest rung of the social +ladder, had recourse to pity in order to obtain the place of copying +clerk in Dutocq's office. In the depths of his wretchedness the man +still dreamed of revenge, and, as he had nothing to lose, he employed +all means to that end. Dutocq and himself were bound together in +depravity. Cerizet was to Dutocq what the hound is the huntsman. Knowing +himself the necessities of poverty and wretchedness, he set up that +business of gutter usury called, in popular parlance, "the loan by the +little week." He began this at first by help of Dutocq, who shared the +profits; but, at the present moment this man of many legal crimes, now +the banker of fishwives, the money-lender of costermongers, was the +gnawing rodent of the whole faubourg. + +"Well," said Cerizet as Dutocq opened his door, "Theodose has just come +in; let us go to his room." + +The advocate of the poor was fain to allow the two men to pass before +him. + +All three crossed a little room, the tiled floor of which, covered with +a coating of red encaustic, shone in the light; thence into a little +salon with crimson curtains and mahogany furniture, covered with +red Utrecht velvet; the wall opposite the window being occupied by +book-shelves containing a legal library. The chimney-piece was covered +with vulgar ornaments, a clock with four columns in mahogany, and +candelabra under glass shades. The study, where the three men seated +themselves before a soft-coal fire, was the study of a lawyer just +beginning to practise. The furniture consisted of a desk, an armchair, +little curtains of green silk at the windows, a green carpet, shelves +for lawyer's boxes, and a couch, above which hung an ivory Christ on +a velvet background. The bedroom, kitchen, and rest of the apartment +looked out upon the courtyard. + +"Well," said Cerizet, "how are things going? Are we getting on?" + +"Yes," replied Theodose. + +"You must admit," cried Dutocq, "that my idea was a famous one, in +laying hold of that imbecile of a Thuillier?" + +"Yes, but I'm not behindhand either," exclaimed Cerizet. "I have come +now to show you a way to put the thumbscrews on the old maid and make +her spin like a teetotum. We mustn't deceive ourselves; Mademoiselle +Thuillier is the head and front of everything in this affair; if we get +her on our side the town is won. Let us say little, but that little to +the point, as becomes strong men with each other. Claparon, you know, is +a fool; he'll be all his life what he always was,--a cat's-paw. Just now +he is lending his name to a notary in Paris, who is concerned with a +lot of contractors, and they are all--notary and masons--on the point of +ruin. Claparon is going headlong into it. He never yet was bankrupt; but +there's a first time for everything. He is hidden now in my hovel in the +rue des Poules, where no one will ever find him. He is desperate, and +he hasn't a penny. Now, among the five or six houses built by these +contractors, which have to be sold, there's a jewel of a house, built of +freestone, in the neighborhood of the Madeleine,--a frontage laced like +a melon, with beautiful carvings,--but not being finished, it will have +to be sold for what it will bring; certainly not more than a hundred +thousand francs. By spending twenty-five thousand francs upon it it +could be let, undoubtedly, for ten thousand. Make Mademoiselle Thuillier +the proprietor of that house and you'll win her love; she'll believe +that you can put such chances in her way every year. There are two ways +of getting hold of vain people: flatter their vanity, _or_ threaten +them; and there are also two ways of managing misers: fill their purse, +or else attack it. Now, this stroke of business, while it does good to +Mademoiselle Thuillier, does good to us as well, and it would be a pity +not to profit by the chance." + +"But why does the notary let it slip through his fingers?" asked Dutocq. + +"The notary, my dear fellow! Why, he's the very one who saves us. +Forced to sell his practice, and utterly ruined besides, he reserved for +himself this crumb of the cake. Believing in the honesty of that idiot +Claparon, he has asked him to find a dummy purchaser. We'll let him +suppose that Mademoiselle Thuillier is a worthy soul who allows Claparon +to use her name; they'll both be fooled, Claparon and the notary too. +I owe this little trick to my friend Claparon, who left me to bear the +whole weight of the trouble about his stock-company, in which we were +tricked by Conture, and I hope you may never be in that man's skin!" he +added, infernal hatred flashing from his worn and withered eyes. "Now, +I've said my say, gentlemen," he continued, sending out his voice +through his nasal holes, and taking a dramatic attitude; for once, at a +moment of extreme penury, he had gone upon the stage. + +As he finished making his proposition some one rang at the outer door, +and la Peyrade rose to go and open it. As soon as his back was turned, +Cerizet said, hastily, to Dutocq:-- + +"Are you sure of him? I see a sort of air about him--And I'm a good +judge of treachery." + +"He is so completely in our power," said Dutocq, "that I don't trouble +myself to watch; but, between ourselves, I didn't think him as strong as +he proves to be. The fact is, we thought we were putting a barb between +the legs of a man who didn't know how to ride, and the rogue is an old +jockey!" + +"Let him take care," growled Cerizet. "I can blow him down like a house +of cards any day. As for you, papa Dutocq, you are able to see him at +work all the time; watch him carefully. Besides, I'll feel his pulse by +getting Claparon to propose to him to get rid of us; that will help us +to judge him." + +"Pretty good, that!" said Dutocq. "You are daring, anyhow." + +"I've got my hand in, that's all," replied Cerizet. + +These words were exchanged in a low voice during the time that it took +Theodose to go to the outer door and return. Cerizet was looking at the +books when the lawyer re-entered the room. + +"It is Thuillier," said Theodose. "I thought he'd come; he is in the +salon. He mustn't see Cerizet's frock-coat; those frogs would frighten +him." + +"Pooh! you receive the poor in your office, don't you? That's in your +role. Do you want any money?" added Cerizet, pulling a hundred francs +out of his trousers' pocket. "There it is; it won't look amiss." + +And he laid the pile on the chimney-piece. + +"And now," said Dutocq, "we had better get out through the bedroom." + +"Well, good-bye," said Theodose, opening a hidden door which +communicated from the study to the bedroom. "Come in, Monsieur +Thuillier," he called out to the beau of the Empire. + +When he saw him safely in the study he went to let out his two +associates through the bedroom and kitchen into the courtyard. + +"In six months," said Cerizet, "you'll have married Celeste and got your +foot into the stirrup. You are lucky, you are, not to have sat, like +me, in the prisoners' dock. I've been there twice: once in 1825, for +'subversive articles' which I never wrote, and the second time for +receiving the profits of a joint-stock company which had slipped through +my fingers! Come, let's warm this thing up! Sac-a-papier! Dutocq and I +are sorely in need of that twenty-five thousand francs. Good courage, +old fellow!" he added, holding out his hand to Theodose, and making the +grasp a test of faithfulness. + +The Provencal gave Cerizet his right hand, pressing the other's hand +warmly:-- + +"My good fellow," he said, "be very sure that in whatever position I may +find myself I shall never forget that from which you have drawn me by +putting me in the saddle here. I'm simply your bait; but you are giving +me the best part of the catch, and I should be more infamous than a +galley-slave who turns policeman if I didn't play fair." + +As soon as the door was closed, Cerizet peeped through the key-hole, +trying to catch sight of la Peyrade's face. But the Provencal had turned +back to meet Thuillier, and his distrustful associate could not detect +the expression of his countenance. + +That expression was neither disgust nor annoyance, it was simply joy, +appearing on a face that now seemed freed. Theodose saw the means of +success approaching him, and he flattered himself that the day would +come when he might get rid of his ignoble associates, to whom he owed +everything. Poverty has unfathomable depths, especially in Paris, slimy +bottoms, from which, when a drowned man rises to the surface of the +water, he brings with him filth and impurity clinging to his clothes, +or to his person. Cerizet, the once opulent friend and protector of +Theodose, was the muddy mire still clinging to the Provencal, and the +former manager of the joint-stock company saw very plainly that his tool +wanted to brush himself on entering a sphere where decent clothing was a +necessity. + +"Well, my dear Theodose," began Thuillier, "we have hoped to see you +every day this week, and every evening we find our hopes deceived. As +this is our Sunday for a dinner, my sister and my wife have sent me here +to beg you to come to us." + +"I have been so busy," said Theodose, "that I have not had two minutes +to give to any one, not even to you, whom I count among my friends, and +with whom I have wished to talk about--" + +"What? have you really been thinking seriously over what you said to +me?" cried Thuillier, interrupting him. + +"If you had not come here now for a full understanding, I shouldn't +respect you as I do," replied la Peyrade, smiling. "You have been a +sub-director, and therefore you must have the remains of ambition--which +is deucedly legitimate in your case! Come, now, between ourselves, when +one sees a Minard, that gilded pot, displaying himself at the Tuileries, +and complimenting the king, and a Popinot about to become a minister of +State, and then look at you! a man trained to administrative work, a +man with thirty years' experience, who has seen six governments, left +to plant balsams in a little garden! Heavens and earth!--I am frank, +my dear Thuillier, and I'll say, honestly, that I want to advance you, +because you'll draw me after you. Well, here's my plan. We are soon to +elect a member of the council-general from this arrondissement; and that +member must be you. And," he added, dwelling on the word, "it _will_ be +you! After that, you will certainly be deputy from the arrondissement +when the Chamber is re-elected, which must surely be before long. The +votes that elect you to the municipal council will stand by you in the +election for deputy, trust me for that." + +"But how will you manage all this?" cried Thuillier, fascinated. + +"You shall know in good time; but you must let me conduct this long and +difficult affair; if you commit the slightest indiscretion as to what is +said, or planned, or agreed between us, I shall have to drop the whole +matter, and good-bye to you!" + +"Oh! you can rely on the absolute dumbness of a former sub-director; +I've had secrets to keep." + +"That's all very well; but these are secrets to keep from your wife and +sister, and from Monsieur and Madame Colleville." + +"Not a muscle of my face shall reveal them," said Thuillier, assuming a +stolid air. + +"Very good," continued Theodose. "I shall test you. In order to make +yourself eligible, you must pay taxes on a certain amount of property, +and you are not paying them." + +"I beg your pardon; I'm all right for the municipal council at any rate; +I pay two francs ninety-six centimes." + +"Yes, but the tax on property necessary for election to the chamber +is five hundred francs, and there is no time to lose in acquiring that +property, because you must prove possession for one year." + +"The devil!" cried Thuillier; "between now and a year hence to be taxed +five hundred francs on property which--" + +"Between now and the end of July, at the latest, you must pay that tax. +Well, I feel enough interest in you to tell you the secret of an affair +by which you might make from thirty to forty thousand francs a year, by +employing a capital of one hundred and fifty thousand at most. I know +that in your family it is your sister who does your business; I am far +from thinking that a mistake; she has, they tell me, excellent judgment; +and you must let me begin by obtaining her good-will and friendship, +and proposing this investment to her. And this is why: If Mademoiselle +Thuillier is not induced to put faith in my plan, we shall certainly +have difficulty with her. Besides, it won't do for YOU to propose to her +that she should put the investment of her money in your name. The idea +had better come from me. As to my means of getting you elected to the +municipal council, they are these: Phellion controls one quarter of the +arrondissement; he and Laudigeois have lived in it these thirty years, +and they are listened to like oracles. I have a friend who controls +another quarter; and the rector of Saint-Jacques, who is not without +influence, thanks to his virtues, disposes of certain votes. Dutocq, in +his close relation to the people, and also the justice of peace, will +help me, above all, as I'm not acting for myself; and Colleville, as +secretary of the mayor's office, can certainly manage to obtain another +fourth of the votes." + +"You are right!" cried Thuillier. "I'm elected!" + +"Do you think so?" said la Peyrade, in a voice of the deepest sarcasm. +"Very good! then go and ask your friend Colleville to help you, and see +what he'll say. No triumph in election cases is ever brought about by +the candidate himself, but by his friends. He should never ask anything +himself for himself; he must be invited to accept, and appear to be +without ambition." + +"La Peyrade!" cried Thuillier, rising, and taking the hand of the young +lawyer, "you are a very capable man." + +"Not as capable as you, but I have my merits," said the Provencal, +smiling. + +"If we succeed how shall I ever repay you?" asked Thuillier, naively. + +"Ah! that, indeed! I am afraid you will think me impertinent, but +remember, there is a true feeling in my heart which offers some excuse +for me; in fact, it has given me the spirit to undertake this affair. I +love--and I take you for my confidant." + +"But who is it?" said Thuillier. + +"Your dear little Celeste," replied la Peyrade. "My love for her will +be a pledge to you of my devotion. What would I not do for a +_father-in-law_! This is pure selfishness; I shall be working for +myself." + +"Hush!" cried Thuillier. + +"Eh, my friend!" said la Peyrade, catching Thuillier round the body; "if +I hadn't Flavie on my side, and if I didn't know _all_ should I venture +to be talking to you thus? But please say nothing to Flavie about this; +wait till she speaks to you. Listen to me; I'm of the metal that makes +ministers; I do not seek to obtain Celeste until I deserve her. You +shall not be asked to give her to me until the day when your election +as a deputy of Paris is assured. In order to be deputy of Paris, we must +get the better of Minard; and in order to crush Minard you must keep in +your own hands all your means of influence; for that reason use Celeste +as a hope; we'll play them off, these people, against each other and +fool them all--Madame Colleville and you and I will be persons of +importance one of these days. Don't think me mercenary. I want Celeste +without a 'dot,' with nothing more than her future expectations. To +live in your family with you, to keep my wife in your midst, that is my +desire. You see now that I have no hidden thoughts. As for you, my dear +friend, six months after your election to the municipal council, you +will have the cross of the Legion of honor, and when you are deputy +you will be made an officer of it. As for your speeches in the +Chamber--well! we'll write them together. Perhaps it would be desirable +for you to write a book,--a serious book on matters half moral and +philanthropic, half political; such, for instance, as charitable +institutions considered from the highest stand-point; or reforms in the +pawning system, the abuses of which are really frightful. Let us fasten +some slight distinction to your name; it will help you,--especially in +the arrondissement. Now, I say again, trust me, believe in me; do not +think of taking me into your family until you have the ribbon in your +buttonhole on the morrow of the day when you take your seat in the +Chamber. I'll do more than that, however; I'll put you in the way of +making forty thousand francs a year." + +"For any one of those three things you shall have our Celeste," said +Thuillier. + +"Ah! what a pearl she is!" exclaimed la Peyrade, raising his eyes to +heaven. "I have the weakness to pray to God for her every day. She is +charming; she is exactly like you--oh! nonsense; surely you needn't +caution me! Dutocq told me all. Well, I'll be with you to-night. I must +go to the Phellions' now, and begin to work our plan. You don't need me +to caution you not to let it be known that you are thinking of me for +Celeste; if you do, you'll cut off my arms and legs. Therefore, silence! +even to Flavie. Wait till she speaks to you herself. Phellion shall +to-night broach the matter of proposing you as candidate for the +council." + +"To-night?" said Thuillier. + +"Yes, to-night," replied la Peyrade, "unless I don't find him at home +now." + +Thuillier departed, saying to himself:-- + +"That's a very superior man; we shall always understand each other. +Faith! it might be hard to do better for Celeste. They will live with +us, as in our own family, and that's a good deal! Yes, he's a fine +fellow, a sound man." + +To minds of Thuillier's calibre, a secondary consideration often assumes +the importance of a principal reason. Theodose had behaved to him with +charming bonhomie. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. THE WORTHY PHELLIONS + +The house to which Theodose de la Peyrade now bent his steps had been +the "hoc erat in votis" of Monsieur Phellion for twenty years; it was +the house of the Phellions, just as much as Cerizet's frogged coat was +the necessary complement of his personality. + +This dwelling was stuck against the side of a large house, but only to +the depth of one room (about twenty feet or so), and terminated at each +end in a sort of pavilion with one window. Its chief charm was a garden, +one hundred and eighty feet square, longer than the facade of the house +by the width of a courtyard which opened on the street, and a little +clump of lindens. Beyond the second pavilion, the courtyard had, between +itself and the street, an iron railing, in the centre of which was a +little gate opening in the middle. + +This building, of rouge stone covered with stucco, and two storeys in +height, had received a coat of yellow-wash; the blinds were painted +green, and so were the shutters on the lower storey. The kitchen +occupied the ground-floor of the pavilion on the courtyard, and the +cook, a stout, strong girl, protected by two enormous dogs, performed +the functions of portress. The facade, composed of five windows, and the +two pavilions, which projected nine feet, were in the style Phellion. +Above the door the master of the house had inserted a tablet of white +marble, on which, in letters of gold, were read the words, "Aurea +mediocritas." Above the sun-dial, affixed to one panel of the facade, +he had also caused to be inscribed this sapient maxim: "Umbra mea vita, +sic!" + +The former window-sills had recently been superceded by sills of red +Languedoc marble, found in a marble shop. At the bottom of the garden +could be seen a colored statue, intended to lead casual observers to +imagine that a nurse was carrying a child. The ground-floor of the house +contained only the salon and the dining-room, separated from each other +by the well of the staircase and the landing, which formed a sort of +antechamber. At the end of the salon, in the other pavilion, was a +little study occupied by Phellion. + +On the first upper floor were the rooms of the father and mother and +that of the young professor. Above were the chambers of the children and +the servants; for Phellion, on consideration of his own age and that of +his wife, had set up a male domestic, aged fifteen, his son having by +that time entered upon his duties of tuition. To right, on entering +the courtyard, were little offices where wood was stored, and where +the former proprietor had lodged a porter. The Phellions were no doubt +awaiting the marriage of their son to allow themselves that additional +luxury. + +This property, on which the Phellions had long had their eye, cost +them eighteen thousand francs in 1831. The house was separated from +the courtyard by a balustrade with a base of freestone and a coping of +tiles; this little wall, which was breast-high, was lined with a hedge +of Bengal roses, in the middle of which opened a wooden gate opposite +and leading to the large gates on the street. Those who know the +cul-de-sac of the Feuillantines, will understand that the Phellion +house, standing at right angles to the street, had a southern exposure, +and was protected on the north by the immense wall of the adjoining +house, against which the smaller structure was built. The cupola of the +Pantheon and that of the Val-de-Grace looked from there like two giants, +and so diminished the sky space that, walking in the garden, one felt +cramped and oppressed. No place could be more silent than this blind +street. + +Such was the retreat of the great unknown citizen who was now tasting +the sweets of repose, after discharging his duty to the nation in the +ministry of finance, from which he had retired as registration clerk +after a service of thirty-six years. In 1832 he had led his battalion of +the National Guard to the attack on Saint-Merri, but his neighbors had +previously seen tears in his eyes at the thought of being obliged to +fire on misguided Frenchmen. The affair was already decided by the time +his legion crossed the pont Notre-Dame at a quick step, after debouching +by the flower-market. This noble hesitation won him the respect of his +whole quarter, but he lost the decoration of the Legion of honor; his +colonel told him in a loud voice that, under arms, there was no such +thing as deliberation,--a saying of Louis-Philippe to the National Guard +of Metz. Nevertheless, the bourgeois virtues of Phellion, and the great +respect in which he was held in his own quarter had kept him major of +the battalion for eight years. He was now nearly sixty, and seeing the +moment coming when he must lay off the sword and stock, he hoped that +the king would deign to reward his services by granting him at last the +Legion of honor. + +Truth compels us to say, in spite of the stain this pettiness will put +upon so fine a character, that Commander Phellion rose upon the tips of +his toes at the receptions in the Tuileries, and did all that he could +to put himself forward, even eyeing the citizen-king perpetually when +he dined at his table. In short, he intrigued in a dumb sort of way; but +had never yet obtained a look in return from the king of his choice. The +worthy man had more than once thought, but was not yet decided, to beg +Monsieur Minard to assist him in obtaining his secret desire. + +Phellion, a man of passive obedience, was stoical in the matter of duty, +and iron in all that touched his conscience. To complete this picture +by a sketch of his person, we must add that at fifty-nine years of age +Phellion had "thickened," to use a term of the bourgeois vocabulary. His +face, of one monotonous tone and pitted with the small-pox, had grown +to resemble a full moon; so that his lips, formerly large, now seemed +of ordinary size. His eyes, much weakened, and protected by glasses, no +longer showed the innocence of their light-blue orbs, which in former +days had often excited a smile; his white hair now gave gravity to much +that twelve years earlier had looked like silliness, and lent itself +to ridicule. Time, which does such damage to faces with refined and +delicate features, only improves those which, in their youth, have been +course and massive. This was the case with Phellion. He occupied the +leisure of his old age in making an abridgment of the History of France; +for Phellion was the author of several works adopted by the University. + +When la Peyrade presented himself, the family were all together. Madame +Barniol was just telling her mother about one of her babies, which was +slightly indisposed. They were dressed in their Sunday clothes, and were +sitting before the fireplace of the wainscoted salon on chairs bought +at a bargain; and they all felt an emotion when Genevieve, the cook and +portress, announced the personage of whom they were just then speaking +in connection with Celeste, whom, we must here state, Felix Phellion +loved, to the extent of going to mass to behold her. The learned +mathematician had made that effort in the morning, and the family were +joking him about it in a pleasant way, hoping in their hearts that +Celeste and her parents might understand the treasure that was thus +offered to them. + +"Alas! the Thuilliers seem to me infatuated with a very dangerous man," +said Madame Phellion. "He took Madame Colleville by the arm this morning +after church, and they went together to the Luxembourg." + +"There is something about that lawyer," remarked Felix Phellion, "that +strikes me as sinister. He might be found to have committed some crime +and I shouldn't be surprised." + +"That's going too far," said old Phellion. "He is cousin-germain to +Tartuffe, that immortal figure cast in bronze by our honest Moliere; for +Moliere, my children, had honesty and patriotism for the basis of his +genius." + +It was at that instant that Genevieve came in to say, "There's a +Monsieur de la Peyrade out there, who wants to see monsieur." + +"To see me!" exclaimed Phellion. "Ask him to come in," he added, with +that solemnity in little things which gave him even now a touch of +absurdity, though it always impressed his family, which accepted him as +king. + +Phellion, his two sons, and his wife and daughter, rose and received the +circular bow made by the lawyer. + +"To what do we owe the honor of your visit, monsieur?" asked Phellion, +stiffly. + +"To your importance in this arrondissement, my dear Monsieur Phellion, +and to public interests," replied Theodose. + +"Then let us go into my study," said Phellion. + +"No, no, my friend," said the rigid Madame Phellion, a small woman, flat +as a flounder, who retained upon her features the grim severity with +which she taught music in boarding-schools for young ladies; "we will +leave you." + +An upright Erard piano, placed between the two windows and opposite to +the fireplace, showed the constant occupation of a proficient. + +"Am I so unfortunate as to put you to flight?" said Theodose, smiling in +a kindly way at the mother and daughter. "You have a delightful retreat +here," he continued. "You only lack a pretty daughter-in-law to pass +the rest of your days in this 'aurea mediocritas,' the wish of the Latin +poet, surrounded by family joys. Your antecedents, my dear Monsieur +Phellion, ought surely to win you such rewards, for I am told that you +are not only a patriot but a good citizen." + +"Monsieur," said Phellion, embarrassed, "monsieur, I have only done +my duty." At the word "daughter-in-law," uttered by Theodose, Madame +Barniol, who resembled her mother as much as one drop of water is like +another, looked at Madame Phellion and at Felix as if she would say, +"Were we mistaken?" + +The desire to talk this incident over carried all four personages into +the garden, for, in March, 1840, the weather was spring-like, at least +in Paris. + +"Commander," said Theodose, as soon as he was alone with Phellion, who +was always flattered by that title, "I have come to speak to you about +the election--" + +"Yes, true; we are about to nominate a municipal councillor," said +Phellion, interrupting him. + +"And it is apropos of that candidacy that I have come to disturb your +Sunday joys; but perhaps in so doing we shall not go beyond the limits +of the family circle." + +It would be impossible for Phellion to be more Phellion than Theodose +was Phellion at that moment. + +"I shall not let you say another word," replied the commander, profiting +by the pause made by Theodose, who watched for the effect of his speech. +"My choice is made." + +"We have had the same idea!" exclaimed Theodose; "men of the same +character agree as well as men of the same mind." + +"In this case I do not believe in that phenomenon," replied Phellion. +"This arrondissement had for its representative in the municipal council +the most virtuous of men, as he was the noblest of magistrates. I allude +to the late Monsieur Popinot, the deceased judge of the Royal courts. +When the question of replacing him came up, his nephew, the heir to +his benevolence, did not reside in this quarter. He has since, however, +purchased, and now occupies, the house where his uncle lived in the +rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Genevieve; he is the physician of the Ecole +Polytechnique and that of our hospitals; he does honor to this quarter; +for these reasons, and to pay homage in the person of the nephew to the +memory of the uncle, we have decided to nominate Doctor Horace Bianchon, +member of the Academy of Sciences, as you are aware, and one of the most +distinguished young men in the illustrious faculty of Paris. A man is +not great in our eyes solely because he is celebrated; to my mind the +late Councillor Popinot was almost another Saint Vincent de Paul." + +"But a doctor is not an administrator," replied Theodose; "and, besides, +I have come to ask your vote for a man to whom your dearest interests +require that you should sacrifice a predilection, which, after all, is +quite unimportant to the public welfare." + +"Monsieur!" cried Phellion, rising and striking an attitude like that of +Lafon in "Le Glorieux," "Do you despise me sufficiently to suppose that +my personal interests could ever influence my political conscience? When +a matter concerns the public welfare, I am a citizen--nothing more, and +nothing less." + +Theodose smiled to himself at the thought of the battle which was now to +take place between the father and the citizen. + +"Do not bind yourself to your present ideas, I entreat you," he said, +"for this matter concerns the happiness of your dear Felix." + +"What do you mean by those words?" asked Phellion, stopping short in the +middle of the salon and posing, with his hand thrust through the bosom +of his waistcoat from right to left, in the well-known attitude of +Odilon Barrot. + +"I have come in behalf of our mutual friend, the worthy and excellent +Monsieur Thuillier, whose influence on the destiny of that beautiful +Celeste Colleville must be well known to you. If, as I think, your son, +whose merits are incontestable, and of whom both families may well be +proud, if, I say, he is courting Celeste with a view to a marriage in +which all expediencies may be combined, you cannot do more to promote +that end than to obtain Thuillier's eternal gratitude by proposing +your worthy friend to the suffrages of your fellow-citizens. As for +me, though I have lately come into the quarter, I can, thanks to the +influence I enjoy through certain legal benefits done to the poor, +materially advance his interests. I might, perhaps, have put myself +forward for this position; but serving the poor brings in but little +money; and, besides, the modesty of my life is out of keeping with such +distinctions. I have devoted myself, monsieur, to the service of the +weak, like the late Councillor Popinot,--a sublime man, as you justly +remarked. If I had not already chosen a career which is in some sort +monastic, and precludes all idea of marriage and public office, my +taste, my second vocation, would lead me to the service of God, to the +Church. I do not trumpet what I do, like the philanthropists; I do not +write about it; I simply act; I am pledged to Christian charity. The +ambition of our friend Thuillier becoming known to me, I have wished to +contribute to the happiness of two young people who seem to me made for +each other, by suggesting to you the means of winning the rather cold +heart of Monsieur Thuillier." + +Phellion was bewildered by this tirade, admirably delivered; he was +dazzled, attracted; but he remained Phellion; he walked up to the lawyer +and held out his hand, which la Peyrade took. + +"Monsieur," said the commander, with emotion, "I have misjudged you. +What you have done me the honor to confide to me will die _there_," +laying his hand on his heart. "You are one of the men of whom we have +too few,--men who console us for many evils inherent in our social +state. Righteousness is seen so seldom that our too feeble natures +distrust appearances. You have in me a friend, if you will allow me the +honor of assuming that title. But you must learn to know me, monsieur. +I should lose my own esteem if I nominated Thuillier. No, my son shall +never own his happiness to an evil action on his father's part. I shall +not change my candidate because my son's interests demand it. That is +civic virtue, monsieur." + +La Peyrade pulled out his handkerchief and rubbed it in his eye so +that it drew a tear, as he said, holding out his hand to Phellion, and +turning aside his head:-- + +"Ah! monsieur, how sublime a struggle between public and private duty! +Had I come here only to see this sight, my visit would not have been +wasted. You cannot do otherwise! In your place, I should do the same. +You are that noblest thing that God has made--a righteous man! a +citizen of the Jean-Jacques type! With many such citizens, oh France! +my country! what mightest thou become! It is I, monsieur, who solicit, +humbly, the honor to be your friend." + +"What can be happening?" said Madame Phellion, watching the scene +through the window. "Do see your father and that horrid man embracing +each other." + +Phellion and la Peyrade now came out and joined the family in the +garden. + +"My dear Felix," said the old man, pointing to la Peyrade, who was +bowing to Madame Phellion, "be very grateful to that admirable young +man; he will prove most useful to you." + +The lawyer walked for about five minutes with Madame Barniol and Madame +Phellion beneath the leafless lindens, and gave them (in consequence +of the embarrassing circumstances created by Phellion's political +obstinacy) a piece of advice, the effects of which were to bear fruit +that evening, while its first result was to make both ladies admire his +talents, his frankness, and his inappreciable good qualities. When the +lawyer departed the whole family conducted him to the street gate, +and all eyes followed him until he had turned the corner of the rue du +Faubourg-Saint-Jacques. Madame Phellion then took the arm of her husband +to return to the salon, saying:-- + +"Hey! my friend! what does this mean? You, such a good father, how can +you, from excessive delicacy, stand in the way of such a fine marriage +for our Felix?" + +"My dear," replied Phellion, "the great men of antiquity, Brutus +and others, were never fathers when called upon to be citizens. The +bourgeoisie has, even more than the aristocracy whose place it has been +called upon to take, the obligations of the highest virtues. Monsieur +de Saint-Hilaire did not think of his lost arm in presence of the dead +Turenne. We must give proof of our worthiness; let us give it at every +state of the social hierarchy. Shall I instruct my family in the highest +civic principles only to ignore them myself at the moment for applying +them? No, my dear; weep, if you must, to-day, but to-morrow you will +respect me," he added, seeing tears in the eyes of his starched better +half. + +These noble words were said on the sill of the door, above which was +written, "Aurea mediocritas." + +"I ought to have put, 'et digna,'" added Phellion, pointing to the +tablet, "but those two words would imply self-praise." + +"Father," said Marie-Theodore Phellion, the future engineer of "ponts +et chaussees," when the family were once more seated in the salon, +"it seems to me that there is nothing dishonorable in changing one's +determination about a choice which is of no real consequence to public +welfare." + +"No consequence, my son!" cried Phellion. "Between ourselves I will say, +and Felix shares my opinion, Monsieur Thuillier is absolutely without +capacity; he knows nothing. Monsieur Horace Bianchon is an able man; he +will obtain a thousand things for our arrondissement, and Thuillier will +obtain none! Remember this, my son; to change a good determination for +a bad one from motives of self-interest is one of those infamous actions +which escape the control of men but are punished by God. I am, or I +think I am, void of all blame before my conscience, and I owe it to you, +my children, to leave my memory unstained among you. Nothing, therefore, +can make me change my determination." + +"Oh, my good father!" cried the little Barniol woman, flinging herself +on a cushion at Phellion's knees, "don't ride your high horse! There are +many fools and idiots in the municipal council, and France gets along +all the same. That old Thuillier will adopt the opinions of those about +him. Do reflect that Celeste will probably have five hundred thousand +francs." + +"She might have millions," said Phellion, "and I might see them there +at my feet before I would propose Thuillier, when I owe to the memory of +the best of men to nominate, if possible, Horace Bianchon, his nephew. +From the heaven above us Popinot is contemplating and applauding me!" +cried Phellion, with exaltation. "It is by such considerations as you +suggest that France is being lowered, and the bourgeoisie are bringing +themselves into contempt." + +"My father is right," said Felix, coming out of a deep reverie. "He +deserves our respect and love; as he has throughout the whole course +of his modest and honored life. I would not owe my happiness either to +remorse in his noble soul, or to a low political bargain. I love Celeste +as I love my own family; but, above all that, I place my father's honor, +and since this question is a matter of conscience with him it must not +be spoken of again." + +Phellion, with his eyes full of tears, went up to his eldest son and +took him in his arms, saying, "My son! my son!" in a choking voice. + +"All that is nonsense," whispered Madame Phellion in Madame Barniol's +ear. "Come and dress me; I shall make an end of this; I know your +father; he has put his foot down now. To carry out the plan that pious +young man, Theodose, suggested, I want your help; hold yourself ready to +give it, my daughter." + +At this moment, Genevieve came in and gave a letter to Monsieur +Phellion. + +"An invitation for dinner to-day, for Madame Phellion and Felix and +myself, at the Thuilliers'," he said. + +The magnificent and surprising idea of Thuillier's municipal +advancement, put forth by the "advocate of the poor" was not less +upsetting in the Thuillier household than it was in the Phellion salon. +Jerome Thuillier, without actually confiding anything to his sister, for +he made it a point of honor to obey his Mephistopheles, had rushed to +her in great excitement to say:-- + +"My dearest girl" (he always touched her heart with those caressing +words), "we shall have some big-wigs at dinner to-day. I'm going to ask +the Minards; therefore take pains about your dinner. I have written to +Monsieur and Madame Phellion; it is rather late; but there's no need of +ceremony with them. As for the Minards, I must throw a little dust in +their eyes; I have a particular need of them." + +"Four Minards, three Phellions, four Collevilles, and ourselves; that +makes thirteen--" + +"La Peyrade, fourteen; and it is worth while to invite Dutocq; he may be +useful to us. I'll go up and see him." + +"What are you scheming?" cried his sister. "Fifteen to dinner! There's +forty francs, at the very least, waltzing off." + +"You won't regret them, my dearest. I want you to be particularly +agreeable to our young friend, la Peyrade. There's a friend, indeed! +you'll soon have proofs of that! If you love me, cosset him well." + +So saying, he departed, leaving Brigitte bewildered. + +"Proofs, indeed! yes, I'll look out for proofs," she said. "I'm not to +be caught with fine words, not I! He is an amiable fellow; but before I +take him into my heart I shall study him a little closer." + +After inviting Dutocq, Thuillier, having bedizened himself, went to the +hotel Minard, rue des Macons-Sorbonne, to capture the stout Zelie, and +gloss over the shortness of the invitation. + +Minard had purchased one of those large and sumptuous habitations which +the old religious orders built about the Sorbonne, and as Thuillier +mounted the broad stone steps with an iron balustrade, that proved how +arts of the second class flourished under Louis XIII., he envied both +the mansion and its occupant,--the mayor. + +This vast building, standing between a courtyard and garden, is +noticeable as a specimen of the style, both noble and elegant, of the +reign of Louis XIII., coming singularly, as it did, between the bad +taste of the expiring renaissance and the heavy grandeur of Louis XIV., +at its dawn. This transition period is shown in many public buildings. +The massive scroll-work of several facades--that of the Sorbonne, for +instance,--and columns rectified according to the rules of Grecian art, +were beginning to appear in this architecture. + +A grocer, a lucky adulterator, now took the place of the former +ecclesiastical governor of an institution called in former times +L'Economat; an establishment connected with the general agency of the +old French clergy, and founded by the long-sighted genius of Richelieu. +Thuillier's name opened for him the doors of the salon, where sat +enthroned in velvet and gold, amid the most magnificent "Chineseries," +the poor woman who weighed with all her avoirdupois on the hearts and +minds of princes and princesses at the "popular balls" of the palace. + +"Isn't she a good subject for 'La Caricature'?" said a so-called lady +of the bedchamber to a duchess, who could hardly help laughing at the +aspect of Zelie, glittering with diamonds, red as a poppy, squeezed into +a gold brocade, and rolling along like the casts of her former shop. + +"Will you pardon me, fair lady," began Thuillier, twisting his body, +and pausing in pose number two of his imperial repertory, "for having +allowed this invitation to remain in my desk, thinking, all the while, +that it was sent? It is for to-day, but perhaps I am too late?" + +Zelie examined her husband's face as he approached them to receive +Thuillier; then she said:-- + +"We intended to drive into the country and dine at some chance +restaurant; but we'll give up that idea and all the more readily +because, in my opinion, it is getting devilishly vulgar to drive out of +Paris on Sundays." + +"We will have a little dance to the piano for the young people, if +enough come, as I hope they will. I have sent a line to Phellion, whose +wife is intimate with Madame Pron, the successor--" + +"Successor_ess_," interrupted Madame Minard. + +"No," said Thuillier, "it ought to be success'ress; just as we say +may'ress, dropping the O, you know." + +"Is it full dress?" asked Madame Minard. + +"Heavens! no," replied Thuillier; "you would get me finely scolded by my +sister. No, it is only a family party. Under the Empire, madame, we all +devoted ourselves to dancing. At that great epoch of our national life +they thought as much of a fine dancer as they did of a good soldier. +Nowadays the country is so matter-of-fact." + +"Well, we won't talk politics," said the mayor, smiling. "The King is +grand; he is very able. I have a deep admiration for my own time, and +for the institutions which we have given to ourselves. The King, you +may be sure, knows very well what he is doing by the development of +industries. He is struggling hand to hand against England; and we are +doing him more harm during this fruitful peace than all the wars of the +Empire would have done." + +"What a deputy Minard would make!" cried Zelie, naively. "He practises +speechifying at home. You'll help us to get him elected, won't you, +Thuillier?" + +"We won't talk politics now," replied Thuillier. "Come at five." + +"Will that little Vinet be there?" asked Minard; "he comes, no doubt, +for Celeste." + +"Then he may go into mourning," replied Thuillier. "Brigitte won't hear +of him." + +Zelie and Minard exchanged a smile of satisfaction. + +"To think that we must hob-nob with such common people, all for the sake +of our son!" cried Zelie, when Thuillier was safely down the staircase, +to which the mayor had accompanied him. + +"Ha! he thinks to be deputy!" thought Thuillier, as he walked away. +"These grocers! nothing satisfies them. Heavens! what would Napoleon +say if he could see the government in the hands of such people! I'm a +trained administrator, at any rate. What a competitor, to be sure! I +wonder what la Peyrade will say?" + +The ambitious ex-beau now went to invite the whole Laudigeois family for +the evening, after which he went to the Collevilles', to make sure that +Celeste should wear a becoming gown. He found Flavie rather pensive. She +hesitated about coming, but Thuillier overcame her indecision. + +"My old and ever young friend," he said, taking her round the waist, for +she was alone in her little salon, "I won't have any secret from you. A +great affair is in the wind for me. I can't tell you more than that, but +I can ask you to be particularly charming to a certain young man--" + +"Who is it?" + +"La Peyrade." + +"Why, Charles?" + +"He holds my future in his hands. Besides, he's a man of genius. I know +what that is. He's got this sort of thing,"--and Thuillier made the +gesture of a dentist pulling out a back tooth. "We must bind him to us, +Flavie. But, above all, don't let him see his power. As for me, I shall +just give and take with him." + +"Do you want me to be coquettish?" + +"Not too much so, my angel," replied Thuillier, with a foppish air. + +And he departed, not observing the stupor which overcame Flavie. + +"That young man is a power," she said to herself. "Well, we shall see!" + +For these reasons she dressed her hair with marabouts, put on her +prettiest gown of gray and pink, which allowed her fine shoulders to be +seen beneath a pelerine of black lace, and took care to keep Celeste +in a little silk frock made with a yoke and a large plaited collarette, +telling her to dress her hair plainly, a la Berthe. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. AD MAJOREM THEODOSIS GLORIAM + +At half-past four o'clock Theodose was at his post. He had put on his +vacant, half-servile manner and soft voice, and he drew Thuillier at +once into the garden. + +"My friend," he said, "I don't doubt your triumph, but I feel the +necessity of again warning you to be absolutely silent. If you are +questioned about anything, especially about Celeste, make evasive +answers which will keep your questioners in suspense. You must have +learned how to do that in a government office." + +"I understand!" said Thuillier. "But what certainty have you?" + +"You'll see what a fine dessert I have prepared for you. But please +be modest. There come the Minards; let me pipe to them. Bring them out +here, and then disappear yourself." + +After the first salutations, la Peyrade was careful to keep close to the +mayor, and presently at an opportune moment he drew him aside to say:-- + +"Monsieur le maire, a man of your political importance doesn't come to +bore himself in a house of this kind without an object. I don't want to +fathom your motives--which, indeed, I have no right to do--and my part +in this world is certainly not to mingle with earthly powers; but please +pardon my apparent presumption, and deign to listen to a piece of advice +which I shall venture to give you. If I do you a service to-day you are +in a position to return it to me to-morrow; therefore, in case I should +be so fortunate as to do you a good turn, I am really only obeying the +law of self-interest. Our friend Thuillier is in despair at being +a nobody; he has taken it into his head that he wants to become a +personage in this arrondissement--" + +"Ah! ah!" exclaimed Minard. + +"Oh! nothing very exalted; he wants to be elected to the municipal +council. Now, I know that Phellion, seeing the influence such a service +would have on his family interests, intends to propose your poor +friend as candidate. Well, perhaps you might think it wise, in your own +interests, to be beforehand with him. Thuillier's nomination could only +be favorable for you--I mean agreeable; and he'll fill his place in the +council very well; there are some there who are not as strong as he. +Besides, owing to his place to your support, he will see with your eyes; +he already looks to you as one of the lights of the town." + +"My dear fellow, I thank you very much," replied Minard. "You are doing +me a service I cannot sufficiently acknowledge, and which proves to +me--" + +"That I don't like those Phellions," said la Peyrade, taking advantage +of a slight hesitation on the part of the mayor, who feared to express +an idea in which the lawyer might see contempt. "I hate people who make +capital out of their honesty and coin money from fine sentiments." + +"You know them well," said Minard; "they are sycophants. That man's +whole life for the last ten years is explained by this bit of red +ribbon," added the mayor, pointing to his own buttonhole. + +"Take care!" said the lawyer, "his son is in love with Celeste, and he's +fairly in the heart of the family." + +"Yes, but my son has twelve thousand a year in his own right." + +"Oh!" said Theodose, with a start, "Mademoiselle Brigitte was saying the +other day that she wanted at least as much as that in Celeste's suitor. +Moreover, six months hence you'll probably hear that Thuillier has a +property worth forty thousand francs a year." + +"The devil! well, I thought as much. Yes, certainly, he shall be made a +member of the municipal council." + +"In any case, don't say anything about me to him," said the advocate of +the poor, who now hastened away to speak to Madame Phellion. "Well, my +fair lady," he said, when he reached her, "have you succeeded?" + +"I waited till four o'clock, and then that worthy and excellent man +would not let me finish what I had to say. He is much to busy to accept +such an office, and he sent a letter which Monsieur Phellion has read, +saying that he, Doctor Bianchon, thanked him for his good intentions, +and assured him that his own candidate was Monsieur Thuillier. He said +that he should use all his influence in his favor, and begged my husband +to do the same." + +"And what did your excellent husband say?" + +"'I have done my duty,' he said. 'I have not been false to my +conscience, and now I am all for Thuillier.'" + +"Well, then, the thing is settled," said la Peyrade. "Ignore my visit, +and take all the credit of the idea to yourselves." + +Then he went to Madame Colleville, composing himself in the attitude and +manner of the deepest respect. + +"Madame," he said, "have the goodness to send out to me here that kindly +papa Colleville. A surprise is to be given to Monsieur Thuillier, and I +want Monsieur Colleville to be in the secret." + +While la Peyrade played the part of man of the world with Colleville, +and allowed himself various witty sarcasms when explaining to him +Thuillier's candidacy, telling him he ought to support it, if only +to exhibit his incapacity, Flavie was listening in the salon to the +following conversation, which bewildered her for the moment and made her +ears ring. + +"I should like to know what Monsieur Colleville and Monsieur de la +Peyrade can be saying to each other to make them laugh like that," said +Madame Thuillier, foolishly, looking out of the window. + +"A lot of improper things, as men always do when they talk together," +replied Mademoiselle Thuillier, who often attacked men with the sort of +instinct natural to old maids. + +"No, they are incapable of that," said Phellion, gravely. "Monsieur de +la Peyrade is one of the most virtuous young men I have ever met. +People know what I think of Felix; well, I put the two on the same line; +indeed, I wish my son had a little more of Monsieur de la Peyrade's +beautiful piety." + +"You are right; he is a man of great merit, who is sure to succeed," +said Minard. "As for me, my suffrages--for I really ought not to say +protection--are his." + +"He pays more for oil than for bread," said Dutocq. "I know that." + +"His mother, if he has the happiness to still possess her, must be proud +of him," remarked Madame Thuillier, sententiously. + +"He is a real treasure for us," said Thuillier. "If you only knew how +modest he is! He doesn't do himself justice." + +"I can answer for one thing," added Dutocq; "no young man ever +maintained a nobler attitude in poverty; he triumphed over it; but he +suffered--it is easy to see that." + +"Poor young man!" cried Zelie. "Such things make my heart ache!" + +"Any one could safely trust both secrets and fortune to him," said +Thuillier; "and in these days that is the finest thing that can be said +of a man." + +"It is Colleville who is making him laugh," cried Dutocq. + +Just then Colleville and la Peyrade returned from the garden the very +best friends in the world. + +"Messieurs," said Brigitte, "the soup and the King must never be kept +waiting; give your hand to the ladies." + +Five minutes after this little pleasantry (issuing from the lodge of +her father the porter) Brigitte had the satisfaction of seeing her table +surrounded by the principal personages of this drama; the rest, with the +one exception of the odious Cerizet, arrived later. + +The portrait of the former maker of canvas money-bags would be +incomplete if we omitted to give a description of one of her best +dinners. The physiognomy of the bourgeois cook of 1840 is, moreover, +one of those details essentially necessary to a history of manners and +customs, and clever housewives may find some lessons in it. A woman +doesn't make empty bags for twenty years without looking out for +the means to fill a few of them. Now Brigitte had one peculiar +characteristic. She united the economy to which she owed her fortune +with a full understanding of necessary expenses. Her relative +prodigality, when it concerned her brother or Celeste, was the antipodes +of avarice. In fact, she often bemoaned herself that she couldn't be +miserly. At her last dinner she had related how, after struggling ten +minute and enduring martyrdom, she had ended by giving ten francs to a +poor workwoman whom she knew, positively, had been without food for two +days. + +"Nature," she said naively, "is stronger than reason." + +The soup was a rather pale bouillon; for, even on an occasion like this, +the cook had been enjoined to make a great deal of bouillon out of the +beef supplied. Then, as the said beef was to feed the family on the next +day and the day after that, the less juice it expended in the bouillon, +the more substantial were the subsequent dinners. The beef, little +cooked, was always taken away at the following speech from Brigitte, +uttered as soon as Thuillier put his knife into it:-- + +"I think it is rather tough; send it away, Thuillier, nobody will eat +it; we have other things." + +The soup was, in fact, flanked by four viands mounted on old hot-water +chafing-dishes, with the plating worn off. At this particular dinner +(afterwards called that of the candidacy) the first course consisted +of a pair of ducks with olives, opposite to which was a large pie with +forcemeat balls, while a dish of eels "a la tartare" corresponded in +like manner with a fricandeau on chicory. The second course had for its +central dish a most dignified goose stuffed with chestnuts, a salad of +vegetables garnished with rounds of beetroot opposite to custards in +cups, while lower down a dish of turnips "au sucre" faced a timbale of +macaroni. This gala dinner of the concierge type cost, at the utmost, +twenty francs, and the remains of the feast provided the household for a +couple of days; nevertheless, Brigitte would say:-- + +"Pest! when one has to have company how the money goes! It is fearful!" + +The table was lighted by two hideous candlesticks of plated silver with +four branches each, in which shone eight of those thrifty wax-candles +that go by the name of Aurora. The linen was dazzling in whiteness, +and the silver, with beaded edges, was the fruit, evidently, of some +purchase made during the Revolution by Thuillier's father. Thus the fare +and the service were in keeping with the house, the dining-room, and +the Thuilliers themselves, who could never, under any circumstances, get +themselves above this style of living. The Minards, Collevilles, and +la Peyrade exchanged now and then a smile which betrayed their mutually +satirical but repressed thoughts. La Peyrade, seated beside Flavie, +whispered in her ear:-- + +"You must admit that they ought to be taught how to live. But those +Minards are no better in their way. What cupidity! they've come here +solely after Celeste. Your daughter will be lost to you if you let them +have her. These parvenus have all the vices of the great lords of other +days without their elegance. Minard's son, who has twelve thousand +francs a year of his own, could very well find a wife elsewhere, instead +of pushing his speculating rake in here. What fun it would be to play +upon those people as one would on a bass-viol or a clarionet!" + +While the dishes of the second course were being removed, Minard, afraid +that Phellion would precede him, said to Thuillier with a grave air:-- + +"My dear Thuillier, in accepting your dinner, I did so for the purpose +of making an important communication, which does you so much honor that +all here present ought to be made participants in it." + +Thuillier turned pale. + +"Have you obtained the cross for me?" he cried, on receiving a glance +from Theodose, and wishing to prove that he was not without craft. + +"You will doubtless receive it ere long," replied the mayor. "But the +matter now relates to something better than that. The cross is a favor +due to the good opinion of a minister, whereas the present question +concerns an election due to the consent of your fellow citizens. In a +word, a sufficiently large number of electors in your arrondissement +have cast their eyes upon you, and wish to honor you with their +confidence by making you the representative of this arrondissement +in the municipal council of Paris; which, as everybody knows, is the +Council-general of the Seine." + +"Bravo!" cried Dutocq. + +Phellion rose. + +"Monsieur le maire has forestalled me," he said in an agitated voice, +"but it is so flattering for our friend to be the object of eagerness on +the part of all good citizens, and to obtain the public vote of high +and low, that I cannot complain of being obliged to come second only; +therefore, all honor to the initiatory authority!" (Here he bowed +respectfully to Minard.) "Yes, Monsieur Thuillier, many electors think +of giving you their votes in that portion of the arrondissement where +I keep my humble penates; and you have the special advantage of being +suggested to their minds by a distinguished man." (Sensation.) "By a man +in whose person we desired to honor one of the most virtuous inhabitants +of the arrondissement, who for twenty years, I may say, was the father +of it. I allude to the late Monsieur Popinot, counsellor, during his +lifetime, to the Royal court, and our delegate in the municipal council +of Paris. But his nephew, of whom I speak, Doctor Bianchon, one of +our glories, has, in view of his absorbing duties, declined the +responsibility with which we sought to invest him. While thanking us for +our compliment he has--take note of this--indicated for our suffrages +the candidate of Monsieur le maire as being, in his opinion, capable, +owing to the position he formerly occupied, of exercising the +magisterial functions of the aedileship." + +And Phellion sat down amid approving murmurs. + +"Thuillier, you can count on me, your old friend," said Colleville. + +At this moment the guests were sincerely touched by the sight presented +of old Mademoiselle Brigitte and Madame Thuillier. Brigitte, pale as +though she were fainting, was letting the slow tears run, unheeded, +down her cheeks, tears of deepest joy; while Madame Thuillier sat, as if +struck by lightning, with her eyes fixed. Suddenly the old maid darted +into the kitchen, crying out to Josephine the cook:-- + +"Come into the cellar my girl, we must get out the wine behind the +wood!" + +"My friends," said Thuillier, in a shaking voice, "this is the finest +moment of my life, finer than even the day of my election, should +I consent to allow myself to be presented to the suffrages of my +fellow-citizens" ("You must! you must!"); "for I feel myself much worn +down by thirty years of public service, and, as you may well believe, a +man of honor has need to consult his strength and his capacities before +he takes upon himself the functions of the aedileship." + +"I expected nothing less of you, Monsieur Thuillier," cried Phellion. +"Pardon me; this is the first time in my life that I have ever +interrupted a superior; but there are circumstances--" + +"Accept! accept!" cried Zelie. "Bless my soul! what we want are men like +you to govern us." + +"Resign yourself, my chief!" cried Dutocq, and, "Long live the future +municipal councillor! but we haven't anything to drink--" + +"Well, the thing is settled," said Minard; "you are to be our +candidate." + +"You think too much of me," replied Thuillier. + +"Come, come!" cried Colleville. "A man who has done thirty years in the +galleys of the ministry of finance is a treasure to the town." + +"You are much too modest," said the younger Minard; "your capacity is +well known to us; it remains a tradition at the ministry of finance." + +"As you all insist--" began Thuillier. + +"The King will be pleased with our choice; I can assure you of that," +said Minard, pompously. + +"Gentlemen," said la Peyrade, "will you permit a recent dweller in the +faubourg Saint-Jacques to make one little remark, which is not without +importance?" + +The consciousness that everybody had of the sterling merits of the +advocate of the poor produced the deepest silence. + +"The influence of Monsieur le maire of an adjoining arrondissement, +which is immense in ours where he has left such excellent memories; +that of Monsieur Phellion, the oracle--yes, let the truth be spoken," +he exclaimed, noticing a gesture made by Phellion--"the _oracle_ of his +battalion; the influence, no less powerful, which Monsieur Colleville +owes to the frank heartiness of his manner, and to his urbanity; that of +Monsieur Dutocq, the clerk of the justice court, which will not be less +efficacious, I am sure; and the poor efforts which I can offer in my +humble sphere of activity,--are pledges of success, but they are not +success itself. To obtain a rapid triumph we should pledge ourselves, +now and here, to keep the deepest secrecy on the manifestation of +sentiments which has just taken place. Otherwise, we should excite, +without knowing or willing it, envy and all the other secondary +passions, which would create for us later various obstacles to overcome. +The political meaning of the new social organization, its very basis, +its token, and the guarantee for its continuance, are in a certain +sharing of the governing power with the middle classes, classes who are +the true strength of modern societies, the centre of morality, of +all good sentiments and intelligent work. But we cannot conceal from +ourselves that the principle of election, extended now to almost every +function, has brought the interests of ambition, and the passion for +being _something_, excuse the word, into social depths where they ought +never to have penetrated. Some see good in this; others see evil; it +is not my place to judge between them in presence of minds before whose +eminence I bow. I content myself by simply suggesting this question in +order to show the dangers which the banner of our friend must meet. See +for yourselves! the decease of our late honorable representative in +the municipal council dates back scarcely one week, and already the +arrondissement is being canvassed by inferior ambitions. Such men put +themselves forward to be seen at any price. The writ of convocation +will, probably, not take effect for a month to come. Between now and +then, imagine the intrigues! I entreat you not to expose our friend +Thuillier to the blows of his competitors; let us not deliver him over +to public discussion, that modern harpy which is but the trumpet of envy +and calumny, the pretext seized by malevolence to belittle all that is +great, soil all that is immaculate and dishonor whatever is sacred. Let +us, rather, do as the Third Party is now doing in the Chamber,--keep +silence and vote!" + +"He speaks well," said Phellion to his neighbor Dutocq. + +"And how strong the statement is!" + +Envy had turned Minard and his son green and yellow. + +"That is well said and very true," remarked Minard. + +"Unanimously adopted!" cried Colleville. "Messieurs, we are men of +honor; it suffices to understand each other on this point." + +"Whoso desires the end accepts the means," said Phellion, emphatically. + +At this moment, Mademoiselle Thuillier reappeared, followed by her two +servants; the key of the cellar was hanging from her belt, and three +bottles of champagne, three of hermitage, and one bottle of malaga were +placed upon the table. She herself was carrying, with almost respectful +care, a smaller bottle, like a fairy Carabosse, which she placed before +her. In the midst of the hilarity caused by this abundance of excellent +things--a fruit of gratitude, which the poor spinster in the delirium +of her joy poured out with a profusion which put to shame the sparing +hospitality of her usual fortnightly dinners--numerous dessert dishes +made their appearance: mounds of almonds, raisins, figs, and nuts +(popularly known as the "four beggars"), pyramids of oranges, +confections, crystallized fruits, brought from the hidden depths of her +cupboards, which would never have figured on the table-cloth had it not +been for the "candidacy." + +"Celeste, they will bring you a bottle of brandy which my father +obtained in 1802; make an orange-salad!" cried Brigitte to her +sister-in-law. "Monsieur Phellion, open the champagne; that bottle is +for you three. Monsieur Dutocq, take this one. Monsieur Colleville, you +know how to pop corks!" + +The two maids distributed champagne glasses, also claret glasses, and +wine glasses. Josephine also brought three more bottles of Bordeaux. + +"The year of the comet!" cried Thuillier, laughing, "Messieurs, you have +turned my sister's head." + +"And this evening you shall have punch and cakes," she said. "I have +sent to the chemists for some tea. Heavens! if I had only known the +affair concerned an election," she cried, looking at her sister-in-law, +"I'd have served the turkey." + +A general laugh welcomed this speech. + +"We have a goose!" said Minard junior. + +"The carts are unloading!" cried Madame Thuillier, as "marrons glaces" +and "meringues" were placed upon the table. + +Mademoiselle Thuillier's face was blazing. She was really superb to +behold. Never did sisterly love assume such a frenzied expression. + +"To those who know her, it is really touching," remarked Madame +Colleville. + +The glasses were filled. The guests all looked at one another, evidently +expecting a toast, whereupon la Peyrade said:-- + +"Messieurs, let us drink to something sublime." + +Everybody looked curious. + +"To Mademoiselle Brigitte!" + +They all rose, clinked glasses, and cried with one voice, "Mademoiselle +Brigitte!" so much enthusiasm did the exhibition of a true feeling +excite. + +"Messieurs," said Phellion, reading from a paper written in pencil, "To +work and its splendors, in the person of our former comrade, now become +one of the mayors of Paris,--to Monsieur Minard and his wife!" + +After five minutes' general conversation Thuillier rose and said:-- + +"Messieurs, To the King and the royal family! I add nothing; the toast +says all." + +"To the election of my brother!" said Mademoiselle Thuillier a moment +later. + +"Now I'll make you laugh," whispered la Peyrade in Flavie's ear. + +And he rose. + +"To Woman!" he said; "that enchanting sex to whom we owe our +happiness,--not to speak of our mothers, our sisters, and our wives!" + +This toast excited general hilarity, and Colleville, already somewhat +gay, exclaimed:-- + +"Rascal! you have stolen my speech!" + +The mayor then rose; profound silence reigned. + +"Messieurs, our institutions! from which come the strength and grandeur +of dynastic France!" + +The bottles disappeared amid a chorus of admiration as to the marvellous +goodness and delicacy of their contents. + +Celeste Colleville here said timidly:-- + +"Mamma, will you permit me to give a toast?" + +The good girl had noticed the dull, bewildered look of her godmother, +neglected and forgotten,--she, the mistress of that house, wearing +almost the expression of a dog that is doubtful which master to +obey, looking from the face of her terrible sister-in-law to that of +Thuillier, consulting each countenance, and oblivious of herself; but +joy on the face of that poor helot, accustomed to be nothing, to repress +her ideas, her feelings, had the effect of a pale wintry sun behind a +mist; it barely lighted her faded, flabby flesh. The gauze cap trimmed +with dingy flowers, the hair ill-dressed, the gloomy brown gown, with +no ornament but a thick gold chain--all, combined with the expression +of her countenance, stimulated the affection of the young Celeste, +who--alone in the world--knew the value of that woman condemned to +silence but aware of all about her, suffering from all yet consoling +herself in God and in the girl who now was watching her. + +"Yes, let the dear child give us her little toast," said la Peyrade to +Madame Colleville. + +"Go on, my daughter," cried Colleville; "here's the hermitage still to +be drunk--and it's hoary with age," he added. + +"To my kind godmother!" said the girl, lowering her glass respectfully +before Madame Thuillier, and holding it towards her. + +The poor woman, startled, looked through a veil of tears first at her +husband, and then at Brigitte; but her position in the family was so +well known, and the homage paid by innocence to weakness had something +so beautiful about it, that the emotion was general; the men all rose +and bowed to Madame Thuillier. + +"Ah! Celeste, I would I had a kingdom to lay at your feet," murmured +Felix Phellion. + +The worthy Phellion wiped away a tear. Dutocq himself was moved. + +"Oh! the charming child!" cried Mademoiselle Thuillier, rising, and +going round to kiss her sister-in-law. + +"My turn now!" said Colleville, posing like an athlete. "Now listen: To +friendship! Empty your glasses; refill your glasses. Good! To the +fine arts,--the flower of social life! Empty your glasses; refill your +glasses. To another such festival on the day after election!" + +"What is that little bottle you have there?" said Dutocq to Mademoiselle +Thuillier. + +"That," she said, "is one of my three bottles of Madame Amphoux' +liqueur; the second is for the day of Celeste's marriage; the third for +the day on which her first child is baptized." + +"My sister is losing her head," remarked Thuillier to Colleville. + +The dinner ended with a toast, offered by Thuillier, but suggested to +him by Theodose at the moment when the malaga sparkled in the little +glasses like so many rubies. + +"Colleville, messieurs, has drunk to _friendship_. I now drink, in this +most generous wine, To my friends!" + +An hurrah, full of heartiness, greeted that fine sentiment, but Dutocq +remarked aside to Theodose:-- + +"It is a shame to pour such wine down the throats of such people." + +"Ah! if we could only make such wine as that!" cried Zelie, making her +glass ring by the way in which she sucked down the Spanish liquid. "What +fortunes we could get!" + +Zelie had now reached her highest point of incandescence, and was really +alarming. + +"Yes," replied Minard, "but ours is made." + +"Don't you think, sister," said Brigitte to Madame Thuillier, "that we +had better take coffee in the salon?" + +Madame Thuillier obediently assumed the air of mistress of the house, +and rose. + +"Ah! you are a great wizard," said Flavie Colleville, accepting la +Peyrade's arm to return to the salon. + +"And yet I care only to bewitch you," he answered. "I think you more +enchanting than ever this evening." + +"Thuillier," she said, to evade the subject, "Thuillier made to think +himself a political character! oh! oh!" + +"But, my dear Flavie, half the absurdities of life are the result of +such conspiracies; and men are not alone in these deceptions. In how +many families one sees the husband, children, and friends persuading a +silly mother that she is a woman of sense, or an old woman of fifty that +she is young and beautiful. Hence, inconceivable contrarieties for +those who go about the world with their eyes shut. One man owes his +ill-savored conceit to the flattery of a mistress; another owes his +versifying vanity to those who are paid to call him a great poet. +Every family has its great man; and the result is, as we see it in the +Chamber, general obscurity of the lights of France. Well, men of real +mind are laughing to themselves about it, that's all. You are the mind +and the beauty of this little circle of the petty bourgeoisie; it is +this superiority which led me in the first instance to worship you. I +have since longed to drag you out of it; for I love you sincerely--more +in friendship than in love; though a great deal of love is gliding into +it," he added, pressing her to his heart under cover of the recess of a +window to which he had taken her. + +"Madame Phellion will play the piano," cried Colleville. "We must all +dance to-night--bottles and Brigitte's francs and all the little girls! +I'll go and fetch my clarionet." + +He gave his empty coffee-cup to his wife, smiling to see her so friendly +with la Peyrade. + +"What have you said and done to my husband?" asked Flavie, when +Colleville had left them. + +"Must I tell you all our secrets?" + +"Ah! you don't love me," she replied, looking at him with the coquettish +slyness of a woman who is not quite decided in her mind. + +"Well, since you tell me yours," he said, letting himself go to the +lively impulse of Provencal gaiety, always so charming and apparently so +natural, "I will not conceal from you an anxiety in my heart." + +He took her back to the same window and said, smiling:-- + +"Colleville, poor man, has seen in me the artist repressed by all these +bourgeois; silent before them because I feel misjudged, misunderstood, +and repelled by them. He has felt the heat of the sacred fire that +consumes me. Yes I am," he continued, in a tone of conviction, "an +artist in words after the manner of Berryer; I could make juries weep, +by weeping myself, for I'm as nervous as a woman. Your husband, who +detests the bourgeoisie, began to tease me about them. At first we +laughed; then, in becoming serious, he found out that I was as strong as +he. I told him of the plan concocted to make _something_ of Thuillier, +and I showed him all the good he could get himself out of a political +puppet. 'If it were only,' I said to him, 'to make yourself Monsieur +_de_ Colleville, and to put your charming wife where I should like to +see her, as the wife of a receiver-general, or deputy. To make yourself +all that you and she ought to be, you have only to go and live a few +years in the Upper or Lower Alps, in some hole of a town where everybody +will like you, and your wife will seduce everybody; and this,' I added, +'you cannot fail to obtain, especially if you give your dear Celeste to +some man who can influence the Chamber.' Good reasons, stated in jest, +have the merit of penetrating deeper into some minds than if they were +given soberly. So Colleville and I became the best friends in the world. +Didn't you hear him say to me at table, 'Rascal! you have stolen my +speech'? To-night we shall be theeing and thouing each other. I intend +to have a choice little supper-party soon, where artists, tied to the +proprieties at home, always compromise themselves. I'll invite him, +and that will make us as solidly good friends as he is with Thuillier. +There, my dear adorned one, is what a profound sentiment gives a man the +courage to produce. Colleville must adopt me; so that I may visit your +house by his invitation. But what couldn't you make me do? lick lepers, +swallow live toads, seduce Brigitte--yes, if you say so, I'll impale my +own heart on that great picket-rail to please you." + +"You frightened me this morning," she said. + +"But this evening you are reassured. Yes," he added, "no harm will ever +happen to you through me." + +"You are, I must acknowledge, a most extraordinary man." + +"Why, no! the smallest as well as the greatest of my efforts are merely +the reflections of the flame which you have kindled. I intend to be your +son-in-law that we may never part. My wife, heavens! what could she be +to me but a machine for child-bearing? whereas the divinity, the sublime +being will be--you," he whispered in her ear. + +"You are Satan!" she said, in a sort of terror. + +"No, I am something of a poet, like all the men of my region. Come, +be my Josephine! I'll go and see you to-morrow. I have the most ardent +desire to see where you live and how you live, the furniture you use, +the color of your stuffs, the arrangement of all things about you. I +long to see the pearl in its shell." + +He slipped away cleverly after these words, without waiting for an +answer. + +Flavie, to whom in all her life love had never taken the language of +romance, sat still, but happy, her heart palpitating, and saying to +herself that it was very difficult to escape such influence. For the +first time Theodose had appeared in a pair of new trousers, with gray +silk stockings and pumps, a waistcoat of black silk, and a cravat of +black satin on the knot of which shone a plain gold pin selected with +taste. He wore also a new coat in the last fashion, and yellow gloves, +relieved by white shirt-cuffs; he was the only man who had manners, or +deportment in that salon, which was now filling up for the evening. + +Madame Pron, nee Barniol, arrived with two school-girls, aged seventeen, +confided to her maternal care by families residing in Martinique. +Monsieur Pron, professor of rhetoric in a college presided over by +priests, belonged to the Phellion class; but, instead of expanding on +the surface in phrases and demonstrations, and posing as an example, he +was dry and sententious. Monsieur and Madame Pron, the flowers of the +Phellion salon, received every Monday. Though a professor, the little +man danced. He enjoyed great influence in the quarter enclosed by the +boulevard du Mont-Parnasse, the Luxembourg, and the rue de Sevres. +Therefore, as soon as Phellion saw his friend, he took him by the +arm into a corner to inform him of the Thuillier candidacy. After ten +minutes' consultation they both went to find Thuillier, and the recess +of a window, opposite to that where Flavie still sat absorbed in her +reflections, no doubt, heard a "trio" worthy, in its way, of that of the +Swiss in "Guillaume Tell." + +"Do you see," said Theodose, returning to Flavie, "the pure and honest +Phellion intriguing over there? Give a personal reason to a virtuous man +and he'll paddle in the slimiest puddle; he is hooking that little Pron, +and Pron is taking it all in, solely to get your little Celeste for +Felix Phellion. Separate them, and in ten minutes they'll get together +again, and that young Minard will be growling round them like an angry +bulldog." + +Felix, still under the strong emotion imparted to him by Celeste's +generous action and the cry that came from the girl's heart, though no +one but Madame Thuillier still thought of it, became inspired by one of +those ingenuous artfulnesses which are the honest charlatanism of +true love; but he was not to the manner born of it, and mathematics, +moreover, made him somewhat absent-minded. He stationed himself near +Madame Thuillier, imagining that Madame Thuillier would attract Celeste +to her side. This astute calculation succeeded all the better because +young Minard, who saw in Celeste nothing more than a "dot," had no such +sudden inspiration, and was drinking his coffee and talking politics +with Laudigeois, Monsieur Barniol, and Dutocq by order of his +father, who was thinking and planning for the general election of the +legislature in 1842. + +"Who wouldn't love Celeste?" said Felix to Madame Thuillier. + +"Little darling, no one in the world loves me as she does," replied the +poor slave, with difficulty restraining her tears. + +"Ah! madame, we both love you," said the candid professor, sincerely. + +"What are you saying to each other?" asked Celeste, coming up. + +"My child," said the pious woman, drawing her god-daughter down to her +and kissing her on the forehead. "He said that you both loved me." + +"Do not be angry with my presumption, mademoiselle. Let me do all I can +to prove it," murmured Felix. "Ah! I cannot help it, I was made this +way; injustice revolts me to the soul! Yes, the Saviour of men was right +to promise the future to the meek heart, to the slain lamb! A man who +did not love you, Celeste, must have adored you after that sublime +impulse of yours at table. Ah, yes! innocence alone can console the +martyr. You are a kind young girl; you will be one of those wives who +make the glory and the happiness of a family. Happy be he whom you will +choose!" + +"Godmamma, with what eyes do you think Monsieur Felix sees me?" + +"He appreciates you, my little angel; I shall pray to God for both of +you." + +"If you knew how happy I am that my father can do a service to Monsieur +Thuillier, and how I wish I could be useful to your brother--" + +"In short," said Celeste, laughing, "you love us all." + +"Well, yes," replied Felix. + +True love wraps itself in the mysteries of reserve, even in its +expression; it proves itself by itself; it does not feel the necessity, +as a false love does, of lighting a conflagration. By an observer (if +such a being could have glided into the Thuillier salon) a book might +have been made in comparing the two scenes of love-making, and in +watching the enormous preparations of Theodose and the simplicity of +Felix: one was nature, the other was society,--the true and the false +embodied. Noticing her daughter glowing with happiness, exhaling her +soul through the pores of her face, and beautiful with the beauty of a +young girl gathering the first roses of an indirect declaration, Flavie +had an impulse of jealousy in her heart. She came across to Celeste and +said in her ear:-- + +"You are not behaving well, my daughter; everybody is observing you; you +are compromising yourself by talking so long to Monsieur Felix without +knowing whether we approve of it." + +"But, mamma, my godmother is here." + +"Ah! pardon me, dear friend," said Madame Colleville; "I did not notice +you." + +"You do as others do," said the poor nonentity. + +That reply stung Madame Colleville, who regarded it as a barbed arrow. +She cast a haughty glance at Felix and said to Celeste, "Sit there, my +daughter," seating herself at the same time beside Madame Thuillier and +pointing to a chair on the other side of her. + +"I will work myself to death," said Felix to Madame Thuillier. "I'll be +a member of the Academy of Sciences; I'll make some great discovery, and +win her hand by force of fame." + +"Ah!" thought the poor woman to herself, "I ought to have had a gentle, +peaceful, learned man like that. I might have slowly developed in a life +of quietness. It was not thy will, O God! but, I pray thee, unite and +bless these children; they are made for one another." + +And she sat there, pensive, listening to the racket made by her +sister-in-law--a ten-horse power at work--who now, lending a hand to +her two servants, cleared the table, taking everything out of the +dining-room to accommodate the dancers, vociferating, like the captain +of a frigate on his quarter-deck when taking his ship into action: "Have +you plenty of raspberry syrup?" "Run out and buy some more orgeat!" +"There's not enough glasses. Where's the 'eau rougie'? Take those +six bottles of 'vin ordinaire' and make more. Mind that Coffinet, the +porter, doesn't get any." "Caroline, my girl, you are to wait at the +sideboard; you'll have tongue and ham to slice in case they dance till +morning. But mind, no waste! Keep an eye on everything. Pass me the +broom; put more oil in those lamps; don't make blunders. Arrange the +remains of the dessert so as to make a show on the sideboard; ask my +sister to come and help us. I'm sure I don't know what she's thinking +about, that dawdle! Heavens, how slow she is! Here, take away these +chairs, they'll want all the room they can get." + +The salon was full of Barniols, Collevilles, Phellions, Laudigeois, and +many others whom the announcement of a dance at the Thuilliers', spread +about in the Luxembourg between two and four in the afternoon, the hour +at which the bourgeoisie takes its walk, had drawn thither. + +"Are you ready, Brigitte?" said Colleville, bolting into the +dining-room; "it is nine o'clock, and they are packed as close as +herrings in the salon. Cardot, his wife and son and daughter and future +son-in-law have just come, accompanied by that young Vinet; the whole +faubourg Saint Antoine is debouching. Can't we move the piano in here?" + +Then he gave the signal, by tuning his clarionet, the joyous sounds of +which were greeted with huzzas from the salon. + +It is useless to describe a ball of this kind. The toilets, faces, +and conversations were all in keeping with one fact which will surely +suffice even the dullest imagination; they passed round, on tarnished +and discolored trays, common tumblers filled with wine, "eau rougie," +and "eau sucree." The trays on which were glasses of orgeat and glasses +of syrup and water appeared only at long intervals. There were five +card-tables and twenty-five players, and eighteen dancers of both +sexes. At one o'clock in the morning, all present--Madame Thuillier, +Mademoiselle Brigitte, Madame Phellion, even Phellion himself--were +dragged into the vivacities of a country-dance, vulgarly called "La +Boulangere," in which Dutocq figured with a veil over his head, after +the manner of the Kabyl. The servants who were waiting to escort +their masters home, and those of the household, were audience to this +performance; and after the interminable dance had lasted one whole +hour it was proposed to carry Brigitte in triumph when she gave the +announcement that supper was served. This circumstance made her see +the necessity of hiding a dozen bottles of old burgundy. In short, the +company had amused themselves so well, the matrons as well as the young +girls, that Thuillier found occasion to say:-- + +"Well, well, this morning we little thought we should have such a fete +to-night." + +"There's never more pleasure," said the notary Cardot, "than in just +such improvised balls. Don't talk to me of parties where everybody +stands on ceremony." + +This opinion, we may remark, is a standing axiom among the bourgeoisie. + +"Well, for my part," said Madame Minard, "I prefer the dignified old +ways." + +"We didn't mean that for you, madame; your salon is the chosen haunt of +pleasure," said Dutocq. + +When "La Boulangere" came to an end, Theodose pulled Dutocq from the +sideboard where he was preparing to eat a slice of tongue, and said to +him:-- + +"Let us go; we must be at Cerizet's very early in the morning; we ought +both of us to think over that affair; it is not so easy to manage as +Cerizet seems to imagine." + +"Why not?" asked Dutocq, bringing his slice of tongue to eat in the +salon. + +"Don't you know the law?" + +"I know enough of it to be aware of the dangers of the affair. If that +notary wants the house and we filch it from him, there are means +by which he can recover it; he can put himself into the skin of a +registered creditor. By the present legal system relating to mortgages, +when a house is sold at the request of creditors, if the price obtained +for it at auction is not enough to pay all debts, the owners have the +right to bid it in and hold it for a higher sum; now the notary, seeing +himself caught, may back out of the sale in that way." + +"Well," said la Peyrade, "it needs attention." + +"Very good," replied Dutocq, "we'll go and see Cerizet." + +These words, "go and see Cerizet," were overheard by Minard, who was +following the two associates; but they offered no meaning to his mind. +The two men were so outside of his own course and projects that he heard +them without listening to them. + +"This has been one of the finest days in our lives," said Brigitte +to her brother, when she found herself alone with him in the deserted +salon, at half-past two in the morning. "What a distinction! to be thus +selected by your fellow-citizens!" + +"Don't be mistaken about it, Brigitte; we owe it all, my child, to one +man." + +"What man?" + +"To our friend, la Peyrade." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. THE BANKER OF THE POOR + +It was not on the next day, Monday, but on the following day, Tuesday, +that Dutocq and Theodose went to see Cerizet, the former having called +la Peyrade's attention to the fact that Cerizet always absented himself +on Sundays and Mondays, taking advantage of the total absence of clients +on those days, which are devoted by the populace to debauch. The house +toward which they directed their steps is one of the striking features +in the faubourg Saint-Jacques, and it is quite as important to study it +here as it was to study those of Phellion and Thuillier. It is not known +(true, no commission has yet been appointed to examine this phenomenon), +no one knows why certain quarters become degraded and vulgarized, +morally as well as materially; why, for instance, the ancient residence +of the court and the church, the Luxembourg and the Latin quarter, have +become what they are to-day, in spite of the presence of the finest +palaces in the world, in spite of the bold cupola of Sainte-Genevieve, +that of Mansard on the Val-de-Grace, and the charms of the Jardin des +Plantes. One asks one's self why the elegance of life has left that +region; why the Vauquer houses, the Phellion and the Thuillier houses +now swarm with tenants and boarders, on the site of so many noble and +religious buildings, and why such mud and dirty trades and poverty +should have fastened on a hilly piece of ground, instead of spreading +out upon the flat land beyond the confines of the ancient city. + +The angel whose beneficence once hovered above this quarter being dead, +usury, on the lowest scale, rushed in and took his place. To the old +judge, Popinot, succeeded Cerizet; and strange to say,--a fact which it +is well to study,--the effect produced, socially speaking, was much the +same. Popinot loaned money without interest, and was willing to lose; +Cerizet lost nothing, and compelled the poor to work hard and stay +virtuous. The poor adored Popinot, but they did not hate Cerizet. Here, +in this region, revolves the lowest wheel of Parisian financiering. At +the top, Nucingen & Co., the Kellers, du Tillet, and the Mongenods; a +little lower down, the Palmas, Gigonnets, and Gobsecks; lower still, the +Samonons, Chaboisseaus, and Barbets; and lastly (after the pawn-shops) +comes this king of usury, who spreads his nets at the corners of the +streets to entangle all miseries and miss none,--Cerizet, "money lender +by the little week." + +The frogged frock-coat will have prepared you for the den in which this +convicted stock-broker carried on his present business. + +The house was humid with saltpetre; the walls, sweating moisture, were +enamelled all over with large slabs of mould. Standing at the corner +of the rue des Postes and rue des Poules, it presented first a +ground-floor, occupied partly by a shop for the sale of the commonest +kind of wine, painted a coarse bright red, decorated with curtains of +red calico, furnished with a leaden counter, and guarded by formidable +iron bars. Above the gate of an odious alley hung a frightful lantern, +on which were the words "Night lodgings here." The outer walls were +covered with iron crossbars, showing, apparently, the insecurity of the +building, which was owned by the wine-merchant, who also inhabited the +entresol. The widow Poiret (nee Michonneau) kept furnished lodgings +on the first, second, and third floors, consisting of single rooms for +workmen and for the poorest class of students. + +Cerizet occupied one room on the ground-floor and another in the +entresol, to which he mounted by an interior staircase; this entresol +looked out upon a horrible paved court, from which arose mephitic odors. +Cerizet paid forty francs a month to the widow Poiret for his breakfast +and dinner; he thus conciliated her by becoming her boarder; he also +made himself acceptable to the wine-merchant by procuring him an immense +sale of wine and liquors among his clients--profits realized before +sunrise; the wine-shop beginning operations about three in the morning +in summer, and five in winter. + +The hour of the great Market, which so many of his clients, male and +female, attended, was the determining cause of Cerizet's early hours. +The Sieur Cadenet, the wine-merchant, in view of the custom which he +owed to the usurer, had let him the two rooms for the low price of +eighty francs a year, and had given him a lease for twelve years, which +Cerizet alone had a right to break, without paying indemnity, at three +months' notice. Cadenet always carried in a bottle of excellent wine for +the dinner of this useful tenant; and when Cerizet was short of money +he had only to say to his friend, "Cadenet, lend me a few hundred +francs,"--loans which he faithfully repaid. + +Cadenet, it was said, had proof of the widow Poiret having deposited +in Cerizet's hands some two thousand francs for investment, which may +explain the progress of the latter's affairs since the day when he +first took up his abode in the quarter, supplied with a last note of a +thousand francs and Dutocq's protection. Cadenet, prompted by a cupidity +which success increased, had proposed, early in the year, to put twenty +thousand francs into the hands of his friend Cerizet. But Cerizet had +positively declined them, on the ground that he ran risks of a nature to +become a possible cause of dispute with associates. + +"I could only," he said to Cadenet, "take them at six per cent interest, +and you can do better than that in your own business. We will go into +partnership later, if you like, in some serious enterprise, some good +opportunity which may require, say, fifty thousand francs. When you have +got that sum to invest, let me know, and we'll talk about it." + +Cerizet had only suggested the affair of the house to Theodose after +making sure that among the three, Madame Poiret, Cadenet, and himself, +it was impossible to raise the full sum of one hundred thousand francs. + +The "lender by the little week" was thus in perfect safety in his den, +where he could even, if necessity came, appeal to the law. On certain +mornings there might be seen as many as sixty or eighty persons, men as +often as women, either in the wine-shop, or the alley, or sitting on the +staircase, for the distrustful Cerizet would only admit six persons at +a time into his office. The first comers were first served, and each had +to go by his number, which the wine-merchant, or his shop-boy, affixed +to the hats of the man and the backs of the women. Sometimes the clients +would sell to each other (as hackney-coachmen do on the cabstands), head +numbers for tail numbers. On certain days, when the market business was +pressing, a head number was often sold for a glass of brandy and a +sou. The numbers, as they issued from Cerizet's office, called up the +succeeding numbers; and if any disputes arose Cadenet put a stop to the +fray at once my remarking:-- + +"If you get the police here you won't gain anything; _he_'ll shut up +shop." + +HE was Cerizet's name. When, in the course of the day, some hapless +woman, without an atom of food in her room, and seeing her children pale +with hunger, would come to borrow ten or twenty sous, she would say to +the wine-merchant anxiously:-- + +"Is _he_ there?" + +Cadenet, a short, stout man, dressed in blue, with outer sleeves of +black stuff and a wine-merchant's apron, and always wearing a cap, +seemed an angel to these mothers when he replied to them:-- + +"_He_ told me that you were an honest woman and I might give you forty +sous. You know what you must do about it--" + +And, strange to say, _he_ was blessed by these poor people, even as they +had lately blessed Popinot. + +But Cerizet was cursed on Sunday mornings when accounts were settled; +and they cursed him even more on Saturdays, when it was necessary to +work in order to repay the sum borrowed with interest. But, after all, +he was Providence, he was God from Tuesday to Friday of every week. + +The room which he made his office, formerly the kitchen of the next +floor, was bare; the beams of the ceiling had been whitewashed, but +still bore marks of smoke. The walls, along which he had put benches, +and the stone floor, retained and gave out dampness. The fireplace, +where the crane remained, was partly filled by an iron stove in which +Cerizet burned sea-coal when the weather was severe. A platform about +half a foot high and eight feet square extended from the edge of the +fireplace; on it was fastened a common table and an armchair with +a round cushion covered with green leather. Behind him, Cerizet had +sheathed the walls with planks; also protecting himself with a little +wooden screen, painted white, from the draught between the window and +door; but this screen, made of two leaves, was so placed that the warmth +from the stove reached him. The window had enormous inside shutters of +cast-iron, held, when closed, by a bar. The door commanded respect by an +armor of the same character. + +At the farther end of this room, in a corner, was a spiral-staircase, +coming, evidently, from some pulled-down shop, and bought in the rue +Chapon by Cadenet, who had fitted it through the ceiling into the +room in the entresol occupied by Cerizet. In order to prevent all +communication with the upper floors, Cerizet had exacted that the door +of that room which opened on the common landing should be walled up. The +place had thus become a fortress. The bedroom above had a cheap carpet +bought for twenty francs, an iron bedstead, a bureau, three chairs, +and an iron safe, made by a good workman, which Cerizet had bought at +a bargain. He shaved before a glass on the chimney-piece; he owned two +pairs of cotton sheets and six cotton shirts; the rest of his visible +wardrobe was of the same character. Cadenet had once seen Cerizet +dressed like a dandy of the period; he must, therefore, have kept +hidden, in some drawer of his bureau, a complete disguise with which he +could go to the opera, see the world, and not be recognized, for, had it +not been that Cadenet heard his voice, he would certainly have asked him +who he was. + +What pleased the clients of this man most was his joviality and his +repartees; he talked their language. Cadenet, his two shop-men, and +Cerizet, living in the midst of dreadful misery, behaved with the +calmness of undertakers in presence of afflicted heirs, of old sergeants +of the Guard among heaps of dead. They no more shuddered on hearing +cries of hunger and despair than surgeons shudder at the cries of their +patients in hospital; they said, as the soldiers and the dressers said, +the perfunctory words, "Have patience! a little courage! What's the good +of grieving? Suppose you kill yourself, what then? One gets accustomed +to everything; be reasonable!" + +Though Cerizet took the precaution to hide the money necessary for his +morning operations in the hollow seat of the chair in which he sat, +taking out no more than a hundred francs at a time, which he put in +the pockets of his trousers, never dipping into the funds of the chair +except between the entrance of two batches of clients (keeping his door +locked and not opening it till all was safely stowed in his pockets), he +had really nothing to fear from the various despairs which found their +way from all sides to this rendezvous of misery. Certainly, there are +many different ways of being honest and virtuous; and the "Monograph of +Virtue" has no other basis than this social axiom.[*] A man is false +to his conscience; he fails, apparently, in delicacy; he forfeits +that bloom of honor which, though lost, does not, as yet, mean general +disrepute; at last, however, he fails decidedly in honor; if he falls +into the hands of the correctional police, he is not, as yet, guilty of +crime before the court of assizes; but after he is branded with infamy +by the verdict of a jury he may still be honored at the galleys for the +species of honor and integrity practised by criminals among themselves, +which consists in not betraying each other, in sharing booty loyally, +and in running all dangers. Well, this last form of honor--which is +perhaps a calculation, a necessity, the practice of which offers certain +opportunities for grandeur to the guilty man and the possibility of +a return to good--reigned absolutely between Cerizet and his clients. +Never did Cerizet make an error, nor his poor people either; neither +side ever denied what was due, either capital or interests. Many a +time Cerizet, who was born among the people, corrected from one week +to another some accidental error, to the benefit of a poor man who had +never discovered it. He was called a Jew, but an honest one, and his +word in that city of sorrows was sacred. A woman died, causing a loss to +him of thirty francs: + + [*] A book on which the author has been at work since 1833, + the year in which it was first announced.--Author's note. + +"See my profits! there they go!" he said to his assemblage, "and you +howl upon me! You know I'll never trouble the brats; in fact, Cadenet +has already taken them bread and heel-taps." + +After that it was said of him in both faubourgs:-- + +"He is not a bad fellow!" + +The "loan by the little week," as interpreted by Cerizet, is not, +considering all things, so cruel a thing as the pawn-shop. Cerizet +loaned ten francs Tuesday on condition of receiving twelve francs Sunday +morning. In five weeks he doubled his capital; but he had to make many +compromises. His kindness consisted in accepting, from time to time, +eleven francs and fifty centimes; sometimes the whole interest was still +owing. When he gave fifty francs for sixty to a fruit-stall man, or a +hundred francs for one hundred and twenty to a seller of peat-fuel, he +ran great risks. + +On reaching the rue des Poules through the rue des Postes, Theodose and +Dutocq saw a great assemblage of men and women, and by the light which +the wine-merchant's little oil-lamps cast upon these groups, they were +horrified at beholding that mass of red, seamed, haggard faces; solemn +with suffering, withered, distorted, swollen with wine, pallid from +liquor; some threatening, others resigned, some sarcastic or jeering, +others besotted; all rising from the midst of those terrible rags, which +no designer can surpass in his most extravagant caricatures. + +"I shall be recognized," said Theodose, pulling Dutocq away; "we have +done a foolish thing to come here at this hour and take him in the midst +of his business." + +"All the more that Claparon may be sleeping in his lair, the interior +of which we know nothing about. Yes, there are dangers for you, but none +for me; I shall be thought to have business with my copying-clerk, and +I'll go and tell him to come and dine with us; this is court day, so we +can't have him to breakfast. I'll tell him to meet us at the 'Chaumiere' +in one of the garden dining-rooms." + +"Bad; anybody could listen to us there without being seen," said la +Peyrade. "I prefer the 'Petit Rocher de Cancale'; we can go into a +private room and speak low." + +"But suppose you are seen with Cerizet?" + +"Well, then, let's go to the 'Cheval Rouge,' quai de la Tournelle." + +"That's best; seven o'clock; nobody will be there then." + +Dutocq advanced alone into the midst of that congress of beggars, and +he heard his own name repeated from mouth to mouth, for he could hardly +fail to encounter among them some jail-bird familiar with the judge's +office, just as Theodose was certain to have met a client. + +In these quarters the justice-of-peace is the supreme authority; all +legal contests stop short at his office, especially since the law was +passed giving to those judges sovereign power in all cases of litigation +involving not over one hundred and forty francs. A way was made for the +judge's clerk, who was not less feared than the judge himself. He +saw women seated on the staircase; a horrible display of pallor and +suffering of many kinds. Dutocq was almost asphyxiated when he opened +the door of the room in which already sixty persons had left their +odors. + +"Your number? your number?" cried several voices. + +"Hold your jaw!" cried a gruff voice from the street, "that's the pen of +the judge." + +Profound silence followed. Dutocq found his copying clerk clothed in +a jacket of yellow leather like that of the gloves of the gendarmerie, +beneath which he wore an ignoble waistcoat of knitted wool. The reader +must imagine the man's diseased head issuing from this species of +scabbard and covered with a miserable Madras handkerchief, which, +leaving to view the forehead and neck, gave to that head, by the gleam +of a tallow candle of twelve to the pound, its naturally hideous and +threatening character. + +"It can't be done that way, papa Lantimeche," Cerizet was saying to a +tall old man, seeming to be about seventy years of age, who was standing +before him with a red woollen cap in his hand, exhibiting a bald head, +and a breast covered with white hairs visible through his miserable +linen jacket. "Tell me exactly what you want to undertake. One hundred +francs, even on condition of getting back one hundred and twenty, can't +be let loose that way, like a dog in a church--" + +The five other applicants, among whom were two women, both with infants, +one knitting, the other suckling her child, burst out laughing. + +When Cerizet saw Dutocq, he rose respectfully and went rather hastily to +meet him, adding to his client:-- + +"Take time to reflect; for, don't you see? it makes me doubtful to have +such a sum as that, one hundred francs! asked for by an old journeyman +locksmith!" + +"But I tell you it concerns an invention," cried the old workman. + +"An invention and one hundred francs!" said Dutocq. "You don't know the +laws; you must take out a patent, and that costs two thousand francs, +and you want influence." + +"All that is true," said Cerizet, who, however, reckoned a good deal on +such chances. "Come to-morrow morning, papa Lantimeche, at six o'clock, +and we'll talk it over; you can't talk inventions in public." + +Cerizet then turned to Dutocq whose first words were:-- + +"If the thing turns out well, half profits!" + +"Why did you get up at this time in the morning to come here and say +that to me?" demanded the distrustful Cerizet, already displeased with +the mention of "half profits." "You could have seen me as usual at the +office." + +And he looked askance at Dutocq; the latter, while telling him his +errand and speaking of Claparon and the necessity of pushing forward in +the Theodose affair, seemed confused. + +"All the same you could have seen me this morning at the office," +repeated Cerizet, conducting his visitor to the door. + +"There's a man," thought he, as he returned to his seat, "who seems to +me to have breathed on his lantern so that I may not see clear. Well, +well, I'll give up that place of copying clerk. Ha! your turn, little +mother!" he cried; "you invent children! That's amusing enough, though +the trick is well known." + +It is all the more useless to relate the conversation which took place +between the three confederates at the "Cheval Rouge," because the +arrangements there concluded were the basis of certain confidences +made, as we shall see, by Theodose to Mademoiselle Thuillier; but it is +necessary to remark that the cleverness displayed by la Peyrade seemed +almost alarming to Cerizet and Dutocq. After this conference, the banker +of the poor, finding himself in company with such powerful players, had +it in mind to make sure of his own stake at the first chance. To win the +game at any price over the heads of the ablest gamblers, by cheating if +necessary, is the inspiration of a special sort of vanity peculiar +to friends of the green cloth. Hence came the terrible blow which la +Peyrade was about to receive. + +He knew his two associates well; and therefore, in spite of the +perpetual activity of his intellectual forces, in spite of the perpetual +watchfulness his personality of ten faces required, nothing fatigued him +as much as the part he had to play with his two accomplices. Dutocq was +a great knave, and Cerizet had once been a comic actor; they were both +experts in humbug. A motionless face like Talleyrand's would have made +then break at once with the Provencal, who was now in their clutches; +it was necessary, therefore, that he should make a show of ease and +confidence and of playing above board--the very height of art in such +affairs. To delude the pit is an every-day triumph, but to deceive +Mademoiselle Mars, Frederic Lemaitre, Potier, Talma, Monrose, is the +acme of art. + +This conference at the "Cheval Rouge" had therefore the result of giving +to la Peyrade, who was fully as sagacious as Cerizet, a secret fear, +which, during the latter period of this daring game, so fired his blood +and heated his brain that there came moments when he fell into the +morbid condition of the gambler, who follows with his eye the roll of +the ball on which he has staked his last penny. The senses then have +a lucidity in their action and the mind takes a range, which human +knowledge has no means of measuring. + + + + +CHAPTER X. HOW BRIGITTE WAS WON + +The day after this conference at the "Cheval Rouge," la Peyrade went to +dine with the Thuilliers, and on the commonplace pretext of a visit +to pay, Thuillier carried off his wife, leaving Theodose alone with +Brigitte. Neither Thuillier, nor his sister, nor Theodose, were the +dupes of this comedy; but the old beau of the Empire considered the +manoeuvre a piece of diplomacy. + +"Young man, do not take advantage of my sister's innocence; respect it," +said Thuillier solemnly, as he departed. + +"Mademoiselle," said Theodose, drawing his chair closer to the sofa +where Brigitte sat knitting, "have you thought of inducing the business +men of the arrondissement to support Thuillier's interests?" + +"How can I?" she asked. + +"Why! you are in close relations with Barbet and Metivier." + +"Ah! you are right! Faith! you are no blunderer!" she said after a +pause. + +"When we love our friends, we serve them," he replied, sententiously. + +To capture Brigitte would be like carrying the redoubt of the Moskowa, +the culminating strategic point. But it was necessary to possess that +old maid as the devil was supposed in the middle ages to possess men, +and in a way to make any awakening impossible for her. For the last +three days la Peyrade had been measuring himself for the task; he had +carefully reconnoitred the ground to see all difficulty. Flattery, that +almost infallible means in able hands, would certainly miscarry with +a woman who for years had known she had no beauty. But a man of strong +will finds nothing impregnable; the Lamarques could never have failed to +take Capri. Therefore, nothing must be omitted from the memorable +scene which was now to take place; all things about it had their own +importance,--inflections of the voice, pauses, glances, lowered eyes. + +"But," rejoined Brigitte, "you have already proved to us your +affection." + +"Your brother has told you--?" + +"No, he merely told me that you had something to tell me." + +"Yes, mademoiselle, I have; for you are the man of the family. In +reflecting on this matter, I find many dangers for myself, such as a man +only risks for his nearest and dearest. It involves a fortune; thirty to +forty thousand francs a year, and not the slightest speculation--a piece +of landed property. The hope of helping Thuillier to win such a fortune +enticed me from the first. 'It fascinates me,' I said to him--for, +unless a man is an absolute fool, he can't help asking himself: 'Why +should he care to do us all this good?' So I told him frankly that in +working for his interests, I flattered myself I was working for my own, +as I'll explain to you later. If he wishes to be deputy, two things are +absolutely necessary: to comply with the law as to property, and to win +for his name some sort of public celebrity. If I myself push my devotion +to the point of helping him to write a book on public financiering--or +anything else, no matter what--which would give him that celebrity, +I ought also to think of the other matter, his property--it would be +absurd to expect you to give him this house--" + +"For my brother? Why, I'd put it in his name to-morrow," cried Brigitte. +"You don't know me." + +"I don't know you thoroughly," said la Peyrade, "but I do know things +about you which now make me regret that I did not tell you the whole +affair from its origin; I mean from the moment when I conceived the plan +to which Thuillier will owe his nomination. He will be hunted down by +envy and jealousy, and the task of upholding him will be a hard one; +we must, however, get the better of his rivals and take the wind out of +their sails." + +"But this affair," said Brigitte, "what are the difficulties?" + +"Mademoiselle, the difficulties lie within my own conscience. Assuredly, +I could not serve you in this matter without first consulting my +confessor. From a worldly point of view--oh! the affair is perfectly +legal, and I am--you'll understand me?--a barrister inscribed on the +panel, that is, member of a bar controlled by the strictest rules. I am +therefore incapable of proposing an enterprise which might give occasion +for blame. In the first place, I myself don't make a penny by it." + +Brigitte was on thorns; her face was flaming; she broke her wool, mended +it, broke it again, and did not know which way to look. + +"One can't get," she said, "in these days, forty thousand francs a +year from landed property unless it is worth one million eight hundred +thousand." + +"Well, I will undertake that you shall see a piece of property and +estimate yourself its probable revenue, which I can make Thuillier the +owner of for fifty thousand francs down." + +"Oh! if you can make us obtain that!" cried Brigitte, worked up to the +highest excitement by the spur of her natural cupidity. "Go on, my dear +Monsieur Theodose, and--" + +She stopped short. + +"Well, mademoiselle?" + +"You will, perhaps, have done yourself a service." + +"Ah! if Thuillier has told you my secret, I must leave this house." + +Brigitte looked up. + +"Did he tell you that I love Celeste?" + +"No, on my word of honor!" cried Brigitte, "but I myself was just about +to speak of her." + +"And offer her to me? Oh! may God forgive us! I can only win her of +herself, her parents, by a free choice--No, no, all I ask of you is your +good-will, your protection. Promise me, as Thuillier has, in return for +my services your influence, your friendship; tell me that you will treat +me as a son. If you will do that, I will abide by your decision in this +matter; I can trust it; I need not speak to my confessor. For the last +two years, ever since I have seen much of this family, to whom I would +fain give my powers and devote my utmost energy--for, I shall succeed! +surely I shall!--I have observed that your integrity, your honor is that +of the olden time, your judgment righteous and inflexible. Also, you +have a knowledge of business; and these qualities combined are precious +helps to a man. With a mother-in-law, as I may say, of your powers, I +should find my home life relieved of a crowd of cares and details as to +property, which hinder a man's advance in a political career if he is +forced to attend to them. I admired you deeply on Sunday evening. +Ah! you were fine! How you did manage matters! In ten minutes that +dining-room was cleared! And, without going outside of your own +apartment, you had everything at hand for the refreshments, for +the supper! 'There,' I said to myself, as I watched you, 'is a true +"maitresse-femme"--a masterly woman!'" + +Brigitte's nostrils dilated; she breathed in the words of the young +lawyer. He gave her a side-long glance to enjoy his triumph; he had +touched the right chord in her breast. + +At this moment he was standing, but he now resumed his seat beside her, +and said:-- + +"Now here is our affair, dear aunt--for you will be a sort of aunt--" + +"Hush! you naughty fellow!" said Brigitte, "and go on." + +"I'll tell you the matter roughly--and remark, if you please, that I +compromise myself in telling it to you; for these secrets are entrusted +to me as a lawyer. Therefore understand that you and I are both +committing a crime, so to speak, of leze-confidence! A notary of Paris +was in partnership with an architect; they bought land and built upon +it; at the present moment, property has come down with a rush; they +find themselves embarrassed--but all that doesn't concern us. Among the +houses built by this illegal partnership--for notaries, you know, are +sworn to have nothing to do with enterprises--is a very good one which, +not being finished, must be sold at a great sacrifice; so great that +they now ask only one hundred thousand francs for it, although the cost +of the land and the building was at least four hundred thousand. As the +whole interior is still unfinished, the value of what is still to do +is easily appraised; it will probably not be more than fifty thousand +francs. Now, owing to its excellent position, this house, when finished, +will certainly bring in a rental, over and above the taxes, of forty +thousand francs a year. It is built of freestone, the corners and +copings of cut granite; the facade is covered with handsome carvings, on +which they spent more than twenty thousand francs; the windows are plate +glass with a new style of fastening called 'cremona.'" + +"Well, where is the difficulty?" + +"Just here: the notary wants to reserve to himself this bit of the +cake he is forced to surrender; he is, under the name of a friend, the +creditor who requests the sale of the property by the assignee of +the bankruptcy. The case has not been brought into court; for legal +proceedings cost so much money. The sale is to be made by voluntary +agreement. Now, this notary has applied to one of my clients to lend +him his name for this purchase. My client, a poor devil, says to me: +'There's a fortune to made out of that house by fooling the notary.'" + +"And they do that sort of thing in business!" said Brigitte, quickly. + +"If that were the only difficulty," continued Theodose, "it would be, as +a friend of mine said to his pupil, who was complaining of the length of +time it took to produce masterpieces in painting: 'My dear young +fellow, if it were not so, our valets would be painting pictures.' But, +mademoiselle, if we now get the better of this notary, who certainly +deserves it, for he has compromised a number of private fortunes, yet, +as he is a very shrewd man (though a notary), it might perhaps be very +difficult to do it a second time, and here's the rub: When a piece of +landed property is bought at a forced sale, if those who have lent money +on that property see that is likely to be sold so low as not to cover +the sum loaned upon it, they have the right, until the expiration of a +certain time, to bid it in; that is, to offer more and keep the property +in their own hands. If this trickster can't be hoodwinked as to the sale +being a bona fide one until the time when his right to buy it expires, +some other scheme must be resorted to. Now, is this business strictly +legal? Am I justified in doing it for the benefit of a family I seek +to enter? That is the question I have been revolving in my mind for the +last three days." + +Brigitte, we must acknowledge, hesitated, and Theodose then brought +forward his last card:-- + +"Take the night to think of it," he said, "to-morrow we will talk it +over." + +"My young friend," said Brigitte, looking at the lawyer with an almost +loving air, "the first thing to be done is to see the house. Where is +it?" + +"Near the Madeleine. That will be the heart of Paris in ten years. All +that property has been desirable since 1819; the banker Du Tillet's +fortune was derived from property about there. The famous failure of +Maitre Roquin, which carried terror to all Paris, and did such harm to +the confidence given to the notariat, was also caused by it; they went +into heavy speculations on that land too soon; they should have waited +until now." + +"I remember about that," said Brigitte. + +"The house might be finished by the end of the year," continued +Theodose, "and the rentals could begin next spring." + +"Could we go there to-morrow?" + +"Dear aunt, I am at your orders." + +"Ah ca!" she cried, "don't call me that before people. As to this +affair," she continued, "I can't have any opinion until I have seen the +house." + +"It has six storeys; nine windows on the front; a fine courtyard, four +shops, and it stands on a corner. Ah! that notary knows what he is about +in wishing to hold on to such pieces of property! But let political +events interfere, and down go the Funds! If I were you, I should sell +out all that you and Madame Thuillier have on the Grand Livre and +buy this fine piece of real estate for Thuillier, and I'd recover the +fortune of that poor, pious creature by savings from its proceeds. Can +the Funds go higher than they are to-day? One hundred and twenty-two! it +is fabulous; I should make haste to sell." + +Brigitte licked her lips; she perceived the means of keeping her own +property intact, and of enriching her brother by this use of Madame +Thuillier's fortune. + +"My brother is right," she said to Theodose; "you certainly are a rare +man; you'll get on in the world." + +"And he'll walk before me," responded Theodose with a naivete that +touched the old maid. + +"You will live in the family," she said. + +"There may be obstacles to that," he remarked. "Madame Thuillier is very +queer at times; she doesn't like me." + +"Ha! I'll settle that," cried Brigitte. "Do you attend to that affair +and carry it through if it is feasible, and leave your interests in my +hands." + +"Thuillier, member of the municipal council, owner of an estate with a +rental of forty thousand francs a year, with the cross of the Legion +of honor and the author of a political work, grave, serious, important, +will be deputy at the forthcoming general election. But, between +ourselves, little aunt, one couldn't devote one's self so utterly except +for a father-in-law." + +"You are right." + +"Though I have no fortune I shall have doubled yours; and if this affair +goes through discreetly, others will turn up." + +"Until I have seen the house," said Mademoiselle Thuillier again, "I can +decide on nothing." + +"Well then, send for a carriage to-morrow and let us go there. I will +get a ticket early in the morning to view the premises." + +"To-morrow, then, about mid-day," responded Brigitte, holding out her +hand to Theodose that he might shake it, but instead of that he laid +upon it the most respectful and the most tender kiss that Brigitte had +ever in her life received. + +"Adieu, my child," she said, as he reached the door. + +She rang the bell hurriedly and when the servant came:-- + +"Josephine," she cried, "go at once to Madame Colleville, and ask her to +come over and speak to me." + +Fifteen minutes later Flavie entered the salon, where Brigitte was +walking up and down, in a state of extreme agitation. + +"My dear," she cried on seeing Flavie, "you can do me a great service, +which concerns our dear Celeste. You know Tullia, don't you?--a danseuse +at the opera; my brother was always dinning her into my ears at one +time." + +"Yes, I know her; but she is no longer a danseuse; she is Madame la +Comtesse du Bruel. Her husband is peer of France!" + +"Does she still like you?" + +"We never see each other now." + +"Well, I know that Chaffaroux, the rich contractor, is her uncle," said +Brigitte. "He is old and wealthy. Go and see your former friend, and get +her to give you a line of introduction to him, saying he would do her an +eminent favor if he would give a piece of friendly advice to the bearer +of the note, and then you and I will take it to him to-morrow about one +o'clock. But tell Tullia she must request her uncle to keep secret about +it. Go, my dear. Celeste, our dear child, will be a millionaire! I can't +say more; but she'll have, from me, a husband who will put her on a +pinnacle." + +"Do you want me to tell you the first letters of his name?" + +"Yes." + +"T. P.,--Theodose de la Peyrade. You are right. That's a man who may, if +supported by a woman like you, become a minister." + +"It is God himself who has placed him in our house!" cried the old maid. + +At this moment Monsieur and Madame Thuillier returned home. + +Five days later, in the month of April, the ordinance which convoked the +electors to appoint a member of the municipal council on the 20th of the +same month was inserted in the "Moniteur," and placarded about Paris. +For several weeks the ministry, called that of March 1st, had been in +power. Brigitte was in a charming humor. She had been convinced of the +truth of all la Peyrade's assertions. The house, visited from garret +to cellar by old Chaffaroux, was admitted by him to be an admirable +construction; poor Grindot, the architect, who was interested with the +notary and Claparon in the affair, thought the old man was employed in +the interests of the contractor; the old fellow himself thought he was +acting in the interests of his niece, and he gave it as his opinion that +thirty thousand francs would finish the house. Thus, in the course of +one week la Peyrade became Brigitte's god; and she proved to him by the +most naively nefarious arguments that fortune should be seized when it +offered itself. + +"Well, if there _is_ any sin in the business," she said to him in the +middle of the garden, "you can confess it." + +"The devil!" cried Thuillier, "a man owes himself to his relatives, and +you are one of us now." + +"Then I decide to do it," replied la Peyrade, in a voice of emotion; +"but on conditions that I must now distinctly state. I will not, in +marrying Celeste, be accused of greed and mercenary motives. If you lay +remorse upon me, at least you must consent that I shall remain as I +am for the present. Do not settle upon Celeste, my old Thuillier, the +future possession of the property I am about to obtain for you--" + +"You are right." + +"Don't rob yourself; and let my dear little aunt here act in the same +way in relation to the marriage contract. Put the remainder of the +capital in Madame Thuillier's name, on the Grand Livre, and she can do +what she likes with it. We shall all live together as one family, and +I'll undertake to make my own fortune, now that I am free from anxiety +about the future." + +"That suits me," said Thuillier; "that's the talk of an honest man." + +"Let me kiss you on the forehead, my son," said the old maid; "but, +inasmuch as Celeste cannot be allowed to go without a 'dot,' we shall +give her sixty thousand francs." + +"For her dress," said la Peyrade. + +"We are all three persons of honor," cried Thuillier. "It is now +settled, isn't it? You are to manage the purchase of the house; we +are to write together, you and I, my political work; and you'll bestir +yourself to get me the decoration?" + +"You will have that as soon as you are made a municipal councillor on +the 1st of May. Only, my good friend, I must beg you, and you, too, dear +aunt, to keep the most profound secrecy about me in this affair; and do +not listen to the calumnies which all the men I am about to trick will +spread about me. I shall become, you'll see, a vagabond, a swindler, a +dangerous man, a Jesuit, an ambitious fortune-hunter. Can you hear those +accusations against me with composure?" + +"Fear nothing," replied Brigitte. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. THE REIGN OF THEODOSE + +From that day forth Thuillier became a dear, good friend. "My dear, good +friend," was the name given to him by Theodose, with voice inflections +of varieties of tenderness which astonished Flavie. But "little aunt," +a name that flattered Brigitte deeply, was only given in family secrecy, +and occasionally before Flavie. The activity of Theodose and Dutocq, +Cerizet, Barbet, Metivier, Minard, Phellion, Colleville, and others of +the Thuillier circle was extreme. Great and small, they all put their +hands to the work. Cadenet procured thirty votes in his section. On the +30th of April Thuillier was proclaimed member of the Council-general of +the department of the Seine by an imposing majority; in fact, he +only needed sixty more votes to make his election unanimous. May +1st Thuillier joined the municipal body and went to the Tuileries to +congratulate the King on his fete-day, and returned home radiant. He had +gone where Minard went! + +Ten days later a yellow poster announced the sale of the house, after +due publication; the price named being seventy-five thousand francs; +the final purchase to take place about the last of July. On this point +Cerizet and Claparon had an agreement by which Cerizet pledged the sum +of fifteen thousand francs (in words only, be it understood) to Claparon +in case the latter could deceive the notary and keep him quiet until the +time expired during which he might withdraw the property by bidding it +in. Mademoiselle Thuillier, notified by Theodose, agreed entirely to +this secret clause, understanding perfectly the necessity of paying +the culprits guilty of the treachery. The money was to pass through la +Peyrade's hands. Claparon met his accomplice, the notary, on the Place +de l'Observatoire by midnight. This young man, the successor of Leopold +Hannequin, was one of those who run after fortune instead of following +it leisurely. He now saw another future before him, and he managed his +present affairs in order to be free to take hold of it. In this midnight +interview, he offered Claparon ten thousand francs to secure himself +in this dirty business,--a sum which was only to be paid on receipt, +through Claparon, of a counter-deed from the nominal purchaser of +the property. The notary was aware that that sum was all-important to +Claparon to extricate him from present difficulties, and he felt secure +of him. + +"Who but you, in all Paris, would give me such a fee for such an +affair?" Claparon said to him, with a false show of naivete. "You can +sleep in peace; my ostensible purchaser is one of those men of honor who +are too stupid to have ideas of your kind; he is a retired government +employee; give him the money to make the purchase and he'll sign the +counter-deed at once." + +When the notary had made Claparon clearly understand that he could not +get more than the ten thousand francs from him, Cerizet offered the +latter twelve thousand down, and asked Theodose for fifteen thousand, +intending to keep the balance for himself. All these scenes between +the four men were seasoned with the finest speeches about feelings, +integrity, and the honor that men owed to one another in doing business. +While these submarine performances were going on, apparently in the +interests of Thuillier, to whom Theodose related them with the deepest +manifestations of disgust at being implicated therein, the pair were +meditating the great political work which "my dear good friend" was +to publish. Thus the new municipal councillor naturally acquired a +conviction that he could never do or be anything without the help of +this man of genius; whose mind so amazed him, and whose ability was now +so important to him, that every day he became more and more convinced of +the necessity of marrying him to Celeste, and of taking the young couple +to live with him. In fact, after May the 1st, Theodose had already dined +four times a week with "my dear, good friend." + +This was the period when Theodose reigned without a dissenting voice in +the bosom of that household, and all the friends of the family approved +of him--for the following reason: The Phellions, hearing his praises +sung by Brigitte and Thuillier, feared to displease the two powers and +chorussed their words, even when such perpetual laudation seemed to them +exaggerated. The same may be said of the Minards. Moreover la Peyrade's +behavior, as "friend of the family" was perfect. He disarmed distrust by +the manner in which he effaced himself; he was there like a new piece +of furniture; and he contrived to make both the Phellions and Minards +believe that Brigitte and Thuillier had weighed him, and found him too +light in the scales to be anything more in the family than a young man +whose services were useful to them. + +"He may think," said Thuillier one day to Minard, "that my sister will +put him in her will; he doesn't know her." + +This speech, inspired by Theodose himself, calmed the uneasiness of +Minard "pere." + +"He is devoted to us," said Brigitte to Madame Phellion; "but he +certainly owes us a great deal of gratitude. We have given him his +lodging rent-free, and he dines with us almost every day." + +This speech of the old maid, also instigated by Theodose, went from +ear to ear among the families who frequented the Thuillier salon, and +dissipated all fears. The young man called attention to the remarks +of Thuillier and his sister with the servility of a parasite; when he +played whist he justified the blunders of his dear, good friend, and he +kept upon his countenance a smile, fixed and benign, like that of Madame +Thuillier, ready to bestow upon all the bourgeois sillinesses of the +brother and sister. + +He obtained, what he wanted above all, the contempt of his true +antagonists; and he used it as a cloak to hide his real power. For four +consecutive months his face wore a torpid expression, like that of a +snake as it gulps and digests its prey. But at times he would rush into +the garden with Colleville or Flavie, to laugh and lay off his mask, +and rest himself; or get fresh strength by giving way before his future +mother-in-law to fits of nervous passion which either terrified or +deeply touched her. + +"Don't you pity me?" he cried to her the evening before the preparatory +sale of the house, when Thuillier was to make the purchase at +seventy-five thousand francs. "Think of a man like me, forced to creep +like a cat, to choke down every pointed word, to swallow my own gall, +and submit to your rebuffs!" + +"My friend! my child!" Flavie replied, undecided in mind how to take +him. + +These words are a thermometer which will show the temperature at which +this clever manipulator maintained his intrigue with Flavie. He kept +her floating between her heart and her moral sense, between religious +sentiments and this mysterious passion. + +During this time Felix Phellion was giving, with a devotion and +constancy worthy of all praise, regular lessons to young Colleville. +He spent much of his time upon these lessons, feeling that he was thus +working for his future family. To acknowledge this service, he was +invited, by advice of Theodose to Flavie, to dine at the Collevilles' +every Thursday, where la Peyrade always met him. Flavie was usually +making either a purse or slippers or a cigar-case for the happy young +man, who would say, deprecatingly:-- + +"I am only too well rewarded, madame, by the happiness I feel in being +useful to you." + +"We are not rich, monsieur," replied Colleville, "but, God bless me! we +are not ungrateful." + +Old Phellion would rub his hands as he listened to his son's account +of these evenings, beholding his dear and noble Felix already wedded to +Celeste. + +But Celeste, the more she loved Felix, the more grave and serious she +became with him; partly because her mother sharply lectured her, saying +to her one evening:-- + +"Don't give any hope whatever to that young Phellion. Neither your +father nor I can arrange your marriage. You have expectations to be +consulted. It is much less important to please a professor without a +penny than to make sure of the affection and good-will of Mademoiselle +Brigitte and your godfather. If you don't want to kill your mother--yes, +my dear, kill her--you must obey me in this affair blindly; and remember +that what we want to secure, above all, is your good." + +As the date of the final sale was set for the last of July, Theodose +advised Brigitte by the end of June to arrange her affairs in time to +be ready for the payment. Accordingly, she now sold out her own and her +sister-in-law's property in the Funds. The catastrophe of the treaty of +the four powers, an insult to France, is now an established historical +fact; but it is necessary to remind the reader that from July to the +last of August the French funds, alarmed by the prospect of war, a fear +which Monsieur Thiers did much to promote, fell twenty francs, and the +Three-per-cents went down to sixty. That was not all: this financial +fiasco had a most unfortunate influence on the value of real estate in +Paris; and all those who had such property then for sale suffered +loss. These events made Theodose a prophet in the eyes of Brigitte and +Thuillier, to whom the house was now about to be definitely sold for +seventy-five thousand francs. The notary, involved in the political +disaster, and whose practice was already sold, concealed himself for a +time in the country; but he took with him the ten thousand francs for +Claparon. Advised by Theodose, Thuillier made a contract with Grindot, +who supposed he was really working for the notary in finishing the +house; and as, during this period of financial depression, suspended +work left many workmen with their arms folded, the architect was able +to finish off the building in a splendid manner at a low cost. Theodose +insisted that the agreement should be in writing. + +This purchase increased Thuillier's importance ten-fold. As for the +notary, he had temporarily lost his head in presence of political events +which came upon him like a waterspout out of cloudless skies. Theodose, +certain now of his supremacy, holding Thuillier fast by his past +services and by the literary work in which they were both engaged, +admired by Brigitte for his modesty and discretion,--for never had he +made the slightest allusion to his own poverty or uttered one word about +money,--Theodose began to assume an air that was rather less servile +than it had been. Brigitte and Thuillier said to him one day:-- + +"Nothing can deprive you of our esteem; you are here in this house as if +in your own home; the opinion of Minard and Phellion, which you seem to +fear, has no more value for us than a stanza of Victor Hugo. Therefore, +let them talk! Carry your head high!" + +"But we shall still need them for Thuillier's election to the Chamber," +said Theodose. "Follow my advice; you have found it good so far, haven't +you? When the house is actually yours, you will have got it for almost +nothing; for you can now buy into the Three-per-cents at sixty in Madame +Thuillier's name, and thus replace nearly the whole of her fortune. Wait +only for the expiration of the time allowed to the nominal creditor +to buy it in, and have the fifteen thousand francs ready for our +scoundrels." + +Brigitte did not wait; she took her whole capital with the exception +of a sum of one hundred and twenty thousand francs, and bought into +the Three-per-cents in Madame Thuillier's name to the amount of +twelve thousand francs a year, and in her own for ten thousand a year, +resolving in her own mind to choose no other kind of investment in +future. She saw her brother secure of forty thousand francs a year +besides his pension, twelve thousand a year for Madame Thuillier and +eighteen thousand a year for herself, besides the house they lived in, +the rental of which she valued at eight thousand. + +"We are worth quite as much as the Minards," she remarked. + +"Don't chant victory before you win it," said Theodose. "The right of +redemption doesn't expire for another week. I have attended to your +affairs, but mine have gone terribly to pieces." + +"My dear child, you have friends," cried Brigitte; "if you should happen +to want five hundred francs or so, you will always find them here." + +Theodose exchanged a smile with Thuillier, who hastened to carry him +off, saying:-- + +"Excuse my poor sister; she sees the world through a small hole. But if +you should want twenty-five thousand francs I'll lend them to you--out +of my first rents," he added. + +"Thuillier," exclaimed Theodose, "the rope is round my neck. Ever +since I have been a barrister I have had notes of hand running. But say +nothing about it," added Theodose, frightened himself at having let out +the secret of his situation. "I'm in the claws of scoundrels, but I hope +to crush them yet." + +In telling this secret Theodose, though alarmed as he did so, had a +two-fold purpose: first, to test Thuillier; and next, to avert the +consequences of a fatal blow which might be dealt to him any day in +a secret and sinister struggle he had long foreseen. Two words will +explain his horrible position. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. DEVILS AGAINST DEVILS + +During the extreme poverty of la Peyrade's first years in Paris, none +but Cerizet had ever gone to see him in the wretched garret where, in +severely cold weather, he stayed in bed for want of clothes. Only one +shirt remained to him. For three days he lived on one loaf of bread, +cutting it into measured morsels, and asking himself, "What am I to do?" +At this moment it was that his former partner came to him, having just +left prison, pardoned. The projects which the two men then formed before +a fire of laths, one wrapped in his landlady's counterpane, the other +in his infamy, it is useless to relate. The next day Cerizet, who had +talked with Dutocq in the course of the morning, returned, bringing +trousers, waistcoat, coat, hat, and boots, bought in the Temple, and +he carried off Theodose to dine with himself and Dutocq. The hungry +Provencal ate at Pinson's, rue de l'Ancienne Comedie, half of a dinner +costing forty-seven francs. At dessert, after Theodose had drunk freely, +Cerizet said to him:-- + +"Will you sign me bills of exchange for fifty thousand francs in your +capacity as a barrister?" + +"You couldn't get five thousand on them." + +"That's not your affair, but ours; I mean monsieur's here, who is giving +us this dinner, and mine, in a matter where you risk nothing, but in +which you'll get your title as barrister, a fine practice, and the hand +in marriage of a girl about the age of an old dog, and rich by twenty or +thirty thousand francs a year. Neither Dutocq nor I can marry her; but +we'll equip you, give you the look of a decent man, feed and lodge you, +and set you up generally. Consequently, we want security. I don't say +that on my own account, for I know you, but for monsieur here, whose +proxy I am. We'll equip you as a pirate, hey! to do the white-slave +trade! If we can't capture that 'dot,' we'll try other plans. Between +ourselves, none of us need be particular what we touch--that's plain +enough. We'll give you careful instructions; for the matter is certain +to take time, and there'll probably be some bother about it. Here, see, +I have brought stamped paper." + +"Waiter, pens and ink!" cried Theodose. + +"Ha! I like fellows of that kind!" exclaimed Dutocq. + +"Sign: 'Theodose de la Peyrade,' and after your name put 'Barrister, rue +Saint-Dominique d'Enfer,' under the words 'Accepted for ten thousand.' +We'll date the notes and sue you,--all secretly, of course, but in +order to have a hold upon you; the owners of a privateer ought to have +security when the brig and the captain are at sea." + +The day after this interview the bailiff of the justice-of-peace did +Cerizet the service of suing la Peyrade secretly. He went to see the +barrister that evening, and the whole affair was done without any +publicity. The Court of commerce has a hundred such cases in the course +of one term. The strict regulations of the council of barristers of +the bar of Paris are well known. This body, and also the council of +attorneys, exercise severe discipline over their members. A barrister +liable to go to Clichy would be disbarred. Consequently, Cerizet, under +Dutocq's advice, had taken against their puppet measures which were +certain to secure to each of them twenty-five thousand francs out of +Celeste's "dot." In signing the notes, Theodose saw but one thing,--his +means of living secured; but as time had gone on, and the horizon grew +clearer, and he mounted, step by step, to a better position on the +social ladder, he began to dream of getting rid of his associates. And +now, on obtaining twenty-five thousand francs from Thuillier, he hoped +to treat on the basis of fifty per cent for the return of his fatal +notes by Cerizet. + +Unfortunately, this sort of infamous speculation is not an exceptional +fact; it takes place in Paris under various forms too little disguised +for the historian of manners and morals to pass them over unnoticed in +a complete and accurate picture of society in the nineteenth century. +Dutocq, an arrant scoundrel, still owed fifteen thousand francs on his +practice, and lived in hopes of something turning up to keep his head, +as the saying is, above water until the close of 1840. Up to the present +time none of the three confederates had flinched or groaned. Each felt +his strength and knew his danger. Equals they were in distrust, in +watchfulness; equals, too, in apparent confidence; and equally stolid in +silence and look when mutual suspicions rose to the surface of face or +speech. For the last two months the position of Theodose was acquiring +the strength of a detached fort. But Cerizet and Dutocq held it +undermined by a mass of powder, with the match ever lighted; but the +wind might extinguish the match or the devil might flood the mine. + +The moment when wild beasts seize their food is always the most +critical, and that moment had now arrived for these three hungry tigers. +Cerizet would sometimes say to Theodose, with that revolutionary glance +which twice in this century sovereigns have had to meet:-- + +"I have made you king, and here am I still nothing! for it is nothing +not to be all." + +A reaction of envy was rushing its avalanche through Cerizet. Dutocq was +at the mercy of his copying clerk. Theodose would gladly have burned his +copartners could he have burned their papers in the same conflagration. +All three studied each other too carefully, in order to conceal their +own thoughts, not to be in turn divined. Theodose lived a life of three +hells as he thought of what lay below the cards, then of his own game, +and then of his future. His speech to Thuillier was a cry of despair; +he threw his lead into the waters of the old bourgeois and found there +nothing more than twenty-five thousand francs. + +"And," he said to himself as he went to his own room, "possibly nothing +at all a month hence." + +He new felt the deepest hatred to the Thuilliers. But Thuillier himself +he held by a harpoon stuck into the depths of the man's vanity; namely, +by the projected work, entitled "Taxation and the Sinking Fund," for +which he intended to rearrange the ideas of the Saint-Simonian "Globe," +giving them a systematic form, and coloring them with his fervid +Southern diction. Thuillier's bureaucratic knowledge of the subject +would be of use to him here. Theodose therefore clung to this rope, +resolving to do battle, on so poor a base of operations, with the vanity +of a fool, which, according to individual character, is either granite +or sand. On reflection, Theodose was inclined to be content with the +prospect. + +On the evening before the right of redemption expired, Claparon and +Cerizet proceeded to manipulate the notary in the following manner. +Cerizet, to whom Claparon had revealed the password and the notary's +retreat, went out to this hiding-place to say to the latter:-- + +"One of my friends, Claparon, whom you know, has asked me to come and +see you; he will expect you to-morrow, in the evening, you know where. +He has the paper you expect from him, which he will exchange with +you for the ten thousand agreed upon; but I must be present, for five +thousand of that sum belong to me; and I warn you, my dear monsieur, +that the name in the counter-deed is in blank." + +"I shall be there," replied the ex-notary. + +The poor devil waited the whole night in agonies of mind that can well +be imagined, for safety or inevitable ruin were in the balance. At +sunrise he saw approaching him, instead of Claparon, a bailiff of the +Court of commerce, who produced a judgment against him in regular form, +and informed him that he must go with him to Clichy. + +Cerizet had made an arrangement with one of the creditors of the +luckless notary, pledging himself to deliver up the debtor on payment +to himself of half the debt. Out of the ten thousand francs promised to +Claparon, the victim of this trap was obliged, in order to obtain his +liberty, to pay six thousand down, the amount of his debt. + +On receiving his share of this extortion Cerizet said to himself: +"There's three thousand to make Cerizet clear out." + +Cerizet then returned to the notary and said: "Claparon is a scoundrel, +monsieur; he has received fifteen thousand francs from the proposed +purchaser of your house, who will now, of course, become the owner. +Threaten to reveal his hiding-place to his creditors, and to have him +sued for fraudulent bankruptcy, and he'll give you half." + +In his wrath the notary wrote a fulminating letter to Claparon. +Claparon, alarmed, feared an arrest, and Cerizet offered to get him a +passport. + +"You have played me many a trick, Claparon," he said, "but listen to +me now, and you can judge of my kindness. I possess, as my whole means, +three thousand francs; I'll give them to you; start for America, and +make your fortune there, as I'm trying to make mine here." + +That evening Claparon, carefully disguised by Cerizet, left for Havre by +the diligence. Cerizet remained master of the fifteen thousand francs +to be paid to Claparon, and he awaited Theodose with the payment thereof +tranquilly. + +"The limit for bidding-in is passed," thought Theodose, as he went to +find Dutocq and ask him to bring Cerizet to his office. "Suppose I were +now to make an effort to get rid of my leech?" + +"You can't settle this affair anywhere but at Cerizet's, because +Claparon must be present, and he is hiding there," said Dutocq. + +Accordingly, Theodose went, between seven and eight o'clock, to the den +of the "banker of the poor," whom Dutocq had notified of his coming. +Cerizet received him in the horrible kitchen where miseries and sorrows +were chopped and cooked, as we have seen already. The pair then walked +up and down, precisely like two animals in a cage, while mutually +playing the following scene:-- + +"Have you brought the fifteen thousand francs?" + +"No, but I have them at home." + +"Why not have them in your pocket?" asked Cerizet, sharply. + +"I'll tell you," replied Theodose, who, as he walked from the rue +Saint-Dominique to the Estrapade, had decided on his course of action. + +The Provencal, writhing upon the gridiron on which his partners held +him, became suddenly possessed with a good idea, which flashed from the +body of the live coal under him. Peril has gleams of light. He +resolved to rely on the power of frankness, which affects all men, even +swindlers. Every one is grateful to an adversary who bares himself to +the waist in a duel. + +"Well!" said Cerizet, "now the humbug begins." + +The words seemed to come wholly through the hole in his nose with +horrible intonations. + +"You have put me in a magnificent position, and I shall never forget the +service you have done me, my friend," began Theodose, with emotion. + +"Oh, that's how you take it, is it?" said Cerizet. + +"Listen to me; you don't understand my intentions." + +"Yes, I do!" replied the lender by "the little week." + +"No, you don't." + +"You intend not to give up those fifteen thousand francs." + +Theodose shrugged his shoulders and looked fixedly at Cerizet, who, +struck by the two motions, kept silence. + +"Would you live in my position, knowing yourself within range of a +cannon loaded with grape-shot, without feeling a strong desire to +get out of it? Now listen to me carefully. You are doing a dangerous +business, and you would be glad enough to have some solid protection in +the very heart of the magistracy of Paris. If I can continue my +present course, I shall be substitute attorney-general, possibly +attorney-general, in three years. I offer you to-day the offices of a +devoted friendship, which will serve you hereafter most assuredly, if +only to replace you in a honorable position. Here are my conditions--" + +"Conditions!" exclaimed Cerizet. + +"In ten minutes I will bring you twenty-five thousand francs if you +return to me all the notes which you have against me." + +"But Dutocq? and Claparon?" said Cerizet. + +"Leave them in the lurch!" replied Theodose, with his lips at Cerizet's +ear. + +"That's a pretty thing to say!" cried Cerizet. "And so you have invented +this little game of hocus-pocus because you hold in your fingers fifteen +thousand francs that don't belong to you!" + +"But I've added ten thousand francs to them. Besides, you and I know +each other." + +"If you are able to get ten thousand francs out of your bourgeois you +can surely get fifteen," said Cerizet. "For thirty thousand I'm your +man. Frankness for frankness, you know." + +"You ask the impossible," replied Theodose. "At this very moment, if you +had to do with Claparon instead of with me, your fifteen thousand would +be lost, for Thuillier is to-day the owner of that house." + +"I'll speak to Claparon," said Cerizet, pretending to go and consult +him, and mounting the stairs to the bedroom, from which Claparon had +only just departed on his road to Havre. + +The two adversaries had been speaking, we should here remark, in a +manner not to be overheard; and every time that Theodose raised his +voice Cerizet would make a gesture, intimating that Claparon, from +above, might be listening. The five minutes during which Theodose heard +what seemed to be the murmuring of two voices were torture to him, for +he had staked his very life upon the issue. Cerizet at last came down, +with a smile upon his lips, his eyes sparkling with infernal mischief, +his whole frame quivering in his joy, a Lucifer of gaiety! + +"I know nothing, so it seems!" he cried, shaking his shoulders, "but +Claparon knows a great deal; he has worked with the big-wig bankers, and +when I told what you wanted he began to laugh, and said, 'I thought as +much!' You will have to bring me the twenty-five thousand you offer me +to-morrow morning, my lad; and as much more before you can recover your +notes." + +"Why?" asked Theodose, feeling his spinal column liquidizing as if the +discharge of some inward electric fluid had melted it. + +"The house is ours." + +"How?" + +"Claparon has bit it in under the name of one of his creditors, a little +toad named Sauvaignou. Desroches, the lawyer, has taken the case, and +you'll get a notice to-morrow. This affair will oblige Claparon, Dutocq, +and me to raise funds. What would become of me without Claparon! So I +forgive him--yes, I forgave him, and though you may not believe it, my +dear friend, I actually kissed him! Change your terms." + +The last three words were horrible to hear, especially when illustrated +by the face of the speaker, who amused himself by playing a scene from +the "Legataire," all the while studying attentively the Provencal's +character. + +"Oh, Cerizet!" cried Theodose; "I, who wished to do you so much good!" + +"Don't you see, my dear fellow," returned Cerizet, "that between you and +me there ought to be _this_,--" and he struck his heart,--"of which you +have none. As soon as you thought you had a lever on us, you have tried +to knock us over. I saved you from the horrors of starvation and vermin! +You'll die like the idiot you are. We put you on the high-road to +fortune; we gave you a fine social skin and a position in which you +could grasp the future--and look what you do! _Now_ I know you! and from +this time forth, we shall go armed." + +"Then it is war between us!" exclaimed Theodose. + +"You fired first," returned Cerizet. + +"If you pull me down, farewell to your hopes and plans; if you don't +pull me down, you have in me an enemy." + +"That's just what I said yesterday to Dutocq; but, how can we help it? +We are forced to choose between two alternatives--we must go according +to circumstances. I'm a good-natured fellow myself," he added, after a +pause; "bring me your twenty-five thousand francs to-morrow morning and +Thuillier shall keep the house. We'll continue to help you at both ends, +but you'll have to pay up, my boy. After what has just happened that's +pretty kind, isn't it?" + +And Cerizet patted Theodose on the shoulder, with a cynicism that seemed +to brand him more than the iron of the galleys. + +"Well, give me till to-morrow at mid-day," replied the Provencal, "for +there'll be, as you said, some manipulation to do." + +"I'll try to keep Claparon quiet; he's in such a hurry, that man!" + +"To-morrow then," said Theodose, in the tone of a man who decides his +course. + +"Good-night, friend," said Cerizet, in his nasal tone, which degraded +the finest word in the language. "There's one who has got a mouthful +to suck!" thought Cerizet, as he watched Theodose going down the street +with the step of a dazed man. + +When la Peyrade reached the rue des Postes he went with rapid strides +to Madame Colleville's house, exciting himself as he walked along, and +talking aloud. The fire of his roused passions and the sort of inward +conflagration of which many Parisians are conscious (for such situations +abound in Paris) brought him finally to a pitch of frenzy and eloquence +which found expression, as he turned into the rue des Deux-Eglises, in +the words:-- + +"I will kill him!" + +"There's a fellow who is not content!" said a passing workman, and the +jesting words calmed the incandescent madness to which Theodose was a +prey. + +As he left Cerizet's the idea came to him to go to Flavie and tell +her all. Southern natures are born thus--strong until certain passions +arise, and then collapsed. He entered Flavie's room; she was alone, and +when she saw Theodose she fancied her last hour had come. + +"What is the matter?" she cried. + +"I--I--" he said. "Do you love me, Flavie?" + +"Oh! how can you doubt it?" + +"Do you love me absolutely?--if I were criminal, even?" + +"Has he murdered some one?" she thought, replying to his question by a +nod. + +Theodose, thankful to seize even this branch of willow, drew a chair +beside Flavie's sofa, and there gave way to sobs that might have touched +the oldest judge, while torrents of tears began to flow from his eyes. + +Flavie rose and left the room to say to her maid: "I am not at home to +any one." Then she closed all doors and returned to Theodose, moved to +the utmost pitch of maternal solicitude. She found him stretched out, +his head thrown back, and weeping. He had taken out his handkerchief, +and when Flavie tried to move it from his face it was heavy with tears. + +"But what is the matter?" she asked; "what ails you?" + +Nature, more impressive than art, served Theodose well; no longer was he +playing a part; he was himself; this nervous crisis and these tears were +the winding up of his preceding scenes of acted comedy. + +"You are a child," she said, in a gentle voice, stroking his hair +softly. + +"I have but you, you only, in all the world!" he replied, kissing her +hands with a sort of passion; "and if you are true to me, if you are +mine, as the body belongs to the soul and the soul to the body, then--" +he added, recovering himself with infinite grace, "_Then_ I can have +courage." + +He rose, and walked about the room. + +"Yes, I will struggle; I will recover my strength, like Antaeus, from +a fall; I will strangle with my own hands the serpents that entwine +me, that kiss with serpent kisses, that slaver my cheeks, that suck my +blood, my honor! Oh, misery! oh, poverty! Oh, how great are they who can +stand erect and carry high their heads! I had better have let myself die +of hunger, there, on my wretched pallet, three and a half years ago! A +coffin is a softer bed to lie in than the life I lead! It is eighteen +months that I have _fed on bourgeois_! and now, at the moment of +attaining an honest, fortunate life, a magnificent future, at the moment +when I was about to sit down to the social banquet, the executioner +strikes me on the shoulder! Yes, the monster! he struck me there, on my +shoulder, and said to me: 'Pay thy dues to the devil, or die!' And shall +I not crush them? Shall I not force my arm down their throats to their +very entrails? Yes, yes, I will, I will! See, Flavie, my eyes are dry +now. Ha, ha! now I laugh; I feel my strength come back to me; power is +mine! Oh! say that you love me; say it again! At this moment it sounds +like the word 'Pardon' to the man condemned to death!" + +"You are terrible, my friend!" cried Flavie. "Oh! you are killing me." + +She understood nothing of all this, but she fell upon the sofa, +exhausted by the spectacle. Theodose flung himself at her feet. + +"Forgive me! forgive me!" he said. + +"But what is the matter? what is it?" she asked again. + +"They are trying to destroy me. Oh! promise to give me Celeste, and +you shall see what a glorious life I will make you share. If you +hesitate--very good; that is saying you will be wholly mine, and I will +have you!" + +He made so rapid a movement that Flavie, terrified, rose and moved away. + +"Oh! my saint!" he cried, "at thy feet I fall--a miracle! God is for me, +surely! A flash of light has come to me--an idea--suddenly! Oh, thanks, +my good angel, my grand Saint-Theodose! thou hast saved me!" + +Flavie could not help admiring that chameleon being; one knee on the +floor, his hands crossed on his breast, and his eyes raised to heaven +in religious ecstasy, he recited a prayer; he was a fervent Catholic; +he reverently crossed himself. It was fine; like the vision of +Saint-Jerome. + +"Adieu!" he said, with a melancholy look and a moving tone of voice. + +"Oh!" cried Flavie, "leave me this handkerchief." + +Theodose rushed away like one possessed, sprang into the street, and +darted towards the Thuilliers', but turned, saw Flavie at her window, +and made her a little sign of triumph. + +"What a man!" she thought to herself. + +"Dear, good friend," he said to Thuillier, in a calm and gentle, almost +caressing voice, "we have fallen into the hands of atrocious scoundrels. +But I mean to read them a lesson." + +"What has happened?" asked Brigitte. + +"They want twenty-five thousand francs, and, in order to get the better +of us, the notary, or his accomplices, have determined to bid in the +property. Thuillier, put five thousand francs in your pocket and come +with me; I will secure that house to you. I am making myself implacable +enemies!" he cried; "they are seeking to destroy me morally. But all +I ask is that you will disregard their infamous calumnies and feel no +change of heart to me. After all, what is it? If I succeed, you will +only have paid one hundred and twenty-five thousand francs for the house +instead of one hundred and twenty." + +"Provided the same thing doesn't happen again," said Brigitte, uneasily, +her eyes dilating under the effect of a violent suspicion. + +"Preferred creditors have alone the right to bid in property, and as, +in this case, there is but one, and he has used that right, we are safe. +The amount of his claim is really only two thousand francs, but there +are lawyers, attorneys, and so forth, to pay in such matters, and we +shall have to drop a note of a thousand francs to make the creditor +happy." + +"Go, Thuillier," said Brigitte, "get your hat and gloves, and take the +money--from you know where." + +"As I paid those fifteen thousand francs without success, I don't wish +to have any more money pass through my hands. Thuillier must pay it +himself," said Theodose, when he found himself alone with Brigitte. "You +have, however, gained twenty thousand on the contract I enabled you to +make with Grindot, who thought he was serving the notary, and you own a +piece of property which in five years will be worth nearly a million. It +is what is called a 'boulevard corner.'" + +Brigitte listened uneasily, precisely like a cat which hears a mouse +within the wall. She looked Theodose straight in the eye, and, in spite +of the truth of his remarks, doubts possessed her. + +"What troubles you, little aunt?" + +"Oh! I shall be in mortal terror until that property is securely ours." + +"You would be willing to give twenty thousand francs, wouldn't you," +said Theodose, "to make sure that Thuillier was what we call, in law, +'owner not dispossessable' of that property? Well, then, remember that I +have saved you twice that amount." + +"Where are we going?" asked Thuillier, returning. + +"To Maitre Godeschal! We must employ him as our attorney." + +"But we refused him for Celeste." + +"Well, that's one reason for going to him," replied Theodose. "I have +taken his measure; he's a man of honor, and he'll think it a fine thing +to do you a service." + +Godeschal, now Derville's successor, had formerly been, for more +than two years, head-clerk with Desroches. Theodose, to whom that +circumstance was known, seemed to hear the name flung into his ear +in the midst of his despair by an inward voice, and he foresaw a +possibility of wrenching from the hands of Claparon the weapon with +which Cerizet had threatened him. He must, however, in the first +instance, gain an entrance to Desroches, and get some light on the +actual situation of his enemies. Godeschal, by reason of the intimacy +still existing between the former clerk and his old master, could be his +go-between. When the attorneys of Paris have ties like those which bound +Godeschal and Desroches together, they live in true fraternity, and the +result is a facility in arranging any matters which are, as one may say, +arrangeable. They obtain from one another, on the ground of reciprocity, +all possible concessions by the application of the proverb, "Pass me the +rhubarb, and I'll pass you the senna," which is put in practice in +all professions, between ministers, soldiers, judges, business men; +wherever, in short, enmity has not raised barriers too strong and high +between the parties. + +"I gain a pretty good fee out of this compromise," is a reason that +needs no expression in words: it is visible in the gesture, the tone, +the glance; and as attorneys and solicitors meet constantly on this +ground, the matter, whatever it is, is arranged. The counterpoise +of this fraternal system is found in what we may call professional +conscience. The public must believe the physician who says, giving +medical testimony, "This body contains arsenic"; nothing is supposed to +exceed the integrity of the legislator, the independence of the cabinet +minister. In like manner, the attorney of Paris says to his brother +lawyer, good-humoredly, "You can't obtain that; my client is furious," +and the other answers, "Very good; I must do without it." + +Now, la Peyrade, a shrewd man, had worn his legal gown about the Palais +long enough to know how these judicial morals might be made to serve his +purpose. + +"Sit in the carriage," he said to Thuillier, when they reached the rue +Vivienne, where Godeschal was now master of the practice he had formerly +served as clerk. "You needn't show yourself until he undertakes the +affair." + +It was eleven o'clock at night; la Peyrade was not mistaken in supposing +that he should find a newly fledged master of a practice in his office +at that hour. + +"To what do I owe this visit, monsieur?" said Godeschal, coming forward +to meet the barrister. + +Foreigners, provincials, and persons in high society may not be aware +that barristers are to attorneys what generals are to marshals. There +exists a line of demarcation, strictly maintained, between the order of +barristers and the guild of attorneys and solicitors in Paris. However +venerable an attorney may be, however capable and strong in his +profession, he must go to the barrister. The attorney is the +administrator, who maps out the plan of the campaign, collects the +munitions of war, and puts the force in motion; the barrister gives +battle. It is not known why the law gives a man two men to defend him +any more than it is known why an author is forced to have both printer +and publisher. The rules of the bar forbid its members to do any act +belonging to the guild of attorneys. It is very rare that a barrister +puts his foot in an attorney's office; the two classes meet in the +law-courts. In society, there is no barrier between them, and some +barristers, those in la Peyrade's situation particularly, demean +themselves by calling occasionally on attorneys, though even these cases +are rare, and are usually excused by some special urgency. + +"I have come on important business," replied la Peyrade; "it concerns, +especially, a question of delicacy which you and I ought to solve +together. Thuillier is below, in a carriage, and I have come up to see +you, not as a barrister, but as his friend. You are in a position to do +him an immense service; and I have told him that you have too noble a +soul (as a worthy successor of our great Derville must have) not to put +your utmost capacity at his orders. Here's the affair." + +After explaining, wholly to his own advantage, the swindling trick which +must, he said, be met with caution and ability, the barrister developed +his plan of campaign. + +"You ought, my dear maitre, to go this very evening to Desroches, +explain the whole plot and persuade him to send to-morrow for his +client, this Sauvaignou. We'll confess the fellow between us, and if +he wants a note for a thousand francs over and above the amount of his +claim, we'll let him have it; not counting the five hundred for you +and as much more for Desroches, provided Thuillier receives the +relinquishment of his claim by ten o'clock to-morrow morning. What does +this Sauvaignou want? Nothing but money. Well, a haggler like that won't +resist the attraction of an extra thousand francs, especially if he is +only the instrument of a cupidity behind him. It is no matter to us how +he fights it out with those who prompt him. Now, then, do you think you +can get the Thuillier family out of this?" + +"I'll go and see Desroches at once," said Godeschal. + +"Not before Thuillier gives you a power of attorney and five hundred +francs. The money should be on the table in a case like this." + +After the interview with Thuillier was over, la Peyrade took Godeschal +in the carriage to the rue du Bethizy, where Desroches lived, explaining +that it was on their way back to the rue Saint-Dominique d'Enfer. When +they stopped at Desroches's door la Peyrade made an appointment with +Godeschal to meet him there the next morning at seven o'clock. + +La Peyrade's whole future and fortune lay in the outcome of this +conference. It is therefore not astonishing that he disregarded the +customs of the bar and went to Desroches's office, to study Sauvaignou +and take part in the struggle, in spite of the danger he ran in thus +placing himself visibly before the eyes of one of the most dreaded +attorneys in Paris. + +As he entered the office and made his salutations, he took note +of Sauvaignou. The man was, as the name had already told him, from +Marseilles,--the foreman of a master-carpenter, entrusted with the +giving out of sub-contracts. The profits of this work consisted of what +he could make between the price he paid for the work and that paid to +him by the master-carpenter; this agreement being exclusive of material, +his contract being only for labor. The master-carpenter had failed. +Sauvaignou had thereupon appealed to the court of commerce for +recognition as creditor with a lien on the property. He was a stocky +little man, dressed in a gray linen blouse, with a cap on his head, and +was seated in an armchair. Three banknotes, of a thousand francs each, +lying visibly before him on Desroches's desk, informed la Peyrade that +the negotiation had already taken place, and that the lawyers were +worsted. Godeschal's eyes told the rest, and the glance which Desroches +cast at the "poor man's advocate" was like the blow of a pick-axe into +the earth of a grave. Stimulated by his danger, the Provencal became +magnificent. He coolly took up the bank-notes and folded them, as if to +put them in his pocket, saying to Desroches:-- + +"Thuillier has changed his mind." + +"Very good; then we are all agreed," said the terrible attorney. + +"Yes; your client must now hand over to us the fifty thousand francs +we have spent on finishing the house, according to the contract between +Thuillier and Grindot. I did not tell you that yesterday," he added, +turning to Godeschal. + +"Do you hear that?" said Desroches to Sauvaignou. "That's a case I shall +not touch without proper guarantees." + +"But, messieurs," said Sauvaignou, "I can't negotiate this matter until +I have seen the worthy man who paid me five hundred francs on account +for having signed him that bit of a proxy." + +"Are you from Marseilles?" said la Peyrade, in patois. + +"Oh! if he tackles him with patois the fellow is beaten," said Godeschal +to Desroches in a low tone. + +"Yes, monsieur," replied the Marseillais. + +"Well, you poor devil," continued Theodose, "don't you see that they +want to ruin you? Shall I tell you what you ought to do? Pocket these +three thousand francs, and when your worthy man comes after you, take +your rule and hit him a rap over the knuckles; tell him he's a rascal +who wants you to do his dirty work, and instead of that you revoke your +proxy and will pay him his five hundred francs in the week with three +Thursdays. Then be off with you to Marseilles with these three thousand +francs and your savings in your pocket. If anything happens to you +there, let me know through these gentlemen, and I'll get you out of the +scrape; for, don't you see? I'm not only a Provencal, but I'm also one +of the leading lawyers in Paris, and the friend of the poor." + +When the workman found a compatriot sanctioning in a tone of authority +the reasons by which he could betray Cerizet, he capitulated, asking, +however, for three thousand five hundred francs. That demand having been +granted he remarked:-- + +"It is none too much for a rap over the knuckles; he might put me in +prison for assault." + +"Well, you needn't strike unless he insults you," replied la Peyrade, +"and that's self-defence." + +When Desroches had assured him that la Peyrade was really a barrister in +good standing, Sauvaignou signed the relinquishment, which contained a +receipt for the amount, principal and interest, of his claim, made +in duplicate between himself and Thuillier, and witnessed by the two +attorneys; so that the paper was a final settlement of the whole matter. + +"We'll leave the remaining fifteen hundred between you," whispered la +Peyrade to Desroches and Godeschal, "on condition that you give me the +relinquishment, which I will have Thuillier accept and sign before his +notary, Cardot. Poor man! he never closed his eyes all night!" + +"Very well," replied Desroches. "You may congratulate yourself," he +added, making Sauvaignou sign the paper, "that you've earned that money +pretty easily." + +"It is really mine, isn't it, monsieur?" said the Marseillais, already +uneasy. + +"Yes, and legally, too," replied Desroches, "only you must let your +man know this morning that you have revoked your proxy under date of +yesterday. Go out through my clerk's office, here, this way." + +Desroches told his head-clerk what the man was to do, and he sent a +pupil-clerk with him to see that a sheriff's officer carried the notice +to Cerizet before ten o'clock. + +"I thank you, Desroches," said la Peyrade, pressing the attorney's hand; +"you think of everything; I shall never forget this service." + +"Don't deposit the deed with Cardot till after twelve o'clock," returned +Desroches. + +"Hay! comrade," cried the barrister, in Provencal, following Sauvaignou +into the next room, "take your Margot to walk about Belleville, and be +sure you don't go home." + +"I hear," said Sauvaignou. "I'm off to-morrow; adieu!" + +"Adieu," returned la Peyrade, with a Provencal cry. + +"There is something behind all this," said Desroches in an undertone to +Godeschal, as la Peyrade followed Sauvaignou into the clerk's office. + +"The Thuilliers get a splendid piece of property for next to nothing," +replied Godeschal; "that's all." + +"La Peyrade and Cerizet look to me like two divers who are fighting +under water," replied Desroches. "What am I to say to Cerizet, who put +the matter into my hands?" he added, as the barrister returned to them. + +"Tell him that Sauvaignou forced your hand," replied la Peyrade. + +"And you fear nothing?" said Desroches, in a sudden manner. + +"I? oh no! I want to give Cerizet a lesson." + +"To-morrow, I shall know the truth," said Desroches, in a low tone, to +Godeschal; "no one chatters like a beaten man." + +La Peyrade departed, carrying with him the deed of relinquishment. +At eleven o'clock he was in the courtroom of the justice-of-peace, +perfectly calm, and firm. When he saw Cerizet come in, pale with rage, +his eyes full of venom, he said in his ear:-- + +"My dear friend, I'm a pretty good fellow myself, and I hold that +twenty-five thousand francs in good bank-bills at your disposal, +whenever you will return to me those notes of mine which you hold." + +Cerizet looked at the advocate of the poor, without being able to say +one word in reply; he was green; the bile had struck in. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE PERVERSITY OF DOVES + +"I am a non-dispossessable property-owner!" cried Thuillier, coming home +after visiting his notary. "No human power can get that house away from +me. Cardot says so." + +The bourgeoisie think much more of what their notary tells them than of +what their attorney says. The notary is nearer to them than any other +ministerial officer. The Parisian bourgeois never pays a visit to his +attorney without a sense of fear; whereas he mounts the stairs with +ever-renewed pleasure to see his notary; he admires that official's +virtue and his sound good sense. + +"Cardot, who is looking for an apartment for one of his clients, wants +to know about our second floor," continued Thuillier. "If I choose he'll +introduce to me on Sunday a tenant who is ready to sign a lease for +eighteen years at forty thousand francs and taxes! What do you say to +that, Brigitte?" + +"Better wait," she replied. "Ah! that dear Theodose, what a fright he +gave me!" + +"Hey! my dearest girl, I must tell you that when Cardot asked who put me +in the way of this affair he said I owed him a present of at least ten +thousand francs. The fact is, I owe it all to him." + +"But he is the son of the house," responded Brigitte. + +"Poor lad! I'll do him the justice to say that he asks for nothing." + +"Well, dear, good friend," said la Peyrade, coming in about three +o'clock, "here you are, richissime!" + +"And through you, Theodose." + +"And you, little aunt, have you come to life again? Ah! you were not +half as frightened as I was. I put your interests before my own; I +haven't breathed freely till this morning at eleven o'clock; and yet I +am sure now of having two mortal enemies at my heels in the two men I +have tricked for your sake. As I walked home, just now, I asked myself +what could be your influence over me to make me commit such a crime, and +whether the happiness of belonging to your family and becoming your son +could ever efface the stain I have put upon my conscience." + +"Bah! you can confess it," said Thuillier, the free-thinker. + +"And now," said Theodose to Brigitte, "you can pay, in all security, +the cost of the house,--eighty thousand francs, and thirty thousand +to Grindot; in all, with what you have paid in costs, one hundred and +twenty thousand; and this last twenty thousand added make one hundred +and forty thousand. If you let the house outright to a single tenant ask +him for the last year's rent in advance, and reserve for my wife and me +the whole of the first floor above the entresol. Make those conditions +and you'll still get your forty thousand francs a year. If you should +want to leave this quarter so as to be nearer the Chamber, you can +always take up your abode with us on that vast first floor, which has +stables and coach-house belonging to it; in fact, everything that is +needful for a splendid life. And now, Thuillier, I am going to get the +cross of the Legion of honor for you." + +Hearing this last promise, Brigitte cried out in her enthusiasm:-- + +"Faith! my dear boy, you've done our business so well that I'll leave +you to manage that of letting the house." + +"Don't abdicate, dear aunt," replied Theodose. "God keep me from ever +taking a step without you! You are the good genius of this family; I +think only of the day when Thuillier will take his seat in the Chamber. +If you let the house you will come into possession of your forty +thousand francs for the last year of the lease in two months from now; +and that will not prevent Thuillier from drawing his quarterly ten +thousand of the rental." + +After casting this hope into the mind of the old maid, who was jubilant, +Theodose drew Thuillier into the garden and said to him, without beating +round the bush:-- + +"Dear, good friend, find means to get ten thousand francs from your +sister, and be sure not to let her suspect that you pay them to me; tell +her that sum is required in the government office to facilitate your +appointment as chevalier of the Legion of honor; tell her, too, that you +know the persons among whom that sum should be distributed." + +"That's a good idea," said Thuillier; "besides, I'll pay it back to her +when I get my rents." + +"Have the money ready this evening, dear friend. Now I am going out on +business about your cross; to-morrow we shall know something definitely +about it." + +"What a man you are!" cried Thuillier. + +"The ministry of the 1st of March is going to fall, and we must get it +out of them beforehand," said Theodose, shrewdly. + +He now hurried to Madame Colleville, crying out as he entered her +room:-- + +"I've conquered! We shall have a piece of landed property for Celeste +worth a million, a life-interest in which will be given to her by her +marriage-contract; but keep the secret, or your daughter will be hunted +down by peers of France. Besides, this settlement will only be made in +my favor. Now dress yourself, and let us go and call on Madame du Bruel; +she can get the cross for Thuillier. While you are getting under arms +I'll do a little courting to Celeste; you and I can talk as we drive +along." + +La Peyrade had seen, as he passed the door of the salon, Celeste and +Felix Phellion in close conversation. Flavie had such confidence in +her daughter that she did not fear to leave them together. Now that the +great success of the morning was secured, Theodose felt the necessity +of beginning his courtship of Celeste. It was high time, he thought, +to bring about a quarrel between the lovers. He did not, therefore, +hesitate to apply his ear to the door of the salon before entering it, +in order to discover what letters of the alphabet of love they were +spelling; he was even invited to commit this domestic treachery by +sounds from within, which seemed to say that they were disputing. Love, +according to one of our poets, is a privilege which two persons mutually +take advantage of to cause each other, reciprocally, a great deal of +sorrow about nothing at all. + +When Celeste knew that Felix was elected by her heart to be the +companion of her life, she felt a desire, not so much to study him as to +unite herself closely with him by that communion of souls which is the +basis of all affections, and leads, in youthful minds, to involuntary +examination. The dispute to which Theodose was now to listen took its +rise in a disagreement which had sprung up within the last few days +between the mathematician and Celeste. The young girl's piety was +real; she belonged to the flock of the truly faithful, and to her, +Catholicism, tempered by that mysticism which attracts young souls, was +an inward poem, a life within her life. From this point young girls are +apt to develop into either extremely high-minded women or saints. But, +during this beautiful period of their youth they have in their heart, +in their ideas, a sort of absolutism: before their eyes is the image +of perfection, and all must be celestial, angelic, or divine to satisfy +them. Outside of their ideal, nothing of good can exist; all is stained +and soiled. This idea causes the rejection of many a diamond with a flaw +by girls who, as women, fall in love with paste. + +Now, Celeste had seen in Felix, not irreligion, but indifference to +matters of religion. Like most geometricians, chemists, mathematicians, +and great naturalists, he had subjected religion to reason; he +recognized a problem in it as insoluble as the squaring of the circle. +Deist "in petto," he lived in the religion of most Frenchmen, not +attaching more importance to it than he did to the new laws promulgated +in July. It was necessary to have a God in heaven, just as they set up a +bust of the king at the mayor's office. Felix Phellion, a worthy son of +his father, had never drawn the slightest veil over his opinions or his +conscience; he allowed Celeste to read into them with the candor and +the inattention of a student of problems. The young girl, on her side, +professed a horror for atheism, and her conscience assured her that a +deist was cousin-germain to an atheist. + +"Have you thought, Felix, of doing what you promised me?" asked Celeste, +as soon as Madame Colleville had left them alone. + +"No, my dear Celeste," replied Felix. + +"Oh! to have broken his word!" she cried, softly. + +"But to have kept it would have been a profanation," said Felix. "I love +you so deeply, with a tenderness so little proof against your wishes, +that I promised a thing contrary to my conscience. Conscience, Celeste, +is our treasure, our strength, our mainstay. How can you ask me to go +into a church and kneel at the feet of a priest, in whom I can see only +a man? You would despise me if I obeyed you." + +"And so, my dear Felix, you refuse to go to church," said Celeste, +casting a tearful glance at the man she loved. "If I were your wife you +would let me go alone? You do not love me as I love you! for, alas! I +have a feeling in my heart for an atheist contrary to that which God +commands." + +"An atheist!" cried Felix. "Oh, no! Listen to me, Celeste. There is +certainly a God; I believe in that; but I have higher ideas of Him than +those of your priests; I do not wish to bring Him down to my level; +I want to rise to Him. I listen to the voice He has put within me,--a +voice which honest men call conscience, and I strive not to darken that +divine ray as it comes to me. For instance, I will never harm others; +I will do nothing against the commandments of universal morality, which +was that of Confucius, Moses, Pythagoras, Socrates, as well as of Jesus +Christ. I will stand in the presence of God; my actions shall be my +prayers; I will never be false in word or deed; never will I do a +base or shameful thing. Those are the precepts I have learned from my +virtuous father, and which I desire to bequeath to my children. All the +good that I can do I shall try to accomplish, even if I have to suffer +for it. What can you ask more of a man than that?" + +This profession of the Phellion faith caused Celeste to sadly shake her +head. + +"Read attentively," she replied, "'The Imitation of Jesus Christ.' +Strive to convert yourself to the holy Catholic, apostolic, and Roman +Church, and you will see how empty your words are. Hear me, Felix; +marriage is not, the Church says, the affair of a day, the mere +satisfaction of our own desires; it is made for eternity. What! shall we +be united day and night, shall we form one flesh, one word, and yet +have two languages, two faiths in our heart, and a cause of perpetual +dissension? Would you condemn me to weep tears over the state of your +soul,--tears that I must ever conceal from you? Could I address myself +in peace to God when I see his arm stretched out in wrath against you? +Must my children inherit the blood of a deist and his convictions? Oh! +God, what misery for a wife! No, no, these ideas are intolerable. Felix! +be of my faith, for I cannot share yours. Do not put a gulf between us. +If you loved me, you would already have read 'The Imitation of Jesus +Christ.'" + +The Phellion class, sons of the "Constitutionnel," dislike the priestly +mind. Felix had the imprudence to reply to this sort of prayer from the +depths of an ardent heart:-- + +"You are repeating, Celeste, the lessons your confessor teaches you; +nothing, believe me, is more fatal to happiness than the interference of +priests in a home." + +"Oh!" cried Celeste, wounded to the quick, for love alone inspired her, +"you do not love! The voice of my heart is not in unison with yours! +You have not understood me, because you have not listened to me; but I +forgive you, for you know not what you say." + +She wrapped herself in solemn silence, and Felix went to the window and +drummed upon the panes,--music familiar to those who have indulged +in poignant reflections. Felix was, in fact, presenting the following +delicate and curious questions to the Phellion conscience. + +"Celeste is a rich heiress, and, in yielding against the voice of +natural religion, to her ideas, I should have in view the making of what +is certainly an advantageous marriage,--an infamous act. I ought not, as +father of a family, to allow the priesthood to have an influence in my +home. If I yield to-day, I do a weak act, which will be followed by many +others equally pernicious to the authority of a husband and father. All +this is unworthy of a philosopher." + +Then he returned to his beloved. + +"Celeste, I entreat you on my knees," he said, "not to mingle that which +the law, in its wisdom, has separated. We live in two worlds,--society +and heaven. Each has its own way of salvation; but as to society, is it +not obeying God to obey the laws? Christ said: 'Render unto Caesar that +which is Caesar's.' Caesar is the body politic. Dear, let us forget our +little quarrel." + +"Little quarrel!" cried the young enthusiast; "I want you to have my +whole heart as I want to have the whole of yours; and you make it +into two parts! Is not that an evil? You forget that marriage is a +sacrament." + +"Your priesthood have turned your head," exclaimed the mathematician, +impatiently. + +"Monsieur Phellion," said Celeste, interrupting him hastily, "enough of +this!" + +It was at this point of the quarrel that Theodose considered it +judicious to enter the room. He found Celeste pale, and the young +professor as anxious as a lover should be who has just irritated his +mistress. + +"I heard the word 'enough'; then something is too much?" he said, +inquiringly, looking in turn from Celeste to Felix. + +"We were talking religion," replied Felix, "and I was saying to +mademoiselle how dangerous ecclesiastical influence is in the bosom of +families." + +"That was not the point, monsieur," said Celeste, sharply; "it was +to know if husband and wife could be of one heart when the one is an +atheist and the other Catholic." + +"Can there be such a thing as atheists?" cried Theodose, with all the +signs of extreme wonderment. "Could a true Catholic marry a Protestant? +There is no safety possible for a married pair unless they have perfect +conformity in the matter of religious opinions. I, who come from the +Comtat, of a family which counts a pope among its ancestors--for our +arms are: gules, a key argent, with supporters, a monk holding a church, +and a pilgrim with a staff, or, and the motto, 'I open, I shut'--I am, +of course, intensely dogmatic on such points. But in these days, thanks +to our modern system of education, it does not seem to me strange that +religion should be called into question. I myself would never marry a +Protestant, had she millions, even if I loved her distractedly. Faith is +a thing that cannot be tampered with. 'Una fides, unus Dominus,' that is +my device in life." + +"You hear that!" cried Celeste, triumphantly, looking at Felix Phellion. + +"I am not openly devout," continued la Peyrade. "I go to mass at six +every morning, that I may not be observed; I fast on Fridays; I am, +in short, a son of the Church, and I would not undertake any serious +enterprise without prayer, after the ancient fashion of our ancestors; +but no one is able to notice my religion. A singular thing happened to +our family during the Revolution of 1789, which attached us more closely +than ever to our holy mother the Church. A poor young lady of the elder +branch of the Peyrades, who owned the little estate of la Peyrade,--for +we ourselves are Peyrades of Canquoelle, but the two branches inherit +from one another,--well, this young lady married, six years before +the Revolution, a barrister who, after the fashion of the times, was +Voltairean, that is to say, an unbeliever, or, if you choose, a deist. +He took up all the revolutionary ideas, and practised the charming rites +that you know of in the worship of the goddess Reason. He came into +our part of the country imbued with the ideas of the Convention, and +fanatical about them. His wife was very handsome; he compelled her to +play the part of Liberty; and the poor unfortunate creature went mad. +She died insane! Well, as things are going now it looks as if we might +have another 1793." + +This history, invented on the spot, made such an impression on Celeste's +fresh and youthful imagination that she rose, bowed to the young men and +hastened to her chamber. + +"Ah! monsieur, why did you tell her that?" cried Felix, struck to the +heart by the cold look the young girl, affecting profound indifference, +cast upon him. She fancied herself transformed into a goddess of Reason. + +"Why not? What were you talking about?" asked Theodose. + +"About my indifference to religion." + +"The great sore of this century," replied Theodose, gravely. + +"I am ready," said Madame Colleville, appearing in a toilet of much +taste. "But what is the matter with my poor daughter? She is crying!" + +"Crying? madame," exclaimed Felix; "please tell her that I will study +'The Imitation of Christ' at once." + +Felix left the house with Theodose and Flavie, whose arm the barrister +pressed to let her know he would explain in the carriage the apparent +dementia of the young professor. + +An hour later, Madame Colleville and Celeste, Colleville and Theodose +were entering the Thuilliers' apartment to dine there. Theodose and +Flavie took Thuillier into the garden, where the former said to him:-- + +"Dear, good friend! you will have the cross within a week. Our charming +friend here will tell you about our visit to the Comtesse du Bruel." + +And Theodose left Thuillier, having caught sight of Desroches in the +act of being brought by Mademoiselle Thuillier into the garden; he went, +driven by a terrible and glacial presentiment, to meet him. + +"My good friend," said Desroches in his ear, "I have come to see if you +can procure at once twenty-five thousand francs plus two thousand six +hundred and eighty for costs." + +"Are you acting for Cerizet?" asked the barrister. + +"Cerizet has put all the papers into the hands of Louchard, and you know +what you have to expect if arrested. Is Cerizet wrong in thinking you +have twenty-five thousand francs in your desk? He says you offered them +to him and he thinks it only natural not to leave them in your hands." + +"Thank you for taking the step, my good friend," replied Theodose. "I +have been expecting this attack." + +"Between ourselves," replied Desroches, "you have made an utter fool +of him, and he is furious. The scamp will stop at nothing to get his +revenge upon you--for he'll lose everything if he forces you to fling +your barrister's gown, as they say, to the nettles and go to prison." + +"I?" said Theodose. "I'm going to pay him. But even so, there will still +be five notes of mine in his hands, for five thousand francs each; what +does he mean to do with them?" + +"Oh! after the affair of this morning, I can't tell you; my client is a +crafty, mangy cur, and he is sure to have his little plans." + +"Look here, Desroches," said Theodose, taking the hard, unyielding +attorney round the waist, "those papers are in your hands, are not +they?" + +"Will you pay them?" + +"Yes, in three hours." + +"Very good, then. Be at my office at nine o'clock; I'll receive the +money and give you your notes; _but_, at half-past nine o'clock, they +will be in the sheriff's hands." + +"To-night, then, at nine o'clock," said Theodose. + +"Nine o'clock," repeated Desroches, whose glance had taken in the whole +family, then assembled in the garden. + +Celeste, with red eyes, was talking to her godmother; Colleville and +Brigitte, Flavie and Thuillier were on the steps of the broad portico +leading to the entrance-hall. Desroches remarked to Theodose, who +followed him to the door:-- + +"You can pay off those notes." + +At a single glance the shrewd attorney had comprehended the whole scheme +of the barrister. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. ONE OF CERIZET'S FEMALE CLIENTS + +The next morning, at daybreak, Theodose went to the office of the banker +of the poor, to see the effect produced upon his enemy by the punctual +payment of the night before, and to make another effort to get rid of +his hornet. + +He found Cerizet standing up, in conference with a woman, and he +received an imperative sign to keep at a distance and not to interrupt +the interview. The barrister was therefore reduced to conjectures as to +the importance of this woman, an importance revealed by the eager +look on the face of the lender "by the little week." Theodose had +a presentiment, though a very vague one, that the upshot of this +conference would have some influence on Cerizet's own arrangements, for +he suddenly beheld on that crafty countenance the change produced by a +dawning hope. + +"But, my dear mamma Cardinal--" + +"Yes, my good monsieur--" + +"What is it you want--?" + +"It must be decided--" + +These beginnings, or these ends of sentences were the only gleams of +light that the animated conversation, carried on in the lowest tones +with lip to ear and ear to lip, conveyed to the motionless witness, +whose attention was fixed on Madame Cardinal. + +Madame Cardinal was one of Cerizet's earliest clients; she peddled fish. +If Parisians know these creations peculiar to their soil, foreigners +have no suspicion of their existence; and Mere Cardinal--technologically +speaking, of course, deserved all the interest she excited in Theodose. +So many women of her species may be met with in the streets that the +passers-by give them no more attention than they give to the three +thousand pictures of the Salon. But as she stood in Cerizet's office +the Cardinal had all the value of an isolated masterpiece; she was a +complete and perfect type of her species. + +The woman was mounted on muddy sabots; but her feet, carefully wrapped +in gaiters, were still further protected by stout and thick-ribbed +stockings. Her cotton gown, adorned with a glounce of mud, bore the +imprint of the strap which supported the fish-basket. Her principal +garment was a shawl of what was called "rabbit's-hair cashmere," the two +ends of which were knotted behind, above her bustle--for we must +needs employ a fashionable word to express the effect produced by the +transversal pressure of the basket upon her petticoats, which projected +below it, in shape like a cabbage. A printed cotton neckerchief, of the +coarsest description, gave to view a red neck, ribbed and lined like the +surface of a pond where people have skated. Her head was covered in a +yellow silk foulard, twined in a manner that was rather picturesque. +Short and stout, and ruddy of skin, Mere Cardinal probably drank her +little drop of brandy in the morning. She had once been handsome. The +Halle had formerly reproached her, in the boldness of its figurative +speech, for doing "a double day's-work in the twenty-four." Her voice, +in order to reduce itself to the diapason of ordinary conversation, was +obliged to stifle its sound as other voices do in a sick-room; but at +such times it came thick and muffled, from a throat accustomed to send +to the farthest recesses of the highest garret the names of the fish in +their season. Her nose, a la Roxelane, her well-cut lips, her blue eyes, +and all that formerly made up her beauty, was now buried in folds of +vigorous flesh which told of the habits and occupations of an outdoor +life. The stomach and bosom were distinguished for an amplitude worthy +of Rubens. + +"Do you want to make me lie in the straw?" she said to Cerizet. "What +do I care for the Toupilliers? Ain't I a Toupillier myself? What do you +want to do with them, those Toupilliers?" + +This savage outburst was hastily repressed by Cerizet, who uttered a +prolonged "Hush-sh!" such as all conspirators obey. + +"Well, go and find out all you can about it, and come back to me," said +Cerizet, pushing the woman toward the door, and whispering, as he did +so, a few words in her ear. + +"Well, my dear friend," said Theodose to Cerizet, "you have got your +money?" + +"Yes," returned Cerizet "we have measured our claws, they are the same +length, the same strength, and the same sharpness. What next?" + +"Am I to tell Dutocq that you received, last night, twenty-five thousand +francs?" + +"Oh! my dear friend, not a word, if you love me!" cried Cerizet. + +"Listen," said Theodose. "I must know, once for all, what you want. I +am positively determined not to remain twenty-four hours longer on the +gridiron where you have got me. Cheat Dutocq if you will; I am utterly +indifferent to that; but I intend that you and I shall come to an +understanding. It is a fortune that I have paid you, twenty-five +thousand francs, and you must have earned ten thousand more in your +business; it is enough to make you an honest man. Cerizet, if you will +leave me in peace, if you won't prevent my marriage with Mademoiselle +Colleville, I shall certainly be king's attorney-general, or something +of that kind in Paris. You can't do better than make sure of an +influence in that sphere." + +"Here are my conditions; and they won't allow of discussion; you can +take them or leave them. You will obtain for me the lease of Thuillier's +new house for eighteen years, and I'll hand you back one of your five +notes cancelled, and you shall not find me any longer in your way. But +you will have to settle with Dutocq for the remaining four notes. You +got the better of _me_, and I know Dutocq hasn't the force to stand +against you." + +"I'll agree to that, provided you'll pay a rent of forty-eight thousand +francs for the house, the last year in advance, and begin the lease in +October." + +"Yes; but I shall not give for the last year's rent more than +forty-three thousand francs; your note will pay the remainder. I have +seen the house, and examined it. It suits me very well." + +"One last condition," said Theodose; "you'll help me against Dutocq?" + +"No," said Cerizet, "you'll cook him brown yourself; he doesn't need any +basting from me; he'll give out his gravy fast enough. But you ought to +be reasonable. The poor fellow can't pay off the last fifteen thousand +francs due on his practice, and you should reflect that fifteen thousand +francs would certainly buy back your notes." + +"Well; give me two weeks to get your lease--" + +"No, not a day later than Monday next! Tuesday your notes will be in +Louchard's hands; unless you pay them Monday, or Thuillier signs the +lease." + +"Well, Monday, so be it!" said Theodose; "are we friends?" + +"We shall be Monday," responded Cerizet. + +"Well, then, Monday you'll pay for my dinner," said Theodose, laughing. + +"Yes, at the Rocher de Cancale, if I have the lease. Dutocq shall be +there--we'll all be there--ah! it is long since I've had a good laugh." + +Theodose and Cerizet shook hands, saying, reciprocally:-- + +"We'll meet soon." + +Cerizet had not calmed down so suddenly without reasons. In the first +place, as Desroches once said, "Bile does not facilitate business," and +the usurer had too well seen the justice of that remark not to coolly +resolve to get something out of his position, and to squeeze the jugular +vein of the crafty Provencal until he strangled him. + +"It is a fair revenge," Desroches said to him; "mind you extract its +quintessence. You hold that fellow." + +For ten years past Cerizet had seen men growing rich by practising the +trade of principal tenant. The principal tenant is, in Paris, to the +owners of houses what farmers are to country landlords. All Paris has +seen one of its great tailors, building at his own cost, on the famous +site of Frascati, one of the most sumptuous of houses, and paying, as +principal tenant, fifty thousand francs a year for the ground rent of +the house, which, at the end of nineteen years' lease, was to become +the property of the owner of the land. In spite of the costs of +construction, which were something like seven hundred thousand francs, +the profits of those nineteen years proved, in the end, very large. + +Cerizet, always on the watch for business, had examined the chances +for gain offered by the situation of the house which Thuillier had +_stolen_,--as he said to Desroches,--and he had seen the possibility of +letting it for sixty thousand at the end of six years. There were four +shops, two on each side, for it stood on a boulevard corner. Cerizet +expected, therefore, to get clear ten thousand a year for a dozen years, +allowing for eventualities and sundries attendant on renewal of leases. +He therefore proposed to himself to sell his money-lending business +to the widow Poiret and Cadenet for ten thousand francs; he already +possessed thirty thousand; and the two together would enable him to pay +the last year's rent in advance, which house-owners in Paris usually +demand as a guarantee from a principal tenant on a long lease. Cerizet +had spent a happy night; he fell asleep in a glorious dream; he +saw himself in a fair way to do an honest business, and to become a +bourgeois like Thuillier, like Minard, and so many others. + +But he had a waking of which he did not dream. He found Fortune standing +before him, and emptying her gilded horns of plenty at his feet in the +person of Madame Cardinal. He had always had a liking for the woman, and +had promised her for a year past the necessary sum to buy a donkey and +a little cart, so that she could carry on her business on a large scale, +and go from Paris to the suburbs. Madame Cardinal, widow of a porter in +the corn-market, had an only daughter, whose beauty Cerizet had heard +of from some of the mother's cronies. Olympe Cardinal was about thirteen +years of age at the time, 1837, when Cerizet began his system of loans +in the quarter; and with a view to an infamous libertinism, he had paid +great attention to the mother, whom he rescued from utter misery, hoping +to make Olympe his mistress. But suddenly, in 1838, the girl left her +mother, and "made her life," to use an expression by which the lower +classes in Paris describe the abuse of the most precious gifts of nature +and youth. + +To look for a girl in Paris is to look for a smelt in the Seine; nothing +but chance can throw her into the net. The chance came. Mere Cardinal, +who to entertain a neighbor had taken her to the Bobino theatre, +recognized in the leading lady her own daughter, whom the first comedian +had held under his control for three years. The mother, gratified at +first at beholding her daughter in a fine gown of gold brocade, her hair +dressed like that of a duchess, and wearing open-worked stockings, satin +shoes, and receiving the plaudits of the audience, ended by screaming +out from her seat in the gallery:-- + +"You shall soon hear of me, murderer of your own mother! I'll know +whether miserable strolling-players have the right to come and debauch +young girls of sixteen!" + +She waited at the stage-door to capture her daughter, but the first +comedian and the leading lady had no doubt jumped across the footlights +and left the theatre with the audience, instead of issuing by the +stage-door, where Madame Cardinal and her crony, Mere Mahoudeau, made an +infernal rumpus, which two municipal guards were called upon to pacify. +Those august personages, before whom the two women lowered the diapason +of their voices, called the mother's attention to the fact that the girl +was of legitimate theatrical age, and that instead of screaming at +the door after the director, she could summon him before the +justice-of-peace, or the police-court, whichever she pleased. + +The next day Madame Cardinal intended to consult Cerizet, in view of +the fact that he was a clerk in the office of the justice-of-peace; +but, before reaching his lair in the rue des Poules, she was met by the +porter of a house in which an uncle of hers, a certain Toupillier, was +living, who told her that the old man hadn't probably two days to live, +being then in the last extremity. + +"Well, how do you expect me to help it?" replied the widow Cardinal. + +"We count on you, my dear Madame Cardinal; we know you won't forget the +good advice we'll give you. Here's the thing. Lately, your poor uncle, +not being able to stir round, has trusted me to go and collect the +rents of his house, rue Notre-Dame de Nazareth, and the arrears of his +dividends at the Treasury, which come to eighteen hundred francs." + +By this time the widow Cardinal's eyes were becoming fixed instead of +wandering. + +"Yes, my dear," continued Perrache, a hump-backed little concierge; +"and, seeing that you are the only person who ever thinks about him, and +that you come and see him sometimes, and bring him fish, perhaps he may +make a bequest in your favor. My wife, who has been nursing him for +the last few days since he has been so ill, spoke to him of you, but he +wouldn't have you told about his illness. But now, don't you see, it is +high time you should show yourself there. It is pretty nigh two months +since he has been able to attend to business." + +"You may well think, you old thief," replied Madame Cardinal, hurrying +at top speed toward the rue Honore-Chevalier, where her uncle lived in +a wretched garret, "that the hair would grow on my hand before I could +ever imagine that. What! my uncle Toupillier rich! the old pauper of the +church of Saint-Sulpice!" + +"Ah!" returned the porter, "but he fed well. He went to bed every night +with his best friend, a big bottle of Roussillon. My wife has tasted it, +though he told us it was common stuff. The wine-merchant in the rue des +Canettes supplies it to him." + +"Don't say a word about all this," said the widow, when she parted from +the man who had given her the information. "I'll take care and remember +you--if anything comes of it." + +Toupillier, former drum-major in the French Guards, had been for the +two years preceding 1789 in the service of the Church as beadle of +Saint-Sulpice. The Revolution deprived him of that post, and he then +dropped down into a state of abject misery. He was even obliged to +take to the profession of model, for he _enjoyed_, as they say, a fine +physique. When public worship was restored, he took up his beadle's +staff once more; but in 1816 he was dismissed, as much on account of his +immorality as for his political opinions. Nevertheless, he was allowed +to stay about the door of the church and distribute the holy water. +Later, an unfortunate affair, which we shall presently mention, made +him lose even that position; but, still finding means to keep to the +sanctuary, he obtained permission to be allowed as a pauper in the +porch. At this period of life, being then seventy-two years of age, he +made himself ninety-six, and began the profession of centenarian. + +In all Paris it was impossible to find another such beard and head of +hair as Toupillier's. As he walked he appeared bent double; he held a +stick in his shaking hand,--a hand that was covered with lichen, like +a granite rock, and with the other he held out the classic hat with +a broad brim, filthy and battered, into which, however, there fell +abundant alms. His legs were swathed in rags and bandages, and his feet +shuffled along in miserable overshoes of woven mat-weed, inside of which +he had fastened excellent cork soles. He washed his face with certain +compounds, which gave it an appearance of forms of illness, and he +played the senility of a centenarian to the life. He reckoned himself a +hundred years old in 1830, at which time his actual age was eighty; he +was the head of the paupers of Saint-Sulpice, the master of the place, +and all those who came to beg under the arcades of the church, safe from +the persecutions of the police and beneath the protection of the beadle +and the giver of holy water, were forced to pay him a sort of tithe. + +When a new heir, a bridegroom, or some godfather left the church, +saying, "Here, this is for all of you; don't torment any of my party," +Toupillier, appointed by the beadle to receive these alms, pocketed +three-fourths, and distributed only the remaining quarter among his +henchmen, whose tribute amounted to a sou a day. Money and wine were his +last two passions; but he regulated the latter and gave himself up to +the former, with neglecting his personal comfort. He drank at night +only, after his dinner, and for twenty years he slept in the arms of +drunkenness, his last mistress. + +In the early morning he was at his post with all his faculties. From +then until his dinner, which he took at Pere Lathuile's (made famous by +Charlet), he gnawed crusts of bread by way of nourishment; and he gnawed +them artistically, with an air of resignation which earned him abundant +alms. The beadle and the giver of holy water, with whom he may have had +some private understanding, would say of him:-- + +"He is one of the worthy poor of the church; he used to know the rector +Languet, who built Saint-Sulpice; he was for twenty years beadle of the +church before the Revolution, and he is now over a hundred years old." + +This little biography, well known to all the pious attendants of the +church, was, of course, the best of his advertisements, and no hat was +so well lined as his. He bought his house in 1826, and began to invest +his money in the Funds in 1830. From the value of the two investments he +must have made something like six thousand francs a year, and probably +turned them over by usury, after Cerizet's own fashion; for the sum he +paid for the house was forty thousand francs, while his investment in +1830 was forty-eight thousand more. His niece, deceived by the old man +as much as he deceived the functionaries and the pious souls of the +church, believed him the most miserable of paupers, and when she had any +fish that were spoiling she sometimes took them to the aged beggar. + +Consequently, she now felt it her right to get what she could in return +for her pity and her liberality to an uncle who was likely to have +a crowd of collateral heirs; she herself being the third and last +Toupillier daughter. She had four brothers, and her father, a porter +with a hand-cart, had told her, in her childhood, of three aunts and +four uncles, who all led an existence of the baser sort. + +After inspecting the sick man, she went, at full speed, to consult +Cerizet, telling him, in the first place, how she had found her +daughter, and then the reasons and indications which made her think that +her uncle Toupillier was hoarding a pile of gold in his mattress. Mere +Cardinal did not feel herself strong enough to seize upon the property, +legally or illegally, and she therefore came to confide in Cerizet and +get his advice. + +So, then, the banker of the poor, like other scavengers, had, at last, +found diamonds in the slime in which he had paddled for the last four +years, being always on the watch for some such chance,--a chance, +they say, occasionally met with in the purlieus, which give birth to +heiresses in sabots. This was the secret of his unexpected gentleness to +la Peyrade, the man whose ruin he had vowed. It is easy to imagine the +anxiety with which he awaited the return of Madame Cardinal, to whom +this wily schemer of nefarious plots had given means to verify her +suspicions as to the existence of the hoarded treasure, promising her +complete success if she would trust him to obtain for her so rich a +harvest. He was not the man to shrink from a crime, above all, when he +saw that others could commit it, while he obtained the benefits. + +"Well, monsieur," cried the fishwife, entering Cerizet's den with a face +as much inflamed by cupidity as by the haste of her movements, "my uncle +sleeps on more than a hundred thousand francs in gold, and I am certain +that those Perraches, by dint of nursing him, have smelt the rat." + +"Shared among forty heirs that won't be much to each," said Cerizet. +"Listen to me, Mere Cardinal: I'll marry your daughter; give her your +uncle's gold, and I'll guarantee to you a life-interest in the house and +the dividends from the money in the Funds." + +"We sha'n't run any risk?" + +"None, whatever." + +"Agreed, then," said the widow Cardinal, holding out her hand to her +future son-in-law. "Six thousand francs a year; hey! what a fine life +I'll have." + +"With a son-in-law like me!" added Cerizet. + +"I shall be a bourgeoisie of Paris!" + +"Now," resumed Cerizet, after a pause, "I must study the ground. Don't +leave your uncle alone a minute; tell the Perraches that you expect a +doctor. I'll be the doctor, and when I get there you must seem not to +know me." + +"Aren't you sly, you old rogue," said Madame Cardinal, with a punch on +Cerizet's stomach by way of farewell. + +An hour later, Cerizet, dressed in black, disguised by a rusty wig and +an artificially painted physiognomy, arrived at the house in the rue +Honore-Chevalier in the regulation cabriolet. He asked the porter to +tell him how to find the lodging of an old beggar named Toupillier. + +"Is monsieur the doctor whom Madame Cardinal expects?" asked Perrache. + +Cerizet had no doubt reflected on the gravity of the affair he was +undertaking, for he avoided giving an answer to that question. + +"Is this the way?" he said, turning at random to one side of the +courtyard. + +"No, monsieur," replied Perrache, who then took him to the back stairs +of the house, which led up to the wretched attic occupied by the pauper. + +Nothing remained for the inquisitive porter to do but to question the +driver of the cabriolet; to which employment we will leave him, while we +pursue our own inquiries elsewhere. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + THE DIFFICULTIES THAT CROP UP IN THE EASIEST OF THEFTS + +The house in which Toupillier lived is one of those which have lost half +their depth, owing to the straightening of the line of the street, the +rue Honore-Chevalier being one of the narrowest in the Saint-Sulpice +quarter. The owner, forbidden by the law to repair it, or to add new +storeys, was compelled to let the wretched building in the condition +in which he bought it. It consisted of a first storey above the +ground-floor, surmounted by garrets, with two small wings running back +on either side. The courtyard thus formed ended in a garden planted with +trees, which was always rented to the occupant of the first floor. This +garden, separated by an iron railing from the courtyard, would have +allowed a rich owner to sell the front buildings to the city, and to +build a new house upon the courtyard; but the whole of the first floor +was let on an eighteen years' lease to a mysterious personage, about +whom neither the official policing of the concierge nor the curiosity of +the other tenants could find anything to censure. + +This tenant, now seventy years of age, had built, in 1829, an outer +stairway, leading from the right wing of the first floor to the garden, +so that he could get there without going through the courtyard. Half the +ground-floor was occupied by a book-stitcher, who for the last ten +years had used the stable and coach-house for workshops. A book-binder +occupied the other half. The binder and the stitcher lived, each of +them, in half the garret rooms over the front building on the street. +The garrets above the rear wings were occupied, the one on the right +by the mysterious tenant, the one on the left by Toupillier, who paid +a hundred francs a year for it, and reached it by a dark staircase, +lighted by small round windows. The porte-cochere was made in the +circular form indispensable in a street so narrow that two carriages +cannot pass in it. + +Cerizet laid hold of the rope which served as a baluster, to climb the +species of ladder leading to the room where the so-called beggar was +dying,--a room in which the odious spectacle of pretended pauperism +was being played. In Paris, everything that is done for a purpose +is thoroughly done. Would-be paupers are as clever at mounting their +disguise as shopkeepers in preparing their show-windows, or sham rich +men in obtaining credit. + +The floor had never been swept; the bricks had disappeared beneath +layers of dirt, dust, dried mud, and any and every thing thrown down by +Toupillier. A miserable stove of cast-iron, the pipe of which entered +a crumbling chimney, was the most apparent piece of furniture in this +hovel. In an alcove stood a bed, with tester and valence of green serge, +which the moths had transformed into lace. The window, almost useless, +had a heavy coating of grease upon its panes, which dispensed with +the necessity of curtains. The whitewashed walls presented to the eye +fuliginous tones, due to the wood and peat burned by the pauper in his +stove. On the fireplace were a broken water-pitcher, two bottles, and +a cracked plate. A worm-eaten chest of drawers contained his linen and +decent clothes. The rest of the furniture consisted of a night-table of +the commonest description, another table, worth about forty sous, and +two kitchen chairs with the straw seats almost gone. The extremely +picturesque costume of the centenarian pauper was hanging from a nail, +and below it, on the floor, were the shapeless mat-weed coverings that +served him for shoes, the whole forming, with his amorphous old hat and +knotty stick, a sort of panoply of misery. + +As he entered, Cerizet gave a rapid glance at the old man, whose head +lay on a pillow brown with grease and without a pillow-case; his angular +profile, like those which engravers of the last century were fond +of making out of rocks in the landscapes they engraved, was strongly +defined in black against the green serge hangings of the tester. +Toupillier, a man nearly six feet tall, was looking fixedly at some +object at the foot of his bed; he did not move on hearing the groaning +of the heavy door, which, being armed with iron bolts and a strong lock, +closed his domicile securely. + +"Is he conscious?" said Cerizet, before whom Madame Cardinal started +back, not having recognized him till he spoke. + +"Pretty nearly," she replied. + +"Come out on the staircase, so that he doesn't hear us," whispered +Cerizet. "This is how we'll manage it," he continued, in the ear of his +future mother-in-law. "He is weak, but he isn't so very low; we have +fully a week before us. I'll send you a doctor who'll suit us,--you +understand? and later in the evening I'll bring you six poppy-heads. +In the state he's in, you see, a decoction of poppy-heads will send him +into a sound sleep. I'll send you a cot-bed on pretence of your sleeping +in the room with him. We'll move him from one bed to the other, and when +we've found the money there won't be any difficulty in carrying it off. +But we ought to know who the people are who live in this old barrack. +If Perrache suspects, as you think, about the money, he might give an +alarm, and so many tenants, so many spies, you know--" + +"Oh! as for that," said Madame Cardinal, "I've found out already that +Monsieur du Portail, the old man who occupies the first floor, has +charge of an insane woman; I heard their Dutch servant-woman, Katte, +calling her Lydie this morning. The only other servant is an old valet +named Bruneau; he does everything, except cook." + +"But the binder and the stitcher down below," returned Cerizet, "they +begin work very early in the morning--Well, anyhow, we must study the +matter," he added, in the tone of a man whose plans are not yet decided. +"I'll go to the mayor's office of your arrondissement, and get Olympe's +register of birth, and put up the banns. The marriage must take place a +week from Saturday." + +"How he goes it, the rascal!" cried the admiring Madame Cardinal, +pushing her formidable son-in-law by the shoulder. + +As he went downstairs Cerizet was surprised to see, through one of the +small round windows, an old man, evidently du Portail, walking in the +garden with a very important member of the government, Comte Martial de +la Roche-Hugon. He stopped in the courtyard when he reached it, as if +to examine the old house, built in the reign of Louis XIV., the yellow +walls of which, though of freestone, were bent like the elderly beggar +they contained. Then he looked at the workshops, and counted the +workmen. The house was otherwise as silent as a cloister. Being observed +himself, Cerizet departed, thinking over in his mind the various +difficulties that might arise in extracting the sum hidden beneath the +dying man. + +"Carry off all that gold at night?" he said to himself; "why, those +porters will be on the watch, and twenty persons might see us! It is +hard work to carry even twenty-five thousand francs of gold on one's +person." + +Societies have two goals of perfection; the first is a state of +civilization in which morality equally infused and pervasive does not +admit even the idea of crime; the Jesuits reached that point, formerly +presented by the primitive Church. The second is the state of another +civilization in which the supervision of citizens over one another makes +crime impossible. The end which modern society has placed before itself +is the latter; namely, that in which a crime presents such difficulties +that a man must abandon all reasoning in order to commit it. In fact, +iniquities which the law cannot reach are not left actually unpunished, +for social judgment is even more severe than that of courts. If a +man like Minoret, the post-master at Nemours [see "Ursule Mirouet"] +suppresses a will and no one witnesses the act, the crime is traced home +to him by the watchfulness of virtue as surely as a robbery is followed +up by the detective police. No wrong-doing passes actually unperceived; +and wherever a lesion in rectitude takes place the scar remains. Things +can be no more made to disappear than men; so carefully, in Paris +especially, are articles and objects ticketed and numbered, houses +watched, streets observed, places spied upon. To live at ease, crime +must have a sanction like that of the Bourse; like that conceded by +Cerizet's clients; who never complained of his usury, and, indeed, would +have been troubled in mind if their flayer were not in his den of a +Tuesday. + +"Well, my dear monsieur," said Madame Perrache, the porter's wife, as +he passed her lodge, "how do you find him, that friend of God, that poor +man?" + +"I am not the doctor," replied Cerizet, who now decidedly declined that +role. "I am Madame Cardinal's business man. I have just advised her to +have a cot-bed put up, so as to nurse her uncle night and day; though, +perhaps, she will have to get a regular nurse." + +"I can help her," said Madame Perrache. "I nurse women in childbed." + +"Well, we'll see about it," said Cerizet; "I'll arrange all that. Who is +the tenant on your first floor?" + +"Monsieur du Portail. He has lodged here these thirty years. He is a man +with a good income, monsieur; highly respectable, and elderly. You know +people who invest in the Funds live on their incomes. He used to be in +business. But it is more than eleven years now since he has been trying +to restore the reason of a daughter of one of his friends, Mademoiselle +Lydie de la Peyrade. She has the best advice, I can tell you; the very +first doctors in Paris; only this morning they had a consultation. But +so far nothing has cured her; and they have to watch her pretty close; +for sometimes she gets up and walks at night--" + +"Mademoiselle Lydie de la Peyrade!" exclaimed Cerizet; "are you sure of +the name?" + +"I've heard Madame Katte, her nurse, who also does the cooking, call +her so a thousand times, monsieur; though, generally, neither Monsieur +Bruneau, the valet, nor Madame Katte say much. It's like talking to the +wall to try and get any information out of them. We have been porters +here these twenty years and we've never found out anything about +Monsieur du Portail yet. More than that, monsieur, he owns the little +house alongside; you see the double door from here. Well, he can go out +that way and receive his company too, and we know nothing about it. Our +owner doesn't know anything more than we do; when people ring at that +door, Monsieur Bruneau goes and opens it." + +"Then you didn't see the gentleman who is talking with him in the garden +go by this way?" + +"Bless me! no, that I didn't!" + +"Ah!" thought Cerizet as he got into the cabriolet, "she must be the +daughter of that uncle of Theodose. I wonder if du Portail can be the +secret benefactor who sent money from time to time to that rascal? +Suppose I send an anonymous letter to the old fellow, warning him of +the danger the barrister runs from those notes for twenty-five thousand +francs?" + +An hour later the cot-bed had arrived for Madame Cardinal, to whom the +inquisitive portress offered her services to bring her something to eat. + +"Do you want to see the rector?" Madame Cardinal inquired of her uncle. + +She had noticed that the arrival of the bed seemed to draw him from his +somnolence. + +"I want wine!" replied the pauper. + +"How do you feel now, Pere Toupillier?" asked Madame Perrache, in a +coaxing voice. + +"I tell you I want wine," repeated the old man, with an energetic +insistence scarcely to be expected of his feebleness. + +"We must first find out if it is good for you, uncle," said Madame +Cardinal, soothingly. "Wait till the doctor comes." + +"Doctor! I won't have a doctor!" cried Toupillier; "and you, what are +you doing here? I don't want anybody." + +"My good uncle, I came to know if you'd like something tasty. I've got +some nice fresh soles--hey! a bit of fried sole, with a squeeze of lemon +on it?" + +"Your fish, indeed!" cried Toupillier; "all rotten! That last you +brought me, more than six weeks ago, it is there in the cupboard; you +can take it away with you." + +"Heavens! how ungrateful sick men are!" whispered the widow Cardinal to +Perrache. + +Nevertheless, to exhibit solicitude, she arranged the pillow under the +patient's head, saying:-- + +"There! uncle, don't you feel better like that?" + +"Let me alone!" shouted Toupillier, angrily; "I want no one here; I want +wine; leave me in peace." + +"Don't get angry, little uncle; we'll fetch you some wine." + +"Number six wine, rue des Canettes," cried the pauper. + +"Yes, I know," replied Madame Cardinal; "but let me count out my +coppers. I want to get something better for you than that kind of wine; +for, don't you see, an uncle, he's a kind of father, and one shouldn't +mind what one does for him." + +So saying, she sat down, with her legs apart, on one of the dilapidated +chairs, and poured into her apron the contents of her pockets, namely: +a knife, her snuff-box, two pawn-tickets, some crusts of bread, and a +handful of copper, from which she extracted a few silver bits. + +This exhibition, intended to prove her generous and eager devotion, had +no result. Toupillier seemed not to notice it. Exhausted by the feverish +energy with which he had demanded his favorite remedy, he made an effort +to change his position, and, with his back turned to his two nurses, he +again muttered: "Wine! wine!" after which nothing more was heard of him +but a stentorous breathing, that plainly showed the state of his lungs, +which were beginning to congest. + +"I suppose I must go and fetch his wine!" said the Cardinal, restoring +to her pockets, with some ill-humor, the cargo she had just pulled out +of them. + +"If you don't want to go--" began Madame Perrache, always ready to offer +her services. + +The fishwife hesitated for a moment; then, reflecting that something +might be got out of a conversation with the wine-merchant, and sure, +moreover, that as long as Toupillier lay on his gold she could safely +leave him alone with the portress, she said:-- + +"Thank you, Madame Perrache, but I'd better make acquaintance with his +trades-folk." + +Then, having spied behind the night-table a dirty bottle which might +hold about two quarts,-- + +"Did he say the rue des Canelles?" she inquired of the portress. + +"Corner of the rue Guisarde," replied Madame Perrache. "Monsieur +Legrelu, a tall, fine man with big whiskers and no hair." Then, lowering +her voice, she added: "His number-six wine, you know, is Roussillon, +and the best, too. However, the wine-merchant knows; it is enough if you +tell him you have come from his customer, the pauper of Saint-Sulpice." + +"No need to tell me anything twice," said the Cardinal, opening the door +and making, as they say, a false exit. "Ah ca!" she said, coming back; +"what does he burn in his stove, supposing I want to heat some remedy +for him?" + +"Goodness!" said the portress, "he doesn't make much provision for +winter, and here we are in the middle of summer!" + +"And not a saucepan! not a pot, even! Gracious! what a way to live. I'll +have to fetch him some provisions; I hope nobody will see the things I +bring back; I'd be ashamed they should--" + +"I'll lend you a hand-bag," said the portress, always ready and +officious. + +"No, I'll buy a basket," replied the fishwife, more anxious about what +she expected to carry away than what she was about to bring home to +the pauper. "There must be some Auvergnat in the neighborhood who sells +wood," she added. + +"Corner of the rue Ferou; you'll find one there. A fine establishment, +with logs of wood painted in a kind of an arcade all round the shop--so +like, you'd think they were going to speak to you." + +Before going finally off, Madame Cardinal went through a piece of +very deep hypocrisy. We have seen how she hesitated about leaving the +portress alone with the sick man:-- + +"Madame Perrache," she said to her, "you won't leave him, the poor +darling, will you, till I get back?" + +It may have been noticed that Cerizet had not decided on any definite +course of action in the new affair he was now undertaking. The part of +doctor, which for a moment he thought of assuming, frightened him, and +he gave himself out, as we have seen, to Madame Perrache as the business +agent of his accomplice. Once alone, he began to see that his original +idea complicated with a doctor, a nurse, and a notary, presented the +most serious difficulties. A regular will drawn in favor of Madame +Cardinal was not a thing to be improvised in a moment. It would take +some time to acclimatize the idea in the surly and suspicious mind of +the old pauper, and death, which was close at hand, might play them a +trick at any moment, and balk the most careful preparations. + +It was true that unless a will were made the income of eight thousand +francs on the Grand Livre and the house in the rue Notre-Dame de +Nazareth would go to the heirs-at-law, and Madame Cardinal would get +only her share of the property; but the abandonment of this visible +portion of the inheritance was the surest means of laying hands on the +invisible part of it. Besides, if the latter were secured, what hindered +their returning to the idea of a will? + +Resolving, therefore, to confine the _operation_ to the simplest terms +at first, Cerizet summed them up in the manoeuvre of the poppy-heads, +already mentioned, and he was making his way back to Toupillier's abode, +armed with that single weapon of war, intending to give Madame Cardinal +further instructions, when he met her, bearing on her arm the basket she +had just bought; and in that basket was the sick man's panacea. + +"Upon my word!" cried the usurer, "is this the way you keep your watch?" + +"I had to go out and buy him wine," replied the Cardinal; "he is howling +like a soul in hell that he wants to be at peace, and to be let alone, +and get his wine! It is his one idea that Roussillon is good for his +disease. Well, when he has drunk it, I dare say he will be quieter." + +"You are right," said Cerizet, sententiously; "never contradict a sick +man. But this wine, you know, ought to be improved; by infusing these" +(and lifting one of the covers of the basket he slipped in the poppies) +"you'll procure the poor man a good, long sleep,--five or six hours at +least. This evening I'll come and see you, and nothing, I think, need +prevent us from examining a little closer those matters of inheritance." + +"I see," said Madame Cardinal, winking. + +"To-night, then," said Cerizet, not wishing to prolong the conversation. + +He had a strong sense of the difficulty and danger of the affair, +and was very reluctant to be seen in the street conversing with his +accomplice. + +Returning to her uncle's garret, Madame Cardinal found him still in +a state of semi-torpor; she relieved Madame Perrache, and bade her +good-bye, going to the door to receive a supply of wood, all sawed, +which she had ordered from the Auvergnat in the rue Ferou. + +Into an earthen pot, which she had bought of the right size to fit upon +the hole in the stoves of the poor where they put their soup-kettles, +she now threw the poppies, pouring over them two-thirds of the wine +she had brought back with her. Then she lighted a fire beneath the pot, +intending to obtain the decoction agreed upon as quickly as possible. +The crackling of the wood and the heat, which soon spread about the +room, brought Toupillier out of his stupor. Seeing the stove lighted he +called out:-- + +"Who is making a fire here? Do you want to burn the house down?" + +"Why, uncle," said the Cardinal, "it is wood I bought with my own money, +to warm your wine. The doctor doesn't want you to drink it cold." + +"Where is it, that wine?" demanded Toupillier, calming down a little at +the thought that the fire was not burning at his expense. + +"It must come to a boil," said his nurse; "the doctor insisted upon +that. Still, if you'll be good I'll give you half a glass of it cold, +just to wet your whistle. I'll take that upon myself, but don't you tell +the doctor." + +"Doctor! I won't have a doctor; they are all scoundrels, invented to +kill people," cried Toupillier, whom the idea of drink had revived. +"Come, give me the wine!" he said, in the tone of a man whose patience +had come to an end. + +Convinced that though this compliance would do no harm it could do no +good, Madame Cardinal poured out half a glass, and while she gave +it with one hand to the sick man, with the other she raised him to a +sitting posture that he might drink it. + +With his fleshless, eager fingers Toupillier clutched the glass, emptied +it at a gulp, and exclaimed:-- + +"Ah! that's a fine drop, that is! though you've watered it." + +"You mustn't say that, uncle; I went and bought it myself of Pere +Legrelu, and I've given it you quite pure. But you let me simmer the +rest; the doctor said I might then give you all you wanted." + +Toupillier resigned himself with a shrug of the shoulders. At the end +of fifteen minutes, the infusion being in condition to serve, Madame +Cardinal brought him, without further appeal, a full cup of it. + +The avidity with which the old pauper drank it down prevented him from +noticing at first that the wine was drugged; but as he swallowed the +last drops he tasted the sickly and nauseating flavor, and flinging the +cup on the bed he cried out that some one was trying to poison him. + +"Poison! nonsense!" said the fishwife, pouring into her own mouth a few +drops of that which remained in the bottle, declaring to the old man +that if the wine did not seem to him the same as usual, it was because +his mouth had a "bad taste to it." + +Before the end of the dispute, which lasted some time, the narcotic +began to take effect, and at the end of an hour the sick man was sound +asleep. + +While idly waiting for Cerizet, an idea took possession of the +Cardinal's mind. She thought that in view of their comings and goings +with the treasure, it would be well if the vigilance of the Perrache +husband and wife could be dulled in some manner. Consequently, after +carefully flinging the refuse poppy-heads into the privy, she called to +the portress:-- + +"Madame Perrache, come up and taste his wine. Wouldn't you have thought +to hear him talk he was ready to drink a cask of it? Well, a cupful +satisfied him." + +"Your health!" said the portress, touching glasses with the Cardinal, +who was careful to have hers filled with the unboiled wine. Less +accomplished as a gourmet than the old beggar, Madame Perrache perceived +nothing in the insidious liquid (cold by the time she drank it) to make +her suspect its narcotic character; on the contrary, she declared it was +"velvet," and wished that her husband were there to have a share in the +treat. After a rather long gossip, the two women separated. Then, with +the cooked meat she had provided for herself, and the remains of the +Roussillon, Madame Cardinal made a repast which she finished off with a +siesta. Without mentioning the emotions of the day, the influence of one +of the most heady wines of the country would have sufficed to explain +the soundness of her sleep; when she woke darkness was coming on. + +Her first care was to give a glance at her patient; his sleep was +restless, and he was dreaming aloud. + +"Diamonds," he said; "those diamonds? At my death, but not before." + +"Gracious!" thought Madame Cardinal, "that was the one thing +lacking,--diamonds! that he should have diamonds!" + +Then, as Toupillier seemed to be in the grasp of a violent nightmare, +she leaned over him so as not to lose a word of his speech, hoping to +gather from it some important revelation. At this moment a slight rap +given to the door, from which the careful nurse had removed the key, +announced the arrival of Cerizet. + +"Well?" he said, on entering. + +"He has taken the drug. He's been sound asleep these two hours; just +now, in dreaming, he was talking of diamonds." + +"Well," said Cerizet, "it wouldn't be surprising if we found some. These +paupers when they set out to be rich, like to pile up everything." + +"Ah ca!" cried the Cardinal, suddenly, "what made you go and tell +Mere Perrache that you were my man of business, and that you weren't +a doctor? I thought we agreed this morning that you were coming as a +doctor?" + +Cerizet did not choose to admit that the usurpation of that title had +seemed to him dangerous; he feared to discourage his accomplice. + +"I saw that the woman was going to propose a consultation," he replied, +"and I got out of it that way." + +"Goodness!" exclaimed Madame Cardinal, "they say fine minds come +together; that was my dodge, too. Calling you my man of business seemed +to give that old pilferer a few ideas. Did they see you come in, those +porters?" + +"I thought, as I went by," replied Cerizet, "that the woman was asleep +in her chair." + +"And well she might be," said the Cardinal, significantly. + +"What, really?" said Cerizet. + +"Parbleu!" replied the fishwife; "what's enough for one is enough for +two; the rest of the stuff went that way." + +"As for the husband, he was there," said Cerizet; "for he gave me a +gracious sign of recognition, which I could have done without." + +"Wait till it is quite dark, and we'll play him a comedy that shall fool +him finely." + +Accordingly, ten minutes later, the fishwife, with a vim that delighted +the usurer, organized for the innocent porter the comedy of a _monsieur_ +who would not, out of politeness, let her accompany him to the door; she +herself with equal politeness insisting. Appearing to conduct the sham +physician into the street gate she pretended that the wind had blown +out of her lamp, and under pretext of relighting it she put out that of +Perrache. All this racket, accompanied by exclamations and a bewildering +loquacity, was so briskly carried out that the porter, if summoned +before the police-court, would not have hesitated to swear that the +doctor, whose arrival he had witnessed, left the house between nine and +ten o'clock. + +When the two accomplices were thus in tranquil possession of the field +of operations Madame Cardinal hung up her rabbit's-hair shawl before the +window to exclude all possible indiscretion on the part of a neighbor. +In the Luxembourg quarter life quiets down early. By ten o'clock all +the sounds in the house as well as those out of doors were stilled, and +Cerizet declared that the moment had come to go to work; by beginning at +once they were certain that the sleeper would remain under the influence +of the drug; besides, if the booty were found at once, Madame Cardinal +could, under pretence of a sudden attack on her patient, which required +her to fetch a remedy from the apothecary, get the porter to open the +street gate for her without suspicion. As all porters pull the gate-cord +from their beds, Cerizet would be able to get away at the same time +without notice. + +Powerful in advice, Cerizet was a very incapable hand in action; and, +without the robust assistance of Mere Cardinal he could never have +lifted what might almost be called the corpse of the former drum-major. +Completely insensible, Toupillier was now an inert mass, a dead-weight, +which could, fortunately, be handled without much precaution, and +the athletic Madame Cardinal, gathering strength from her cupidity, +contrived, notwithstanding Cerizet's insufficient assistance, to effect +the transfer of her uncle from one bed to the other. + +On rummaging the bed from which the body was moved, nothing was +found, and Madame Cardinal, pressed by Cerizet to explain why she had +confidently asserted that her uncle "was lying on one hundred thousand +francs in gold," was forced to admit that a talk with Madame Perrache, +and her own fervid imagination were the sole grounds of her certainty. +Cerizet was furious; having for one whole day dallied with the idea +and hope of fortune, having, moreover, entered upon a dangerous and +compromising course of action, only to find himself, at the supreme +moment, face to face with--nothing! The disappointment was so bitter +that if he had not been afraid of the muscular strength of his +future mother-in-law, he would have rushed upon her with some frantic +intention. + +His anger, however, spent itself in words. Harshly abused, Madame +Cardinal contented herself by remarking that all hope was not lost, and +then, with a faith that ought to have moved mountains, she set to work +to empty the straw from the mattress she had already vainly explored +in all directions. But Cerizet would not allow that extreme measure; he +remarked that after the autopsy of a straw mattress such detritus would +remain upon the floor as must infallibly give rise to suspicion. But +the Cardinal, who thought this caution ridiculous, was determined to, +at least, take apart the flock bedstead. The passion of the search gave +extraordinary vigilance to her senses, and as she raised the wooden +side-frame she heard the fall of some tiny object on the floor. Seizing +the light she began to search in the mound of filth of all kinds that +was under the bed, and finally laid her hand on a bit of polished steel +about half an inch long, the use of which was to her inexplicable. + +"That's a key!" cried Cerizet, who was standing beside her with some +indifference, but whose imagination now set off at a gallop. + +"Ha! ha! you see I was right," cried the Cardinal. "But what can it +open?" she added, on reflection; "nothing bigger than a doll's house." + +"No," said Cerizet, "it is a modern invention, and very strong locks can +be opened with that little instrument." + +With a rapid glance he took in all the pieces of furniture in the room; +went to the bureau and pulled out the drawers; looked in the stove, in +the table; but nowhere did he find a lock to which the little key could +be adapted. + +Suddenly the Cardinal had a flash of illumination. + +"See here!" she said. "I remarked that the old thief, as he lay on his +bed, never took his eyes off the wall just opposite to him." + +"A cupboard hidden in the wall!" cried Cerizet, seizing the light +eagerly; "it is not impossible!" + +Examining attentively the door of the alcove, which was opposite the +bed's head, he could see nothing there but a vast accumulation of dust +and spiders' webs. He next employed the sense of touch, and began to rap +and sound the wall in all directions. At the spot to which Toupillier's +constant gaze was directed he thought he perceived in a very narrow +space a slight sonority, and he presently perceived that he was rapping +on wood. He then rubbed the spot vigorously with his handkerchief, and +beneath the thick layer of dust and dirt which he thus removed he found +a piece of oak plank carefully inserted in the wall. On one side of +this plank was a small round hole; it was that of the lock which the key +fitted! + +While Cerizet was turning the key, which worked with great difficulty, +Madame Cardinal, holding the light, was pale and breathless; but, oh! +cruel deception! the cupboard, at last unlocked and open, showed only an +empty space, into which the light in her hand fell uselessly. + +Allowing this bacchante to give vent to her despair by saluting her +much-beloved uncle with the harshest epithets, Cerizet quietly inserted +his arm into the cupboard, and after feeling it over at the back, he +cried out, "An iron safe!" adding, impatiently, "Give me more light, +Madame Cardinal." + +Then, as the light did not penetrate to the depths of the cupboard, he +snatched the candle from the bottle, where, in default of a candlestick, +the Cardinal had stuck it, and, taking it in his hand, moved it +carefully over all parts of the iron safe, the existence of which was +now a certainty. + +"There is no visible lock," he said. "There must be a secret opening." + +"Isn't he sly, that old villain!" exclaimed Madame Cardinal, while +Cerizet's bony fingers felt the side of the safe over minutely. + +"Ha!" he exclaimed, after groping for ten minutes, "I have it!" + +During this time Madame Cardinal's life seemed actually suspended. + +Under the pressure which Cerizet now applied, the iron side rose quickly +into the thickness of the wall above, and in the midst of a mass of gold +thrown pell-mell into a large excavation that was now exposed to view, +lay a case of red morocco, which, from its size and appearance, gave +promise of magnificent booty. + +"I take the diamonds for myself," said Cerizet, when he had opened the +case and seen the splendid jewels it contained; "you won't know how +to get rid of them. I'll leave you the gold for your share. As for the +house and the money in the Funds, they are not worth the trouble it +would be to get the old fellow to make a will." + +"Not so fast, my little man!" replied the Cardinal, who thought this +decision rather summary; "we will first count the money--" + +"Hush!" exclaimed Cerizet, apparently listening to a sound. + +"What is it?" asked the Cardinal. + +"Don't you hear some one moving below?" + +"No, I hear nothing." + +Cerizet, making her a sign to be silent, listened attentively. + +"I hear a step on the stairs," he said, a moment later. + +Then he hastily replaced the morocco case, and made desperate but +unavailing efforts to lower the panel. + +"Yes!" cried Madame Cardinal, terrified; "some one is really coming." +Then, fastening to a hope of safety, she added, "I dare say it is that +insane girl; they say she walks at night." + +At any rate, the insane girl (if it were she) had a key to the room, for +a moment later, this key was inserted in the lock. With a rapid glance +Madame Cardinal measured the distance to the door; should she have time +to push the bolt? No; certain that it was then too late, so she blew out +the candle to give herself at least some chances in the darkness. + +Useless effort! the intruder who now appeared had brought a candle with +him. + +When Madame Cerizet saw that she had to do with a small, old man of +puny appearance, she flung herself before him with flaming eyes, like a +lioness from whom the hunter is seeking to take her cubs. + +"Be calm, my good woman," said the little man, in a jeering tone; "the +police are sent for; they will be here in a moment." + +At the word "police" the Cardinal's legs gave way. + +"But, monsieur," she said, "why the police? we are not robbers." + +"No matter for that; if I were in your place I shouldn't wait for them," +said the little old man; "they make unfortunate mistakes sometimes." + +"Can I clear out?" asked the woman, incredulously. + +"Yes, if you empty your pockets of anything which has, _by accident_, +got into them." + +"Oh! my good monsieur, I haven't a thing in my hands or my pockets; I +wasn't here to harm any one,--only to nurse my poor dear uncle; you can +search me." + +"Come, be off with you! that will do," said the old man. + +Madame Cardinal did not oblige him to repeat the order, and she rapidly +disappeared down the staircase. + +Cerizet made as though he would take the same road. + +"You, monsieur, are quite another thing," said the little old man. "You +and I must talk together; but if you are tractable, the affair between +us can be settled amicably." + +Whether it was that the narcotic had ceased to operate, or that the +noise going on about Toupillier put an end to his sleep, he now opened +his eyes and cast around him the glance of a man who endeavors to +remember where he is; then, seeing his precious cupboard open, he found +in the emotion that sight produced the strength to cry out two or three +times, "Help! help! robbers!" in a voice that was loud enough to rouse +the house. + +"No, Toupillier," said the little old man; "you have not been robbed; I +came here in time to prevent it; nothing has been taken." + +"Why don't you arrest that villain?" shouted the old pauper, pointing to +Cerizet. + +"Monsieur is not a thief," replied the old man. "On the contrary, he +came up with me to lend assistance." Then, turning to Cerizet, he added, +in a low voice: "I think, my good friend, that we had better postpone +the interview I desire to have with you until to-morrow. Come at ten +o'clock to the adjoining house, and ask for Monsieur du Portail. After +what has passed this evening, there will, I ought to warn you, be +some danger to you in not accepting this conference. I shall find you +elsewhere, infallibly; for I have the honor to know who you are; you +are the man whom the Opposition journals were accustomed to call 'the +courageous Cerizet.'" + +In spite of the profound sarcasm of this remark, Cerizet, perceiving +that he was not to be treated more rigorously than Madame Cardinal, felt +so pleased with this conclusion that he promised, very readily, to keep +the appointment, and then slipped away with all the haste he could. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. DU PORTAIL + +The next day Cerizet did not fail to appear at the rendezvous given +to him. Examined, at first, through the wicket of the door, he was +admitted, after giving his name, into the house, and was ushered +immediately to the study of Monsieur du Portail, whom he found at his +desk. + +Without rising, and merely making a sign to his guest to take a chair, +the little old man continued the letter he was then writing. After +sealing it with wax, with a care and precision that denoted a nature +extremely fastidious and particular, or else a man accustomed to +discharge diplomatic functions, du Portail rang for Bruneau, his valet, +and said, as he gave him the letter:-- + +"For the justice-of-peace of the arrondissement." + +Then he carefully wiped the steel pen he had just used, restored to +their places, symmetrically, all the displaced articles on his desk, and +it was only when these little arrangements were completed that he turned +to Cerizet, and said:-- + +"You know, of course, that we lost that poor Monsieur Toupillier last +night?" + +"No, really?" said Cerizet, putting on the most sympathetic air he could +manage. "This is my first knowledge of it." + +"But you probably expected it. When one gives a dying man an immense +bowl of hot wine, which has also been narcotized,--for the Perrache +woman slept all night in a sort of lethargy after drinking a small glass +of it,--it is evident that the catastrophe has been hastened." + +"I am ignorant, monsieur," said Cerizet, with dignity, "of what Madame +Cardinal may have given to her uncle. I have no doubt committed a +great piece of thoughtlessness in assisting this woman to obtain an +inheritance to which she assured me she had legal rights; but as to +attempting the life of that old pauper, I am quite incapable of such a +thing; nothing of the kind ever entered my mind." + +"You wrote me this letter, I think," said du Portail, abruptly, taking +from beneath a bohemian glass bowl a paper which he offered to Cerizet. + +"A letter?" replied Cerizet, with the hesitation of a man who doesn't +know whether to lie or speak the truth. + +"I am quite sure of what I say," continued du Portail. "I have a mania +for autographs, and I possess one of yours, obtained at the period +when the Opposition exalted you to the glorious rank of martyr. I have +compared the two writings, and I find that you certainly wrote me, +yesterday, the letter which you hold in your hand, informing me of the +money embarrassments of young la Peyrade at the present moment." + +"Well," said Cerizet, "knowing that you had given a home to Mademoiselle +de la Peyrade, who is probably cousin of Theodose, I thought I +recognized in you the mysterious protector from whom, on more than one +occasion, my friend has received the most generous assistance. Now, as +I have a sincere affection for that poor fellow, it was in his interests +that I permitted myself--" + +"You did quite right," interrupted du Portail. "I am delighted to have +fallen in with a friend of la Peyrade. I ought not to conceal from you +that it was this particular fact which protected you last night. But +tell me, what is this about notes for twenty-five thousand francs? +Is our friend so badly off in his affairs? Is he leading a dissipated +life?" + +"On the contrary," replied Cerizet, "he's a puritan. Given to the +deepest piety, he did not choose to take, as a barrister, any other +cases but those of the poor. He is now on the point of making a rich +marriage." + +"Ah! is he going to be married? and to whom?" + +"To a Demoiselle Colleville, daughter of the secretary of the mayor +of the 12th arrondissement. In herself, the girl has no fortune, but a +certain Monsieur Thuillier, her godfather, member of the Council-general +of the Seine, has promised her a suitable 'dot.'" + +"Who has handled this affair?" + +"La Peyrade has been devoted to the Thuillier family, into which he was +introduced by Monsieur Dutocq, clerk of the justice-of-peace of their +arrondissement." + +"But you wrote me that these notes were signed in favor of Monsieur +Dutocq. The affair is a bit of matrimonial brokerage, in short?" + +"Well, something of that kind," replied Cerizet. "You know, monsieur, +that in Paris such transactions are very common. Even the clergy won't +disdain to have a finger in them." + +"Is the marriage a settled thing?" + +"Yes, and within the last few days especially." + +"Well, my good sir, I rely on you to put an end to it. I have other +views for Theodose,--another marriage to propose to him." + +"Excuse me!" said Cerizet, "to break up this marriage would make it +impossible for him to pay his notes; and I have the honor to call +your attention to the fact that these particular bills of exchange +are serious matters. Monsieur Dutocq is in the office of the +justice-of-peace; in other words, he couldn't be easily defeated in such +a matter." + +"The debt to Monsieur Dutocq you shall buy off yourself," replied du +Portail. "Make arrangements with him to that effect. Should Theodose +prove reluctant to carry out my plans, those notes may become a useful +weapon in our hands. You will take upon yourself to sue him for them, +and you shall have no money responsibility in the matter. I will pay you +the amount of the notes for Dutocq, and your costs in suing Theodose." + +"You are square in business, monsieur," said Cerizet. "There's some +pleasure in being your agent. Now, if you think the right moment has +come, I should be glad if you would give me some better light on the +mission you are doing me the honor to place in my hands." + +"You spoke just now," replied du Portail, "of the cousin of Theodose, +Mademoiselle Lydie de la Peyrade. This young woman, who is not in her +first youth, for she is nearly thirty, is the natural daughter of the +celebrated Mademoiselle Beaumesnil of the Theatre Francais and Peyrade, +the commissary-general of police under the Empire, and the uncle of our +friend. Until his death, which occurred suddenly, leaving his daughter, +whom he loved tenderly, without means of support, I was bound to that +excellent man with the warmest friendship." + +Glad to show that he had some knowledge of du Portail's interior life, +Cerizet hastened to remark:-- + +"And you have secretly fulfilled the duties of that friendship, +monsieur; for, in taking into your home that interesting orphan you +assumed a difficult guardianship. Mademoiselle de la Peyrade's state +of health requires, I am told, a care not only affectionate, but +persevering." + +"Yes," replied du Portail, "the poor girl, after the death of her +father, was so cruelly tried that her mind has been somewhat affected; +but a fortunate change has lately occurred in her condition, and +only yesterday I called in consultation Doctor Bianchon and the two +physicians-in-charge of Bicetre and the Salpetriere. These gentlemen +unanimously declare that marriage and the birth of a first child would +undoubtedly restore her to perfect health. You can readily understand +that the remedy is too easy and agreeable not to be attempted." + +"Then," said Cerizet, "it is to Mademoiselle Lydie de la Peyrade, his +cousin, that you wish to marry Theodose." + +"You have said it," returned du Portail, "and you must not think that +our young friend, if he accepts the marriage, will be called upon to +show a gratuitous devotion. Lydie is very agreeable in person; she +has talents, a charming disposition, and she can bring to bear, in +her husband's interest, a strong influence in public life. She has, +moreover, a pretty fortune, consisting of what her mother left her, and +of my entire property, which, having no heirs myself, I intend to secure +to her in the marriage contract. Besides all this, she has this very +night acquired a not inconsiderable legacy." + +"What!" exclaimed Cerizet, "do you mean that old Toupillier--" + +"By a will in his own handwriting, which I have here, that old pauper +constitutes her his sole legatee. You see, therefore, that I showed +some kindness in not proceeding against you and Madame Cardinal for +your little attempt last night; it was simply our property that you were +trying to pillage." + +"Heavens!" cried Cerizet, "I won't pretend to excuse Madame Cardinal's +misconduct; and yet, as one of the legal heirs, dispossessed by a +stranger, she had, it seems to me, some right to the indulgence which +you certainly showed to her." + +"In that you are mistaken," said du Portail; "the apparent liberality +of the old beggar to Mademoiselle de la Peyrade happens to be only a +restitution." + +"A restitution!" exclaimed Cerizet, in a tone of curiosity. + +"A restitution," repeated du Portail, "and nothing is easier than to +prove it. Do you remember the robbery of some diamonds from one of our +dramatic celebrities about ten years ago?" + +"Yes," replied Cerizet. "I was manager of one of my newspapers at the +time, and I used to write the 'Paris items.' But stay, I remember, the +actress who lost them was Mademoiselle Beaumesnil." + +"Precisely; the mother of Mademoiselle de la Peyrade." + +"Consequently, this miserable old Toupillier--no, I remember that the +thief was convicted; his name was Charles Crochard. It was said, under +the rose, that he was the natural son of a great personage, the Comte +de Granville, attorney-general under the Restoration." [See "A Double +Life."] + +"Well," said du Portail, "this is how it happened. The robbery was +committed in a house in the rue de Tournon, occupied by Mademoiselle +Beaumesnil. Charles Crochard, who was a handsome fellow, was said to +have the run of it--" + +"Yes, yes," cried Cerizet, "I remember Mademoiselle Beaumesnil's +embarrassment when she gave her testimony--and also the total extinction +of voice that attacked her when the judge asked her age." + +"The robbery," continued du Portail, "was audaciously committed in the +daytime; and no sooner did Charles Crochard get possession of the casket +than he went to the church of Saint-Sulpice, where he had an appointment +with an accomplice, who, being supplied with a passport, was to start +immediately with the diamonds for foreign parts. It so chanced that on +entering the church, instead of meeting the man he expected, who was a +trifle late, Charles Crochard came face to face with a celebrated agent +of the detective force, who was well known to him, inasmuch as the young +rascal was not at his first scrimmage with the police. The absence of +his accomplice, this encounter with the detective, and, lastly, a rapid +movement made by the latter, by the merest chance, toward the door, +induced the robber to fancy he was being watched. Losing his head +under this idea, he wanted, at any cost, to put the casket out of his +possession, knowing that if arrested, as he expected, at the door of the +church, it would be a damning proof against him. Catching sight at that +moment of Toupillier, who was then the giver of holy water, 'My man,' +said he, making sure that no one overheard their colloquy, 'will you +take care of this little package for me? It is a box of lace. I am going +near by to a countess who is slow to pay her bill; and if I have the +lace with me she'll want to see it, for it is a new style, and she'll +ask me to leave it with her on credit, instead of paying the bill; +therefore I don't want to take it. But,' he added, 'be sure not to touch +the paper that wraps the box, for there's nothing harder than to do up a +package in the same folds--'" + +"The booby!" cried Cerizet, naively; "why, that very caution would make +the man want to open it." + +"You are an able casuist," said du Portail. "Well, an hour later, +Charles Crochard, finding that nothing happened to him, returned to the +church to obtain his deposit, but Toupillier was no longer there. You +can imagine the anxiety with which Charles Crochard attended early mass +the next day, and approached the giver of holy water, who was there, +sure enough, attending to his functions. But night, they say, brings +counsel; the worthy beggar audaciously declared that he had received no +package, and did not know what his interlocutor meant." + +"And there was no possibility of arguing with him, for that would be +exposure," remarked Cerizet, who was not far from sympathizing in a +trick so boldly played. + +"No doubt," resumed du Portail; "the robbery was already noised about, +and Toupillier, who was a very able fellow, had calculated that Charles +Crochard would not dare to publicly accuse him, for that would reveal +the theft. In fact, on his trial Charles Crochard never said a word of +his mishap, and during the six years he spent at the galleys (he was +condemned to ten, but four were remitted) he did not open his lips to a +single soul about the treachery of which he had been a victim." + +"That was pretty plucky," said Cerizet; the tale excited him, and he +showed openly that he saw the matter as an artist and a connoisseur. + +"In that interval," continued du Portail, "Madame Beaumesnil died, +leaving her daughter a few fragments of a once great fortune, and the +diamonds which the will expressly stated Lydie was to receive 'in case +they were recovered.'" + +"Ha! ha!" exclaimed Cerizet, "bad for Toupillier, because, having to do +with a man of your calibre--" + +"Charles Crochard's first object on being liberated was vengeance on +Toupillier, and his first step was to denounce him to the police as +receiver of the stolen property. Taken in hand by the law, Toupillier +defended himself with such singular good-humor, being able to show that +no proof whatever existed against him, that the examining judge let him +off. He lost his place, however, as giver of holy water, obtaining, with +great difficulty, permission to beg at the door of the church. For my +part, I was certain of his guilt; and I managed to have the closest +watch kept upon him; though I relied far more upon myself. Being a man +of means and leisure, I stuck, as you may say, to the skin of my thief, +and did, in order to unmask him, one of the cleverest things of my +career. He was living at that time in the rue du Coeur-Volant. I +succeeded in becoming the tenant of the room adjoining his; and one +night, through a gimlet hole I had drilled in the partition, I saw +my man take the case of diamonds from a very cleverly contrived +hiding-place. He sat for an hour gazing at them and fondling them; he +made them sparkle in the light, he pressed them passionately to his +lips. The man actually loved those diamonds for themselves, and had +never thought of turning them to money." + +"I understand," said Cerizet,--"a mania like that of Cardillac, the +jeweller, which has now been dramatized." + +"That is just it," returned du Portail; "the poor wretch was in love +with that casket; so that when, shortly after, I entered his room and +told him I knew all, he proposed to me to leave him the life use of +what he called the consolation of his old age, pledging himself to make +Mademoiselle de la Peyrade his sole heir, revealing to me at the same +time the existence of a hoard of gold (to which he was adding every +day), and also the possession of a house and an investment in the +Funds." + +"If he made that proposal in good faith," said Cerizet, "it was a +desirable one. The interest of the capital sunk in the diamonds was more +than returned by that from the other property." + +"You now see, my dear sir," said du Portail, "that I was not mistaken +in trusting him. All my precautions were well taken; I exacted that he +should occupy a room in the house I lived in, where I could keep a close +eye upon him. I assisted him in making that hiding-place, the secret of +which you discovered so cleverly; but what you did not find out was that +in touching the spring that opened the iron safe you rang a bell in my +apartment, which warned me of any attempt that was made to remove our +treasure." + +"Poor Madame Cardinal!" cried Cerizet, good-humoredly, "how far she was +from suspecting it!" + +"Now here's the situation," resumed du Portail. "On account of the +interest I feel in the nephew of my old friend, and also, on account +of the relationship, this marriage seems to me extremely desirable; in +short, I unite Theodose to his cousin and her 'dot.' As it is possible +that, considering the mental state of his future wife, Theodose may +object to sharing my views, I have not thought it wise to make this +proposal directly to himself. You have suddenly turned up upon my path; +I know already that you are clever and wily, and that knowledge induces +me to put this little matrimonial negotiation into your hands. Now, +I think, you understand the matter thoroughly; speak to him of a fine +girl, with one little drawback, but, on the other hand, a comfortable +fortune. Do not name her to him; and come here and let me know how the +proposal has been taken." + +"Your confidence delights me as much as it honors me," replied Cerizet, +"and I will justify it the best I can." + +"We must not expect too much," said du Portail. "Refusal will be the +first impulse of a man who has an affair on hand elsewhere; but we need +not consider ourselves beaten. I shall not easily give up a plan which +I know to be just, even if I push my zeal so far as to put la Peyrade +under lock and key in Clichy. I am resolved not to take no for his +answer to a proposal of which, in the end, he cannot fail to see the +propriety. Therefore, in any case, buy up those notes from Monsieur +Dutocq." + +"At par?" asked Cerizet. + +"Yes, at par, if you cannot do better; we are not going to haggle over +a few thousand francs; only, when this transaction is arranged, Monsieur +Dutocq must pledge us either his assistance, or, at the very least, +his neutrality. After what you have said of the other marriage, it is +unnecessary for me to warn you that there is not a moment to lose in +putting our irons into the fire." + +"Two days hence I have an appointment with la Peyrade," said Cerizet. +"We have a little matter of business of our own to settle. Don't you +think it would be best to wait till then, when I can introduce the +proposal incidentally? In case of resistance, I think that arrangement +would best conduce to OUR dignity." + +"So be it," said du Portail; "it isn't much of a delay. Remember, +monsieur, that if you succeed you have, in place of a man able to +bring you to a stern account for your _imprudent assistance_ to Madame +Cardinal, a greatly obliged person, who will be ready at all times to +serve you, and whose influence is greater than is generally supposed." + +After these friendly words, the pair separated with a thoroughly good +understanding, and well satisfied with each other. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. IN WHICH THE LAMB DEVOURS THE WOLF + +The evening before the day already agreed upon, Theodose received from +Cerizet the following note:-- + +"To-morrow, lease or no lease, Rocher de Cancale, half-past six +o'clock." + +As for Dutocq, Cerizet saw him every day, for he was still his copying +clerk; he therefore gave him his invitation by word of mouth; but +the attentive reader must remark a difference in the hour named: +"Quarter-past-six, Rocher de Cancale," said Cerizet. It was evident, +therefore, that he wanted that fifteen minutes with Dutocq before the +arrival of la Peyrade. + +These minutes the usurer proposed to employ in jockeying Dutocq in the +purchase of the notes; he fancied that if the proposition to buy them +were suddenly put before him without the slightest preparation it might +be more readily received. By not leaving the seller time to bethink +himself, perhaps he might lead him to loosen his grasp, and the notes +once bought below par, he could consider at his leisure whether to +pocket the difference or curry favor with du Portail for the discount +he had obtained. Let us say, moreover, that apart from self-interest, +Cerizet would still have endeavored to scrape a little profit out of his +friend; 'twas an instinct and a need of his nature. He had as great a +horror for straight courses as the lovers of English gardens show in the +lines of their paths. + +Dutocq, having still a portion of the cost of his practice to pay off, +was forced to live very sparingly, so that a dinner at the Rocher de +Cancale was something of an event in the economy of his straitened +existence. He arrived, therefore, with that punctuality which testifies +to an interest in the occasion, and precisely at a quarter past six he +entered the private room of the restaurant where Cerizet awaited him. + +"It is queer," he said; "here we are returned to precisely the situation +in which we began our business relationship with la Peyrade,--except, +to be sure, that this present place of meeting of the three emperors +is more comfortable; I prefer the Tilsit of the rue Montgorgeuil to the +Tilsit of the Cheval Rouge." + +"Faith!" said Cerizet, "I don't know that the results justify the +change, for, to be frank, where are the profits to _us_ in the scheme of +our triumvirate?" + +"But," said Dutocq, "it was a bargain with a long time limit. It can't +be said that la Peyrade has lost much time in getting installed--forgive +the pun--at the Thuilleries. The scamp has made his way pretty fast, you +must own that." + +"Not so fast but what his marriage," said Cerizet, "is at the present +moment a very doubtful thing." + +"Doubtful!" cried Dutocq; "why doubtful?" + +"Well, I am commissioned to propose to him another wife, and I'm not +sure that any choice is left to him." + +"What the devil are you about, my dear fellow, lending your hand in this +way to another marriage when you know we have a mortgage on the first?" + +"One isn't always master of circumstances, my friend; I saw at once when +the new affair was laid before me that the one we had settled on must +infallibly go by the board. Consequently, I've tried to work it round in +our interests, yours and mine." + +"Ah ca! do you mean they are pulling caps for this Theodose? Who is the +new match? Has she money?" + +"The 'dot' is pretty good; quite as much as Mademoiselle Colleville's." + +"Then I wouldn't give a fig for it. La Peyrade has signed those notes +and he will pay them." + +"Will he pay them? that's the question. You are not a business man, +neither is Theodose; it may come into his head to dispute the validity +of those notes. What security have we that if the facts about their +origin should come out, and the Thuillier marriage shouldn't come +off, the court of commerce mightn't annul them as 'obligations without +cause.' For my part, I should laugh at such a decision; I can stand +it; and, moreover, my precautions are taken; but you, as clerk to a +justice-of-peace, don't you see that such an affair would give the +chancellor a bone to pick with you?" + +"But, my good fellow," said Dutocq, with the ill-humor of a man who sees +himself face to face with an argument he can't refute, "you seem to have +a mania for stirring up matters and meddling with--" + +"I tell you again," said Cerizet, "this came to me; I didn't seek it; +but I saw at once that there was no use struggling against the influence +that is opposing us; so I chose the course of saving ourselves by a +sacrifice." + +"A sacrifice! what sort of sacrifice?" + +"Parbleu! I've sold my share of those notes, leaving those who bought +them to fight it out with Master barrister." + +"Who is the purchaser?" + +"Who do you suppose would step into my shoes unless it were the persons +who have an interest in this other marriage, and who want to hold a +power over Theodose, and control him by force if necessary." + +"Then my share of the notes is equally important to them?" + +"No doubt; but I couldn't speak for you until I had consulted you." + +"What do they offer?" + +"Hang it! my dear fellow, the same that I accepted. Knowing better +than you the danger of their competition I sold out to them on very bad +terms." + +"Well, but what are they, those terms?" + +"I gave up my shares for fifteen thousand francs." + +"Come, come!" said Dutocq, shrugging his shoulders, "what you are after +is to recover a loss (if you made it) by a commission on my share--and +perhaps, after all, the whole thing is only a plot between you and la +Peyrade--" + +"At any rate, my good friend, you don't mince your words; an infamous +thought comes into your head and you state it with charming frankness. +Luckily you shall presently hear me make the proposal to Theodose, +and you are clever enough to know by his manner if there has been any +connivance between us." + +"So be it!" said Dutocq. "I withdraw the insinuation; but I must say +your employers are pirates; I call their proposal throttling people. I +have not, like you, something to fall back upon." + +"Well, you poor fellow, this is how I reasoned: I said to myself, That +good Dutocq is terribly pressed for the last payment on his practice; +this will give him enough to pay it off at one stroke; events +have proved that there are great uncertainties about our +Theodose-and-Thuillier scheme; here's money down, live money, and +therefore it won't be so bad a bargain after all." + +"It is a loss of two-fifths!" + +"Come," said Cerizet, "you were talking just now of commissions. I see +a means of getting one for you if you'll engage to batter down this +Colleville marriage. If you will cry it down as you have lately cried it +up I shouldn't despair of getting you a round twenty thousand out of the +affair." + +"Then you think that this new proposal will not be agreeable to la +Peyrade,--that he'll reject it? Is it some heiress on whom he has +already taken a mortgage?" + +"All that I can tell you is that these people expect some difficulty in +bringing the matter to a conclusion." + +"Well, I don't desire better than to follow your lead and do what is +disagreeable to la Peyrade; but five thousand francs--think of it!--it +is too much to lose." + +At this moment the door opened, and a waiter ushered in the expected +guest. + +"You can serve dinner," said Cerizet to the waiter; "we are all here." + +It was plain that Theodose was beginning to take wing toward higher +social spheres; elegance was becoming a constant thought in his mind. He +appeared in a dress suit and varnished shoes, whereas his two associates +received him in frock-coats and muddy boots. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "I think I am a little late, but that devil of a +Thuillier is the most intolerable of human beings about a pamphlet I am +concocting for him. I was unlucky enough to agree to correct the proofs +with him, and over every paragraph there's a fight. 'What I can't +understand,' he says, 'the public can't, either. I'm not a man of +letters, but I'm a practical man'; and that's the way we battle it, page +after page. I thought the sitting this afternoon would never end." + +"How unreasonable you are, my dear fellow," said Dutocq; "when a man +wants to succeed he must have the courage to make sacrifices. Once +married, you can lift your head." + +"Ah, yes!" said la Peyrade with a sigh, "I'll lift it; for since the day +you made me eat this bread of anguish I've become terribly sick of it." + +"Cerizet," said Dutocq, "has a plan that will feed you more +succulently." + +Nothing more was said at the moment, for justice had to be done to +the excellent fare ordered by Cerizet in honor of his coming lease. As +usually happens at dinners where affairs are likely to be discussed, +each man, with his mind full of them, took pains not to approach those +topics, fearing to compromise his advantages by seeming eager; the +conversation, therefore, continued for a long time on general subjects, +and it was not until the dessert was served that Cerizet brought himself +to ask la Peyrade what had been settled about the terms of his lease. + +"Nothing, my friend," replied Theodose. + +"What! nothing? I certainly allowed you time enough to decide the +matter." + +"Well, as to that, something is decided. There will not be any principal +tenant at all; Mademoiselle Brigitte is going to let the house herself." + +"That's a singular thing," said Cerizet, stiffly. "After your agreement +with me, I certainly did not expect such a result as this." + +"How can I help it, my dear fellow? I agreed with you, barring +amendments on the other side; I wasn't able to give another turn to the +affair. In her natural character as a managing woman and a sample of +perpetual motion, Brigitte has reflected that she might as well manage +that house herself and put into her own pocket the profits you proposed +to make. I said all I could about the cares and annoyances which she +would certainly saddle upon herself. 'Oh! nonsense!' she said; 'they'll +stir my blood and do my health good!'" + +"It is pitiable!" said Cerizet. "That poor old maid will never know +which end to take hold of; she doesn't imagine what it is to have +an empty house, and which must be filled with tenants from garret to +cellar." + +"I plied her with all those arguments," replied la Peyrade; "but I +couldn't move her resolution. Don't you see, my dear democrats, you +stirred up the revolution of '89; you thought to make a fine speculation +in dethroning the noble by the bourgeois, and the end of it is you are +shoved out yourselves. This looks like paradox; but you've found out now +that the peasant and clodhopper isn't malleable; he can't be forced +down and kept under like the noble. The aristocracy, on behalf of +its dignity, would not condescend to common cares, and was therefore +dependent on a crowd of plebeian servitors to whom it had to trust for +three-fourths of the actions of its own life. That was the reign of +stewards and bailiffs, wily fellows, into whose hands the interests of +the great families passed, and who fed and grew fat on the parings of +the great fortunes they managed. But now-a-days, utilitarian theories, +as they call them, have come to the fore,--'We are never so well served +as by ourselves,' 'There's no shame in attending to one's own business,' +and many other bourgeois maxims which have suppressed the role of +intermediaries. Why shouldn't Mademoiselle Brigitte Thuillier manage her +own house when dukes and peers go in person to the Bourse, where such +men sign their own leases and read the deeds before they sign them, and +go themselves to the notary, whom, in former days, they considered a +servant." + +During this time Cerizet had time to recover from the blow he had just +received squarely in the face, and to think of the transition he had +to make from one set of interests to the other, of which he was now the +agent. + +"What you are declaiming there is all very clever," he said, carelessly, +"but the thing that proves to me our defeat is the fact that you are not +on the terms with Mademoiselle Thuillier you would have us believe +you are. She is slipping through your fingers; and I don't think that +marriage is anything like as certain as Dutocq and I have been fancying +it was." + +"Well, no doubt," said la Peyrade, "there are still some touches to be +given to our sketch, but I believe it is well under way." + +"And I think, on the contrary, that you have lost ground; and the reason +is simple: you have done those people an immense service; and that's a +thing never forgiven." + +"Well, we shall see," said la Peyrade. "I have more than one hold upon +them." + +"No, you are mistaken. You thought you did a brilliant thing in putting +them on a pinnacle, but the fact is you emancipated them; they'll keep +you now at heel. The human heart, particularly the bourgeois heart, is +made that way. If I were in your place I shouldn't feel so sure of being +on solid ground, and if something else turned up that offered me a good +chance--" + +"What! just because I couldn't get you the lease of that house do you +want to knock everything to pieces?" + +"No," said Cerizet, "I am not looking at the matter in the light of my +own interests; I don't doubt that as a trustworthy friend you have done +every imaginable thing to promote them; but I think the manner in which +you have been shoved aside a very disturbing symptom. It even decides +me to tell you something I did not intend to speak of; because, in my +opinion, when persons start a course they ought to keep on steadily, +looking neither forward nor back, and not allowing themselves to be +diverted to other aspirations." + +"Ah ca!" cried la Peyrade, "what does all this verbiage mean? Have you +anything to propose to me? What's the price of it?" + +"My dear Theodose," said Cerizet, paying no attention to the +impertinence, "you yourself can judge of the value of discovering a +young girl, well brought-up, adorned with beauty and talents and a 'dot' +equal to that of Celeste, which she has in her own right, _plus_ fifty +thousand francs' worth of diamonds (as Mademoiselle Georges says on her +posters in the provinces), and, moreover,--a fact which ought to strike +the mind of an ambitious man,--a strong political influence, which she +can use for a husband." + +"And this treasure you hold in your hand?" said la Peyrade, in a tone of +incredulity. + +"Better still, I am authorized to offer it to you; in fact, I might say +that I am charged to do so." + +"My friend, you are poking fun at me; unless, indeed, this phoenix has +some hideous or prohibitory defect." + +"Well, I'll admit," said Cerizet, "that there is a slight objection, +not on the score of family, for, to tell the truth, the young woman has +none--" + +"Ah!" said la Peyrade, "a natural child--Well, what next?" + +"Next, she is not so very young,--something like twenty-nine or so; but +there's nothing easier than to turn an elderly girl into a young widow +if you have imagination." + +"Is that all the venom in it?" + +"Yes, all that is irreparable." + +"What do you mean by that? Is it a case of rhinoplasty?" + +Addressed to Cerizet the word had an aggressive air, which, in fact, +was noticeable since the beginning of the dinner in the whole manner and +conversation of the barrister. But it did not suit the purpose of the +negotiator to resent it. + +"No," he replied, "our nose is as well made as our foot and our waist; +but we may, perhaps, have a slight touch of hysteria." + +"Oh! very good," said la Peyrade; "and as from hysteria to insanity +there is but a step--" + +"Well, yes," interrupted Cerizet, hastily, "sorrows have affected our +brain slightly; but the doctors are unanimous in their diagnosis; they +all say that after the birth of the first child not a trace will remain +of this little trouble." + +"I am willing to admit that doctors are infallible," replied la Peyrade; +"but, in spite of your discouragement, you must allow me, my friend, to +persist in my suit to Mademoiselle Colleville. Perhaps it is ridiculous +to confess it, but the truth is I am gradually falling in love with +that little girl. It isn't that her beauty is resplendent, or that the +glitter of her 'dot' has dazzled me, but I find in that child a great +fund of sound sense joined to simplicity; and, what to mind is of +greater consequence, her sincere and solid piety attracts me; I think a +husband ought to be very happy with her." + +"Yes," said Cerizet, who, having been on the stage, may very well have +known his Moliere, "this marriage will crown your wishes with all good; +it will be filled with sweetness and with pleasures." + +The allusion to Tartuffe was keenly felt by la Peyrade, who took it up +and said, hotly:-- + +"The contact with innocence will disinfect me of the vile atmosphere in +which I have lived too long." + +"And you will pay your notes of hand," added Cerizet, "which I advise +you to do with the least possible delay; for Dutocq here was saying to +me just now that he would like to see the color of your money." + +"I? not at all," interposed Dutocq. "I think, on the contrary, that our +friend has a right to the delay." + +"Well," said la Peyrade, "I agree with Cerizet. I hold that the less a +debt is due, and therefore the more insecure and open to contention it +is, the sooner one ought to free one's self by paying it." + +"But, my dear la Peyrade," said Dutocq, "why take this bitter tone?" + +Pulling from his pocket a portfolio, la Peyrade said:-- + +"Have you those notes with you, Dutocq?" + +"Faith! no, my dear fellow," replied Dutocq, "I don't carry them about +with me; besides, they are in Cerizet's hands." + +"Well," said the barrister, rising, "whenever you come to my house I'll +pay you on the nail, as Cerizet can tell you." + +"What! are you going to leave us without your coffee?" said Cerizet, +amazed to the last degree. + +"Yes; I have an arbitration case at eight o'clock. Besides, we have said +all we had to say. You haven't your lease, but you've got your twenty +five thousand francs in full, and those of Dutocq are ready for him +whenever he chooses to come to my office. I see nothing now to prevent +me from going where my private business calls me, and I therefore very +cordially bid you good-bye." + +"Ah ca! Dutocq," cried Cerizet, as la Peyrade disappeared, "this means a +rupture." + +"Prepared with the utmost care," added Dutocq. "Did you notice the air +with which he pulled out that pocket-book?" + +"But where the devil," said the usurer, "could he have got the money?" + +"Probably," replied Dutocq, sarcastically, "where he got that with which +he paid you in full for those notes you sold at a sacrifice." + +"My dear Dutocq," said Cerizet, "I'll explain to you the circumstances +under which that insolent fellow freed himself, and you'll see if he +didn't rob me of fifteen thousand francs." + +"Possibly, but you, my worthy clerk, were trying to get ten thousand +away from me." + +"No, no; I was positively ordered to buy up your claim; and you ought to +remember that my offer had risen to twenty thousand when Theodose came +in." + +"Well," said Dutocq, "when we leave here we'll go to your house, where +you will give me those notes; for, you'll understand that to-morrow +morning, at the earliest decent hour, I shall go to la Peyrade's office; +I don't mean to let his paying humor cool." + +"And right you are; for I can tell you now that before long there'll be +a fine upset in his life." + +"Then the thing is really serious--this tale of a crazy woman you want +him to marry? I must say that in his place, with these money-matters +evidently on the rise, I should have backed out of your proposals just +as he did. Ninas and Ophelias are all very well on the stage, but in a +home--" + +"In a home, when they bring a 'dot,' we can be their guardian," replied +Cerizet, sententiously. "In point of fact, we get a fortune and not a +wife." + +"Well," said Dutocq, "that's one way to look at it." + +"If you are willing," said Cerizet, "let us go and take our coffee +somewhere else. This dinner has turned out so foolishly that I want to +get out of this room, where there's no air." He rang for the waiter. +"Garcon!" he said, "the bill." + +"Monsieur, it is paid." + +"Paid! by whom?" + +"By the gentleman who just went out." + +"But this is outrageous," cried Cerizet. "I ordered the dinner, and you +allow some one else to pay for it!" + +"It wasn't I, monsieur," said the waiter; "the gentleman went and paid +the 'dame du comptoir'; she must have thought it was arranged between +you. Besides, it is not so uncommon for gentlemen to have friendly +disputes about paying." + +"That's enough," said Cerizet, dismissing the waiter. + +"Won't these gentlemen take their coffee?--it is paid for," said the man +before he left the room. + +"A good reason for not taking it," replied Cerizet, angrily. "It is +really inconceivable that in a house of this kind such an egregious +blunder should be committed. What do you think of such insolence?" he +added, when the waiter had left the room. + +"Bah!" exclaimed Dutocq, taking his hat, "it is a schoolboy proceeding; +he wanted to show he had money; it is easy to see he never had any +before." + +"No, no! that's not it," said Cerizet; "he meant to mark the rupture. 'I +will not owe you even a dinner,' is what he says to me." + +"But, after all," said Dutocq, "this banquet was given to celebrate your +enthronement as principal tenant of the grand house. Well, he has failed +to get you the lease, and I can understand that his conscience was +uneasy at letting you pay for a dinner which, like those notes of mine, +were an 'obligation without cause.'" + +Cerizet made no reply to this malicious observation. They had reached +the counter where reigned the dame who had permitted the improper +payment, and, for the sake of his dignity, the usurer thought it proper +to make a fuss. After which the two men departed, and the copying-clerk +took his employer to a low coffee-house in the Passage du Saumon. +There Cerizet recovered his good-humor; he was like a fish out of water +suddenly returned to his native element; for he had reached that state +of degradation when he felt ill at ease in places frequented by good +society; and it was with a sort of sensuous pleasure that he felt +himself back in the vulgar place where they were noisily playing pool +for the benefit of a "former conqueror of the Bastille." + +In this establishment Cerizet enjoyed the fame of being a skilful +billiard-player, and he was now entreated to take part in a game already +begun. In technical language, he "bought his ball"; that is, one of +the players sold him his turn and his chances. Dutocq profited by this +arrangement to slip away, on pretence of inquiring for a sick friend. + +Presently, in his shirt-sleeves, with a pipe between his lips, Cerizet +made one of those masterly strokes which bring down the house with +frantic applause. As he waited a moment, looking about him triumphantly, +his eye lighted on a terrible kill-joy. Standing among the spectators +with his chin on his cane, du Portail was steadily watching him. + +A tinge of red showed itself in Cerizet's cheeks. He hesitated to bow or +to recognize the old gentleman, a most unlikely person to meet in such +a place. Not knowing how to take the unpleasant encounter, he went on +playing; but his hand betrayed his uneasiness, and presently an unlucky +stroke threw him out of the game. While he was putting on his coat in a +tolerably ill-humor, du Portail passed, almost brushing him, on his way +to the door. + +"Rue Montmartre, at the farther end of the Passage," said the old man, +in a low tone. + +When they met, Cerizet had the bad taste to try to explain the +disreputable position in which he had just been detected. + +"But," said du Portail, "in order to see you there, I had to be there +myself." + +"True," returned Cerizet. "I was rather surprised to see a quiet +inhabitant of the Saint-Sulpice quarter in such a place." + +"It merely proves to you," said the little old man, in a tone which cut +short all explanation, and all curiosity, "that I am in the habit of +going pretty nearly everywhere, and that my star leads me into the path +of those persons whom I wish to meet. I was thinking of you at the very +moment you came in. Well, what have you done?" + +"Nothing good," replied Cerizet. "After playing me a devilish trick +which deprived me of a magnificent bit of business, our man rejected +your overture with scorn. There is no hope whatever in that claim of +Dutocq's; for la Peyrade is chock-full of money; he wanted to pay the +notes just now, and to-morrow morning he will certainly do so." + +"Does he regard his marriage to this Demoiselle Colleville as a settled +thing?" + +"He not only considers it settled, but he is trying now to make people +believe it is a love-match. He rattled off a perfect tirade to convince +me that he is really in love." + +"Very well," said du Portail, wishing, perhaps, to show that he could, +on occasion, use the slang of a low billiard-room, "'stop the charge'" +(meaning: Do nothing more); "I will undertake to bring monsieur to +reason. But come and see me to-morrow, and tell me all about the family +he intends to enter. You have failed in this affair; but don't mind +that; I shall have others for you." + +So saying, he signed to the driver of an empty citadine, which was +passing, got into it, and, with a nod to Cerizet, told the man to drive +to the rue Honore-Chevalier. + +As Cerizet walked down the rue Montmartre to regain the Estrapade +quarter, he puzzled his brains to divine who that little old man with +the curt speech, the imperious manner, and a tone that seemed to cast +upon all those with whom he spoke a boarding-grapnel, could be; a man, +too, who came from such a distance to spend his evening in a place +where, judging by his clothes alone, he had no business to be. + +Cerizet had reached the Market without finding any solution to that +problem, when he was roughly shaken out of it by a heavy blow in the +back. Turning hastily, he found himself in presence of Madame Cardinal, +an encounter with whom, at a spot where she came every morning to get +fish to peddle, was certainly not surprising. + +Since that evening in Toupillier's garret, the worthy woman, in spite of +the clemency so promptly shown to her, had judged it imprudent to make +other than very short apparitions in her own domicile, and for the +last two days she had been drowning among the liquor-dealers (called +"retailers of comfort") the pangs of her defeat. With flaming face and +thickened voice she now addressed her late accomplice:-- + +"Well, papa," she said, "what happened after I left you with that little +old fellow?" + +"I made him understand in a very few words," replied the banker of +the poor, "that it was all a mistake as to me. In this affair, my dear +Madame Cardinal, you behaved with a really unpardonable heedlessness. +How came you to ask my assistance in obtaining your inheritance from +your uncle, when with proper inquiry you might have known there was a +natural daughter, in whose favor he had long declared he should make a +will? That little old man, who interrupted you in your foolish attempt +to anticipate your legacy, was no other than the guardian of the +daughter to whom everything is left." + +"Ha! guardian, indeed! a fine thing, guardian!" cried the Cardinal. +"To talk of a woman of my age, just because I wanted to see if my uncle +owned anything at all, to talk to _me_ of the police! It's hateful! it's +_disgusting_!" + +"Come, come!" said Cerizet, "you needn't complain; you got off cheaply." + +"Well, and you, who broke the locks and said you were going to take the +diamonds, under color of marrying my daughter! Just as if she would have +you,--a legitimate daughter like her! 'Never, mother,' said she; 'never +will I give my heart to a man with such a nose.'" + +"So you've found her, have you?" said Cerizet. + +"Not until last night. She has left her blackguard of a player, and +she is now, I flatter myself, in a fine position, eating money; has her +citadine by the month, and is much respected by a barrister who would +marry her at once, but he has got to wait till his parents die, for the +father happens to be mayor, and the government wouldn't like it." + +"What mayor?" + +"11th arrondissement,--Minard, powerfully rich, used to do a business in +cocoa." + +"Ah! very good! very good! I know all about him. You say Olympe is +living with his son?" + +"Well, not to say living together, for that would make talk, though he +only sees her with good motives. He lives at home with his father, but +he has bought their furniture, and has put it, and my daughter, too, +into a lodging in the Chausee d'Antin; stylish quarter, isn't it?" + +"It seems to me pretty well arranged," said Cerizet; "and as Heaven, it +appears, didn't destine us for each other--" + +"No, yes, well, that's how it was; and I think that girl is going to +give me great satisfaction; and there's something I want to consult you +about." + +"What?" demanded Cerizet. + +"Well, my daughter being in luck, I don't think I ought to continue to +cry fish in the streets; and now that my uncle has disinherited me, I +have, it seems to me, a right to an 'elementary allowance.'" + +"You are dreaming, my poor woman; your daughter is a minor; it is you +who ought to be feeding her; the law doesn't require her to give you +aliment." + +"Then do you mean," said Madame Cardinal, "that those who have nothing +are to give to those who have much? A fine thing such a law as that! +It's as bad as guardians who, for nothing at all, talk about calling +the police. Yes! I'd like to see 'em calling the police to me! Let 'em +guillotine me! It won't prevent my saying that the rich are swindlers; +yes, swindlers! and the people ought to make another revolution to get +their rights; and _then_, my lad, you, and my daughter, and barrister +Minard, and that little old guardian, you'll all come down under it--" + +Perceiving that his ex-mother-in-law was reaching stage of exaltation +that was not unalarming, Cerizet hastened to get away, her epithets +pursuing him for more than a hundred feet; but he comforted himself by +thinking that he would make her pay for them the next time she came to +his back to ask for a "convenience." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. SET A SAINT TO CATCH A SAINT + +As he approached his own abode, Cerizet, who was nothing so little as +courageous, felt an emotion of fear. He perceived a form ambushed near +the door, which, as he came nearer, detached itself as if to meet him. +Happily, it was only Dutocq. He came for his notes. Cerizet returned +them in some ill-humor, complaining of the distrust implied in a visit +at such an hour. Dutocq paid no attention to this sensitiveness, and the +next morning, very early, he presented himself at la Peyrade's. + +La Peyrade paid, as he had promised, on the nail, and to a few sentinel +remarks uttered by Dutocq as soon as the money was in his pocket, +he answered with marked coldness. His whole external appearance and +behavior was that of a slave who has burst his chain and has promised +himself not to make a gospel use of his liberty. + +As he conducted his visitor to the door, the latter came face to face +with a woman in servant's dress, who was just about to ring the bell. +This woman was, apparently, known to Dutocq, for he said to her:-- + +"Ha ha! little woman; so we feel the necessity of consulting a +barrister? You are right; at the family council very serious matters +were brought up against you." + +"Thank God, I fear no one. I can walk with my head up," said the person +thus addressed. + +"So much the better for you," replied the clerk of the justice-of-peace; +"but you will probably be summoned before the judge who examines the +affair. At any rate, you are in good hands here; and my friend la +Peyrade will advise you for the best." + +"Monsieur is mistaken," said the woman; "it is not for what he thinks +that I have come to consult a lawyer." + +"Well, be careful what you say and do, my dear woman, for I warn you +you are going to be finely picked to pieces. The relations are furious +against you, and you can't get the idea out of their heads that you have +got a great deal of money." + +While speaking thus, Dutocq kept his eye on Theodose, who bore the look +uneasily, and requested his client to enter. + +Here follows a scene which had taken place the previous afternoon +between this woman and la Peyrade. + +La Peyrade, we may remember, was in the habit of going to early mass at +his parish church. For some little time he had felt himself the object +of a singular attention which he could not explain on the part of the +woman whom we have just seen entering his office, who daily attended +the church at, as Dorine says, his "special hour." Could it be for +love? That explanation was scarcely compatible with the maturity and the +saintly, beatific air of this person, who, beneath a plain cap, called +"a la Janseniste," by which fervent female souls of that sect were +recognized, affected, like a nun, to hide her hair. On the other hand, +the rest of her clothing was of a neatness that was almost dainty, +and the gold cross at her throat, suspended by a black velvet ribbon, +excluded the idea of humble and hesitating mendicity. + +The morning of the day on which the dinner at the Rocher de Cancale was +to take place, la Peyrade, weary of a performance which had ended by +preoccupying his mind, went up to the woman and asked her pointblank if +she had any request to make of him. + +"Monsieur," she answered, in a tone of solemnity, "is, I think, the +celebrated Monsieur de la Peyrade, the advocate of the poor?" + +"I am la Peyrade; and I have had, it is true, an opportunity to render +services to the indigent persons of this quarter." + +"Would it, then, be asking too much of monsieur's goodness that he +should suffer me to consult him?" + +"This place," replied la Peyrade, "is not well chosen for such +consultation. What you have to say to me seems important, to judge by +the length of time you have been hesitating to speak to me. I live near +here, rue Saint-Dominique d'Enfer, and if you will take the trouble to +come to my office--" + +"It will not annoy monsieur?" + +"Not in the least; my business is to hear clients." + +"At what hour--lest I disturb monsieur--?" + +"When you choose; I shall be at home all the morning." + +"Then I will hear another mass, at which I can take the communion. I did +not dare to do so at this mass, for the thought of speaking to monsieur +so distracted my mind. I will be at monsieur's house by eight o'clock, +when I have ended my meditation, if that hour does not inconvenience +him." + +"No; but there is no necessity for all this ceremony," replied la +Peyrade, with some impatience. + +Perhaps a little professional jealousy inspired his ill-humor, for it +was evident that he had to do with an antagonist who was capable of +giving him points. + +At the hour appointed, not a minute before nor a minute after, the +pious woman rang the bell, and the barrister having, not without some +difficulty, induced her to sit down, he requested her to state her case. +She was then seized with that delaying little cough with which we obtain +a respite when brought face to face with a difficult subject. At last, +however, she compelled herself to approach the object of her visit. + +"It is to ask monsieur," she said, "if he would be so very good as to +inform me whether it is true that a charitable gentleman, now deceased, +has bequeathed a fund to reward domestic servants who are faithful to +their masters." + +"Yes," replied la Peyrade; "that is to say, Monsieur de Montyon founded +'prizes for virtue,' which are frequently given to zealous and exemplary +domestic servants. But ordinary good conduct is not sufficient; +there must be some act or acts of great devotion, and truly Christian +self-abnegation." + +"Religion enjoins humility upon us," replied the pious woman, "and +therefore I dare not praise myself; but inasmuch as for the last +twenty years I have lived in the service of an old man of the dullest +description, a savant, who has wasted his substance on inventions, so +that I myself have had to feed and clothe him, persons have thought that +I am not altogether undeserving of that prize." + +"It is certainly under such conditions that the Academy selects its +candidates," said la Peyrade. "What is your master's name?" + +"Pere Picot; he is never called otherwise in our quarter; sometimes he +goes out into the streets as if dressed for the carnival, and all the +little children crowd about him, calling out: 'How d'ye do, Pere Picot! +Good-morning, Pere Picot!' But that's how it is; he takes no care of his +dignity; he goes about full of his own ideas; and though I kill myself +trying to give him appetizing food, if you ask him what he has had for +his dinner he can't tell you. Yet he's a man full of ability, and he has +taught good pupils. Perhaps monsieur knows young Phellion, a professor +in the College of Saint-Louis; he was one of his scholars, and he comes +to see him very often." + +"Then," said la Peyrade, "your master is a mathematician?" + +"Yes, monsieur; mathematics have been his bane; they have flung him into +a set of ideas which don't seem to have any common-sense in them ever +since he has been employed at the Observatory, near here." + +"Well," said la Peyrade, "you must bring testimony proving your long +devotion to this old man, and I will then draw up a memorial to the +Academy and take the necessary steps to present it." + +"How good monsieur is!" said the pious woman, clasping her hands; "and +if he would also let me tell him of a little difficulty--" + +"What is it?" + +"They tell me, monsieur, that to get this prize persons must be really +very poor." + +"Not exactly; still, the Academy does endeavor to choose whose who are +in straitened circumstances, and who have made sacrifices too heavy for +their means." + +"Sacrifices! I think I may indeed say I have made sacrifices, for +the little property I inherited from my parents has all been spent in +keeping the old man, and for fifteen years I have had no wages, which, +at three hundred francs a year and compound interest, amount now to a +pretty little sum; as monsieur, I am sure, will agree." + +At the words "compound interest," which evidenced a certain amount of +financial culture, la Peyrade looked at this Antigone with increased +attention. + +"In short," he said, "your difficulty is--" + +"Monsieur will not think it strange," replied the saintly person, "that +a very rich uncle dying in England, who had never done anything for +his family in his lifetime, should have left me twenty-five thousand +francs." + +"Certainly," said the barrister, "there's nothing in that but what is +perfectly natural and proper." + +"But, monsieur, I have been told that the possession of this money will +prevent the judges from considering my claims to the prize." + +"Possibly; because seeing you in possession of a little competence, +the sacrifices which you apparently intend to continue in favor of your +master will be less meritorious." + +"I shall never abandon him, poor, dear man, in spite of his faults, +though I know that this poor little legacy which Heaven has given me is +in the greatest danger from him." + +"How so?" asked la Peyrade, with some curiosity. + +"Eh! monsieur, let him only get wind of that money, and he'd snap it up +at a mouthful; it would all go into his inventions of perpetual motion +and other machines of various kinds which have already ruined him, and +me, too." + +"Then," said la Peyrade, "your desire is that this legacy should remain +completely unknown, not only to your master but to the judges of the +Academy?" + +"How clever monsieur is, and how well he understands things!" she +replied, smiling. + +"And also," continued the barrister, "you don't want to keep that money +openly in your possession?" + +"For fear my master should find it out and get it away from me? Exactly. +Besides, as monsieur will understand, I shouldn't be sorry, in order to +supply the poor dear man with extra comforts, that the sum should bear +interest." + +"And the highest possible interest," said the barrister. + +"Oh! as for that, monsieur, five or six per cent." + +"Very good; then it is not only about the memorial to the Academy for +the prize of virtue, but also about an investment of your legacy that +you have so long been desirous of consulting me?" + +"Monsieur is so kind, so charitable, so encouraging!" + +"The memorial, after I have made a few inquiries, will be easy enough; +but an investment, offering good security, the secret of which you +desire to keep, is much less readily obtained." + +"Ah! if I dared to--" said the pious woman, humbly. + +"What?" asked la Peyrade. + +"Monsieur understands me?" + +"I? not the least in the world." + +"And yet I prayed earnestly just now that monsieur might be willing to +keep this money for me. I should feel such confidence if it were in his +hands; I know he would return it to me, and never speak of it." + +La Peyrade gathered, at this instant, the fruit of his comedy of legal +devotion to the necessitous classes. The choir of porters chanting his +praises to the skies could alone have inspired this servant-woman with +the boundless confidence of which he found himself the object. His +thoughts reverted instantly to Dutocq and his notes, and he was not far +from thinking that this woman had been sent to him by Providence. +But the more he was inclined to profit by this chance to win his +independence, the more he felt the necessity of seeming to yield only to +her importunity; consequently his objections were many. + +Moreover, he had no great belief in the character of his client, and did +not care, as the common saying is, to uncover Saint Peter to cover Saint +Paul; in other words, to substitute for a creditor who, after all, was +his accomplice, a woman who might at any time become exacting and insist +in repayment in some public manner that would injure his reputation. He +decided, therefore, to play the game with a high hand. + +"My good woman," he said, "I am not in want of money, and I am not rich +enough to pay interest on twenty-five thousand francs for which I have +no use. All that I can do for you is to place that sum, in my name, with +the notary Dupuis. He is a religious man; you can see him every Sunday +in the warden's pew in our church. Notaries, you know, never give +receipts, therefore I could not give you one myself; I can only promise +to leave among my papers, in case of death, a memorandum which will +secure the restitution of the money into your hands. The affair, you +see, is one of blind confidence, and I am very unwilling to make it. If +I do so, it is only to oblige a person whose piety and the charitable +use she intends to make of the proceeds of her little fortune entitle +her to my good-will." + +"If monsieur thinks that the matter cannot be otherwise arranged--" + +"This appears to me the only possible way," said la Peyrade. "I shall +hope to get you six per cent interest, and you may rely that it will +be paid with the utmost regularity. But remember, six months, or even a +year, may elapse before the notary will be in a position to repay this +money, because notaries invest such trust funds chiefly in mortgages +which require a certain time to mature. Now, when you have obtained the +prize for virtue, which, according to all appearance, I can readily +do for you, there will be no reason to hide your little property any +longer,--a reason which I fully understand; but you will not be able +to withdraw it from the notary's hands immediately; and in case of any +difficulty arising, I should be forced to explain the situation, the +manner in which you have concealed your prosperity from your master, to +whom you have been supposed to be wholly devoted. This, as you will see, +would put you in the position of falsely professing virtue, and would do +great harm to your reputation for piety." + +"Oh! monsieur," said the saintly woman, "can it be that any one would +think me a person who did not speak the truth?" + +"Bless you! my good creature, in business it is necessary to foresee +everything. Money embroils the best friends, and leads to actions they +never foresaw. Therefore reflect; you can come and see me again in a few +days. It is possible that between now and then you will find some better +investment; and I myself, who am doing at this moment a thing I don't +altogether like, may have found other difficulties which I do not now +expect." + +This threat, adroitly thrown out as an afterthought, was intended to +immediately clinch the matter. + +"I have reflected carefully," said the pious woman, "and I feel sure +that in the hands of so religious a man as monsieur I run no risks." + +Taking from her bosom a little pocket-book, she pulled out twenty-five +bank notes. The rapid manner in which she counted them was a revelation +to la Peyrade. The woman was evidently accustomed to handle money, and a +singular idea darted through his mind. + +"Can it be that she is making me a receiver of stolen property? No," he +said aloud, "in order to draw up the memorial for the Academy, I must, +as I told you, make a few inquiries; and that will give me occasion to +call upon you. At what hour can I see you alone?" + +"At four o'clock, when monsieur goes to take his walk in the +Luxembourg." + +"And where do you live?" + +"Rue du Val-de-Grace, No. 9." + +"Very good; at four o'clock; and if, as I doubt not, the result of my +inquiry is favorable, I will take your money then. Otherwise, if there +are not good grounds for your application for the prize of virtue there +will be no reason why you should make a mystery of your legacy. You +could then invest it in some more normal manner than that I have +suggested to you." + +"Oh! how cautious monsieur is!" she said, with evident disappointment, +having thought the affair settled. "This money, God be thanked! I have +not stolen, and monsieur can make what inquiries he likes about me in +the quarter." + +"It is quite indispensable that I should do so," said la Peyrade, dryly, +for he did not at all like, under this mask of simplicity, the quick +intelligence that penetrated his thoughts. "Without being a thief, a +woman may very well not be a Sister of Charity; there's a wide margin +between the two extremes." + +"As monsieur chooses," she replied; "he is doing me so great a service +that I ought to let him take all precautions." + +Then, with a piously humble bow, she went away, taking her money with +her. + +"The devil!" thought la Peyrade; "that woman is stronger than I; she +swallows insults with gratitude and without the sign of a grimace! I +have never yet been able to master myself like that." + +He began now to fear that he had been too timid, and to think that his +would-be creditor might change her mind before he could pay her the +visit he had promised. But the harm was done, and, although consumed +with anxiety lest he had lost a rare chance, he would have cut off a leg +sooner than yield to his impulse to go to her one minute before the hour +he had fixed. The information he obtained about her in the quarter +was rather contradictory. Some said his client was a saint; otherwise +declared her to be a sly creature; but, on the whole, nothing was said +against her morality that deterred la Peyrade from taking the piece of +luck she had offered him. + +When he met her at four o'clock he found her in the same mind. + +With the money in his pocket he went to dine with Cerizet and Dutocq at +the Rocher de Cancale; and it is to the various emotions he had +passed through during the day that we must attribute the sharp and +ill-considered manner in which he conducted his rupture with his two +associates. This behavior was neither that of his natural disposition +nor of his acquired temperament; but the money that was burning in his +pockets had slightly intoxicated him; its very touch had conveyed to +him an excitement and an impatience for emancipation of which he was not +wholly master. He flung Cerizet over in the matter of the lease without +so much as consulting Brigitte; and yet, he had not had the full courage +of his duplicity; for he had laid to the charge of the old woman a +refusal which was merely the act of his own will, prompted by bitter +recollections of his fruitless struggles with the man who had so long +oppressed him. + +In short, during the whole day, la Peyrade had not shown himself the +able and infallible man that we have hitherto seen him. Once before, +when he carried the fifteen thousand francs entrusted to him by +Thuillier, he had been led by Cerizet into an insurrectionary proceeding +which necessitated the affair of Sauvaignou. Perhaps, on the whole, it +is more difficult to be strong under good than under evil fortune. The +Farnese Hercules, calm and in still repose, expresses more energetically +the plenitude of muscular power than a violent and agitated Hercules +represented in the over-excited energy of his labors. + + + + + +PART II. THE PARVENUS + + + + +CHAPTER I. PHELLION, UNDER A NEW ASPECT + +Between the first and second parts of this history an immense event had +taken place in the life of Phellion. + +There is no one who has not heard of the misfortunes of the Odeon, +that fatal theatre which, for years, ruined all its directors. Right +or wrong, the quarter in which this dramatic impossibility stands is +convinced that its prosperity depends upon it; so that more than once +the mayor and other authorities of the arrondissement have, with a +courage that honors them, taken part in the most desperate efforts to +galvanize the corpse. + +Now to meddle with theatrical matters is one of the eternally perennial +ambitions of the lesser bourgeoisie. Always, therefore, the successive +saviours of the Odeon feel themselves magnificently rewarded if they are +given ever so small a share in the administration of that enterprise. It +was at some crisis in its affairs that Minard, in his capacity as mayor +of the 11th arrondissement, had been called to the chairmanship of the +committee for reading plays, with the power to join unto himself as +assistants a certain number of the notables of the Latin quarter,--the +selection being left to him. + +We shall soon know exactly how near was the realization of la Peyrade's +projects for the possession of Celeste's "dot"; let us merely say now +that these projects in approaching maturity had inevitably become noised +abroad; and as this condition of things pointed, of course, to the +exclusion of Minard junior and also of Felix the professor, the +prejudice hitherto manifested by Minard pere against old Phellion was +transformed into an unequivocal disposition towards friendly cordiality; +there is nothing that binds and soothes like the feeling of a checkmate +shared in common. Judged without the evil eye of paternal rivalry, +Phellion became to Minard a Roman of incorruptible integrity and a man +whose little treatises had been adopted by the University,--in other +words, a man of sound and tested intellect. + +So that when it became the duty of the mayor to select the members of +the dramatic custom-house, of which he was now the head, he immediately +thought of Phellion. As for the great citizen, he felt, on the day when +a post was offered to him in that august tribunal, that a crown of gold +had been placed upon his brow. + +It will be well understood that it was not lightly, nor without having +deeply meditated, that a man of Phellion's solemnity had accepted the +high and sacred mission which was offered to him. He said within himself +that he was called upon to exercise the functions of a magistracy, a +priestly office. + +"To judge of men," he replied to Minard, who was much surprised at +his hesitation, "is an alarming task, but to judge of minds!--who can +believe himself equal to such a mission?" + +Once more the family--that rock on which the firmest resolutions +split--had threatened to infringe on the domain of his conscience. The +thought of boxes and tickets of which the future member of the committee +could dispose in favor of his own kin had excited in the household so +eager a ferment that his freedom of decision seemed for a moment in +danger. But, happily, Brutus was able to decide himself in the same +direction along which a positive uprising of the whole Phellionian tribe +intended to push him. From the observations of Barniol, his son-in-law, +and also by his own personal inspiration, he became persuaded that by +his vote, always given to works of irreproachable morality, and by his +firm determination to bar the way to all plays that mothers of families +could not take their daughters to witness, he was called upon to render +the most signal services to morals and public order. Phellion, to use +his own expression, had therefore become a member of the areopagus +presided over by Minard, and--still speaking as he spoke--he was +issuing from the exercise of his functions, which were both delicate and +interesting, when the conversation we are about to report took place. A +knowledge of this conversation is necessary to an understanding of the +ulterior events of this history, and it will also serve to put into +relief the envious insight which is one of the most marked traits of the +bourgeois character. + +The session of the committee had been extremely stormy. On the subject +of a tragedy entitled, "The Death of Hercules," the classic party +and the romantic party, whom the mayor had carefully balanced in the +composition of his committee, had nearly approached the point of tearing +each other's hair out. Twice Phellion had risen to speak, and his +hearers were astonished at the quantity of metaphors the speech of a +major of the National Guard could contain when his literary convictions +were imperilled. As the result of a vote, victory remained with +the opinions of which Phellion was the eloquent organ. It was while +descending the stairway of the theatre with Minard that he remarked:-- + +"We have done a good work this day. 'The Death of Hercules' reminded me +of 'The Death of Hector,' by the late Luce de Lancival; the work we have +just accepted sparkles with sublime verses." + +"Yes," said Minard, "the versification has taste; there are some +really fine lines in it, and I admit to you that I think this sort of +literature rather above the anagrams of Master Colleville." + +"Oh!" replied Minard, "Colleville's anagrams are mere witticisms, which +have nothing in common with the sterner accents of Melpomene." + +"And yet," said Minard, "I can assure you he attaches the greatest +importance to that rubbish, and apropos to his anagrams, as, indeed, +about many other things, he is not a little puffed up. Since their +emigration to the Madeleine quarter it seems to me that not only the +Sieur Colleville, but his wife and daughter, and the Thuilliers and +the whole coterie have assumed an air of importance which is rather +difficult to justify." + +"No wonder!" said Phellion; "one must have a pretty strong head to +stand the fumes of opulence. Our friends have become so very rich by the +purchase of that property where they have gone to live that we ought to +forgive them for a little intoxication; and I must say the dinner they +gave us yesterday for a house-warming was really as well arranged as it +was succulent." + +"I myself," said Minard, "have given a few remarkable dinners to which +men in high government positions have not disdained to come, yet I am +not puffed up with pride on that account; such as my friends have always +known me, that I have remained." + +"You, Monsieur le maire, have long been habituated to the splendid +existence you have made for yourself by your high commercial talents; +our friends, on the contrary, so lately embarked on the smiling ship of +Fortune, have not yet found, as the vulgar saying is, their sea-legs." + +And then to cut short a conversation in which Phellion began to think +the mayor rather "caustic," he made as if he intended to take leave of +him. In order to reach their respective homes they did not always take +the same way. + +"Are you going through the Luxembourg?" asked Minard, not allowing +Phellion to give him the slip. + +"I shall cross it, but I have an appointment to meet Madame Phellion and +the little Barniols at the end of the grand alley." + +"Then," said Minard, "I'll go with you and have the pleasure of making +my bow to Madame Phellion; and I shall get the fresh air at the same +time, for, in spite of hearing fine things, one's head gets tired at the +business we have just been about." + +Minard had felt that Phellion gave rather reluctant assent to his sharp +remarks about the new establishment of the Thuilliers, and he did not +attempt to renew the subject; but when he had Madame Phellion for a +listener, he was very sure that his spite would find an echo. + +"Well, fair lady," he began, "what did you think of yesterday's dinner?" + +"It was very fine," replied Madame Phellion; "as I tasted that soup 'a +la bisque' I knew that some caterer, like Chevet, had supplanted the +cook. But the whole affair was dull; it hadn't the gaiety of our old +meetings in the Latin quarter. And then, didn't it strike you, as it did +me, that Madame and Mademoiselle Thuillier no longer seemed mistresses +of their own house? I really felt as if I were the guest of Madame--what +_is_ her name? I never can remember it." + +"Torna, Comtesse de Godollo," said Phellion, intervening. "The name is +euphonious enough to remember." + +"Euphonious if you like, my dear; but to me it never seems a name at +all." + +"It is a Magyar, or to speak more commonly, a Hungarian name. Our own +name, if we wanted to discuss it, might be said to be a loan from the +Greek language." + +"Very likely; at any rate we have the advantage of being known, not +only in our own quarter, but throughout the tuition world, where we have +earned an honorable position; while this Hungarian countess, who makes, +as they say, the good and the bad weather in the Thuilliers' home, where +does she come from, I'd like to know? How did such a fine lady,--for +she has good manners and a very distinguished air, no one denies +her that,--how came she to fall in love with Brigitte; who, between +ourselves, keeps a sickening odor of the porter's lodge about her. For +my part, I think this devoted friend is an intriguing creature, who +scents money, and is scheming for some future gain." + +"Ah ca!" said Minard, "then you don't know the original cause of the +intimacy between Madame la Comtesse de Godollo and the Thuilliers?" + +"She is a tenant in their house; she occupies the entresol beneath their +apartment." + +"True, but there's something more than that in it. Zelie, my wife, heard +it from Josephine, who wanted, lately, to enter our service; the matter +came to nothing, for Francoise, our woman, who thought of marrying, +changed her mind. You must know, fair lady, that it was solely Madame +de Godollo who brought about the emigration of the Thuilliers, whose +upholsterer, as one might say, she is." + +"What! their upholsterer?" cried Phellion,--"that distinguished woman, +of whom one may truly say, 'Incessu patuit dea'; which in French we very +inadequately render by the expression, 'bearing of a queen'?" + +"Excuse me," said Minard. "I did not mean that Madame de Godollo is +actually in the furniture business; but, at the time when Mademoiselle +Thuillier decided, by la Peyrade's advice, to manage the new house +herself, that little fellow, who hasn't all the ascendancy over her +mind he thinks he has, couldn't persuade her to move the family into +the splendid apartment where they received us yesterday. Mademoiselle +Brigitte objected that she should have to change her habits, and +that her friends and relations wouldn't follow her to such a distant +quarter--" + +"It is quite certain," interrupted Madame Phellion, "that to make up +one's mind to hire a carriage every Sunday, one wants a prospect of +greater pleasure than can be found in that salon. When one thinks that, +except on the day of the famous dance of the candidacy, they never once +opened the piano in the rue Saint-Dominique!" + +"It would have been, I am sure, most agreeable to the company to have a +talent like yours put in requisition," remarked Minard; "but those are +not ideas that could ever come into the mind of that good Brigitte. +She'd have seen two more candles to light. Five-franc pieces are her +music. So, when la Peyrade and Thuillier insisted that she should move +into the apartment in the Place de la Madeleine, she thought of nothing +but the extra costs entailed by the removal. She judged, rightly enough, +that beneath those gilded ceilings her old 'penates' might have a +singular effect." + +"See how all things link together," remarked Phellion, "and how, from +the summits of society, luxury infiltrates itself, sooner or later, +through the lower classes, leading to the ruin of empires." + +"You are broaching there, my dear commander," said Minard, "one of the +most knotty questions of political economy. Many good minds think, on +the contrary, that luxury is absolutely demanded in the interests of +commerce, which is certainly the life of States. In any case, this view, +which isn't yours, appears to have been that of Madame de Godollo, for, +they tell me, her apartment is very coquettishly furnished; and to coax +Mademoiselle Brigitte into the same path of elegance she made a proposal +to her as follows: 'A friend of mine,' she said, 'a Russian princess for +whom one of the first upholsterers has just made splendid furniture, is +suddenly recalled to Russia by the czar, a gentleman with whom no one +dares to trifle. The poor woman is therefore obliged to turn everything +she owns here into money as fast as possible; and I feel sure she would +sell this furniture for ready money at a quarter of the price it cost +her. All of it is nearly new, and some things have never been used at +all.'" + +"So," cried Madame Phellion, "all that magnificence displayed before our +eyes last night was a magnificent economical bargain?" + +"Just so," replied Minard; "and the thing that decided Mademoiselle +Brigitte to take that splendid chance was not so much the desire to +renew her shabby furniture as the idea of doing an excellent stroke +of business. In that old maid there's always something of Madame la +Ressource in Moliere's 'Miser.'" + +"I think, Monsieur le maire, that you are mistaken," said Phellion. +"Madame la Ressource is a character in 'Turcaret,' a very immoral play +by the late Le Sage." + +"Do you think so?" said Minard. "Well, very likely. But what is certain +is that, though the barrister ingratiated himself with Brigitte in +helping her to buy the house, it was by this clever jockeying about the +furniture that the foreign countess got upon the footing with Brigitte +that you now see. You may have remarked, perhaps, that a struggle is +going on between those two influences; which we may designate as the +house, and its furniture." + +"Yes, certainly," said Madame Phellion, with a beaming expression that +bore witness to the interest she took in the conversation, "it did seem +to me that the great lady allowed herself to contradict the barrister, +and did it, too, with a certain sharpness." + +"Very marked sharpness," resumed Minard, "and that intriguing fellow +perceives it. It strikes me that the lady's hostility makes him uneasy. +The Thuilliers he got cheaply; for, between ourselves you know, there's +not much in Thuillier himself; but he feels now that he has met a tough +adversary, and he is looking anxiously for a weak spot on which to +attack her." + +"Well, that's justice," said Madame Phellion. "For some time past that +man, who used to make himself so small and humble, has been taking airs +of authority in the house which are quite intolerable; he behaves openly +as the son-in-law; and you know very well, in that affair of Thuillier's +election he jockeyed us all, and made us the stepping-stone for his +matrimonial ambition." + +"Yes; but I can assure you," said Minard, "that at the present time his +influence is waning. In the first place, he won't find every day for his +dear, good friend, as he calls him, a fine property worth a million to +be bought for a bit of bread." + +"Then they did get that house very cheap?" said Madame Phellion, +interrogatively. + +"They got it for nothing, as the result of a dirty intrigue which the +lawyer Desroches related to me the other day. If it ever became known +to the council of the bar, that little barrister would be badly +compromised. The next thing is the coming election to the Chamber. +Eating gives appetite, as they say, and our good Thuillier is hungry; +but he begins to perceive that Monsieur de la Peyrade, when it becomes a +question of getting him that mouthful, hasn't his former opportunity +to make dupes of us. That is why the family is turning more and more to +Madame de Godollo, who seems to have some very high acquaintances in +the political world. Besides all this, in fact, without dwelling on +the election business, which is still a distant matter, this Hungarian +countess is becoming, every day, more and more a necessity to Brigitte; +for it must be owned that without the help of the great lady, the poor +soul would look in the midst of her gilded salon like a ragged gown in a +bride's trousseau." + +"Oh, Monsieur le maire, you are cruel," said Madame Phellion, affecting +compunction. + +"No, but say," returned Minard, "with your hand on your conscience, +whether Brigitte, whether Madame Thuillier could preside in such a +salon? No, it is the Hungarian countess who does it all. She furnished +the rooms; she selected the male domestic, whose excellent training and +intelligence you must have observed; it was she who arranged the menu +of that dinner; in short, she is the providence of the parvenu colony, +which, without her intervention, would have made the whole quarter laugh +at it. And--now this is a very noticeable thing--instead of being a +parasite like la Peyrade, this Hungarian lady, who seems to have a +fortune of her own, proves to be not only disinterested, but generous. +The two gowns that you saw Brigitte and Madame Thuillier wear last +night were a present from her, and it was because she came herself to +superintend the toilet of our two 'amphitryonesses' that you were +so surprised last night not to find them rigged in their usual dowdy +fashion." + +"But what can be the motive," asked Madame Phellion, "of this maternal +and devoted guardianship?" + +"My dear wife," said Phellion, solemnly, "the motives of human actions +are not always, thank God! selfishness and the consideration of vile +interests. There are hearts in this world that find pleasure in doing +good for its own sake. This lady may have seen in our good friends a set +of people about to enter blindly into a sphere they knew nothing +about, and having encouraged their first steps by the purchase of this +furniture, she may, like a nurse attached to her nursling, find pleasure +in giving them the milk of her social knowledge and her counsels." + +"He seems to keep aloof from our strictures, the dear husband!" cried +Minard; "but just see how he goes beyond them!" + +"I!" said Phellion; "it is neither my intention nor my habit to do so." + +"All the same it would be difficult to say more neatly that the +Thuilliers are geese, and that Madame de Godollo is bringing them up by +hand." + +"I do not accept for these friends of ours," said Phellion, "a +characterization so derogatory to their repute. I meant to say that they +were lacking, perhaps, in that form of experience, and that this noble +lady has placed at their service her knowledge of the world and its +usages. I protest against any interpretation of my language which goes +beyond my thought thus limited." + +"Well, anyhow, you will agree, my dear commander, that in the idea of +giving Celeste to this la Peyrade, there is something more than want of +experience; there is, it must be said, blundering folly and immorality; +for really the goings on of that barrister with Madame Colleville--" + +"Monsieur le maire," interrupted Phellion, with redoubled solemnity, +"Solon, the law-giver, decreed no punishment for parricide, declaring +it to be an impossible crime. I think the same thing may be said of the +offence to which you seem to make allusion. Madame Colleville granting +favors to Monsieur de la Peyrade, and all the while intending to give +him her daughter? No, monsieur, no! that passes imagination. Questioned +on this subject, like Marie Antoinette, by a human tribunal, Madame +Colleville would answer with the queen, 'I appeal to all mothers.'" + +"Nevertheless, my friend," said Madame Phellion, "allow me to remind you +that Madame Colleville is excessively light-minded, and has given, as we +al know, pretty good proofs of it." + +"Enough, my dear," said Phellion. "The dinner hour summons us; I think +that, little by little, we have allowed this conversation to drift +toward the miry slough of backbiting." + +"You are full of illusions, my dear commander," said Minard, taking +Phellion by the hand and shaking it; "but they are honorable illusions, +and I envy them. Madame, I have the honor--" added the mayor, with a +respectful bow to Madame Phellion. + +And each party took its way. + + + + +CHAPTER II. THE PROVENCAL'S PRESENT POSITION + +The information acquired by the mayor of the 11th arrondissement was by +no means incorrect. In the Thuillier salon, since the emigration to the +Madeleine quarter, might be seen daily, between the tart Brigitte and +the plaintive Madame Thuillier, the graceful and attractive figure of +a woman who conveyed to this salon an appearance of the most unexpected +elegance. It was quite true that through the good offices of this +lady, who had become her tenant in the new house, Brigitte had made +a speculation in furniture not less advantageous in its way, but more +avowable, than the very shady purchase of the house itself. For six +thousand francs in ready money she had obtained furniture lately from +workshops representing a value of at least thirty thousand. + +It was still further true that in consequence of a service which went +deep into her heart, Brigitte was showing to the beautiful foreign +countess the respectful deference which the bourgeoisie, in spite of its +sulky jealousy, is much less indisposed to give to titles of nobility +and high positions in the social hierarchy than people think. As this +Hungarian countess was a woman of great tact and accomplished training, +in taking the direction which she had thought it wise to assume over +the affairs of her proteges, she had been careful to guard her influence +from all appearance of meddlesome and imperious dictation. On the +contrary, she flattered Brigitte's claim to be a model housekeeper; in +her own household expenses she affected to ask the spinster's advice; so +that by reserving to herself the department of luxurious expenses, she +had more the air of giving information than of exercising supervision. + +La Peyrade could not disguise from himself that a change was taking +place. His influence was evidently waning before that of this stranger; +but the antagonism of the countess was not confined to a simple struggle +for influence. She made no secret of being opposed to his suit for +Celeste; she gave her unequivocal approval to the love of Felix +Phellion, the professor. Minard, by whom this fact was not unobserved, +took very good care, in the midst of his other information, not to +mention it to those whom it most concerned. + +La Peyrade was all the more anxious at being thus undermined by a +hostility the cause of which was inexplicable to him, because he knew +he had himself to blame for bringing this disquieting adversary into +the very heart of his citadel. His first mistake was in yielding to the +barren pleasure of disappointing Cerizet in the lease of the house. If +Brigitte by his advice and urging had not taken the administration of +the property into her own hands there was every probability that she +would never have made the acquaintance of Madame de Godollo. Another +imprudence had been to urge the Thuilliers to leave their old home in +the Latin quarter. + +At this period, when his power and credit had reached their apogee, +Theodose considered his marriage a settled thing; and he now felt an +almost childish haste to spring into the sphere of elegance which seemed +henceforth to be his future. He had therefore furthered the inducements +of the countess, feeling that he thus sent the Thuilliers before him to +make his bed in the splendid apartment he intended to share with +them. By thus removing them from their old home he saw another +advantage,--that of withdrawing Celeste from daily intercourse with +a rival who seemed to him dangerous. Deprived of the advantage of +propinquity, Felix would be forced to make his visits farther apart; and +therefore there would be greater facilities to ruin him in the +girl's heart, where he was installed on condition of giving religious +satisfaction,--a requirement to which he showed himself refractory. + +But in all these plans and schemes various drawbacks confronted him. +To enlarge the horizon of the Thuilliers was for la Peyrade to run the +chance of creating competition for the confidence and admiration +of which he had been till then the exclusive object. In the sort of +provincial life they had hitherto lived, Brigitte and his dear, good +friend placed him, for want of comparison, at a height from which the +juxtaposition of other superiorities and elegances must bring him down. +So, then, apart from the blows covertly dealt him by Madame de Godollo, +the idea of the transpontine emigration had proved to be, on the whole, +a bad one. + +The Collevilles had followed their friends the Thuilliers, to the +new house near the Madeleine, where an entresol at the back had been +conceded to them at a price conformable to their budget. But Colleville +declared it lacked light and air, and being obliged to go daily from +the boulevard of the Madeleine to the faubourg Saint-Jacques, where his +office was, he fumed against the arrangement of which he was the victim, +and felt at times that la Peyrade was a tyrant. Madame Colleville, on +the other hand, had flung herself into an alarming orgy of bonnets, +mantles, and new gowns, requiring the presentation of a mass of bills, +which led not infrequently to scenes in the household which were more or +less stormy. As for Celeste, she had undoubtedly fewer opportunities +to see young Phellion, but she had also fewer chances to rush into +religious controversy; and absence, which is dangerous to none +but inferior attachments, made her think more tenderly and less +theologically of the man of her dreams. + +But all these false calculations of Theodose were as nothing in the +balance with another cause for his diminishing influence which was now +to weigh heavily on his situation. + +He had assured Thuillier that, after a short delay and the payment +of ten thousand francs, to which his dear, good friend submitted with +tolerable grace, the cross of the Legion of honor would arrive to +realize the secret desire of all his life. Two months had now passed +without a sign of that glorious rattle; and the former sub-director, who +would have felt such joy in parading his red ribbon on the boulevard +of the Madeleine, of which he was now one of the most assiduous +promenaders, had nothing to adorn his buttonhole but the flowers of the +earth, the privilege of everybody,--of which he was far less proud than +Beranger. + +La Peyrade had, to be sure, mentioned an unforeseen and inexplicable +difficulty by which all the efforts of the Comtesse du Bruel had been +paralyzed; but Thuillier did not take comfort in the explanation; and +on certain days, when the disappointment became acute, he was very near +saying with Chicaneau in Les Plaideurs, "Return my money." + +However, no outbreak happened, for la Peyrade held him in leash by the +famous pamphlet on "Taxation and the Sliding-Scale"; the conclusion of +which had been suspended during the excitement of the moving; for during +that agitating period Thuillier had been unable to give proper care to +the correction of proofs, about which, we may remember, he had reserved +the right of punctilious examination. La Peyrade had now reached a point +when he was forced to see that, in order to restore his influence, +which was daily evaporating, he must strike some grand blow; and it was +precisely this nagging and vexatious fancy about the proofs that the +barrister decided to take as the starting-point of a scheme, both deep +and adventurous, which came into his mind. + +One day, when the pair were engaged on the sheets of the pamphlet, a +discussion arose upon the word "nepotism," which Thuillier wished to +eliminate from one of la Peyrade's sentences, declaring that never had +he met with it anywhere; it was pure neologism--which, to the literary +notions of the bourgeoisie, is equivalent to the idea of 1793 and the +Terror. + +Generally la Peyrade took the ridiculous remarks of his dear, +good friend pretty patiently; but on this occasion he made himself +exceedingly excited, and signified to Thuillier that he might terminate +himself a work to which he applied such luminous and intelligent +criticism; after which remark he departed and was not seen again for +several days. + +At first Thuillier supposed this outbreak to be a mere passing effect +of ill-humor; but when la Peyrade's absence grew prolonged he felt the +necessity of taking some conciliatory step, and accordingly he went to +see the barrister, intending to make honorable amends and so put an end +to his sulkiness. Wishing, however, to give this advance an air which +allowed an honest issue to his own self-love, he entered la Peyrade's +room with an easy manner, and said, cheerfully:-- + +"Well, my dear fellow, it turns out that we were both right: 'nepotism' +means the authority that the nephews of popes take in public affairs. +I have searched the dictionary and it gives no other explanation; but, +from what Phellion tells me, I find that in the political vocabulary +the meaning of the word has been extended to cover the influence which +corrupt ministers permit certain persons to exercise illegally. I think, +therefore, that we may retain the expression, though it is certainly not +taken in that sense by Napoleon Landais." + +La Peyrade, who, in receiving his visitor, had affected to be extremely +busy in sorting his papers, contented himself by shrugging his shoulders +and saying nothing. + +"Well," said Thuillier, "have you got the last proofs? We ought to be +getting on." + +"If you have sent nothing to the printing-office," replied la +Peyrade, "of course there are no proofs. I myself haven't touched the +manuscript." + +"But, my dear Theodose," said Thuillier, "it isn't possible that for +such a trifle you are affronted. I don't pretend to be a writer, only as +my name is on the book I have, I think, the right to my opinion about a +word." + +"But 'Mossie' Phellion," replied Theodose, "is a writer; and inasmuch as +you have consulted him, I don't see why you can't engage him to finish +the work in which, for my part, I have resolved not to co-operate any +longer." + +"Heavens! what temper!" cried Thuillier; "here you are furious just +because I seemed to question a word and then consulted some one. You +know very well that I have read passages to Phellion, Colleville, +Minard, and Barniol as if the work were mine, in order to see the effect +it would produce upon the public; but that's no reason why I should be +willing to give my name to the things they are capable of writing. Do +you wish me to give you a proof of the confidence I have in you? Madame +la Comtesse de Godollo, to whom I read a few pages last night, told +me that the pamphlet was likely to get me into trouble with the +authorities; but I wouldn't allow what she said to have any influence +upon me." + +"Well," said la Peyrade, "I think that the oracle of the family sees the +matter clearly; and I've no desire to bring your head to the scaffold." + +"All that is nonsense," said Thuillier. "Have you, or have you not, an +intention to leave me in the lurch?" + +"Literary questions make more quarrels among friends than political +questions," replied Theodose. "I wish to put an end to these discussions +between us." + +"But, my dear Theodose, never have I assumed to be a literary man. I +think I have sound common-sense, and I say out my ideas; you can't be +angry at that; and if you play me this trick, and refuse to collaborate +any longer, it is because you have some other grudge against me that I +know nothing about." + +"I don't see why you call it a trick. There's nothing easier for you +than not to write a pamphlet; you'll simply be Jerome Thuillier, as +before." + +"And yet it was you yourself who declared that this publication would +help my election; besides, I repeat, I have read passages to all our +friends, I have announced the matter in the municipal council, and if +the work were not to appear I should be dishonored; people would be sure +to say the government had bought me up." + +"You have only to say that you are the friend of Phellion, the +incorruptible; that will clear you. You might even give Celeste to +his booby of a son; that alliance would certainly protect you from all +suspicion." + +"Theodose," said Thuillier, "there is something in your mind that you +don't tell me. It is not natural that for a simple quarrel about a word +you should wish to lose a friend like me." + +"Well, yes, there is," replied la Peyrade, with the air of a man who +makes up his mind to speak out. "I don't like ingratitude." + +"Nor I either; I don't like it," said Thuillier, hotly; "and if you +accuse me of so base an action, I summon you to explain yourself. We +must get out of these hints and innuendoes. What do you complain of? +What have you against a man whom only a few days ago you called your +friend?" + +"Nothing and everything," replied la Peyrade. "You and your sister +are much too clever to break openly with a man who, at the risk of his +reputation, has put a million in your hands. But I am not so simple that +I don't know how to detect changes. There are people about you who have +set themselves, in an underhand way, to destroy me; and Brigitte has +only one thought, and that is, how to find a decent way of not keeping +her promises. Men like me don't wait till their claims are openly +protested, and I certainly do not intend to impose myself on any family; +still, I was far, I acknowledge, from expecting such treatment." + +"Come, come," said Thuillier, kindly, seeing in the barrister's eye the +glint of a tear of which he was completely the dupe, "I don't know what +Brigitte may have been doing to you, but one thing is very certain: I +have never ceased to be your most devoted friend." + +"No," said la Peyrade, "since that mishap about the cross I am only +good, as the saying is, to throw to the dogs. How could I have struggled +against secret influences? Possibly it is that pamphlet, about which you +have talked a great deal too much, that has hindered your appointment. +The ministers are so stupid! They would rather wait and have their hand +forced by the fame of the publication than do the thing with a good +grace as the reward of your services. But these are political mysteries +which would never enter your sister's mind." + +"The devil!" cried Thuillier. "I think I've got a pretty observing eye, +and yet I can't see the slightest change in Brigitte toward you." + +"Oh, yes!" said la Peyrade, "your eyesight is so good that you have +never seen perpetually beside her that Madame de Godollo, whom she now +thinks she can't live without." + +"Ha, ha!" said Thuillier, slyly, "so it is a little jealousy, is it, in +our mind?" + +"Jealousy!" retorted la Peyrade. "I don't know if that's the right word, +but certainly your sister--whose mind is nothing above the ordinary, +and to whom I am surprised that a man of your intellectual superiority +allows a supremacy in your household which she uses and abuses--" + +"How can I help it, my dear fellow," interrupted Thuillier, sucking in +the compliment; "she is so absolutely devoted to me." + +"I admit the weakness, but, I repeat, your sister doesn't fit into your +groove. Well, I say that when a man of the value which you are good +enough to recognize in me, does her the honor to consult her and devote +himself to her as I have done, it can hardly be agreeable to him to find +himself supplanted by a woman who comes from nobody knows where--and all +because of a few trumpery chairs and tables she has helped her to buy!" + +"With women, as you know very well," replied Thuillier, "household +affairs have the first place." + +"And Brigitte, who wants a finger in everything, also assumes to +carry matters with a high hand in affairs of the heart. As you are so +extraordinarily clear-sighted you ought to have seen that in Brigitte's +mind nothing is less certain than my marriage with Mademoiselle +Colleville; and yet my love has been solemnly authorized by you." + +"Good gracious!" cried Thuillier, "I'd like to see any one attempt to +meddle with my arrangements!" + +"Well, without speaking of Brigitte, I can tell you of another person," +said Theodose, "who is doing that very thing; and that person is +Mademoiselle Celeste herself. In spite of their quarrels about religion, +her mind is none the less full of that little Phellion." + +"But why don't you tell Flavie to put a stop to it?" + +"No one knows Flavie, my dear Thuillier, better than you. She is a woman +rather than a mother. I have found it necessary to do a little bit of +courting to her myself, and, you understand, while she is willing for +this marriage she doesn't desire it very much." + +"Well," said Thuillier, "I'll undertake to speak to Celeste myself. It +shall never be said that a slip of a girl lays down the law to me." + +"That's exactly what I don't want you to do," cried la Peyrade. "Don't +meddle in all this. Outside of your relations to your sister you have an +iron will, and I will never have it said that you exerted your authority +to put Celeste in my arms; on the contrary, I desire that the child may +have complete control over her own heart. The only thing I request is +that she shall decide positively between Felix Phellion and myself; +because I do not choose to remain any longer in this doubtful position. +It is true we agreed that the marriage should only take place after +you became a deputy; but I feel now that it is impossible to allow +the greatest event of my life to remain at the mercy of doubtful +circumstances. And, besides, such an arrangement, though at first agreed +upon, seems to me now to have a flavor of a bargain which is unbecoming +to both of us. I think I had better make you a confidence, to which I +am led by the unpleasant state of things now between us. Dutocq may have +told you, before you left the apartment in the rue Saint-Dominique, that +an heiress had been offered to me whose immediate fortune is larger than +that which Mademoiselle Colleville will eventually inherit. I refused, +because I have had the folly to let my heart be won, and because +an alliance with a family as honorable as yours seemed to me more +desirable; but, after all, it is as well to let Brigitte know that if +Celeste refuses me, I am not absolutely turned out into the cold." + +"I can easily believe that," said Thuillier; "but as for putting the +whole decision into the hands of that little girl, especially if she +has, as you tell me, a fancy for Felix--" + +"I can't help it," said the barrister. "I must, at any price, get out of +this position; it is no longer tenable. You talk about your pamphlet; +I am not in a fit condition to finish it. You, who have been a man +of gallantry, you must know the dominion that women, fatal creatures! +exercise over our whole being." + +"Bah!" said Thuillier, conceitedly, "they cared for me, but I did not +often care for them; I took them, and left them, you know." + +"Yes, but I, with my Southern nature, love passionately; and Celeste has +other attractions besides fortune. Brought up in your household, under +your own eye, you have made her adorable. Only, I must say, you have +shown great weakness in letting that young fellow, who does not suit her +in any respect, get such hold upon her fancy." + +"You are quite right; but the thing began in a childish friendship; she +and Felix played together. You came much later; and it is a proof of +the great esteem in which we hold you, that when you made your offer we +renounced our earlier projects." + +"_You_ did, yes," said la Peyrade, "and with some literary +manias--which, after all, are frequently full of sense and wit--you have +a heart of gold; with you friendship is a sure thing, and you know what +you mean. But Brigitte is another matter; you'll see, when you propose +to her to hasten the marriage, what a resistance she will make." + +"I don't agree with you. I think that Brigitte has always wanted you and +still wants you for son-in-law--if I may so express myself. But whether +she does or not, I beg you to believe that in all important matters I +know how to have my will obeyed. Only, let us come now to a distinct +understanding of what you wish; then we can start with the right foot +foremost, and you'll see that all will go well." + +"I wish," replied la Peyrade, "to put the last touches to your pamphlet; +for, above all things, I think of you." + +"Certainly," said Thuillier, "we ought not to sink in port." + +"Well, in consequence of the feeling that I am oppressed, stultified by +the prospect of a marriage still so doubtful, I am certain that not +a page of manuscript could be got out of me in any form, until the +question is settled." + +"Very good," said Thuillier; "then how do you present that question?" + +"Naturally, if Celeste's decision be against me, I should wish an +immediate solution. If I am condemned to make a marriage of convenience +I ought to lose no time in taking the opportunity I mentioned to you." + +"So be it; but what time do you intend to allow us?" + +"I should think that in fifteen days a girl might be able to make up her +mind." + +"Undoubtedly," replied Thuillier; "but it is very repugnant to me to let +Celeste decide without appeal." + +"For my part, I will take that risk; in any case, I shall be rid of +uncertainty; and that is really my first object. Between ourselves, I +am not risking as much as you think. It will take more than fifteen days +for a son of Phellion, in other words, obstinacy incarnate in silliness, +to have done with philosophical hesitations; and it is very certain +that Celeste will not accept him for a husband unless he gives her some +proofs of conversion." + +"That's probable. But suppose Celeste tries to dawdle; suppose she +refuses to accept the alternative?" + +"That's your affair," said the Provencal. "I don't know how you regard +the family in Paris; I only know that in my part of the country it is +an unheard-of thing that a girl should have such liberty. If you, your +sister (supposing she plays fair in the matter), and the father and +mother can't succeed in making a girl whom you dower agree to so simple +a thing as to make a perfectly free choice between two suitors, then +good-bye to you! You'll have to write upon your gate-post that Celeste +is queen and sovereign of the house." + +"Well, we haven't got to that point yet," said Thuillier, with a capable +air. + +"As for you, my old fellow," resumed la Peyrade, "I must postpone our +business until after Celeste's decision. Be that in my favor or not, I +will then go to work, and in three days the pamphlet can be finished." + +"Now," said Thuillier, "I know what you have had on your mind. I'll talk +about it with Brigitte." + +"That's a sad conclusion," said la Peyrade; "but, unhappily, so it is." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"I would rather, as you can easily imagine, hear you say of yourself +that the thing shall be done; but old habits can't be broken up." + +"Ah ca! do you think I'm a man without any will, any initiative of my +own?" + +"No! but I'd like to be hidden in a corner and hear how you will open +the subject with your sister." + +"Parbleu! I shall open it frankly. I WILL, very firmly said, shall meet +every one of her objections." + +"Ah, my poor fellow!" said la Peyrade, clapping him on the shoulder, +"from Chrysale down how often have we seen brave warriors lowering their +penants before the wills of women accustomed to master them!" + +"We'll see about _that_," replied Thuillier, making a theatrical exit. + +The eager desire to publish his pamphlet, and the clever doubt thrown +upon the strength of his will had made him furious,--an actual tiger; +and he went away resolved, in case of opposition, to reduce his +household, as the saying is, by fire and sword. + +When he reached home Thuillier instantly laid the question before +Brigitte. She, with her crude good sense and egotism, pointed out to him +that by thus hastening the period formerly agreed upon for the marriage, +they committed the blunder of disarming themselves; they could not be +sure that when the election took place la Peyrade would put the same +zeal into preparing for it. "It might be," said the old maid, "just as +it has been about the cross." + +"There's this difference," said Thuillier; "the cross doesn't depend +directly upon la Peyrade, whereas the influence he exerts in the 12th +arrondissement he can employ as he will." + +"And suppose he willed, after we have feathered his nest," said +Brigitte, "to work his influence for his own election? He is very +ambitious, you know." + +This danger did not fail to strike the mind of the future legislator, +who thought, however, that he might feel some security in the honor and +morality of la Peyrade. + +"A man's honor can't be very delicate," returned Brigitte, "when he +tries to get out of a bargain; and this fashion of dangling a bit of +sugar before us about getting your pamphlet finished, doesn't please me +at all. Can't you get Phellion to help you, and do without Theodose? Or, +I dare say, Madame de Godollo, who knows everybody in politics, could +find you a journalist--they say there are plenty of them out at elbows; +a couple of hundred francs would do the thing." + +"But the secret would get into the papers," said Thuillier. "No, I must +absolutely have Theodose; he knows that, and he makes these conditions. +After all, we did promise him Celeste, and it is only fulfilling the +promise a year earlier--what am I saying?--a few months, a few weeks, +possibly; for the king may dissolve the Chamber before any one expects +it." + +"But suppose Celeste won't have him?" objected Brigitte. + +"Celeste! Celeste, indeed!" ejaculated Thuillier; "she _must_ have +whomsoever we choose. We ought to have thought of that when we made the +engagement with la Peyrade; our word is passed now, you know. Besides, +if the child is allowed to choose between la Peyrade and Phellion--" + +"So you really think," said the sceptical old maid, "that if Celeste +decides for Phellion you can still count on la Peyrade's devotion?" + +"What else can I do? Those are his conditions. Besides, the fellow has +calculated the whole thing; he knows very well that Felix will never +bring himself in two weeks to please Celeste by going to confession, and +unless he does, that little monkey will never accept him for a husband. +La Peyrade's game is very clever." + +"Too clever," said Brigitte. "Well, settle the matter as you choose; I +shall not meddle; all this manoeuvring is not to my taste." + +Thuillier went to see Madame Colleville, and intimated to her that she +must inform Celeste of the designs upon her. + +Celeste had never been officially authorized to indulge her sentiment +for Felix Phellion. Flavie, on the contrary, had once expressly +forbidden her to encourage the hopes of the young professor; but as, on +the part of Madame Thuillier, her godmother and her confidant, she knew +she was sustained in her inclination, she had let herself gently follow +it without thinking very seriously of the obstacles her choice might +encounter. When, therefore, she was ordered to choose at once between +Felix and la Peyrade, the simple-hearted girl was at first only struck +by the advantages of one half of the alternative, and she fancied she +did herself a great service by agreeing to an arrangement which made her +the mistress of her own choice and allowed her to bestow it as her heart +desired. + +But la Peyrade was not mistaken in his calculation when he reckoned +that the religious intolerance of the young girl on one side, and the +philosophical inflexibility of Phellion's son on the other, would create +an invincible obstacle to their coming together. + + + + +CHAPTER III. GOOD BLOOD CANNOT LIE + +The evening of the day on which Flavie had communicated to Celeste the +sovereign orders of Thuillier, the Phellions called to spend the evening +with Brigitte, and a very sharp engagement took place between the two +young people. Mademoiselle Colleville did not need to be told by her +mother that it would be extremely unbecoming if she allowed Felix to +know of the conditional approval that was granted to their sentiments. +Celeste had too much delicacy, and too much real religious feeling to +wish to obtain the conversion of the man she loved on any other ground +than that of his conviction. Their evening was therefore passed in +theological debate; but love is so strange a Proteus, and takes so many +and such various forms, that though it appeared on this occasion in +a black gown and a mob cap, it was not at all as ungraceful and +displeasing as might have been imagined. But Phellion junior was in this +encounter, the solemnity of which he little knew, unlucky and blundering +to the last degree. Not only did he concede nothing, but he took a tone +of airy and ironical discussion, and ended by putting poor Celeste so +beside herself that she finally declared an open rupture and forbade him +to appear in her presence again. + +It was just the case for a lover more experienced than the young savant +to reappear the very next day, for young hearts are never so near to +understanding each other as when they have just declared the necessity +of eternal separation. But this law is not one of logarithms, and Felix +Phellion, being incapable of guessing it, thought himself positively and +finally banished; so much so, that during the fifteen days granted +to the poor girl to deliberate (as says the Code in the matter of +beneficiary bequests), although he was expected day by day, and from +minute to minute by Celeste, who gave no more thought to la Peyrade than +if he had nothing to do with the question, the deplorably stupid youth +did not have the most distant idea of breaking his ban. + +Luckily for this hopeless lover, a beneficent fairy was watching over +him, and the evening before the day on which the young girl was to make +her decision the following affair took place. + +It was Sunday, the day on which the Thuilliers still kept up their +weekly receptions. + +Madame Phellion, convinced that the housekeeping leakage, vulgarly +called "the basket dance," was the ruin of the best-regulated +households, was in the habit of going in person to her tradespeople. +From time immemorial in the Phellion establishment, Sunday was the +day of the "pot-au-feu," and the wife of the great citizen, in that +intentionally dowdy costume in which good housekeepers bundle themselves +when they go to market, was prosaically returning from a visit to the +butcher, followed by her cook and the basket, in which lay a magnificent +cut of the loin of beef. Twice had she rung her own doorbell, and +terrible was the storm gathering on the head of the foot-boy, who by +his slowness in opening the door was putting his mistress in a situation +less tolerable than that of Louis XIV., who had only _almost_ waited. In +her feverish impatience Madame Phellion had just given the bell a third +and ferocious reverberation, when, judge of her confusion, a little +coupe drew up with much clatter at the door of her house, and a lady +descended, whom she recognized, at this untimely hour, as the elegant +Comtesse Torna de Godollo! + +Turning a purplish scarlet, the unfortunate bourgeoise lost her head, +and, floundering in excuses, she was about to complicate the position +by some signal piece of awkwardness, when, happily for her, Phellion, +attracted by the noise of the bell, and attired in a dressing-gown and +Greek cap, came out of his study to inquire what was the matter. After +a speech, the pompous charm of which did much to compensate for his +dishabille, the great citizen, with the serenity that never abandoned +him, offered his hand very gallantly to the lady, and having installed +her in the salon, said:-- + +"May I, without indiscretion, ask Madame la comtesse what has procured +for us the unhoped-for advantage of this visit?" + +"I have come," said the lady, "to talk with Madame Phellion on a matter +which must deeply interest her. I have no other way of meeting her +without witnesses; and therefore, though I am hardly known to Madame +Phellion, I have taken the liberty to call upon her here." + +"Madame, your visit is a great honor to this poor dwelling. But where is +Madame Phellion?" added the worthy man, impatiently, going towards the +door. + +"No, I beg of you, don't disturb her," said the countess; "I have +heedlessly come at a moment when she is busy with household cares. +Brigitte has been my educator in such matters, and I know the respect we +ought to pay to good housekeepers. Besides, I have the pleasure of your +presence, which I scarcely expected." + +Before Phellion could reply to these obliging words, Madame Phellion +appeared. A cap with ribbons had taken the place of the market bonnet, +and a large shawl covered the other insufficiencies of the morning +toilet. When his wife arrived, the great citizen made as though he would +discreetly retire. + +"Monsieur Phellion," said the countess, "you are not one too many in +the conference I desire with madame; on the contrary, your excellent +judgment will be most useful in throwing light upon a matter as +interesting to you as to your wife. I allude to the marriage of your +son." + +"The marriage of my son!" cried Madame Phellion, with a look of +astonishment; "but I am not aware that anything of the kind is at +present in prospect." + +"The marriage of Monsieur Felix with Mademoiselle Celeste is, I think, +one of your strongest desires--" + +"But we have never," said Phellion, "taken any overt steps for that +object." + +"I know that only too well," replied the countess; "on the contrary, +every one in your family seems to study how to defeat my efforts in that +direction. However, one thing is clear in spite of the reserve, and, +you must allow me to say so, the clumsiness in which the affair has been +managed, and that is that the young people love each other, and +they will both be unhappy if they do not marry. Now, to prevent this +catastrophe is the object with which I have come here this morning." + +"We cannot, madame, be otherwise than deeply sensible of the interest +you are so good as to show in the happiness of our son," said Phellion; +"but, in truth, this interest--" + +"Is something so inexplicable," interrupted the countess, "that you feel +a distrust of it?" + +"Oh! madame!" said Phellion, bowing with an air of respectful dissent. + +"But," continued the lady, "the explanation of my proceeding is very +simple. I have studied Celeste, and in that dear and artless child I +find a moral weight and value which would make me grieve to see her +sacrificed." + +"You are right, madame," said Madame Phellion. "Celeste is, indeed, an +angel of sweetness." + +"As for monsieur Felix, I venture to interest myself because, in the +first place, he is the son of so virtuous a father--" + +"Oh, madame! I entreat--" said Phellion, bowing again. + +"--and he also attracts me by the awkwardness of true love, which +appears in all his actions and all his words. We mature women find an +inexpressible charm in seeing the tender passion under a form which +threatens us with no deceptions and no misunderstandings." + +"My son is certainly not brilliant," said Madame Phellion, with a faint +tone of sharpness; "he is not a fashionable young man." + +"But he has the qualities that are most essential," replied the +countess, "and a merit which ignores itself,--a thing of the utmost +consequence in all intellectual superiority--" + +"Really, madame," said Phellion, "you force us to hear things that--" + +"That are not beyond the truth," interrupted the countess. "Another +reason which leads me to take a deep interest in the happiness of these +young people is that I am not so desirous for that of Monsieur Theodose +de la Peyrade, who is false and grasping. On the ruin of their hopes +that man is counting to carry out his swindling purposes." + +"It is quite certain," said Phellion, "that there are dark depths in +Monsieur de la Peyrade where light does not penetrate." + +"And as I myself had the misfortune to marry a man of his description, +the thought of the wretchedness to which Celeste would be condemned +by so fatal a connection, impels me, in the hope of saving her, to the +charitable effort which now, I trust, has ceased to surprise you." + +"Madame," said Phellion, "we do not need the conclusive explanations by +which you illumine your conduct; but as to the faults on our part, which +have thwarted your generous efforts, I must declare that in order to +avoid committing them in future, it seems to me not a little desirable +that you should plainly indicate them." + +"How long is it," asked the countess, "since any of your family have +paid a visit to the Thuilliers'?" + +"If my memory serves me," said Phellion, "I think we were all there the +Sunday after the dinner for the house-warming." + +"Fifteen whole days of absence!" exclaimed the countess; "and you think +that nothing of importance could happen in fifteen days?" + +"No, indeed! did not three glorious days in July, 1830, cast down a +perjured dynasty and found the noble order of things under which we now +live?" + +"You see it yourself!" said the countess. "Now, tell me, during that +evening, fifteen days ago, did nothing serious take place between your +son and Celeste?" + +"Something did occur," replied Phellion,--"a very disagreeable +conversation on the subject of my son's religious opinions; it must be +owned that our good Celeste, who in all other respects has a charming +nature, is a trifle fanatic in the matter of piety." + +"I agree to that," said the countess; "but she was brought up by the +mother whom you know; she was never shown the face of true piety; she +saw only the mimicry of it. Repentant Magdalens of the Madame Colleville +species always assume an air of wishing to retire to a desert with their +death's-head and crossed bones. They think they can't get salvation at +a cheaper rate. But after all, what did Celeste ask of Monsieur Felix? +Merely that he would read 'The Imitation of Christ.'" + +"He has read it, madame," said Phellion, "and he thinks it a +book extremely well written; but his convictions--and that is a +misfortune--have not been affected by the perusal." + +"And do you think he shows much cleverness in not assuring his mistress +of some little change in his inflexible convictions?" + +"My son, madame, has never received from me the slightest lesson in +cleverness; loyalty, uprightness, those are the principles I have +endeavored to inculcate in him." + +"It seems to me, monsieur, that there is no want of loyalty when, in +dealing with a troubled mind, we endeavor to avoid wounding it. But let +us agree that Monsieur Felix owed it to himself to be that iron door +against which poor Celeste's applications beat in vain; was that a +reason for keeping away from her and sulking in his tent for fifteen +whole days? Above all, ought he to have capped these sulks by a +proceeding which I can't forgive, and which--only just made known to +us--has struck the girl's heart with despair, and also with a feeling of +extreme irritation?" + +"My son capable of any such act! it is quite impossible, madame!" cried +Phellion. "I know nothing of this proceeding; but I do not hesitate to +affirm that you have been ill-informed." + +"And yet, nothing is more certain. Young Colleville, who came home +to-day for his half-holiday, has just told us that Monsieur Felix, who +had previously gone with the utmost punctuality to hear him recite has +ceased entirely to have anything to do with him. Unless your son is ill, +I do not hesitate to say that this neglect is the greatest of blunders, +in the situation in which he now stands with the sister he ought not to +have chosen this moment to put an end to these lessons." + +The Phellions looked at each other as if consulting how to reply. + +"My son," said Madame Phellion, "is not exactly ill; but since you +mention a fact which is, I acknowledge, very strange and quite out of +keeping with his nature and habits, I think it right to tell you that +from the day when Celeste seemed to signify that all was at an end +between them, a very extraordinary change has come over Felix, which is +causing Monsieur Phellion and myself the deepest anxiety." + +"Yes, madame," said Phellion, "the young man is certainly not in his +normal condition." + +"But what is the matter with him?" asked the countess, anxiously. + +"The night of that scene with Celeste," replied Phellion, "after his +return home, he wept a flood of hot tears on his mother's bosom, and +gave us to understand that the happiness of his whole life was at an +end." + +"And yet," said Madame de Godollo, "nothing very serious happened; but +lovers always make the worst of things." + +"No doubt," said Madame Phellion; "but since that night Felix has not +made the slightest allusion to his misfortune, and the next day he went +back to his work with a sort of frenzy. Does that seem natural to you?" + +"It is capable of explanation; work is said to be a great consoler." + +"That is most true," said Phellion; "but in Felix's whole personality +there is something excited, and yet repressed, which is difficult to +describe. You speak to him, and he hardly seems to hear you; he +sits down to table and forgets to eat, or takes his food with an +absent-mindedness which the medical faculty consider most injurious to +the process of digestion; his duties, his regular occupations, we have +to remind him of--him, so extremely regular, so punctual! The other day, +when he was at the Observatory, where he now spends all his evenings, +only coming home in the small hours, I took it upon myself to enter his +room and examine his papers. I was terrified, madame, at finding a paper +covered with algebraic calculations which, by their vast extent appeared +to me to go beyond the limits of the human intellect." + +"Perhaps," said the countess, "he is on the road to some great +discovery." + +"Or to madness," said Madame Phellion, in a low voice, and with a heavy +sigh. + +"That is not probable," said Madame de Godollo; "with an organization +so calm and a mind so well balanced, he runs but little danger of +that misfortune. I know myself of another danger that threatens him +to-morrow, and unless we can take some steps this evening to avert it, +Celeste is positively lost to him." + +"How so?" said the husband and wife together. + +"Perhaps you are not aware," replied the countess, "that Thuillier and +his sister have made certain promises to Monsieur de la Peyrade about +Celeste?" + +"We suspected as much," replied Madame Phellion. + +"The fulfilment of these pledges was postponed to a rather distant +period, and subordinated to certain conditions. Monsieur de la Peyrade, +after enabling them to buy the house near the Madeleine, pledged himself +not only to obtain the cross for Monsieur Thuillier, but to write in his +name a political pamphlet, and assist him in his election to the Chamber +of Deputies. It sounds like the romances of chivalry, in which the hero, +before obtaining the hand of the princess, is compelled to exterminate a +dragon." + +"Madame is very witty," said Madame Phellion, looking at her husband, +who made her a sign not to interrupt. + +"I have no time now," said the countess; "in fact it would be useless to +tell you the manoeuvres by which Monsieur de la Peyrade has contrived +to hasten the period of this marriage; but it concerns you to know that, +thanks to his duplicity, Celeste is being forced to choose between him +and Monsieur Felix; fifteen days were given her in which to make her +choice; the time expires to-morrow, and, thanks to the unfortunate state +of feeling into which your son's attitude has thrown her, there is +very serious danger of seeing her sacrifice to her wounded feelings the +better sentiments of her love and her instincts." + +"But what can be done to prevent it?" asked Phellion. + +"Fight, monsieur; come this evening in force to the Thuilliers'; induce +Monsieur Felix to accompany you; lecture him until he promises to be a +little more flexible in his philosophical opinions. Paris, said Henri +IV., is surely worth a mass. But let him avoid all such questions; he +can certainly find in his heart the words and tones to move a woman +who loves him; it requires so little to satisfy her! I shall be there +myself, and I will help him to my utmost ability; perhaps, under the +inspiration of the moment, I may think of some way to do effectually. +One thing is very certain: we have to fight a great battle to-night, and +if we do not ALL do our duty valorously, la Peyrade may win it." + +"My son is not here, madame," said Phellion, "and I regret it, for +perhaps your generous devotion and urgent words would succeed in shaking +off his torpor; but, at any rate, I will lay before him the gravity of +the situation, and, beyond all doubt, he will accompany us to-night to +the Thuilliers'." + +"It is needless to say," added the countess, rising, "that we must +carefully avoid the very slightest appearance of collusion; we must not +converse together; in fact, unless it can be done in some casual way, it +would be better not to speak." + +"I beg you to rely, madame, upon my prudence," replied Phellion, "and +kindly accept the assurance--" + +"Of your most distinguished sentiments," interrupted the countess, +laughing. + +"No, madame," replied Phellion, gravely, "I reserve that formula for +the conclusion of my letters; I beg you to accept the assurance of my +warmest and most unalterable gratitude." + +"We will talk of that when we are out of danger," said Madame de +Godollo, moving towards the door; "and if Madame Phellion, the tenderest +and most virtuous of mothers, will grant me a little place in her +esteem, I shall count myself more than repaid for my trouble." + +Madame Phellion plunged headlong into a responsive compliment; and the +countess, in her carriage, was at some distance from the house before +Phellion had ceased to offer her his most respectful salutations. + +As the Latin-quarter element in Brigitte's salon became more rare and +less assiduous, a livelier Paris began to infiltrate it. Among his +colleagues in the municipal council and among the upper employees of +the prefecture of the Seine, the new councillor had made several +very important recruits. The mayor, and the deputy mayors of the +arrondissement, on whom, after his removal to the Madeleine quarter, +Thuillier had called, hastened to return the civility; and the same +thing happened with the superior officers of the first legion. The +house itself had produced a contingent; and several of the new tenants +contributed, by their presence, to change the aspect of the +dominical meetings. Among the number we must mention Rabourdin [see +"Bureaucracy"], the former head of Thuillier's office at the ministry of +finance. Having had the misfortune to lose his wife, whose salon, at an +earlier period, checkmated that of Madame Colleville, Rabourdin occupied +as a bachelor the third floor, above the apartment let to Cardot, the +notary. As the result of an odious slight to his just claims, Rabourdin +had voluntarily resigned his public functions. At this time, when he +again met Thuillier, he was director of one of those numerous projected +railways, the construction of which is always delayed by either +parliamentary rivalry or parliamentary indecision. Let us say, in +passing, that the meeting with this able administrator, now become +an important personage in the financial world, was an occasion to the +worthy and honest Phellion to display once more his noble character. At +the time of the resignation to which Rabourdin had felt himself driven, +Phellion alone, of all the clerks in the office, had stood by him in his +misfortunes. Being now in a position to bestow a great number of places, +Rabourdin, on meeting once more his faithful subordinate, hastened to +offer him a position both easy and lucrative. + +"Mossieu," said Phellion, "your benevolence touches me and honors me, +but my frankness owes you an avowal, which I beg you not to take in ill +part: I do not believe in 'railways,' as the English call them." + +"That's an opinion to which you have every right," said Rabourdin, +smiling; "but, meanwhile, until the contrary is proved, we pay the +employees in our office well, and I should be glad to have you with me +in that capacity. I know by experience that you are a man on whom I can +count." + +"Mossieu," returned the great citizen, "I did my duty at that time, and +nothing more. As for the offer you have been so good as to make to me, I +cannot accept it; satisfied with my humble fortunes, I feel neither the +need nor the desire to re-enter an administrative career; and, in common +with the Latin poet, I may say, 'Claudite jam rivos, pueri, sat prata +biberunt.'" + +Thus elevated in the character of its habitues, the salon Thuillier +still needed a new element of life. Thanks to the help of Madame de +Godollo, a born organizer, who successfully put to profit the former +connection of Colleville with the musical world, a few artists came to +make diversion from bouillotte and boston. Old-fashioned and venerable, +those two games were forced to beat a retreat before whist, the only +manner, said the Hungarian countess, in which respectable people can +kill time. + +Like Louis XVI., who began by putting his own hand to reforms which +subsequently engulfed his throne, Brigitte had encouraged, at first, +this domestic revolution; the need of sustaining her position suitably +in the new quarter to which she had emigrated had made her docile to all +suggestions of comfort and elegance. But the day on which occurred the +scene we are about to witness, an apparently trivial detail had revealed +to her the danger of the declivity on which she stood. The greater +number of the new guests, recently imported by Thuillier, knew nothing +of his sister's supremacy in his home. On arrival, therefore, they all +asked Thuillier to present them to _Madame_, and, naturally, Thuillier +could not say to them that his wife was a figure-head who groaned under +the iron hand of a Richelieu, to whom the whole household bent the knee. +It was therefore not until the first homage rendered to the sovereign +"de jure" was paid, that the new-comers were led up to Brigitte, and by +reason of the stiffness which displeasure at this misplacement of +power gave to her greeting they were scarcely encouraged to pay her any +further attentions. Quick to perceive this species of overthrow, Queen +Elizabeth said to herself, with that profound instinct of domination +which was her ruling passion:-- + +"If I don't take care I shall soon be nobody in this house." + +Burrowing into that idea, she came to think that if the project of +making a common household with la Peyrade, then Celeste's husband, were +carried out, the situation which was beginning to alarm her would become +even worse. From that moment, and by sudden intuition, Felix Phellion, +that good young man, with his head too full of mathematics ever to +become a formidable rival to her sovereignty, seemed to her a far better +match than the enterprising lawyer, and she was the first, on seeing the +Phellion father and mother arrive without the son, to express regret at +his absence. Brigitte, however, was not the only one to feel the injury +that the luckless professor was doing to his prospects in thus keeping +away from her reception. Madame Thuillier, with simple candor, and +Celeste with feigned reserve, both made manifest their displeasure. As +for Madame de Godollo, who, in spite of a very remarkable voice, usually +required much pressing before she would sing (the piano having been +opened since her reign began), she now went up to Madame Phellion and +asked her to accompany her, and between two verses of a song she said in +her ear:-- + +"Why isn't your son here?" + +"He is coming," said Madame Phellion. "His father talked to him very +decidedly; but to-night there happens to be a conjunction of I don't +know what planets; it is a great night at the Observatory, and he did +not feel willing to dispense with--" + +"It is inconceivable that a man should be so foolish!" exclaimed Madame +de Godollo; "wasn't theology bad enough, that he must needs bring in +astronomy too?" + +And her vexation gave to her voice so vibrating a tone that her song +ended in the midst of what the English call a thunder of applause. La +Peyrade, who feared her extremely, was not one of the last, when she +returned to her place, to approach her, and express his admiration; but +she received his compliments with a coldness so near to incivility that +their mutual hostility was greatly increased. La Peyrade turned away +to console himself with Madame Colleville, who had still too many +pretensions to beauty not to be the enemy of a woman made to intercept +all homage. + +"So you also, you think that woman sings well?" she said, +contemptuously, to Theodose. + +"At any rate, I have been to tell her so," replied la Peyrade, "because +without her, in regard to Brigitte, there's no security. But do just +look at your Celeste; her eyes never leave that door, and every time a +tray is brought in, though it is an hour at least since the last guest +came, her face expresses disappointment." + +We must remark, in passing, that since the reign of Madame de Godollo +trays were passed round on the Sunday reception days, and that without +scrimping; on the contrary, they were laden with ices, cakes, and +syrups, from Taurade's, then the best confectioner. + +"Don't harass me!" cried Flavie. "I know very well what that foolish +girl has in her mind; and your marriage will take place only too soon." + +"But you know it is not for myself I make it," said la Peyrade; "it is +a necessity for the future of all of us. Come, come, there are tears in +your eyes! I shall leave you; you are not reasonable. The devil! as that +Prudhomme of a Phellion says, 'Whoso wants the end wants the means.'" + +And he went toward the group composed of Celeste, Madame Thuillier, +Madame de Godollo, Colleville, and Phellion. Madame Colleville followed +him; and, under the influence of the feeling of jealousy she had just +shown, she became a savage mother. + +"Celeste," she said, "why don't you sing? These gentlemen wish to hear +you." + +"Oh, mamma!" cried the girl, "how can I sing after Madame de Godollo, +with my poor thread of a voice? Besides, you know I have a cold." + +"That is to say that, as usual, you make yourself pretentious and +disagreeable; people sing as they can sing; all voices have their own +merits." + +"My dear," said Colleville, who, having just lost twenty francs at the +card-tables, found courage in his ill-humor to oppose his wife, "that +saying, 'People sing as they can sing' is a bourgeois maxim. People sing +with a voice, if they have one; but they don't sing after hearing such +a magnificent opera voice as that of Madame la comtesse. For my part, +I readily excuse Celeste for not warbling to us one of her sentimental +little ditties." + +"Then it is well worth while," said Flavie, leaving the group, "to spend +so much money on expensive masters who are good for nothing." + +"So," said Colleville, resuming the conversation which the invasion of +Flavie had interrupted, "Felix no longer inhabits this earth; he lives +among the stars?" + +"My dear and former colleague," said Phellion, "I am, as you are, +annoyed with my son for neglecting, as he does, the oldest friends of +his family; and though the contemplation of those great luminous bodies +suspended in space by the hand of the Creator presents, in my opinion, +higher interest than it appears to have to your more eager brain, I +think that Felix, by not coming here to-night, as he promised me he +would, shows a want of propriety, about which, I can assure you I shall +speak my mind." + +"Science," said la Peyrade, "is a fine thing, but it has, unfortunately, +the attribute of making bears and monomaniacs." + +"Not to mention," said Celeste, "that it destroys all religious +sentiments." + +"You are mistaken there, my dear child," said Madame de Godollo. +"Pascal, who was himself a great example of the falseness of your point +of view, says, if I am not mistaken, that a little science draws us from +religion, but a great deal draws us back to it." + +"And yet, madame," said Celeste, "every one admits that Monsieur Felix +is really very learned; when he helped my brother with his studies +nothing could be, so Francois told me, clearer or more comprehensible +than his explanations; and you see, yourself, he is not the more +religious for that." + +"I tell you, my dear child, that Monsieur Felix is not irreligious, and +with a little gentleness and patience nothing would be easier than to +bring him back." + +"Bring back a savant to the duties of religion!" exclaimed la Peyrade. +"Really, madame, that seems to me very difficult. These gentlemen put +the object of their studies before everything else. Tell a geometrician +or a geologist, for example, that the Church demands, imperatively, the +sanctification of the Sabbath by the suspension of all species of work, +and they will shrug their shoulders, though God Himself did not disdain +to rest from His labors." + +"So that in not coming here this evening," said Celeste, naively, +"Monsieur Felix commits not only a fault against good manners, but a +sin." + +"But, my dearest," said Madame de Godollo, "do you think that our +meeting here this evening to sing ballads and eat ices and say evil of +our neighbor--which is the customary habit of salons--is more pleasing +to God than to see a man of science in his observatory busied in +studying the magnificent secrets of His creation?" + +"There's a time for all things," said Celeste; "and, as Monsieur de la +Peyrade says, God Himself did not disdain to rest." + +"But, my love," said Madame de Godollo, "God has time to do so; He is +eternal." + +"That," said la Peyrade, "is one of the wittiest impieties ever uttered; +those are the reasons that the world's people put forth. They interpret +and explain away the commands of God, even those that are most explicit +and imperative; they take them, leave them, or choose among them; +the free-thinker subjects them to his lordly revision, and from +free-thinking the distance is short to free actions." + +During this harangue of the barrister Madame de Godollo had looked at +the clock; it then said half-past eleven. The salon began to empty. Only +one card-table was still going on, Minard, Thuillier, and two of the +new acquaintances being the players. Phellion had just quitted the group +with which he had so far been sitting, to join his wife, who was talking +with Brigitte in a corner; by the vehemence of his pantomimic action +it was easy to see that he was filled with some virtuous indignation. +Everything seemed to show that all hope of seeing the arrival of the +tardy lover was decidedly over. + +"Monsieur," said the countess to la Peyrade, "do you consider the +gentlemen attached to Saint-Jacques du Haut Pas in the rue des Postes +good Catholics?" + +"Undoubtedly," replied the barrister, "religion has no more loyal +supporters." + +"This morning," continued the countess, "I had the happiness to be +received by Pere Anselme. He is thought the model of all Christian +virtues, and yet the good father is a very learned mathematician." + +"I have not said, madame, that the two qualities were absolutely +incompatible." + +"But you did say that a true Christian could not attend to any species +of work on Sunday. If so, Pere Anselme must be an unbeliever; for when I +was admitted to his room I found him standing before a blackboard with +a bit of chalk in his hand, busy with a problem which was, no doubt, +knotty, for the board was three-parts covered with algebraic signs; and +I must add that he did not seem to care for the scandal this ought to +cause, for he had with him an individual whom I am not allowed to name, +a younger man of science, of great promise, who was sharing his profane +occupation." + +Celeste and Madame Thuillier looked at each other, and both saw a gleam +of hope in the other's eyes. + +"Why can't you tell us the name of that young man of science?" Madame +Thuillier ventured to say, for she never put any diplomacy into the +expression of her thoughts. + +"Because he has not, like Pere Anselme, the saintliness which would +absolve him in the eyes of monsieur here for this flagrant violation of +the Sabbath. Besides," added Madame de Godollo, in a significant manner, +"he asked me not to mention that I had met him there." + +"Then you know a good many scientific young men?" said Celeste, +interrogatively; "this one and Monsieur Felix--that makes two." + +"My dear love," said the countess, "you are an inquisitive little girl, +and you will not make me say what I do not choose to say, especially +after a confidence that Pere Anselme made to me; for if I did, your +imagination would at once set off at a gallop." + +The gallop had already started, and every word the countess said only +added to the anxious eagerness of the young girl. + +"As for me," said la Peyrade, sarcastically, "I shouldn't be at all +surprised if Pere Anselme's young collaborator was that very Felix +Phellion. Voltaire always kept very close relations with the Jesuits who +brought him up; but he never talked religion with them." + +"Well, my young savant does talk of it to his venerable brother in +science; he submits his doubts to him; in fact, that was the beginning +of their scientific intimacy." + +"And does Pere Anselme," asked Celeste, "hope to convert him?" + +"He is sure of it," replied the countess. "His young collaborator, +apart from a religious education which he certainly never had, has +been brought up to the highest principles; he knows, moreover, that his +conversion to religion would make the happiness of a charming girl whom +he loves, and who loves him. Now, my dear, you will not get another word +out of me, and you may think what you like." + +"Oh! godmother!" whispered Celeste, yielding to the freshness of her +feelings, "suppose it were he!" + +And the tears filled her eyes as she pressed Madame Thuillier's hand. + +At this moment the servant threw open the door of the salon, and, +singular complication! announced Monsieur Felix Phellion. + +The young professor entered the room, bathed in perspiration, his cravat +in disorder, and himself out of breath. + +"A pretty hour," said Phellion, sternly, "to present yourself." + +"Father," said Felix, moving to the side of the room where Madame +Thuillier and Celeste were seated, "I could not leave before the end of +the phenomenon; and then I couldn't find a carriage, and I have run the +whole way." + +"Your ears ought to have burned as you came," said la Peyrade, "for you +have been for the last half-hour in the minds of these ladies, and a +great problem has been started about you." + +Felix did not answer. He saw Brigitte entering the salon from the +dining-room where she had gone to tell the man-servant not to bring in +more trays, and he hurried to greet her. + +After listening to a few reproaches for the rarity of his visits and +receiving forgiveness in a very cordial "Better late than never," +he turned towards his pole, and was much astonished to hear himself +addressed by Madame de Godollo as follows:-- + +"Monsieur," she said, "I hope you will pardon the indiscretion I have, +in the heat of conversation, committed about you. I have told these +ladies where I met you this morning." + +"Met me?" said Felix; "if I had the honor to meet you, madame, I did not +see you." + +An almost imperceptible smile flickered on la Peyrade's lips. + +"You saw me well enough to ask me to keep silence as to where I had met +you; but, at any rate, I did not go beyond a simple statement; I said +you saw Pere Anselme sometimes, and had certain scientific relations +with him; also that you defended your religious doubts to him as you do +to Celeste." + +"Pere Anselme!" said Felix, stupidly. + +"Yes, Pere Anselme," said la Peyrade, "a great mathematician who does +not despair of converting you. Mademoiselle Celeste wept for joy." + +Felix looked around him with a bewildered air. Madame de Godollo fixed +upon him a pair of eyes the language of which a poodle could have +understood. + +"I wish," he said finally, "I could have given that joy to Mademoiselle +Celeste, but I think, madame, you are mistaken." + +"Ah! monsieur, then I must be more precise," said the countess, "and if +your modesty still induces you to hide a step that can only honor you, +you can contradict me; I will bear the mortification of having divulged +a secret which, I acknowledge, you trusted implicitly to my discretion." + +Madame Thuillier and Celeste were truly a whole drama to behold; never +were doubt and eager expectation more plainly depicted on the human +face. Measuring her words deliberately, Madame de Godollo thus +continued:-- + +"I said to these ladies, because I know how deep an interest they take +in your salvation, and because you are accused of boldly defying the +commandments of God by working on Sundays, that I had met you this +morning at the house of Pere Anselme, a mathematician like yourself, +with whom you were busy in solving a problem; I said that your +scientific intercourse with that saintly and enlightened man had led +to other explanations between you; that you had submitted to him your +religious doubts, and he did not despair of removing them. In the +confirmation you can give of my words there is nothing, I am sure, to +wound your self-esteem. The matter was simply a surprise you intended +for Celeste, and I have had the stupidity to divulge it. But when she +hears you admit the truth of my words you will have given her such +happiness that I shall hope to be forgiven." + +"Come, monsieur," said la Peyrade, "there's nothing absurd or mortifying +in having sought for light; you, so honorable and so truly an enemy to +falsehood, you cannot deny what madame affirms with such decision." + +"Well," said Felix, after a moment's hesitation, "will you, Mademoiselle +Celeste, allow me to say a few words to you in private, without +witnesses?" + +Celeste rose, after receiving an approving sign from Madame Thuillier. +Felix took her hand and led her to the recess of the nearest window. + +"Celeste," he said, "I entreat you: wait! See," he added, pointing to +the constellation of Ursa Minor, "beyond those visible stars a future +lies before us; I will place you there. As for Pere Anselme, I cannot +admit what has been said, for it is not true. It is an invented tale. +But be patient with me; you shall soon know all." + +"He is mad!" said the young girl, in tones of despair, as she resumed +her place beside Madame Thuillier. + +Felix confirmed this judgment by rushing frantically from the salon, +without perceiving the emotion in which his father and his mother +started after him. After this sudden departure, which stupefied +everybody, la Peyrade approached Madame de Godollo very respectfully, +and said to her:-- + +"You must admit, madame, that it is difficult to drag a man from the +water when he persists in being drowned." + +"I had no idea until this moment of such utter simplicity," replied +the countess; "it is too silly. I pass over to the enemy; and with that +enemy I am ready and desirous to have, whenever he pleases, a frank and +honest explanation." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. HUNGARY VERSUS PROVENCE + +The next day Theodose felt himself possessed by two curiosities: +How would Celeste behave as to the option she had accepted? and this +Comtesse Torna de Godollo, what did she mean by what she had said; and +what did she want with him? + +The first of these questions seemed, undoubtedly, to have the right of +way, and yet, by some secret instinct, la Peyrade felt more keenly drawn +toward the conclusion of the second problem. He decided, therefore, to +take his first step in that direction, fully understanding that he could +not too carefully arm himself for the interview to which the countess +had invited him. + +The morning had been rainy, and this great calculator was, of course, +not ignorant how much a spot of mud, tarnishing the brilliancy of +varnished boots, could lower a man in the opinion of some. He therefore +sent his porter for a cabriolet, and about three o'clock in the +afternoon he drove from the rue Saint-Dominique d'Enfer toward the +elegant latitudes of the Madeleine. It may well be believed that certain +cares had been bestowed upon his toilet, which ought to present a +happy medium between the negligent ease of a morning costume and the +ceremonious character of an evening suit. Condemned by his profession to +a white cravat, which he rarely laid aside, and not venturing to present +himself in anything but a dress-coat, he felt himself being drawn, +of necessity, to one of the extremes he desired to avoid. However by +buttoning up his coat and wearing tan instead of straw-colored gloves, +he managed to _unsolemnize_ himself, and to avoid that provincial air +which a man in full dress walking the streets of Paris while the sun is +above the horizon never fails to convey. + +The wary diplomatist was careful not to drive to the house where he was +going. He was unwilling to be seen from the countess' entresol issuing +from a hired cab, and from the first floor he feared to be discovered +stopping short on his way up at the lower floor,--a proceeding which +could not fail to give rise to countless conjectures. + +He therefore ordered the driver to pull up at the corner of the rue +Royale, whence, along a pavement that was now nearly dry, he picked his +way on tiptoe to the house. It so chanced that he was not seen by either +the porter or his wife; the former being beadle of the church of the +Madeleine, was absent at a service, and the wife had just gone up to +show a vacant apartment to a lodger. Theodose was therefore able to +glide unobserved to the door of the sanctuary he desired to penetrate. +A soft touch of his hand to the silken bell-rope caused a sound which +echoed from the interior of the apartment. A few seconds elapsed, and +then another and more imperious bell of less volume seemed to him +a notification to the maid that her delay in opening the door was +displeasing to her mistress. A moment later, a waiting-woman, of middle +age, and too well trained to dress like a "soubrette" of comedy, opened +the door to him. + +The lawyer gave his name, and the woman ushered him into a dining-room, +severely luxurious, where she asked him to wait. A moment later, +however, she returned, and admitted him into the most coquettish and +splendid salon it was possible to insert beneath the low ceilings of an +entresol. The divinity of the place was seated before a writing-table +covered with a Venetian cloth, in which gold glittered in little spots +among the dazzling colors of the tapestry. + +"Will you allow me, monsieur, to finish a letter of some importance?" +she said. + +The barrister bowed in sign of assent. The handsome Hungarian then +concluded a note on blue English paper, which she placed in an envelope; +after sealing it carefully, she rang the bell. The maid appeared +immediately and lighted a little spirit lamp; above the lamp was +suspended a sort of tiny crucible, in which was a drop of sealing-wax; +as soon as this had melted, the maid poured it on the envelope, +presenting to her mistress a seal with armorial bearings. This the +countess imprinted on the wax with her own beautiful hands, and then +said:-- + +"Take the letter at once to that address." + +The woman made a movement to take the letter, but, either from haste or +inadvertence, the paper fell from her hand close to la Peyrade's feet. +He stooped hastily to pick it up, and read the direction involuntarily. +It bore the words, "His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs"; +the significant words, "For him only," written higher up, seemed to give +this missive a character of intimacy. + +"Pardon, monsieur," said the countess, receiving the paper, which he had +the good taste to return to her own hands in order to show his eagerness +to serve her. "Be so good, mademoiselle, as to carry that in a way not +to lose it," she added in a dry tone to the unlucky maid. The countess +then left her writing-table and took her seat on a sofa covered with +pearl-gray satin. + +During these proceedings la Peyrade had the satisfaction of making an +inventory of all the choice things by which he was surrounded. Paintings +by good masters detached themselves from walls of even tone; on a +pier-table stood a very tall Japanese vase; before the windows the +jardinieres were filled with lilium rubrum, showing its handsome +reversely curling petals surmounted by white and red camellias and a +dwarf magnolia from China, with flowers of sulphur white with scarlet +edges. In a corner was a stand of arms, of curious shapes and +rich construction, explained, perhaps, by the lady's Hungarian +nationality--always that of the hussar. A few bronzes and statuettes +of exquisite selection, chairs rolling softly on Persian carpets, and a +perfect anarchy of stuffs of all kinds completed the arrangement of +this salon, which the lawyer had once before visited with Brigitte and +Thuillier before the countess moved into it. It was so transformed that +it seemed to him unrecognizable. With a little more knowledge of the +world la Peyrade would have been less surprised at the marvellous care +given by the countess to the decoration of the room. A woman's salon is +her kingdom, and her absolute domain; there, in the fullest sense of +the word, she reigns, she governs; there she offers battle, and nearly +always comes off victorious. + +Coquettishly lying back in a corner of the sofa, her head carelessly +supported by an arm the form and whiteness of which could be seen +nearly to the elbow through the wide, open sleeve of a black velvet +dressing-gown, her Cinderella foot in its dainty slipper of Russia +leather resting on a cushion of orange satin, the handsome Hungarian had +the look of a portrait by Laurence or Winterhalter, plus the naivete of +the pose. + +"Monsieur," she said, with the slightly foreign accent which lent an +added charm to her words, "I cannot help thinking it rather droll that +a man of your mind and rare penetration should have thought you had an +enemy in me." + +"But, Madame la comtesse," replied la Peyrade, allowing her to read in +his eyes an astonishment mingled with distrust, "all the appearances, +you must admit, were of that nature. A suitor interposes to break off a +marriage which has been offered to me with every inducement; this +rival does me the service of showing himself so miraculously stupid and +awkward that I could easily have set him aside, when suddenly a most +unlooked-for and able auxiliary devotes herself to protecting him on the +very ground where he shows himself most vulnerable." + +"You must admit," said the countess, laughing, "that the protege +showed himself a most intelligent man, and that he seconded my efforts +valiantly." + +"His clumsiness could not have been, I think, very unexpected to you," +replied la Peyrade; "therefore the protection you have deigned to give +him is the more cruel to me." + +"What a misfortune it would be," said the countess, with charmingly +affected satire, "if your marriage with Mademoiselle Celeste were +prevented! Do you really care so much, monsieur, for that little +school-girl?" + +In that last word, especially the intonation with which it was uttered, +there was more than contempt, there was hatred. This expression did +not escape an observer of la Peyrade's strength, but not being a man to +advance very far on a single remark he merely replied:-- + +"Madame, the vulgar expression, to 'settle down,' explains this +situation, in which a man, after many struggles and being at an end of +his efforts and his illusions, makes a compromise with the future. +When this compromise takes the form of a young girl with, I admit, more +virtue than beauty, but one who brings to a husband the fortune which +is indispensable to the comfort of married life, what is there so +astonishing in the fact that his heart yields to gratitude and that he +welcomes the prospect of a placid happiness?" + +"I have always thought," replied the countess, "that the power of a +man's intellect ought to be the measure of his ambition; and I imagined +that one so wise as to make himself, at first, the poor man's lawyer, +would have in his heart less humble and less pastoral aspirations." + +"Ah! madame," returned la Peyrade, "the iron hand of necessity compels +us to strange resignations. The question of daily bread is one of those +before which all things bend the knee. Apollo was forced to 'get a +living,' as the shepherd of Admetus." + +"The sheepfold of Admetus," said Madame de Godollo, "was at least a +royal fold; I don't think Apollo would have resigned himself to be the +shepherd of a--bourgeois." + +The hesitation that preceded that last word seemed to convey in place of +it a proper name; and la Peyrade understood that Madame de Godollo, +out of pure clemency, had suppressed that of Thuillier, had turned her +remark upon the species and not the individual. + +"I agree, madame, that your distinction is a just one," he replied, "but +in this case Apollo has no choice." + +"I don't like persons who charge too much," said the countess, "but +still less do I like those who sell their merchandise below the market +price; I always suspect such persons of trying to dupe me by some clever +and complicated trick. You know very well, monsieur, your own value, and +your hypocritical humility displeases me immensely. It proves to me that +my kindly overtures have not produced even a beginning of confidence +between us." + +"I assure you, madame, that up to the present time life has never +justified the belief in any dazzling superiority in me." + +"Well, really," said the Hungarian, "perhaps I ought to believe in the +humility of a man who is willing to accept the pitiable finale of his +life which I threw myself into the breach to prevent." + +"Just as I, perhaps," said la Peyrade, with a touch of sarcasm, "ought +to believe in the reality of a kindness which, in order to save me, has +handled me so roughly." + +The countess cast a reproachful look upon her visitor; her fingers +crumpled the ribbons of her gown; she lowered her eyes, and gave a sigh, +so nearly imperceptible, so slight, that it might have passed for an +accident in the most regular breathing. + +"You are rancorous," she said, "and you judge people by one aspect only. +After all," she added, as if on reflection, "you are perhaps right in +reminding me that I have taken the longest way round by meddling, +rather ridiculously, in interests that do not concern me. Go on, my dear +monsieur, in the path of this glorious marriage which offers you so many +combined inducements; only, let me hope that you may not repent a course +with which I shall no longer interfere." + +The Provencal had not been spoilt by an experience of "bonnes fortunes." +The poverty against which he had struggled so long never leads to +affairs of gallantry, and since he had thrown off its harsh restraint, +his mind being wholly given up to the anxious work of creating his +future, the things of the heart had entered but slightly into his +life; unless we must except the comedy he had played on Flavie. We +can therefore imagine the perplexity of this novice in the matter of +adventures when he saw himself placed between the danger of losing what +seemed to be a delightful opportunity, and the fear of finding a serpent +amid the beautiful flowers that were offered to his grasp. Too marked +a reserve, too lukewarm an eagerness, might wound the self-love of that +beautiful foreigner, and quench the spring from which he seemed invited +to draw. On the other hand, suppose that appearance of interest were +only a snare? Suppose this kindness (ill-explained, as it seemed to +him), of which he was so suddenly the object, had no other purpose than +to entice him into a step which might be used to compromise him with +the Thuilliers? What a blow to his reputation for shrewdness, and what a +role to play!--that of the dog letting go the meat for the shadow! + +We know that la Peyrade was trained in the school of Tartuffe, and the +frankness with which that great master declares to Elmire that without +receiving a few of the favors to which he aspired he could not trust in +her tender advances, seemed to the barrister a suitable method to apply +to the present case, adding, however, a trifle more softness to the +form. + +"Madame la comtesse," he said, "you have turned me into a man who is +much to be pitied. I was cheerfully advancing to this marriage, and you +take all faith in it away from me. Suppose I break it off, what use can +I--with that great capacity you see in me--make of the liberty I thus +recover?" + +"La Bruyere, if I am not mistaken, said that nothing freshens the blood +so much as to avoid committing a folly." + +"That may be; but it is, you must admit, a negative benefit; and I am +of an age and in a position to desire more serious results. The interest +that you deign to show to me cannot, I think, stop short at the idea +of merely putting an end to my present prospects. I love Mademoiselle +Colleville with a love, it is true, which has nothing imperative about +it; but I certainly love her, her hand is promised to me, and before +renouncing it--" + +"So," said the countess, hastily, "in a given case you would not be +averse to a rupture? And," she added, in a more decided tone, "there +would be some chance of making you see that in taking your first +opportunity you cut yourself off from a better future, in which a more +suitable marriage may present itself?" + +"But, at least, madame, I must be enabled to foresee it definitely." + +This persistence in demanding pledges seemed to irritate the countess. + +"Faith," she said, "is only a virtue when it believes without seeing. +You doubt yourself, and that is another form of stupidity. I am not +happy, it seems, in my selection of those I desire to benefit." + +"But, madame, it cannot be indiscreet to ask to know in some remote way +at least, what future your kind good-will has imagined for me." + +"It is very indiscreet," replied the countess, coldly, "and it shows +plainly that you offer me only a conditional confidence. Let us say no +more. You are certainly far advanced with Mademoiselle Colleville; she +suits you, you say, in many ways; therefore marry her. I say again, you +will no longer find me in your way." + +"But does Mademoiselle Colleville really suit me?" resumed la Peyrade; +"that is the very point on which you have lately raised my doubts. +Do you not think there is something cruel in casting me first in one +direction and then in the other without affording me any ground to go +upon?" + +"Ah!" said the countess, in a tone of impatience, "you want my opinion +on the premises! Well, monsieur, there is one very conclusive fact to +which I can bring proof: Celeste does not love you." + +"So I have thought," said la Peyrade, humbly. "I felt that I was making +a marriage of mere convenience." + +"And she cannot love you, because," continued Madame de Godollo, with +animation, "she cannot comprehend you. Her proper husband is that blond +little man, insipid as herself; from the union of those two natures +without life or heat will result in that lukewarm existence which, in +the opinion of the world where she was born and where she has lived, +is the ne plus ultra of conjugal felicity. Try to make that little +simpleton understand that when she had a chance to unite herself with +true talent she ought to have felt highly honored! But, above all, try +to make her miserable, odious family and surroundings understand it! +Enriched bourgeois, parvenus! there's the roof beneath which you think +to rest from your cruel labor and your many trials! And do you believe +that you will not be made to feel, twenty times a day, that your share +in the partnership is distressingly light in the scale against their +money? On one side, the Iliad, the Cid, Der Freyschutz, and the frescos +of the Vatican; on the other, three hundred thousand francs in good, +ringing coin! Tell me which side they will trust and admire! The artist, +the man of imagination who falls into the bourgeois atmosphere--shall I +tell you to what I compare him? To Daniel cast into the lion's den, less +the miracle of Holy Writ." + +This invective against the bourgeoisie was uttered in a tone of heated +conviction which could scarcely fail to be communicated. + +"Ah! madame," cried la Peyrade, "how eloquently you say things which +again and again have entered my troubled and anxious mind! But I have +felt myself lashed to that most cruel fate, the necessity of gaining a +position--" + +"Necessity! position!" interrupted the countess, again raising the +temperature of her speech,--"words void of meaning! which have not even +sound to able men, though they drive back fools as though they were +formidable barriers. Necessity! does that exist for noble natures, for +those who know how to will? A Gascon minister uttered a saying which +ought to be engraved on the doors of all careers: 'All things come to +him who knows how to wait.' Are you ignorant that marriage, to men of a +high stamp, is either a chain which binds them to the lowest vulgarities +of existence, or a wing on which to rise to the highest summits of the +social world? The wife you need, monsieur,--and she would not be long +wanting to your career if you had not, with such incredible haste, +accepted the first 'dot' that was offered you,--the wife you should +have chosen is a woman capable of understanding you, able to divine +your intellect; one who could be to you a fellow-worker, an intellectual +confidant, and not a mere embodiment of the 'pot-au-feu'; a woman +capable of being now your secretary, but soon the wife of a deputy, a +minister, an ambassador; one, in short, who could offer you her heart as +a mainspring, her salon for a stage, her connections for a ladder, and +who, in return for all she would give you of ardor and strength, asks +only to shine beside your throne in the rays of the glory she predicts +for you!" + +Intoxicated, as it were, with the flow of her own words, the countess +was really magnificent; her eyes sparkled, her nostrils dilated; the +prospect her vivid eloquence thus unrolled she seemed to see, and touch +with her quivering fingers. For a moment, la Peyrade was dazzled by this +sunrise which suddenly burst upon his life. + +However, as he was a man most eminently prudent, who had made it his +rule of life never to lend except on sound and solvent security, he was +still impelled to weigh the situation. + +"Madame la comtesse," he said, "you reproached me just now for speaking +like a bourgeois, and I, in return, am afraid that you are talking like +a goddess. I admire you, I listen to you, but I am not convinced. Such +devotions, such sublime abnegations may be met with in heaven, but in +this low world who can hope to be the object of them?" + +"You are mistaken, monsieur," replied the countess, with solemnity; +"such devotions are rare, but they are neither impossible nor +incredible; only, it is necessary to have the heart to find them, and, +above all, the hand to take them when they are offered to you." + +So saying, the countess rose majestically. + +La Peyrade saw that he had ended by displeasing her, and he felt that +she dismissed him. He rose himself, bowed respectfully, and asked to be +received again. + +"Monsieur," said Madame de Godollo, "we Hungarians, primitive people +and almost savages that we are, have a saying that when our door is open +both sides of it are opened wide; when we close it it is double-locked +and bolted." + +That dignified and ambiguous speech was accompanied by a slight +inclination of the head. Bewildered, confounded by this behavior, to him +so new, which bore but little resemblance to that of Flavie, Brigitte, +and Madame Minard, la Peyrade left the house, asking himself again and +again whether he had played his game properly. + + + + +CHAPTER V. SHOWING HOW NEAR THE TARPEIAN ROCK IS TO THE CAPITOL + +On leaving Madame de Godollo, la Peyrade felt the necessity of gathering +himself together. Beneath the conversation he had just maintained +with this strange woman, what could he see,--a trap, or a rich and +distinguished marriage offered to him. Under such a doubt as this, to +press Celeste for an immediate answer was neither clever nor prudent; +it was simply to bind himself, and close the door to the changes, +still very ill-defined, which seemed offered to him. The result of the +consultation which Theodose held with himself as he walked along the +boulevard was that he ought, for the moment, to think only of gaining +time. Consequently, instead of going to the Thuilliers' to learn +Celeste's decision, he went home, and wrote the following little note to +Thuillier:-- + + My dear Thuillier,--You will certainly not think it extraordinary + that I should not present myself at your house to-day,--partly + because I fear the sentence which will be pronounced upon me, and + partly because I do not wish to seem an impatient and unmannerly + creditor. A few days, more or less, will matter little under such + circumstances, and yet Mademoiselle Colleville may find them + desirable for the absolute freedom of her choice. I shall, + therefore, not go to see you until you write for me. + + I am now more calm, and I have added a few more pages to our + manuscript; it will take but little time to hand in the whole to + the printer. + + +Ever yours, + +Theodose de la Peyrade. + + +Two hours later a servant, dressed in what was evidently the first step +towards a livery, which the Thuilliers did not as yet venture to risk, +the "male domestic," whom Minard had mentioned to the Phellions, arrived +at la Peyrade's lodgings with the following note:-- + + Come to-night, without fail. We will talk over the whole affair + with Brigitte. + +Your most affectionately devoted Jerome Thuillier. + + +"Good!" said la Peyrade; "evidently there is some hindrance on the other +side; I shall have time to turn myself round." + +That evening, when the servant announced him in the Thuillier salon, the +Comtesse de Godollo, who was sitting with Brigitte, hastened to rise and +leave the room. As she passed la Peyrade she made him a very ceremonious +bow. There was nothing conclusive to be deduced from this abrupt +departure, which might signify anything, either much or nothing. + +After talking of the weather and so forth for a time, as persons do who +have met to discuss a delicate subject about which they are not sure of +coming to an understanding, the matter was opened by Brigitte, who had +sent her brother to take a walk on the boulevard, telling him to leave +her to manage the affair. + +"My dear boy," she said to Theodose, "it was very nice of you not to +come here to-day like a _grasp-all_, to put your pistol at our throats, +for we were not, as it happened, quite ready to answer you. I think," +she added, "that our little Celeste needs a trifle more time." + +"Then," said la Peyrade, quickly, "she has not decided in favor of +Monsieur Felix Phellion?" + +"Joker!" replied the old maid, "you know very well you settled that +business last night; but you also know, of course, that her own +inclinations incline her that way." + +"Short of being blind, I must have seen that," replied la Peyrade. + +"It is not an obstacle to my projects," continued Mademoiselle +Thuillier; "but it serves to explain why I ask for Celeste a little more +time; and also why I have wished all along to postpone the marriage to +a later date. I wanted to give you time to insinuate yourself into the +heart of my dear little girl--but you and Thuillier upset my plans." + +"Nothing, I think, has been done without your sanction," said la +Peyrade, "and if, during these fifteen days, I have not talked with +you on the subject, it was out of pure delicacy. Thuillier told me that +everything was agreed upon with you." + +"On the contrary, Thuillier knows very well that I refused to mix myself +up on your new arrangements. If you had not made yourself so scarce +lately, I might have been the first to tell you that I did not approve +of them. However, I can truly say I did nothing to hinder their +success." + +"But that was too little," said la Peyrade; "your active help was +absolutely necessary." + +"Possibly; but I, who know women better than you, being one of them,--I +felt very sure that if Celeste was told to choose between two suitors +she would consider that a permission to think at her ease of the one +she liked best. I myself had always left her in the vague as to Felix, +knowing as I did the proper moment to settle her mind about him." + +"So," said la Peyrade, "you mean that she refuses me." + +"It is much worse than that," returned Brigitte; "she accepts you, and +is willing to pledge her word; but it is so easy to see she regards +herself as a victim, that if I were in your place I should feel neither +flattered nor secure in such a position." + +In any other condition of mind la Peyrade would probably have answered +that he accepted the sacrifice, and would make it his business to win +the heart which at first was reluctantly given; but delay now suited +him, and he replied to Brigitte with a question:-- + +"Then what do you advise? What course had I better take?" + +"Finish Thuillier's pamphlet, in the first place, or he'll go crazy; and +leave me to work the other affair in your interests," replied Brigitte. + +"But am I in friendly hands? For, to tell you the truth, little aunt, I +have not been able to conceal from myself that you have, for some time +past, changed very much to me." + +"Changed to you! What change do you see in me, addled-pate that you +are?" + +"Oh! nothing very tangible," said la Peyrade; "but ever since that +Countess Torna has had a footing in your house--" + +"My poor boy, the countess has done me many services, and I am very +grateful to her; but is that any reason why I should be false to you, +who have done us still greater services?" + +"But you must admit," said la Peyrade, craftily, "that she has told you +a great deal of harm of me." + +"Naturally she has; these fine ladies are all that way; they expect the +whole world to adore them, and she sees that you are thinking only of +Celeste; but all she has said to me against you runs off my mind like +water from varnished cloth." + +"So, then, little aunt, I may continue to count on you?" persisted la +Peyrade. + +"Yes; provided you are not tormenting, and will let me manage this +affair." + +"Tell me how you are going to do it?" asked la Peyrade, with an air of +great good-humor. + +"In the first place, I shall signify to Felix that he is not to set foot +in this house again." + +"Is that possible?" said the barrister; "I mean can it be done civilly?" + +"Very possible; I shall make Phellion himself tell him. He's a man who +is always astride of principles, and he'll be the first to see that if +his son will not do what is necessary to obtain Celeste's hand he ought +to deprive us of his presence." + +"What next?" asked la Peyrade. + +"Next, I shall signify to Celeste that she was left at liberty to choose +one husband or the other, and as she did not choose Felix she must make +up her mind to take you, a pious fellow, such as she wants. You needn't +be uneasy; I'll sing your praises, especially your generosity in not +profiting by the arrangement she agreed to make to-day. But all that +will take a week at least, and if Thuillier's pamphlet isn't out before +then, I don't know but what we shall have to put him in a lunatic +asylum." + +"The pamphlet can be out in two days. But is it very certain, little +aunt, that we are playing above-board? Mountains, as they say, never +meet, but men do; and certainly, when the time comes to promote the +election, I can do Thuillier either good or bad service. Do you know, +the other day I was terribly frightened. I had a letter from him in +my pocket, in which he spoke of the pamphlet as being written by me. I +fancied for a moment that I had dropped it in the Luxembourg. If I had, +what a scandal it would have caused in the quarter." + +"Who would dare to play tricks with such a wily one as you?" said +Brigitte, fully comprehending the comminatory nature of la Peyrade's +last words, interpolated into the conversation without rhyme or reason. +"But really," she added, "why should you complain of us? It is you +who are behindhand in your promises. That cross which was to have been +granted within a week, and that pamphlet, which ought to have appeared a +long time ago--" + +"The pamphlet and the cross will both appear in good time; the one will +bring the other," said la Peyrade, rising. "Tell Thuillier to come +and see me to-morrow evening, and I think we can then correct the last +sheet. But, above all, don't listen to the spitefulness of Madame +de Godollo; I have an idea that in order to make herself completely +mistress of this house she wants to alienate all your old friends, and +also that she is casting her net for Thuillier." + +"Well, in point of fact," said the old maid, whom the parting shot of +the infernal barrister had touched on the ever-sensitive point of her +authority, "I must look into that matter you speak of there; she is +rather coquettish, that little woman." + +La Peyrade gained a second benefit out of that speech so adroitly +flung out; he saw by Brigitte's answer to it that the countess had +not mentioned to her the visit he had paid her during the day. This +reticence might have a serious meaning. + +Four days later, the printer, the stitcher, the paper glazier having +fulfilled their offices, Thuillier had the inexpressible happiness of +beginning on the boulevards a promenade, which he continued through +the Passages, and even to the Palais-Royal, pausing before all the +book-shops where he saw, shining in black letters on a yellow poster, +the famous title:-- + + +TAXATION AND THE SLIDING-SCALE by J. Thuillier, +Member of the Council-General of the Seine. + +Having reached the point of persuading himself that the care he had +bestowed upon the correction of proofs made the merit of the work his +own, his paternal heart, like that of Maitre Corbeau, could not contain +itself for joy. We ought to add that he held in very low esteem those +booksellers who did not announce the sale of the new work, destined to +become, as he believed, a European event. Without actually deciding the +manner in which he would punish their indifference, he nevertheless made +a list of these rebellious persons, and wished them as much evil as if +they had offered him a personal affront. + +The next day he spent a delightful morning in writing a certain number +of letters, sending the publication to friends, and putting into paper +covers some fifty copies, to which the sacramental phrase, "From the +author," imparted to his eyes an inestimable value. + +But the third day of the sale brought a slight diminution of his +happiness. He had chosen for his editor a young man, doing business at +a breakneck pace, who had lately established himself in the Passage +des Panoramas, where he was paying a ruinous rent. He was the nephew +of Barbet the publisher, whom Brigitte had had as a tenant in the rue +Saint-Dominique d'Enfer. This Barbet junior was a youth who flinched at +nothing; and when he was presented to Thuillier by his uncle, he pledged +himself, provided he was not shackled in his advertising, to sell off +the first edition and print a second within a week. + +Now, Thuillier had spent about fifteen hundred francs himself on costs +of publication, such, for instance, as copies sent in great profusion +to the newspapers; but at the close of the third day _seven_ copies only +had been sold, and three of those on credit. It might be believed that +in revealing to the horror-stricken Thuillier this paltry result the +young publisher would have lost at least something of his assurance. On +the contrary, this Guzman of the book-trade hastened to say:-- + +"I am delighted at what has happened. If we had sold a hundred copies +it would trouble me far more than the fifteen hundred now on our hands; +that's what I call hanging fire; whereas this insignificant sale only +proves that the edition will go off like a rocket." + +"But when?" asked Thuillier, who thought this view paradoxical. + +"Parbleu!" said Barbet, "when we get notices in the newspapers. +Newspaper notices are only useful to arouse attention. 'Dear me!' says +the public, 'there's a publication that must be interesting.' The title +is good,--'Taxation and the Sliding-Scale,'--but I find that the more +piquant a title is, the more buyers distrust it, they have been taken in +so often; they wait for the notices. On the other hand, for books +that are destined to have only a limited sale, a hundred ready-made +purchasers will come in at once, but after that, good-bye to them; we +don't place another copy." + +"Then you don't think," said Thuillier, "that the sale is hopeless?" + +"On the contrary, I think it is on the best track. When the 'Debats,' +the 'Constitutionnel,' the 'Siecle,' and the 'Presse' have reviewed it, +especially if the 'Debats' mauls it (they are ministerial, you know), it +won't be a week before the whole edition is snapped up." + +"You say that easily enough," replied Thuillier; "but how are we to get +hold of those gentlemen of the press?" + +"Ah! I'll take care of that," said Barbet. "I am on the best of terms +with the managing editors; they say the devil is in me, and that I +remind them of Ladvocat in his best days." + +"But then, my dear fellow, you ought to have seen to this earlier." + +"Ah! excuse me, papa Thuillier; there's only one way of seeing to the +journalists; but as you grumbled about the fifteen hundred francs for +the advertisements, I did not venture to propose to you another extra +expense." + +"What expense?" asked Thuillier, anxiously. + +"When you were nominated to the municipal council, where was the plan +mooted?" asked the publisher. + +"Parbleu! in my own house," replied Thuillier. + +"Yes, of course, in your own house, but at a dinner, followed by a ball, +and the ball itself crowned by a supper. Well, my dear master, there are +no two ways to do this business; Boileau says:-- + + "'All is done through the palate, and not through the mind; + And it is by our dinners we govern mankind.'" + +"Then you think I ought to give a dinner to those journalists?" + +"Yes; but not at your own house; for these journalists, you see, if +women are present, get stupid; they have to behave themselves. And, +besides, it isn't dinner they want, but a breakfast--that suits +them best. In the evening these gentlemen have to go to first +representations, and make up their papers, not to speak of their own +little private doings; whereas in the mornings they have nothing to +think about. As for me, it is always breakfasts that I give." + +"But that costs money, breakfasts like that," said Thuillier; +"journalists are gourmands." + +"Bah! twenty francs a head, without wine. Say you have ten of them; +three hundred francs will see you handsomely through the whole thing. +In fact, as a matter of economy, breakfasts are preferable; for a dinner +you wouldn't get off under five hundred francs." + +"How you talk, young man!" said Thuillier. + +"Oh, hang it! everybody knows it costs dear to get elected to the +Chamber; and all this favors your nomination." + +"But how can I invite those gentlemen? Must I go and see them myself?" + +"Certainly not; send them your pamphlet and appoint them to meet you at +Philippe's or Vefour's--they'll understand perfectly." + +"Ten guests," said Thuillier, beginning to enter into the idea. "I did +not know there were so many leading journals." + +"There are not," said the publisher; "but we must have the little dogs +as well, for they bark loudest. This breakfast is certain to make a +noise, and if you don't ask them they'll think you pick and choose, and +everyone excluded will be your enemy." + +"Then you think it is enough merely to send the invitations?" + +"Yes; I'll make the list, and you can write the notes and send them +to me. I'll see that they are delivered; some of them I shall take in +person." + +"If I were sure," said Thuillier, undecidedly, "that this expense would +have the desired effect--" + +"_If I were sure_,--that's a queer thing to say," said Barbet. "My dear +master, this is money placed on mortgage; for it, I will guarantee the +sale of fifteen hundred copies,--say at forty sous apiece; allowing the +discounts, that makes three thousand francs. You see that your costs and +extra costs are covered, and more than covered." + +"Well," said Thuillier, turning to go, "I'll talk to la Peyrade about +it." + +"As you please, my dear master; but decide soon, for nothing gets mouldy +so fast as a book; write hot, serve hot, and buy hot,--that's the rule +for authors, publishers, and public; all is bosh outside of it, and no +good to touch." + +When la Peyrade was consulted, he did not think in his heart that the +remedy was heroic, but he had now come to feel the bitterest animosity +against Thuillier, so that he was well pleased to see this new tax +levied on his self-important inexperience and pompous silliness. + +As for Thuillier, the mania for posing as a publicist and getting +himself talked about so possessed him that although he moaned over this +fresh bleeding of his purse, he had decided on the sacrifice before he +even spoke to la Peyrade. The reserved and conditional approval of the +latter was, therefore, more than enough to settle his determination, and +the same evening he returned to Barbet junior and asked for the list of +guests whom he ought to invite. + +Barbet gaily produced his little catalogue. Instead of the ten guests +originally mentioned, there proved to be fifteen, not counting himself +or la Peyrade, whom Thuillier wanted to second him in this encounter +with a set of men among whom he himself felt he should be a little out +of place. Casting his eyes over the list, he exclaimed, vehemently:-- + +"Heavens! my dear fellow, here are names of papers nobody ever heard of. +Where's the 'Moralisateur,' the 'Lanterne de Diogene,' the 'Pelican,' +the 'Echo de la Bievre'?" + +"You'd better be careful how you scorn the 'Echo de la Bievre,'" said +Barbet; "why, that's the paper of the 12th arrondissement, from which +you expect to be elected; its patrons are those big tanners of the +Mouffetard quarter!" + +"Well, let that go--but the 'Pelican'?" + +"The 'Pelican'? that's a paper you'll find in every dentist's +waiting-room; dentists are the first _puffists_ in the world! How many +teeth do you suppose are daily pulled in Paris?" + +"Come, come, nonsense," said Thuillier, who proceeded to mark out +certain names, reducing the whole number present to fourteen. + +"If one falls off we shall be thirteen," remarked Barbet. + +"Pooh!" said Thuillier, the free-thinker, "do you suppose I give in to +that superstition?" + +The list being finally closed and settled at fourteen, Thuillier seated +himself at the publisher's desk and wrote the invitations, naming, +in view of the urgency of the purpose, the next day but one for the +meeting, Barbet having assured him that no journalist would object to +the shortness of the invitation. The meeting was appointed at Vefour's, +the restaurant par excellence of the bourgeoisie and all provincials. + +Barbet arrived on the day named before Thuillier, who appeared in a +cravat which alone was enough to create a stir in the satirical circle +in which he was about to produce himself. The publisher, on his own +authority, had changed various articles on the bill of fare as selected +by his patron, more especially directing that the champagne, ordered in +true bourgeois fashion to be served with the dessert, should be placed +on the table at the beginning of breakfast, with several dishes of +shrimps, a necessity which had not occurred to the amphitryon. + +Thuillier, who gave a lip-approval to these amendments, was followed +by la Peyrade; and then came a long delay in the arrival of the guests. +Breakfast was ordered at eleven o'clock; at a quarter to twelve not +a journalist had appeared. Barbet, who was never at a loss, made the +consoling remark that breakfasts at restaurants were like funerals, +where, as every one knew, eleven o'clock meant mid-day. + +Sure enough, shortly before that hour, two gentlemen, with pointed +beards, exhaling a strong odor of tobacco, made their appearance. +Thuillier thanked them effusively for the "honor" they had done him; +after which came another long period of waiting, of which we shall not +relate the tortures. At one o'clock the assembled contingent comprised +five of the invited guests, Barbet and la Peyrade not included. It is +scarcely necessary to say that none of the self-respecting journalists +of the better papers had taken any notice of the absurd invitation. + +Breakfast now had to be served to this reduced number. A few polite +phrases that reached Thuillier's ears about the "immense" interest +of his publication, failed to blind him to the bitterness of his +discomfiture; and without the gaiety of the publisher, who had taken in +hand the reins his patron, gloomy as Hippolytus on the road to Mycenae, +let fall, nothing could have surpassed the glum and glacial coldness of +the meeting. + +After the oysters were removed, the champagne and chablis which had +washed them down had begun, nevertheless, to raise the thermometer, +when, rushing into the room where the banquet was taking place, a young +man in a cap conveyed to Thuillier a most unexpected and crushing blow. + +"Master," said the new-comer to Barbet (he was a clerk in the +bookseller's shop), "we are done for! The police have made a raid upon +us; a commissary and two men have come to seize monsieur's pamphlet. +Here's a paper they have given me for you." + +"Look at that," said Barbet, handing the document to la Peyrade, his +customary assurance beginning to forsake him. + +"A summons to appear at once before the court of assizes," said la +Peyrade, after reading a few lines of the sheriff's scrawl. + +Thuillier had turned as pale as death. + +"Didn't you fulfil all the necessary formalities?" he said to Barbet, in +a choking voice. + +"This is not a matter of formalities," said la Peyrade, "it is a seizure +for what is called press misdemeanor, exciting contempt and hatred of +the government; you probably have the same sort of compliment awaiting +you at home, my poor Thuillier." + +"Then it is treachery!" cried Thuillier, losing his head completely. + +"Hang it, my dear fellow! you know very well what you put in your +pamphlet; for my part, I don't see anything worth whipping a cat for." + +"There's some misunderstanding," said Barbet, recovering courage; +"it will all be explained, and the result will be a fine cause of +complaint--won't it, messieurs?" + +"Waiter, pens and ink!" cried one of the journalists thus appealed to. + +"Nonsense! you'll have time to write your article later," said another +of the brotherhood; "what has a bombshell to do with this 'filet +saute'?" + +That, of course, was a parody on the famous speech of Charles XII., King +of Sweden, when a shot interrupted him while dictating to a secretary. + +"Messieurs," said Thuillier, rising, "I am sure you will excuse me +for leaving you. If, as Monsieur Barbet thinks, there is some +misunderstanding, it ought to be explained at once; I must therefore, +with your permission, go to the police court. La Peyrade," he added in a +significant tone, "you will not refuse, I presume, to accompany me. And +you, my dear publisher, you would do well to come too." + +"No, faith!" said Barbet, "when I breakfast, I breakfast; if the police +have committed a blunder, so much the worse for them." + +"But suppose the matter is serious?" cried Thuillier, in great +agitation. + +"Well, I should say, what is perfectly true, that I had never read a +line of your pamphlet. One thing is very annoying; those damned juries +hate beards, and I must cut off mine if I'm compelled to appear in +court." + +"Come, my dear amphitryon, sit down again," said the editor of the "Echo +de la Bievre," "we'll stand by you; I've already written an article in +my head which will stir up all the tanners in Paris; and, let me tell +you, that honorable corporation is a power." + +"No, monsieur," replied Thuillier, "no; a man like me cannot rest an +hour under such an accusation as this. Continue your breakfast without +us; I hope soon to see you again. La Peyrade, are you coming?" + +"He's charming, isn't he?" said Barbet, when Thuillier and his counsel +had left the room. "To ask me to leave a breakfast after the oysters, +and go and talk with the police! Come, messieurs, close up the ranks," +he added, gaily. + +"Tiens!" said one of the hungry journalists, who had cast his eyes +into the garden of the Palais-Royal, on which the dining-room of the +restaurant opened, "there's Barbanchu going by; suppose I call him in?" + +"Yes, certainly," said Barbet junior, "have him up." + +"Barbanchu! Barbanchu!" called out the journalist. + +Barbanchu, his hat being over his eyes, was some time in discovering the +cloud above him whence the voice proceeded. + +"Here, up here!" called the voice, which seemed to Barbanchu celestial +when he saw himself hailed by a man with a glass of champagne in his +hand. Then, as he seemed to hesitate, the party above called out in +chorus:-- + +"Come up! come up! _There's fat to be had_!" + +When Thuillier left the office of the public prosecutor he could no +longer have any illusions. The case against him was serious, and the +stern manner in which he had been received made him see that when the +trial came up he would be treated without mercy. Then, as always happens +among accomplices after the non-success of an affair they have done in +common, he turned upon la Peyrade in the sharpest manner: La Peyrade +had paid no attention to what he wrote; he had given full swing to his +stupid Saint-Simonian ideas; _he_ didn't care for the consequences; it +was not _he_ who would have to pay the fine and go to prison! Then, when +la Peyrade answered that the matter did not look to him serious, and +he expected to get a verdict of acquittal without difficulty, Thuillier +burst forth upon him, vehemently:-- + +"Parbleu! the thing is plain enough; monsieur sees nothing in it? Well, +I shall not put my honor and my fortune into the hands of a little +upstart like yourself; I shall take some great lawyer if the case comes +to trial. I've had enough of your collaboration by this time." + +Under the injustice of these remarks la Peyrade felt his anger rising. +However, he saw himself disarmed, and not wishing to come to an open +rupture, he parted from Thuillier, saying that he forgave a man excited +by fear, and would go to see him later in the afternoon, when he would +probably be calmer; they could then decide on what steps they had better +take. + +Accordingly, about four o'clock, the Provencal arrived at the house +in the Place de la Madeleine. Thuillier's irritation was quieted, but +frightful consternation had taken its place. If the executioner were +coming in half an hour to lead him to the scaffold he could not have +been more utterly unstrung and woe-begone. When la Peyrade entered +Madame Thuillier was trying to make him take an infusion of +linden-leaves. The poor woman had come out of her usual apathy, and +proved herself, beside the present Sabinus, another Eponina. + +As for Brigitte, who presently appeared, bearing a foot-bath, she had +no mercy or restraint towards Theodose; her sharp and bitter reproaches, +which were out of all proportion to the fault, even supposing him +to have committed one would have driven a man of the most placid +temperament beside himself. La Peyrade felt that all was lost to him +in the Thuillier household, where they now seemed to seize with joy the +occasion to break their word to him and to give free rein to revolting +ingratitude. On an ironical allusion by Brigitte to the manner in which +he decorated his friends, la Peyrade rose and took leave, without any +effort being made to retain him. + +After walking about the streets for awhile, la Peyrade, in the midst of +his indignation, turned to thoughts of Madame de Godollo, whose +image, to tell the truth, had been much in his mind since their former +interview. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. 'TWAS THUS THEY BADE ADIEU + +Not only once when the countess met the barrister at the Thuilliers had +she left the room; but the same performance took place at each of +their encounters; and la Peyrade had convinced himself, without knowing +exactly why, that in each case, this affectation of avoiding him, +signified something that was not indifference. To have paid her another +visit immediately would certainly have been very unskilful; but now a +sufficient time had elapsed to prove him to be a man who was master of +himself. Accordingly, he returned upon his steps to the Boulevard de la +Madeleine, and without asking the porter if the countess was at home, he +passed the lodge as if returning to the Thuilliers', and rang the bell +of the entresol. + +The maid who opened the door asked him, as before, to wait until she +notified her mistress; but, on this occasion, instead of showing him +into the dining-room, she ushered him into a little room arranged as a +library. + +He waited long, and knew not what to think of the delay. Still, he +reassured himself with the thought that if she meant to dismiss him he +would not have been asked to wait at all. Finally the maid reappeared, +but even then it was not to introduce him. + +"Madame la comtesse," said the woman, "was engaged on a matter of +business, but she begged monsieur be so kind as to wait, and to amuse +himself with the books in the library, because she might be detained +longer than she expected." + +The excuse, both in form and substance, was certainly not discouraging, +and la Peyrade looked about him to fulfil the behest to amuse himself. +Without opening any of the carved rosewood bookcases, which enclosed a +collection of the most elegantly bound volumes he had ever laid his +eyes upon, he saw on an oblong table with claw feet a pell-mell of books +sufficient for the amusement of a man whose attention was keenly alive +elsewhere. + +But, as he opened one after another of the various volumes, he began to +fancy that a feast of Tantalus had been provided for him: one book +was English, another German, a third Russian; there was even one in +cabalistic letters that seemed Turkish. Was this a polyglottic joke the +countess had arranged for him? + +One volume, however, claimed particular attention. The binding, unlike +those of the other books, was less rich than dainty. Lying by itself at +a corner of the table, it was open, with the back turned up, the edges +of the leaves resting on the green table-cloth in the shape of a tent. +La Peyrade took it up, being careful not to lose the page which it +seemed to have been some one's intention to mark. It proved to be +a volume of the illustrated edition of Monsieur Scribe's works. The +engraving which presented itself on the open page to la Peyrade's eyes, +was entitled "The Hatred of a Woman"; the principal personage of which +is a young widow, desperately pursuing a poor young man who cannot help +himself. There is hatred all round. Through her devilries she almost +makes him lose his reputation, and does make him miss a rich marriage; +but the end is that she gives him more than she took away from him, and +makes a husband of the man who was thought her victim. + +If chance had put this volume apart from the rest, and had left it open +at the precise page where la Peyrade found it marked, it must be owned +that, after what had passed between himself and the countess, chance can +sometimes seem clever and adroit. As he stood there, thinking over the +significance which this more or less accidental combination might have, +la Peyrade read through a number of scenes to see whether in the details +as well as the general whole they applied to the present situation. +While thus employed, the sound of an opening door was heard, and he +recognized the silvery and slightly drawling voice of the countess, who +was evidently accompanying some visitor to the door. + +"Then I may promise the ambassadress," said a man's voice, "that you +will honor her ball with your presence?" + +"Yes, commander, if my headache, which is just beginning to get a little +better, is kind enough to go away." + +"Au revoir, then, fairest lady," said the gentleman. After which the +doors were closed, and silence reigned once more. + +The title of commander reassured la Peyrade somewhat, for it was not +the rank of a young dandy. He was nevertheless curious to know who this +personage was with whom the countess had been shut up so long. Hearing +no one approach the room he was in, he went to the window and opened the +curtain cautiously, prepared to let it drop back at the slightest noise, +and to make a quick right-about-face to avoid being caught, "flagrante +delicto," in curiosity. An elegant coupe, standing at a little distance, +was now driven up to the house, a footman in showy livery hastened to +open the door, and a little old man, with a light and jaunty movement, +though it was evident he was one of those relics of the past who have +not yet abandoned powder, stepped quickly into the carriage, which was +then driven rapidly away. La Peyrade had time to observe on his breast +a perfect string of decorations. This, combined with the powdered hair, +was certain evidence of a diplomatic individual. + +La Peyrade had picked up his book once more, when a bell from the +inner room sounded, quickly followed by the appearance of the maid, who +invited him to follow her. The Provencal took care _not_ to replace the +volume where he found it, and an instant later he entered the presence +of the countess. + +A pained expression was visible on the handsome face of the foreign +countess, who, however, lost nothing of her charm in the languor that +seemed to overcome her. On the sofa beside her was a manuscript written +on gilt-edged paper, in that large and opulent handwriting which +indicates an official communication from some ministerial office or +chancery. She held in her hand a crystal bottle with a gold stopper, +from which she frequently inhaled the contents, and a strong odor of +English vinegar pervaded the salon. + +"I fear you are ill, madame," said la Peyrade, with interest. + +"Oh! it is nothing," replied the countess; "only a headache, to which +I am very subject. But you, monsieur, what has become of you? I was +beginning to lose all hope of ever seeing you again. Have you come +to announce to me some great news? The period of your marriage with +Mademoiselle Colleville is probably so near that I think you can speak +of it." + +This opening disconcerted la Peyrade. + +"But, madame," he answered, in a tone that was almost tart, "you, it +seems to me, must know too well everything that goes on in the +Thuillier household not to be aware that the event you speak of is not +approaching, and, I may add, not probable." + +"No, I assure you, I know nothing; I have strictly forbidden myself from +taking any further interest in an affair which I felt I had meddled with +very foolishly. Mademoiselle Brigitte and I talk of everything except +Celeste's marriage." + +"And it is no doubt the desire to allow me perfect freedom in the matter +that induces you to take flight whenever I have the honor to meet you in +the Thuillier salon?" + +"Yes," said the countess, "that ought to be the reason that makes me +leave the room; else, why should I be so distant?" + +"Ah! madame, there are other reasons that might make a woman avoid a +man's presence. For instance, if he has displeased her; if the advice, +given to him with rare wisdom and kindness, was not received with proper +eagerness and gratitude." + +"Oh, my dear monsieur," she replied, "I have no such ardor in +proselytizing that I am angry with those who are not docile to my +advice. I am, like others, very apt to make mistakes." + +"On the contrary, madame, in the matter of my marriage your judgment was +perfectly correct." + +"How so?" said the countess, eagerly. "Has the seizure of the pamphlet, +coming directly after the failure to obtain the cross, led to a +rupture?" + +"No," said la Peyrade, "my influence in the Thuillier household rests +on a solid basis; the services I have rendered Mademoiselle Brigitte +and her brother outweigh these checks, which, after all, are not +irreparable." + +"Do you really think so?" said the countess. + +"Certainly," replied la Peyrade; "when the Comtesse du Bruel takes it +into her head to seriously obtain that bit of red ribbon, she can do so, +in spite of all obstacles that are put in her way." + +The countess received this assertion with a smile, and shook her head. + +"But, madame, only a day or two ago Madame du Bruel told Madame +Colleville that the unexpected opposition she had met with piqued her, +and that she meant to go in person to the minister." + +"But you forget that since then this seizure has been made by the +police; it is not usual to decorate a man who is summoned before the +court of assizes. You seem not to notice that the seizure argues a +strong ill-will against Monsieur Thuillier, and, I may add, against +yourself, monsieur, for you are known to be the culprit. You have not, I +think, taken all this into account. The authorities appear to have acted +not wholly from legal causes." + +La Peyrade looked at the countess. + +"I must own," he said, after that rapid glance, "that I have tried in +vain to find any passage in that pamphlet which could be made a legal +pretext for the seizure." + +"In my opinion," said the countess, "the king's servants must have +a vivid imagination to persuade themselves they were dealing with +a seditious publication. But that only proves the strength of the +underground power which is thwarting all your good intentions in favor +of Monsieur Thuillier." + +"Madame," said la Peyrade, "do you know our secret enemies?" + +"Perhaps I do," replied the countess, with another smile. + +"May I dare to utter a suspicion, madame?" said la Peyrade, with some +agitation. + +"Yes, say what you think," replied Madame de Godollo. "I shall not blame +you if you guess right." + +"Well, madame, our enemies, Thuillier's and mine, are--a woman." + +"Supposing that is so," said the countess; "do you know how many lines +Richelieu required from a man's hand in order to hang him?" + +"Four," replied la Peyrade. + +"You can imagine, then, that a pamphlet of two hundred pages might +afford a--slightly intriguing woman sufficient ground for persecution." + +"I see it all, madame, I understand it!" cried la Peyrade, with +animation. "I believe that woman to be one of the elite of her sex, with +as much mind and malice as Richelieu! Adorable magician! it is she who +has set in motion the police and the gendarmes; but, more than that, it +is she who withholds that cross the ministers were about to give." + +"If that be so," said the countess, "why struggle against her?" + +"Ah! I struggle no longer," said la Peyrade. Then, with an assumed air +of contrition, he added, "You must, indeed, _hate_ me, madame." + +"Not quite as much as you may think," replied the countess; "but, after +all, suppose that I do hate you?" + +"Ah! madame," cried la Peyrade, ardently, "I should then be the happiest +of unhappy men; for that hatred would seem to me sweeter and more +precious than your indifference. But you do not hate me; why should +you feel to me that most blessed feminine sentiment which Scribe has +depicted with such delicacy and wit?" + +Madame de Godollo did not answer immediately. She lowered her eyelids, +and the deeper breathing of her bosom gave to her voice when she did +speak a tremulous tone:-- + +"The hatred of a woman!" she said. "Is a man of your stoicism able to +perceive it?" + +"Ah! yes, madame," replied la Peyrade, "I do indeed perceive it, but not +to revolt against it; on the contrary, I bless the harshness that deigns +to hurt me. Now that I know my beautiful and avowed enemy, I shall not +despair of touching her heart; for never again will I follow any road +but the one that she points out to me, never will I march under any +banner but hers. I shall wait--for her inspiration, to think; for her +will, to will; for her commands, to act. In all things I will be her +auxiliary,--more than that, her slave; and if she still repulses me with +that dainty foot, that snowy hand, I will bear it resignedly, asking, in +return for such obedience one only favor,--that of kissing the foot that +spurns me, of bathing with tears the hand that threatens me." + +During this long cry of the excited heart, which the joy of triumph +wrung from a nature so nervous and impressionable as that of the +Provencal, he had slidden from his chair, and now knelt with one knee +on the ground beside the countess, in the conventional attitude of the +stage, which is, however, much more common in real life than people +suppose. + +"Rise, monsieur," said the countess, "and be so good as to answer me." +Then, giving him a questioning look from beneath her beautiful frowning +brows, she continued: "Have you well-weighed the outcome of the words +you have just uttered? Have you measured the full extent of your pledge, +and its depth? With your hand on your heart and on your conscience, are +you a man to fulfil those words? Or are you one of the falsely humble +and perfidious men who throw themselves at our feet only to make us lose +the balance of our will and our reason?" + +"I!" exclaimed la Peyrade; "never can I react against the fascination +you have wielded over me from the moment of our first interview! Ah! +madame, the more I have resisted, the more I have struggled, the more +you ought to trust in my sincerity and its tardy expression. What I have +said, I think; that which I think aloud to-day I have thought in my soul +since the hour when I first had the honor of admittance to you; and the +many days I have passed in struggling against this allurement have ended +in giving me a firm and deliberate will, which understands itself, and +is not cast down by your severity." + +"Severity?" said the countess; "possibly. But you ought to think of +the kindness too. Question yourself carefully. We foreign women do not +understand the careless ease with which a Frenchwoman enters upon a +solemn engagement. To us, our _yes_ is sacred; our word is a bond. We do +and we will nothing by halves. The arms of my family bear a motto which +seems significant under the present circumstances,--'All or Nothing'; +that is saying much, and yet, perhaps, not enough." + +"That is how I understand my pledge," replied la Peyrade; "and on +leaving this room my first step will be to break with that ignoble +past which for an instant I seemed to hold in the balance against the +intoxicating future you do not forbid me to expect." + +"No," said the countess, "do it calmly and advisedly; I do not like rash +conduct; you will not please me by taking open steps. These Thuilliers +are not really bad at heart; they humiliated you without knowing that +they did so; their world is not yours. Is that their fault? Loosen the +tie between you, but do not violently break it. And, above all, reflect. +Your conversion to my beliefs is of recent date. What man is certain of +what his heart will say to him to-morrow?" + +"Madame," said la Peyrade, "I am that man. We men of Southern blood do +not love as you say a Frenchwoman loves." + +"But," said the countess, with a charming smile, "I thought it was +hatred we were talking of." + +"Ah, madame," cried the barrister, "explained and understood as it has +been, that word is still a thing that hurts me. Tell me rather, not that +you love me, but that the words you deigned to say to me at our first +interview were indeed the expression of your thoughts." + +"My friend," said the countess, dwelling on the word; "one of your +moralists has said: 'There are persons who say, _that is_ or _that is +not_.' Do me the favor to count me among such persons." + +So saying, she held out her hand to her suitor with a charming gesture +of modesty and grace. La Peyrade, quite beside himself, darted upon that +beautiful hand and devoured it with kisses. + +"Enough, child!" said the countess, gently freeing her imprisoned +fingers; "adieu now, soon to meet again! Adieu! My headache, I think, +has disappeared." + +La Peyrade picked up his hat, and seemed about to rush from the +apartment; but at the door he turned and cast upon the handsome creature +a look of tenderness. The countess made him, with her head, a graceful +gesture of adieu; then, seeing that la Peyrade was inclined to return to +her, she raised her forefinger as a warning to control himself and go. + +La Peyrade turned and left the apartment. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. HOW TO SHUT THE DOOR IN PEOPLE'S FACES + +On the staircase la Peyrade stopped to exhale, if we may so express it, +the happiness of which his heart was full. The words of the countess, +the ingenious preparation she had made to put him on the track of her +sentiments, seemed to him the guarantee of her sincerity, and he left +her full of faith. + +Possessed by that intoxication of happy persons which shows itself in +their gestures, their looks, their very gait, and sometimes in actions +not authorized by their common-sense, after pausing a moment, as we have +said, on the staircase, he ran up a few steps till he could see the door +of the Thuilliers' apartment. + +"At last!" he cried, "fame, fortune, happiness have come to me; but, +above all, I can now give myself the joy of vengeance. After Dutocq and +Cerizet, I will crush _you_, vile bourgeois brood!" + +So saying, he shook his fist at the innocent door. Then he turned and +ran out; the popular saying that the earth could not hold him, was true +at that moment of his being. + +The next day, for he could not restrain any longer the tempest that was +swelling within him, la Peyrade went to see Thuillier in the bitterest +and most hostile of moods. What was therefore his amazement when, before +he had time to put himself on guard and stop the demonstration of union +and oblivion, Thuillier flung himself into his arms. + +"My friend," cried the municipal councillor, as he loosened his clasp, +"my political fortune is made; this morning all the newspapers, without +exception, have spoken of the seizure of my pamphlet; and you ought to +see how the opposition sheets have mauled the government." + +"Simple enough," said la Peyrade, not moved by this enthusiasm; "you are +a topic for them, that's all. But this does not alter the situation; the +prosecution will be only the more determined to have you condemned." + +"Well, then," said Thuillier, proudly raising his head, "I will go to +prison, like Beranger, like Lamennais, like Armand Carrel." + +"My good fellow, persecution is charming at a distance; but when you +hear the big bolts run upon you, you may be sure you won't like it as +well." + +"But," objected Thuillier, "prisoners condemned for political offences +are always allowed to do their time in hospital if they like. Besides, +I'm not yet convicted. You said yourself you expected to get me +acquitted." + +"Yes, but since then I have heard things which make that result very +doubtful; the same hand that withheld your cross has seized your +pamphlet; you are being murdered with premeditation." + +"If you know who that dangerous enemy is," said Thuillier, "you can't +refuse to point him out to me." + +"I don't know him," replied la Peyrade; "I only suspect him. This is +what you get by playing too shrewd a game." + +"Playing a shrewd game!" said Thuillier, with the curiosity of a man who +is perfectly aware that he has nothing of that kind on his conscience. + +"Yes," said la Peyrade, "you made a sort of decoy of Celeste to attract +young bloods to your salon. All the world has not the forbearance of +Monsieur Godeschal, who forgave his rejection and generously managed +that affair about the house." + +"Explain yourself better," said Thuillier, "for I don't see what you +mean." + +"Nothing is easier to understand. Without counting me, how many suitors +have you had for Mademoiselle Colleville? Godeschal, Minard junior, +Phellion junior, Olivier Vinet, the substitute judge,--all men who have +been sent about their business, as I am." + +"Olivier Vinet, the substitute judge!" cried Thuillier, struck with +a flash of light. "Of course; the blow must have come from him. His +father, they say, has a long arm. But it can't be truly said that we +sent him about his business,--to use your expression, which strikes me +as indecorous,--for he never came to the house but once, and made no +offer; neither did Minard junior or Phellion junior, for that matter. +Godeschal is the only one who risked a direct proposal, and he was +refused at once, before he dipped his beak in the water." + +"It is always so!" said la Peyrade, still looking for a ground of +quarrel. "Straightforward and outspoken persons are always those that +sly men boast of fooling." + +"Ah ca! what's all this?" said Thuillier; "what are you insinuating? +Didn't you settle everything with Brigitte the other day? You take a +pretty time to come and talk to me about your love-affairs, when the +sword of justice is hanging over my head." + +"Oh!" said la Peyrade, ironically; "so now you are going to make the +most of your interesting position of accused person! I knew very well +how it would be; I was certain that as soon as your pamphlet appeared +the old cry of not getting what you expected out of me would come up." + +"Parbleu! your pamphlet!" cried Thuillier. "I think you are a fine +fellow to boast of that when, on the contrary, it has caused the most +deplorable complications." + +"Deplorable? how so? you have just said your political fortune was +made." + +"Well, truly, my dear Theodose," said Thuillier, with feeling, "I should +never have thought that you would choose the hour of adversity to come +and put your pistol at our throats and make me the object of your sneers +and innuendoes." + +"Well done!" said la Peyrade; "now it is the hour of adversity! A minute +ago you were flinging yourself into my arms as a man to whom some signal +piece of luck had happened. You ought really to choose decidedly between +being a man who needs pity and a glorious victor." + +"It is all very well to be witty," returned Thuillier; "but you can't +controvert what I say. I am logical, if I am not brilliant. It is very +natural that I should console myself by seeing that public opinion +decides in my favor, and by reading in its organs the most honorable +assurances of sympathy; but do you suppose I wouldn't rather that things +had taken their natural course? Besides, when I see myself the object of +unworthy vengeance on the part of persons as influential as the Vinets, +how can I help measuring the extent of the dangers to which I am +exposed?" + +"Well," said la Peyrade, with pitiless persistency, "I see that you +prefer to play the part of Jeremiah." + +"Yes," said Thuillier, in a solemn tone. "Jeremiah laments over a +friendship I did think true and devoted, but which I find has only +sarcasms to give me when I looked for services." + +"What services?" asked la Peyrade. "Did you not tell me positively, no +later than yesterday, that you would not accept my help under any form +whatever? I offered to plead your case, and you answered that you would +take a better lawyer." + +"Yes; in the first shock of surprise at such an unexpected blow, I did +say that foolish thing; but, on reflection, who can explain as well +as you can the intention of the words you wrote with your own pen? +Yesterday I was almost out of my mind; but you, with your wounded +self-love, which can't forgive a momentary impatience, you are very +caustic and cruel." + +"So," said la Peyrade, "you formally request me to defend you before the +jury?" + +"Yes, my dear fellow; and I don't know any other hands in which I could +better place my case. I should have to pay a monstrous sum to some great +legal luminary, and he wouldn't defend me as ably as you." + +"Well, I refuse. Roles have changed, as you see, diametrically. +Yesterday, I thought, as you do, that I was the man to defend you. +To-day, I see that you had better take the legal luminary, because, with +Vinet's antagonism against you the affair is taking such proportions +that whoever defends it assumes a fearful responsibility." + +"I understand," said Thuillier, sarcastically. "Monsieur has his eye on +the magistracy, and he doesn't want to quarrel with a man who is already +talked of for Keeper of the Seals. It is prudent, but I don't know that +it is going to help on your marriage." + +"You mean," said la Peyrade, seizing the ball in its bound, "that to +get you out of the claws of that jury is a thirteenth labor of Hercules, +imposed upon me to earn the hand of Mademoiselle Colleville? I expected +that demands would multiply in proportion to the proofs of my devotion. +But that is the very thing that has worn me out, and I have come here +to-day to put an end to this slave labor by giving back to you your +pledges. You may dispose of Celeste's hand; for my part, I am no longer +a suitor for it." + +The unexpectedness and squareness of this declaration left Thuillier +without words or voice, all the more because at this moment entered +Brigitte. The temper of the old maid had also greatly moderated since +the previous evening, and her greeting was full of the most amicable +familiarity. + +"Ah! so here you are, you good old barrister," she said. + +"Mademoiselle, your servant," he replied, gravely. + +"Well," she continued, paying no attention to the stiffness of his +manner, "the government has got itself into a pretty mess by seizing +your pamphlet. You ought to see how the morning papers lash it! Here," +she added, giving Thuillier a small sheet printed on sugar-paper, in +coarse type, and almost illegible,--"here's another, you didn't read; +the porter has just brought it up. It is a paper from our old quarter, +'L'Echo de la Bievre.' I don't know, gentlemen, if you'll be of my +opinion, but I think nothing could be better written. It is droll, +though, how inattentive these journalists are! most of them write your +name without the H; I think you ought to complain of it." + +Thuillier took the paper, and read the article inspired to the reviewer +of the tanner's organ by stomach gratitude. Never in her life had +Brigitte paid the slightest attention to a newspaper, except to know if +it was the right size for the packages she wrapped up in it; but now, +suddenly, converted to a worship of the press by the ardor of her +sisterly love, she stood behind Thuillier and re-read, over his +shoulder, the more striking passages of the page she thought so +eloquent, pointing her finger to them. + +"Yes," said Thuillier, folding up the paper, "that's warm, and very +flattering to me. But here's another matter! Monsieur has come to tell +me that he refuses to plead for me, and renounces all claim to Celeste's +hand." + +"That is to say," said Brigitte, "he renounces her if, after having +pleaded, the marriage does not take place 'subito.' Well, poor fellow, +I think that's a reasonable demand. When he has done that for us there +ought to be no further delay; and whether Mademoiselle Celeste likes it +or not, she must accept him, because, you know, there's an end to all +things." + +"Do you hear that, my good fellow?" said la Peyrade, seizing upon +Brigitte's speech. "When I have pleaded, the marriage is to take +place. Your sister is frankness itself; she, at least, doesn't practise +diplomacy." + +"Diplomacy!" echoed Brigitte. "I'd like to see myself creeping +underground in matters. I say things as I think them. The workman has +worked, and he ought to have his pay." + +"Do be silent," cried Thuillier, stamping his foot; "you don't say a +word that doesn't turn the knife in the wound." + +"The knife in the wound?" said Brigitte, inquiringly. "Ah ca! are you +two quarrelling?" + +"I told you," said Thuillier, "that la Peyrade had returned our +promises; and the reason he gives is that we are asking him another +service for Celeste's hand. He thinks he has done us enough without it." + +"He has done us some services, no doubt," said Brigitte; "but it seems +to me that we have not been ungrateful to him. Besides, it was he who +made the blunder, and I think it rather odd he should now wish to leave +us in the lurch." + +"Your reasoning, mademoiselle," said la Peyrade, "might have some +appearance of justice if I were the only barrister in Paris; but as the +streets are black with them, and as, only yesterday, Thuillier himself +spoke of engaging some more important lawyer than myself, I have not the +slightest scruple in refusing to defend him. Now, as to the marriage, in +order that it may not be made the object of another brutal and forcible +demand upon me, I here renounce it in the most formal manner, and +nothing now prevents Mademoiselle Colleville from accepting Monsieur +Felix Phellion and all his advantages." + +"As you please, my dear monsieur," said Brigitte, "if that's your last +word. We shall not be at a loss to find a husband for Celeste,--Felix +Phellion or another. But you must permit me to tell you that the reason +you give is not the true one. We can't go faster than the fiddles. If +the marriage were settled to-day, there are the banns to publish; you +have sense enough to know that Monsieur le maire can't marry you before +the formalities are complied with, and before then Thuillier's case will +have been tried." + +"Yes," said la Peyrade, "and if I lose the case it will be I who have +sent him to prison,--just as yesterday it was I who brought about the +seizure." + +"As for that, it seems to me that if you had written nothing the police +would have found nothing to bite." + +"My dear Brigitte," said Thuillier, seeing la Peyrade shrug his +shoulders, "your argument is vicious in the sense that the writing was +not incriminating on any side. It is not la Peyrade's fault if persons +of high station have organized a persecution against me. You remember +that little substitute, Monsieur Olivier Vinet, whom Cardot brought to +one of our receptions. It seems that he and his father are furious that +we didn't want him for Celeste, and they've sworn my destruction." + +"Well, why did we refuse him," said Brigitte, "if it wasn't for the fine +eyes of monsieur here? For, after all, a substitute in Paris is a very +suitable match." + +"No doubt," said la Peyrade, nonchalantly. "Only, he did not happen to +bring you a million." + +"Ah!" cried Brigitte, firing up. "If you are going to talk any more +about that house you helped us to buy, I shall tell you plainly that +if you had had the money to trick the notary you never would have come +after us. You needn't think I have been altogether your dupe. You spoke +just now of a bargain, but you proposed that bargain yourself. 'Give me +Celeste and I'll get you that house,'--that's what you said to us in so +many words. Besides which, we had to pay large sums on which we never +counted." + +"Come, come, Brigitte," said Thuillier, "you are making a great deal out +of nothing." + +"Nothing! nothing!" exclaimed Brigitte. "Did we, or did we not, have to +pay much more than we expected?" + +"My dear Thuillier," said la Peyrade, "I think, with you, that the +matter is now settled, and it can only be embittered by discussing it +further. My course was decided on before I came here; all that I have +now heard can only confirm it. I shall not be the husband of Celeste, +but you and I can remain good friends." + +He rose to leave the room. + +"One moment, monsieur," said Brigitte, barring his way; "there is one +matter which I do not consider settled; and now that we are no longer to +have interests in common, I should not be sorry if you would be so good +as to tell me what has become of a sum of ten thousand francs which +Thuillier gave you to bribe those rascally government offices in order +to get the cross we have never got." + +"Brigitte!" cried Thuillier, in anguish, "you have a devil of a tongue! +You ought to be silent about that; I told it to you in a moment of +ill-temper, and you promised me faithfully never to open your lips about +it to any one, no matter who." + +"So I did; but," replied the implacable Brigitte, "we are parting. When +people part they settle up; they pay their debts. Ten thousand francs! +For my part, I thought the cross itself dear at that; but for a cross +that has melted away, monsieur himself will allow the price is too +high." + +"Come, la Peyrade, my friend, don't listen to her," said Thuillier, +going up to the barrister, who was pale with anger. "The affection she +has for me blinds her; I know very well what government offices are, and +I shouldn't be surprised if you had had to pay out money of your own." + +"Monsieur," said la Peyrade, "I am, unfortunately, not in a position +to return to you, instantly, that money, an accounting for which is so +insolently demanded. Grant me a short delay; and have the goodness +to accept my note, which I am ready to sign, if that will give you +patience." + +"To the devil with your note!" cried Thuillier; "you owe me nothing; on +the contrary, it is we who owe you; for Cardot told me I ought to give +you at least ten thousand francs for enabling us to buy this magnificent +property." + +"Cardot! Cardot!" said Brigitte; "he is very generous with other +people's money. We were giving monsieur Celeste, and that's a good deal +more than ten thousand francs." + +La Peyrade was too great a comedian not to turn the humiliation he +had just endured into a scene finale. With tears in his voice, which +presently fell from his eyes, he turned to Brigitte. + +"Mademoiselle," he said, "when I had the honor to be received by you I +was poor; you long saw me suffering and ill at ease, knowing, alas! too +well, the indignities that poverty must bear. From the day that I was +able to give you a fortune which I never thought of for myself I have +felt, it is true, more assurance; and your own kindness encouraged me +to rise out of my timidity and depression. To-day, when I, by frank +and loyal conduct, release you from anxiety,--for, if you chose to be +honest, you would acknowledge that you have been thinking of another +husband for Celeste,--we might still remain friends, even though I +renounce a marriage which my delicacy forbids me to pursue. But you have +not chosen to restrain yourself with the limits of social politeness, +of which you have a model beside you in Madame de Godollo, who, I am +persuaded, although she is not at all friendly to me, would never have +approved of your odious behavior. Thank Heaven! I have in my heart +some religious sentiment at least; the Gospel is not to me a mere +dead-letter, and--understand me well, mademoiselle--_I forgive you_. +It is not to Thuillier, who would refuse them, but to you that I shall, +before long, pay the ten thousand francs which you insinuate I have +applied to my own purposes. If, by the time they are returned to you, +you feel regret for your unjust suspicions, and are unwilling to +accept the money, I request that you will turn it over to the bureau of +Benevolence to the poor--" + +"To the bureau of Benevolence!" cried Brigitte, interrupting him. "No, I +thank you! the idea of all that money being distributed among a crowd +of do-nothings and devotes, who'll spend it in junketing! I've been poor +too, my lad; I made bags for the money of others long before I had any +money of my own; I have some now, and I take care of it. So, whenever +you will, I am ready to receive that ten thousand francs and keep it. If +you didn't know how to do what you undertook to do, and spent that money +in trying to put salt on a sparrow's tail, so much the worse for you." + +Seeing that he had missed his effect, and had made not the slightest +impression on Brigitte's granite, la Peyrade cast a disdainful look upon +her and left the room majestically. As he did so he noticed a movement +made by Thuillier to follow him, and also the imperious gesture of +Brigitte, always queen and mistress, which nailed her brother to his +chair. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +At the moment when la Peyrade was preparing to lay at the feet of the +countess the liberty he had recovered in so brutal a manner, he received +a perfumed note, which made his heart beat, for on the seal was that +momentous "All or Nothing" which she had given him as the rule of the +relation now to be inaugurated between them. The contents of the note +were as follows:-- + + Dear Monsieur,--I have heard of the step you have taken; thank + you! But I must now prepare to take my own. I cannot, as you may + well think, continue to live in this house, and among these people + who are so little of our own class and with whom we have nothing + in common. To arrange this transaction, and to avoid explanations + of the fact that the entresol welcomes the voluntary exile from + the first-floor, I need to-day and to-morrow to myself. Do not + therefore come to see me until the day after. By that time I shall + have executed Brigitte, as they say at the Bourse, and have much + to tell you. + + +Tua tota, + +Torna de Godollo. + + +That "Wholly thine" in Latin seemed charming to la Peyrade, who was +not, however, astonished, for Latin is a second national language to the +Hungarians. The two days' waiting to which he was thus condemned only +fanned the flame of the ardent passion which possessed him, and on the +third day when reached the house by the Madeleine his love had risen +to a degree of incandescence of which only a few days earlier he would +scarcely have supposed himself capable. + +This time the porter's wife perceived him; but he was now quite +indifferent as to whether or not the object of his visit should be +known. The ice was broken, his happiness was soon to be official, and he +was more disposed to cry it aloud in the streets than to make a mystery +of it. + +Running lightly up the stairs, he prepared to ring the bell, when, on +putting out his hand to reach the silken bell-cord he perceived that the +bell-cord had disappeared. La Peyrade's first thought was that one of +those serious illnesses which make all noises intolerable to a patient +would explain its absence; but with the thought came other observations +that weakened it, and which, moreover, were not in themselves +comforting. + +From the vestibule to the countess's door a stair carpet, held at each +step by a brass rod, made a soft ascent to the feet of visitors; this, +too, had been removed. A screen-door covered with green velvet and +studded with brass nails had hitherto protected the entrance to the +apartment; of that no sign, except the injury to the wall done by the +workmen in taking it away. For a moment the barrister thought, in his +agitation, that he must have mistaken the floor, but, casting his eye +over the baluster he saw that he had not passed the entresol. Madame de +Godollo must, therefore, be in the act of moving away. + +He then resigned himself to make known his presence at the great lady's +door as he would have done at that of a grisette. He rapped with +his knuckles, but a hollow sonority revealing the void, "intonuere +cavernae," echoed beyond the door which he vainly appealed to with his +fist. He also perceived from beneath that door a ray of vivid light, +the sure sign of an uninhabited apartment where curtains and carpets and +furniture no longer dim the light or deaden sound. Compelled to believe +in a total removal, la Peyrade now supposed that in the rupture with +Brigitte, mentioned as probable by Madame de Godollo, some brutal +insolence of the old maid had necessitated this abrupt departure. But +why had he not been told of it? And what an idea, to expose him to +this ridiculous meeting with what the common people call, in their +picturesque language, "the wooden face"! + +Before leaving the door finally, and as if some doubt still remained in +his mind, la Peyrade made a last and most thundering assault upon it. + +"Who's knocking like that, as if they'd bring the house down?" said the +porter, attracted by the noise to the foot of the staircase. + +"Doesn't Madame de Godollo still live here?" asked la Peyrade. + +"Of course she doesn't live here now; she has moved away. If monsieur +had told me he was going to her apartment I would have spared him the +trouble of battering down the door." + +"I knew that she was going to leave the apartment," said la Peyrade, not +wishing to seem ignorant of the project of departure, "but I had no idea +she was going so soon." + +"I suppose it was something sudden," said the porter, "for she went off +early this morning with post-horses." + +"Post-horses!" echoed la Peyrade, stupefied. "Then she has left Paris?" + +"That's to be supposed," said the porter; "people don't usually take +post-horses and a postilion to change from one quarter of Paris to +another." + +"And she did not tell you where she was going?" + +"Ah! monsieur, what an idea! Do people account to us porters for what +they do?" + +"No, but her letters--those that come after her departure?" + +"Her letters? I am ordered to deliver them to Monsieur le commandeur, +the little old gentlemen who came to see her so often; monsieur must +have met him." + +"Yes, yes, certainly," said la Peyrade, keeping his presence of mind in +the midst of the successive shocks which came upon him,--"the powered +little man who was here every day." + +"I couldn't say every day; but he came often. Well, I am told to give +the countess's letters to him." + +"And for other persons of her acquaintance," said la Peyrade, +carelessly, "did she leave no message?" + +"None, monsieur." + +"Very well," said la Peyrade, "good-morning." And he turned to go out. + +"But I think," said the porter, "that Mademoiselle Thuillier knows more +about it than I do. Won't monsieur go up? She is at home; and so is +Monsieur Thuillier." + +"No, never mind," said la Peyrade, "I only came to tell Madame de +Godollo about a commission she asked me to execute; I haven't time to +stop now." + +"Well, as I told you, she left with post-horses this morning. Two hours +earlier monsieur might still have found her; but now, with post-horses, +she must by this time have gone a good distance." + +La Peyrade departed, with a sense of despair in his heart. Added to the +anxiety caused by this hasty departure, jealousy entered his soul, +and in this agonizing moment of disappointment the most distressing +explanations crowded on his mind. + +Then, after further reflection, he said to himself:-- + +"These clever diplomatic women are often sent on secret missions which +require the most absolute silence, and extreme rapidity of movement." + +But here a sudden revulsion of thought overcame him:-- + +"Suppose she were one of those intriguing adventurers whom foreign +governments employ as agents? Suppose the tale, more or less probable, +of that Russian princess forced to sell her furniture to Brigitte were +also that of this Hungarian countess? And yet," he continued, as his +brain made a third evolution in this frightful anarchy of ideas and +feelings, "her education, her manners, her language, all bespoke a woman +of the best position. Besides, if she were only a bird of passage, why +have given herself so much trouble to win me over?" + +La Peyrade might have continued to plead thus for and against for a long +time had he not been suddenly grasped round the shoulders by a strong +arm and addressed in a well-known voice. + +"Take care! my dear barrister; a frightful danger threatens you; you are +running right into it." + +La Peyrade, thus arrested, looked round and found himself in the arms of +Phellion. + +The scene took place in front of a house which was being pulled down at +the corner of the rues Duphot and Saint-Honore. Posted on the pavement +of the other side of the street, Phellion, whose taste for watching the +process of building our readers may remember, had been witnessing for +the last fifteen minutes the drama of a wall about to fall beneath +the united efforts of a squadron of workmen. Watch in hand, the great +citizen was estimating the length of the resistance which that mass of +freestone would present to the destructive labor of which it was the +object. Precisely at the crucial moment of the impending catastrophe la +Peyrade, lost in the tumult of his thoughts, was entering, heedless of +the shouts addressed to him on all sides, the radius within which the +stones would fall. Seen by Phellion (who, it must be said, would have +done the same for a total stranger) la Peyrade undoubtedly owed his +life to him; for, at the moment when he was violently flung back by the +vigorous grasp of the worthy citizen, the wall fell with the noise of a +cannon-shot, and the stones rolled in clouds of dust almost to his very +feet. + +"Are you blind and deaf?" said the workman whose business it was to warn +the passers, in a tone of amenity it is easy to imagine. + +"Thank you, my dear friend," said la Peyrade, recalled to earth. "I +should certainly have been crushed like an idiot if it hadn't been for +you." + +And he pressed Phellion's hand. + +"My reward," replied the latter, "lies in the satisfaction of knowing +that you are saved from an imminent peril. And I may say that that +satisfaction is mingled, for me, with a certain pride; for I was not +mistaken by a single second in the calculation which enabled me to +foresee the exact moment when that formidable mass would be displaced +from its centre of gravity. But what were you thinking of, my dear +monsieur? Probably of the plea you are about to make in the Thuillier +affair. The public prints have informed me of the danger of prosecution +by the authorities which hangs above the head of our estimable friend. +You have a noble cause to defend, monsieur. Habituated as I am, through +my labors as a member of the reading committee of the Odeon, to judge of +works of intellect, and with my hand upon my conscience, I declare that +after reading the incriminated passages, I can find nothing in the tone +of that pamphlet which justifies the severe measures of which it is the +object. Between ourselves," added the great citizen, lowering his voice, +"I think the government has shown itself petty." + +"So I think," said la Peyrade, "but I am not employed for the defence. I +have advised Thuillier to engage some noted lawyer." + +"It may be good advice," said Phellion; "at any rate, it speaks well for +your modesty. Poor man! I went to him at once when the blow fell, but I +did not see him; I saw only Brigitte, who was having a discussion with +Madame de Godollo. There is a woman with strong political views; it +seems she predicted that the seizure would be made." + +"Did you know that the countess had left Paris?" said la Peyrade, +rushing at the chance of speaking on the subject of his present +monomania. + +"Ah! left Paris, has she?" said Phellion. "Well, monsieur, I must tell +you that, although there was not much sympathy between us, I regard her +departure as a misfortune. She will leave a serious void in the salon +of our friends. I say this, because it is my belief, and I am not in the +habit of disguising my convictions." + +"Yes," said la Peyrade, "she is certainly a very distinguished woman, +with whom in spite of her prejudice against me, I think I should have +come to an understanding. But this morning, without leaving any word as +to where she was going, she started suddenly with post-horses." + +"Post-horses!" said Phellion. "I don't know whether you will agree with +me, monsieur, but I think that travelling by post is a most agreeable +method of conveyance. Certainly Louis XI., to whom we owe the +institution, had a fortunate inspiration in the matter; although, on the +other hand, his sanguinary and despotic government was not, to my humble +thinking, entirely devoid of reproach. Once only in my life have I used +that method of locomotion, and I can truly say I found it far superior, +in spite of its inferior relative rapidity, to the headlong course of +what in England are called _railways_; where speed is attained only at +the price of safety." + +La Peyrade paid but little attention to Phellion's phraseology. +"Where can she have gone?"--round that idea he dug and delved in every +direction, an occupation that would have made him indifferent to a far +more interesting topic. However, once started, like the locomotive he +objected to, the great citizen went on:-- + +"I made that journey at the period of Madame Phellion's last +confinement. She was in Perche, with her mother, when I learned that +serious complications were feared from the milk-fever. Overcome with +terror at the danger which threatened my wife, I went instantly to the +post-office to obtain a seat in the mail-coach, but all were taken; I +found they had been engaged for more than a week. Upon that, I came to a +decision; I went to the rue Pigalle, and, for a very large sum in gold +a post-chaise and three horses were placed at my disposal, when +unfortunately the formality of a passport, with which I had neglected +to supply myself, and without which, in virtue of the decrees of the +consulate of 17 Nivose, year VII., the post agents were not permitted to +deliver horses to travellers--" + +The last few words were like a flash of light to la Peyrade, and without +waiting for the end of the postal odyssey of the great citizen, he +darted away in the direction of the rue Pigalle, before Phellion, in the +middle of his sentence, perceived his departure. + +Reaching the Royal postal establishment, la Peyrade was puzzled as to +whom to address himself in order to obtain the information he wanted. He +began by explaining to the porter that he had a letter to send to a +lady of his acquaintance that morning by post, neglecting, very +thoughtlessly, to send him her address, and that he thought he might +discover it by means of the passport which she must have presented in +order to obtain horses. + +"Was it a lady accompanied by a maid whom I took up on the boulevard de +la Madeleine?" asked a postilion sitting in the corner of the room where +la Peyrade was making his preliminary inquiry. + +"Exactly," said la Peyrade, going eagerly up to the providential being, +and slipping a five-franc piece into his hand. + +"Ah! well, she's a queer traveller!" said the man, "she told me to take +her to the Bois de Boulogne, and there she made me drive round and round +for an hour. After that, we came back to the Barriere de l'Etoile, where +she gave me a good 'pourboire' and got into a hackney coach, telling me +to take the travelling carriage back to the man who lets such carriages +in the Cour des Coches, Faubourg Saint-Honore." + +"Give me the name of that man?" said la Peyrade, eagerly. + +"Simonin," replied the postilion. + +Furnished with that information la Peyrade resumed his course, and +fifteen minutes later he was questioning the livery-stable keeper; but +that individual knew only that a lady residing on the Boulevard de la +Madeleine had hired, without horses, a travelling-carriage for half a +day; that he had sent out the said carriage at nine that morning, and it +was brought back at twelve by a postilion of the Royal Post house. + +"Never mind," thought la Peyrade, "I am certain now she has not left +Paris, and is not avoiding me. Most probably, she wants to break utterly +with the Thuilliers, and so has invented this journey. Fool that I am! +no doubt there's a letter waiting for me at home, explaining the whole +thing." + +Worn out with emotion and fatigue, and in order to verify as quickly as +possible this new supposition, la Peyrade flung himself into a street +cab, and in less than a quarter of an hour, having promised the driver a +good pourboire, he was deposited at the house in the rue Saint-Dominique +d'Enfer. There he was compelled to endure still longer the tortures of +waiting. Since Brigitte's departure, the duty of the porter, Coffinet, +had been very negligently performed, and when la Peyrade rushed to the +lodge to inquire for his letter, which he thought he saw in the case +that belonged to him, the porter and his wife were both absent and their +door was locked. The wife was doing some household work in the building, +and Coffinet himself, taking advantage of that circumstance, had allowed +a friend to entice him into a neighboring wine-shop, where, between +two glasses, he was supporting, against a republican who was talking +disrespectfully against it, the cause of the owners of property. + +It was twenty minutes before the worthy porter, remembering the +"property" entrusted to his charge, decided to return to his post. It is +easy to imagine the reproaches with which la Peyrade overwhelmed him. +He excused himself by saying that he had gone to do a commission for +Mademoiselle, and that he couldn't be at the door and where his masters +chose to send him at the same time. At last, however, he gave the lawyer +a letter bearing the Paris postmark. + +With his heart rather than his eyes la Peyrade recognized the +handwriting, and, turning over the missive, the arms and motto confirmed +the hope that he had reached the end of the cruellest emotion he had +ever in his life experienced. To read that letter before that odious +porter seemed to him a profanation. With a refinement of feeling which +all lovers will understand, he gave himself the pleasure of pausing +before his happiness; he would not even unseal that blissful note until +the moment when, with closed doors and no interruptions to distract him, +he could enjoy at his ease the delicious sensation of which his heart +had a foretaste. + +Rushing up the staircase two steps at a time, the now joyous lover +committed the childish absurdity of locking himself in; then, having +settled himself at his ease before his desk, and having broken the seal +with religious care, he was forced to press his hand on his heart, which +seemed to burst from his bosom, before he could summon calmness to read +the following letter:-- + + Dear Monsieur,--I disappear forever, because my play is played + out. I thank you for having made it both attractive and easy. By + setting against you the Thuilliers and Collevilles (who are fully + informed of your sentiments towards them), and by relating in a + manner most mortifying to their bourgeois self-love the true + reason of your sudden and pitiless rupture with them, I am proud + and happy to believe that I have done you a signal service. The + girl does not love you, and you love nothing but the eyes of her + "dot"; I have therefore saved you both from a species of hell. + But, in exchange for the bride you have so curtly rejected, + another charming girl is proposed to you; she is richer and more + beautiful than Mademoiselle Colleville, and--to speak of myself + --more at liberty than + + Your unworthy servant, + + Torna "Comtesse de Godollo." + + P.S. For further information apply, without delay, to Monsieur du + Portail, householder, rue Honore-Chevalier, near the rue de la + Cassette, quartier Saint-Sulpice, by whom you are expected. + + +When he had read this letter the advocate of the poor took his head +in his hands; he saw nothing, heard nothing, thought nothing; he was +annihilated. + +Several days were necessary to la Peyrade before he could even begin to +recover from the crushing blow which had struck him down. The shock +was terrible. Coming out of that golden dream which had shown him a +perspective of the future in so smiling an aspect, he found himself +fooled under conditions most cruel to his self-love, and to his +pretensions to depth and cleverness; irrevocably parted from the +Thuilliers; saddled with a hopeless debt of twenty-five thousand francs +to Madame Lambert, together with another of ten thousand to Brigitte, +which his dignity required him to pay with the least delay possible; +and, worst of all,--to complete his humiliation and his sense of +failure,--he felt that he was not cured of the passionate emotion he +had felt for this woman, the author of his great disaster, and the +instrument of his ruin. + +Either this Delilah was a very great lady, sufficiently high in station +to allow herself such compromising caprices,--but even so, she would +scarcely have cared to play the role of a coquette in a vaudeville +where he himself played the part of ninny,--_or_ she was some noted +adventuress who was in the pay of this du Portail and the agent of his +singular matrimonial designs. Evil life or evil heart, these were the +only two verdicts to be pronounced on this dangerous siren, and in +either case, it would seem, she was not very deserving of the regrets of +her victim; nevertheless, he was conscious of feeling them. We must put +ourselves in the place of this son of Provence, this region of hot blood +and ardent heads, who, for the first time in his life finding himself +face to face with jewelled love in laces, believed he was to drink that +passion from a wrought-gold cup. Just as our minds on waking keep the +impression of a vivid dream and continue in love with what we know was +but a shadow, la Peyrade had need of all his mental energy to drive away +the memory of that treacherous countess. We might go further and say +that he never ceased to long for her, though he was careful to drape +with an honest pretext the intense desire that he had to find her. +That desire he called curiosity, ardor for revenge; and here follow the +ingenious deductions which he drew for himself:-- + +"Cerizet talked to me about a rich heiress; the countess, in her letter, +intimates that the whole intrigue she wound about me was to lead to a +rich marriage; rich marriages flung at a man's head are not so plentiful +that two such chances should come to me within a few weeks; therefore +the match offered by Cerizet and that proposed by the countess must be +the crazy girl they are so frantic to make me marry; therefore Cerizet, +being in the plot, must know the countess; therefore, through him I +shall get upon her traces. In any case, I am sure of information about +this extraordinary choice that has fallen upon me; evidently, these +people, whoever they are, who can pull the wires of such puppets to +reach their ends must be persons of considerable position; therefore, +I'll go and see Cerizet." + +And he went to see Cerizet. + +Since the dinner at the Rocher de Cancale, the pair had not met. Once or +twice la Peyrade had asked Dutocq at the Thuilliers' (where the latter +seldom went now, on account of the distance to their new abode) what had +become of his copying clerk. + +"He never speaks of you," Dutocq had answered. + +Hence it might be inferred that resentment, the "manet alta mente +repostum" was still living in the breast of the vindictive usurer. La +Peyrade, however, was not stopped by that consideration. After all, he +was not going to ask for anything; he went under the pretext of renewing +an affair in which Cerizet had taken part, and Cerizet never took part +in anything unless he had a personal interest in it. The chances were, +therefore, that he would be received with affectionate eagerness rather +than unpleasant acerbity. Moreover, he decided to go and see the copying +clerk at Dutocq's office; it would look, he thought, less like a visit +than if he went to his den in the rue des Poules. It was nearly two +o'clock when la Peyrade made his entrance into the precincts of the +justice-of-peace of the 12th arrondissement. He crossed the first room, +in which were a crowd of persons whom civil suits of one kind or another +summoned before the magistrate. Without pausing in that waiting-room, la +Peyrade pushed on to the office adjoining that of Dutocq. There he found +Cerizet at a shabby desk of blackened wood, at which another clerk, then +absent, occupied the opposite seat. + +Seeing his visitor, Cerizet cast a savage look at him and said, without +rising, or suspending the copy of the judgment he was then engrossing:-- + +"You here, Sieur la Peyrade? You have been doing fine things for your +friend Thuillier!" + +"How are you?" asked la Peyrade, in a tone both resolute and friendly. + +"I?" replied Cerizet. "As you see, still rowing my galley; and, to +follow out the nautical metaphor, allow me to ask what wind has blown +you hither; is it, perchance, the wind of adversity?" + +La Peyrade, without replying, took a chair beside his questioner, after +which he said in a grave tone:-- + +"My dear fellow, we have something to say to each other." + +"I suppose," said Cerizet, spitefully, "the Thuilliers have grown cold +since the seizure of the pamphlet." + +"The Thuilliers are ungrateful people; I have broken with them," replied +la Peyrade. + +"Rupture or dismissal," said Cerizet, "their door is shut against you; +and from what Dutocq tells me, I judge that Brigitte is handling you +without gloves. You see, my friend, what it is to try and manage affairs +alone; complications come, and there's no one to smooth the angles. +If you had got me that lease, I should have had a footing at the +Thuilliers', Dutocq would not have abandoned you, and together we could +have brought you gently into port." + +"But suppose I don't want to re-enter that port?" said la Peyrade, with +some sharpness. "I tell you I've had enough of those Thuilliers, and +I broke with them myself; I warned them to get out of my sun; and if +Dutocq told you anything else you may tell him from me that he lies. Is +that clear enough? It seems to me I've made it plain." + +"Well, exactly, my good fellow, if you are so savage against your +Thuilliers you ought to have put me among them, and then you'd have seen +me avenge you." + +"There you are right," said la Peyrade; "I wish I could have set you at +their legs--but as for that matter of the lease I tell you again, I was +not master of it." + +"Of course," said Cerizet, "it was your conscience which obliged you to +tell Brigitte that the twelve thousand francs a year I expected to make +out of it were better in her pocket than in mine." + +"It seems that Dutocq continues the honorable profession of spy which he +formerly practised at the ministry of finance," said la Peyrade, "and, +like others who do that dirty business, he makes his reports more witty +than truthful--" + +"Take care!" said Cerizet; "you are talking of my patron in his own +lair." + +"Look here!" said la Peyrade. "I have come to talk to you on serious +matters. Will you do me the favor to drop the Thuilliers and all their +belongings, and give me your attention?" + +"Say on, my friend," said Cerizet, laying down his pen, which had never +ceased to run, up to this moment, "I am listening." + +"You talked to me some time ago," said la Peyrade, "about marrying a +girl who was rich, fully of age, and slightly hysterical, as you were +pleased to put it euphemistically." + +"Well done!" cried Cerizet. "I expected this; but you've been some time +coming to it." + +"In offering me this heiress, what did you have in your mind?" asked la +Peyrade. + +"Parbleu! to help you to a splendid stroke of business. You had only to +stoop and take it. I was formally charged to propose it to you; and, +as there wasn't any brokerage, I should have relied wholly on your +generosity." + +"But you are not the only person who was commissioned to make me that +offer. A woman had the same order." + +"A woman!" cried Cerizet in a perfectly natural tone of surprise. "Not +that I know of." + +"Yes, a foreigner, young and pretty, whom you must have met in the +family of the bride, to whom she seems to be ardently devoted." + +"Never," said Cerizet, "never has there been the slightest question of +a woman in this negotiation. I have every reason to believe that I am +exclusively charged with it." + +"What!" said la Peyrade, fixing upon Cerizet a scrutinizing eye, "did +you never hear of the Comtesse Torna de Godollo?" + +"Never, in all my life; this is the first time I ever heard that name." + +"Then," said la Peyrade, "it must really have been another match; for +that woman, after many singular preliminaries, too long to explain to +you, made me a formal offer of the hand of a young woman much richer +than Mademoiselle Colleville--" + +"And hysterical?" asked Cerizet. + +"No, she did not embellish the proposal with that accessory; but there's +another detail which may put you on the track of her. Madame de Godollo +exhorted me, if I wished to push the matter, to go and see a certain +Monsieur du Portail--" + +"Rue Honore-Chevalier?" exclaimed Cerizet, quickly. + +"Precisely." + +"Then it is the same marriage which is offered to you through +two different mediums. It is strange I was not informed of this +collaboration!" + +"In short," said la Peyrade, "you not only didn't have wind of the +countess's intervention, but you don't know her, and you can't give me +any information about her--is that so?" + +"At present I can't," replied Cerizet, "but I'll find out about her; for +the whole proceeding is rather cavalier towards me; but this employment +of two agents only shows you how desirable you are to the family." + +At this moment the door of the room was opened cautiously, a woman's +head appeared, and a voice, which was instantly recognized by la +Peyrade, said, addressing the copying-clerk:-- + +"Ah! excuse me! I see monsieur is busy. Could I say a word to monsieur +when he is alone?" + +Cerizet, who had an eye as nimble as a hand, instantly noticed a +certain fact. La Peyrade, who was so placed as to be plainly seen by the +new-comer, no sooner heard that drawling, honeyed voice, than he turned +his head in a manner to conceal his features. Instead therefore of being +roughly sent away, as usually happened to petitioners who addressed the +most surly of official clerks, the modest visitor heard herself greeted +in a very surprising manner. + +"Come in, come in, Madame Lambert," said Cerizet; "you won't be kept +waiting long; come in." + +The visitor advanced, and then came face to face with la Peyrade. + +"Ah! monsieur!" cried his creditor, whom the reader has no doubt +recognized, "how fortunate I am to meet monsieur! I have been several +times to his office to ask if he had had time to attend to my little +affair." + +"I have had many engagements which have kept me away from my office +lately; but I attended to that matter; everything has been done right, +and is now in the hands of the secretary." + +"Oh! how good monsieur is! I pray God to bless him," said the pious +woman, clasping her hands. + +"Bless me! do you have business with Madame Lambert?" said Cerizet; "you +never told me that. Are you Pere Picot's counsel?" + +"No, unfortunately," said Madame Lambert, "my master won't take any +counsel; he is so self-willed, so obstinate! But, my good monsieur, what +I came to ask is whether the family council is to meet." + +"Of course," said Cerizet, "and not later than to-morrow." + +"But monsieur, I hear those gentlemen of the Royal court said the family +had no rights--" + +"Yes, that's so," said the clerk; "the lower court and the Royal court +have both, on the petition of the relatives, rejected their demand for a +commission." + +"I should hope so!" said the woman; "to think of making him out a +lunatic! him so full of wisdom and learning!" + +"But the relations don't mean to give up; they are going to try the +matter again under a new form, and ask for the appointment of a judicial +counsel. That's what the family council meets for to-morrow; and I +think, this time, my dear Madame Lambert, your old Picot will find +himself restrained. There are serious allegations, I can tell you. It +was all very well to take the eggs, but to pluck the hen was another +thing." + +"Is it possible that monsieur can suppose--" began the devote, clasping +her hands under her chin. + +"I suppose nothing," said Cerizet; "I am not the judge of this affair. +But the relations declare that you have pocketed considerable sums, and +made investments about which they demand inquiry." + +"Oh! heavens!" said the woman, casting up her eyes; "they can inquire; +I am poor; I have not a deed, nor a note, nor a share; not the slightest +security of any kind in my possession." + +"I dare say not," said Cerizet, glancing at la Peyrade out of the corner +of his eye; "but there are always friends to take care of such things. +However, that is none of my business; every one must settle his +own affairs in his own way. Now, then, say what you have to say, +distinctly." + +"I came, monsieur," she replied, "to implore you, monsieur, to implore +Monsieur the judge's clerk, to speak in our favor to Monsieur the +justice-of-peace. Monsieur the vicar of Saint-Jacques is also to speak +to him. That poor Monsieur Picot!" she went on, weeping, "they'll kill +him if they continue to worry him in this way." + +"I sha'n't conceal from you," said Cerizet, "that the justice-of-peace +is very ill-disposed to your cause. You must have seen that the other +day, when he refused to receive you. As for Monsieur Dutocq and myself, +our assistance won't help you much; and besides, my good woman, you are +too close-mouthed." + +"Monsieur asked me if I had laid by a few little savings; and I couldn't +tell him that I had, be--because they have gone to keep the h--house +of that poor Monsieur Pi--i--cot; and now they accuse me of r--robbing +him!" + +Madame Lambert sobbed. + +"My opinion is," said Cerizet, "that you are making yourself out much +poorer than you are; and if friend Peyrade here, who seems to be more +in your confidence, hadn't his tongue tied by the rules of his +profession--" + +"I!" said la Peyrade, hastily, "I don't know anything of madame's +affairs. She asked me to draw up a petition on a matter in which there +was nothing judicial or financial." + +"Ah! that's it, is it?" said Cerizet. "Madame had doubtless gone to +see you about this petition the day Dutocq met her at your office, the +morning after our dinner at the Rocher de Cancale--when you were such a +Roman, you know." + +Then, without seeming to attach any importance to the reminiscence, he +added:-- + +"Well, my good Madame Lambert, I'll ask my patron to speak to the +justice-of-peace, and, if I get a chance, I'll speak to him myself; but, +I repeat it, he is very much prejudiced against you." + +Madame Lambert retired with many curtseys and protestations of +gratitude. When she was fairly gone la Peyrade remarked:-- + +"You don't seem to believe that that woman came to me about a petition; +and yet nothing was ever truer. She is thought a saint in the street she +lives in, and that old man they accuse her of robbing is actually kept +alive by her devotion, so I'm told. Consequently, the neighbors have put +it into the good woman's head to apply for the Montyon prize; and it was +for the purpose of putting her claims in legal shape that she applied to +me." + +"Dear! dear! the Montyon prize!" cried Cerizet; "well, that's an idea! +My good fellow, we ought to have cultivated it before,--I, especially, +as banker of the poor, and you, their advocate. As for this client of +yours, it is lucky for her Monsieur Picot's relatives are not members +of the French academy; it is in the correctional police-court, sixth +chamber, where they mean to give her the reward of virtue. However, to +come back to what we were talking about. I tell you that after all your +tergiversations you had better settle down peaceably; and I advise you, +as your countess did, to go and see du Portail." + +"Who and what is he?" asked la Peyrade. + +"He is a little old man," replied Cerizet, "as shrewd as a weasel. He +gives me the idea of having dealings with the devil. Go and see him! +Sight, as they say, costs nothing." + +"Yes," said la Peyrade, "perhaps I will; but, first of all, I want you +to find out for me about this Comtesse de Godollo." + +"What do you care about her? She is nothing but a supernumerary, that +countess." + +"I have my reasons," said la Peyrade; "you can certainly get some +information about her in three days; I'll come and see you then." + +"My good fellow," said Cerizet, "you seem to me to be amusing yourself +with things that don't pay; you haven't fallen in love with that +go-between, have you?" + +"Plague take him!" thought la Peyrade; "he spies everything; there's no +hiding anything from him! No," he said, aloud, "I am not in love; on +the contrary, I am very cautious. I must admit that this marriage with a +crazy girl doesn't attract me, and before I go a step into it I want to +know where I put my feet. These crooked proceedings are not reassuring, +and as so many influences are being brought to bear, I choose to +control one by another. Therefore don't play sly, but give me all the +information you get into your pouch about Madame la Comtesse Torna de +Godollo. I warn you I know enough to test the veracity of your report; +and if I see you are trying to overreach me I'll break off short with +your du Portail." + +"Trying to overreach you, monseigneur!" replied Cerizet, in the tone and +manner of Frederic Lemaitre. "Who would dare attempt it?" + +As he pronounced those words in a slightly mocking tone, Dutocq +appeared, accompanied by his little clerk. + +"Bless me!" he exclaimed, seeing la Peyrade and Cerizet together; +"here's the trinity reconstituted! but the object of the alliance, +the 'casus foederis,' has floated off. What have you done to that good +Brigitte, la Peyrade? She is after your blood." + +"What about Thuillier?" asked la Peyrade. + +Moliere was reversed; here was Tartuffe inquiring for Orgon. + +"Thuillier began by not being very hostile to you; but it now seems that +the seizure business has taken a good turn, and having less need of +you he is getting drawn into his sister's waters; and if the tendency +continues, I haven't a doubt that he'll soon come to think you deserving +of hanging." + +"Well, I'm out of it all," said la Peyrade, "and if anybody ever catches +me in such a mess again!--Well, adieu, my friends," he added. "And +you, Cerizet, as to what we were speaking about, activity, safety, and +discretion!" + +When la Peyrade reached the courtyard of the municipal building, he was +accosted by Madame Lambert, who was lying in wait for him. + +"Monsieur wouldn't believe, I am sure," she said, in a deprecating tone, +"the villainous things that Monsieur Cerizet said about me; monsieur +knows it was the little property I received from my uncle in England +that I placed in his hands." + +"Yes, yes," said la Peyrade, "but you must understand that with all +these rumors set about by your master's relatives the prize of virtue is +desperately endangered." + +"If it is God's will that I am not to have it--" + +"You ought also to understand how important it is for your interests +to keep secret the other service which I did for you. At the first +appearance of any indiscretion on your part that money, as I told you, +will be peremptorily returned to you." + +"Oh! monsieur may be easy about that." + +"Very well; then good-bye to you, my dear," said la Peyrade, in a +friendly tone. + +As he turned to leave her, a nasal voice was heard from a window on the +staircase. + +"Madame Lambert!" cried Cerizet, who, suspecting the colloquy, had gone +to the staircase window to make sure of it. "Madame Lambert! Monsieur +Dutocq has returned; you may come up and see him, if you like." + +Impossible for la Peyrade to prevent the conference, although he knew +the secret of that twenty-five thousand francs ran the greatest danger. + +"Certainly," he said to himself as he walked away, "I'm in a run of +ill-luck; and I don't know where it will end." + +In Brigitte's nature there was such an all-devouring instinct of +domination, that it was without regret, and, we may even say, with a +sort of secret joy that she saw the disappearance of Madame de Godollo. +That woman, she felt, had a crushing superiority over her; and this, +while it had given a higher order to the Thuillier establishment, made +her ill at ease. When therefore the separation took place, which was +done, let us here say, on good terms, and under fair and honorable +pretexts, Mademoiselle Thuillier breathed more freely. She felt like +those kings long swayed by imperious and necessary ministers, who +celebrate within their hearts the day when death delivers them from a +master whose services and rival influence they impatiently endured. + +Thuillier was not far from having the same sentiment about la Peyrade. +But Madame de Godollo was only the elegance, whereas la Peyrade was the +utility of the house they had now simultaneously abandoned; and after +the lapse of a few days, a terrible need of Theodose made itself felt +in the literary and political existence of his dear, good friend. +The municipal councillor found himself suddenly appointed to draft an +important report. He was unable to decline the task, saddled as he +was with the reputation, derived from his pamphlet, of being a man of +letters and an able writer; therefore, in presence of the perilous honor +conferred upon him by his colleagues of the general Council, he sat down +terrified by his solitude and his insufficiency. + +In vain did he lock himself into his study, gorge himself with black +coffee, mend innumerable pens, and write a score of times at the head of +his paper (which he was careful to cut of the exact dimensions as that +used by la Peyrade) the solemn words: "Report to the Members of the +Municipal Council of the City of Paris," followed, on a line by itself, +by a magnificent _Messieurs_--nothing came of it! He was fain to issue +furious from his study, complaining of the horrible household racket +which "cut the thread of his ideas"; though really no greater noise +than the closing of a door or the opening of a closet or the moving of +a chair had made itself heard. All this, however, did not help the +advancement of the work, which remained, as before--simply begun. + +Most fortunately, it happened that Rabourdin, wanting to make some +change in his apartment, came, as was proper, to submit his plan to the +owner of the house. Thuillier granted cordially the request that was +made to him, and then discoursed to his tenant about the report with +which he was charged,--being desirous, he said, to obtain his ideas on +the subject. + +Rabourdin, to whom no administrative question was foreign, very readily +threw upon the subject a number of very clear and lucid ideas. He was +one of those men to whom the quality of the intellect to which they +address themselves is more or less indifferent; a fool, or a man of +talent who will listen to them, serves equally well to think aloud to, +and they are, as a stimulant, about the same thing. After Rabourdin had +said his say, he observed that Thuillier had not understood him; but he +had listened to himself with pleasure, and he was, moreover, grateful +for the attention, obtuse as it was, of his hearer, and also for the +kindliness of the landlord in receiving his request. + +"I must have among my papers," he said as he went away, "something on +this subject; I will look it up and send it to you." + +Accordingly, that same evening Thuillier received a voluminous +manuscript; and he spent the entire night in delving into that precious +repository of ideas, from which he extracted enough to make a really +remarkable report, clumsily as the pillage was managed. When read before +the council it obtained a very great success, and Thuillier returned +home radiant and much elated by the congratulations he had received. +From that moment--a moment that was marked in his life, for even to +advanced old age he still talked of the "report he had had the honor +of making to the Council-general of the Seine"--la Peyrade went down +considerably in his estimation; he felt then that he could do very well +without the barrister, and this thought of emancipation was strengthened +by another happiness which came to him at almost the same time. + +A parliamentary crisis was imminent,--a fact that caused the ministry +to think about depriving its adversaries of a theme of opposition which +always has great influence on public opinion. It resolved therefore +to relax its rigor, which of late had been much increased against the +press. Being included in this species of hypocritical amnesty, Thuillier +received one morning a letter from the barrister whom he had chosen in +place of la Peyrade. This letter announced that the Council of State had +dismissed the complaint, and ordered the release of the pamphlet. + +Then Dutocq's prediction was realized. That weight the less within his +bosom, Thuillier took a swing toward insolence; he chorused Brigitte, +and came at last to speak of la Peyrade as a sort of adventurer whom he +had fed and clothed, a tricky fellow who had _extracted_ much money from +him, and had finally behaved with such ingratitude that he was thankful +not to count him any longer among his friends. Orgon, in short, was in +full revolt, and like Dorine, he was ready to cry out: "A beggar! who, +when he came, had neither shoes nor coat worth a brass farthing." + +Cerizet, to whom these indignities were reported by Dutocq, would gladly +have served them up hot to la Peyrade; but the interview in which the +copying clerk was to furnish information about Madame de Godollo did +not take place at the time fixed. La Peyrade made his own discoveries in +this wise: + +Pursued by the thought of the beautiful Hungarian, and awaiting, or +rather not awaiting the result of Cerizet's inquiry, he scoured Paris in +every direction, and might have been seen, like the idlest of loungers, +in the most frequented places, his heart telling him that sooner or +later he must meet the object of his ardent search. + +One evening--it was towards the middle of October--the autumn, as +frequently happens in Paris, was magnificent, and along the boulevards, +where the Provencal was airing his love and his melancholy, the out-door +life and gaiety were as animated as in summer. On the boulevard des +Italiens, formerly known as the boulevard de Gand, as he lounged past +the long line of chairs before the Cafe de Paris, where, mingled with +a few women of the Chaussee d'Antin accompanied by their husbands and +children, may be seen toward evening a cordon of nocturnal beauties +waiting only a gloved hand to gather them, la Peyrade's heart received a +cruel shock. From afar, he thought he saw his adored countess. + +She was alone, in a dazzling toilet scarcely authorized by the place and +her isolation; before her, mounted on a chair, trembled a tiny lap-dog, +which she stroked from time to time with her beautiful hands. After +convincing himself that he was not mistaken, la Peyrade was about to +dart upon that celestial vision, when he was forestalled by a dandy of +the most triumphant type. Without throwing aside his cigar, without even +touching his hat, this handsome young man began to converse with the +barrister's ideal; but when she saw la Peyrade making towards her the +siren must have felt afraid, for she rose quickly, and taking the arm of +the man who was talking to her, she said aloud:-- + +"Is your carriage here, Emile? Mabille closes to-night, and I should +like to go there." + +The name of that disreputable place thus thrown in the face of the +unhappy barrister, was a charity, for it saved him from a foolish +action, that of addressing, on the arm of the man who had suddenly made +himself her cavalier, the unworthy creature of whom he was thinking a +few seconds earlier with so much tenderness. + +"She is not worth insulting," he said to himself. + +But, as lovers are beings who will not allow their foothold to be taken +from them easily, the Provencal was neither convinced nor resigned as +yet. Not far from the place which his countess had left, sat another +woman, also alone; but this one was ripe with years, with feathers on +her head, and beneath the folds of a cashmere shawl she concealed the +plaintive remains of tarnished elegance and long past luxury. There was +nothing imposing about this sight, nor did it command respect, but the +contrary. La Peyrade went up to the woman without ceremony and addressed +her. + +"Madame," he said, "do you know that woman who has just gone away on the +arm of a gentleman?" + +"Certainly, monsieur; I know nearly all the women who come here." + +"And her name is?--" + +"Madame Komorn." + +"Is she as impregnable as the fortress of that name?" + +Our readers will doubtless remember that at the time of the insurrection +in Hungary our ears were battered by the press and by novelists about +the famous citadel of Komorn; and la Peyrade knew that by assuming a +tone of indifference or flippancy he was more likely to succeed with his +inquiries. + +"Has monsieur any idea of making her acquaintance?" + +"I don't know," replied la Peyrade, "but she is a woman who makes people +think of her." + +"And a very dangerous woman, monsieur," added his companion; "a fearful +spendthrift, but with no inclination to return generously what is done +for her. I can speak knowingly of that; when she first arrived here from +Berlin, six months ago, she was very warmly recommended to me." + +"Ah!" exclaimed la Peyrade. + +"Yes, at that time I had in the environs of Ville d'Avray a very +beautiful place, with park and coverts and a stream for fishing; but as +I was alone I found it dull, and several of these ladies and gentlemen +said to me, 'Madame Louchard, why don't you organize parties in the +style of picnics?'" + +"Madame Louchard!" repeated la Peyrade, "are you any relation to +Monsieur Louchard of the commercial police?" + +"His wife, monsieur, but legally separated from him. A horrid man who +wants me to go back to him; but I, though I'm ready to forgive most +things, I can't forgive a want of respect; just imagine that he dared to +raise his hand against me!" + +"Well," said la Peyrade, trying to bring her back to the matter in +hand; "you organized those picnics, and Madame de Godo--I mean Madame +Komorn--" + +"Was one of my first lodgers. It was there she made acquaintance with an +Italian, a handsome man, and rich, a political refugee, but one of the +lofty kind. You understand it didn't suit my purposes to have intrigues +going on in my house; still the man was so lovable, and so unhappy +because he couldn't make Madame Komorn like him, that at last I took an +interest in this particular love affair; which produced a pot of money +for madame, for she managed to get immense sums out of that Italian. +Well, would you believe that when--being just then in great need--I +asked her to assist me with a trifling little sum, she refused me +point-blank, and left my house, taking her lover with her, who, poor +man, can't be thankful for the acquaintance now." + +"Why not? What happened to him?" asked la Peyrade. + +"It happened to him that this serpent knows every language in Europe; +she is witty and clever to the tips of her fingers, but more manoeuvring +than either; so, being, as it appears, in close relations to the +police, she gave the government a lot of papers the Italian left about +carelessly, on which they expelled him from France." + +"Well, after his departure, Madame Komorn--" + +"Since then, she has had a good many adventures and upset several +fortunes, and I thought she had left Paris. For the last two months +she was nowhere to be seen, but three days ago she reappeared, more +brilliant than ever. My advice to monsieur is not to trust himself +in that direction; and yet, monsieur looks to me a Southerner, and +Southerners have passions; perhaps what I have told him will only serve +to spur them up. However, being warned, there's not so much danger, and +she is a most fascinating creature--oh! very fascinating. She used to +love me very much, though we parted such ill-friends; and just now, +seeing me here, she came over and asked my address, and said she should +come and see me." + +"Well, madame, I'll think about it," said la Peyrade, rising and bowing +to her. + +The bow was returned with extreme coldness; his abrupt departure did not +show him to be a man of _serious_ intentions. + +It might be supposed from the lively manner in which la Peyrade made +these inquiries that his cure though sudden was complete; but this +surface of indifference and cool self-possession was only the stillness +of the atmosphere that precedes a storm. On leaving Madame Louchard, la +Peyrade flung himself into a street-cab and there gave way to a passion +of tears like that Madame Colleville had witnessed on the day he +believed that Cerizet had got the better of him in the sale of the +house. + +What was his position now? The investment of the Thuilliers, prepared +with so much care, all useless; Flavie well avenged for the odious +comedy he had played with her; his affairs in a worse state than they +were when Cerizet and Dutocq had sent him, like a devouring wolf, into +the sheepfold from which he had allowed the stupid sheep to drive him; +his heart full of revengeful projects against the woman who had so +easily got the better of what he thought his cleverness; and the memory, +still vivid, of the seductions to which he had succumbed,--such were +the thoughts and emotions of his sleepless night, sleepless except for +moments shaken by agitated dreams. + +The next day la Peyrade could think no more; he was a prey to fever, +the violence of which became sufficiently alarming for the physician who +attended him to take all precautions against the symptoms now appearing +of brain fever: bleeding, cupping, leeches, and ice to his head; these +were the agreeable finale to his dream of love. We must hasten to add, +however, that this violent crisis in the physical led to a perfect cure +of the mental being. The barrister came out of his illness with no other +sentiment than cold contempt for the treacherous Hungarian, a sentiment +which did not even rise to a desire for vengeance. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. GIVE AND TAKE + +Once more afoot, and reckoning with his future, on which he had lost so +much ground, la Peyrade asked himself if he had not better try to renew +his relations with the Thuilliers, or whether he should be compelled +to fall back on the rich crazy woman who had bullion where others have +brains. But everything that reminded him of his disastrous campaign was +repulsive to him; besides, what safety was there in dealing with this du +Portail, a man who could use such instruments for his means of action? + +Great commotions of the soul are like those storms which purify the +atmosphere; they induce reflection, they counsel good and strong +resolutions. La Peyrade, as the result of the cruel disappointment he +had just endured, examined his own soul. He asked himself what sort of +existence was this, of base and ignoble intrigue, which he had led for +the past year? Was there for him no better, no nobler use to make of the +faculties he felt within him? The bar was open to him as to others; that +was a broad, straight path which could lead him to all the satisfaction +of legitimate ambition. Like Figaro, who displayed more science and +calculation in merely getting a living than statesmen had shown in +governing Spain for a hundred years, he, la Peyrade, in order to install +and maintain himself in the Thuillier household and marry the daughter +of a clarionet and a smirched coquette, had spent more mind, more art, +and--it should also be said, because in a corrupt society it is an +element that must be reckoned--more dishonesty than was needed to +advance him in some fine career. + +"Enough of such connections as Dutocq and Cerizet," he said to himself; +"enough of the nauseating atmosphere of the Minards and Phellions and +Collevilles and Barniols and all the rest of them. I'll shake off this +province 'intra muros,' a thousand times more absurd and petty than the +true provinces; they at least, side by side with their pettiness, have +habits and customs that are characteristic, a 'sui generis' dignity; +they are frankly what they are, the antipodes of Parisian life; this +other is but a parody of it. I will fling myself upon Paris." + +In consequence of these reflections, la Peyrade went to see two or three +barristers who had offered to introduce him at the Palais in secondary +cases. He accepted those that presented themselves at once, and three +weeks after his rupture with the Thuilliers he was no longer the +"advocate of the poor," but a barrister pleading before the Royal court. + +He had already pleaded several cases successfully when he received, +one morning, a letter which greatly disturbed him. The president of the +order of barristers requested him to come to his office at the Palais in +the course of the day, as he had something of importance to say to him. +La Peyrade instantly thought of the transaction relating to the purchase +of the house on the boulevard de la Madeleine; it must have come, +he thought, to the ears of the Council of Discipline; if so he was +accountable to that tribunal and he knew its severity. + +Now this du Portail, whom he had never yet been to see, in spite of his +conditional promise to Cerizet, was likely to have heard the whole +story of that transaction from Cerizet himself. Evidently all means +were thought good by that man, judging by the use he had made of the +Hungarian woman. In his savage determination to bring about the marriage +with the crazy girl, had this virulent old man denounced him? On seeing +him courageously and with some appearance of success entering a career +in which he might find fame and independence, had his persecutor taken +a step to make that career impossible? Certainly there was enough +likelihood in this suggestion to make the barrister wait in cruel +anxiety for the hour when he might learn the true nature of the alarming +summons. + +While breakfasting rather meagrely, his mind full of these painful +conjectures, Madame Coffinet, who had the honor to take charge of his +housekeeping, came up to ask if he would see Monsieur Etienne Lousteau. +[See "The Great Man of the Provinces in Paris."] + +Etienne Lousteau! la Peyrade had an idea that he had heard the name +before. + +"Show him into my office," he said to the portress. + +A moment later he met his visitor, whose face did not seem utterly +unknown to him. + +"Monsieur," said this new-comer, "I had the honor of breakfasting with +you not long ago at Vefour's; I was invited to that meeting, afterwards +rather disturbed, by Monsieur Thuillier." + +"Ah, very good!" said the barrister, offering a chair; "you are attached +to the staff of a newspaper?" + +"Editor-in-chief of the 'Echo de la Bievre,' and it is on the subject +of that paper that I have now called to see you. You know what has +happened?" + +"No," said la Peyrade. + +"Is it possible you are not aware that the ministry met with terrible +defeat last night? But instead of resigning, as every one expected, they +have dissolved the Chamber and appeal to the people." + +"I knew nothing of all that," said la Peyrade. "I have not read the +morning papers." + +"So," continued Lousteau, "all parliamentary ambitions will take the +field, and, if I am well informed, Monsieur Thuillier, already member +of the Council-general, intends to present himself as candidate for +election in the 12th arrondissement." + +"Yes," said la Peyrade, "that is likely to be his intention." + +"Well, monsieur, I desire to place at his disposition an instrument the +value of which I am confident you will not underestimate. The 'Echo de +la Bievre,' a specialist paper, can have a decisive influence on the +election in that quarter." + +"And you would be disposed," asked la Peyrade, "to make that paper +support Monsieur Thuillier's candidacy?" + +"Better than that," replied Lousteau. "I have come to propose to +Monsieur Thuillier that he purchase the paper itself. Once the +proprietor of it he can use it as he pleases." + +"But in the first place," said la Peyrade, "what is the present +condition of the enterprise? In its character as a specialist +journal--as you called it just now--it is a sheet I have seldom met +with; in fact, it would be entirely unknown to me were it not for the +remarkable article you were so good as to devote to Thuillier's defence +at the time his pamphlet was seized." + +Etienne Lousteau bowed his thanks, and then said: + +"The position of the paper is excellent; we can give it to you on easy +terms, for we were intending shortly to stop the publication." + +"That is strange for a prosperous journal." + +"On the contrary, it happens to be quite natural. The founders, who were +all representatives of the great leather interest, started this paper +for a special object. That object has been attained. The 'Echo de la +Bievre' has therefore become an effect without a cause. In such a case, +stockholders who don't like the tail end of matters, and are not eager +after small profits, very naturally prefer to sell out." + +"But," asked la Peyrade, "does the paper pay its costs?" + +"That," replied Lousteau, "is a point we did not consider; we were not +very anxious to have subscribers; the mainspring of the whole affair +was direct and immediate action on the ministry of commerce to obtain a +higher duty on the introduction of foreign leathers. You understand that +outside of the tannery circle, this interest was not very exciting to +the general reader." + +"I should have thought, however," persisted la Peyrade, "that a +newspaper, however circumscribed its action, would be a lever which +depended for its force on the number of its subscribers." + +"Not for journals which aim for a single definite thing," replied +Lousteau, dogmatically. "In that case, subscribers are, on the contrary, +an embarrassment, for you have to please and amuse them, and in so +doing, the real object has to be neglected. A newspaper which has a +definite and circumscribed object ought to be like the stroke of that +pendulum which, striking steadily on one spot, fires at a given hour the +cannon of the Palais-Royal." + +"At any rate," said la Peyrade, "what price do you put upon a +publication which has no subscribers, does not pay its expenses, and +has until now been devoted to a purpose totally different from that you +propose for it?" + +"Before answering," returned Lousteau, "I shall ask you another +question. Have you any intention of buying it?" + +"That's according to circumstances," replied la Peyrade. "Of course +I must see Thuillier; but I may here remark to you that he knows +absolutely nothing about newspaper business. With his rather bourgeois +ideas, the ownership of a newspaper will seem to him a ruinous +speculation. Therefore, if, in addition to an idea that will scare him, +you suggest an alarming price, it is useless for me to speak to him. I +am certain he would never go into the affair." + +"No," replied Lousteau. "I have told you we should be reasonable; these +gentlemen have left the whole matter in my hands. Only, I beg to remark +that we have had propositions from other parties, and in giving Monsieur +Thuillier this option, we intended to pay him a particular courtesy. +When can I have your answer?" + +"To-morrow, I think; shall I have the honor of seeing you at your own +house, or at the office of the journal?" + +"No," said Lousteau, "to-morrow I will come here, at the same hour, if +that is convenient to you." + +"Perfectly," replied la Peyrade, bowing out his visitor, whom he was +inclined to think more consequential than able. + +By the manner in which the barrister had received the proposition to +become an intermediary to Thuillier, the reader must have seen that +a rapid revolution had taken place in his ideas. Even if he had not +received that extremely disquieting letter from the president of the +order of barristers, the new situation in which Thuillier would be +placed if elected to the Chamber gave him enough to think about. +Evidently his dear good friend would have to come back to him, and +Thuillier's eagerness for election would deliver him over, bound hand +and foot. Was it not the right moment to attempt to renew his marriage +with Celeste? Far from being an obstacle to the good resolutions +inspired by his amorous disappointment and his incipient brain fever, +such a finale would ensure their continuance and success. Moreover, if +he received, as he feared, one of those censures which would ruin +his dawning prospects at the bar, it was with the Thuilliers, the +accomplices and beneficiaries of the cause of his fall, that his +instinct led him to claim an asylum. + +With these thoughts stirring in his mind la Peyrade obeyed the summons +and went to see the president of the order of barristers. + +He was not mistaken; a very circumstantial statement of his whole +proceeding in the matter of the house had been laid before his brethren +of the bar; and the highest dignitary of the order, after stating +that an anonymous denunciation ought always to be received with +great distrust, told him that he was ready to receive and welcome an +explanation. La Peyrade dared not entrench himself in absolute denial; +the hand from which he believed the blow had come seemed to him too +resolute and too able not to hold the proofs as well. But, while +admitting the facts in general, he endeavored to give them an acceptable +coloring. In this, he saw that he had failed, when the president said to +him:-- + +"After the vacation which is now beginning I shall report to the Council +of the order the charges made against you, and the statements by which +you have defended yourself. The Council alone has the right to decide on +a matter of such importance." + +Thus dismissed, la Peyrade felt that his whole future at the bar was +imperilled; but at least he had a respite, and in case of condemnation a +new project on which to rest his head. Accordingly, he put on his gown, +which he had never worn till now, and went to the fifth court-room, +where he was employed upon a case. + +As he left the court-room, carrying one of those bundles of legal papers +held together by a strip of cotton which, being too voluminous to hold +under the arm, are carried by the hand and the forearm pressed against +the chest, la Peyrade began to pace about the Salle des Pas perdus with +that harassed look of business which denotes a lawyer overwhelmed with +work. Whether he had really excited himself in pleading, or whether he +was pretending to be exhausted to prove that his gown was not a dignity +for show, as it was with many of his legal brethren, but an armor +buckled on for the fight, it is certain that, handkerchief in hand, he +was mopping his forehead as he walked, when, in the distance, he spied +Thuillier, who had evidently just caught sight of him, and was beginning +on his side to manoeuvre. + +La Peyrade was not surprised by the encounter. On leaving home he had +told Madame Coffinet he was going to the Palais, and should be there +till three o'clock, and she might send to him any persons who called on +business. Not wishing to let Thuillier accost him too easily, he turned +abruptly, as if some thought had changed his purpose, and went and +seated himself on one of the benches which surround the walls of that +great antechamber of Justice. There he undid his bundle, took out a +paper, and buried himself in it with the air of a man who had not had +time to examine in his study a case he was about to plead. It is not +necessary to say that while doing this the Provencal was watching +the manoeuvres of Thuillier out of the corner of his eye. Thuillier, +believing that la Peyrade was really occupied in some serious business, +hesitated to approach him. + +However, after sundry backings and fillings the municipal councillor +made up his mind, and sailing straight before the wind he headed for the +spot he had been reconnoitring for the last ten minutes. + +"Bless me, Theodose!" he cried as soon as he had got within hailing +distance. "Do you come to the Palais now?" + +"It seems to me," replied Theodose, "that barristers at the Palais are +like Turks at Constantinople, where a friend of mine affirmed you could +see a good many. It is YOU whom it is rather surprising to see here." + +"Not at all," said Thuillier, carelessly. "I've come about that cursed +pamphlet. Is there ever any end to your legal bothers? I was summoned +here this morning, but I don't regret it, as it gives me the happy +chance of meeting you." + +"I, too," said la Peyrade, tying up his bundle. "I am very glad to see +you, but I must leave you now; I have an appointment, and I suppose you +want to do your business at once." + +"I have done it," said Thuillier. + +"Did you speak to Olivier Vinet, that mortal enemy of yours? he sits in +that court," asked la Peyrade. + +"No," said Thuillier, naming another official. + +"Well, that's queer!" said the barrister; "that fellow must have the +gift of ubiquity; he has been all the morning in the fifth court-room, +and has just this minute given a judgment on a case I pleaded." + +Thuillier colored, and got out of his hobble as best he could. "Oh, hang +it!" he said; "those men in gowns are all alike, I don't know one from +another." + +La Peyrade shrugged his shoulders and said aloud, but as if to himself: +"Always the same; crafty, crooked, never straightforward." + +"Whom are you talking about?" asked Thuillier, rather nonplussed. + +"Why, of you, my dear fellow, who take me for an imbecile, as if I and +the whole world didn't know that your pamphlet business came to an end +two weeks ago. Why, then, summon you to court?" + +"Well, I was sent for," said Thuillier, with embarrassment; "something +about registry fees,--it is all Greek to me, I can't comprehend their +scrawls." + +"And they chose," said la Peyrade, "precisely the very day when the +Moniteur, announcing the dissolution of the Chamber, made you think +about being a candidate for the 12th arrondissement." + +"Why not?" asked Thuillier, "what has my candidacy to do with the fees I +owe to the court?" + +"I'll tell you," said la Peyrade, dryly. "The court is a thing +essentially amiable and complaisant. 'Tiens!' it said to itself, 'here's +this good Monsieur Thuillier going to be a candidate for the Chamber; +how hampered he'll be by his attitude to his ex-friend Monsieur de la +Peyrade, with whom he wishes now he hadn't quarrelled. I'll summon him +for fees he doesn't owe; that will bring him to the Palais where la +Peyrade comes daily; and in that way he can meet him by chance, and so +avoid taking a step which would hurt his self-love." + +"Well, there you are mistaken!" cried Thuillier, breaking the ice. "I +used so little craft, as you call it, that I've just come from your +house, there! and your portress told me where to find you." + +"Well done!" said la Peyrade, "I like this frankness; I can get on with +men who play above-board. Well, what do you want of me? Have you come to +talk about your election? I have already begun to work for it." + +"No, really?" said Thuillier, "how?" + +"Here," replied la Peyrade, feeling under his gown for his pocket +and bringing out a paper, "here's what I scribbled just now in the +court-room while the lawyer on the other side rambled on like an +expert." + +"What is it about?" asked Thuillier. + +"Read and you'll see." + +The paper read as follows:-- + + Estimate for a newspaper, small size, at thirty francs a year. + + Calculating the editions at 5,000 the costs are:-- + + Paper, 5 reams at 12 francs . . . . . . . . . . 1,860 francs. + Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,400 " + Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450 " + One administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 " + One clerk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 " + One editor (also cashier) . . . . . . . . . . . 200 " + One despatcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 " + Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 " + One office boy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 " + Office expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 " + Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 " + License and postage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,500 " + Reporting and stenographic news . . . . . . . . 1,800 " + --------- + + Total monthly, 15,110 " + " yearly, 181,320 " + + +"Do you want to set up a paper?" asked Thuillier, in dread. + +"I?" asked la Peyrade, "I want nothing at all; you are the one to be +asked if you want to be a deputy." + +"Undoubtedly I do; because, when you urged me to become a municipal +councillor, you put the idea into my head. But reflect, my dear +Theodose, one hundred and eighty one thousand three hundred and twenty +francs to put out! Have I a fortune large enough to meet such a demand?" + +"Yes," said la Peyrade, "you could very well support that expense, for +considering the end you want to obtain there is nothing exorbitant +in it. In England they make much greater sacrifices to get a seat in +Parliament; but in any case, I beg you to observe that the costs are +very high on that estimate, and some could be cut off altogether. For +instance, you would not want an administrator. You, yourself, an old +accountant, and I, an old journalist, can very well manage the affair +between us. Also rent, we needn't count that; you have your old +apartment in the rue Saint-Dominique which is not yet leased; that will +make a fine newspaper office." + +"All that costs off two thousand four hundred francs a year," said +Thuillier. + +"Well, that's something; but your error consists in calculating on the +yearly cost. When do the elections take place?" + +"In two months," said Thuillier. + +"Very good; two months will cost you thirty thousand francs, even +supposing the paper had no subscribers." + +"True," said Thuillier, "the expense is certainly less than I thought at +first. But does a newspaper really seem to you essential?" + +"So essential that without that power in our hands, I won't have +anything to do with the election. You don't seem to see, my poor fellow, +that in going to live in the other quarter you have lost, electorally +speaking, an immense amount of ground. You are no longer the man of the +place, and your election could be balked by the cry of what the English +call 'absenteeism.' This makes your game very hard to play." + +"I admit that," said Thuillier; "but there are so many things wanted +besides money,--a name for one thing, a manager, editorial staff, and so +forth." + +"A name, we have one made to hand; editors, they are you and I and a +few young fellows who grow on every bush in Paris. As for the manager, I +have a man in view." + +"What name is it?" asked Thuillier. + +"L'Echo de la Bievre." + +"But there is already a paper of that name." + +"Precisely, and that's why I give my approval to the affair. Do you +think I should be fool enough to advise you to start an entirely new +paper? 'Echo de la Bievre!' that title is a treasure to a man who wants +support for his candidacy in the 12th arrondissement. Say the word only, +and I put that treasure into your hands." + +"How?" asked Thuillier, with curiosity. + +"Parbleu! by buying it; it can be had for a song." + +"There now, you see," said Thuillier in a discouraged tone; "you never +counted in the cost of purchase." + +"How you dwell on nothings!" said la Peyrade, hunching his shoulders; +"we have other and more important difficulties to solve." + +"Other difficulties?" echoed Thuillier. + +"Parbleu!" exclaimed la Peyrade; "do you suppose that after all that has +taken place between us I should boldly harness myself to your election +without knowing exactly what benefit I am to get for it?" + +"But," said Thuillier, rather astonished, "I thought that friendship was +a good exchange for such services." + +"Yes; but when the exchange consists in one side giving all and the +other side nothing, friendship gets tired of that sort of sharing, and +asks for something a little better balanced." + +"But, my dear Theodose, what have I to offer you that you have not +already rejected?" + +"I rejected it, because it was offered without heartiness, and seasoned +with Mademoiselle Brigitte's vinegar; every self-respecting man would +have acted as I did. Give and keep don't pass, as the old legal saying +is; but that is precisely what you persist in doing." + +"I!--I think you took offence very unreasonably; but the engagement +might be renewed." + +"So be it," replied la Peyrade; "but I will not put myself at the +mercy of either the success of the election or Mademoiselle Celeste's +caprices. I claim the right to something positive and certain. Give and +take; short accounts make good friends." + +"I perfectly agree with you," said Thuillier, "and I have always treated +you with too much good faith to fear any of these precautions you now +want to take. But what guarantees do you want?" + +"I want that the husband of Celeste should manage your election, and not +Theodose de la Peyrade." + +"By hurrying things as much as possible, so Brigitte said, it would +still take fifteen days; and just think, with the elections only eight +weeks off, to lose two of them doing nothing!" + +"Day after to-morrow," replied la Peyrade, "the banns can be published +for the first time at the mayor's office, in the intervals of +publication some things could be done, for though the publishing of the +banns is not a step from which there is no retreat, it is at least a +public pledge and a long step taken; after that we can get your notary +to draw the contract at once. Moreover, if you decide on buying this +newspaper, I shouldn't be afraid that you would go back on me, for you +don't want a useless horse in your stable, and without me I am certain +you can't manage him." + +"But, my dear fellow," said Thuillier, going back to his objections, +"suppose that affair proves too onerous?" + +"There's no need to say that you are the sole judge of the conditions of +the purchase. I don't wish any more than you do to buy a pig in a poke. +If to-morrow you authorize me, I won't say to buy, but to let these +people know that you may possibly make the purchase, I'll confer with +one of them on your behalf, and you may be certain that I'll stand up +for your interests as if they were my own." + +"Very good, my dear fellow," said Thuillier, "go ahead!" + +"And as soon as the paper is purchased we are to fix the day for signing +the contract?" + +"Yes," replied Thuillier; "but will you bind yourself to use your utmost +influence on the election?" + +"As if it were my own," replied la Peyrade, "which, by the bye, is not +altogether an hypothesis. I have already received suggestions about my +own candidacy, and if I were vindictive--" + +"Certainly," said Thuillier, with humility, "you would make a better +deputy than I; but you are not of the required age, I think." + +"There's a better reason than that," said la Peyrade; "you are my +friend; I find you again what you once were, and I shall keep the +pledges I have given you. As for the election, I prefer that people say +of me, 'He makes deputies, but will be none himself.' Now I must leave +you and keep my appointment. To-morrow in my own rooms, come and see me; +I shall have something to announce." + +Whoso has ever been a newspaper man will ever be one; that horoscope +is as sure and certain as that of drunkards. Whoever has tasted that +feverishly busy and relatively lazy and independent life; whoever has +exercised that sovereignty which criticises intellect, art, talent, +fame, virtue, absurdity, and even truth; whoever has occupied that +tribune erected by his own hands, fulfilled the functions of that +magistracy to which he is self-appointed,--in short, whosoever has +been, for however brief a span, that proxy of public opinion, looks +upon himself when remanded to private life as an exile, and the moment +a chance is offered to him puts out an eager hand to snatch back his +crown. + +For this reason when Etienne Lousteau went to la Peyrade, a former +journalist, with an offer of the weapon entitled the "Echo de la +Bievre," all the latter's instincts as a newspaper man were aroused, in +spite of the very inferior quality of the blade. The paper had failed; +la Peyrade believed he could revive it. The subscribers, on the vendor's +own showing, were few and far between, but he would exercise upon them a +"compelle intrare" both powerful and irresistible. In the circumstances +under which the affair was presented to him it might surely be +considered provincial. Threatened with the loss of his position at the +bar, he was thus acquiring, as we said before, a new position and that +of a "detached fort"; compelled, as he might be, to defend himself, he +could from that vantage-ground take the offensive and oblige his enemies +to reckon with him. + +On the Thuillier side, the newspaper would undoubtedly make him a +personage of considerable importance; he would have more power on the +election; and by involving their capital in an enterprise which, +without him, they would feel a gulf and a snare, he bound them to him +by self-interests so firmly that there was nothing to fear from their +caprice or ingratitude. + +This horizon, rapidly taken in during Etienne Lousteau's visit, had +fairly dazzled the Provencal, and we have seen the peremptory manner +in which Thuillier was forced into accepting with some enthusiasm the +discovery of this philosopher's-stone. + +The cost of the purchase was ridiculously insignificant. A bank-note for +five hundred francs, for which Etienne Lousteau never clearly accounted +to the share-holders, put Thuillier in possession of the name, property, +furniture, and good-will of the newspaper, which he and la Peyrade at +once busied themselves in reorganizing. + + + + +CHAPTER X. IN WHICH CERIZET PRACTISES THE HEALING ART AND + +THE ART OF POISONING ON THE SAME DAY + +While this regeneration was going on, Cerizet went one morning to see du +Portail, with whom la Peyrade was now more than ever determined to hold +no communication. + +"Well," said the little old man to the poor man's banker, "what effect +did the news we gave to the president of the bar produce on our man? Did +the affair get wind at the Palais?" + +"Phew!" said Cerizet, whose intercourse, no doubt pretty frequent, with +du Portail had put him on a footing of some familiarity with the old +man, "there's no question of that now. The eel has wriggled out of our +hands; neither softness nor violence has any effect upon that devil of +a man. He has quarrelled with the bar, and is in better odor than +ever with Thuillier. 'Necessity,' says Figaro, 'obliterates distance.' +Thuillier needs him to push his candidacy in the quartier Saint-Jacques, +so they kissed and made up." + +"And no doubt," said du Portail, without much appearance of feeling, +"the marriage is fixed for an early day?" + +"Yes," replied Cerizet, "but there's another piece of work on hand. That +crazy fellow has persuaded Thuillier to buy a newspaper, and he'll make +him sink forty thousand francs in it. Thuillier, once involved, will +want to get his money back, and in my opinion they are bound together +for the rest of their days." + +"What paper is it?" + +"Oh, a cabbage-leaf that calls itself the 'Echo de la Bievre'!" replied +Cerizet with great scorn; "a paper which an old hack of a journalist on +his last legs managed to set up in the Mouffetard quarter by the help of +a lot of tanners--that, you know, is the industry of the quarter. From +a political and literary point of view the affair is nothing at all, but +Thuillier has been made to think it a masterly stroke." + +"Well, for local service to the election the instrument isn't so bad," +remarked du Portail. "La Peyrade has talent, activity, and much resource +of mind; he may make something out of that 'Echo.' Under what political +banner will Thuillier present himself?" + +"Thuillier," replied the beggars' banker, "is an oyster; he hasn't any +opinions. Until the publication of his pamphlet he was, like all those +bourgeois, a rabid conservative; but since the seizure he has gone over +to the Opposition. His first stage will probably be the Left-centre; but +if the election wind should blow from another quarter, he'll go straight +before it to the extreme left. Self-interest, for those bourgeois, +that's the measure of their convictions." + +"Dear, dear!" said du Portail, "this new combination of la Peyrade's may +assume the importance of a political danger from the point of view of +my opinions, which are extremely conservative and governmental." Then, +after a moment's reflection, he added, "I think you did newspaper work +once upon a time; I remember 'the courageous Cerizet.'" + +"Yes," replied the usurer, "I even managed one with la Peyrade,--an +evening paper; and a pretty piece of work we did, for which we were +finely recompensed." + +"Well," said du Portail, "why don't you do it again,--journalism, I +mean,--with la Peyrade." + +Cerizet looked at du Portail in amazement. + +"Ah ca!" he cried, "are you the devil, monsieur? Can nothing ever be +hidden from you?" + +"Yes," said du Portail, "I know a good many things. But what has been +settled between you and la Peyrade?" + +"Well, remembering my experience in the business, and not knowing whom +else to get, he offered to make me manager of the paper." + +"I did not know that," said du Portail, "but it was quite probable. Did +you accept?" + +"Conditionally; I asked time for reflection. I wanted to know what you +thought of the offer." + +"Parbleu! I think that out of an evil that can't be remedied we should +get, as the proverb says, wing or foot. I had rather see you inside than +outside of that enterprise." + +"Very good; but in order to get into it there's a difficulty. La Peyrade +knows I have debts, and he won't help me with the thirty-three-thousand +francs' security which must be paid down in my name. I haven't got them, +and if I had, I wouldn't show them and expose myself to the insults of +creditors." + +"You must have a good deal left of that twenty-five thousand francs la +Peyrade paid you not more than two months ago," remarked du Portail. + +"Only two thousand two hundred francs and fifty centimes," replied +Cerizet. "I was adding it up last night; the rest has all gone to pay +off pressing debts." + +"But if you have paid your debts you haven't any creditors." + +"Yes, those I've paid, but those I haven't paid I still owe." + +"Do you mean to tell me that your liabilities were more than twenty-five +thousand francs?" said du Portail, in a tone of incredulity. + +"Does a man go into bankruptcy for less?" replied Cerizet, as though he +were enunciating a maxim. + +"Well, I see I am expected to pay that sum myself," said du Portail, +crossly; "but the question is whether the utility of your presence +in this enterprise is worth to me the interest on one hundred +and thirty-three thousand, three hundred and thirty-three francs, +thirty-three centimes." + +"Hang it!" said Cerizet, "if I were once installed near Thuillier, I +shouldn't despair of soon putting him and la Peyrade at loggerheads. +In the management of a newspaper there are lots of inevitable +disagreements, and by always taking the side of the fool against the +clever man, I can increase the conceit of one and wound the conceit of +the other until life together becomes impossible. Besides, you spoke +just now of political danger; now the manager of a newspaper, as you +ought to know, when he has the intellect to be something better than a +man of straw, can quietly give his sheet a push in the direction wanted. + +"There's a good deal of truth in that," said du Portail, "but defeat to +la Peyrade, that's what I am thinking about." + +"Well," said Cerizet, "I think I have another nice little insidious +means of demolishing him with Thuillier." + +"Say what it is, then!" exclaimed du Portail, impatiently; "you go +round and round the pot as if I were a man it would do you some good to +finesse with." + +"You remember," said Cerizet, coming out with it, "that some time ago +Dutocq and I were much puzzled to know how la Peyrade was, all of a +sudden, able to make that payment of twenty-five thousand francs?" + +"Ha!" said the old man quickly, "have you discovered the origin of that +very improbable sum in our friend's hands; and is that origin shady?" + +"You shall judge," said Cerizet. + +And he related in all its details the affair of Madame Lambert,--adding, +however, that on questioning the woman closely at the office of the +justice-of-peace, after the meeting with la Peyrade, he had been unable +to extract from her any confession, although by her whole bearing she +had amply confirmed the suspicions of Dutocq and himself. + +"Madame Lambert, rue du Val-de-Grace, No. 9; at the house of Monsieur +Picot, professor of mathematics," said du Portail, as he made a note of +the information. "Very good," he added; "come back and see me to-morrow, +my dear Monsieur Cerizet." + +"But please remark," said the usurer, "that I must give an answer to +la Peyrade in the course of to-day. He is in a great hurry to start the +business." + +"Very well; you must accept, asking a delay of twenty-four hours to +obtain your security. If, after making certain inquiries I see it is +more to my interests not to meddle in the affair, you can get out of it +by merely breaking your word; you can't be sent to the court of assizes +for that." + +Independently of a sort of inexplicable fascination which du Portail +exercised over his agent, he never lost an opportunity to remind him of +the very questionable point of departure of their intercourse. + +The next day Cerizet returned. + +"You guessed right," said du Portail. "That woman Lambert, being obliged +to conceal the existence of her booty, and wanting to draw interest +on her stolen property, must have taken it into her head to consult +la Peyrade; his devout exterior may have recommended him to her. She +probably gave him that money without taking a receipt. In what kind of +money was Dutocq paid?" + +"In nineteen thousand-franc notes, and twelve of five-hundred francs." + +"That's precisely it," said du Portail. "There can't be the slightest +doubt left. Now, what use do you expect to make of this information +bearing upon Thuillier." + +"I expect to put it into his head that la Peyrade, to whom he is going +to give his goddaughter and heiress, is over head and ears in debt; +that he makes enormous secret loans; and that in order to get out of +his difficulties he means to gnaw the newspaper to the bone; and I shall +insinuate that the position of a man so much in debt must be known to +the public before long, and become a fatal blow to the candidate whose +right hand he is." + +"That's not bad," said du Portail; "but there's another and even more +conclusive use to be made of the discovery." + +"Tell me, master; I'm listening," said Cerizet. + +"Thuillier has not yet been able, has he, to explain to himself the +reason of the seizure of the pamphlet?" + +"Yes, he has," replied Cerizet. "La Peyrade was telling me only +yesterday, by way of explaining Thuillier's idiotic simplicity, that he +had believed a most ridiculous bit of humbug. The 'honest bourgeois' +is persuaded that the seizure was instigated by Monsieur Olivier Vinet, +substitute to the procureur-general. The young man aspired for a moment +to the hand of Mademoiselle Colleville, and the worthy Thuillier has +been made to imagine that the seizure of his pamphlet was a revenge for +the refusal." + +"Good!" said du Portail; "to-morrow, as a preparation for the other +version of which you are to be the organ, Thuillier shall receive from +Monsieur Vinet a very sharp and decided denial of the abuse of power he +foolishly gave ear to." + +"Will he?" said Cerizet, with curiosity. + +"But another explanation must take its place," continued du Portail; +"you must assure Thuillier that he is the victim of police machinations. +That is all the police is good for, you know,--machinations." + +"I know that very well; I've made that affirmation scores of times when +I was working for the republican newspapers and--" + +"When you were 'the courageous Cerizet,'" interrupted du Portail. "Well, +the present machination, here it is. The government was much displeased +at seeing Thuillier elected without its influence to the Council-general +of the Seine; it was angry with an independent and patriotic citizen +who showed by his candidacy that he could do without it; and it learned, +moreover, that this excellent citizen was preparing a pamphlet on +the subject, always a delicate one, of the finances, as to which this +dangerous adversary had great experience. So, what did this essentially +corrupt government do? It suborned a man in whom, as it learned, +Thuillier placed confidence, and for a sum of twenty-five thousand +francs (a mere trifle to the police), this treacherous friend agreed +to insert into the pamphlet three or four phrases which exposed it +to seizure and caused its author to be summoned before the court +of assizes. Now the way to make the explanation clinch the doubt in +Thuillier's mind is to let him know that the next day la Peyrade, who, +as Thuillier knew, hadn't a sou, paid Dutocq precisely that very sum of +twenty-five thousand francs." + +"The devil!" cried Cerizet, "it isn't a bad trick. Fellows of the +Thuillier species will believe anything against the police." + +"We shall see, then," continued du Portail, "whether Thuillier will want +to keep such a collaborator beside him, and above all, whether he will +be so eager to give him his goddaughter." + +"You are a strong man, monsieur," said Cerizet, again expressing his +approbation; "but I must own that I feel some scruples at the part +assigned me. La Peyrade came and offered me the management of the paper, +and, you see, I should be working to evict him." + +"And that lease he knocked you out of in spite of his promises, have you +forgotten that?" asked the little old man. "Besides, are we not aiming +for his happiness, though the obstinate fellow persists in thwarting our +benevolent intentions?" + +"It is true," said Cerizet, "that the result will absolve me. Yes, I'll +go resolutely along the ingenious path you've traced out for me. But +there's one thing more: I can't fling my revelation at Thuillier's head +at the very first; I must have time to prepare the way for it, but that +security will have to be paid in immediately." + +"Listen to me, Monsieur Cerizet," said du Portail, in a tone of +authority; "if the marriage of la Peyrade to my ward takes place it is +my intention to reward your services, and the sum of thirty thousand +francs will be your perquisite. Now, thirty thousand from one side and +twenty-five thousand from the other makes precisely fifty-five thousand +francs that the matrimonial vicissitudes of your friend la Peyrade will +have put into your pocket. But, as country people do at the shows of +a fair, I shall not pay till I come out. If you take that money out of +your own hoard I shall feel no anxiety; you will know how to keep it +from the clutches of your creditors. If, on the contrary, my money is +at stake, you will have neither the same eagerness nor the same +intelligence in keeping it out of danger. Therefore arrange your affairs +so that you can pay down your own thirty-three thousand; in case of +success, that sum will bring you in pretty nearly a hundred per cent. +That's my last word, and I shall not listen to any objections." + +Cerizet had no time to make any, for at that moment the door of du +Portail's study opened abruptly, and a fair, slender woman, whose face +expressed angelic sweetness, entered the room eagerly. On her arm, +wrapped in handsome long clothes, lay what seemed to be the form of an +infant. + +"There!" she said, "that naughty Katte insisted that the doctor was not +here. I knew perfectly well that I had seen him enter. Well, doctor," +she continued, addressing Cerizet, "I am not satisfied with the +condition of my little one, not satisfied at all; she is very pallid, +and has grown so thin. I think she must be teething." + +Du Portail made Cerizet a sign to accept the role so abruptly thrust +upon him. + +"Yes, evidently," he said, "it is the teeth; children always turn pale +at that crisis; but there's nothing in that, my dear lady, that need +make you anxious." + +"Do you really think so, doctor," said the poor crazed girl, whom our +readers have recognized as du Portail's ward, Lydie de la Peyrade; "but +see her dear little arms, how thin they are getting." + +Then taking out the pins that fastened the swathings, she exhibited to +Cerizet a bundle of linen which to her poor distracted mind represented +a baby. + +"Why, no, no," said Cerizet, "she is a trifle thin, it is true, but the +flesh is firm and her color excellent." + +"Poor darling!" said Lydie, kissing her dream lovingly. "I do think +she is better since morning. What had I better give her, doctor? Broth +disgusts her, and she won't take soup." + +"Well," said Cerizet, "try panada. Does she like sweet things?" + +"Oh, yes!" cried the poor girl, her face brightening, "she adores them. +Would chocolate be good for her?" + +"Certainly," replied Cerizet, "but without vanilla; vanilla is very +heating." + +"Then I'll get what they call health-chocolate," said Lydie, with all +the intonations of a mother, listening to the doctor as to a god who +reassured her. "Uncle," she added, "please ring for Bruneau, and tell +him to go to Marquis at once and get some pounds of that chocolate." + +"Bruneau has just gone out," said her guardian; "but there's no hurry, +he shall go in the course of the day." + +"There, she is going to sleep," said Cerizet, anxious to put an end +to the scene, which, in spite of his hardened nature, he felt to be +painful. + +"True," said the girl, replacing the bandages and rising; "I'll put her +to bed. Adieu, doctor; it is very kind of you to come sometimes without +being sent for. If you knew how anxious we poor mothers are, and how, +with a word or two, you can do us such good. Ah, there she is crying!" + +"She is so sleepy," said Cerizet; "she'll be much better in her cradle." + +"Yes, and I'll play her that sonata of Beethoven that dear papa was so +fond of; it is wonderful how calming it is. Adieu, doctor," she said +again, pausing on the threshold of the door. "Adieu, kind doctor!" And +she sent him a kiss. + +Cerizet was quite overcome. + +"You see," said du Portail, "that she is an angel,--never the least +ill-humor, never a sharp word; sad sometimes, but always caused by a +feeling of motherly solicitude. That is what first gave the doctors the +idea that if reality could take the place of her constant hallucination +she might recover her reason. Well, this is the girl that fool of a +Peyrade refuses, with the accompaniment of a magnificent 'dot.' But +he must come to it, or I'll forswear my name. Listen," he added as the +sound of a piano came to them; "hear! what talent! Thousands of sane +women can't compare with her; they are not as reasonable as she is, +except on the surface." + +When Beethoven's sonata, played from the soul with a perfection of +shades and tones that filled her hardened hearer with admiration, had +ceased to sound, Cerizet said:-- + +"I agree with you, monsieur; la Peyrade refuses an angel, a treasure, a +pearl, and if I were in his place--But we shall bring him round to your +purpose. Now I shall serve you not only with zeal, but with enthusiasm, +I may say fanaticism." + +As Cerizet was concluding this oath of fidelity at the door of the +study, he heard a woman's voice which was not that of Lydie. + +"Is he in his study, the dear commander?" said that voice, with a +slightly foreign accent. + +"Yes, madame, but please come into the salon. Monsieur is not alone; I +will tell him you are here." + +This was the voice of Katte, the old Dutch maid. + +"Stop, go this way," said du Portail quickly to Cerizet. + +And he opened a hidden door which led through a dark corridor directly +to the staircase, whence Cerizet betook himself to the office of the +"Echo de la Bievre," where a heated discussion was going on. + +The article by which the new editors of every newspaper lay before the +public their "profession of faith," as the technical saying is, always +produces a laborious and difficult parturition. In this particular case +it was necessary, if not openly to declare Thuillier's candidacy, to at +least make it felt and foreseen. The terms of the manifesto, after la +Peyrade had made a rough draft of it, were discussed at great length. +This discussion took place in Cerizet's presence, who, acting on du +Portail's advice, accepted the management, but postponed the payment +of the security till the next day, through the latitude allowed in all +administrations for the accomplishment of that formality. + +Cleverly egged on by this master-knave, who, from the start, made +himself Thuillier's flatterer, the discussion became stormy, and +presently bitter; but as, by the deed of partnership the deciding word +was left to la Peyrade in all matters concerning the editorship, he +finally closed it by sending the manifesto, precisely as he had written +it, to the printing office. + +Thuillier was incensed at what he called an abuse of power, and finding +himself alone with Cerizet later in the day, he hastened to pour his +griefs and resentments into the bosom of his faithful manager, thus +affording the latter a ready-made and natural opportunity to insinuate +the calumnious revelation agreed upon with du Portail. Leaving the knife +in the wound, Cerizet went out to make certain arrangements to obtain +the money necessary for his bond. + +Tortured by the terrible revelation, Thuillier could not keep it to +himself; he felt the need of confiding it, and of talking over the +course he would be compelled to take by this infernal discovery. Sending +for a carriage he drove home, and half an hour later he had told the +whole story to his Egeria. + +Brigitte had from the first very vehemently declared against all the +determinations made by Thuillier during the last few days. For no +purpose whatever, not even for the sake of her brother's election, +would she agree to a renewal of the relation to la Peyrade. In the +first place, she had treated him badly, and that was a strong reason +for disliking him; then, in case that adventurer, as she now called him, +married Celeste, the fear of her authority being lessened gave her a +species of second-sight; she had ended by having an intuitive sense of +the dark profundities of the man's nature, and now declared that under +no circumstances and for no possible price would she make one household +with him. + +"Ruin yourself if you choose," she said, "you are the master of that, +and you can do as you like; a fool and his money are soon parted." + +When, therefore, she listened to her brother's confidences it was +not with reproaches, but, on the contrary, with a crow of triumph, +celebrating the probable return of her power, that she welcomed them. + +"So much the better!" she cried; "it is well to know at last that the +man is a spy. I always thought so, the canting bigot! Turn him out of +doors without an explanation. WE don't want him to work that newspaper. +This Monsieur Cerizet seems, from what you tell me, the right sort of +man, and we can get another manager. Besides, when Madame de Godollo +went away she promised to write to me; and she can easily put us in the +way of finding some one. Poor, dear Celeste! what a fate we were going +to give her!" + +"How you run on!" said Thuillier. "La Peyrade, my dear, is so far only +accused. He must be heard in his defence. And besides, there's a deed +that binds us." + +"Ah, very good!" said Brigitte; "I see how it will be; you'll let that +man twist you round his finger again. A deed with a spy! As if there +could be deeds with such fellows." + +"Come, come, be calm, my good Brigitte," returned Thuillier. "We +mustn't do anything hastily. Certainly, if la Peyrade cannot furnish +a justification, clear, categorical, and convincing, I shall decide to +break with him, and I'll prove to you that I am no milksop. But Cerizet +himself is not certain; these are mere inductions, and I only came +to consult you as to whether I ought, or ought not, to demand an +explanation outright." + +"Not a doubt about it," replied Brigitte. "You ought to demand an +explanation and go to the bottom of this thing; if you don't, I cast you +off as my brother." + +"That suffices," said Thuillier, leaving the room with solemnity; "you +shall see that we will come to an understanding." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. EXPLANATIONS AND WHAT CAME OF THEM + +On his return to the office after his conference with Brigitte, +Thuillier found la Peyrade at his post as editor-in-chief, and in a +position of much embarrassment, caused by the high hand he had reserved +for himself as the sole selector of articles and contributors. At this +moment, Phellion, instigated by his family, and deeply conscious of his +position on the reading-committee of the Odeon, had come to offer his +services as dramatic critic. + +"My dear monsieur," he said, continuing his remarks to la Peyrade, after +inquiring of Thuillier about his health, "I was a great student of the +theatre in my youth; the stage and its scenic effects continue to have +for me peculiar attractions; and the white hairs which crown my +brow to-day seem to me no obstacle to my allowing your interesting +publication to profit by the fruit of my studies and my experience. As +member of the reading-committee of the Odeon theatre, I am conversant +with the modern drama, and--if I may be quite sure of your discretion--I +will even confide to you that among my papers it would not be impossible +for me to find a certain tragedy entitled 'Sapor,' which in my young +days won me some fame when read in salons." + +"Ah!" said la Peyrade, endeavoring to gild the refusal he should be +forced to give, "why not try to have it put upon the stage? We might be +able to help you in that direction." + +"Certainly," said Thuillier, "the director of any theatre to whom we +should recommend--" + +"No," replied Phellion. "In the first place, as member of the +reading-committee of the Odeon, having to sit in judgment upon others, +it would not become me to descend into the arena myself. I am an old +athlete, whose business it is to judge of blows he can no longer give. +In this sense, criticism is altogether within my sphere, and all the +more because I have certain views on the proper method of composing +dramatic feuilletons which I think novel. The 'castigat ridendo mores' +ought to be, according to my humble lights, the great law, I may say the +only law of the stage. I should therefore show myself pitiless for those +works, bred of imagination, in which morality has no part, and to which +mothers of families--" + +"Excuse me," said la Peyrade, "for interrupting you; but before allowing +you to take the trouble to develop your poetical ideas, I ought to tell +you that we have already made arrangements for our dramatic criticism." + +"Ah! that's another thing," said Phellion; "an honest man must keep his +word." + +"Yes," said Thuillier, "we have our dramatic critic, little thinking +that you would offer us your valuable assistance." + +"Well," said Phellion, suddenly becoming crafty,--for there is something +in the newspaper atmosphere, impossible to say what, which flies to +the head, the bourgeois head especially,--"since you are good enough to +consider my pen capable of doing you some service, perhaps a series of +detached thoughts on different subjects, to which I should venture to +give the name of 'Diversities,' might be of a nature to interest your +readers." + +"Yes," said la Peyrade, with a maliciousness that was quite lost upon +Phellion, "thoughts, especially in the style of la Rochefoucauld or la +Bruyere, might do. What do you think yourself, Thuillier?" + +He reserved to himself the right to leave the responsibility of +refusals, as far as he could, to the proprietor of the paper. + +"But I imagine that thoughts, especially if detached, cannot be very +consecutive," said Thuillier. + +"Evidently not," replied Phellion; "detached thoughts imply the idea of +a very great number of subjects on which the author lets his pen stray +without the pretension of presenting a whole." + +"You will of course sign them?" said la Peyrade. + +"Oh, no!" replied Phellion, alarmed. "I could not put myself on +exhibition in that way." + +"Your modesty, which by the bye I understand and approve, settles the +matter," said la Peyrade. "Thoughts are a subject altogether individual, +which imperatively require to be personified by a name. You must be +conscious of this yourself. 'Divers Thoughts by Monsieur Three-Stars' +says nothing to the public." + +Seeing that Phellion was about to make objections, Thuillier, who was in +a hurry to begin his fight with la Peyrade, cut the matter short rather +sharply. + +"My dear Phellion," he said, "I beg your pardon for not being able to +enjoy the pleasure of your conversation any longer, but we have to talk, +la Peyrade and I, over a matter of much importance, and in newspaper +offices this devilish time runs away so fast. If you are willing, we +will postpone the question to another day. Madame Phellion is well, I +trust?" + +"Perfectly well," said the great citizen, rising, and not appearing to +resent his dismissal. "When does your first number appear?" he added; +"it is eagerly awaited in the arrondissement." + +"To-morrow I think our confession of faith will make its appearance," +replied Thuillier, accompanying him to the door. "You will receive a +copy, my dear friend. We shall meet again soon, I hope. Come and see us, +and bring that manuscript; la Peyrade's point of view may be a little +arbitrary." + +With this balm shed upon his wound, Phellion departed, and Thuillier +rang the bell for the porter. + +"Could you recognize the gentlemen who has just gone out the next time +you see him?" asked Thuillier. + +"Oh, yes, m'sieu, his round ball of a head is too funny to forget; +besides, it is Monsieur Phellion; haven't I opened the door to him +hundreds of times?" + +"Well, whenever he comes again neither I nor Monsieur de la Peyrade will +be here. Remember that's a positive rule. Now leave us." + +"The devil!" cried la Peyrade, when the two partners were alone, "how +you manage bores. But take care; among the number there may be electors. +You did right to tell Phellion you would send him a copy of the paper; +he has a certain importance in the quarter." + +"Well," said Thuillier, "we can't allow our time to be taken up by all +the dull-heads who come and offer their services. But now you and I have +to talk, and talk very seriously. Be seated and listen." + +"Do you know, my dear fellow," said la Peyrade, laughing, "that +journalism is making you into something very solemn? 'Be seated, +Cinna,'--Caesar Augustus couldn't have said it otherwise." + +"Cinnas, unfortunately, are more plentiful than people think," replied +Thuillier. + +He was still under the goad of the promise he had made to Brigitte, +and he meant to fulfil it with cutting sarcasm. The top continued the +whirling motion imparted to it by the old maid's lash. + +La Peyrade took a seat at the round table. As he was puzzled to know +what was coming, he endeavored to seem unconcerned, and picking up the +large scissors used for the loans which all papers make from the columns +of their brethren of the press, he began to snip up a sheet of paper, on +which, in Thuillier's handwriting, was an attempt at a leading article, +never completed. + +Though la Peyrade was seated and expectant, Thuillier did not begin +immediately; he rose and went toward the door which stood ajar, with +the intention of closing it. But suddenly it was flung wide open, and +Coffinet appeared. + +"Will monsieur," said Coffinet to la Peyrade, "receive two ladies? They +are very well-dressed, and the young one ain't to be despised." + +"Shall I let them in?" said la Peyrade to Thuillier. + +"Yes, since they are here," growled Thuillier; "but get rid of them as +soon as possible." + +Coffinet's judgment on the toilet of the two visitors needs revision. +A woman is well-dressed, not when she wears rich clothes, but when her +clothes present a certain harmony of shapes and colors which form an +appropriate and graceful envelope to her person. Now a bonnet with a +flaring brim, surmounted by nodding plumes, an immense French cashmere +shawl, worn with the awkward inexperience of a young bride, a plaid silk +gown with enormous checks and a triple tier of flounces with far too +many chains and trinkets (though to be just, the boots and gloves were +irreproachable), constituted the apparel of the younger of these ladies. +As for the other, who seemed to be in the tow of her dressy companion, +she was short, squat, and high-colored, and wore a bonnet, shawl, and +gown which a practised eye would at once have recognized as second hand. +Mothers of actresses are always clothed by this very economical process. +Their garments, condemned to the service of two generations, reverse the +order of things, and go from descendants to ancestors. + +Advancing two chairs, la Peyrade inquired, "To whom have I the honor of +speaking?" + +"Monsieur," said the younger visitor, "I am a dramatic artist, and as I +am about to make my first appearance in this quarter, I allow myself to +hope that a journal of this locality will favor me." + +"At what theatre?" asked la Peyrade. + +"The Folies, where I am engaged for the Dejazets." + +"The Folies?" echoed la Peyrade, in a tone that demanded an explanation. + +"Folies-Dramatiques," interposed the agreeable Madame Cardinal, whom the +reader has doubtless recognized. + +"When do you appear?" asked la Peyrade. + +"Next week, monsieur,--a fairy piece in which I play five parts." + +"You'll encourage her, monsieur, won't you?" said Madame Cardinal, in +a coaxing voice; "she's so young, and I can certify she works day and +night." + +"Mother!" said Olympe, with authority, "the public will judge me; all I +want is that monsieur will kindly promise to notice my debut." + +"Very good, mademoiselle," said la Peyrade in a tone of dismissal, +beginning to edge the pair to the door. + +Olympe Cardinal went first, leaving her mother to hurry after her as +best she could. + +"At home to no one!" cried Thuillier to the office-boy as he closed the +door and slipped the bolt. "Now," he said, addressing la Peyrade, "we +will talk. My dear fellow," he went on, starting with irony, for +he remembered to have heard that nothing was more confusing to an +adversary, "I have heard something that will give you pleasure. I know +now why MY pamphlet was seized." + +So saying, he looked fixedly at la Peyrade. + +"Parbleu!" said the latter in a natural tone of voice, "it was seized +because they chose to seize it. They wanted to find, and they found, +because they always find the things they want, what the king's adherents +call 'subversive doctrine.'" + +"No, you are wrong," said Thuillier; "the seizure was planned, +concocted, and agreed upon before publication." + +"Between whom?" asked la Peyrade. + +"Between those who wanted to kill the pamphlet, and the wretches who +were paid to betray it." + +"Well, in any case, those who paid," said la Peyrade, "got mighty little +for their money; for, persecuted though it was, I don't see that your +pamphlet made much of a stir." + +"Those who sold may have done better?" said Thuillier with redoubled +irony. + +"Those who sold," returned la Peyrade, "were the cleverer of the two." + +"Ah, I know," said Thuillier, "that you think a great deal of +cleverness; but allow me to tell you that the police, whose hand I see +in all this, doesn't usually throw its money away." + +And again he looked fixedly at la Peyrade. + +"So," said the barrister, without winking, "you have discovered that the +police had plotted in advance the smothering of your pamphlet?" + +"Yes, my dear fellow; and what is more, I know the actual sum paid to +the person who agreed to carry out this honorable plot." + +"The person," said la Peyrade, thinking a moment,--"perhaps I know the +person; but as for the money, I don't know a word about that." + +"Well, I can tell you the amount. It was twenty-five--thousand--francs," +said Thuillier, dwelling on each word; "that was the sum paid to Judas." + +"Oh! excuse me, my dear fellow, but twenty-five thousand francs is a +good deal of money. I don't deny that you have become an important man; +but you are not such a bugbear to the government as to lead it to make +such sacrifices. Twenty-five thousand francs is as much as would ever be +given for the suppression of one of those annoying pamphlets about the +Civil list. But our financial lucubrations didn't annoy in that way; and +such a sum borrowed from the secret-service money for the mere pleasure +of plaguing you, seems to me rather fabulous." + +"Apparently," said Thuillier, acrimoniously, "this honest go-between +had some interest in exaggerating my value. One thing is very sure; this +monsieur had a debt of twenty-five thousand francs which harassed him +much; and a short time before the seizure this same monsieur, who had no +means of his own, paid off that debt; and unless you can tell me where +else he got the money, the inference I think is not difficult to draw." + +It was la Peyrade's turn to look fixedly at Thuillier. + +"Monsieur Thuillier," he said, raising his voice, "let us get out of +enigmas and generalities; will you do me the favor to name that person?" + +"Well, no," replied Thuillier, striking his hand upon the table, "I +shall not name him, because of the sentiments of esteem and affection +which formerly united us; but you have understood me, Monsieur la +Peyrade." + +"I ought to have known," said the Provencal, in a voice changed by +emotion, "that in bringing a serpent to this place I should soon be +soiled by his venom. Poor fool! do you not see that you have made +yourself the echo of Cerizet's calumny?" + +"Cerizet has nothing to do with it; on the contrary, he has told me +the highest good of you. How was it, not having a penny the night +before,--and I had reason to know it,--that you were able to pay Dutocq +the round sum of twenty-five thousand francs the next day?" + +La Peyrade reflected for a moment. + +"No," he said, "it was not Dutocq who told you that. He is not a man to +wrestle with an enemy of my strength without a strong interest in it. It +was Cerizet; he's the infamous calumniator, from whose hands I wrenched +the lease of your house near the Madeleine,--Cerizet, whom in kindness, +I went to seek on his dunghill that I might give him the chance of +honorable employment; that is the wretch, to whom a benefit is only an +encouragement to treachery. Tiens! if I were to tell you what that man +is I should turn you sick with disgust; in the sphere of infamy he has +discovered worlds." + +This time Thuillier made an able reply. + +"I don't know anything about Cerizet except through you," he said; +"you introduced him to me as a manager, offering every guarantee; but, +allowing him to be blacker than the devil, and supposing that this +communication comes from him, I don't see, my friend, that all that +makes YOU any the whiter." + +"No doubt I was to blame," said la Peyrade, "for putting such a man into +relations with you; but we wanted some one who understood journalism, +and that value he really had for us. But who can ever sound the depths +of souls like his? I thought him reformed. A manager, I said to myself, +is only a machine; he can do no harm. I expected to find him a man of +straw; well, I was mistaken, he will never be anything but a man of +mud." + +"All that is very fine," said Thuillier, "but those twenty-five thousand +francs found so conveniently in your possession, where did you get them? +That is the point you are forgetting to explain." + +"But to reason about it," said la Peyrade; "a man of my character in the +pay of the police and yet so poor that I could not pay the ten thousand +francs your harpy of a sister demanded with an insolence which you +yourself witnessed--" + +"But," said Thuillier, "if the origin of this money is honest, as I +sincerely desire it may be, what hinders you from telling me how you got +it?" + +"I cannot," said la Peyrade; "the history of that money is a secret +entrusted to me professionally." + +"Come, come, you told me yourself that the statutes of your order forbid +all barristers from doing business of any kind." + +"Let us suppose," said la Peyrade, "that I have done something not +absolutely regular; it would be strange indeed after what I risked, as +you know, for you, if you should have the face to reproach me with it." + +"My poor friend, you are trying to shake off the hounds; but you can't +make me lose the scent. You wish to keep your secret; then keep it. I am +master of my own confidence and my own esteem; by paying you the forfeit +stipulated in our deed I take the newspaper into my own hands." + +"Do you mean that you dismiss me?" cried la Peyrade. "The money that you +have put into the affair, all your chances of election, sacrificed to +the calumnies of such a being as Cerizet!" + +"In the first place," said Thuillier, "another editor-in-chief can be +found; it is a true saying that no man is indispensable. As for election +to the Chamber I would rather never receive it than owe it to the help +of one who--" + +"Go on," said la Peyrade, seeing that Thuillier hesitated, "or rather, +no, be silent, for you will presently blush for your suspicions and ask +my pardon humbly." + +By this time la Peyrade saw that without a confession to which he must +compel himself, the influence and the future he had just recovered would +be cut from under his feet. Resuming his speech he said, solemnly:-- + +"You will remember, my friend, that you were pitiless, and, by +subjecting me to a species of moral torture, you have forced me to +reveal to you a secret that is not mine." + +"Go on," said Thuillier, "I take the whole responsibility upon myself. +Make me see the truth clearly in this darkness, and if I have done wrong +I will be the first to say so." + +"Well," said la Peyrade, "those twenty-five thousand francs are the +savings of a servant-woman who came to me and asked me to take them and +to pay her interest." + +"A servant with twenty-five thousand francs of savings! Nonsense; she +must serve in monstrously rich households." + +"On the contrary, she is the one servant of an infirm old savant; and +it was on account of the discrepancy which strikes your mind that she +wanted to put her money in my hands as a sort of trustee." + +"Bless me! my friend," said Thuillier, flippantly, "you said we were in +want of a romance-feuilletonist; but really, after this, I sha'n't be +uneasy. Here's imagination for you!" + +"What?" said la Peyrade, angrily, "you don't believe me?" + +"No, I do not believe you. Twenty-five thousand francs savings in the +service of an old savant! that is about as believable as the officer of +La Dame Blanche buying a chateau with his pay." + +"But if I prove to you the truth of my words; if I let you put your +finger upon it?" + +"In that case, like Saint Thomas, I shall lower my flag before the +evidence. Meanwhile you must permit me, my noble friend, to wait until +you offer me that proof." + +Thuillier felt really superb. + +"I'd give a hundred francs," he said to himself, "if Brigitte could have +been here and heard me impeach him." + +"Well," said la Peyrade, "suppose that without leaving this office, and +by means of a note which you shall read, I bring into your presence the +person from whom I received the money; if she confirms what I say will +you believe me?" + +This proposal and the assurance with which it was made rather staggered +Thuillier. + +"I shall know what to do when the time comes," he replied, changing his +tone. "But this must be done at once, now, here." + +"I said, without leaving this office. I should think that was clear +enough." + +"And who will carry the note you write?" asked Thuillier, believing +that by thus examining every detail he was giving proofs of amazing +perspicacity. + +"Carry the note! why, your own porter of course," replied la Peyrade; +"you can send him yourself." + +"Then write it," said Thuillier, determined to push him to the wall. + +La Peyrade took a sheet of paper with the new heading and wrote as +follows, reading the note aloud:-- + + Madame Lambert is requested to call at once, on urgent business, + at the office of the "Echo de la Bievre," rue Saint-Dominique + d'Enfer. The bearer of this note will conduct her. She is awaited + impatiently by her devoted servant, + + +Theodose de la Peyrade. + + +"There, will that suit you?" said the barrister, passing the paper to +Thuillier. + +"Perfectly," replied Thuillier, taking the precaution to fold the letter +himself and seal it. "Put the address," he added. + +Then he rang the bell for the porter. + +"You will carry this letter to its address," he said to the man, "and +bring back with you the person named. But will she be there?" he asked, +on reflection. + +"It is more than probable," replied la Peyrade; "in any case, neither +you nor I will leave this room until she comes. This matter must be +cleared up." + +"Then go!" said Thuillier to the porter, in a theatrical tone. + +When they were alone, la Peyrade took up a newspaper and appeared to be +absorbed in its perusal. + +Thuillier, beginning to get uneasy as to the upshot of the affair, +regretted that he had not done something the idea of which had come to +him just too late. + +"Yes, I ought," he said to himself, "to have torn up that letter, and +not driven him to prove his words." + +Wishing to do something that might look like retaining la Peyrade in +the position of which he had threatened to deprive him, he remarked +presently:-- + +"By the bye, I have just come from the printing-office; the new type has +arrived, and I think we might make our first appearance to-morrow." + +La Peyrade did not answer; but he got up and took his paper nearer to +the window. + +"He is sulky," thought Thuillier, "and if he is innocent, he may well +be. But, after all, why did he ever bring a man like that Cerizet here?" + +Then to hide his embarrassment and the preoccupation of his mind, he sat +down before the editor's table, took a sheet of the head-lined paper and +made himself write a letter. + +Presently la Peyrade returned to the table and sitting down, took +another sheet and with the feverish rapidity of a man stirred by some +emotion he drove his pen over the paper. + +From the corner of his eye, Thuillier tried hard to see what la Peyrade +was writing, and noticing that his sentences were separated by numbers +placed between brackets, he said:-- + +"Tiens! are you drawing up a parliamentary law?" + +"Yes," replied la Peyrade, "the law of the vanquished." + +Soon after this, the porter opened the door and introduced Madame +Lambert, whom he had found at home, and who arrived looking rather +frightened. + +"You are Madame Lambert?" asked Thuillier, magisterially. + +"Yes, monsieur," said the woman, in an anxious voice. + +After requesting her to be seated and noticing that the porter was still +there as if awaiting further orders he said to the man:-- + +"That will do; you may go; and don't let any one disturb us." + +The gravity and the lordly tone assumed by Thuillier only increased +Madame Lambert's uneasiness. She came expecting to see only la Peyrade, +and she found herself received by an unknown man with a haughty manner, +while the barrister, who had merely bowed to her, said not a word; +moreover, the scene took place in a newspaper office, and it is a +well-known fact that to pious persons especially all that relates to the +press is infernal and diabolical. + +"Well," said Thuillier to the barrister, "it seems to me that nothing +hinders you from explaining to madame why you have sent for her." + +In order to leave no loophole for suspicion in Thuillier's mind la +Peyrade knew that he must put his question bluntly and without the +slightest preparation; he therefore said to her "ex abrupto":-- + +"We wish to ask you, madame, if it is not true that about two and a +half months ago you placed in my hands, subject to interest, the sum, in +round numbers, of twenty-five thousand francs." + +Though she felt the eyes of Thuillier and those of la Peyrade upon +her, Madame Lambert, under the shock of this question fired at her +point-blank, could not restrain a start. + +"Heavens!" she exclaimed, "twenty-five thousand francs! and where should +I get such a sum as that?" + +La Peyrade gave no sign on his face of the vexation he might be +supposed to feel. As for Thuillier, who now looked at him with sorrowful +commiseration, he merely said:-- + +"You see, my friend!" + +"So," resumed la Peyrade, "you are very certain that you did not place +in my hands the sum of twenty-five thousand francs; you declare this, +you affirm it?" + +"Why, monsieur! did you ever hear of such a sum as that in the pocket +of a poor woman like me? The little that I had, as everybody knows, +has gone to eke out the housekeeping of that poor dear gentleman whose +servant I have been for more than twenty years." + +"This," said Thuillier, pompously, "seems to me categorical." + +La Peyrade still did not show the slightest sign of annoyance; on the +contrary, he seemed to be playing into Thuillier's hand. + +"You hear, my dear Thuillier," he said, "and if necessary I shall call +for your testimony, that madame here declares that she did not possess +twenty-five thousand francs and could not therefore have placed them +in my hands. Now, as the notary Dupuis, in whose hands I fancied I had +placed them, left Paris this morning for Brussels carrying with him +the money of all his clients, I have no account with madame, by her own +showing, and the absconding of the notary--" + +"Has the notary Dupuis absconded?" screamed Madame Lambert, driven by +this dreadful news entirely out of her usual tones of dulcet sweetness +and Christian resignation. "Ah, the villain! it was only this morning +that he was taking the sacrament at Saint-Jacques du Haut-Pas." + +"To pray for a safe journey, probably," said la Peyrade. + +"Monsieur talks lightly enough," continued Madame Lambert, "though that +brigand has carried off my savings. But I gave them to monsieur, and +monsieur is answerable to me for them; he is the only one I know in this +transaction." + +"Hey?" said la Peyrade to Thuillier, pointing to Madame Lambert, whose +whole demeanor had something of the mother-wolf suddenly bereft of her +cubs; "is that nature? tell me! Do you think now that madame and I are +playing a comedy for your benefit?" + +"I am thunderstruck at Cerizet's audacity," said Thuillier. "I am +overwhelmed with my own stupidity; there is nothing for me to do but to +submit myself entirely to your discretion." + +"Madame," said la Peyrade, gaily, "excuse me for thus frightening you; +the notary Dupuis is still a very saintly man, and quite incapable of +doing an injury to his clients. As for monsieur here, it was necessary +that I should prove to him that you had really placed that money in my +hands; he is, however, another myself, and your secret, though known to +him, is as safe as it is with me." + +"Oh, very good, monsieur!" said Madame Lambert. "I suppose these +gentlemen have no further need of me?" + +"No, my dear madame, and I beg you to pardon me for the little terror I +was compelled to occasion you." + +Madame Lambert turned to leave the room with all the appearance of +respectful humility, but when she reached the door, she retraced her +steps, and coming close to la Peyrade said, in her smoothest tones:-- + +"When does monsieur expect to be able to refund me that money?" + +"But I told you," said la Peyrade, stiffly, "that notaries never return +on demand the money placed in their hands." + +"Does monsieur think that if I went to see Monsieur Dupuis himself and +asked him--" + +"I think," said la Peyrade, interrupting her, "that you would do a most +ridiculous thing. He received the money from me in my own name, as you +requested, and he knows only me in the matter." + +"Then monsieur will be so kind, will he not, as to get back that +money for me as soon as possible? I am sure I would not wish to press +monsieur, but in two or three months from now I may want it; I have +heard of a little property it would suit me to buy." + +"Very good, Madame Lambert," said la Peyrade, with well-concealed +irritation, "it shall be done as you wish; and in less time, perhaps, +than you have stated I shall hope to return your money to you." + +"That won't inconvenience monsieur, I trust," said the woman; "he told +me that at the first indiscretion I committed--" + +"Yes, yes, that is all understood," said la Peyrade, interrupting her. + +"Then I have the honor to be the very humble servant of these +gentlemen," said Madame Lambert, now departing definitively. + +"You see, my friend, the trouble you have got me into," said la Peyrade +to Thuillier as soon as they were alone, "and to what I am exposed by my +kindness in satisfying your diseased mind. That debt was dormant; it +was in a chronic state; and you have waked it up and made it acute. The +woman brought me the money and insisted on my keeping it, at a good rate +of interest. I refused at first; then I agreed to place it in Dupuis's +hands, explaining to her that it couldn't be withdrawn at once; but +subsequently, when Dutocq pressed me, I decided, after all, to keep it +myself." + +"I am dreadfully sorry, dear friend, for my silly credulity. But don't +be uneasy about the exactions of that woman; we will manage to arrange +all that, even if I have to make you an advance upon Celeste's 'dot.'" + +"My excellent friend," said la Peyrade, "it is absolutely necessary that +we should talk over our private arrangements; to tell you the truth, I +have no fancy for being hauled up every morning and questioned as to +my conduct. Just now, while waiting for that woman, I drew up a little +agreement, which you and I will discuss and sign, if you please, before +the first number of the paper is issued." + +"But," said Thuillier, "our deed of partnership seems to me to settle--" + +"--that by a paltry forfeit of five thousand francs, as stated in +Article 14," interrupted Theodose, "you can put me, when you choose, +out of doors. No, I thank you! After my experience to-day, I want some +better security than that." + +At this moment Cerizet with a lively and all-conquering air, entered the +room. + +"My masters!" he exclaimed, "I've brought the money; and we can now sign +the bond." + +Then, remarking that his news was received with extreme coldness, he +added:-- + +"Well? what is it?" + +"It is this," replied Thuillier: "I refuse to be associated with +double-face men and calumniators. We have no need of you or your money; +and I request you not to honor these precincts any longer with your +presence." + +"Dear! dear! dear!" said Cerizet; "so papa Thuillier has let the wool be +pulled over his eyes again!" + +"Leave the room!" said Thuillier; "you have nothing more to do here." + +"Hey, my boy!" said Cerizet, turning to la Peyrade, "so you've twisted +the old bourgeois round your finger again? Well, well, no matter! I +think you are making a mistake not to go and see du Portail, and I shall +tell him--" + +"Leave this house!" cried Thuillier, in a threatening tone. + +"Please remember, my dear monsieur, that I never asked you to employ me; +I was well enough off before you sent for me, and I shall be after. +But I'll give you a piece of advice: don't pay the twenty-five thousand +francs out of your own pocket, for that's hanging to your nose." + +So saying, Cerizet put his thirty-three thousand francs in banknotes +back into his wallet, took his hat from the table, carefully smoothed +the nap with his forearm and departed. + +Thuillier had been led by Cerizet into what proved to be a most +disastrous campaign. Now become the humble servant of la Peyrade, he +was forced to accept his conditions, which were as follows: five hundred +francs a month for la Peyrade's services in general; his editorship of +the paper to be paid at the rate of fifty francs a column,--which was +simply enormous, considering the small size of the sheet; a binding +pledge to continue the publication of the paper for six months, +under pain of the forfeiture of fifteen thousand francs; an absolute +omnipotence in the duties of editor-in-chief,--that is to say, the +sovereign right of inserting, controlling, and rejecting all articles +without being called to explain the reasons of his actions,--such were +the stipulations of a treaty in duplicate made openly, "in good faith," +between the contracting parties. _But_, in virtue of another and secret +agreement, Thuillier gave security for the payment of the twenty-five +thousand francs for which la Peyrade was accountable to Madame Lambert, +binding the said Sieur de la Peyrade, in case the payment were required +before his marriage with Celeste Colleville could take place, to +acknowledge the receipt of said sum advanced upon the dowry. + +Matters being thus arranged and accepted by the candidate, who saw no +chance of election if he lost la Peyrade, Thuillier was seized with a +happy thought. He went to the Cirque-Olympique, where he remembered to +have seen in the ticket-office a former employee in his office at the +ministry of Finance,--a man named Fleury; to whom he proposed the post +of manager. Fleury, being an old soldier, a good shot, and a skilful +fencer, would certainly make himself an object of respect in a newspaper +office. The working-staff of the paper being thus reconstituted, with +the exception of a few co-editors or reporters to be added later, but +whom la Peyrade, thanks to the facility of his pen, was able for the +present to do without, the first number of the new paper was launched +upon the world. + +Thuillier now recommenced the explorations about Paris which we saw him +make on the publication of his pamphlet. Entering all reading-rooms and +cafes, he asked for the "Echo de la Bievre," and when informed, +alas, very frequently, that the paper was unknown in this or that +establishment, "It is incredible!" he would exclaim, "that a house which +respects itself does not take such a widely known paper." + +On that, he departed disdainfully, not observing that in many places, +where this ancient trick of commercial travellers was well understood, +they were laughing behind his back. + +The evening of the day when the inauguration number containing the +"profession of faith" appeared, Brigitte's salon, although the day was +not Sunday, was filled with visitors. Reconciled to la Peyrade, whom her +brother had brought home to dinner, the old maid went so far as to tell +him that, without flattery, she thought his leading article was a famous +HIT. For that matter, all the guests as they arrived, reported that the +public seemed enchanted with the first number of the new journal. + +The public! everybody knows what that is. To every man who launches +a bit of writing into the world, the public consists of five or six +intimates who cannot, without offending the author, avoid knowing +something more or less of his lucubrations. + +"As for me!" cried Colleville, "I can truthfully declare that it is the +first political article I ever read that didn't send me to sleep." + +"It is certain," said Phellion, "that the leading article seems to me to +be stamped with vigor joined to an atticism which we may seek in vain in +the columns of the other public prints." + +"Yes," said Dutocq, "the matter is very well presented; and besides, +there's a turn of phrase, a clever diction, that doesn't belong to +everybody. However, we must wait and see how it keeps on. I fancy that +to-morrow the 'Echo de la Bievre' will be strongly attacked by the other +papers." + +"Parbleu!" cried Thuillier, "that's what we are hoping for; and if the +government would only do us the favor to seize us--" + +"No, thank you," said Fleury, whom Thuillier had also brought home to +dinner, "I don't want to enter upon those functions at first." + +"Seized!" said Dutocq, "oh, you won't be seized; but I think the +ministerial journals will fire a broadside at you." + +The next day Thuillier was at the office as early as eight o'clock, in +order to be the first to receive that formidable salvo. After looking +through every morning paper he was forced to admit that there was no +more mention of the "Echo de la Bievre" than if it didn't exist. When la +Peyrade arrived he found his unhappy friend in a state of consternation. + +"Does that surprise you?" said the Provencal, tranquilly. "I let you +enjoy yesterday your hopes of a hot engagement with the press; but I +knew myself that in all probability there wouldn't be the slightest +mention of us in to-day's papers. Against every paper which makes its +debut with some distinction, there's always a two weeks', sometimes a +two months' conspiracy of silence." + +"Conspiracy of silence!" echoed Thuillier, with admiration. + +He did not know what it meant, but the words had a grandeur and a +_something_ that appealed to his imagination. After la Peyrade had +explained to him that by "conspiracy of silence" was meant the agreement +of existing journals to make no mention of new-comers lest such notice +should serve to advertise them, Thuillier's mind was hardly better +satisfied than it had been by the pompous flow of the words. The +bourgeois is born so; words are coins which he takes and passes without +question. For a word, he will excite himself or calm down, insult +or applaud. With a word, he can be brought to make a revolution and +overturn a government of his own choice. + +The paper, however, was only a means; the object was Thuillier's +election. This was insinuated rather than stated in the first numbers. +But one morning, in the columns of the "Echo," appeared a letter from +several electors thanking their delegate to the municipal council for +the firm and frankly liberal attitude in which he had taken on all +questions of local interests. "This firmness," said the letter, "had +brought down upon him the persecution of the government, which, towed +at the heels of foreigners, had sacrificed Poland and sold itself to +England. The arrondissement needed a man of such tried convictions to +represent it in the Chamber,--a man holding high and firm the banner of +dynastic opposition, a man who would be, by the mere signification of +his name, a stern lesson given to the authorities." + +Enforced by an able commentary from la Peyrade, this letter was signed +by Barbet and Metivier and all Brigitte's tradesmen (whom, in view of +the election she had continued to employ since her emigration); also +by the family doctor and apothecary, and by Thuillier's builder, and +Barniol, Phellion's son-in-law, who professed to hold rather "advanced" +political opinions. As for Phellion himself, he thought the wording +of the letter not altogether circumspect, and--always without fear as +without reproach--however much he might expect that this refusal would +injure his son in his dearest interests, he bravely refrained from +signing it. + +This trial kite had the happiest effect. The ten or a dozen names thus +put forward were considered to express the will of the electors and were +called "the voice of the quarter." Thus Thuillier's candidacy made +from the start such rapid progress that Minard hesitated to put his own +claims in opposition. + +Delighted now with the course of events, Brigitte was the first to say +that the time had come to attend to the marriage, and Thuillier was all +the more ready to agree because, from day to day, he feared he might be +called upon to pay the twenty-five thousand francs to Madame Lambert +for which he had pledged himself. A thorough explanation now took place +between la Peyrade and the old maid. She told him honestly of the +fear she felt as to the maintenance of her sovereign authority when a +_son-in-law_ of his mind and character was established in the household. + +"If we," she ended by saying, "are to oppose each other for the rest +of our days, it would be much better, from the beginning, to make two +households; we shouldn't be the less friends for that." + +La Peyrade replied that nothing under the sun would induce him to +consent to such a plan; on the contrary, he regarded as amongst his +happiest prospects for the future the security he should feel about the +wise management of the material affairs of the home in such hands +as hers. He should have enough to do in the management of outside +interests, and he could not comprehend, for his part, how she could +suppose he had ever had the thought of interfering in matters that were +absolutely out of his province. In short, he reassured her so completely +that she urged him to take immediate steps for the publication of the +banns and the signature of the marriage contract,--declaring that she +reserved to herself all the preparations relating to Celeste, whose +acceptance of this sudden conclusion she pledged herself to secure. + +"My dear child," she said to Celeste the next morning, "I think you have +given up all idea of being Felix Phellion's wife. In the first place, +he is more of an atheist than ever, and, besides, you must have noticed +yourself that his mind is quite shaky. You have seen at Madame Minard's +that Madame Marmus, who married a savant, officer of the Legion of +honor, and member of the Institute. There's not a more unhappy woman; +her husband has taken her to live behind the Luxembourg, in the rue +Duguay-Trouin, a street that is neither paved nor lighted. When he goes +out, he doesn't know where he is going; he gets to the Champ de Mars +when he wants to go to the Faubourg Poissoniere; he isn't even capable +of giving his address to the driver of a street cab; and he is so +absent-minded he couldn't tell if it were before dinner or after. You +can imagine what sort of time a woman must have with a man whose nose is +always at a telescope snuffing stars." + +"But Felix," said Celeste, "is not as absent-minded as that." + +"Of course not, because he is younger; but with years his +absent-mindedness and his atheism will both increase. We have therefore +decided that he is not the husband you want, and we all, your mother, +father, Thuillier and myself, have determined that you shall take la +Peyrade, a man of the world, who will make his way, and one who has +done us great services in the past, and who will, moreover, make your +godfather deputy. We are disposed to give you, in consideration of him, +a much larger 'dot' than we should give to any other husband. So, my +dear, it is settled; the banns are to be published immediately, and +this day week we sign the contract. There's to be a great dinner for the +family and intimates, and after that a reception, at which the contract +will be signed and your trousseau and corbeille exhibited. As I take all +that into my own hands I'll answer for it that everything shall be of +the best kind; especially if you are not babyish, and give in pleasantly +to our ideas." + +"But, aunt Brigitte," began Celeste, timidly. + +"There's no 'but,' in the matter," said the old maid, imperiously; "it +is all arranged, and will be carried out, unless, mademoiselle, you +pretend to have more wisdom than your elders." + +"I will do as you choose, aunt," replied Celeste, feeling as if a +thunder-cloud had burst upon her head, and knowing but too well that she +had no power to struggle against the iron will which had just pronounced +her doom. + +She went at once to pour her sorrows into Madame Thuillier's soul; but +when she heard her godmother advising patience and resignation the poor +child felt that from that feeble quarter she could get no help for even +the slightest effort of resistance, and that her sacrifice was virtually +accomplished. + +Precipitating herself with a sort of frenzy into the new element of +activity thus introduced into her life, Brigitte took the field in the +making of the trousseau and the purchase of the corbeille. Like many +misers, who on great occasions come out of their habits and their +nature, the old maid now thought nothing too good for her purpose; and +she flung her money about so lavishly that until the day appointed +for the signing of the contract, the jeweller, dressmaker, milliner, +lingere, etc. (all chosen from the best establishments in Paris), seemed +to occupy the house. + +"It is like a procession," said Josephine, the cook, admiringly, to +Francoise, the Minards' maid; "the bell never stops ringing from morning +till night." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. A STAR + +The dinner on the great occasion was ordered from Chabot and Potel, and +not from Chevet, by which act Brigitte intended to prove her initiative +and her emancipation from the late Madame de Godollo. The invited guests +were as follows: three Collevilles, including the bride, la Peyrade the +groom, Dutocq and Fleury, whom he had asked to be his witnesses, the +extremely limited number of his relatives leaving him no choice, Minard +and Rabourdin, chosen as witnesses for Celeste, Madame and Mademoiselle +Minard and Minard junior, two of Thuillier's colleagues in the +Council-general; the notary Dupuis, charged with the duty of drawing up +the contract, and lastly, the Abbe Gondrin, director of the consciences +of Madame Thuillier and Celeste, who was to give the nuptial blessing. + +The latter was the former vicar of Saint-Jacques du Haut-Pas, whose +great refinement of manner and gift of preaching had induced the +archbishop to remove him from the humble parish where his career +had begun to the aristocratic church of the Madeleine. Since Madame +Thuillier and Celeste had again become his parishioners, the young +abbe visited them occasionally, and Thuillier, who had gone to him to +explain, after his own fashion, the suitableness of the choice made for +Celeste in the person of la Peyrade (taking pains as he did so to cast +reflections on the religious opinions of Felix Phellion), had easily +led him to contribute by his persuasive words to the resignation of the +victim. + +When the time came to sit down to table three guests were missing,--two +Minards, father and son, and the notary Dupuis. The latter had written a +note to Thuillier in the morning, excusing himself from the dinner, but +saying that at nine o'clock precisely he would bring the contract and +place himself at the orders of Mademoiselle Thuillier. As for Julien +Minard, his mother excused him as being confined to his room with a +sore-throat. The absence of Minard senior remained unexplained, but +Madame Minard insisted that they should sit down to table without him; +which was done, Brigitte ordering that the soup be kept hot for him, +because in the bourgeois code of manners and customs a dinner without +soup is no dinner at all. + +The repast was far from gay, and though the fare was better, the +vivacity and the warmth of the conversation was far, indeed, from that +of the famous improvised banquet at the time of the election to the +Council-general. The gaps occasioned by the absence of three guests may +have been one reason; then Flavie was glum; she had had an interview +with la Peyrade in the afternoon which ended in tears; Celeste, even if +she had been content with the choice imposed on her, would scarcely, as +a matter of propriety, have seemed joyful; in fact, she made no effort +to brighten a sad face, and dared not look at her godmother, whose own +countenance gave the impression, if we may so express it, of the long +bleating of a sheep. The poor girl seeing this feared to exchange a look +with her lest she might drive her to tears. Thuillier now felt himself, +on all sides, of such importance that he was pompous and consequential; +while Brigitte, uneasy out of her own world, where she could lord it +over every one without competition, seemed constrained and embarrassed. + +Colleville tried by a few jovialities to raise the temperature of the +assemblage; but the coarse salt of his witticisms had an effect, in the +atmosphere in which he produced them, of a loud laugh in a sick-chamber; +and a mute intimation from his wife, Thuillier, and la Peyrade +to _behave himself_ put a stopper on his liveliness and turbulent +expansion. It was somewhat remarkable that the gravest member of the +party, aided by Rabourdin, was the person who finally warmed up the +atmosphere. The Abbe Gondrin, a man of a most refined and cultivated +mind, had, like every pure and well-ordered soul, a fund of gentle +gaiety which he was well able to communicate, and liveliness was +beginning to dawn upon the party when Minard entered the room. + +After making his excuses on the ground of important duties, the mayor of +the eleventh arrondissement, who was in the habit of taking the lead in +the conversation wherever he went, said, having swallowed a few hasty +mouthfuls:-- + +"Messieurs and mesdames, have you heard the great news?" + +"No, what is it?" cried several voices at once. + +"The Academy of Sciences received, to-day, at its afternoon session, the +announcement of a vast discovery: the heavens possess a new star!" + +"Tiens!" said Colleville; "that will help to replace the one that +Beranger thought was lost when he grieved (to that air of 'Octavie') +over Chateaubriand's departure: 'Chateaubriand, why fly thy land?'" + +This quotation, which he sang, exasperated Flavie, and if the custom had +been for wives to sit next to their husbands, the former clarionet +of the Opera-Comique would not have escaped with a mere "Colleville!" +imperiously calling him to order. + +"The point which gives this great astronomical event a special interest +on this occasion," continued Minard, "is that the author of the +discovery is a denizen of the twelfth arrondissement, which many of you +still inhabit, or have inhabited. But other points are striking in this +great scientific fact. The Academy, on the reading of the communication +which announced it, was so convinced of the existence of this star that +a deputation was appointed to visit the domicile of the modern Galileo +and compliment him in the name of the whole body. And yet this star is +not visible to either the eye or the telescope! It is only by the +power of calculation and induction that its existence and the place it +occupies in the heavens have been proved in the most irrefutable manner: +'There _must_ be _there_ a hitherto unknown star; I cannot see it, but +I am sure of it,'--that is what this man of science said to the +Academy, whom he instantly convinced by his deductions. And do you know, +messieurs, who is this Christopher Columbus of a new celestial world? An +old man, two-thirds blind, who has scarcely eyes enough to walk in the +street." + +"Wonderful! Marvellous! Admirable!" came from all sides. + +"What is the name of this learned man?" asked several voices. + +"Monsieur Picot, or, if you prefer it, pere Picot, for that is how they +call him in the rue du Val-de-Grace, where he lives. He is simply an +old professor of mathematics, who has turned out several very fine +pupils,--by the bye, Felix Phellion, whom we all know, studied under +him, and it was he who read, on behalf of his blind old master, the +communication to the Academy this afternoon." + +Hearing that name, and remembering the promise Felix had made her to +lift her to the skies, which, as he said it, she had fancied a sign +of madness, Celeste looked at Madame Thuillier, whose face had taken a +sudden glow of animation, and seemed to say to her, "Courage, my child! +all is not lost." + +"My dear Theodose," said Thuillier, "Felix is coming here to-night; +you must take him aside and get him to give you a copy of that +communication; it would be a fine stroke of fortune for the 'Echo' to be +the first to publish it." + +"Yes," said Minard, assuming the answer, "that would do good service +to the public, for the affair is going to make a great noise. The +committee, not finding Monsieur Picot at home, went straight to the +Minister of Public Instruction; and the minister flew to the Tuileries +and saw the King; and the 'Messager' came out this evening--strange to +say, so early that I could read it in my carriage as I drove along--with +an announcement that Monsieur Picot is named Chevalier of the Legion of +honor, with a pension of eighteen hundred francs from the fund devoted +to the encouragement of science and letters." + +"Well," said Thuillier, "there's one cross at least well bestowed." + +"But eighteen hundred francs for the pension seems to me rather paltry," +said Dutocq. + +"So it does," said Thuillier, "and all the more because that money comes +from the tax-payers; and, when one sees the taxes, as we do, frittered +away on court favorites--" + +"Eighteen hundred francs a year," interrupted Minard, "is certainly +something, especially for savants, a class of people who are accustomed +to live on very little." + +"I think I have heard," said la Peyrade, "that this very Monsieur Picot +leads a strange life, and that his family, who at first wanted to shut +him up as a lunatic, are now trying to have guardians appointed over +him. They say he allows a servant-woman who keeps his house to rob him +of all he has. Parbleu! Thuillier, you know her; it is that woman who +came to the office the other day about some money in Dupuis's hands." + +"Yes, yes, true," said Thuillier, significantly; "you are right, I do +know her." + +"It is queer," said Brigitte, seeing a chance to enforce the argument +she had used to Celeste, "that all these learned men are good for +nothing outside of their science; in their homes they have to be treated +like children." + +"That proves," said the Abbe Gondrin, "the great absorption which their +studies give to their minds, and, at the same time, a simplicity of +nature which is very touching." + +"When they are not as obstinate as mules," said Brigitte, hastily. +"For myself, monsieur l'abbe, I must say that if I had had any idea +of marriage, a savant wouldn't have suited me at all. What do they do, +these savants, anyhow? Useless things most of the time. You are all +admiring one who has discovered a star; but as long as we are in this +world what good is that to us? For all the use we make of stars it seems +to me we have got enough of them as it is." + +"Bravo, Brigitte!" said Colleville, getting loose again; "you are right, +my girl, and I think, as you do, that the man who discovers a new dish +deserves better of humanity." + +"Colleville," said Flavie, "I must say that your style of behavior is in +the worst taste." + +"My dear lady," said the Abbe Gondrin, addressing Brigitte, "you might +be right if we were formed of matter only; and if, bound to our +body, there were not a soul with instincts and appetites that must be +satisfied. Well, I think that this sense of the infinite which is within +us, and which we all try to satisfy each in our own way, is marvellously +well helped by the labors of astronomy, that reveal to us from time to +time new worlds which the hand of the Creator has put into space. The +infinite in you has taken another course; this passion for the comfort +of those about you, this warm, devoted, ardent affection which you feel +for your brother, are equally the manifestation of aspirations which +have nothing material about them, and which, in seeking their end and +object, never think of asking, 'What good does that do? what is the use +of this?' Besides, I must assure you that the stars are not as useless +as you seem to think. Without them how would navigators cross the +sea? They would be puzzled to get you the vanilla with which you have +flavored the delicious cream I am now eating. So, as Monsieur Colleville +has perceived, there is more affinity than you think between a dish and +a star; no one should be despised,--neither an astronomer nor a good +housekeeper--" + +The abbe was here interrupted by the noise of a lively altercation in +the antechamber. + +"I tell you that I will go in," said a loud voice. + +"No, monsieur, you shall not go in," said another voice, that of the +man-servant. "The company are at table, I tell you, and nobody has the +right to force himself in." + +Thuillier turned pale; ever since the seizure of his pamphlet, he +fancied all sudden arrivals meant the coming of the police. + +Among the various social rules imparted to Brigitte by Madame de +Godollo, the one that most needed repeating was the injunction never, as +mistress of the house, to rise from the table until she gave the +signal for retiring. But present circumstances appeared to warrant the +infraction of the rule. + +"I'll go and see what it is," she said to Thuillier, whose anxiety she +noticed at once. "What _is_ the matter?" she said to the servant as soon +as she reached the scene of action. + +"Here's a gentleman who wants to come in, and says that no one is ever +dining at eight o'clock at night." + +"But who are you, monsieur?" said Brigitte, addressing an old man very +oddly dressed, whose eyes were protected by a green shade. + +"Madame, I am neither a beggar nor a vagabond," replied the old man, in +stentorian tones; "my name is Picot, professor of mathematics." + +"Rue du Val-de-Grace?" asked Brigitte. + +"Yes, madame,--No. 9, next to the print-shop." + +"Come in, monsieur, come in; we shall be only too happy to receive you," +cried Thuillier, who, on hearing the name, had hurried out to meet the +savant. + +"Hein! you scamp," said the learned man, turning upon the man-servant, +who had retired, seeing that the matter was being settled amicably, "I +told you I should get in." + +Pere Picot was a tall old man, with an angular, stern face, who, despite +the corrective of a blond wig with heavy curls, and that of the pacific +green shade we have already mentioned, expressed on his large features, +upon which the fury of study had produced a surface of leaden pallor, a +snappish and quarrelsome disposition. Of this he had already given proof +before entering the dining-room, where every one now rose to receive +him. + +His costume consisted of a huge frock-coat, something between a paletot +and a dressing-gown, between which an immense waistcoat of iron-gray +cloth, fastened from the throat to the pit of the stomach with two rows +of buttons, hussar fashion, formed a sort of buckler. The trousers, +though October was nearing its close, were made of black lasting, +and gave testimony to long service by the projection of a darn on the +otherwise polished surface covering the knees, the polish being produced +by the rubbing of the hands upon those parts. But, in broad daylight, +the feature of the old savant's appearance which struck the eye most +vividly was a pair of Patagonian feet, imprisoned in slippers of beaver +cloth, the which, moulded upon the mountainous elevations of gigantic +bunions, made the spectator think, involuntarily, of the back of a +dromedary or an advanced case of elephantiasis. + +Once installed in a chair which was hastily brought for him, and the +company having returned to their places at table, the old man suddenly +burst out in thundering tones, amid the silence created by curiosity:-- + +"Where is he,--that rogue, that scamp? Let him show himself; let him +dare to speak to me!" + +"Who is it that offends you, my dear monsieur?" said Thuillier, in +conciliating accents, in which there was a slight tone of patronage. + +"A scamp whom I couldn't find in his own home, and they told me he +was here, in this house. I'm in the apartment, I think, of Monsieur +Thuillier of the Council-general, place de la Madeleine, first story +above the entresol?" + +"Precisely," said Thuillier; "and allow me to add, monsieur, that you +are surrounded with the respect and sympathy of all." + +"And you will doubtless permit me to add," said Minard, "that the mayor +of the arrondissement adjoining that which you inhabit congratulates +himself on being here in presence of Monsieur Picot,--_the_ Monsieur +Picot, no doubt, who has just immortalized his name by the discovery of +a star!" + +"Yes, monsieur," replied the professor, elevating to a still higher +pitch the stentorian diapason of his voice, "I am Picot (Nepomucene), +but I have not discovered a star; I don't concern myself with any such +fiddle-faddle; besides, my eyes are very weak; and that insolent young +fellow I have come here to find is making me ridiculous with such talk. +I don't see him here; he is hiding himself, I know; he dares not look me +in the face." + +"Who is this person who annoys you?" asked several voices at once. + +"An unnatural pupil of mine," replied the old mathematician; "a scamp, +but full of ideas; his name is Felix Phellion." + +The name was received, as may well be imagined, with amazement. Finding +the situation amusing, Colleville and la Peyrade went off into fits of +laughter. + +"You laugh, fools!" cried the irate old man, rising. "Yes, come and +laugh within reach of my arm." + +So saying, he brandished a thick stick with a white china handle, which +he used to guide himself, thereby nearly knocking over a candelabrum on +the dinner-table upon Madame Minard's head. + +"You are mistaken, monsieur," cried Brigitte, springing forward and +seizing his arm. "Monsieur Felix is not here. He will probably come +later to a reception we are about to give; but at present he has not +arrived." + +"They don't begin early, your receptions," said the old man; "it is past +eight o'clock. Well, as Monsieur Felix is coming later, you must allow +me to wait for him. I believe you were eating your dinners; don't let me +disturb you." + +And he went back peaceably to his chair. + +"As you permit it, monsieur," said Brigitte, "we will continue, or, I +should say, finish dinner, for we are now at the dessert. May I offer +you anything,--a glass of champagne and a biscuit?" + +"I am very willing, madame," replied the intruder. "No one ever refuses +champagne, and I am always ready to eat between my meals; but you dine +very late." + +A place was made for him at table between Colleville and Mademoiselle +Minard, and the former made it his business to fill the glass of his new +neighbor, before whom was placed a dish of small cakes. + +"Monsieur," said la Peyrade in a cajoling tone, "you saw how surprised +we were to hear you complain of Monsieur Felix Phellion,--so amiable, so +inoffensive a young man. What has he done to you, that you should feel +so angry with him?" + +With his mouth full of cakes, which he was engulfing in quantities +that made Brigitte uneasy, the professor made a sign that he would soon +answer; then, having mistaken his glass and swallowed the contents of +Colleville's, he replied:-- + +"You ask what that insolent young man had done to me? A rascally thing; +and not the first, either. He knows that I cannot abide stars, having +very good reason to hate them, as you shall hear: In 1807, being +attached to the Bureau of Longitudes, I was part of the scientific +expedition sent to Spain, under the direction of my friend and +colleague, Jean-Baptiste Biot, to determine the arc of the terrestrial +meridian from Barcelona to the Balearic isles. I was just in the act +of observing a star (perhaps the very one my rascally pupil has +discovered), when suddenly, war having broken out between France +and Spain, the peasants, seeing me perched with a telescope on Monte +Galazzo, took it into their heads that I was making signals to the +enemy. A mob of savages broke my instruments, and talked of stringing me +up. They were just going to do it, when the captain of a vessel took me +prisoner and thrust me into the citadel of Belver, where I spent three +years in the harshest captivity. Since them, as you may well believe, I +loathe the whole celestial system; though I was, without knowing it, the +first to observe the famous comet of 1811; but I should have taken care +not to say a word about it if it had not been for Monsieur Flauguergues, +who announced it. Like all my pupils, Phellion knows my aversion to +stars, and he knew very well the worst trick he could play me would +be to saddle one on my back; and that deputation that came to play the +farce of congratulating me was mighty lucky not to find me at home, for +if they had, I can assure those gentlemen of the Academy, they would +have had a hot reception." + +Everybody present thought the old mathematician's monomania quite +delightful, except la Peyrade, who now, in perceiving Felix Phellion's +part in the affair, regretted deeply having caused the explanation. + +"And yet, Monsieur Picot," said Minard, "if Felix Phellion is only +guilty of attributing his discovery to you, it seems to me that his +indiscreet behavior has resulted in a certain compensation to you: the +cross of the Legion of honor, a pension, and the glory attached to your +name are not to be despised." + +"The cross and the pension I take," said the old man, emptying his +glass, which, to Brigitte's terror, he set down upon the table with a +force that threatened to smash it. "The government has owed them to me +these twenty years; not for the discovery of stars,--things that I +have always despised,--but for my famous 'Treatise on Differential +Logarithms' (Kepler thought proper to call them monologarithms), which +is a sequel to the tables of Napier; also for my 'Postulatum' of Euclid, +of which I was the first to discover the solution; but above all, for +my 'Theory of Perpetual Motion,'--four volumes in quarto with plates; +Paris, 1825. You see, therefore, monsieur, that to give me glory is +bringing water to the Seine. I had so little need of Monsieur Felix +Phellion to make me a position in the scientific world that I turned him +out of my house long ago." + +"Then it isn't the first star," said Colleville, flippantly, "that he +dared to put upon you?" + +"He did worse than that," roared the old man; "he ruined my reputation, +he tarnished my name. My 'Theory of Perpetual Motion,' the printing of +which cost me every penny I owned, though it ought to have been printed +gratis at the Royal Printing-office, was calculated to make my fortune +and render me immortal. Well, that miserable Felix prevented it. From +time to time, pretending to bring messages from my editor, he would say, +the young sycophant, 'Papa Picot, your book is selling finely; +here's five hundred francs--two hundred francs--and once it was two +thousand--which your publisher charged me to give you.' This thing went +on for years, and my publisher, who had the baseness to enter into the +plot, would say to me, when I went to the shop: 'Yes, yes, it doesn't +do badly, it _bubbles_, that book; we shall soon be at the end of this +edition.' I, who didn't suggest anything, I pocketed my money, and +thought to myself: 'My book is liked, little by little its ideas are +making their way; I may now expect, from day to day, that some great +capitalist will come to me and propose to apply my system--'" + +"--of 'Absorption of Liquids'?" asked Colleville, who had been steadily +filling the old fellow's glass. + +"No, monsieur, my 'Theory of Perpetual Motion,' 4 vols. in quarto with +plates. But no! days, weeks went by and nobody came; so, thinking that +my publisher did not put all the energy he should into the matter, I +tried to sell the second edition to another man. It was that, monsieur, +that enabled me to discover the whole plot, on which, as I said before, +I turned that serpent out of my house. In six years only nine copies +had been sold! Kept quiet in false security I had done nothing for the +propagation of my book, which had been left to take care of itself; and +thus it was that I, victim of black and wicked jealousy, was shamefully +despoiled of the value of my labors." + +"But," said Minard, making himself the mouthpiece of the thoughts of +the company, "may we not see in that act a manner as ingenious as it was +delicate to--" + +"To give me alms! is that what you mean?" interrupted the old man, with +a roar that made Mademoiselle Minard jump in her chair; "to humiliate +me, dishonor me--me, his old professor! Am I in need of charity? Has +Picot (Nepomucene), to whom his wife brought a dowry of one hundred +thousand francs, ever stretched out his palm to any one? But in these +days nothing is respected. Old fellows, as they call us, our religion +and our good faith is taken advantage of so that these youths may say +to the public: 'Old drivellers, don't you see now they are good for +nothing? It needs _us_, the young generation, _us_, the moderns, _us_, +Young France, to bring them up on a bottle.' Young greenhorn! let me see +_you_ try to feed _me_! Old drivellers know more in their little finger +than you in your whole brain, and you'll never be worth us, paltry +little intriguer that you are! However, I know my day of vengeance will +come; that young Phellion can't help ending badly; what he did to-day, +reading a statement to the Academy, under my name, was forgery, forgery! +and the law will send him to the galleys for that." + +"True," said Colleville, "forgery of a public star." + +Brigitte, who quaked for her glasses, and whose nerves were exacerbated +by the monstrous consumption of cakes and wine, now gave the signal to +return to the salon. Besides, she had heard the door-bell ring several +times, announcing the arrival of guests for the evening. The question +then was how to transplant the professor, and Colleville politely +offered him his arm. + +"No, monsieur," he said, "you must allow me to stay where I am. I am +not dressed for a party, and besides, a strong light hurts my eyes. +Moreover, I don't choose to give myself as a spectacle; it will be +best that my interview with Felix Phellion should take place between +'four-eyes,' as they say." + +"Well, let him alone, then," said Brigitte to Colleville. + +No one insisted,--the old man having, unconsciously, pretty nigh +discrowned himself in the opinion of the company. But before leaving, +the careful housewife removed everything that was at all fragile from +his reach; then, by way of a slight attention, she said:-- + +"Shall I send you some coffee?" + +"I'll take it, madame," responded pere Picot, "and some cognac with it." + +"Oh! parbleu! he takes everything," said Brigitte to the male domestic, +and she told the latter to keep an eye on the old madman. + +When Brigitte returned to the salon she found that the Abbe Gondrin had +become the centre of a great circle formed by nearly the whole company, +and as she approached, she heard him say:-- + +"I thank Heaven for bestowing upon me such a pleasure. I have never felt +an emotion like that aroused by the scene we have just witnessed; even +the rather burlesque form of this confidence, which was certainly very +artless, for it was quite involuntary, only adds to the honor of the +surprising generosity it revealed. Placed as I am by my ministry in +the way of knowing of many charities, and often either the witness or +intermediary of good actions, I think I never in my life have met with +a more touching or a more ingenious devotion. To keep the left hand +ignorant of what the right hand does is a great step in Christianity; +but to go so far as to rob one's self of one's own fame to benefit +another under such conditions is the gospel applied in its highest +precepts; it is being more than a Sister of Charity; it is doing the +work of an apostle of beneficence. How I should like to know that noble +young man, and shake him by the hand." + +With her arm slipped through that of her godmother, Celeste was standing +very near the priest, her ears intent upon his words, her arm pressing +tighter and tighter that of Madame Thuillier, as the abbe analyzed the +generous action of Felix Phellion, until at last she whispered under her +breath:-- + +"You hear, godmother, you hear!" + +To destroy the inevitable effect which this hearty praise would surely +have on Celeste, Thuillier hastened to say:-- + +"Unfortunately, Monsieur l'abbe, the young man of whom you speak so +warmly is not altogether unknown to you. I have had occasion to tell you +about him, and to regret that it was not possible to follow out +certain plans which we once entertained for him; I allude to the very +compromising independence he affects in his religious opinions." + +"Ah! is that the young man?" said the abbe; "you surprise me much; I +must say such an idea would never have crossed my mind." + +"You will see him presently, Monsieur l'abbe," said la Peyrade, joining +in the conversation, "and if you question him on certain grounds you +will have no difficulty in discovering the ravages that a love of +science can commit in the most gifted souls." + +"I am afraid I shall not see him," said the abbe, "as my black gown +would be out of place in the midst of the more earthly gaiety that will +soon fill this salon. But I know, Monsieur de la Peyrade, that you are a +man of sincerely pious convictions, and as, without any doubt, you feel +as much interest in the young man's welfare as I do myself, I shall say +to you in parting: Do not be uneasy about him; sooner or later, such +choice souls come back to us, and if the return of these prodigals +should be long delayed I should not fear, on seeing them go to God, that +His infinite mercy would fail them." + +So saying, the abbe looked about to find his hat, and proceeded to slip +quietly away. + +Suddenly a fearful uproar was heard. Rushing into the dining-room, +whence came a sound of furniture overturned and glasses breaking, +Brigitte found Colleville occupied in adjusting his cravat and looking +himself over to be sure that his coat, cruelly pulled awry, bore no +signs of being actually torn. + +"What is the matter?" cried Brigitte. + +"It is that old idiot," replied Colleville, "who is in a fury. I came +to take my coffee with him, just to keep him company, and he took a +joke amiss, and collared me, and knocked over two chairs and a tray of +glasses because Josephine didn't get out of his way in time." + +"It is all because you've been teasing him," said Brigitte, crossly; +"why couldn't you stay in the salon instead of coming here to play your +jokes, as you call them? You think you are still in the orchestra of the +Opera-Comique." + +This sharp rebuke delivered, Brigitte, like the resolute woman that she +was, saw that she absolutely must get rid of the ferocious old man +who threatened her household with flames and blood. Accordingly, she +approached pere Picot, who was tranquilly engaged in burning brandy in +his saucer. + +"Monsieur," she said, at the top of her lungs, as if she were speaking +to a deaf person (evidently thinking that a blind one ought to be +treated in the same manner), "I have come to tell you something that +may annoy you. Monsieur and Madame Phellion have just arrived, and they +inform me that their son, Monsieur Felix, is not coming. He has a cold +and a sore-throat." + +"Then he got it this afternoon reading that lecture," cried the +professor, joyfully. "That's justice!--Madame, where do you get your +brandy?" + +"Why, at my grocer's," replied Brigitte, taken aback by the question. + +"Well, madame, I ought to tell you that in a house where one can drink +such excellent champagne, which reminds me of that we used to quaff at +the table of Monsieur de Fontanes, grand-master of the University, it is +shameful to keep such brandy. I tell you, with the frankness I put into +everything, that it is good only to wash your horses' feet, and if I had +not the resource of burning it--" + +"He is the devil in person," thought Brigitte; "not a word of excuse +about all that glass, but he must needs fall foul of my brandy +too!--Monsieur," she resumed, in the same raised diapason, "as Monsieur +Felix is not coming, don't you think your family will be uneasy at your +absence?" + +"Family? I haven't any, madame, owing to the fact that they want to make +me out a lunatic. But I have a housekeeper, Madame Lambert, and I dare +say she will be surprised not to see me home by this time. I think I had +better go now; if I stay later, the scene might be more violent. But +I must own that in this strange quarter I am not sure if I can find my +way." + +"Then take a carriage." + +"Carriage here, carriage there, indeed! my spiteful relations wouldn't +lose the chance of calling me a spendthrift." + +"I have an important message to send into your quarter," said Brigitte, +seeing she must resolve to make the sacrifice, "and I have just told +my porter to take a cab and attend to it. If you would like to take +advantage of that convenience--" + +"I accept it, madame," said the old professor, rising; "and, if it +comes to the worst, I hope you will testify before the judge that I was +niggardly about a cab." + +"Henri," said Brigitte to the man-servant, "take monsieur down to the +porter and tell him to do the errand I told him about just now, and to +take monsieur to his own door, and be very careful of him." + +"Careful of him!" echoed the old man. "Do you take me for a trunk, +madame, or a bit of cracked china?" + +Seeing that she had got her man fairly to the door, Brigitte allowed +herself to turn upon him. + +"What I say, monsieur, is for your good. You must allow me to observe +that you have not an agreeable nature." + +"Careful of him! careful of him!" repeated the old man. "Don't you +know, madame, that by the use of such words you may get people put +into lunatic asylums? However, I will not reply rudely to the polite +hospitality I have received,--all the more because, I think, I have put +Monsieur Felix, who missed me intentionally, in his right place." + +"Go, go, go, you old brute!" cried Brigitte, slamming the door behind +him. + +Before returning to the salon she was obliged to drink a whole glassful +of water, the restraint she had been forced to put upon herself in order +to get rid of this troublesome guest having, to use her own expression, +"put her all about." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE MAN WHO THINKS THE STAR TOO BRIGHT + +The next morning Minard paid a visit to Phellion in his study. The great +citizen and his son Felix were at that moment engaged in a conversation +which seemed to have some unusual interest for them. + +"My dear Felix," cried the mayor of the eleventh arrondissement, +offering his hand warmly to the young professor, "it is you who bring me +here this morning; I have come to offer you my congratulations." + +"What has occurred?" asked Phellion. "Have the Thuilliers--" + +"It has nothing to do with the Thuilliers," interrupted the mayor. +"But," he added, looking hard at Felix, "can that sly fellow have +concealed the thing even from you?" + +"I do not think," said Phellion, "that ever, in his life, has my son +concealed a thing from me." + +"Then you know about the sublime astronomical discovery which he +communicated to the Academy of Sciences yesterday?" + +"Your kindness for me, Monsieur le maire," said Felix, hastily, "has led +you astray; I was only the reader of the communication." + +"Oh! let me alone!" said Minard; "reader, indeed! I know all about it." + +"But see," said Felix, offering Minard the "Constitutionnel," "here's +the paper; not only does it announce that Monsieur Picot is the maker +of the discovery, but it mentions the rewards which, without losing a +moment, the government has bestowed upon him." + +"Felix is right," said Phellion; "that journal is to be trusted. On this +occasion I think the government has acted very properly." + +"But, my dear commander, I repeat to you that the truth of the affair +has got wind, and your son is shown to be a most admirable fellow. To +put his own discovery to the credit of his old professor so as to obtain +for him the recognition and favor of the authorities--upon my word, in +all antiquity I don't know a finer trait!" + +"Felix!" said Phellion, beginning to show some emotion, "these immense +labors to which you have devoted so much time of late, these continual +visits to the Observatory--" + +"But, father," interrupted Felix, "Monsieur Minard has been +misinformed." + +"Misinformed!" cried Minard, "when I know the whole affair from Monsieur +Picot himself!" + +At this argument, stated in a way to leave no possible doubt, the truth +began to dawn upon Phellion. + +"Felix, my son!" he said, rising to embrace him. + +But he was obliged to sit down again; his legs refused to bear his +weight; he turned pale; and that nature, ordinarily so impassible, +seemed about to give way under the shock of this happiness. + +"My God!" said Felix, terrified, "he is ill; ring the bell, I entreat +you, Monsieur Minard." + +And he ran to the old man, loosened his cravat and unfastened the collar +of his shirt, striking him in the palms of his hands. But the sudden +faintness was but momentary; almost immediately himself again, Phellion +gathered his son to his heart, and holding him long in his embrace, he +said, in a voice broken by the tears that came to put an end to this +shock of joy:-- + +"Felix, my noble son! so great in heart, so great in mind!" + +The bell had been rung by Minard with magisterial force, and with such +an accent that the whole household was alarmed, and came running in. + +"It is nothing, it is nothing," said Phellion to the servants, sending +them away. But almost at the same moment, seeing his wife, who now +entered the room, he resumed his habitual solemnity. + +"Madame Phellion," he said, pointing to Felix, "how many years is it +since you brought that young man into the world?" + +Madame Phellion, bewildered by the question, hesitated a moment, and +then said:-- + +"Twenty-five years next January." + +"Have you not thought, until now, that God had amply granted your +maternal desires by making this child of your womb an honest man, a +pious son, and by gifting him for mathematics, that Science of sciences, +with an aptitude sufficiently remarkable?" + +"I have," said Madame Phellion, understanding less and less what her +husband was coming to. + +"Well," continued Phellion, "you owe to God an additional thanksgiving, +for He has granted that you be the mother of a man of genius; his toil, +which lately we rebuked, and which made us fear for the reason of our +child, was the way--the rough and jagged way--by which men come to +fame." + +"Ah ca!" cried Madame Phellion, "can't you stop coming yourself to an +explanation of what you mean, and get there?" + +"Your son," said Minard, cautious this time in measuring the joy he was +about to bestow, fearing another fainting-fit of happiness, "has just +made a very important scientific discovery." + +"Is it true?" said Madame Phellion, going up to Felix, and taking him by +both hands as she looked at him lovingly. + +"When I say important," continued Minard, "I am only sparing your +maternal emotions; it is, in truth, a sublime, a dazzling discovery. +He is only twenty-five years old, but his name, from henceforth, is +immortal." + +"And this is the man," said Madame Phellion, half beside herself, and +kissing Felix with effusion, "to whom that la Peyrade is preferred!" + +"No, not preferred, madame," said Minard, "for the Thuilliers are not +the dupes of that adventurer. But he has made himself necessary to them. +Thuillier fancies that without la Peyrade he could not be elected; the +election is still doubtful, and they are sacrificing everything to it." + +"But isn't it odious," cried Madame Phellion, "to consider such +interests before the happiness of their child!" + +"Ah!" said Minard, "but Celeste is not their child, only their adopted +daughter." + +"Brigitte's, if you like," said Madame Phellion; "but as for +Thuillier--" + +"My good wife," said Phellion, "no censoriousness. The good God has just +sent us a great consolation; and, indeed, though certainly far advanced, +this marriage, about which I regret to say Felix does not behave with +all the philosophy I could desire, may still not take place." + +Seeing that Felix shook his head with a look of incredulity, Minard +hastened to say:-- + +"Yes, yes, the commander is quite right. Last night there was a hitch +about signing the contract, and it was not signed. You were not there, +by the bye, and your absence was much remarked upon." + +"We were invited," said Phellion, "and up to the last moment we +hesitated whether to go or not. But, as you will readily see, our +position was a false one; besides, Felix--and I see now it must have +been in consequence of his lecture at the Academy--was completely worn +out with fatigue and emotion. To present ourselves without him would +have seemed very singular; therefore we decided that it would be wisest +and best to absent ourselves." + +The presence of the man whom he had just declared immortal did not deter +Minard, when the occasion was thus made for him, from plunging eagerly +into one of the most precious joys of bourgeois existence, namely, the +retailing of gossip. + +"Just imagine!" he began; "last night at the Thuilliers' the most +extraordinary things took place, one after another." + +First he related the curious episode of pere Picot. Then he told of the +hearty approbation given to Felix's conduct by the Abbe Gondrin, and the +desire the young preacher had expressed to meet him. + +"I'll go and see him," said Felix; "do you know where he lives?" + +"Rue de la Madeleine, No. 8," replied Minard. "But the great event of +the evening was the spectacle of that fine company assembled to listen +to the marriage-contract, and waiting in expectation a whole hour for +the notary, who--never came!" + +"Then the contract is not signed?" said Felix, eagerly. + +"Not even read, my friend. Suddenly some one came in and told Brigitte +that the notary had started for Brussels." + +"Ah! no doubt," said Phellion, naively; "some very important business." + +"Most important," replied Minard; "a little bankruptcy of five hundred +thousand francs which the gentleman leaves behind him." + +"But who is this public officer," demanded Phellion, "so recreant, in +this scandalous manner, to the sacred duties of his calling?" + +"Parbleu! your neighbor in the rue Saint-Jacques, the notary Dupuis." + +"What!" said Madame Phellion, "that pious man? Why, he is churchwarden +of the parish!" + +"Eh! madame, those are the very ones," said Minard, "to run off--there +are many precedents for that." + +"But," said Phellion, "such news cast suddenly among the company must +have fallen like a thunderbolt." + +"Especially," said Minard, "as it was brought in the most unexpected and +singular manner." + +"Tell us all about it," said Madame Phellion, with animation. + +"Well, it seems," continued Minard, "that this canting swindler had +charge of the savings of a number of servants, and that Monsieur de +la Peyrade--because, you see, they are all of a clique, these pious +people--was in the habit of recruiting clients for him in that walk of +life--" + +"I always said so!" interrupted Madame Phellion. "I knew that Provencal +was no good at all." + +"It seems," continued the mayor, "that he had placed in Dupuis's hands +all the savings of an old housekeeper, pious herself, amounting to a +pretty little sum. Faith! I think myself it was worth some trouble. How +much do you suppose it was? Twenty-five thousand francs, if you please! +This housekeeper, whose name is Madame Lambert--" + +"Madame Lambert!" cried Felix; "why, that's Monsieur Picot's +housekeeper; close cap, pale, thin face, speaks always with her eyes +lowered, shows no hair?" + +"That's she," said Minard,--"a regular hypocrite!" + +"Twenty-five thousand francs of savings!" said Felix. "I don't wonder +that poor pere Picot is always out of money." + +"And that someone had to meddle with the sale of his book," said Minard, +slyly. "However that may be, you can imagine that the woman was in a +fine state of mind on hearing of the flight of the notary. Off she +went to la Peyrade's lodgings; there she was told he was dining at +the Thuilliers'; to the Thuilliers' she came, after running about the +streets--for they didn't give her quite the right address--till ten +o'clock; but she got there while the company were still sitting round +waiting for the notary, and gaping at each other, no one knowing what +to say and do, for neither Brigitte nor Thuillier have faculty enough +to get out of such a scrape with credit; and we all missed the voice of +Madame de Godollo and the talent of Madame Phellion." + +"Oh! you are too polite, Monsieur le maire," said Madame Phellion, +bridling. + +"Well, as I said," continued Minard, "at ten o'clock Madame Lambert +reached the antechamber of Monsieur the general-councillor, and there +she asked, in great excitement, to see la Peyrade." + +"That was natural," said Phellion; "he being the intermediary of the +investment, this woman had a right to question him." + +"You should just have seen that Tartuffe!" continued Minard. "He had no +sooner gone out than he returned, bringing the news. As everybody was +longing to get away, there followed a general helter-skelter. And then +what does our man do? He goes back to Madame Lambert, who was crying +that she was ruined! she was lost!--which might very well be true, but +it might also be only a scene arranged between them in presence of the +company, whom the woman's outcries detained in the antechamber. 'Don't +be anxious, my good woman,' said la Peyrade; 'the investment was made at +your request, consequently, I owe you nothing; BUT it is enough that +the money passed through my hands to make my conscience tell me I am +responsible. If the notary's assets are not enough to pay you I will do +so.'" + +"Yes," said Phellion, "that was my idea as you told it; the intermediary +is or ought to be responsible. I should not have hesitated to do as +Monsieur de la Peyrade did, and I do not think that after such conduct +as that he ought to be taxed with Jesuitism." + +"Yes, you would have done so," said Minard, "and so should I, but we +shouldn't have done it with a brass band; we should have paid our money +quietly, like gentlemen. But this electoral manager, how is he going to +pay it? Out of the 'dot'?" + +At this moment the little page entered the room and gave a letter +to Felix Phellion. It came from pere Picot, and was written at his +dictation by Madame Lambert, for which reason we will not reproduce the +orthography. The writing of Madame Lambert was of those that can never +be forgotten when once seen. Recognizing it instantly, Felix hastened to +say:-- + +"A letter from the professor"; then, before breaking the seal, he added, +"Will you permit me, Monsieur le maire." + +"He'll rate you finely," said Minard, laughing. "I never saw anything so +comical as his wrath last night." + +Felix, as he read the letter, smiled to himself. When he had finished +it, he passed it to his father, saying:-- + +"Read it aloud if you like." + +Whereupon, with his solemn voice and manner, Phellion read as follows:-- + + My dear Felix,--I have just received your note; it came in the + nick of time, for I was, as they say, in a fury with you. You tell + me that you were guilty of that abuse of confidence (about which I + intended to write you a piece of my mind) in order to give a + knock-down blow to my relations by proving that a man capable of + making such complicated calculations as your discovery required + was not a man to put in a lunatic asylum or drag before a + judiciary council. That argument pleases me, and it makes such a + good answer to the infamous proceedings of my relations that I + praise you for having had the idea. But you sold it to me, that + argument, pretty dear when you put me in company with a star, for + you know very well _that_ propinquity wouldn't please me at all. It + is not at my age, and after solving the great problem of perpetual + motion, that a man could take up with such rubbish as that,--good + only for boys and greenhorns like you; and that is what I have + taken the liberty this morning to go and tell the minister of + public instruction, by whom I must say I was received with the + most perfect urbanity. I asked him to see whether, as he had made + a mistake and sent them to the wrong address, he could not take + back his cross and his pension,--though to be sure, as I told him, + I deserved them for other things. + + "The government," he replied, "is not in the habit of making + mistakes; what it does is always properly done, and it never + annuls an ordinance signed by the hand of his Majesty. Your great + labors have deserved the two favors the King has granted you; it + is a long-standing debt, which I am happy to pay off in his name." + + "But Felix?" I said; "because after all for a young man it is not + such a bad discovery." + + "Monsieur Felix Phellion," replied the minister, "will receive in + the course of the day his appointment to the rank of Chevalier of + the Legion of honor; I will have it signed this morning by the + king. Moreover, there is a vacant place at the Academy of + Sciences, and if you are not a candidate for it--" + + "I, in the Academy!" I interrupted, with the frankness of speech + you know I always use; "I execrate academies; they are stiflers, + extinguishers, assemblages of sloths, idlers, shops with big signs + and nothing to sell inside--" + + "Well, then," said the minister, smiling, "I think that at the + next election Monsieur Felix Phellion will have every chance, and + among those chances I count the influence of the government which + is secured to him." + + There, my poor boy, is all that I have been able to do to reward + your good intentions and to prove to you that I am no longer + angry. I think the relations are going to pull a long face. Come + and talk about it to-day at four o'clock,--for I don't dine after + bedtime, as I saw some people doing last night in a house where I + had occasion to mention your talents in a manner that was very + advantageous to you. Madame Lambert, who does better with a + saucepan than with pen and ink, shall distinguish herself, though + it is Friday, and she never lets me off a fast day. But she has + promised us a fish dinner worthy of an archbishop, with a fine + half-bottle of champagne (doubled if need be) to wash it down. + + +Your old professor and friend, + +Picot (Nepomucene), + +Chevalier of the Legion of honor. + + P.S.--Do you think you could obtain from your respectable mother a + little flask of that old and excellent cognac you once gave me? + Not a drop remains, and yesterday I was forced to drink some stuff + only fit to bathe horses' feet, as I did not hesitate to say to + the beautiful Hebe who served it to me. + + +"Of course he shall have some," said Madame Phellion; "not a flask, but +a gallon." + +"And I," said Minard, "who pique myself on mine, which didn't come from +Brigitte's grocer either, I'll send him several bottles; but don't tell +him who sent them, Monsieur le chevalier, for you never can tell how +that singular being will take things." + +"Wife," said Phellion, suddenly, "get me my black coat and a white +cravat." + +"Where are you going?" asked Madame Phellion. "To the minister, to thank +him?" + +"Bring me, I say, those articles of habiliment. I have an important +visit to make; and Monsieur le maire will, I know, excuse me." + +"I myself must be off," said Minard. "I, too, have important business, +though it isn't about a star." + +Questioned in vain by Felix and his wife, Phellion completed his attire +with a pair of white gloves, sent for a carriage, and, at the end of +half an hour, entered the presence of Brigitte, whom he found presiding +over the careful putting away of the china, glass, and silver which +had performed their several functions the night before. Leaving these +housekeeping details, she received her visitor. + +"Well, papa Phellion," she said, when they were both seated in the +salon, "you broke your word yesterday; you were luckier than the rest. +Do you know what a trick that notary played us?" + +"I know all," said Phellion; "and it is the check thus unexpectedly +given to the execution of your plans that I shall take for the text of +an important conversation which I desire to have with you. Sometimes +Providence would seem to take pleasure in counteracting our best-laid +schemes; sometimes, also, by means of the obstacles it raises in our +path, it seems to intend to indicate that we are bearing too far to the +right or to the left, and should pause to reflect upon our way." + +"Providence!" said Brigitte the strong-minded,--"Providence has +something else to do than to look after us." + +"That is one opinion," said Phellion; "but I myself am accustomed to +see its decrees in the little as well as the great things of life; and +certainly, if it had allowed the fulfilment of your engagements with +Monsieur de la Peyrade to be even partially begun yesterday, you would +not have seen me here to-day." + +"Then," said Brigitte, "do you think that by default of a notary the +marriage will not take place? They do say that for want of a monk the +abbey won't come to a standstill." + +"Dear lady," said the great citizen, "you will do me the justice to +feel that neither I, nor my wife, have ever attempted to influence your +decision; we have allowed our young people to love each other without +much consideration as to where that attachment would lead--" + +"It led to upsetting their minds," said Brigitte; "that's what love is, +and that's why I deprived myself of it." + +"What you say is, indeed, true of my unfortunate son," resumed Phellion; +"for, notwithstanding the noble distractions he has endeavored to +give to his sorrow, he is to-day so miserably overcome by it that this +morning, in spite of the glorious success he has just obtained, he was +speaking to me of undertaking a voyage of circumnavigation around the +globe,--a rash enterprise which would detain him from his native land at +least three years, if, indeed, he escaped the dangers of so prolonged a +journey." + +"Well," said Brigitte, "it isn't a bad idea; he'll return consoled, +having discovered three or four more new stars." + +"His present discovery suffices," said Phellion, with double his +ordinary gravity, "and it is under the auspices of that triumph, which +has placed his name at so great a height in the scientific world, that I +have the assurance to say to you, point-blank: Mademoiselle, I have come +to ask you, on behalf of my son, who loves as he is beloved, for the +hand in marriage of Mademoiselle Celeste Colleville." + +"But, my dear man," replied Brigitte, "it is too late; remember that we +are _diametrically_ engaged to la Peyrade." + +"It is never, they say, too late to do well, and yesterday it would have +been in my judgment too early. My son, having to offer an equivalent for +a fortune, could not say to you until to-day: 'Though Celeste, by your +generosity has a "dot" which mine is far from equalling, yet I have +the honor to be a member of the Royal order of the Legion of honor, +and shortly, according to appearance, I shall be a member of the Royal +Academy of Sciences, one of the five branches of the Institute.'" + +"Certainly," said Brigitte; "Felix is getting to be a very pretty match, +but we have passed our word to la Peyrade; the banns are published +at the mayor's office, and unless something extraordinary happens the +contract will be signed. La Peyrade is very busy about Thuillier's +election, which he has now got into good shape; we have capital engaged +with him in the affair of this newspaper; and it would be impossible to +go back on our promise, even if we wished to do so." + +"So," said Phellion, "in one of the rare occasions of life when reason +and inclination blend together, you think you must be guided solely +by the question of material interests. Celeste, as we know, has no +inclination for Monsieur de la Peyrade. Brought up with Felix--" + +"Brought up with Felix!" interrupted Brigitte. "She was given a period +of time to choose between Monsieur de la Peyrade and your son,--that's +how we coerce her, if you please,--and she would not take Monsieur +Felix, whose atheism is too well known." + +"You are mistaken, mademoiselle, my son is not an atheist; for Voltaire +himself doubted if there could be atheists; and no later than yesterday, +in this house, an ecclesiastic, as admirable for his talents as for +his virtues, after making a magnificent eulogy of my son, expressed the +desire to know him." + +"Parbleu! yes, to convert him," said Brigitte. "But as for this +marriage, I am sorry to tell you that the mustard is made too late for +the dinner; Thuillier will never renounce his la Peyrade." + +"Mademoiselle," said Phellion, rising, "I feel no humiliation for the +useless step I have this day taken; I do not even ask you to keep it +secret, for I shall myself mention it to our friends and acquaintances." + +"Tell it to whom you like, my good man," replied Brigitte, +acrimoniously. "Because your son has discovered a star,--if, indeed, he +did discover it, and not that old fool the government decorated--do you +expect him to marry a daughter of the King of the French?" + +"Enough," said Phellion, "we will say no more. I might answer that, +without depreciating the Thuilliers, the Orleans family seems to me +more distinguished; but I do not like to introduce acerbity into the +conversation, and therefore, begging you to receive the assurance of my +humble respects, I retire." + +So saying, he made his exit majestically, and left Brigitte with the +arrow of his comparison, discharged after the manner of the Parthian +"in extremis," sticking in her mind, and she herself in a temper all the +more savage because already, the evening before, Madame Thuillier, after +the guests were gone, had the incredible audacity to say something in +favor of Felix. Needless to relate that the poor helot was roughly put +down and told to mind her own business. But this attempt at a will of +her own in her sister-in-law had already put the old maid in a vile +humor, and Phellion, coming to reopen the subject, exasperated her. +Josephine, the cook, and the "male domestic," received the after-clap of +the scene which had just taken place. Brigitte found that in her absence +everything had been done wrong, and putting her own hand to the work, +she hoisted herself on a chair, at the risk of her neck, to reach the +upper shelves of the closet, where her choicest china, for gala days, +was carefully kept under lock and key. + +This day, which for Brigitte began so ill, was, beyond all gainsaying, +one of the stormiest and most portentous of this narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. A STORMY DAY + +As an exact historian, we must go back and begin the day at six in the +morning, when we can see Madame Thuillier going to the Madeleine to hear +the mass that the Abbe Gondrin was in the habit of saying at that hour, +and afterwards approaching the holy table,--a viaticum which pious souls +never fail to give themselves when it is in their minds to accomplish +some great resolution. + +About mid-day the abbe received a visit in his own home from Madame +Thuillier and Celeste. The poor child wanted a little development of +the words by which the priest had given security, the evening before, in +Brigitte's salon, for the eternal welfare of Felix Phellion. It seemed +strange to the mind of this girl-theologian that, without practising +religion, a soul could be received into grace by the divine justice; for +surely the anathema is clear: Out of the Church there is no salvation. + +"My dear child," said the Abbe Gondrin, "learn to understand that saying +which seems to you so inexplicable. It is more a saying of thanksgiving +for those who have the happiness to live within the pale of our holy +mother the Church than a malediction upon those who have the misfortune +to live apart from her. God sees to the depths of all hearts; He knows +His elect; and so great is the treasure of His goodness that to none is +it given to limit its riches and its munificence. Who shall dare to +say to God: Thou wilt be generous and munificent so far and no farther. +Jesus Christ forgave the woman in adultery, and on the cross He promised +heaven to a thief, in order to prove to us that He deals with men, not +according to human sentiments, but according to _his_ wisdom and _his_ +mercy. He who thinks himself a Christian may be in the eyes of God an +idolator; and another who is thought a pagan may, by his feelings +and his actions be, without his own knowledge, a Christian. Our holy +religion has this that is divine about it; all grandeur, all heroism are +but the practice of its precepts. I was saying yesterday to Monsieur de +la Peyrade that pure souls must be, in course of time, its inevitable +conquest. It is all-important to give them their just credit; that is a +confidence which returns great dividends; and, besides, charity commands +it." + +"Ah! my God!" cried Celeste, "to learn that too late! I, who could have +chosen between Felix and Monsieur de la Peyrade, and did not dare to +follow the ideas of my heart! Oh! Monsieur l'abbe, couldn't you speak to +my mother? Your advice is always listened to." + +"Impossible, my dear child," replied the vicar. "If I had the direction +of Madame Colleville's conscience I might perhaps say a word, but we are +so often accused of meddling imprudently in family matters! Be sure that +my intervention here, without authority or right, would do you more harm +than good. It is for you and for those who love you," he added, giving a +look to Madame Thuillier, "to see if these arrangements, already so far +advanced, could be changed in the direction of your wishes." + +It was written that the poor child was to drink to the dregs the cup she +had herself prepared by her intolerance. As the abbe finished speaking, +his housekeeper came in to ask if he would receive Monsieur Felix +Phellion. Thus, like the Charter of 1830, Madame de Godollo's officious +falsehood was turned into truth. + +"Go this way," he said hastily, showing his two penitents out by a +private corridor. + +Life has such strange encounters that it does sometimes happen that the +same form of proceeding must be used by courtesans and by the men of +God. + +"Monsieur l'abbe," said Felix to the young vicar as soon as they met, "I +have heard of the kind manner in which you were so very good as to +speak of me in Monsieur Thuillier's salon last night, and I should have +hastened to express my gratitude if another interest had not drawn me to +you." + +The Abbe Gondrin passed hastily over the compliments, eager to know in +what way he could be useful to his fellow-man. + +"With an intention that I wish to think kindly," replied Felix, "you +were spoken to yesterday about the state of my soul. Those who read it +so fluently know more than I do about my inner being, for, during the +last few days I have felt strange, inexplicable feelings within me. +Never have I doubted God, but, in contact with that infinitude where he +has permitted my thought to follow the traces of his work I seem to have +gathered a sense of him less vague, more immediate; and this has led +me to ask myself whether an honest and upright life is the only homage +which his omnipotence expects of me. Nevertheless, there are numberless +objections rising in my mind against the worship of which you are the +minister; while sensible of the beauty of its external form in many of +its precepts and practices, I find myself deterred by my reason. I shall +have paid dearly, perhaps by the happiness of my whole life, for the +slowness and want of vigor which I have shown in seeking the solution of +my doubts. I have now decided to search to the bottom of them. No one +so well as you, Monsieur l'abbe, can help me to solve them. I have come +with confidence to lay them before you, to ask you to listen to me, to +answer me, and to tell me by what studies I can pursue the search for +light. It is a cruelly afflicted soul that appeals to you. Is not that a +good ground for the seed of your word?" + +The Abbe Gondrin eagerly protested the joy with which, notwithstanding +his own insufficiency, he would undertake to reply to the scruples of +conscience in the young savant. After asking him for a place in his +friendship, and telling him to come at certain hours for conversation, +he asked him to read, as a first step, the "Thoughts" of Pascal. +A natural affinity, on the side of science, would, he believed, +be established between the spirit of Pascal and that of the young +mathematician. + +While this scene was passing, a scene to which the greatness of the +interests in question and the moral and intellectual elevation of the +personages concerned in it gave a character of grandeur which, like +all reposeful, tranquil aspects, is easier far to comprehend than to +reproduce, another scene, of sharp and bitter discord, that chronic +malady of bourgeois households, where the pettiness of minds and +passions gives open way to it, was taking place in the Thuillier home. + +Mounted upon her chair, her hair in disorder and her face and fingers +dirty, Brigitte, duster in hand, was cleaning the shelves of the closet, +where she was replacing her library of plates, dishes, and sauce-boats, +when Flavie came in and accosted her. + +"Brigitte," she said, "when you have finished what you are about you had +better come down to our apartment, or else I'll send Celeste to you; she +seems to me to be inclined to make trouble." + +"In what way?" asked Brigitte, continuing to dust. + +"I think she and Madame Thuillier went to see the Abbe Gondrin this +morning, and she has been attacking me about Felix Phellion, and talks +of him as if he were a god; from that to refusing to marry la Peyrade is +but a step." + +"Those cursed skull-caps!" said Brigitte; "they meddle in everything! I +didn't want to invite him, but you would insist." + +"Yes," said Flavie, "it was proper." + +"Proper! I despise proprieties!" cried the old maid. "He's a maker of +speeches; he said nothing last night that wasn't objectionable. Send +Celeste to me; I'll settle her." + +At this instant a servant announced to Brigitte the arrival of a clerk +from the office of the new notary chosen, in default of Dupuis, to draw +up the contract. Without considering her disorderly appearance, Brigitte +ordered him to be shown in, but she made him the condescension of +descending from her perch instead of talking from the height of it. + +"Monsieur Thuillier," said the clerk, "came to our office this morning +to explain to the master the clauses of the contract he has been so good +as to entrust to us. But before writing down the stipulations, we are in +the habit of obtaining from the lips of each donor a direct expression +of his or her intentions. In accordance with this rule, Monsieur +Thuillier told us that he gives to the bride the reversion, at his +death, of the house he inhabits, which I presume to be this one?" + +"Yes," said Brigitte, "that is the understanding. As for me, I give +three hundred thousand francs a year in the Three-per-cents, capital and +interest; but the bride is married under the dotal system." + +"That is so," said the clerk, consulting his notes. "Mademoiselle +Brigitte, three thousand francs a year. Now, there is Madame Celeste +Thuillier, wife of Louis-Jerome Thuillier, who gives six thousand in +the Three-per-cents, capital and interest, and six thousand more at her +death." + +"All that is just as if the notary had written it down," said Brigitte; +"but if it is your custom you can see my sister-in-law; they will show +you the way." + +So saying, the old maid ordered the "male domestic" to take the clerk to +Madame Thuillier. + +A moment later the clerk returned, saying there was certainly some +misunderstanding, and that Madame Thuillier declared she had no +intention of making any agreement in favor of the marriage. + +"That's a pretty thing!" cried Brigitte. "Come with me, monsieur." + +Then, like a hurricane, she rushed into Madame Thuillier's chamber; the +latter was pale and trembling. + +"What's this you have told monsieur?--that you give nothing to Celeste's +'dot'?" + +"Yes," said the slave, declaring insurrection, although in a shaking +voice; "my intention is to do nothing." + +"Your intention," said Brigitte, scarlet with anger, "is something new." + +"That is my intention," was all the rebel replied. + +"At least you will give your reasons?" + +"The marriage does not please me." + +"Ha! and since when?" + +"It is not necessary that monsieur should listen to our discussion," +said Madame Thuillier; "it will not appear in the contract." + +"No wonder you are ashamed of it," said Brigitte; "the appearance you +are making is not very flattering to you--Monsieur," she continued, +addressing the clerk, "it is easier, is it not, to mark out passages in +a contract than to add them?" + +The clerk made an affirmative sign. + +"Then put in what you were told to write; later, if madame persists, the +clause can be stricken out." + +The clerk bowed and left the room. + +When the two sisters-in-law were alone together, Brigitte began. + +"Ah ca!" she cried, "have you lost your head? What is this crotchet +you've taken into it?" + +"It is not a crotchet; it is a fixed idea." + +"Which you got from the Abbe Gondrin; you dare not deny that you went to +see him with Celeste." + +"It is true that Celeste and I saw our director this morning, but I did +not open my lips to him about what I intended to do." + +"So, then, it is in your own empty head that this notion sprouted?" + +"Yes. As I told you yesterday, I think Celeste can be more suitably +married, and my intention is not to rob myself for a marriage of which I +disapprove." + +"_You_ disapprove! Upon my word! are we all to take madame's advice?" + +"I know well," replied Madame Thuillier, "that I count for nothing in +this house. So far as I am concerned, I have long accepted my position; +but, when the matter concerns the happiness of a child I regard as my +own--" + +"Parbleu!" cried Brigitte, "you never knew how to have one; for, +certainly, Thuillier--" + +"Sister," said Madame Thuillier, with dignity, "I took the sacrament +this morning, and there are some things I cannot listen to." + +"There's a canting hypocrite for you!" cried Brigitte; "playing the +saint, and bringing trouble into families! And you think to succeed, do +you? Wait till Thuillier comes home, and he'll shake this out of you." + +By calling in the marital authority in support of her own, Brigitte +showed weakness before the unexpected resistance thus made to her +inveterate tyranny. Madame Thuillier's calm words, which became every +moment more resolute, baffled her completely, and she found no resource +but insolence. + +"A drone!" she cried; "a helpless good-for-nothing! who can't even pick +up her own handkerchief! that thing wants to be mistress of this house!" + +"I wish so little to be its mistress," said Madame Thuillier, "that last +night I allowed you to silence me after the first words I said in behalf +of Celeste. But I am mistress of my own property, and as I believe that +Celeste will be wretched in this marriage, I keep it to use as may seem +best to me." + +"Your property, indeed!" said Brigitte, with a sneer. + +"Yes, that which I received from my father and my mother, and which I +brought as my 'dot' to Monsieur Thuillier." + +"And pray who invested it, this property, and made it give you twelve +thousand francs a year?" + +"I have never asked you for any account of it," said Madame Thuillier, +gently. "If it had been lost in the uses you made of it, you would never +have heard a single word from me; but it has prospered, and it is just +that I should have the benefit. It is not for myself that I reserve it." + +"Perhaps not; if this is the course you take, it is not at all sure that +you and I will go out of the same door long." + +"Do you mean that Monsieur Thuillier will send me away? He must have +reasons for doing that, and, thank God! I have been a wife above +reproach." + +"Viper! hypocrite! heartless creature!" cried Brigitte, coming to an end +of her arguments. + +"Sister," said Madame Thuillier, "you are in my apartment--" + +"Am I, you imbecile?" cried the old maid, in a paroxysm of anger. "If I +didn't restrain myself--" + +And she made a gesture both insulting and threatening. + +Madame Thuillier rose to leave the room. + +"No! you shall not go out," cried Brigitte, pushing her down into her +chair; "and till Thuillier comes home and decides what he will do with +you you'll stay locked up here." + +Just as Brigitte, her face on fire, returned to the room where she had +left Madame Colleville, her brother came in. He was radiant. + +"My dear," he said to the Megaera, not observing her fury, "everything +is going on finely; the conspiracy of silence is broken; two papers, +the 'National' and a Carlist journal, have copied articles from us, and +there's a little attack in a ministerial paper." + +"Well, all is not going on finely here," said Brigitte, "and if it +continues, I shall leave the barrack." + +"Whom are you angry with now?" asked Thuillier. + +"With your insolent wife, who has made me a scene; I am trembling all +over." + +"Celeste make you a scene!" said Thuillier; "then it is the very first +time in her life." + +"There's a beginning to everything, and if you don't bring her to +order--" + +"But what was it about--this scene?" + +"About madame's not choosing that la Peyrade should marry her +goddaughter; and out of spite, to prevent the marriage, she refused to +give anything in the contract." + +"Come, be calm," said Thuillier, not disturbed himself, the admission of +the "Echo" into the polemic making another Pangloss of him. "I'll settle +all that." + +"You, Flavie," said Brigitte, when Thuillier had departed to his wife, +"you will do me the pleasure to go down to your own apartment, and tell +Mademoiselle Celeste that I don't choose to see her now, because if she +made me any irritating answer I might box her ears. You'll tell her +that I don't like conspiracies; that she was left at liberty to choose +Monsieur Phellion junior if she wanted him, and she did not want him; +that the matter is now all arranged, and that if she does not wish to +see her 'dot' reduced to what you are able to give her, which isn't as +much as a bank-messenger could carry in his waistcoat pocket--" + +"But, my dear Brigitte," interrupted Flavie, turning upon her at this +impertinence, "you may dispense with reminding us in this harsh way of +our poverty; for, after all, we have never asked you for anything, +and we pay our rent punctually; and as for the 'dot,' Monsieur +Felix Phellion is quite ready to take Celeste with no more than a +bank-messenger could carry in his _bag_." + +And she emphasized the last word by her way of pronouncing it. + +"Ha! so you too are going to meddle in this, are you?" cried Brigitte. +"Very good; go and fetch him, your Felix. I know, my little woman, that +this marriage has never suited you; it IS disagreeable to be nothing +more than a mother to your son-in-law." + +Flavie had recovered the coolness she had lost for an instant, and +without replying to this speech she merely shrugged her shoulders. + +At this moment Thuillier returned; his air of beatitude had deserted +him. + +"My dear Brigitte," he said to his sister, "you have a most excellent +heart, but at times you are so violent--" + +"Ho!" said the old maid, "am I to be arraigned on this side too?" + +"I certainly do not blame you for the cause of the trouble, and I have +just rebuked Celeste for her assumption; but there are proper forms that +must be kept." + +"Forms! what are you talking about? What forms have I neglected?" + +"But, my dear friend, to raise your hand against your sister!" + +"I, raise my hand against that imbecile? What nonsense you talk!" + +"And besides," continued Thuillier, "a woman of Celeste's age can't be +kept in prison." + +"Your wife!--have I put her in prison?" + +"You can't deny it, for I found the door of her room double-locked." + +"Parbleu! all this because in my anger at the infamous things she was +spitting at me I may have turned the key of the door without intending +it." + +"Come, come," said Thuillier, "these are not proper actions for people +of our class." + +"Oh! so it is I who am to blame, is it? Well, my lad, some day you'll +remember this, and we shall see how your household will get along when I +have stopped taking care of it." + +"You'll always take care of it," said Thuillier. "Housekeeping is your +very life; you will be the first to get over this affair." + +"We'll see about that," said Brigitte; "after twenty years of devotion, +to be treated like the lowest of the low!" + +And rushing to the door, which she slammed after her with violence, she +went away. + +Thuillier was not disturbed by this exit. + +"Were you there, Flavie," he asked, "when the scene took place?" + +"No, it happened in Celeste's room. What did she do to her?" + +"What I said,--raised her hand to her and locked her in like a child. +Celeste may certainly be rather dull-minded, but there are limits that +must not be passed." + +"She is not always pleasant, that good Brigitte," said Flavie; "she and +I have just had a little set-to." + +"Oh, well," said Thuillier, "it will all pass off. I want to tell +you, my dear Flavie, what fine success we have had this morning. The +'National' quotes two whole paragraphs of an article in which there were +several sentences of mine." + +Thuillier was again interrupted in the tale of his great political and +literary success,--this time by the entrance of Josephine the cook. + +"Can monsieur tell me where to find the key of the great trunk?" she +said. + +"What do you want with it?" asked Thuillier. + +"Mademoiselle told me to take it to her room." + +"What for?" + +"Mademoiselle must be going to make a journey. She is getting her linen +out of the drawers, and her gowns are on the bed." + +"Another piece of nonsense!" said Thuillier. "Flavie, go and see what +she has in her head." + +"Not I," said Madame Colleville; "go yourself. In her present state of +exasperation she might beat me." + +"And my stupid wife, who must needs raise a fuss about the contract!" +cried Thuillier. "She really must have said something pretty sharp to +turn Brigitte off her hinges like this." + +"Monsieur has not told me where to find the key," persisted Josephine. + +"I don't know anything about it," said Thuillier, crossly; "go and look +for it, or else tell her it is lost." + +"Oh, yes!" said Josephine, "it is likely I'd dare to go and tell her +that." + +Just then the outer door-bell rang. + +"No doubt that's la Peyrade," said Thuillier, in a tone of satisfaction. + +The Provencal appeared a moment later. + +"Faith, my dear friend," cried Thuillier, "it is high time you came; the +house is in revolution, all about you, and it needs your silvery tongue +to bring it back to peace and quietness." + +Then he related to his assistant editor the circumstances of the civil +war which had broken out. + +La Peyrade turned to Madame Colleville. + +"I think," he said, "that under the circumstances in which we now stand +there is no impropriety in my asking for an interview of a few moments +with Mademoiselle Colleville." + +In this the Provencal showed his usual shrewd ability; he saw that in +the mission of pacification thus given to him Celeste Colleville was the +key of the situation. + +"I will send for her, and we will leave you alone together," said +Flavie. + +"My dear Thuillier," said la Peyrade, "you must, without any violence, +let Mademoiselle Celeste know that her consent must be given without +further delay; make her think that this was the purpose for which you +have sent for her; then leave us; I will do the rest." + +The man-servant was sent down to the entresol with orders to tell +Celeste that her godfather wished to speak to her. As soon as she +appeared, Thuillier said, to carry out the programme which had been +dictated to him:-- + +"My dear, your mother has told us things that astonish us. Can it be +true that with your contract almost signed, you have not yet decided to +accept the marriage we have arranged for you?" + +"Godfather," said Celeste, rather surprised at this abrupt summons, "I +think I did not say that to mamma." + +"Did you not just now," said Flavie, "praise Monsieur Felix Phellion to +me in the most extravagant manner?" + +"I spoke of Monsieur Phellion as all the world is speaking of him." + +"Come, come," said Thuillier, with authority, "let us have no +equivocation; do you refuse, yes or no, to marry Monsieur de la +Peyrade?" + +"Dear, good friend," said la Peyrade, intervening, "your way of putting +the question is rather too abrupt, and, in my presence, especially, it +seems to me out of place. In my position as the most interested person, +will you allow me to have an interview with mademoiselle, which, indeed, +has now become necessary? This favor I am sure will not be refused by +Madame Colleville. Under present circumstances, there can surely be +nothing in my request to alarm her maternal prudence." + +"I would certainly yield to it," said Flavie, "if I did not fear that +these discussions might seem to open a question which is irrevocably +decided." + +"But, my dear madame, I have the strongest desire that Mademoiselle +Celeste shall remain, until the very last moment, the mistress of her +own choice. I beg you, therefore, to grant my request." + +"So be it!" said Madame Colleville; "you think yourself very clever, but +if you let that girl twist you round her finger, so much the worse for +you. Come, Thuillier, since we are 'de trop' here." + +As soon as the pair were alone together, la Peyrade drew up a chair for +Celeste, and took one himself, saying:-- + +"You will, I venture to believe, do me the justice to say that until +to-day I have never annoyed you with the expression of my sentiments. I +was aware of the inclinations of your heart, and also of the warnings of +your conscience. I hoped, after a time, to make myself acceptable as a +refuge from those two currents of feeling; but, at the point which we +have now reached, I think it is not either indiscreet or impatient to +ask you to let me know plainly what course you have decided upon." + +"Monsieur," replied Celeste, "as you speak to me so kindly and frankly, +I will tell you, what indeed you know already, that, brought up as I was +with Monsieur Felix Phellion, knowing him far longer than I have known +you, the idea of marrying alarmed me less in regard to him than it would +in regard to others." + +"At one time, I believe," remarked la Peyrade, "you were permitted to +choose him if you wished." + +"Yes, but at that time difficulties grew up between us on religious +ideas." + +"And to-day those difficulties have disappeared?" + +"Nearly," replied Celeste. "I am accustomed to submit to the judgment of +those who are wiser than myself, monsieur, and you heard yesterday the +manner in which the Abbe Gondrin spoke of Monsieur Phellion." + +"God forbid," said la Peyrade, "that I should seek to invalidate +the judgment of so excellent a man; but I venture to say to you, +mademoiselle, that there are great differences among the clergy; some +are thought too stern, some far too indulgent; moreover, the Abbe +Gondrin is more of a preacher than a casuist." + +"But, Monsieur Felix," said Celeste, eagerly, "seems to wish to fulfil +Monsieur l'abbe's hopes of him, for I know that he went to see him this +morning." + +"Ah!" said la Peyrade, with a touch of irony, "so he really decided to +go to Pere Anselme! But, admitting that on the religious side Monsieur +Phellion may now become all that you expect of him, have you reflected, +mademoiselle, on the great event which has just taken place in his +life?" + +"Undoubtedly; and that is not a reason to think less of him." + +"No, but it is a reason why he should think more of himself. For the +modesty which was once the chief charm of his nature, he is likely to +substitute great assumption, and you must remember, mademoiselle, that +he who has discovered one world will want to discover two; you will have +the whole firmament for rival; in short, could you ever be happy with a +man so entirely devoted to science?" + +"You plead your cause with such adroitness," said Celeste, smiling, +"that I think you might be as a lawyer more disquieting than an +astronomer." + +"Mademoiselle," said la Peyrade, "let us speak seriously; there is +another and far more serious aspect to the situation. Do you know that, +at this moment, in this house, and without, I am sure, desiring it, you +are the cause of most distressing and regrettable scenes?" + +"I, monsieur!" said Celeste, in a tone of surprise that was mingled with +fear. + +"Yes, concerning your godmother. Through the extreme affection that she +has for you she seems to have become another woman; for the first time +in her life she has shown a mind of her own. With an energy of will +which comes at times to those who have never expended any, she declares +that she will not make her proposed liberal gift to you in the contract; +and I need not tell you who is the person aimed at in this unexpected +refusal." + +"But, monsieur, I entreat you to believe that I knew nothing of this +idea of my godmother." + +"I know that," said la Peyrade, "and the matter itself would be of small +importance if Mademoiselle Brigitte had not taken this attitude of your +godmother, whom she has always found supple to her will, as a personal +insult to herself. Very painful explanations, approaching at last to +violence, have taken place. Thuillier, placed between the hammer and +the anvil, has been unable to stop the affair; on the contrary, he has, +without intending it, made matters worse, till they have now arrived at +such a point that Mademoiselle Brigitte is packing her trunks to leave +the house." + +"Monsieur! what are you telling me?" cried Celeste, horrified. + +"The truth; and the servants will confirm it to you--for I feel that my +revelations are scarcely believable." + +"But it is impossible! impossible!" said the poor child, whose agitation +increased with every word of the adroit Provencal. "I cannot be the +cause of such dreadful harm." + +"That is, you did not intend to be, for the harm is done; and I pray +Heaven it may not be irremediable." + +"But what am I to do, good God!" cried Celeste, wringing her hands. + +"I should answer, without hesitation, sacrifice yourself, mademoiselle, +if it were not that I should then be forced to play the painful part of +victimizer." + +"Monsieur," said Celeste, "you interpret ill the resistance that I have +made, though, in fact, I have scarcely expressed it. I have certainly +had a preference, but I have never considered myself in the light of +a victim; and whatever it is necessary to do to restore peace in this +house to which I have brought trouble, I shall do it without repugnance, +and even willingly." + +"That would be for me," said la Peyrade, humbly, "more than I could dare +ask for myself; but, for the result which we both seek, I must tell you +frankly that something more is needed. Madame Thuillier has not changed +her nature to instantly change back again on the mere assurance by +others of your compliance. It is necessary that she should hear from +your own lips that you accede to my suit, and that you do so with +eagerness,--assumed, indeed, but sufficiently well assumed to induce her +to believe in it." + +"So be it," said Celeste. "I shall know how to seem smiling and happy. +My godmother, monsieur, has been a mother to me; and for such a mother, +what is there that I would not endure?" + +The position was such, and Celeste betrayed so artlessly the depth and, +at the same time, the absolute determination of her sacrifice, that with +any heart at all la Peyrade would have loathed the part he was playing; +but Celeste, to him, was a means of ascent, and provided the ladder can +hold you and hoist you, who would ever ask if it cared to or not? It was +therefore decided that Celeste should go to her godmother and convince +her of the mistake she had made in supposing an objection to la Peyrade +which Celeste had never intended to make. Madame Thuillier's opposition +overcome, all was once more easy. La Peyrade took upon himself the duty +of making peace between the two sisters-in-law, and we can well imagine +that he was not at a loss for fine phrases with which to assure the +artless girl of the devotion and love which would take from her all +regret for the moral compulsion she had now undergone. + +When Celeste went to her godmother she found her by no means as +difficult to convince as she had expected. To go to the point of +rebellion which Madame Thuillier had actually reached, the poor woman, +who was acting against her instincts and against her nature, had needed +a tension of will that, in her, was almost superhuman. No sooner had she +received the false confidences of her goddaughter than the reaction set +in; the strength failed her to continue in the path she had taken. She +was therefore easily the dupe of the comedy which Celeste's tender heart +was made to play for la Peyrade's benefit. + +The tempest calmed on this side, the barrister found no difficulty in +making Brigitte understand that in quelling the rebellion against her +authority she had gone a little farther than was proper. This authority +being no longer in danger, Brigitte ceased to be incensed with the +sister-in-law she had been on the point of beating, and the quarrel was +settled with a few kind words and a kiss, poor Celeste paying the costs +of war. + +After dinner, which was only a family meal, the notary, to whose office +they were to go on the following day to sign the contract (it being +impossible to give a second edition of the abortive party), made his +appearance. He came, he said, to submit the contract to the parties +interested before engrossing it. This attention was not surprising in +a man who was just entering into business relations with so important a +person as the municipal councillor, whom it was his interest to firmly +secure for a client. + +La Peyrade was far too shrewd to make any objections to the terms of the +contract, which was now read. A few changes requested by Brigitte, which +gave the new notary a high idea of the old maid's business capacity, +showed la Peyrade plainly that more precautions were being taken against +him than were altogether becoming; but he was anxious not to raise +difficulties, and he knew that the meshes of a contract are never so +close that a determined and clever man cannot get through them. The +appointment was then made for the signing of the contract the next day, +at two o'clock, in the notary's office, the family only being present. + +During the rest of the evening, taking advantage of Celeste's pledge +to seem smiling and happy, la Peyrade played, as it were, upon the poor +child, forced her, by a specious exhibition of gratitude and love, to +respond to him on a key that was far, indeed, from the true state of a +heart now wholly filled by Felix. Flavie, seeing the manner in which +la Peyrade put forth his seductions, was reminded of the pains he had +formerly taken to fascinate herself. "The monster!" she said, beneath +her breath. But she was forced to bear the torture with a good grace; la +Peyrade was evidently approved by all, and in the course of the evening +a circumstance came to light, showing a past service done by him to the +house of Thuillier, which brought his influence and his credit to the +highest point. + +Minard was announced. + +"My dear friends," he said, "I have come to make a little revelation +which will greatly surprise you, and will, I think, prove a lesson +to all of us when a question arises as to receiving foreigners in our +homes." + +"What is it?" cried Brigitte, with curiosity. + +"That Hungarian woman you were so delighted with, that Madame Torna, +Comtesse de Godollo--" + +"Well?" exclaimed the old maid. + +"Well," continued Minard, "she was no better than she should be; you +were petting in your house for two months the most impudent of kept +women." + +"Who told you that tale?" asked Brigitte, not willing to admit that she +had fallen into such a snare. + +"Oh, it isn't a tale," said the mayor, eagerly. "I know the thing +myself, 'de visu.'" + +"Dear me! do you frequent such women?" said Brigitte, resuming the +offensive. "That's a pretty thing! what would Zelie say if she knew it?" + +"In the discharge of my duties," said Minard, stiffly, provoked at this +reception of his news, "I have seen _your friend_, Madame de Godollo, in +company with others of her class." + +"How do you know it was she if you only saw her?" demanded Brigitte. + +The wily Provencal was not the man to lose an occasion that fell to him +ready-made. + +"Monsieur le maire is not mistaken," he said, with decision. + +"Tiens! so you know her, too," said Brigitte; "and you let us consort +with such vermin?" + +"No," said la Peyrade, "on the contrary. Without scandal, without saying +a word to any one, I removed her from your house. You remember how +suddenly the woman left it? It was I who compelled her to do so; having +discovered what she was, I gave her two days to leave the premises; +threatening her, in case she hesitated, to tell you all." + +"My dear Theodose," said Thuillier, pressing his hand, "you acted with +as much prudence as decision. This is one more obligation that we owe to +you." + +"You see, mademoiselle," said la Peyrade, addressing Celeste, "the +strange protectress whom a friend of yours selected." + +"Thank God," said Madame Thuillier. "Felix Phellion is above such vile +things." + +"Ah ca! papa Minard, we'll keep quiet about all this; silence is the +word. Will you take a cup of tea?" + +"Willingly," replied Minard. + +"Celeste," said the old maid, "ring for Henri, and tell him to put the +large kettle on the fire." + +Though the visit to the notary was not to be made till two in the +afternoon, Brigitte began early in the morning of the next day what +Thuillier called her _rampage_, a popular term which expresses that +turbulent, nagging, irritating activity which La Fontaine has described +so well in his fable of "The Old Woman and her Servants." Brigitte +declared that if you didn't take time by the forelock no one would be +ready. She prevented Thuillier from going to his office, insisting +that if he once got off she never should see him again; she plagued +Josephine, the cook, about hurrying the breakfast, and in spite of what +had happened the day before she scarcely restrained herself from nagging +at Madame Thuillier, who did not enter, as she thought she should have +done, into her favorite maxim, "Better be early than late." + +Presently down she went to the Collevilles' to make the same +disturbance; and there she put her veto on the costume, far too elegant, +which Flavie meditated wearing, and told Celeste the hat and gown she +wished her to appear in. As for Colleville, who could not, he declared, +stay away all the morning from his official duties, she compelled him +to put on his dress-suit before he went out, made him set his watch by +hers, and warned him that if he was late no one would wait for him. + +The amusing part of it was that Brigitte herself, after driving every +one at the point of the bayonet, came very near being late herself. +Under pretext of aiding others, independently of minding her own +business, which, for worlds, she would never have spared herself, she +had put her fingers and eyes into so many things that they ended by +overwhelming her. However, she ascribed the delay in which she was +almost caught to the hairdresser, whom she had sent for to make, on this +extraordinary occasion, what she called her "part." That artist having, +unadvisedly, dressed her hair in the fashion, he was compelled, after +she had looked at herself in the glass, to do his work over again, and +conform to the usual style of his client, which consisted chiefly in +never being "done" at all, a method that gave her head a general air of +what is vulgarly called "a cross cat." + +About half-past one o'clock la Peyrade, Thuillier, Colleville, Madame +Thuillier, and Celeste were assembled in the salon. Flavie joined them +soon after, fastening her bracelets as she came along to avoid a +rebuff, and having the satisfaction of knowing that she was ready before +Brigitte. As for the latter, already furious at finding herself late, +she had another cause for exasperation. The event of the day seemed +to require a corset, a refinement which she usually discarded. The +unfortunate maid, whose duty it was to lace her and to discover the +exact point to which she was willing to be drawn in, alone knew the +terrors and storms of a corset day. + +"I'd rather," said the girl, "lace the obelisk; I know it would lend +itself to being laced better than she does; and, anyhow, it couldn't be +bad-tongued." + +While the party in the salon were amusing themselves, under their +breaths, at the "flagrante delicto" of unpunctuality in which Queen +Elizabeth was caught, the porter entered, and gave to Thuillier a sealed +package, addressed to "Monsieur Thuillier, director of the 'Echo de la +Bievre.' _In haste_." + +Thuillier opened the envelope, and found within a copy of a ministerial +journal which had hitherto shown itself discourteous to the new paper +by refusing the _exchange_ which all periodicals usually make very +willingly with one another. + +Puzzled by the fact of this missive being sent to his own house and not +to the office of the "Echo," Thuillier hastily opened the sheet, and +read, with what emotion the reader may conceive, the following article, +commended to his notice by a circle in red ink:-- + + An obscure organ was about to expire in its native shade when an + ambitious person of recent date bethought himself of galvanizing + it. His object was to make it a foothold by which to climb from + municipal functions to the coveted position of deputy. Happily + this object, having come to the surface, will end in failure. + Electors will certainly not be inveigled by so wily a manner of + advancing self-interests; and when the proper time arrives, if + ridicule has not already done justice on this absurd candidacy, we + shall ourselves prove to the pretender that to aspire to the + distinguished honor of representing the nation something more is + required than the money to buy a paper and pay an underling to put + into good French the horrible diction of his articles and + pamphlets. We confine ourselves to-day to this limited notice, but + our readers may be sure that we shall keep them informed about + this electoral comedy, if indeed the parties concerned have the + melancholy courage to go on with it. + +Thuillier read twice over this sudden declaration of war, which was far +from leaving him calm and impassible; then, taking la Peyrade aside, he +said to him:-- + +"Read that; it is serious." + +"Well?" said la Peyrade, after reading the article. + +"Well? how well?" exclaimed Thuillier. + +"I mean, what do you find so serious in that?" + +"What do I find so serious?" repeated Thuillier. "I don't think anything +could be more insulting to me." + +"You can't doubt," said la Peyrade, "that the virtuous Cerizet is at the +bottom of it; he has thrown this firecracker between your legs by way of +revenge." + +"Cerizet, or anybody else who wrote that diatribe is an insolent +fellow," cried Thuillier, getting angry, "and the matter shall not rest +there." + +"For my part," said la Peyrade, "I advise you to make no reply. You are +not named; though, of course, the attack is aimed at you. But you ought +to let our adversary commit himself farther; when the right moment +comes, we'll rap him over the knuckles." + +"No!" said Thuillier, "I won't stay quiet one minute under such an +insult." + +"The devil!" said the barrister; "what a sensitive epidermis! Do +reflect, my dear fellow, that you have made yourself a candidate and a +journalist, and therefore you really must harden yourself better than +that." + +"My good friend, it is a principle of mine not to let anybody step on +my toes. Besides, they say themselves they are going on with this thing. +Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to cut short such impertinence." + +"But do consider," said la Peyrade. "Certainly in journalism, as in +candidacy, a hot temper has its uses; a man makes himself respected, and +stops attacks--" + +"Just so," said Thuillier, "'principiis obsta.' Not to-day, because we +haven't the time, but to-morrow I shall carry that paper into court." + +"Into court!" echoed la Peyrade; "you surely wouldn't go to law in such +a matter as this? In the first place, there is nothing to proceed upon; +you are not named nor the paper either, and, besides, it is a pitiable +business, going to law; you'll look like a boy who has been fighting, +and got the worst of it, and runs to complain to his mamma. Now if you +had said that you meant to make Fleury intervene in the matter, I could +understand that--though the affair is rather personal to you, and it +might be difficult to make it seem--" + +"Ah ca!" said Thuillier, "do you suppose I am going to commit myself +with a Cerizet or any other newspaper bully? I pique myself, my +dear fellow, on possessing civic courage, which does not give in to +prejudices, and which, instead of taking justice into its own hands, has +recourse to the means of defence that are provided by law. Besides, with +the legal authority the Court of Cassation now has over duelling, I have +no desire to put myself in the way of being expatriated, or spending two +or three years in prison." + +"Well," said la Peyrade, "we'll talk it over later; here's your sister, +and she would think everything lost if this little matter reached her +ears." + +When Brigitte appeared Colleville shouted "Full!" and proceeded to sing +the chorus of "La Parisienne." + +"Heavens! Colleville, how vulgar you are!" cried the tardy one, +hastening to cast a stone in the other's garden to avoid the throwing +of one into hers. "Well, are you all ready?" she added, arranging her +mantle before a mirror. "What o'clock is it? it won't do to get there +before the time, like provincials." + +"Ten minutes to two," said Colleville; "I go by the Tuileries." + +"Well, then we are just right," said Brigitte; "it will take about that +time to get to the rue Caumartin. Josephine," she cried, going to the +door of the salon, "we'll dine at six, therefore be sure you put the +turkey to roast at the right time, and mind you don't burn it, as you +did the other day. Bless me! who's that?" and with a hasty motion she +shut the door, which she had been holding open. "What a nuisance! I hope +Henri will have the sense to tell him we are out." + +Not at all; Henri came in to say that an old gentleman, with a very +genteel air, had asked to be received on urgent business. + +"Why didn't you say we were all out?" + +"That's what I should have done if mademoiselle had not opened the +door of the salon so that the gentleman could see the whole family +assembled." + +"Oh, yes!" said Brigitte, "you are never in the wrong, are you?" + +"What am I to say to him?" asked the man. + +"Say," replied Thuillier, "that I am very sorry not to be able to +receive him, but I am expected at a notary's office about a marriage +contract; but that if he could return two hours hence--" + +"I have told him all that," said Henri, "and he answered that that +contract was precisely what he had come about, and that his business +concerned you more than himself." + +"You had better go and see him, Thuillier, and get rid of him in +double-quick," said Brigitte; "that's shorter than talking to Henri, who +is always an orator." + +If la Peyrade had been consulted he might not have joined in that +advice, for he had had more than one specimen of the spokes some occult +influence was putting into the wheels of his marriage, and the present +visit seemed to him ominous. + +"Show him into my study," said Thuillier, following his sister's advice; +and, opening the door which led from the salon to the study, he went to +receive his importunate visitor. + +Brigitte immediately applied her eye to the keyhole. + +"Goodness!" she exclaimed, "there's my imbecile of a Thuillier offering +him a chair! and away in a corner, too, where I can't hear a word they +say!" + +La Peyrade was walking about the room with an inward agitation covered +by an appearance of great indifference. He even went up to the three +women, and made a few lover-like speeches to Celeste, who received them +with a smiling, happy air in keeping with the role she was playing. As +for Colleville, he was killing the time by composing an anagram on the +six words of "le journal 'l'Echo de la Bievre,'" for which he had found +the following version, little reassuring (as far as it went) for the +prospects of that newspaper: "O d'Echo, jarni! la bevue reell"--but as +the final "e" was lacking to complete the last word, the work was not +altogether as satisfactory as it should have been. + +"He's taking snuff!" said Brigitte, her eye still glued to the keyhole; +"his gold snuff-box beats Minard's--though, perhaps, it is only +silver-gilt," she added, reflectively. "He's doing the talking, and +Thuillier is sitting there listening to him like a buzzard. I shall go +in and tell them they can't keep ladies waiting that way." + +But just as she put her hand on the lock she heard Thuillier's visitor +raise his voice, and that made her look through the keyhole again. + +"He is standing up; he's going," she said with satisfaction. + +But a moment later she saw she had made a mistake; the little old man +had only left his chair to walk up and down the room and continue the +conversation with greater freedom. + +"My gracious! I shall certainly go in," she said, "and tell Thuillier we +are going without him, and he can follow us." + +So saying, the old maid gave two little sharp and very imperious raps on +the door, after which she resolutely entered the study. + +La Peyrade, goaded by anxiety, had the bad taste to look through +the keyhole himself at what was happening. Instantly he thought +he recognized the small old man he had seen under the name of "the +commander" on that memorable morning when he had waited for Madame de +Godollo. Then he saw Thuillier addressing his sister with impatience +and with gestures of authority altogether out of his usual habits of +deference and submission. + +"It seems," said Brigitte, re-entering the salon, "that Thuillier finds +some great interest in that creature's talk, for he ordered me bluntly +to leave them, though the little old fellow did say, rather civilly, +that they would soon be through. But Jerome added: '_Mind_, you are to +wait for me.' Really, since he has taken to making newspapers I don't +know him; he has set up an air as if he were leading the world with his +wand." + +"I am very much afraid he is being entangled by some adventurer," said +la Peyrade. "I am pretty sure I saw that old man at Madame de Godollo's +the day I went to warn her off the premises; he must be of the same +stripe." + +"Why didn't you tell me?" cried Brigitte. "I'd have asked him for news +of the countess, and let him see we knew what we knew of his Hungarian." + +Just then the sound of moving chairs was heard, and Brigitte darted back +to the keyhole. + +"Yes," she said, "he is really going, and Thuillier is bowing him out +respectfully!" + +As Thuillier did not immediately return, Colleville had time to go to +the window and exclaim at seeing the little old gentleman driving away +in an elegant coupe, of which the reader has already heard. + +"The deuce!" cried Colleville; "what an ornate livery! If he is an +adventurer he is a number one." + +At last Thuillier re-entered the room, his face full of care, his manner +extremely grave. + +"My dear la Peyrade," he said, "you did not tell us that another +proposal of marriage had been seriously considered by you." + +"Yes, I did; I told you that a very rich heiress had been offered to +me, but that my inclinations were here, and that I had not given any +encouragement to the affair; consequently, of course, there was no +serious engagement." + +"Well, I think you do wrong to treat that proposal so lightly." + +"What! do you mean to say, in presence of these ladies, that you blame +me for remaining faithful to my first desires and our old engagement?" + +"My friend, the conversation that I have just had has been a most +instructive one to me; and when you know what I know, with other details +personal to yourself, which will be confided to you, I think that you +will enter into my ideas. One thing is certain; we shall not go to the +notary to-day; and as for you, the best thing that you can do is to go, +without delay, to Monsieur du Portail." + +"That name again! it pursues me like a remorse," exclaimed la Peyrade. + +"Yes; go at once; he is awaiting you. It is an indispensable preliminary +before we can go any farther. When you have seen that excellent man and +heard what he has to say to you--well, _then_ if you persist in claiming +Celeste's hand, we might perhaps carry out our plans. Until then we +shall take no steps in the matter." + +"But, my poor Thuillier," said Brigitte, "you have let yourself be +gammoned by a rascal; that man belongs to the Godollo set." + +"Madame de Godollo," replied Thuillier, "is not at all what you suppose +her to be, and the best thing this house can do is never to say one word +about her, either good or evil. As for la Peyrade, as this is not the +first time he has been requested to go and see Monsieur du Portail, I am +surprised that he hesitates to do so." + +"Ah ca!" said Brigitte, "that little old man has completely befooled +you." + +"I tell you that that little old man is all that he appears to be. He +wears seven crosses, he drives in a splendid equipage, and he has told +me things that have overwhelmed me with astonishment." + +"Well, perhaps he's a fortune-teller like Madame Fontaine, who managed +once upon a time to upset me when Madame Minard and I, just to amuse +ourselves, went to consult her." + +"Well, if he is not a sorcerer he certainly has a very long arm," said +Thuillier, "and I think a man would suffer for it if he didn't respect +his advice. As for you, Brigitte, he saw you only for a minute, but he +told me your whole character; he said you were a masterful woman, born +to command." + +"The fact is," said Brigitte, licking her chops at this compliment, +like a cat drinking cream, "he has a very well-bred air, that little old +fellow. You take my advice, my dear," she said, turning to la Peyrade; +"if such a very big-wig as that wants you to do so, go and see this +du Portail, whoever he is. That, it seems to me, won't bind you to +anything." + +"You are right, Brigitte," said Colleville; "as for me, I'd follow up +all the Portails, or Port_ers_, or Port_ents_ for the matter of that, if +they asked me to." + +The scene was beginning to resemble that in the "Barber of Seville," +where everybody tells Basil to go to bed, for he certainly has a fever. +La Peyrade, thus prodded, picked up his hat in some ill-humor, and went +where his destiny called him,--"quo sua fata vocabant." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. AT DU PORTAIL'S + +On reaching the rue Honore-Chevalier la Peyrade felt a doubt; the +dilapidated appearance of the house to which he was summoned made him +think he had mistaken the number. It seemed to him that a person of +Monsieur du Portail's evident importance could not inhabit such a place. +It was therefore with some hesitation that he accosted Sieur Perrache, +the porter. But no sooner had he entered the antechamber of the +apartment pointed out to him than the excellent deportment of Bruneau, +the old valet, and the extremely comfortable appearance of the furniture +and other appointments made him see that he was probably in the right +place. Introduced at once, as soon as he had given his name, into the +study of the master of the house, his surprise was great when he found +himself in presence of the commander, so called, the friend of Madame +de Godollo, and the little old man he had seen half an hour earlier with +Thuillier. + +"At last!" said du Portail, rising, and offering la Peyrade a chair, "at +last we meet, my refractory friend; it has taken a good deal to bring +you here." + +"May I know, monsieur," said la Peyrade, haughtily, not taking the chair +which was offered to him, "what interest you have in meddling with my +affairs? I do not know you, and I may add that the place where I once +saw you did not create an unconquerable desire in me to make your +acquaintance." + +"Where have you seen me?" asked du Portail. + +"In the apartment of a strumpet who called herself Madame de Godollo." + +"Where monsieur, consequently, went himself," said the little old man, +"and for a purpose much less disinterested than mine." + +"I have not come here," said la Peyrade, "to bandy words with any one. +I have the right, monsieur, to a full explanation as to the meaning of +your proceedings towards me. I therefore request you not to delay them +by a facetiousness to which, I assure you, I am not in the humor to +listen." + +"Then, my dear fellow," said du Portail, "sit down, for I am not in the +humor to twist my neck by talking up at you." + +The words were reasonable, and they were said in a tone that showed the +old gentleman was not likely to be frightened by grand airs. La Peyrade +therefore deferred to the wishes of his host, but he took care to do so +with the worst grace possible. + +"Monsieur Cerizet," said du Portail, "a man of excellent standing in the +world, and who has the honor to be one of your friends--" + +"I have nothing to do with that man now," said la Peyrade, sharply, +understanding the malicious meaning of the old man's speech. + +"Well, the time has been," said du Portail, "when you saw him, at least, +occasionally: for instance, when you paid for his dinner at the Rocher +de Cancale. As I was saying, I charged the virtuous Monsieur Cerizet to +sound you as to a marriage--" + +"Which I refused," interrupted la Peyrade, "and which I now refuse +again, more vehemently than ever." + +"That's the question," said the old man. "I think, on the contrary, that +you will accept it; and it is to talk over this affair with you that I +have so long desired a meeting." + +"But this crazy girl that you are flinging at my head," said la Peyrade, +"what is she to you? She can't be your daughter, or you would put more +decency into your hunt for a husband." + +"This young girl," replied du Portail, "is the daughter of one of my +friends who died about ten years ago; at his death I took her to live +with me, and have given her all the care her sad condition needed. Her +fortune, which I have greatly increased, added to my own, which I intend +to leave to her, will make her a very rich heiress. I know that you +are no enemy to handsome 'dots,' for you have sought them in various +places,--Thuillier's house, for instance, or, to use your own +expression, that of a strumpet whom you scarcely knew. I have therefore +supposed you would accept at my hands a very rich young woman, +especially as her infirmity is declared by the best physicians to be +curable; whereas you can never cure Monsieur and Mademoiselle Thuillier, +the one of being a fool, the other of being a fury, any more than you +could cure Madame Komorn of being a woman of very medium virtue and +extremely giddy." + +"It may suit me," replied la Peyrade, "to marry the daughter of a fool +and a fury if I choose her, or I might become the husband of a clever +coquette, if passion seized me, but the Queen of Sheba herself, if +imposed upon me, neither you, monsieur, nor the ablest and most powerful +man living could force me to accept." + +"Precisely; therefore it is to your own good sense and intelligence that +I now address myself; but we have to come face to face with people +in order to speak to them, you know. Now, then, let us look into your +present situation, and don't get angry if, like a surgeon who wants to +cure his patient, I lay my hand mercilessly on wounds which have long +tormented and harassed you. The first point to state is that the Celeste +Colleville affair is at an end for you." + +"Why so?" demanded la Peyrade. + +"Because I have just seen Thuillier and terrified him with the history +of the misfortunes he has incurred, and those he will incur if he +persists in the idea of giving you his goddaughter in marriage. He knows +now that it was I who paralyzed Madame du Bruel's kind offices in the +matter of the cross; that I had his pamphlet seized; that I sent that +Hungarian woman into his house to handle you all, as she did; and that +my hand is opening fire in the ministerial journals, which will only +increase from bad to worse,--not to speak of other machinations which +will be directed against his candidacy. Therefore you see, my good +friend, that not only have you no longer the credit in Thuillier's eyes +of being his great helper to that election, but that you actually block +the way to his ambition. That is enough to prove to you that the side by +which you have imposed yourself on that family--who have never sincerely +liked or desired you--is now completely battered down and dismantled." + +"But to have done all that which you claim with such pretension, who are +you?" demanded la Peyrade. + +"I shall not say that you are very inquisitive, for I intend to answer +your question later; but for the present let us continue, if you please, +the autopsy of your existence, dead to-day, but which I propose to +resuscitate gloriously. You are twenty-eight years old, and you have +begun a career in which I shall not allow you to make another step. A +few days hence the Council of the order of barristers will assemble and +will censure, more or less severely, your conduct in the matter of +the property you placed with such candor in Thuillier's hands. Do not +deceive yourself; censure from that quarter (and I mention only your +least danger) is as fatal to a barrister as being actually disbarred." + +"And it is to your kind offices, no doubt," said la Peyrade, "that I +shall owe that precious result?" + +"Yes, I may boast of it," replied du Portail, "for, in order to tow you +into port it has been necessary to strip you of your rigging; unless +that were done, you would always have tried to navigate under your own +sails the bourgeois shoals that you are now among." + +Seeing that he, undoubtedly, had to do with a strong hand, la Peyrade +thought best to modify his tone; and so, with a more circumspect air, he +said:-- + +"You will allow me, monsieur, to reserve my acknowledgments until I +receive some fuller explanation." + +"Here you are, then," continued du Portail, "at twenty-eight years of +age, without a penny, virtually without a profession; with antecedents +that are very--middling; with associates like Monsieur Dutocq and the +courageous Cerizet; owing to Mademoiselle Thuillier ten thousand francs, +and to Madame Lambert twenty-five thousand, which you are no doubt +extremely desirous to return to her; and finally, this marriage, your +last hope, your sheet-anchor, has just become an utter impossibility. +Between ourselves, if I have something reasonable to propose to you, do +you not think that you had much better place yourself at my disposal?" + +"I have time enough to prove that your opinion is mistaken," returned +la Peyrade; "and I shall not form any resolutions so long as the designs +you choose to have upon me are not more fully explained." + +"You were spoken to, at my instigation, about a marriage," resumed du +Portail. "This marriage, as I think, is closely connected with a past +existence from which a certain hereditary or family duty has devolved +upon you. Do you know what that uncle of yours, to whom you applied +in 1829, was doing in Paris? In your family he was thought to be a +millionaire; and, dying suddenly, you remember, before you got to him, +he did not leave enough for his burial; a pauper's grave was all that +remained to him." + +"Did you know him?" asked la Peyrade. + +"He was my oldest and dearest friend," replied du Portail. + +"If that is so," said la Peyrade, hastily, "a sum of two thousand +francs, which I received on my arrival in Paris from some unknown +source--" + +"Came from me," replied du Portail. "Unfortunately, engaged at the time +in a rush of important affairs, which you shall hear of later, I could +not immediately follow up the benevolent interest I felt in you for your +uncle's sake; this explains why I left you in the straw of a garret, +where you came, like a medlar, to that maturity of ruin which brought +you under the hand of a Dutocq and a Cerizet." + +"I am none the less grateful to you, monsieur," said la Peyrade; "and if +I had known you were that generous protector, whom I was never able to +discover, I should have been the first to seek occasion to meet you and +to thank you." + +"A truce to compliments," said du Portail; "and, to come at once to the +serious side of our present conference, what should you say if I told +you that this uncle, whose protection and assistance you came to Paris +to obtain, was an agent of that occult power which has always been the +theme of feeble ridicule and the object of silly prejudice?" + +"I do not seize your meaning," said la Peyrade, with uneasy curiosity; +"may I ask you to be more precise?" + +"For example, I will suppose," continued du Portail, "that your uncle, +if still living, were to say to you to-day: 'You are seeking fortune and +influence, my good nephew; you want to rise above the crowd and to play +your part in all the great events of your time; you want employment +for a keen, active mind, full of resources, and slightly inclined to +intrigue; in short, you long to exert in some upper and elegant sphere +that force of will and subtlety which at present you are wasting in +the silly and useless manipulation of the most barren and tough-skinned +animal on earth, to wit: a bourgeois. Well, then, lower your head, my +fine nephew; enter with me through the little door which I will open to +you; it gives admittance to a great house, often maligned, but better +far than its reputation. That threshold once crossed, you can rise to +the height of your natural genius, whatever its spark may be. Statesmen, +kings even, will admit you to their most secret thoughts; you will be +their occult collaborator, and none of the joys which money and the +highest powers can bestow upon a man will be lacking to you." + +"But, monsieur," objected la Peyrade, "without venturing to understand +you, I must remark that my uncle died so poor, you tell me, that public +charity buried him." + +"Your uncle," replied du Portail, "was a man of rare talent, but he had +a certain weak side in his nature which compromised his career. He was +eager for pleasure, a spendthrift, thoughtless for the future; he wanted +also to taste those joys that are meant for the common run of men, +but which for great, exceptional vocations are the worst of snares and +impediments: I mean the joys of family. He had a daughter whom he madly +loved, and it was through her that his terrible enemies opened a breach +in his life, and prepared the horrible catastrophe that ended it." + +"Is that an encouragement to enter this shady path, where, you say, he +might have asked me to follow him?" + +"But if I myself," said du Portail, "should offer to guide you in it, +what then?" + +"You, monsieur!" said la Peyrade, in stupefaction. + +"Yes, I--I who was your uncle's pupil at first, and later his protector +and providence; I, whose influence the last half-century has daily +increased; I, who am wealthy; I, to whom all governments, as they fall +one on top of the others like houses of cards, come to ask for safety +and for the power to rebuild their future; I, who am the manager of a +great theatre of puppets (where I have Columbines in the style of Madame +de Godollo); I, who to-morrow, if it were necessary to the success of +one of my vaudevilles or one of my dramas, might present myself to your +eyes as the wearer of the grand cordon of the Legion of honor, of the +Order of the Black Eagle, or that of the Golden Fleece. Do you wish to +know why neither you nor I will die a violent death like your uncle, and +also why, more fortunate than contemporaneous kings, I can transmit my +sceptre to the successor whom I myself may choose? Because, like you, +my young friend, in spite of your Southern appearance, I was cold, +profoundly calculating, never tempted to lose my time on trifles at the +outskirts; because heat, when I was led by force of circumstances to +employ it, never went below the surface. It is more than probable that +you have heard of me; well, for you I will open a window in my cloud; +look at me, observe me well; have I a cloven hoof, or a tail at the end +of my spine? On the contrary, am I not a model of the most inoffensive +of householders in the Saint-Sulpice quarter? In that quarter, where I +have enjoyed, I may say it, universal esteem for the last twenty-five +years, I am called du Portail; but to you, if you will allow me, I shall +now name myself _Corentin_." + +"Corentin!" cried la Peyrade, with terrified astonishment. + +"Yes, monsieur; and you see that in telling you that secret I lay my +hand upon you, and enlist you. Corentin! 'the greatest man of the police +in modern times,' as the author of an article in the 'Biographies of +Living Men' has said of me--as to whom I ought in justice to remark that +he doesn't know a thing about my life." + +"Monsieur," said la Peyrade, "I can assure you that I shall keep that +secret; but the place which you offer me near you--in your employ--" + +"That frightens you, or, at least, it makes you uneasy," said Corentin, +quickly. "Before you have even considered the thing the word scares you, +does it? The police! _Police_! you are afraid to encounter the terrible +prejudice that brands it on the brow." + +"Certainly," said la Peyrade, "it is a necessary institution; but I do +not think that it is always calumniated. If the business of those who +manage it is honorable why do they conceal themselves so carefully?" + +"Because all that threatens society, which it is the mission of the +police to repress," replied Corentin, "is plotted and prepared in +hiding. Do thieves and conspirators put upon their hats, 'I am Guillot, +the shepherd of this flock'? And when we are after them must we ring a +bell to let them know we are coming?" + +"Monsieur," said la Peyrade, "when a sentiment is universal it ceases +to be a prejudice, it becomes an opinion; and this opinion ought to be a +law to every man who desires to keep his own esteem and that of others." + +"And when you robbed that notary to enrich the Thuilliers for your own +advantage," said Corentin, "did you keep your own esteem and that of the +Council of barristers? And who knows, monsieur, if in your life there +are not still blacker actions than that? I am a more honorable man than +you, because, outside of my functions, I have not one doubtful act upon +my conscience; and when the opportunity for _good_ has been presented +to me I have done it--always and everywhere. Do you think that the +guardianship of that poor insane girl in my home has been all roses? But +she was the daughter of my old friend, your uncle, and when, feeling +the years creep on me, I propose to you, between sacks of money, to fit +yourself to take my place--" + +"What!" cried la Peyrade, "is that girl my uncle's daughter?" + +"Yes; the girl I wish you to marry is the daughter of your uncle +Peyrade,--for he democratized his name,--or, if you like it better, +she was the daughter of Pere Canquoelle, a name he took from the little +estate on which your father lived and starved with eleven children. You +see, in spite of the secrecy your uncle always kept about his family, +that I know all about it. Do you suppose that before selecting you as +your cousin's husband I had not obtained every possible information +about you? And what I have learned need not make you quite so +supercilious to the police. Besides, as the vulgar saying is, the best +of your nose is made of it. Your uncle belonged to the police, and, +thanks to that, he became the confidant, I might almost say the friend, +of Louis XVIII., who took the greatest pleasure in his companionship. +And you, by nature and by mind, also by the foolish position into which +you have got yourself, in short, by your whole being, have gravitated +steadily to the conclusion I propose to you, namely, that of succeeding +me,--of succeeding Corentin. That is the question between us, Monsieur. +Do you really believe now that I have not a grasp or a 'seizin,' as you +call it, upon you, and that you can manage to escape me for any foolish +considerations of bourgeois vanity?" + +La Peyrade could not have been at heart so violently opposed to this +proposal as he seemed, for the vigorous language of the great master of +the police and the species of appropriation which he made of his person +brought a smile to the young man's lips. + +Corentin had risen, and was walking up and down the room, speaking, +apparently, to himself. + +"The police!" he cried; "one may say of it, as Basile said of calumny to +Batholo, 'The police, monsieur! you don't know what you despise!' And, +after all," he continued, after a pause, "who are they who despise it? +Imbeciles, who don't know any better than to insult their protectors. +Suppress the police, and you destroy civilization. Do the police ask +for the respect of such people? No, they want to inspire them with one +sentiment only: fear, that great lever with which to govern mankind,--an +impure race whose odious instincts God, hell, the executioner, and the +gendarmes can scarcely restrain!" + +Stopping short before la Peyrade, and looking at him with a disdainful +smile, he continued:-- + +"So you are one of those ninnies who see in the police nothing more than +a horde of spies and informers? Have you never suspected the statesmen, +the diplomats, the Richelieus it produces? Mercury, monsieur,--Mercury, +the cleverest of the gods of paganism,--what was he but the police +incarnate? It is true that he was also the god of thieves. We are better +than he, for we don't allow that junction of forces." + +"And yet," said la Peyrade, "Vautrin, or, I should say, Jacques Collin, +the famous chief of the detective police--" + +"Yes, yes! but that's in the lower ranks," replied Corentin, resuming +his walk; "there's always a muddy place somewhere. Still, don't be +mistaken even in that. Vautrin is a man of genius, but his passions, +like those of your uncle, dragged him down. But go up higher (for there +lies the whole question, namely, the rung of the ladder on which a man +has wits enough to perch). Take the prefect, for instance, that honored +minister, flattered and respected, is he a spy? Well, I, monsieur, +am the prefect of the secret police of diplomacy--of the highest +statesmanship. And you hesitate to mount that throne!--to seem small and +do great things; to live in a cave comfortably arranged like this, and +command the light; to have at your orders an invisible army, always +ready, always devoted, always submissive; to know the _other side_ of +everything; to be duped by no intrigue because you hold the threads of +all within your fingers; to see through all partitions; to penetrate all +secrets, search all hearts, all consciences,--these are the things you +fear! And yet you were not afraid to go and wallow in a Thuillier +bog; you, a thoroughbred, allowed yourself to be harnessed to a +hackney-coach, to the ignoble business of electing that parvenu +bourgeois." + +"A man does what he can," said la Peyrade. + +"Here's a very remarkable thing," pursued Corentin, replying to his own +thought; "the French language, more just than public opinion, has given +us our right place, for it has made the word police the synonym of +civilization and the antipodes of savage life, when it said and wrote: +'l'Etat police,' from the Greek words state and city. So, I can assure +you, we care little for the prejudice that tries to brand us; none know +men as we do; and to know them brings contempt for their contempt as +well as for their esteem." + +"There is certainly much truth in what you say with such warmth," said +la Peyrade, finally. + +"Much truth!" exclaimed Corentin, going back to his chair, "say, rather, +that it is all true, and nothing but the truth; yet it is not the whole +truth. But enough for to-day, monsieur. To succeed me in my functions, +and to marry your cousin with a 'dot' that will not be less than five +hundred thousand francs, that is my offer. I do not ask you for an +answer now. I should have no confidence in a determination not seriously +reflected upon. To-morrow, I shall be at home all the morning. I trust +that my conviction may then have formed yours." + +Dismissing his visitor with a curt little bow, he added: "I do not bid +you adieu, but au revoir, Monsieur de la Peyrade." + +Whereupon Corentin went to a side-table, where he found all that he +needed to prepare a glass of "eau sucree," which he had certainly +earned, and, without looking at la Peyrade, who left the room rather +stunned, he seemed to have no other interest on his mind than that +prosaic preparation. + +Was it, indeed, necessary that the morning after this meeting with +Corentin a visit from Madame Lambert, now become an exacting and +importunate creditor, should come to bear its weight on la Peyrade's +determination? As the great chief had pointed out to him the night +before, was there not in his nature, in his mind, in his aspirations, +in the mistakes and imprudences of his past life, a sort of irresistible +incline which drew him down toward the strange solution of existence +thus suddenly offered to him? + +Fatality, if we may so call it, was lavish of the inducements to which +he was destined to succumb. This day was the 31st of October; the +vacation of the Palais was just over. The 2nd of November was the day +on which the courts reopened, and as Madame Lambert left his room he +received a summons to appear on that day before the Council of his +order. + +To Madame Lambert, who pressed him sharply to repay her, under pretence +that she was about to leave Monsieur Picot and return to her native +place, he replied: "Come here the day after to-morrow, at the same hour, +and your money will be ready for you." + +To the summons to give account of his actions to his peers he replied +that he did not recognize the right of the Council to question him +on the facts of his private life. That was an answer of one sort, +certainly. Inevitably it would result in his being stricken from the +roll of the barristers of the Royal courts; but, at least, it had an air +of dignity and protestation which saved, in a measure, his self-love. + +Finally, he wrote a letter to Thuillier, in which he said that his +visit to du Portail had resulted in his being obliged to accept another +marriage. He therefore returned to Thuillier his promise, and took back +his own. All this was curtly said, without the slightest expression +of regret for the marriage he renounced. In a postscript he added: "We +shall be obliged to discuss my position on the newspaper,"--indicating +that it might enter into his plans not to retain it. + +He was careful to make a copy of this letter, and an hour later, when, +in Corentin's study, he was questioned as to the result of his night's +reflections, he gave that great general, for all answer, the matrimonial +resignation he had just despatched. + +"That will do," said Corentin. "But as for your position on the +newspaper, you may perhaps have to keep it for a time. The candidacy +of that fool interferes with the plans of the government, and we must +manage in some way to trip up the heels of the municipal councillor. In +your position as editor-in-chief you may find a chance to do it, and I +think your conscience won't kick at the mission." + +"No, indeed!" said la Peyrade, "the thought of the humiliations to which +I have been so long subjected will make it a precious joy to lash that +bourgeois brood." + +"Take care!" said Corentin; "you are young, and you must watch against +those revengeful emotions. In our austere profession we love nothing and +we hate nothing. Men are to us mere pawns of wood or ivory, according to +their quality--with which we play our game. We are like the blade +that cuts what is given it to cut, but, careful only to be delicately +sharpened, wishes neither harm nor good to any one. Now let us speak +of your cousin, to whom, I suppose, you have some curiosity to be +presented." + +La Peyrade was not obliged to pretend to eagerness, that which he felt +was genuine. + +"Lydie de la Peyrade," said Corentin, "is nearly thirty, but her +innocence, joined to a gentle form of insanity, has kept her apart from +all those passions, ideas, and impressions which use up life, and has, +if I may say so, embalmed her in a sort of eternal youth. You would not +think her more than twenty. She is fair and slender; her face, which +is very delicate, is especially remarkable for an expression of angelic +sweetness. Deprived of her full reason by a terrible catastrophe, her +monomania has something touching about it. She always carries in her +arms or keeps beside her a bundle of linen which she nurses and cares +for as though it were a sick child; and, excepting Bruneau and myself, +whom she recognizes, she thinks all other men are doctors, whom she +consults about the child, and to whom she listens as oracles. A crisis +which lately happened in her malady has convinced Horace Bianchon, that +prince of science, that if the reality could be substituted for this +long delusion of motherhood, her reason would assert itself. It is +surely a worthy task to bring back light to a soul in which it is +scarcely veiled; and the existing bond of relationship has seemed to +me to point you out as specially designated to effect this cure, +the success of which Bianchon and two other eminent doctors who have +consulted with him declare to be beyond a doubt. Now, I will take you +to Lydie's presence; remember to play the part of doctor; for the only +thing that makes her lose her customary serenity is not to enter into +her notion of medical consultation." + +After crossing several rooms Corentin was on the point of taking la +Peyrade into that usually occupied by Lydie when employed in cradling +or dandling her imaginary child, when suddenly they were stopped by the +sound of two or three chords struck by the hand of a master on a piano +of the finest sonority. + +"What is that?" asked la Peyrade. + +"That is Lydie," replied Corentin, with what might be called an +expression of paternal pride; "she is an admirable musician, and though +she no longer writes down, as in the days when her mind was clear, her +delightful melodies, she often improvises them in a way that moves me +to the soul--the soul of Corentin!" added the old man, smiling. "Is not +that the finest praise I can bestow upon her? But suppose we sit down +here and listen to her. If we go in, the concert will cease and the +medical consultation begin." + +La Peyrade was amazed as he listened to an improvisation in which the +rare union of inspiration and science opened to his impressionable +nature a source of emotions as deep as they were unexpected. Corentin +watched the surprise which from moment to moment the Provencal expressed +by admiring exclamations. + +"Hein! how she plays!" said the old man. "Liszt himself hasn't a firmer +touch." + +To a very quick "scherzo" the performer now added the first notes of an +"adagio." + +"She is going to sing," said Corentin, recognizing the air. + +"Does she sing too?" asked la Peyrade. + +"Like Pasta, like Malibran; but hush, listen to her!" + +After a few opening bars in "arpeggio" a vibrant voice resounded, the +tones of which appeared to stir the Provencal to the depths of his +being. + +"How the music moves you!" said Corentin; "you were undoubtedly made for +each other." + +"My God! the same air! the same voice!" + +"Have you already met Lydie somewhere?" asked the great master of the +police. + +"I don't know--I think not," answered la Peyrade, in a stammering voice; +"in any case, it was long ago--But that air--that voice--I think--" + +"Let us go in," said Corentin. + +Opening the door abruptly, he entered, pulling the young man after him. + +Sitting with her back to the door, and prevented by the sound of the +piano from hearing what happened behind her, Lydie did not notice their +entrance. + +"Now have you any remembrance of her?" said Corentin. + +La Peyrade advanced a step, and no sooner had he caught a glimpse of the +girl's profile than he threw up his hands above his head, striking them +together. + +"It is she!" he cried. + +Hearing his cry, Lydie turned round, and fixing her attention on +Corentin, she said:-- + +"How naughty and troublesome you are to come and disturb me; you know +very well I don't like to be listened to. Ah! but--" she added, catching +sight of la Peyrade's black coat, "you have brought the doctor; that is +very kind of you; I was just going to ask you to send for him. The baby +has done nothing but cry since morning; I was singing to put her to +sleep, but nothing can do that." + +And she ran to fetch what she called her child from a corner of the +room, where with two chairs laid on their backs and the cushions of the +sofa, she had constructed a sort of cradle. + +As she went towards la Peyrade, carrying her precious bundle with one +hand, with the other she was arranging the imaginary cap of her "little +darling," having no eyes except for the sad creation of her disordered +brain. Step by step, as she advanced, la Peyrade, pale, trembling, and +with staring eyes, retreated backwards, until he struck against a seat, +into which, losing his equilibrium, he fell. + +A man of Corentin's power and experience, and who, moreover, knew to its +slightest detail the horrible drama in which Lydie had lost her reason, +had already, of course, taken in the situation, but it suited his +purpose and his ideas to allow the clear light of evidence to pierce +this darkness. + +"Look, doctor," said Lydie, unfastening the bundle, and putting the pins +in her mouth as she did so, "don't you see that she is growing thinner +every day?" + +La Peyrade could not answer; he kept his handkerchief over his face, +and his breath came so fast from his chest that he was totally unable to +utter a word. + +Then, with one of those gestures of feverish impatience, to which her +mental state predisposed her, she exclaimed, hastily:-- + +"But look at her doctor, look!" taking his arm violently and forcing him +to show his features. "My God!" she cried, when she had looked him in +the face. + +Letting fall the linen bundle in her arms, she threw herself hastily +backwards, and her eyes grew haggard. Passing her white hands rapidly +over her forehead and through her hair, tossing it into disorder, she +seemed to be making an effort to obtain from her memory some dormant +recollection. Then, like a frightened mare, which comes to smell an +object that has given it a momentary terror, she approached la Peyrade +slowly, stooping to look into his face, which he kept lowered, while, +in the midst of a silence inexpressible, she examined him steadily for +several seconds. Suddenly a terrible cry escaped her breast; she ran for +refuge into the arms of Corentin, and pressing herself against him with +all her force, she exclaimed:-- + +"Save me! save me! It is he! the wretch! It is he who did it!" + +And, with her finger pointed at la Peyrade, she seemed to nail the +miserable object of her terror to his place. + +After this explosion, she muttered a few disconnected words, and her +eyes closed; Corentin felt the relaxing of all the muscles by which she +had held him as in a vice the moment before, and he took her in his arms +and laid her on the sofa, insensible. + +"Do not stay here, monsieur," said Corentin. "Go into my study; I will +come to you presently." + +A few minutes later, after giving Lydie into the care of Katte and +Bruneau, and despatching Perrache for Doctor Bianchon, Corentin rejoined +la Peyrade. + +"You see now, monsieur," he said with solemnity, "that in pursuing +with a sort of passion the idea of this marriage, I was following, in a +sense, the ways of God." + +"Monsieur," said la Peyrade, with compunction, "I will confess to you--" + +"Useless," said Corentin; "you can tell me nothing that I do not know; +I, on the contrary, have much to tell you. Old Peyrade, your uncle, in +the hope of earning a POT for this daughter whom he idolized, entered +into a dangerous private enterprise, the nature of which I need not +explain. In it he made enemies; enemies who stopped at nothing,--murder, +poison, rape. To paralyze your uncle's action by attacking him in his +dearest spot, Lydie was, not abducted, but enticed from her home and +taken to a house apparently respectable, where for ten days she was kept +concealed. She was not much alarmed by this detention, being told +that it was done at her father's wish, and she spent her time with her +music--you remember, monsieur, how she sang?" + +"Oh!" exclaimed la Peyrade, covering his face with his hands. + +"I told you yesterday that you might perhaps have more upon your +conscience than the Thuillier house. But you were young; you had just +come from your province, with that brutality, that frenzy of Southern +blood in your veins which flings itself upon such an occasion. Besides, +your relationship became known to those who were preparing the ruin of +this new Clarissa Harlowe, and I am willing to believe than an abler and +better man than you might not have escaped the entanglement into +which you fell. Happily, Providence has granted that there is nothing +absolutely irreparable in this horrible history. The same poison, +according to the use that is made of it, may give either death or +health." + +"But, monsieur," said la Peyrade, "shall I not always be to her an +object of horror?" + +"The doctor, monsieur," said Katte, opening the door. + +"How is Mademoiselle Lydie?" asked la Peyrade, eagerly. + +"Very calm," replied Katte. "Just now, when we put her to bed,--though +she did not want to go, saying she felt well,--I took her the bundle of +linen, but she told me to take it away, and asked what I meant her to do +with it." + +"You see," said Corentin, grasping the Provencal's hand, "you are the +lance of Achilles." + +And he left the room with Katte to receive Doctor Bianchon. + +Left alone, Theodose was a prey to thoughts which may perhaps be +imagined. After a while the door opened, and Bruneau, the old valet, +ushered in Cerizet. Seeing la Peyrade, the latter exclaimed:-- + +"Ha! ha! I knew it! I knew you would end by seeing du Portail. And the +marriage,--how does that come on?" + +"What are you doing here?" asked la Peyrade. + +"Something that concerns you; or rather, something that we must do +together. Du Portail, who is too busy to attend to business just now, +has sent me in here to see you, and consult as to the best means of +putting a spoke in Thuillier's election; it seems that the government is +determined to prevent his winning it. Have you any ideas about it?" + +"No," replied la Peyrade; "and I don't feel in the mood just now to be +imaginative." + +"Well, here's the situation," said Cerizet. "The government has another +candidate, which it doesn't yet produce, because the ministerial +negotiations with him have been rather difficult. During this time +Thuillier's chances have been making headway. Minard, on whom they +counted to create a diversion, sits, the stupid fool, in his corner; the +seizure of that pamphlet has given your blockhead of a protege a certain +perfume of popularity. In short, the ministry are afraid he'll be +elected, and nothing could be more disagreeable to them. Pompous +imbeciles, like Thuillier, are horribly embarrassing in the Opposition; +they are pitchers without handles; you can't take hold of them +anywhere." + +"Monsieur Cerizet," said la Peyrade, beginning to assume a protecting +tone, and wishing to discover his late associate's place in Corentin's +confidence, "you seem to know a good deal about the secret intentions of +the government; have you found your way to a certain desk in the rue de +Grenelle?" + +"No. All that I tell you," said Cerizet, "I get from du Portail." + +"Ah ca!" said la Peyrade, lowering his voice, "who _is_ du Portail? You +seem to have known him for some time. A man of your force ought to have +discovered the real character of a man who seems to me to be rather +mysterious." + +"My friend," replied Cerizet, "du Portail is a pretty strong man. He's +an old slyboots, who has had some post, I fancy, in the administration +of the national domain, or something of that kind, under government; in +which, I think, he must have been employed in the departments suppressed +under the Empire." + +"Yes?" said la Peyrade. + +"That's where I think he made his money," continued Cerizet; "and being +a shrewd old fellow, and having a natural daughter to marry, he has +concocted this philanthropic tale of her being the daughter of an old +friend named Peyrade; and your name being the same may have given him +the idea of fastening upon you--for, after all, he has to marry her to +somebody." + +"Yes, that's all very well; but his close relations with the government, +and the interest he takes in elections, how do you explain all that?" + +"Naturally enough," replied Cerizet. "Du Portail is a man who loves +money, and likes to handle it; he has done Rastignac, that great +manipulator of elections, who is, I think, his compatriot, several +signal services as an amateur; Rastignac, in return, gives him +information, obtained through Nucingen, which enables him to gamble at +the Bourse." + +"Did he himself tell you all this?" asked la Peyrade. + +"What do you take me for?" returned Cerizet. "With that worthy old +fellow, from whom I have already wormed a promise of thirty thousand +francs, I play the ninny; I flatten myself to nothing. But I've made +Bruneau talk, that old valet of his. You can safely ally yourself to +his family, my dear fellow; du Portail is powerfully rich; he'll get you +made sub-prefect somewhere; and thence to a prefecture and a fortune is +but one step." + +"Thanks for the information," said la Peyrade; "at least, I shall know +on which foot to hop. But you yourself, how came you to know him?" + +"Oh! that's quite a history; by my help he was able to get back a lot of +diamonds which had been stolen from him." + +At this moment Corentin entered the room. + +"All is well," he said to la Peyrade. "There are signs of returning +reason. Bianchon, to whom I have told all, wishes to confer with +you; therefore, my dear Monsieur Cerizet, we will postpone until +this evening, if you are willing, our little study over the Thuillier +election." + +"Well, so here you have him, at last!" said Cerizet, slapping la +Peyrade's shoulder. + +"Yes," said Corentin, "and you know what I promised; you may rely on +that." + +Cerizet departed joyful. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. CHECKMATE TO THUILLIER + +The day after that evening, when Corentin, la Peyrade, and Cerizet were +to have had their consultation in reference to the attack on Thuillier's +candidacy, the latter was discussing with his sister Brigitte the letter +in which Theodose declined the hand of Celeste, and his mind seemed +particularly to dwell on the postscript where it was intimated that la +Peyrade might not continue the editor of the "Echo de la Bievre." At +this moment Henri, the "male domestic," entered the room to ask if his +master would receive Monsieur Cerizet. + +Thuillier's first impulse was to deny himself to that unwelcome visitor. +Then, thinking better of it, he reflected that if la Peyrade suddenly +left him in the lurch, Cerizet might possibly prove a precious resource. +Consequently, he ordered Henri to show him in. His manner, however, was +extremely cold, and in some sort expectant. As for Cerizet, he presented +himself without the slightest embarrassment and with the air of a man +who had calculated all the consequences of the step he was taking. + +"Well, my dear monsieur," he began, "I suppose by this time you have +been posted as to the Sieur la Peyrade." + +"What may you mean by that?" said Thuillier, stiffly. + +"Well, the man," replied Cerizet, "who, after intriguing to marry your +goddaughter, breaks off the marriage abruptly--as he will, before +long, break that lion's-share contract he made you sign about his +editorship--can't be, I should suppose, the object of the same blind +confidence you formerly reposed in him." + +"Ah!" said Thuillier, hastily, "then do you know anything about la +Peyrade's intention of leaving the newspaper?" + +"No," said the other; "on the terms I now am with him, you can readily +believe we don't see each other; still less should I receive his +confidences. But I draw the induction from the well-known character of +the person, and you may be sure that when he finds it for his interest +to leave you, he'll throw you away like an old coat--I've passed that +way, and I speak from experience." + +"Then you must have had some difficulties with him before you joined my +paper?" said Thuillier, interrogatively. + +"Parbleu!" replied Cerizet; "the affair of this house which he helped +you to buy was mine; I started that hare. He was to put me in relation +with you, and make me the principal tenant of the house. But the +unfortunate affair of that bidding-in gave him a chance to knock me out +of everything and get all the profits for himself." + +"Profits!" exclaimed Thuillier. "I don't see that he got anything out of +that transaction, except the marriage which he now refuses--" + +"But," interrupted Cerizet, "there's the ten thousand francs he got +out of you on pretence of the cross which you never received, and the +twenty-five thousand he owes to Madame Lambert, for which you went +security, and which you will soon have to pay like a good fellow." + +"What's this I hear?" cried Brigitte, up in arms; "twenty-five thousand +francs for which you have given security?" + +"Yes, mademoiselle," interposed Cerizet; "behind that sum which this +woman had lent him there was a mystery, and if I had not laid my hand +on the true explanation, there would certainly have been a very dirty +ending to it. La Peyrade was clever enough not only to whitewash himself +in Monsieur Thuillier's eyes, but to get him to secure the debt." + +"But," said Thuillier, "how do you know that I did give security for +that debt, if you have not seen him since then?" + +"I know it from the woman herself, who tells the whole story now she is +certain of being paid." + +"Well," said Brigitte to her brother, "a pretty business you are engaged +in!" + +"Mademoiselle," said Cerizet, "I only meant to warn Monsieur Thuillier a +little. I think myself that you are sure to be paid. Without knowing the +exact particulars of this new marriage, I am certain the family would +never allow him to owe you to such mortifying debts; if necessary, I +should be very glad to intervene." + +"Monsieur," said Thuillier, stiffly, "thanking you for your officious +intervention, permit me to say that it surprises me a little, for the +manner in which we parted would not have allowed me to hope it." + +"Ah ca!" said Cerizet; "you don't think I was angry with you for that, +do you? I pitied you, that was all. I saw you under the spell, and I +said to myself: 'Leave him to learn la Peyrade by experience.' I knew +very well that the day of justice would dawn for me, and before long, +too. La Peyrade is a man who doesn't make you wait for his questionable +proceedings." + +"Allow me to say," remarked Thuillier, "that I do not consider the +rupture of the marriage we had proposed a questionable proceeding. The +matter was arranged, I may say, by mutual consent." + +"And the trick he is going to play you by leaving the paper in the +lurch, and the debt he has saddled you with, what are they?" + +"Monsieur Cerizet," continued Thuillier, still holding himself on +the reserve, "as I have said more than once to la Peyrade, no man is +indispensable; and if the editorship of my paper becomes vacant, I feel +confident that I shall at once meet with persons very eager to offer me +their services." + +"Is it for me you say that?" asked Cerizet. "Well, you haven't hit the +nail; if you did me the honor to want my services it would be impossible +for me to grant them. I have long been disgusted with journalism. I let +la Peyrade, I hardly know why, persuade me to make this campaign with +you; it didn't turn out happily, and I have vowed to myself to have no +more to do with newspapers. It was about another matter altogether than +I came to speak to you." + +"Ah!" said Thuillier. + +"Yes," continued Cerizet, "remembering the business-like manner in which +you managed the affair of this house in which you do me the honor to +receive me, I thought I could not do better than to call your attention +to a matter of the same kind which I have just now in hand. But I +shall not do as la Peyrade did,--make a bargain for the hand of +your goddaughter, and profess great friendship and devotion to you +personally. This is purely business, and I expect to make my profit out +of it. Now, as I still desire to become the principal tenant of this +house,--the letting of which must be a care and a disappointment to +mademoiselle, for I saw as I came along that the shops were still +unrented,--I think that this lease to me, if you will make it, might +be reckoned in to my share of the profits. You see, monsieur, that the +object of my visit has nothing to do with the newspaper." + +"What is this new affair?" said Brigitte; "that's the first thing to +know." + +"It relates to a farm in Beauce, which has just been sold for a song, +and it is placed in my hands to resell, at an advance, but a small one; +you could really buy it, as the saying is, for a bit of bread." + +And Cerizet went on to explain the whole mechanism of the affair, which +we need not relate here, as no one but Brigitte would take any interest +in it. The statement was clear and precise, and it took close hold on +the old maid's mind. Even Thuillier himself, in spite of his inward +distrust, was obliged to own that the affair had all the appearance of a +good speculation. + +"Only," said Brigitte, "we must first see the farm ourselves." + +This, the reader will remember, was her answer to la Peyrade when he +first proposed the purchase of the house at the Madeleine. + +"Nothing is easier than that," said Cerizet. "I myself want to see it, +and I have been intending to make a little excursion there. If you like, +I'll be at your door this afternoon with a post-chaise, and to-morrow +morning, very early, we can examine the farm, breakfast at some inn near +by, and be back in time for dinner." + +"A post-chaise!" said Brigitte, "that's very lordly; why not take the +diligence?" + +"Diligences are so uncertain," replied Cerizet; "you never know at what +time they will get to a place. But you need not think about the expense, +for I should otherwise go alone, and I am only too happy to offer you +two seats in my carriage." + +To misers, small gains are often determining causes in great matters; +after a little resistance "pro forma," Brigitte ended by accepting the +proposal, and three hours later the trio were on the road to Chartres, +Cerizet having advised Thuillier not to let la Peyrade know of his +absence, lest he might take some unfair advantage of it. + +The next day, by five o'clock, the party had returned, and the brother +and sister, who kept their opinions to themselves in presence of +Cerizet, were both agreed that the purchase was a good one. They had +found the soil of the best quality, the buildings in perfect repair, +the cattle looked sound and healthy; in short, this idea of becoming the +mistress of rural property seemed to Brigitte the final consecration of +opulence. + +"Minard," she remarked, "has only a town-house and invested capital, +whereas we shall have all that and a country-place besides; one can't be +really rich without it." + +Thuillier was not sufficiently under the charm of that dream--the +realization of which was, in any case, quite distant--to forget, even +for a moment, the "Echo de la Bievre" and his candidacy. No sooner had +he reached home than he asked for the morning's paper. + +"It has not come," said the "male domestic." + +"That's a fine distribution, when even the owner of the paper is not +served!" cried Thuillier, discontentedly. + +Although it was nearly dinner-time, and after his journey he would much +rather have taken a bath than rush to the rue Saint-Dominique, Thuillier +ordered a cab and drove at once to the office of the "Echo." + +There a fresh disappointment met him. The paper "was made," as they say, +and all the employees had departed, even la Peyrade. As for Coffinet, +who was not to be found at his post of office-boy, nor yet at his other +post of porter, he had gone "of an errand," his wife said, taking the +key of the closet in which the remaining copies of the paper were locked +up. Impossible, therefore, to procure the number which the unfortunate +proprietor had come so far to fetch. + +To describe Thuillier's indignation would be impossible. He marched up +and down the room, talking aloud to himself, as people do in moments of +excitement. + +"I'll turn them all out!" he cried. And we are forced to omit the rest +of the furious objurgation. + +As he ended his anathema a rap was heard on the door. + +"Come in!" said Thuillier, in a tone that depicted his wrath and his +frantic impatience. + +The door opened, and Minard rushed precipitately into his arms. + +"My good, my excellent friend!" cried the mayor of the eleventh +arrondissement, concluding his embrace with a hearty shake of the hand. + +"Why! what is it?" said Thuillier, unable to comprehend the warmth of +this demonstration. + +"Ah! my dear friend," continued Minard, "such an admirable proceeding! +really chivalrous! most disinterested! The effect, I assure you, is +quite stupendous in the arrondissement." + +"But what, I say?" cried Thuillier, impatiently. + +"The article, the whole action," continued Minard, "so noble, so +elevated!" + +"But what article? what action?" said the proprietor of the "Echo," +getting quite beside himself. + +"The article of this morning," said Minard. + +"The article of this morning?" + +"Ah ca! did you write it when you were asleep; or, like Monsieur +Jourdain doing prose, do you do heroism without knowing it?" + +"I! I haven't written any article!" cried Thuillier. "I have been away +from Paris for a day, and I don't even know what is in this morning's +paper; and the office-boy is not here to give me a copy." + +"I have one," said Minard, pulling the much desired paper from his +pocket. "If the article is not years you have certainly inspired it; in +any case, the deed is done." + +Thuillier hurriedly unfolded the sheet Minard had given him, and +devoured rather than read the following article:-- + + Long enough has the proprietor of this regenerated journal + submitted without complaint and without reply to the cowardly + insinuations with which a venal press insults all citizens who, + strong in their convictions, refuse to pass beneath the Caudine + Forks of power. Long enough has a man, who has already given + proofs of devotion and abnegation in the important functions of + the aedility of Paris, allowed these sheets to call him ambitious + and self-seeking. Monsieur Jerome Thuillier, strong in his + dignity, has suffered such coarse attacks to pass him with + contempt. Encouraged by this disdainful silence, the stipendiaries + of the press have dared to write that this journal, a work of + conviction and of the most disinterested patriotism, was but the + stepping-stone of a man, the speculation of a seeker for election. + Monsieur Jerome Thuillier has held himself impassible before these + shameful imputations because justice and truth are patient, and he + bided his time to scotch the reptile. That time has come. + +"That deuce of a Peyrade!" said Thuillier, stopping short; "how he does +touch it off!" + +"It is magnificent!" cried Minard. + +Reading aloud, Thuillier continued:-- + + Every one, friends and enemies alike, can bear witness that + Monsieur Jerome Thuillier has done nothing to seek a candidacy + which was offered to him spontaneously. + +"That's evident," said Thuillier, interrupting himself. Then he +resumed:-- + + But, since his sentiments are so odiously misrepresented, and his + intentions so falsely travestied, Monsieur Jerome Thuillier owes + it to himself, and above all to the great national party of which + he is the humblest soldier, to give an example which shall + confound the vile sycophants of power. + +"It is fine, the way la Peyrade poses me!" said Thuillier, pausing once +more in his reading. "I see now why he didn't send me the paper; he +wanted to enjoy my surprise--'confound the vile sycophants of power!' +how fine that is!" + +After which reflection, he continued:-- + + Monsieur Thuillier was so far from founding this journal of + dynastic opposition to support and promote his election that, at + the very moment when the prospects of that election seem most + favorable to himself and most disastrous to his rivals, he here + declares publicly, and in the most formal, absolute, and + irrevocable manner that he _renounces his candidacy_. + +"What?" cried Thuillier, thinking he had read wrong, or had +misunderstood what he read. + +"Go on! go on!" said the mayor of the eleventh. + +Then, as Thuillier, with a bewildered air, seemed not disposed to +continue his reading, Minard took the paper from his hands and read the +rest of the article himself, beginning where the other had left off:-- + + Renounces his candidacy; and he strongly urges the electors to + transfer to Monsieur Minard, mayor of the eleventh arrondissement + and his friend and colleague in his municipal functions, all the + votes with which they seemed about to honor him. + +"But this is infamous!" cried Thuillier, recovering his speech; "you +have bought that Jesuit la Peyrade." + +"So," said Minard, stupefied by Thuillier's attitude, "the article was +not agreed upon between you?" + +"The wretch has profited by my absence to slip it into the paper; I +understand now why he prevented a copy from reaching me to-day." + +"My dear friend," said Minard, "what you tell me will seem incredible to +the public." + +"I tell you it is treachery; it is an abominable trap. Renounce my +candidacy!--why should I?" + +"You understand, my dear friend," said Minard, "that I am truly sorry +if your confidence has been abused, but I have just issued my circular +manifesto; the die is cast, and luck to the lucky now." + +"Leave me," said Thuillier; "it is a comedy for which you have paid." + +"Monsieur Thuillier," said Minard, in a threatening voice, "I advise you +not to repeat those words, unless you are ready to give me satisfaction +for them." + +Happily for Thuillier, who, we may remember, had made his profession +of faith as to civic courage some time before, he was relieved from +answering by Coffinet, who now opened the door of the editorial sanctum, +and announced:-- + +"Messieurs the electors of the twelfth arrondissement." + +The arrondissement was represented on this occasion by five persons. An +apothecary, chairman of the deputation, proceeded to address Thuillier +in the following terms:-- + +"We have come, monsieur, after taking cognizance of an article inserted +this morning in the 'Echo de la Bievre,' to inquire of you what may be +precisely the origin and bearing of that article; thinking it incredible +that, having solicited our suffrages, you should, on the eve of this +election, and from a most mistaken puritanism, have cast disorder and +disunion into our ranks, and probably have caused the triumph of the +ministerial candidate. A candidate does not belong to himself; he +belongs to the electors who have promised to honor him with their votes. +But," continued the orator, casting his eye at Minard, "the presence in +these precincts of the candidate whom you have gone out of your way to +recommend to us, indicates that between you and him there is connivance; +and I have no need to ask who is being here deceived." + +"No, messieurs, no," said Thuillier; "I have not renounced my candidacy. +That article was written and printed without my knowledge or consent. +To-morrow you will see the denial of it in the same paper, and you will +also learn that the infamous person who has betrayed my confidence is no +longer the editor of this journal." + +"Then," said the orator of the deputation, "in spite of your declaration +to the contrary, you do continue to be the candidate of the Opposition?" + +"Yes, messieurs, until death; and I beg you to use your utmost influence +in the quarter to neutralize the effect of this deliberate falsehood +until I am able to officially present the most formal disavowal." + +"Hear! hear!" said the electors. + +"And, as for the presence of Monsieur Minard, my competitor, in these +precincts, I have not invited it; and at the moment when you entered +this room, I was engaged in a very sharp and decided explanation with +him." + +"Hear! hear!" said the electors again. + +Then, after cordially shaking the hand of the apothecary, Thuillier +conducted the deputation to the outer door of the apartment; after +which, returning to the editorial sanctum, he said:-- + +"My dear Minard, I withdraw the words which wounded you; but you can see +now what justification I had for my indignation." + +Here Coffinet again opened the door and announced:-- + +"Messieurs the electors of the eleventh arrondissement." + +The arrondissement was represented this time by seven persons. A +linen-draper, chairman of the delegation, addressed Thuillier in the +following speech:-- + +"Monsieur, it is with sincere admiration that we have learned this +morning from the columns of your paper, the great civic act by which +you have touched all hearts. You have shown, in thus retiring, a most +unusual disinterestedness, and the esteem of your fellow-citizens--" + +"Excuse me," said Thuillier, interrupting him, "I cannot allow you to +continue; the article about which you are so good as to congratulate me, +was inserted by mistake." + +"What!" said the linen-draper; "then do you not retire? Can you suppose +that in opposition to the candidacy of Monsieur Minard (whose presence +in these precincts seems to me rather singular) you have the slightest +chance of success?" + +"Monsieur," said Thuillier, "have the goodness to request the electors +of your arrondissement to await the issue of to-morrow's paper, in which +I shall furnish categorical explanations of the most distinct character. +The article to-day is the result of a misunderstanding." + +"It will be a sad pity, monsieur," said the linen-draper, "if you lose +this occasion to place yourself in the eyes of your fellow-citizens +beside the Washingtons and other great men of antiquity." + +"I say again, _to-morrow_, messieurs," said Thuillier. "I am none the +less sensible to the honor you do me, and I trust that when you know the +whole truth, I shall not suffer in your esteem." + +"A pretty queer mess this seems to be," said the voice of an elector. + +"Yes," said another; "it looks as if they meant to bamboozle us." + +"Messieurs, messieurs!" cried the chairman, putting a stop to the +outbreak; "to-morrow--we will wait until to-morrow for the promised +explanations." + +Whereupon, the deputation retired. + +It is not likely that Thuillier would have accompanied them beyond the +door of the sanctum, but in any case he was prevented by the sudden +entrance of la Peyrade. + +"I have just come from your house, my dear fellow," said the Provencal; +"they told me I should find you here." + +"You have come, doubtless, for the purpose of explaining to me the +strange article you allowed yourself to insert in my name." + +"Precisely," said la Peyrade. "The remarkable man whom you know, +and whose powerful influence you have already felt, confided to me +yesterday, in your interests, the plans of the government, and I saw at +once that your defeat was inevitable. I wished therefore to secure to +you an honorable and dignified retreat. There was no time to lose; you +were absent from Paris, and therefore--" + +"Very good, monsieur," said Thuillier; "but you will take notice that +from the present moment you are no longer the editor of this paper." + +"That is what I came to tell you." + +"Perhaps you also came to settle the little account we have together." + +"Messieurs," said Minard, "I see that this is a business interview; I +shall therefore take leave of you." + +As soon as Minard had left the room, la Peyrade pulled out his +pocket-book. + +"Here are ten thousand francs," he said, "which I will beg you to remit +to Mademoiselle Brigitte; and here, also, is the bond by which you +secured the payment of twenty-five thousand francs to Madame Lambert; +that sum I have now paid in full, and here is the receipt." + +"Very good, monsieur," said Thuillier. + +La Peyrade bowed and went away. + +"Serpent!" said Thuillier as he watched him go. + +"Cerizet said the right thing," thought la Peyrade,--"a pompous +imbecile!" + +The blow struck at Thuillier's candidacy was mortal, but Minard did not +profit by it. While the pair were contending for votes, a government +man, an aide-de-camp to the king, arrived with his hands full of tobacco +licenses and other electoral small change, and, like the third thief, +he slipped between the two who were thumping each other, and carried off +the booty. + +It is needless to say that Brigitte did not get her farm in Beauce. That +was only a mirage, by help of which Thuillier was enticed out of Paris +long enough for la Peyrade to deal his blow,--a service rendered to the +government on the one hand, but also a precious vengeance for the many +humiliations he had undergone. + +Thuillier had certainly some suspicions as to the complicity of Cerizet, +but that worthy managed to justify himself; and by manoeuvring the +sale of the "Echo de la Bievre," now become a nightmare to the luckless +owner, he ended by appearing as white as snow. + +The paper was secretly bought up by Corentin, and the late opposition +sheet became a "canard" sold on Sundays in the wine-shops and concocted +in the dens of the police. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. IN THE EXERCISE OF HIS FUNCTIONS + +About two months after the scene in which la Peyrade had been convinced +that through a crime of his past life his future was irrevocably +settled, he (being now married to his victim, who was beginning to have +lucid intervals, though the full return of her reason would not take +place until the occasion indicated by the doctors) was sitting one +morning with the head of the police in the latter's office. Taking +part in the work of the department, the young man was serving an +apprenticeship under that great master in the difficult and delicate +functions to which he was henceforth riveted. But Corentin found that +his pupil did not bring to this initiation all the ardor and amiability +that he desired. It was plain that in la Peyrade's soul there was a +sense of forfeiture and degradation; time would get the better of that +impression, but the callus was not yet formed. + +Opening a number of sealed envelopes enclosing the reports of his +various agents, Corentin glanced over these documents, seldom as useful +as the public suppose, casting them one after another contemptuously +into a basket, whence they issued in a mass for a burning. But to one of +them the great man evidently gave some particular attention; as he read +it a smile flickered on his lips, and when he had finished, instead of +adding it to the pile in the basket, he gave it to la Peyrade. + +"Here," he said, "here's something that concerns you; it shows that in +our profession, which just now seems to you unpleasantly serious, we do +occasionally meet with comedies. Read it aloud; it will cheer me up." + +Before la Peyrade began to read, Corentin added:-- + +"I ought to tell you that the report is from a man called Henri, whom +Madame Komorn introduced as man-servant at the Thuilliers'; you probably +remember him." + +"So!" said la Peyrade, "servants placed in families! is that one of your +methods?" + +"Sometimes," replied Corentin; "in order to know all, we must use all +means. But a great many lies are told about us on that subject. It +is not true that the police, making a system of it, has, at certain +periods, by a general enrolment of lacqueys and lady's-maids, +established a vast network in private families. Nothing is fixed and +absolute in our manner of proceeding; we act in accordance with the time +and circumstances. I wanted an ear and an influence in the Thuillier +household; accordingly, I let loose the Godollo upon it, and she, in +turn, partly to assist herself, installed there one of our men, an +intelligent fellow, as you will see for yourself. But for all that, if, +at another time, a servant came and offered to sell me the secrets of +his master, I should have him arrested, and let a warning reach the ears +of the family to distrust the other servants. Now go on, and read that +report." + + Monsieur the Director of the Secret Police, + +read la Peyrade aloud,-- + + I did not stay long with the little baron; he is a man wholly + occupied in frivolous pleasures; and there was nothing to be + gathered there that was worthy of a report to you. I have found + another place, where I have already witnessed several thing which + fit into the mission that Madame de Godollo gave me, and + therefore, thinking them likely to interest you, I hasten to bring + them to your knowledge. The household in which I am now employed + is that of an old savant, named Monsieur Picot, who lives on a + first floor, Place de la Madeleine, in the house and apartment + formerly occupied by my late masters, the Thuilliers-- + +"What!" cried la Peyrade, interrupting his reading, "Pere Picot, that +ruined old lunatic, occupying such an apartment as that?" + +"Go on, go on!" said Corentin; "life is full of many strange things. +You'll find the explanation farther along; for our correspondent--it is +the defect of those fellows to waste themselves on details--is only too +fond of dotting his i's." + +La Peyrade read on:-- + + The Thuilliers left this apartment some weeks ago to return to + their Latin quarter. Mademoiselle Brigitte never really liked our + sphere; her total want of education made her ill at ease. Just + because I speak correctly, she was always calling me 'the orator,' + and she could not endure Monsieur Pascal, her porter, because, + being beadle in the church of the Madeleine, he had manners; she + even found something to say against the dealers in the great + market behind the church, where, of course, she bought her + provisions; she complained that they gave themselves _capable_ + airs, merely because they are not so coarse-tongued as those of + the Halle, and only laughed at her when she tried to beat them + down. She has leased the whole house to a certain Monsieur Cerizet + (a very ugly man, with a nose all eaten away) for an annual rent of + fifty-five thousand francs. This tenant seems to know what he is + about. He has lately married an actress at one of the minor + theatres, Mademoiselle Olympe Cardinal, and he was just about to + occupy himself the first-floor apartment, where he proposed to + establish his present business, namely, insurance for the "dots" + of children, when Monsieur Picot, arriving from England with his + wife, a very rich Englishwoman, saw the apartment and offered such + a good price that Monsieur Cerizet felt constrained to take it. + That was the time when, by the help of M. Pascal, the porter, with + whom I have been careful to maintain good relations, I entered the + household of Monsieur Picot. + +"Monsieur Picot married to a rich Englishwoman!" exclaimed la Peyrade, +interrupting himself again; "but it is incomprehensible." + +"Go on, I tell you," said Corentin; "you'll comprehend it presently." + + The fortune of my new master, + +continued la Peyrade, + + is quite a history; and I speak of it to Monsieur le directeur + because another person in whom Madame de Godollo was interested + has his marriage closely mixed up in it. That other person is + Monsieur Felix Phellion, the inventor of a star, who, in despair + at not being able to marry that demoiselle whom they wanted to + give to the Sieur la Peyrade whom Madame de Godollo made such a + fool of-- + +"Scoundrel!" said the Provencal, in a parenthesis. "Is that how he +speaks of me? He doesn't know who I am." + +Corentin laughed heartily and exhorted his pupil to read on. + + --who, in despair at not being able to marry that demoiselle . . . + went to England in order to embark for a journey round the world + --a lover's notion! Learning of this departure, Monsieur Picot, + his former professor, who took great interest in his pupil, went + after him to prevent that nonsense, which turned out not to be + difficult. The English are naturally very jealous of discoveries, + and when they saw Monsieur Phellion coming to embark at the heels + of their own savants they asked him for his permit from the + Admiralty; which, not having been provided, he could not produce; + so then they laughed in his face and would not let him embark at + all, fearing that he should prove more learned than they. + +"He is a fine hand at the 'entente cordiale,' your Monsieur Henri," said +la Peyrade, gaily. + +"Yes," replied Corentin; "you will be struck, in the reports of +nearly all our agents, with this general and perpetual inclination to +calumniate. But what's to be done? For the trade of spies we can't have +angels." + + Left upon the shore, Telemachus and his mentor-- + +"You see our men are lettered," commented Corentin. + + --Telemachus and his mentor thought best to return to France, and + were about to do so when Monsieur Picot received a letter such as + none but an Englishwoman could write. It told him that the writer + had read his "Theory of Perpetual Motion," and had also heard of + his magnificent discovery of a star; that she regarded him as a + genius only second to Newton, and that if the hand of her who + addressed him, joined to eighty thousand pounds sterling--that is, + two millions--of "dot," was agreeable to him it was at his + disposal. The first thought of the good man was to make his pupil + marry her, but finding that impossible, he told her, before + accepting on his own account, that he was old and three-quarters + blind, and had never discovered a star, and did not own a penny. + The Englishwoman replied that Milton was not young either, and was + altogether blind; that Monsieur Picot seemed to her to have + nothing worse than a cataract, for she knew all about it, being + the daughter of a great oculist, and she would have him operated + upon; that as for the star, she did not care so very much about + that; it was the author of the "Theory of Perpetual Motion" who + was the man of her dreams, and to whom she again offered her hand + with eighty thousand pounds sterling (two millions) of "dot." + Monsieur Picot replied that if his sight were restored and she + would consent to live in Paris, for he hated England, he would let + himself be married. The operation was performed and was + successful, and, at the end of three weeks the newly married pair + arrived in the capital. These details I obtained from the lady's + maid, with whom I am on the warmest terms. + +"Oh! the puppy!" said Corentin, laughing. + + The above is therefore hearsay, but what remains to be told to + Monsieur le directeur are facts of which I can speak "de visu," + and to which I am, consequently, in a position to certify. As + soon as Monsieur and Madame Picot had installed themselves, which + was done in the most sumptuous and comfortable manner, my master + gave me a number of invitations to dinner to carry to the + Thuillier family, the Colleville family, the Minard family, the + Abbe Gondrin, vicar of the Madeleine, and nearly all the guests + who were present at another dinner a few months earlier, when he + had an encounter with Mademoiselle Thuillier, and behaved, I must + say, in a rather singular manner. All the persons who received + these invitations were so astonished to learn that the old man + Picot had married a rich wife and was living in the Thuilliers' + old apartment that most of them came to inquire of Monsieur + Pascal, the porter, to see if they were hoaxed. The information + they obtained being honest and honorable, the whole society + arrived punctually on time; but Monsieur Picot did not appear. + The guests were received by Madame Picot, who does not speak + French and could only say, "My husband is coming soon"; after + which, not being able to make further conversation, the company + were dull and ill at ease. At last Monsieur Picot arrived, and all + present were stupefied on seeing, instead of an old blind man, + shabbily dressed, a handsome young elderly man, bearing his years + jauntily, like Monsieur Ferville of the Gymnase, who said with a + lively air: + + "I beg your pardon, mesdames, for not being here at the moment of + your arrival; but I was at the Academy of Sciences, awaiting the + result of an election,--that of Monsieur Felix Phellion, who has + been elected unanimously less three votes." + + This news seemed to have a great effect upon the company. So then + Monsieur Picot resumed:-- + + "I must also, mesdames, ask your pardon for the rather improper + manner in which I behaved a short time ago in the house where we + are now assembled. My excuse must be my late infirmity, the + annoyances of a family lawsuit, and of an old housekeeper who + robbed me and tormented me in a thousand ways, from whom I am + happily delivered. To-day you see me another man, rejuvenated and + rich with the blessings bestowed upon me by the amiable woman who + has given me her hand; and I should be in the happiest frame of + mind to receive you if the recollection of my young friend, whose + eminence as a man of science has just been consecrated by the + Academy, did not cast upon my mind a veil of sadness. All here + present," continued Monsieur Picot, raising his voice, which is + rather loud, "are guilty towards him: I, for ingratitude when he + gave me the glory of his discovery and the reward of his immortal + labors; that young lady, whom I see over there with tears in her + eyes, for having foolishly accused him of atheism; that other + lady, with the stern face, for having harshly replied to the + proposals of his noble father, whose white hairs she ought rather + to have honored; Monsieur Thuillier, for having sacrificed him to + ambition; Monsieur Colleville, for not performing his part of + father and choosing for his daughter the worthiest and most + honorable man; Monsieur Minard, for having tried to foist his son + into his place. There are but two persons in the room at this + moment who have done him full justice,--Madame Thuillier and + Monsieur l'Abbe Gondrin. Well, I shall now ask that man of God + whether we can help doubting the divine justice when this generous + young man, the victim of all of us, is, at the present hour, at + the mercy of waves and tempests, to which for three long years he + is consigned." + + "Providence is very powerful, monsieur," replied the Abbe Gondrin. + "God will protect Monsieur Felix Phellion wherever he may be, and + I have the firmest hope that three years hence he will be among + his friends once more." + + "But three years!" said Monsieur Picot. "Will it still be time? + Will Mademoiselle Colleville have waited for him?" + + "Yes, I swear it!" cried the young girl, carried away by an + impulse she could not control. + + Then she sat down again, quite ashamed, and burst into tears. + + "And you, Mademoiselle Thuillier, and you, Madame Colleville, will + you permit this young lady to reserve herself for one who is + worthy of her?" + + "Yes! Yes!" cried everybody; for Monsieur Picot's voice, which is + very full and sonorous, seemed to have tears in it and affected + everybody. + + "Then it is time," he said, "to forgive Providence." + + And rushing suddenly to the door, where my ear was glued to the + keyhole, he very nearly caught me. + + "Announce," he said to me, in a very loud tone of voice, "Monsieur + Felix Phellion and his family." + + And thereupon the door of a side room opened, and five or six + persons came out, who were led by Monsieur Picot into the salon. + + At the sight of her _lover_, Mademoiselle Colleville was taken ill, + but the faint lasted only a minute; seeing Monsieur Felix at her + feet she threw herself into Madame Thuillier's arms, crying out:-- + + "Godmother! you always told me to hope." + + Mademoiselle Thuillier, who, in spite of her harsh nature and want + of education, I have always myself thought a remarkable woman, now + had a fine impulse. As the company were about to go into the + dining-room,-- + + "One moment!" she said. + + Then going up to Monsieur Phellion, senior, she said to him: + + "Monsieur and old friend! I ask you for the hand of Monsieur Felix + Phellion for our adopted daughter, Mademoiselle Colleville." + + "Bravo! bravo!" they call cried in chorus. + + "My God!" said Monsieur Phellion, with tears in his eyes; "what + have I done to deserve such happiness?" + + "You have been an honest man and a Christian without knowing it," + replied the Abbe Gondrin. + +Here la Peyrade flung down the manuscript. + +"You did not finish it," said Corentin, taking back the paper. "However, +there's not much more. Monsieur Henri confesses to me that the scene +had _moved him_; he also says that, knowing the interest I had +formerly taken in the marriage, he thought he ought to inform me of +its conclusion; ending with a slightly veiled suggestion of a fee. No, +stay," resumed Corentin, "here is a detail of some importance:--" + + The English woman seems to have made it known during dinner that, + having no heirs, her fortune, after the lives of herself and her + husband, will go to Felix. That will make him powerfully rich one + of these days. + +La Peyrade had risen and was striding about the room with rapid steps. + +"Well," said Corentin, "what is the matter with you?" + +"Nothing." + +"That is not true," said the great detective. "I think you envy the +happiness of that young man. My dear fellow, permit me to tell you that +if such a conclusion were to your taste, you should have acted as he has +done. When I sent you two thousand francs on which to study law, I +did not intend you to succeed me; I expected you to row your galley +laboriously, to have the needful courage for obscure and painful toil; +your day would infallibly have come. But you chose to violate fortune--" + +"Monsieur!" + +"I mean hasten it, reap it before it ripened. You flung yourself +into journalism; then into business, questionable business; you made +acquaintance with Messieurs Dutocq and Cerizet. Frankly, I think you +fortunate to have entered the port which harbors you to-day. In any +case, you are not sufficiently simple of heart to have really valued the +joys reserved for Felix Phellion. These bourgeois--" + +"These bourgeois," said la Peyrade, quickly,--"I know them now. They +have great absurdities, great vices even, but they have virtues, or, +at the least, estimable qualities; in them lies the vital force of our +corrupt society." + +"_Your_ society!" said Corentin, smiling; "you speak as if you were +still in the ranks. You have another sphere, my dear fellow; and you +must learn to be more content with your lot. Governments pass, societies +perish or dwindle; but we--_we_ dominate all things; the police is +eternal." + + + + TRANSLATOR'S NOTE + + Note.--This volume ("Les Petits Bourgeois") was not published + until 1854, more than three years after Balzac's death; although + he says of it in March, 1844: "I must tell you that my work + entitled 'Les Petits Bourgeois,' owing to difficulties of + execution, requires still a month's labor, although the book is + entirely written." And again, in October, 1846, he says: "It is to + such scruples" (care in perfecting his work) "that delays which + have injured several of my works are due; for instance, 'Les + Paysans,' which has long been nearly finished, and 'Les Petits + Bourgeois,' which has been in type at the printing office for the + last eighteen months." + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + + Barbet + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Man of Business + The Seamy Side of History + The Middle Classes + + Baudoyer, Isidore + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + Cousin Pons + + Beaumesnil, Mademoiselle + The Middle Classes + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + A Second Home + + Bianchon, Horace + Father Goriot + The Atheist's Mass + Cesar Birotteau + The Commission in Lunacy + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Bachelor's Establishment + The Secrets of a Princess + The Government Clerks + Pierrette + A Study of Woman + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Honorine + The Seamy Side of History + The Magic Skin + A Second Home + A Prince of Bohemia + Letters of Two Brides + The Muse of the Department + The Imaginary Mistress + The Middle Classes + Cousin Betty + The Country Parson + In addition, M. Bianchon narrated the following: + Another Study of Woman + La Grande Breteche + + Bousquier, Du (or Du Croisier or Du Bourguier) + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Middle Classes + + Brisetout, Heloise + Cousin Betty + Cousin Pons + The Middle Classes + + Bruel, Jean Francois du + A Bachelor's Establishment + The Government Clerks + A Start in Life + A Prince of Bohemia + The Middle Classes + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Daughter of Eve + + Bruel, Claudine Chaffaroux, Madame du + A Bachelor's Establishment + A Prince of Bohemia + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Letters of Two Brides + The Middle Classes + + Bruno + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + + Cardot (Parisian notary) + The Muse of the Department + A Man of Business + Jealousies of a Country Town + Pierre Grassou + The Middle Classes + Cousin Pons + + Cerizet + Lost Illusions + A Man of Business + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + + Chaffaroux + Cesar Birotteau + A Prince of Bohemia + The Middle Classes + + Claparon, Charles + A Bachelor's Establishment + Cesar Birotteau + Melmoth Reconciled + The Firm of Nucingen + A Man of Business + The Middle Classes + + Cochin, Emile-Louis-Lucien-Emmanuel + Cesar Birotteau + The Government Clerks + The Firm of Nucingen + The Middle Classes + + Colleville + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Colleville, Flavie Minoret, Madame + The Government Clerks + Cousin Betty + The Middle Classes + + Corentin + The Chouans + The Gondreville Mystery + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + + Couture + Beatrix + The Firm of Nucingen + The Middle Classes + + Crochard, Charles + A Second Home + The Middle Classes + + Desroches (son) + A Bachelor's Establishment + Colonel Chabert + A Start in Life + A Woman of Thirty + The Commission in Lunacy + The Government Clerks + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Firm of Nucingen + A Man of Business + The Middle Classes + + Dutocq + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Fleury + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Galathionne, Prince and Princess (both not in each story) + The Secrets of a Princess + The Middle Classes + Father Goriot + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Daughter of Eve + Beatrix + + Godard, Joseph + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Godeschal, Francois-Claude-Marie + Colonel Chabert + A Bachelor's Establishment + A Start in Life + The Commission in Lunacy + The Middle Classes + Cousin Pons + + Grassou, Pierre + Pierre Grassou + A Bachelor's Establishment + Cousin Betty + The Middle Classes + Cousin Pons + + Grindot + Cesar Birotteau + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Start in Life + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Beatrix + The Middle Classes + Cousin Betty + + Katt + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + + Keller, Adolphe + The Middle Classes + Pierrette + Cesar Birotteau + + La Peyrade, Charles-Marie-Theodose de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + + La Peyrade, Madame de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + + La Roche-Hugon, Martial de + Domestic Peace + The Peasantry + A Daughter of Eve + The Member for Arcis + The Middle Classes + Cousin Betty + + Laudigeois + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Lousteau, Etienne + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Bachelor's Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + A Daughter of Eve + Beatrix + The Muse of the Department + Cousin Betty + A Prince of Bohemia + A Man of Business + The Middle Classes + The Unconscious Humorists + + Metivier + Lost Illusions + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Metivier (nephew) + The Seamy Side of History + The Middle Classes + + Minard, Auguste-Jean-Francois + The Government Clerks + The Firm of Nucingen + The Middle Classes + + Minard, Madame + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Phellion + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Poiret, the elder + The Government Clerks + Father Goriot + A Start in Life + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + + Poiret, Madame (nee Christine-Michelle Michonneau) + Father Goriot + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + + Popinot, Jean-Jules + Cesar Birotteau + Honorine + The Commission in Lunacy + The Seamy Side of History + The Middle Classes + + Rabourdin, Xavier + The Government Clerks + At the Sign of the Cat and Racket + Cesar Birotteau + The Middle Classes + + Saillard + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Thuillier + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Thuillier, Marie-Jeanne-Brigitte + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Thuillier, Louis-Jerome + The Government Clerks + The Middle Classes + + Tillet, Ferdinand du + Cesar Birotteau + The Firm of Nucingen + The Middle Classes + A Bachelor's Establishment + Pierrette + Melmoth Reconciled + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + The Member for Arcis + Cousin Betty + The Unconscious Humorists + + Vinet + Pierrette + The Member for Arcis + The Middle Classes + Cousin Pons + + Vinet, Olivier + The Member for Arcis + Cousin Pons + The Middle Classes + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lesser Bourgeoisie, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LESSER BOURGEOISIE *** + +***** This file should be named 1641.txt or 1641.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/4/1641/ + +Produced by John Bickers, Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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