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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1710-0.txt b/1710-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4f5907 --- /dev/null +++ b/1710-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1261 @@ + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of La Grande Bretèche, by Honoré 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: La Grande Bretèche + +Author: Honoré de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + +Release Date: February 28, 2010 [EBook #1710] +Last Updated: October 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE *** + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger + + + + + +LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE (Sequel to “Another Study of Woman.”) + + + +By Honoré De Balzac + + + +Translated by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + + + + + +LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE + +ADDENDUM + + + +LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE + + +“Ah! madame,” replied the doctor, “I have some appalling stories in +my collection. But each one has its proper hour in a conversation—you +know the pretty jest recorded by Chamfort, and said to the Duc de +Fronsac: ‘Between your sally and the present moment lie ten bottles of +champagne.’” + +“But it is two in the morning, and the story of Rosina has prepared +us,” said the mistress of the house. + +“Tell us, Monsieur Bianchon!” was the cry on every side. + +The obliging doctor bowed, and silence reigned. + +“At about a hundred paces from Vendôme, on the banks of the Loir,” + said he, “stands an old brown house, crowned with very high roofs, and +so completely isolated that there is nothing near it, not even a fetid +tannery or a squalid tavern, such as are commonly seen outside small +towns. In front of this house is a garden down to the river, where the +box shrubs, formerly clipped close to edge the walks, now straggle +at their own will. A few willows, rooted in the stream, have grown +up quickly like an enclosing fence, and half hide the house. The +wild plants we call weeds have clothed the bank with their beautiful +luxuriance. The fruit-trees, neglected for these ten years past, +no longer bear a crop, and their suckers have formed a thicket. The +espaliers are like a copse. The paths, once graveled, are overgrown +with purslane; but, to be accurate there is no trace of a path. + +“Looking down from the hilltop, to which cling the ruins of the old +castle of the Dukes of Vendôme, the only spot whence the eye can +see into this enclosure, we think that at a time, difficult now to +determine, this spot of earth must have been the joy of some country +gentleman devoted to roses and tulips, in a word, to horticulture, but +above all a lover of choice fruit. An arbor is visible, or rather +the wreck of an arbor, and under it a table still stands not entirely +destroyed by time. At the aspect of this garden that is no more, the +negative joys of the peaceful life of the provinces may be divined as +we divine the history of a worthy tradesman when we read the epitaph +on his tomb. To complete the mournful and tender impressions which +seize the soul, on one of the walls there is a sundial graced with +this homely Christian motto, ‘Ultimam cogita.’ + +“The roof of this house is dreadfully dilapidated; the outside +shutters are always closed; the balconies are hung with swallows’ +nests; the doors are for ever shut. Straggling grasses have outlined +the flagstones of the steps with green; the ironwork is rusty. Moon +and sun, winter, summer, and snow have eaten into the wood, warped +the boards, peeled off the paint. The dreary silence is broken only by +birds and cats, polecats, rats, and mice, free to scamper round, and +fight, and eat each other. An invisible hand has written over it all: +‘Mystery.’ + +“If, prompted by curiosity, you go to look at this house from the +street, you will see a large gate, with a round-arched top; the +children have made many holes in it. I learned later that this door +had been blocked for ten years. Through these irregular breaches you +will see that the side towards the courtyard is in perfect harmony +with the side towards the garden. The same ruin prevails. Tufts of +weeds outline the paving-stones; the walls are scored by enormous +cracks, and the blackened coping is laced with a thousand festoons of +pellitory. The stone steps are disjointed; the bell-cord is rotten; +the gutter-spouts broken. What fire from heaven could have fallen +there? By what decree has salt been sown on this dwelling? Has God +been mocked here? Or was France betrayed? These are the questions we +ask ourselves. Reptiles crawl over it, but give no reply. This empty +and deserted house is a vast enigma of which the answer is known to +none. + +“It was formerly a little domain, held in fief, and is known as La +Grande Bretèche. During my stay at Vendôme, where Despleins had left +me in charge of a rich patient, the sight of this strange dwelling +became one of my keenest pleasures. Was it not far better than a ruin? +Certain memories of indisputable authenticity attach themselves to a +ruin; but this house, still standing, though being slowly destroyed +by an avenging hand, contained a secret, an unrevealed thought. At the +very least, it testified to a caprice. More than once in the evening I +boarded the hedge, run wild, which surrounded the enclosure. I braved +scratches, I got into this ownerless garden, this plot which was no +longer public or private; I lingered there for hours gazing at the +disorder. I would not, as the price of the story to which this strange +scene no doubt was due, have asked a single question of any gossiping +native. On that spot I wove delightful romances, and abandoned myself +to little debauches of melancholy which enchanted me. If I had known +the reason—perhaps quite commonplace—of this neglect, I should have +lost the unwritten poetry which intoxicated me. To me this refuge +represented the most various phases of human life, shadowed by +misfortune; sometimes the peace of the graveyard without the dead, +who speak in the language of epitaphs; one day I saw in it the home +of lepers; another, the house of the Atridae; but, above all, I found +there provincial life, with its contemplative ideas, its hour-glass +existence. I often wept there, I never laughed. + +“More than once I felt involuntary terrors as I heard overhead the +dull hum of the wings of some hurrying wood-pigeon. The earth is dank; +you must be on the watch for lizards, vipers, and frogs, wandering +about with the wild freedom of nature; above all, you must have no +fear of cold, for in a few moments you feel an icy cloak settle on +your shoulders, like the Commendatore’s hand on Don Giovanni’s neck. + +“One evening I felt a shudder; the wind had turned an old rusty +weathercock, and the creaking sounded like a cry from the house, at +the very moment when I was finishing a gloomy drama to account for +this monumental embodiment of woe. I returned to my inn, lost in +gloomy thoughts. When I had supped, the hostess came into my room with +an air of mystery, and said, ‘Monsieur, here is Monsieur Regnault.’ + +“‘Who is Monsieur Regnault?’ + +“‘What, sir, do you not know Monsieur Regnault?—Well, that’s odd,’ +said she, leaving the room. + +“On a sudden I saw a man appear, tall, slim, dressed in black, hat +in hand, who came in like a ram ready to butt his opponent, showing a +receding forehead, a small pointed head, and a colorless face of the +hue of a glass of dirty water. You would have taken him for an usher. +The stranger wore an old coat, much worn at the seams; but he had a +diamond in his shirt frill, and gold rings in his ears. + +“‘Monsieur,’ said I, ‘whom have I the honor of addressing?’—He took +a chair, placed himself in front of my fire, put his hat on my +table, and answered while he rubbed his hands: ‘Dear me, it is very +cold.—Monsieur, I am Monsieur Regnault.’ + +“I was encouraging myself by saying to myself, ‘Seek!’ + +“‘I am,’ he went on, ‘notary at Vendôme.’ + +“‘I am delighted to hear it, monsieur,’ I exclaimed. ‘But I am not in +a position to make a will for reasons best known to myself.’ + +“‘One moment!’ said he, holding up his hand as though to gain silence. +‘Allow me, monsieur, allow me! I am informed that you sometimes go to +walk in the garden of la Grande Bretèche.’ + +“‘Yes, monsieur.’ + +“‘One moment!’ said he, repeating his gesture. ‘That constitutes a +misdemeanor. Monsieur, as executor under the will of the late Comtesse +de Merret, I come in her name to beg you to discontinue the practice. +One moment! I am not a Turk, and do not wish to make a crime of it. +And besides, you are free to be ignorant of the circumstances which +compel me to leave the finest mansion in Vendôme to fall into ruin. +Nevertheless, monsieur, you must be a man of education, and you should +know that the laws forbid, under heavy penalties, any trespass on +enclosed property. A hedge is the same as a wall. But, the state in +which the place is left may be an excuse for your curiosity. For my +part, I should be quite content to make you free to come and go in the +house; but being bound to respect the will of the testatrix, I have +the honor, monsieur, to beg that you will go into the garden no more. +I myself, monsieur, since the will was read, have never set foot in +the house, which, as I had the honor of informing you, is part of the +estate of the late Madame de Merret. We have done nothing there but +verify the number of doors and windows to assess the taxes I have to +pay annually out of the funds left for that purpose by the late Madame +de Merret. Ah! my dear sir, her will made a great commotion in the +town.’ + +“The good man paused to blow his nose. I respected his volubility, +perfectly understanding that the administration of Madame de Merret’s +estate had been the most important event of his life, his reputation, +his glory, his Restoration. As I was forced to bid farewell to my +beautiful reveries and romances, I was to reject learning the truth on +official authority. + +“‘Monsieur,’ said I, ‘would it be indiscreet if I were to ask you the +reasons for such eccentricity?’ + +“At these words an expression, which revealed all the pleasure which +men feel who are accustomed to ride a hobby, overspread the lawyer’s +countenance. He pulled up the collar of his shirt with an air, took +out his snuffbox, opened it, and offered me a pinch; on my refusing, +he took a large one. He was happy! A man who has no hobby does not +know all the good to be got out of life. A hobby is the happy medium +between a passion and a monomania. At this moment I understood the +whole bearing of Sterne’s charming passion, and had a perfect idea of +the delight with which my uncle Toby, encouraged by Trim, bestrode his +hobby-horse. + +“‘Monsieur,’ said Monsieur Regnault, ‘I was head-clerk in Monsieur +Roguin’s office, in Paris. A first-rate house, which you may have +heard mentioned? No! An unfortunate bankruptcy made it famous.—Not +having money enough to purchase a practice in Paris at the price +to which they were run up in 1816, I came here and bought my +predecessor’s business. I had relations in Vendôme; among others, a +wealthy aunt, who allowed me to marry her daughter.—Monsieur,’ he went +on after a little pause, ‘three months after being licensed by the +Keeper of the Seals, one evening, as I was going to bed—it was before +my marriage—I was sent for by Madame la Comtesse de Merret, to her +Chateau of Merret. Her maid, a good girl, who is now a servant in this +inn, was waiting at my door with the Countess’ own carriage. Ah! one +moment! I ought to tell you that Monsieur le Comte de Merret had gone +to Paris to die two months before I came here. He came to a miserable +end, flinging himself into every kind of dissipation. You understand? + +“‘On the day when he left, Madame la Comtesse had quitted la Grand +Bretèche, having dismantled it. Some people even say that she had +burnt all the furniture, the hangings—in short, all the chattels and +furniture whatever used in furnishing the premises now let by the +said M.—(Dear, what am I saying? I beg your pardon, I thought I was +dictating a lease.)—In short, that she burnt everything in the meadow +at Merret. Have you been to Merret, monsieur?—No,’ said he, answering +himself, ‘Ah, it is a very fine place.’ + +“‘For about three months previously,’ he went on, with a jerk of his +head, ‘the Count and Countess had lived in a very eccentric way; they +admitted no visitors; Madame lived on the ground-floor, and Monsieur +on the first floor. When the Countess was left alone, she was never +seen excepting at church. Subsequently, at home, at the chateau, she +refused to see the friends, whether gentlemen or ladies, who went to +call on her. She was already very much altered when she left la Grande +Bretèche to go to Merret. That dear lady—I say dear lady, for it was +she who gave me this diamond, but indeed I saw her but once—that kind +lady was very ill; she had, no doubt, given up all hope, for she died +without choosing to send for a doctor; indeed, many of our ladies +fancied she was not quite right in her head. Well, sir, my curiosity +was strangely excited by hearing that Madame de Merret had need of +my services. Nor was I the only person who took an interest in the +affair. That very night, though it was already late, all the town knew +that I was going to Merret. + +“‘The waiting-woman replied but vaguely to the questions I asked her +on the way; nevertheless, she told me that her mistress had received +the Sacrament in the course of the day at the hands of the Curé of +Merret, and seemed unlikely to live through the night. It was about +eleven when I reached the chateau. I went up the great staircase. +After crossing some large, lofty, dark rooms, diabolically cold and +damp, I reached the state bedroom where the Countess lay. From the +rumors that were current concerning this lady (monsieur, I should +never end if I were to repeat all the tales that were told about +her), I had imagined her a coquette. Imagine, then, that I had great +difficulty in seeing her in the great bed where she was lying. To be +sure, to light this enormous room, with old-fashioned heavy cornices, +and so thick with dust that merely to see it was enough to make you +sneeze, she had only an old Argand lamp. Ah! but you have not been +to Merret. Well, the bed is one of those old world beds, with a high +tester hung with flowered chintz. A small table stood by the bed, on +which I saw an “Imitation of Christ,” which, by the way, I bought for +my wife, as well as the lamp. There were also a deep armchair for her +confidential maid, and two small chairs. There was no fire. That was +all the furniture, not enough to fill ten lines in an inventory. + +“‘My dear sir, if you had seen, as I then saw, that vast room, papered +and hung with brown, you would have felt yourself transported into a +scene of a romance. It was icy, nay more, funereal,’ and he lifted his +hand with a theatrical gesture and paused. + +“‘By dint of seeking, as I approached the bed, at last I saw Madame de +Merret, under the glimmer of the lamp, which fell on the pillows. +Her face was as yellow as wax, and as narrow as two folded hands. The +Countess had a lace cap showing her abundant hair, but as white as +linen thread. She was sitting up in bed, and seemed to keep upright +with great difficulty. Her large black eyes, dimmed by fever, no +doubt, and half-dead already, hardly moved under the bony arch of her +eyebrows.—There,’ he added, pointing to his own brow. ‘Her forehead +was clammy; her fleshless hands were like bones covered with soft +skin; the veins and muscles were perfectly visible. She must have been +very handsome; but at this moment I was startled into an indescribable +emotion at the sight. Never, said those who wrapped her in her shroud, +had any living creature been so emaciated and lived. In short, it was +awful to behold! Sickness so consumed that woman, that she was no more +than a phantom. Her lips, which were pale violet, seemed to me not to +move when she spoke to me. + +“‘Though my profession has familiarized me with such spectacles, by +calling me not infrequently to the bedside of the dying to record +their last wishes, I confess that families in tears and the agonies +I have seen were as nothing in comparison with this lonely and silent +woman in her vast chateau. I heard not the least sound, I did not +perceive the movement which the sufferer’s breathing ought to have +given to the sheets that covered her, and I stood motionless, absorbed +in looking at her in a sort of stupor. In fancy I am there still. At +last her large eyes moved; she tried to raise her right hand, but it +fell back on the bed, and she uttered these words, which came like a +breath, for her voice was no longer a voice: “I have waited for you +with the greatest impatience.” A bright flush rose to her cheeks. It +was a great effort to her to speak. + +“‘“Madame,” I began. She signed to me to be silent. At that moment +the old housekeeper rose and said in my ear, “Do not speak; Madame la +Comtesse is not in a state to bear the slightest noise, and what you +say might agitate her.” + +“‘I sat down. A few instants after, Madame de Merret collected all her +remaining strength to move her right hand, and slipped it, not without +infinite difficulty, under the bolster; she then paused a moment. With +a last effort she withdrew her hand; and when she brought out a sealed +paper, drops of perspiration rolled from her brow. “I place my will +in your hands—Oh! God! Oh!” and that was all. She clutched a crucifix +that lay on the bed, lifted it hastily to her lips, and died. + +“‘The expression of her eyes still makes me shudder as I think of it. +She must have suffered much! There was joy in her last glance, and it +remained stamped on her dead eyes. + +“‘I brought away the will, and when it was opened I found that Madame +de Merret had appointed me her executor. She left the whole of her +property to the hospital at Vendôme excepting a few legacies. But +these were her instructions as relating to la Grande Bretèche: She +ordered me to leave the place, for fifty years counting from the day +of her death, in the state in which it might be at the time of +her death, forbidding any one, whoever he might be, to enter the +apartments, prohibiting any repairs whatever, and even settling a +salary to pay watchmen if it were needful to secure the absolute +fulfilment of her intentions. At the expiration of that term, if +the will of the testatrix has been duly carried out, the house is to +become the property of my heirs, for, as you know, a notary +cannot take a bequest. Otherwise la Grande Bretèche reverts to the +heirs-at-law, but on condition of fulfilling certain conditions set +forth in a codicil to the will, which is not to be opened till the +expiration of the said term of fifty years. The will has not been +disputed, so——’ And without finishing his sentence, the lanky notary +looked at me with an air of triumph; I made him quite happy by +offering him my congratulations. + +“‘Monsieur,’ I said in conclusion, ‘you have so vividly impressed +me that I fancy I see the dying woman whiter than her sheets; her +glittering eyes frighten me; I shall dream of her to-night.—But you +must have formed some idea as to the instructions contained in that +extraordinary will.’ + +“‘Monsieur,’ said he, with comical reticence, ‘I never allow myself +to criticise the conduct of a person who honors me with the gift of a +diamond.’ + +“However, I soon loosened the tongue of the discreet notary of +Vendôme, who communicated to me, not without long digressions, the +opinions of the deep politicians of both sexes whose judgments are law +in Vendôme. But these opinions were so contradictory, so diffuse, +that I was near falling asleep in spite of the interest I felt in this +authentic history. The notary’s ponderous voice and monotonous accent, +accustomed no doubt to listen to himself and to make himself listened +to by his clients or fellow-townsmen, were too much for my curiosity. +Happily, he soon went away. + +“‘Ah, ha, monsieur,’ said he on the stairs, ‘a good many persons would +be glad to live five-and-forty years longer; but—one moment!’ and he +laid the first finger of his right hand to his nostril with a cunning +look, as much as to say, ‘Mark my words!—To last as long as that—as +long as that,’ said he, ‘you must not be past sixty now.’ + +“I closed my door, having been roused from my apathy by this last +speech, which the notary thought very funny; then I sat down in +my armchair, with my feet on the fire-dogs. I had lost myself in a +romance à la Radcliffe, constructed on the juridical base given me by +Monsieur Regnault, when the door, opened by a woman’s cautious hand, +turned on the hinges. I saw my landlady come in, a buxom, florid dame, +always good-humored, who had missed her calling in life. She was a +Fleming, who ought to have seen the light in a picture by Teniers. + +“‘Well, monsieur,’ said she, ‘Monsieur Regnault has no doubt been +giving you his history of la Grande Bretèche?’ + +“‘Yes, Madame Lepas.’ + +“‘And what did he tell you?’ + +“I repeated in a few words the creepy and sinister story of Madame de +Merret. At each sentence my hostess put her head forward, looking at +me with an innkeeper’s keen scrutiny, a happy compromise between +the instinct of a police constable, the astuteness of a spy, and the +cunning of a dealer. + +“‘My good Madame Lepas,’ said I as I ended, ‘you seem to know more +about it. Heh? If not, why have you come up to me?’ + +“‘On my word, as an honest woman——’ + +“‘Do not swear; your eyes are big with a secret. You knew Monsieur de +Merret; what sort of man was he?’ + +“‘Monsieur de Merret—well, you see he was a man you never could see +the top of, he was so tall! A very good gentleman, from Picardy, and +who had, as we say, his head close to his cap. He paid for everything +down, so as never to have difficulties with any one. He was +hot-tempered, you see! All our ladies liked him very much.’ + +“‘Because he was hot-tempered?’ I asked her. + +“‘Well, may be,’ said she; ‘and you may suppose, sir, that a man +had to have something to show for a figurehead before he could marry +Madame de Merret, who, without any reflection on others, was the +handsomest and richest heiress in our parts. She had about twenty +thousand francs a year. All the town was at the wedding; the bride +was pretty and sweet-looking, quite a gem of a woman. Oh, they were a +handsome couple in their day!’ + +“‘And were they happy together?’ + +“‘Hm, hm! so-so—so far as can be guessed, for, as you may suppose, we +of the common sort were not hail-fellow-well-met with them.—Madame de +Merret was a kind woman and very pleasant, who had no doubt sometimes +to put up with her husband’s tantrums. But though he was rather +haughty, we were fond of him. After all, it was his place to behave +so. When a man is a born nobleman, you see——’ + +“‘Still, there must have been some catastrophe for Monsieur and Madame +de Merret to part so violently?’ + +“‘I did not say there was any catastrophe, sir. I know nothing about +it.’ + +“‘Indeed. Well, now, I am sure you know everything.’ + +“‘Well, sir, I will tell you the whole story.—When I saw Monsieur +Regnault go up to see you, it struck me that he would speak to you +about Madame de Merret as having to do with la Grande Bretèche. That +put it into my head to ask your advice, sir, seeming to me that you +are a man of good judgment and incapable of playing a poor woman like +me false—for I never did any one a wrong, and yet I am tormented by my +conscience. Up to now I have never dared to say a word to the people +of these parts; they are all chatter-mags, with tongues like knives. +And never till now, sir, have I had any traveler here who stayed so +long in the inn as you have, and to whom I could tell the history of +the fifteen thousand francs——’ + +“‘My dear Madame Lepas, if there is anything in your story of a nature +to compromise me,’ I said, interrupting the flow of her words, ‘I +would not hear it for all the world.’ + +“‘You need have no fears,’ said she; ‘you will see.’ + +“Her eagerness made me suspect that I was not the only person to whom +my worthy landlady had communicated the secret of which I was to be +the sole possessor, but I listened. + +“‘Monsieur,’ said she, ‘when the Emperor sent the Spaniards here, +prisoners of war and others, I was required to lodge at the charge +of the Government a young Spaniard sent to Vendôme on parole. +Notwithstanding his parole, he had to show himself every day to the +sub-prefect. He was a Spanish grandee—neither more nor less. He had a +name in os and dia, something like Bagos de Férédia. I wrote his +name down in my books, and you may see it if you like. Ah! he was a +handsome young fellow for a Spaniard, who are all ugly they say. He +was not more than five feet two or three in height, but so well made; +and he had little hands that he kept so beautifully! Ah! you should +have seen them. He had as many brushes for his hands as a woman +has for her toilet. He had thick, black hair, a flame in his eye, a +somewhat coppery complexion, but which I admired all the same. He wore +the finest linen I have ever seen, though I have had princesses to +lodge here, and, among others, General Bertrand, the Duc and Duchesse +d’Abrantes, Monsieur Descazes, and the King of Spain. He did not eat +much, but he had such polite and amiable ways that it was impossible +to owe him a grudge for that. Oh! I was very fond of him, though he +did not say four words to me in a day, and it was impossible to +have the least bit of talk with him; if he was spoken to, he did not +answer; it is a way, a mania they all have, it would seem. + +“‘He read his breviary like a priest, and went to mass and all the +services quite regularly. And where did he post himself?—we found this +out later.—Within two yards of Madame de Merret’s chapel. As he took +that place the very first time he entered the church, no one imagined +that there was any purpose in it. Besides, he never raised his nose +above his book, poor young man! And then, monsieur, of an evening he +went for a walk on the hill among the ruins of the old castle. It was +his only amusement, poor man; it reminded him of his native land. They +say that Spain is all hills! + +“‘One evening, a few days after he was sent here, he was out very +late. I was rather uneasy when he did not come in till just on the +stroke of midnight; but we all got used to his whims; he took the +key of the door, and we never sat up for him. He lived in a house +belonging to us in the Rue des Casernes. Well, then, one of our +stable-boys told us one evening that, going down to wash the horses +in the river, he fancied he had seen the Spanish Grandee swimming some +little way off, just like a fish. When he came in, I told him to be +careful of the weeds, and he seemed put out at having been seen in the +water. + +“‘At last, monsieur, one day, or rather one morning, we did not find +him in his room; he had not come back. By hunting through his things, +I found a written paper in the drawer of his table, with fifty pieces +of Spanish gold of the kind they call doubloons, worth about five +thousand francs; and in a little sealed box ten thousand francs worth +of diamonds. The paper said that in case he should not return, he left +us this money and these diamonds in trust to found masses to thank God +for his escape and for his salvation. + +“‘At that time I still had my husband, who ran off in search of +him. And this is the queer part of the story: he brought back the +Spaniard’s clothes, which he had found under a big stone on a sort of +breakwater along the river bank, nearly opposite la Grande Bretèche. +My husband went so early that no one saw him. After reading the +letter, he burnt the clothes, and, in obedience to Count Férédia’s +wish, we announced that he had escaped. + +“‘The sub-prefect set all the constabulary at his heels; but, pshaw! +he was never caught. Lepas believed that the Spaniard had drowned +himself. I, sir, have never thought so; I believe, on the contrary, +that he had something to do with the business about Madame de Merret, +seeing that Rosalie told me that the crucifix her mistress was so fond +of that she had it buried with her, was made of ebony and silver; now +in the early days of his stay here, Monsieur Férédia had one of ebony +and silver which I never saw later.—And now, monsieur, do not you +say that I need have no remorse about the Spaniard’s fifteen thousand +francs? Are they not really and truly mine?’ + +“‘Certainly.—But have you never tried to question Rosalie?’ said I. + +“‘Oh, to be sure I have, sir. But what is to be done? That girl is +like a wall. She knows something, but it is impossible to make her +talk.’ + +“After chatting with me for a few minutes, my hostess left me a prey +to vague and sinister thoughts, to romantic curiosity, and a religious +dread, not unlike the deep emotion which comes upon us when we go into +a dark church at night and discern a feeble light glimmering under +a lofty vault—a dim figure glides across—the sweep of a gown or of a +priest’s cassock is audible—and we shiver! La Grande Bretèche, with +its rank grasses, its shuttered windows, its rusty iron-work, its +locked doors, its deserted rooms, suddenly rose before me in fantastic +vividness. I tried to get into the mysterious dwelling to search out +the heart of this solemn story, this drama which had killed three +persons. + +“Rosalie became in my eyes the most interesting being in Vendôme. As +I studied her, I detected signs of an inmost thought, in spite of the +blooming health that glowed in her dimpled face. There was in her soul +some element of ruth or of hope; her manner suggested a secret, like +the expression of devout souls who pray in excess, or of a girl who +has killed her child and for ever hears its last cry. Nevertheless, +she was simple and clumsy in her ways; her vacant smile had nothing +criminal in it, and you would have pronounced her innocent only +from seeing the large red and blue checked kerchief that covered her +stalwart bust, tucked into the tight-laced bodice of a lilac- and +white-striped gown. ‘No,’ said I to myself, ‘I will not quit Vendôme +without knowing the whole history of la Grande Bretèche. To achieve +this end, I will make love to Rosalie if it proves necessary.’ + +“‘Rosalie!’ said I one evening. + +“‘Your servant, sir?’ + +“‘You are not married?’ She started a little. + +“‘Oh! there is no lack of men if ever I take a fancy to be miserable!’ +she replied, laughing. She got over her agitation at once; for every +woman, from the highest lady to the inn-servant inclusive, has a +native presence of mind. + +“‘Yes; you are fresh and good-looking enough never to lack lovers! But +tell me, Rosalie, why did you become an inn-servant on leaving Madame +de Merret? Did she not leave you some little annuity?’ + +“‘Oh yes, sir. But my place here is the best in all the town of +Vendôme.’ + +“This reply was such an one as judges and attorneys call evasive. +Rosalie, as it seemed to me, held in this romantic affair the place +of the middle square of the chess-board: she was at the very centre of +the interest and of the truth; she appeared to me to be tied into +the knot of it. It was not a case for ordinary love-making; this girl +contained the last chapter of a romance, and from that moment all my +attentions were devoted to Rosalie. By dint of studying the girl, I +observed in her, as in every woman whom we make our ruling thought, a +variety of good qualities; she was clean and neat; she was handsome, +I need not say; she soon was possessed of every charm that desire +can lend to a woman in whatever rank of life. A fortnight after the +notary’s visit, one evening, or rather one morning, in the small +hours, I said to Rosalie: + +“‘Come, tell me all you know about Madame de Merret.’ + +“‘Oh!’ she said, ‘I will tell you; but keep the secret carefully.’ + +“‘All right, my child; I will keep all your secrets with a thief’s +honor, which is the most loyal known.’ + +“‘If it is all the same to you,’ said she, ‘I would rather it should +be with your own.’ + +“Thereupon she set her head-kerchief straight, and settled herself +to tell the tale; for there is no doubt a particular attitude of +confidence and security is necessary to the telling of a narrative. +The best tales are told at a certain hour—just as we are all here at +table. No one ever told a story well standing up, or fasting. + +“If I were to reproduce exactly Rosalie’s diffuse eloquence, a whole +volume would scarcely contain it. Now, as the event of which she +gave me a confused account stands exactly midway between the notary’s +gossip and that of Madame Lepas, as precisely as the middle term of a +rule-of-three sum stands between the first and third, I have only to +relate it in as few words as may be. I shall therefore be brief. + +“The room at la Grande Bretèche in which Madame de Merret slept was on +the ground floor; a little cupboard in the wall, about four feet deep, +served her to hang her dresses in. Three months before the evening of +which I have to relate the events, Madame de Merret had been seriously +ailing, so much so that her husband had left her to herself, and had +his own bedroom on the first floor. By one of those accidents which it +is impossible to foresee, he came in that evening two hours later +than usual from the club, where he went to read the papers and talk +politics with the residents in the neighborhood. His wife supposed him +to have come in, to be in bed and asleep. But the invasion of France +had been the subject of a very animated discussion; the game of +billiards had waxed vehement; he had lost forty francs, an enormous +sum at Vendôme, where everybody is thrifty, and where social habits +are restrained within the bounds of a simplicity worthy of all praise, +and the foundation perhaps of a form of true happiness which no +Parisian would care for. + +“For some time past Monsieur de Merret had been satisfied to ask +Rosalie whether his wife was in bed; on the girl’s replying always in +the affirmative, he at once went to his own room, with the good faith +that comes of habit and confidence. But this evening, on coming in, +he took it into his head to go to see Madame de Merret, to tell her +of his ill-luck, and perhaps to find consolation. During dinner he had +observed that his wife was very becomingly dressed; he reflected as he +came home from the club that his wife was certainly much better, that +convalescence had improved her beauty, discovering it, as husbands +discover everything, a little too late. Instead of calling Rosalie, +who was in the kitchen at the moment watching the cook and the +coachman playing a puzzling hand at cards, Monsieur de Merret made his +way to his wife’s room by the light of his lantern, which he set down +at the lowest step of the stairs. His step, easy to recognize, rang +under the vaulted passage. + +“At the instant when the gentleman turned the key to enter his wife’s +room, he fancied he heard the door shut of the closet of which I have +spoken; but when he went in, Madame de Merret was alone, standing in +front of the fireplace. The unsuspecting husband fancied that Rosalie +was in the cupboard; nevertheless, a doubt, ringing in his ears like +a peal of bells, put him on his guard; he looked at his wife, and read +in her eyes an indescribably anxious and haunted expression. + +“‘You are very late,’ said she.—Her voice, usually so clear and sweet, +struck him as being slightly husky. + +“Monsieur de Merret made no reply, for at this moment Rosalie came in. +This was like a thunder-clap. He walked up and down the room, going +from one window to another at a regular pace, his arms folded. + +“‘Have you had bad news, or are you ill?’ his wife asked him timidly, +while Rosalie helped her to undress. He made no reply. + +“‘You can go, Rosalie,’ said Madame de Merret to her maid; ‘I can put +in my curl-papers myself.’—She scented disaster at the mere aspect +of her husband’s face, and wished to be alone with him. As soon as +Rosalie was gone, or supposed to be gone, for she lingered a few +minutes in the passage, Monsieur de Merret came and stood facing his +wife, and said coldly, ‘Madame, there is some one in your cupboard!’ +She looked at her husband calmly, and replied quite simply, ‘No, +monsieur.’ + +“This ‘No’ wrung Monsieur de Merret’s heart; he did not believe it; +and yet his wife had never appeared purer or more saintly than she +seemed to be at this moment. He rose to go and open the closet door. +Madame de Merret took his hand, stopped him, looked at him sadly, and +said in a voice of strange emotion, ‘Remember, if you should find no +one there, everything must be at an end between you and me.’ + +“The extraordinary dignity of his wife’s attitude filled him with deep +esteem for her, and inspired him with one of those resolves which need +only a grander stage to become immortal. + +“‘No, Josephine,’ he said, ‘I will not open it. In either event we +should be parted for ever. Listen; I know all the purity of your soul, +I know you lead a saintly life, and would not commit a deadly sin to +save your life.’—At these words Madame de Merret looked at her husband +with a haggard stare.—‘See, here is your crucifix,’ he went on. ‘Swear +to me before God that there is no one in there; I will believe you—I +will never open that door.’ + +“Madame de Merret took up the crucifix and said, ‘I swear it.’ + +“‘Louder,’ said her husband; ‘and repeat: “I swear before God that +there is nobody in that closet.”’ She repeated the words without +flinching. + +“‘That will do,’ said Monsieur de Merret coldly. After a moment’s +silence: ‘You have there a fine piece of work which I never saw +before,’ said he, examining the crucifix of ebony and silver, very +artistically wrought. + +“‘I found it at Duvivier’s; last year when that troop of Spanish +prisoners came through Vendôme, he bought it of a Spanish monk.’ + +“‘Indeed,’ said Monsieur de Merret, hanging the crucifix on its nail; +and he rang the bell. + +“He had to wait for Rosalie. Monsieur de Merret went forward quickly +to meet her, led her into the bay of the window that looked on to the +garden, and said to her in an undertone: + +“‘I know that Gorenflot wants to marry you, that poverty alone +prevents your setting up house, and that you told him you would not +be his wife till he found means to become a master mason.—Well, go and +fetch him; tell him to come here with his trowel and tools. Contrive +to wake no one in his house but himself. His reward will be beyond +your wishes. Above all, go out without saying a word—or else!’ and he +frowned. + +“Rosalie was going, and he called her back. ‘Here, take my latch-key,’ +said he. + +“‘Jean!’ Monsieur de Merret called in a voice of thunder down the +passage. Jean, who was both coachman and confidential servant, left +his cards and came. + +“‘Go to bed, all of you,’ said his master, beckoning him to come +close; and the gentleman added in a whisper, ‘When they are all +asleep—mind, asleep—you understand?—come down and tell me.’ + +“Monsieur de Merret, who had never lost sight of his wife while giving +his orders, quietly came back to her at the fireside, and began to +tell her the details of the game of billiards and the discussion +at the club. When Rosalie returned she found Monsieur and Madame de +Merret conversing amiably. + +“Not long before this Monsieur de Merret had had new ceilings made to +all the reception-rooms on the ground floor. Plaster is very scarce at +Vendôme; the price is enhanced by the cost of carriage; the gentleman +had therefore had a considerable quantity delivered to him, knowing +that he could always find purchasers for what might be left. It was +this circumstance which suggested the plan he carried out. + +“‘Gorenflot is here, sir,’ said Rosalie in a whisper. + +“‘Tell him to come in,’ said her master aloud. + +“Madame de Merret turned paler when she saw the mason. + +“‘Gorenflot,’ said her husband, ‘go and fetch some bricks from the +coach-house; bring enough to wall up the door of this cupboard; you +can use the plaster that is left for cement.’ Then, dragging Rosalie +and the workman close to him—‘Listen, Gorenflot,’ said he, in a low +voice, ‘you are to sleep here to-night; but to-morrow morning you +shall have a passport to take you abroad to a place I will tell you +of. I will give you six thousand francs for your journey. You must +live in that town for ten years; if you find you do not like it, you +may settle in another, but it must be in the same country. Go through +Paris and wait there till I join you. I will there give you an +agreement for six thousand francs more, to be paid to you on your +return, provided you have carried out the conditions of the bargain. +For that price you are to keep perfect silence as to what you have +to do this night. To you, Rosalie, I will secure ten thousand francs, +which will not be paid to you till your wedding day, and on condition +of your marrying Gorenflot; but, to get married, you must hold your +tongue. If not, no wedding gift!’ + +“‘Rosalie,’ said Madame de Merret, ‘come and brush my hair.’ + +“Her husband quietly walked up and down the room, keeping an eye on +the door, on the mason, and on his wife, but without any insulting +display of suspicion. Gorenflot could not help making some noise. +Madame de Merret seized a moment when he was unloading some bricks, +and when her husband was at the other end of the room to say to +Rosalie: ‘My dear child, I will give you a thousand francs a year if +only you will tell Gorenflot to leave a crack at the bottom.’ Then she +added aloud quite coolly: ‘You had better help him.’ + +“Monsieur and Madame de Merret were silent all the time while +Gorenflot was walling up the door. This silence was intentional on the +husband’s part; he did not wish to give his wife the opportunity of +saying anything with a double meaning. On Madame de Merret’s side it +was pride or prudence. When the wall was half built up the cunning +mason took advantage of his master’s back being turned to break one of +the two panes in the top of the door with a blow of his pick. By this +Madame de Merret understood that Rosalie had spoken to Gorenflot. They +all three then saw the face of a dark, gloomy-looking man, with black +hair and flaming eyes. + +“Before her husband turned round again the poor woman had nodded to +the stranger, to whom the signal was meant to convey, ‘Hope.’ + +“At four o’clock, as the day was dawning, for it was the month of +September, the work was done. The mason was placed in charge of Jean, +and Monsieur de Merret slept in his wife’s room. + +“Next morning when he got up he said with apparent carelessness, ‘Oh, +by the way, I must go to the Maire for the passport.’ He put on his +hat, took two or three steps towards the door, paused, and took the +crucifix. His wife was trembling with joy. + +“‘He will go to Duvivier’s,’ thought she. + +“As soon as he had left, Madame de Merret rang for Rosalie, and then +in a terrible voice she cried: ‘The pick! Bring the pick! and set to +work. I saw how Gorenflot did it yesterday; we shall have time to make +a gap and build it up again.’ + +“In an instant Rosalie had brought her mistress a sort of cleaver; +she, with a vehemence of which no words can give an idea, set to work +to demolish the wall. She had already got out a few bricks, when, +turning to deal a stronger blow than before, she saw behind her +Monsieur de Merret. She fainted away. + +“‘Lay madame on her bed,’ said he coldly. + +“Foreseeing what would certainly happen in his absence, he had laid +this trap for his wife; he had merely written to the Maire and sent +for Duvivier. The jeweler arrived just as the disorder in the room had +been repaired. + +“‘Duvivier,’ asked Monsieur de Merret, ‘did not you buy some +crucifixes of the Spaniards who passed through the town?’ + +“‘No, monsieur.’ + +“‘Very good; thank you,’ said he, flashing a tiger’s glare at his +wife. ‘Jean,’ he added, turning to his confidential valet, ‘you can +serve my meals here in Madame de Merret’s room. She is ill, and I +shall not leave her till she recovers.’ + +“The cruel man remained in his wife’s room for twenty days. During +the earlier time, when there was some little noise in the closet, +and Josephine wanted to intercede for the dying man, he said, without +allowing her to utter a word, ‘You swore on the Cross that there was +no one there.’” + +After this story all the ladies rose from table, and thus the spell +under which Bianchon had held them was broken. But there were some +among them who had almost shivered at the last words. + + + + + +ADDENDUM The following personage appears in other stories of the Human +Comedy. + +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 + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of La Grande Bretèche, by Honore de +Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA GRANDE BRETECHE *** + +***** This file should be named 1710-0.txt or 1710-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/1/1710/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: La Grande Bretèche + +Author: Honoré de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + +Release Date: February 28, 2010 [EBook #1710] +Last Updated: October 24, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE *** + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE (Sequel to “Another Study of Woman.”) + </h1> + <h2> + By Honoré De Balzac + </h2> + <h3> + Translated by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> ADDENDUM</a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE + </h2> + <p> + “Ah! madame,” replied the doctor, “I have some appalling stories in my + collection. But each one has its proper hour in a conversation—you know + the pretty jest recorded by Chamfort, and said to the Duc de Fronsac: + ‘Between your sally and the present moment lie ten bottles of champagne.’” + </p> + <p> + “But it is two in the morning, and the story of Rosina has prepared us,” + said the mistress of the house. + </p> + <p> + “Tell us, Monsieur Bianchon!” was the cry on every side. + </p> + <p> + The obliging doctor bowed, and silence reigned. + </p> + <p> + “At about a hundred paces from Vendôme, on the banks of the Loir,” said + he, “stands an old brown house, crowned with very high roofs, and so + completely isolated that there is nothing near it, not even a fetid + tannery or a squalid tavern, such as are commonly seen outside small + towns. In front of this house is a garden down to the river, where the box + shrubs, formerly clipped close to edge the walks, now straggle at their + own will. A few willows, rooted in the stream, have grown up quickly like + an enclosing fence, and half hide the house. The wild plants we call weeds + have clothed the bank with their beautiful luxuriance. The fruit-trees, + neglected for these ten years past, no longer bear a crop, and their + suckers have formed a thicket. The espaliers are like a copse. The paths, + once graveled, are overgrown with purslane; but, to be accurate there is + no trace of a path. + </p> + <p> + “Looking down from the hilltop, to which cling the ruins of the old castle + of the Dukes of Vendôme, the only spot whence the eye can see into this + enclosure, we think that at a time, difficult now to determine, this spot + of earth must have been the joy of some country gentleman devoted to roses + and tulips, in a word, to horticulture, but above all a lover of choice + fruit. An arbor is visible, or rather the wreck of an arbor, and under it + a table still stands not entirely destroyed by time. At the aspect of this + garden that is no more, the negative joys of the peaceful life of the + provinces may be divined as we divine the history of a worthy tradesman + when we read the epitaph on his tomb. To complete the mournful and tender + impressions which seize the soul, on one of the walls there is a sundial + graced with this homely Christian motto, ‘Ultimam cogita.’ + </p> + <p> + “The roof of this house is dreadfully dilapidated; the outside shutters + are always closed; the balconies are hung with swallows’ nests; the doors + are for ever shut. Straggling grasses have outlined the flagstones of the + steps with green; the ironwork is rusty. Moon and sun, winter, summer, and + snow have eaten into the wood, warped the boards, peeled off the paint. + The dreary silence is broken only by birds and cats, polecats, rats, and + mice, free to scamper round, and fight, and eat each other. An invisible + hand has written over it all: ‘Mystery.’ + </p> + <p> + “If, prompted by curiosity, you go to look at this house from the street, + you will see a large gate, with a round-arched top; the children have made + many holes in it. I learned later that this door had been blocked for ten + years. Through these irregular breaches you will see that the side towards + the courtyard is in perfect harmony with the side towards the garden. The + same ruin prevails. Tufts of weeds outline the paving-stones; the walls + are scored by enormous cracks, and the blackened coping is laced with a + thousand festoons of pellitory. The stone steps are disjointed; the + bell-cord is rotten; the gutter-spouts broken. What fire from heaven could + have fallen there? By what decree has salt been sown on this dwelling? Has + God been mocked here? Or was France betrayed? These are the questions we + ask ourselves. Reptiles crawl over it, but give no reply. This empty and + deserted house is a vast enigma of which the answer is known to none. + </p> + <p> + “It was formerly a little domain, held in fief, and is known as La Grande + Bretèche. During my stay at Vendôme, where Despleins had left me in charge + of a rich patient, the sight of this strange dwelling became one of my + keenest pleasures. Was it not far better than a ruin? Certain memories of + indisputable authenticity attach themselves to a ruin; but this house, + still standing, though being slowly destroyed by an avenging hand, + contained a secret, an unrevealed thought. At the very least, it testified + to a caprice. More than once in the evening I boarded the hedge, run wild, + which surrounded the enclosure. I braved scratches, I got into this + ownerless garden, this plot which was no longer public or private; I + lingered there for hours gazing at the disorder. I would not, as the price + of the story to which this strange scene no doubt was due, have asked a + single question of any gossiping native. On that spot I wove delightful + romances, and abandoned myself to little debauches of melancholy which + enchanted me. If I had known the reason—perhaps quite commonplace—of this + neglect, I should have lost the unwritten poetry which intoxicated me. To + me this refuge represented the most various phases of human life, shadowed + by misfortune; sometimes the peace of the graveyard without the dead, who + speak in the language of epitaphs; one day I saw in it the home of lepers; + another, the house of the Atridae; but, above all, I found there + provincial life, with its contemplative ideas, its hour-glass existence. I + often wept there, I never laughed. + </p> + <p> + “More than once I felt involuntary terrors as I heard overhead the dull + hum of the wings of some hurrying wood-pigeon. The earth is dank; you must + be on the watch for lizards, vipers, and frogs, wandering about with the + wild freedom of nature; above all, you must have no fear of cold, for in a + few moments you feel an icy cloak settle on your shoulders, like the + Commendatore’s hand on Don Giovanni’s neck. + </p> + <p> + “One evening I felt a shudder; the wind had turned an old rusty + weathercock, and the creaking sounded like a cry from the house, at the + very moment when I was finishing a gloomy drama to account for this + monumental embodiment of woe. I returned to my inn, lost in gloomy + thoughts. When I had supped, the hostess came into my room with an air of + mystery, and said, ‘Monsieur, here is Monsieur Regnault.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Who is Monsieur Regnault?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘What, sir, do you not know Monsieur Regnault?—Well, that’s odd,’ said + she, leaving the room. + </p> + <p> + “On a sudden I saw a man appear, tall, slim, dressed in black, hat in + hand, who came in like a ram ready to butt his opponent, showing a + receding forehead, a small pointed head, and a colorless face of the hue + of a glass of dirty water. You would have taken him for an usher. The + stranger wore an old coat, much worn at the seams; but he had a diamond in + his shirt frill, and gold rings in his ears. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said I, ‘whom have I the honor of addressing?’—He took a + chair, placed himself in front of my fire, put his hat on my table, and + answered while he rubbed his hands: ‘Dear me, it is very cold.—Monsieur, I + am Monsieur Regnault.’ + </p> + <p> + “I was encouraging myself by saying to myself, ‘Seek!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I am,’ he went on, ‘notary at Vendôme.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I am delighted to hear it, monsieur,’ I exclaimed. ‘But I am not in a + position to make a will for reasons best known to myself.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘One moment!’ said he, holding up his hand as though to gain silence. + ‘Allow me, monsieur, allow me! I am informed that you sometimes go to walk + in the garden of la Grande Bretèche.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, monsieur.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘One moment!’ said he, repeating his gesture. ‘That constitutes a + misdemeanor. Monsieur, as executor under the will of the late Comtesse de + Merret, I come in her name to beg you to discontinue the practice. One + moment! I am not a Turk, and do not wish to make a crime of it. And + besides, you are free to be ignorant of the circumstances which compel me + to leave the finest mansion in Vendôme to fall into ruin. Nevertheless, + monsieur, you must be a man of education, and you should know that the + laws forbid, under heavy penalties, any trespass on enclosed property. A + hedge is the same as a wall. But, the state in which the place is left may + be an excuse for your curiosity. For my part, I should be quite content to + make you free to come and go in the house; but being bound to respect the + will of the testatrix, I have the honor, monsieur, to beg that you will go + into the garden no more. I myself, monsieur, since the will was read, have + never set foot in the house, which, as I had the honor of informing you, + is part of the estate of the late Madame de Merret. We have done nothing + there but verify the number of doors and windows to assess the taxes I + have to pay annually out of the funds left for that purpose by the late + Madame de Merret. Ah! my dear sir, her will made a great commotion in the + town.’ + </p> + <p> + “The good man paused to blow his nose. I respected his volubility, + perfectly understanding that the administration of Madame de Merret’s + estate had been the most important event of his life, his reputation, his + glory, his Restoration. As I was forced to bid farewell to my beautiful + reveries and romances, I was to reject learning the truth on official + authority. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said I, ‘would it be indiscreet if I were to ask you the + reasons for such eccentricity?’ + </p> + <p> + “At these words an expression, which revealed all the pleasure which men + feel who are accustomed to ride a hobby, overspread the lawyer’s + countenance. He pulled up the collar of his shirt with an air, took out + his snuffbox, opened it, and offered me a pinch; on my refusing, he took a + large one. He was happy! A man who has no hobby does not know all the good + to be got out of life. A hobby is the happy medium between a passion and a + monomania. At this moment I understood the whole bearing of Sterne’s + charming passion, and had a perfect idea of the delight with which my + uncle Toby, encouraged by Trim, bestrode his hobby-horse. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said Monsieur Regnault, ‘I was head-clerk in Monsieur + Roguin’s office, in Paris. A first-rate house, which you may have heard + mentioned? No! An unfortunate bankruptcy made it famous.—Not having money + enough to purchase a practice in Paris at the price to which they were run + up in 1816, I came here and bought my predecessor’s business. I had + relations in Vendôme; among others, a wealthy aunt, who allowed me to + marry her daughter.—Monsieur,’ he went on after a little pause, ‘three + months after being licensed by the Keeper of the Seals, one evening, as I + was going to bed—it was before my marriage—I was sent for by Madame la + Comtesse de Merret, to her Chateau of Merret. Her maid, a good girl, who + is now a servant in this inn, was waiting at my door with the Countess’ + own carriage. Ah! one moment! I ought to tell you that Monsieur le Comte + de Merret had gone to Paris to die two months before I came here. He came + to a miserable end, flinging himself into every kind of dissipation. You + understand? + </p> + <p> + “‘On the day when he left, Madame la Comtesse had quitted la Grand + Bretèche, having dismantled it. Some people even say that she had burnt + all the furniture, the hangings—in short, all the chattels and furniture + whatever used in furnishing the premises now let by the said M.—(Dear, + what am I saying? I beg your pardon, I thought I was dictating a + lease.)—In short, that she burnt everything in the meadow at Merret. Have + you been to Merret, monsieur?—No,’ said he, answering himself, ‘Ah, it is + a very fine place.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘For about three months previously,’ he went on, with a jerk of his head, + ‘the Count and Countess had lived in a very eccentric way; they admitted + no visitors; Madame lived on the ground-floor, and Monsieur on the first + floor. When the Countess was left alone, she was never seen excepting at + church. Subsequently, at home, at the chateau, she refused to see the + friends, whether gentlemen or ladies, who went to call on her. She was + already very much altered when she left la Grande Bretèche to go to + Merret. That dear lady—I say dear lady, for it was she who gave me this + diamond, but indeed I saw her but once—that kind lady was very ill; she + had, no doubt, given up all hope, for she died without choosing to send + for a doctor; indeed, many of our ladies fancied she was not quite right + in her head. Well, sir, my curiosity was strangely excited by hearing that + Madame de Merret had need of my services. Nor was I the only person who + took an interest in the affair. That very night, though it was already + late, all the town knew that I was going to Merret. + </p> + <p> + “‘The waiting-woman replied but vaguely to the questions I asked her on + the way; nevertheless, she told me that her mistress had received the + Sacrament in the course of the day at the hands of the Curé of Merret, and + seemed unlikely to live through the night. It was about eleven when I + reached the chateau. I went up the great staircase. After crossing some + large, lofty, dark rooms, diabolically cold and damp, I reached the state + bedroom where the Countess lay. From the rumors that were current + concerning this lady (monsieur, I should never end if I were to repeat all + the tales that were told about her), I had imagined her a coquette. + Imagine, then, that I had great difficulty in seeing her in the great bed + where she was lying. To be sure, to light this enormous room, with + old-fashioned heavy cornices, and so thick with dust that merely to see it + was enough to make you sneeze, she had only an old Argand lamp. Ah! but + you have not been to Merret. Well, the bed is one of those old world beds, + with a high tester hung with flowered chintz. A small table stood by the + bed, on which I saw an “Imitation of Christ,” which, by the way, I bought + for my wife, as well as the lamp. There were also a deep armchair for her + confidential maid, and two small chairs. There was no fire. That was all + the furniture, not enough to fill ten lines in an inventory. + </p> + <p> + “‘My dear sir, if you had seen, as I then saw, that vast room, papered and + hung with brown, you would have felt yourself transported into a scene of + a romance. It was icy, nay more, funereal,’ and he lifted his hand with a + theatrical gesture and paused. + </p> + <p> + “‘By dint of seeking, as I approached the bed, at last I saw Madame de + Merret, under the glimmer of the lamp, which fell on the pillows. Her face + was as yellow as wax, and as narrow as two folded hands. The Countess had + a lace cap showing her abundant hair, but as white as linen thread. She + was sitting up in bed, and seemed to keep upright with great difficulty. + Her large black eyes, dimmed by fever, no doubt, and half-dead already, + hardly moved under the bony arch of her eyebrows.—There,’ he added, + pointing to his own brow. ‘Her forehead was clammy; her fleshless hands + were like bones covered with soft skin; the veins and muscles were + perfectly visible. She must have been very handsome; but at this moment I + was startled into an indescribable emotion at the sight. Never, said those + who wrapped her in her shroud, had any living creature been so emaciated + and lived. In short, it was awful to behold! Sickness so consumed that + woman, that she was no more than a phantom. Her lips, which were pale + violet, seemed to me not to move when she spoke to me. + </p> + <p> + “‘Though my profession has familiarized me with such spectacles, by + calling me not infrequently to the bedside of the dying to record their + last wishes, I confess that families in tears and the agonies I have seen + were as nothing in comparison with this lonely and silent woman in her + vast chateau. I heard not the least sound, I did not perceive the movement + which the sufferer’s breathing ought to have given to the sheets that + covered her, and I stood motionless, absorbed in looking at her in a sort + of stupor. In fancy I am there still. At last her large eyes moved; she + tried to raise her right hand, but it fell back on the bed, and she + uttered these words, which came like a breath, for her voice was no longer + a voice: “I have waited for you with the greatest impatience.” A bright + flush rose to her cheeks. It was a great effort to her to speak. + </p> + <p> + “‘"Madame,” I began. She signed to me to be silent. At that moment the old + housekeeper rose and said in my ear, “Do not speak; Madame la Comtesse is + not in a state to bear the slightest noise, and what you say might agitate + her.” + </p> + <p> + “‘I sat down. A few instants after, Madame de Merret collected all her + remaining strength to move her right hand, and slipped it, not without + infinite difficulty, under the bolster; she then paused a moment. With a + last effort she withdrew her hand; and when she brought out a sealed + paper, drops of perspiration rolled from her brow. “I place my will in + your hands—Oh! God! Oh!” and that was all. She clutched a crucifix that + lay on the bed, lifted it hastily to her lips, and died. + </p> + <p> + “‘The expression of her eyes still makes me shudder as I think of it. She + must have suffered much! There was joy in her last glance, and it remained + stamped on her dead eyes. + </p> + <p> + “‘I brought away the will, and when it was opened I found that Madame de + Merret had appointed me her executor. She left the whole of her property + to the hospital at Vendôme excepting a few legacies. But these were her + instructions as relating to la Grande Bretèche: She ordered me to leave + the place, for fifty years counting from the day of her death, in the + state in which it might be at the time of her death, forbidding any one, + whoever he might be, to enter the apartments, prohibiting any repairs + whatever, and even settling a salary to pay watchmen if it were needful to + secure the absolute fulfilment of her intentions. At the expiration of + that term, if the will of the testatrix has been duly carried out, the + house is to become the property of my heirs, for, as you know, a notary + cannot take a bequest. Otherwise la Grande Bretèche reverts to the + heirs-at-law, but on condition of fulfilling certain conditions set forth + in a codicil to the will, which is not to be opened till the expiration of + the said term of fifty years. The will has not been disputed, so——’ And + without finishing his sentence, the lanky notary looked at me with an air + of triumph; I made him quite happy by offering him my congratulations. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ I said in conclusion, ‘you have so vividly impressed me that + I fancy I see the dying woman whiter than her sheets; her glittering eyes + frighten me; I shall dream of her to-night.—But you must have formed some + idea as to the instructions contained in that extraordinary will.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said he, with comical reticence, ‘I never allow myself to + criticise the conduct of a person who honors me with the gift of a + diamond.’ + </p> + <p> + “However, I soon loosened the tongue of the discreet notary of Vendôme, + who communicated to me, not without long digressions, the opinions of the + deep politicians of both sexes whose judgments are law in Vendôme. But + these opinions were so contradictory, so diffuse, that I was near falling + asleep in spite of the interest I felt in this authentic history. The + notary’s ponderous voice and monotonous accent, accustomed no doubt to + listen to himself and to make himself listened to by his clients or + fellow-townsmen, were too much for my curiosity. Happily, he soon went + away. + </p> + <p> + “‘Ah, ha, monsieur,’ said he on the stairs, ‘a good many persons would be + glad to live five-and-forty years longer; but—one moment!’ and he laid the + first finger of his right hand to his nostril with a cunning look, as much + as to say, ‘Mark my words!—To last as long as that—as long as that,’ said + he, ‘you must not be past sixty now.’ + </p> + <p> + “I closed my door, having been roused from my apathy by this last speech, + which the notary thought very funny; then I sat down in my armchair, with + my feet on the fire-dogs. I had lost myself in a romance à la Radcliffe, + constructed on the juridical base given me by Monsieur Regnault, when the + door, opened by a woman’s cautious hand, turned on the hinges. I saw my + landlady come in, a buxom, florid dame, always good-humored, who had + missed her calling in life. She was a Fleming, who ought to have seen the + light in a picture by Teniers. + </p> + <p> + “‘Well, monsieur,’ said she, ‘Monsieur Regnault has no doubt been giving + you his history of la Grande Bretèche?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, Madame Lepas.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘And what did he tell you?’ + </p> + <p> + “I repeated in a few words the creepy and sinister story of Madame de + Merret. At each sentence my hostess put her head forward, looking at me + with an innkeeper’s keen scrutiny, a happy compromise between the instinct + of a police constable, the astuteness of a spy, and the cunning of a + dealer. + </p> + <p> + “‘My good Madame Lepas,’ said I as I ended, ‘you seem to know more about + it. Heh? If not, why have you come up to me?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘On my word, as an honest woman——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Do not swear; your eyes are big with a secret. You knew Monsieur de + Merret; what sort of man was he?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur de Merret—well, you see he was a man you never could see the + top of, he was so tall! A very good gentleman, from Picardy, and who had, + as we say, his head close to his cap. He paid for everything down, so as + never to have difficulties with any one. He was hot-tempered, you see! All + our ladies liked him very much.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Because he was hot-tempered?’ I asked her. + </p> + <p> + “‘Well, may be,’ said she; ‘and you may suppose, sir, that a man had to + have something to show for a figurehead before he could marry Madame de + Merret, who, without any reflection on others, was the handsomest and + richest heiress in our parts. She had about twenty thousand francs a year. + All the town was at the wedding; the bride was pretty and sweet-looking, + quite a gem of a woman. Oh, they were a handsome couple in their day!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘And were they happy together?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Hm, hm! so-so—so far as can be guessed, for, as you may suppose, we of + the common sort were not hail-fellow-well-met with them.—Madame de Merret + was a kind woman and very pleasant, who had no doubt sometimes to put up + with her husband’s tantrums. But though he was rather haughty, we were + fond of him. After all, it was his place to behave so. When a man is a + born nobleman, you see——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Still, there must have been some catastrophe for Monsieur and Madame de + Merret to part so violently?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I did not say there was any catastrophe, sir. I know nothing about it.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Indeed. Well, now, I am sure you know everything.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Well, sir, I will tell you the whole story.—When I saw Monsieur Regnault + go up to see you, it struck me that he would speak to you about Madame de + Merret as having to do with la Grande Bretèche. That put it into my head + to ask your advice, sir, seeming to me that you are a man of good judgment + and incapable of playing a poor woman like me false—for I never did any + one a wrong, and yet I am tormented by my conscience. Up to now I have + never dared to say a word to the people of these parts; they are all + chatter-mags, with tongues like knives. And never till now, sir, have I + had any traveler here who stayed so long in the inn as you have, and to + whom I could tell the history of the fifteen thousand francs——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘My dear Madame Lepas, if there is anything in your story of a nature to + compromise me,’ I said, interrupting the flow of her words, ‘I would not + hear it for all the world.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘You need have no fears,’ said she; ‘you will see.’ + </p> + <p> + “Her eagerness made me suspect that I was not the only person to whom my + worthy landlady had communicated the secret of which I was to be the sole + possessor, but I listened. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said she, ‘when the Emperor sent the Spaniards here, + prisoners of war and others, I was required to lodge at the charge of the + Government a young Spaniard sent to Vendôme on parole. Notwithstanding his + parole, he had to show himself every day to the sub-prefect. He was a + Spanish grandee—neither more nor less. He had a name in os and dia, + something like Bagos de Férédia. I wrote his name down in my books, and + you may see it if you like. Ah! he was a handsome young fellow for a + Spaniard, who are all ugly they say. He was not more than five feet two or + three in height, but so well made; and he had little hands that he kept so + beautifully! Ah! you should have seen them. He had as many brushes for his + hands as a woman has for her toilet. He had thick, black hair, a flame in + his eye, a somewhat coppery complexion, but which I admired all the same. + He wore the finest linen I have ever seen, though I have had princesses to + lodge here, and, among others, General Bertrand, the Duc and Duchesse + d’Abrantes, Monsieur Descazes, and the King of Spain. He did not eat much, + but he had such polite and amiable ways that it was impossible to owe him + a grudge for that. Oh! I was very fond of him, though he did not say four + words to me in a day, and it was impossible to have the least bit of talk + with him; if he was spoken to, he did not answer; it is a way, a mania + they all have, it would seem. + </p> + <p> + “‘He read his breviary like a priest, and went to mass and all the + services quite regularly. And where did he post himself?—we found this out + later.—Within two yards of Madame de Merret’s chapel. As he took that + place the very first time he entered the church, no one imagined that + there was any purpose in it. Besides, he never raised his nose above his + book, poor young man! And then, monsieur, of an evening he went for a walk + on the hill among the ruins of the old castle. It was his only amusement, + poor man; it reminded him of his native land. They say that Spain is all + hills! + </p> + <p> + “‘One evening, a few days after he was sent here, he was out very late. I + was rather uneasy when he did not come in till just on the stroke of + midnight; but we all got used to his whims; he took the key of the door, + and we never sat up for him. He lived in a house belonging to us in the + Rue des Casernes. Well, then, one of our stable-boys told us one evening + that, going down to wash the horses in the river, he fancied he had seen + the Spanish Grandee swimming some little way off, just like a fish. When + he came in, I told him to be careful of the weeds, and he seemed put out + at having been seen in the water. + </p> + <p> + “‘At last, monsieur, one day, or rather one morning, we did not find him + in his room; he had not come back. By hunting through his things, I found + a written paper in the drawer of his table, with fifty pieces of Spanish + gold of the kind they call doubloons, worth about five thousand francs; + and in a little sealed box ten thousand francs worth of diamonds. The + paper said that in case he should not return, he left us this money and + these diamonds in trust to found masses to thank God for his escape and + for his salvation. + </p> + <p> + “‘At that time I still had my husband, who ran off in search of him. And + this is the queer part of the story: he brought back the Spaniard’s + clothes, which he had found under a big stone on a sort of breakwater + along the river bank, nearly opposite la Grande Bretèche. My husband went + so early that no one saw him. After reading the letter, he burnt the + clothes, and, in obedience to Count Férédia’s wish, we announced that he + had escaped. + </p> + <p> + “‘The sub-prefect set all the constabulary at his heels; but, pshaw! he + was never caught. Lepas believed that the Spaniard had drowned himself. I, + sir, have never thought so; I believe, on the contrary, that he had + something to do with the business about Madame de Merret, seeing that + Rosalie told me that the crucifix her mistress was so fond of that she had + it buried with her, was made of ebony and silver; now in the early days of + his stay here, Monsieur Férédia had one of ebony and silver which I never + saw later.—And now, monsieur, do not you say that I need have no remorse + about the Spaniard’s fifteen thousand francs? Are they not really and + truly mine?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Certainly.—But have you never tried to question Rosalie?’ said I. + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh, to be sure I have, sir. But what is to be done? That girl is like a + wall. She knows something, but it is impossible to make her talk.’ + </p> + <p> + “After chatting with me for a few minutes, my hostess left me a prey to + vague and sinister thoughts, to romantic curiosity, and a religious dread, + not unlike the deep emotion which comes upon us when we go into a dark + church at night and discern a feeble light glimmering under a lofty + vault—a dim figure glides across—the sweep of a gown or of a priest’s + cassock is audible—and we shiver! La Grande Bretèche, with its rank + grasses, its shuttered windows, its rusty iron-work, its locked doors, its + deserted rooms, suddenly rose before me in fantastic vividness. I tried to + get into the mysterious dwelling to search out the heart of this solemn + story, this drama which had killed three persons. + </p> + <p> + “Rosalie became in my eyes the most interesting being in Vendôme. As I + studied her, I detected signs of an inmost thought, in spite of the + blooming health that glowed in her dimpled face. There was in her soul + some element of ruth or of hope; her manner suggested a secret, like the + expression of devout souls who pray in excess, or of a girl who has killed + her child and for ever hears its last cry. Nevertheless, she was simple + and clumsy in her ways; her vacant smile had nothing criminal in it, and + you would have pronounced her innocent only from seeing the large red and + blue checked kerchief that covered her stalwart bust, tucked into the + tight-laced bodice of a lilac- and white-striped gown. ‘No,’ said I to + myself, ‘I will not quit Vendôme without knowing the whole history of la + Grande Bretèche. To achieve this end, I will make love to Rosalie if it + proves necessary.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Rosalie!’ said I one evening. + </p> + <p> + “‘Your servant, sir?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘You are not married?’ She started a little. + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh! there is no lack of men if ever I take a fancy to be miserable!’ she + replied, laughing. She got over her agitation at once; for every woman, + from the highest lady to the inn-servant inclusive, has a native presence + of mind. + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes; you are fresh and good-looking enough never to lack lovers! But + tell me, Rosalie, why did you become an inn-servant on leaving Madame de + Merret? Did she not leave you some little annuity?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh yes, sir. But my place here is the best in all the town of Vendôme.’ + </p> + <p> + “This reply was such an one as judges and attorneys call evasive. Rosalie, + as it seemed to me, held in this romantic affair the place of the middle + square of the chess-board: she was at the very centre of the interest and + of the truth; she appeared to me to be tied into the knot of it. It was + not a case for ordinary love-making; this girl contained the last chapter + of a romance, and from that moment all my attentions were devoted to + Rosalie. By dint of studying the girl, I observed in her, as in every + woman whom we make our ruling thought, a variety of good qualities; she + was clean and neat; she was handsome, I need not say; she soon was + possessed of every charm that desire can lend to a woman in whatever rank + of life. A fortnight after the notary’s visit, one evening, or rather one + morning, in the small hours, I said to Rosalie: + </p> + <p> + “‘Come, tell me all you know about Madame de Merret.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh!’ she said, ‘I will tell you; but keep the secret carefully.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘All right, my child; I will keep all your secrets with a thief’s honor, + which is the most loyal known.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘If it is all the same to you,’ said she, ‘I would rather it should be + with your own.’ + </p> + <p> + “Thereupon she set her head-kerchief straight, and settled herself to tell + the tale; for there is no doubt a particular attitude of confidence and + security is necessary to the telling of a narrative. The best tales are + told at a certain hour—just as we are all here at table. No one ever told + a story well standing up, or fasting. + </p> + <p> + “If I were to reproduce exactly Rosalie’s diffuse eloquence, a whole + volume would scarcely contain it. Now, as the event of which she gave me a + confused account stands exactly midway between the notary’s gossip and + that of Madame Lepas, as precisely as the middle term of a rule-of-three + sum stands between the first and third, I have only to relate it in as few + words as may be. I shall therefore be brief. + </p> + <p> + “The room at la Grande Bretèche in which Madame de Merret slept was on the + ground floor; a little cupboard in the wall, about four feet deep, served + her to hang her dresses in. Three months before the evening of which I + have to relate the events, Madame de Merret had been seriously ailing, so + much so that her husband had left her to herself, and had his own bedroom + on the first floor. By one of those accidents which it is impossible to + foresee, he came in that evening two hours later than usual from the club, + where he went to read the papers and talk politics with the residents in + the neighborhood. His wife supposed him to have come in, to be in bed and + asleep. But the invasion of France had been the subject of a very animated + discussion; the game of billiards had waxed vehement; he had lost forty + francs, an enormous sum at Vendôme, where everybody is thrifty, and where + social habits are restrained within the bounds of a simplicity worthy of + all praise, and the foundation perhaps of a form of true happiness which + no Parisian would care for. + </p> + <p> + “For some time past Monsieur de Merret had been satisfied to ask Rosalie + whether his wife was in bed; on the girl’s replying always in the + affirmative, he at once went to his own room, with the good faith that + comes of habit and confidence. But this evening, on coming in, he took it + into his head to go to see Madame de Merret, to tell her of his ill-luck, + and perhaps to find consolation. During dinner he had observed that his + wife was very becomingly dressed; he reflected as he came home from the + club that his wife was certainly much better, that convalescence had + improved her beauty, discovering it, as husbands discover everything, a + little too late. Instead of calling Rosalie, who was in the kitchen at the + moment watching the cook and the coachman playing a puzzling hand at + cards, Monsieur de Merret made his way to his wife’s room by the light of + his lantern, which he set down at the lowest step of the stairs. His step, + easy to recognize, rang under the vaulted passage. + </p> + <p> + “At the instant when the gentleman turned the key to enter his wife’s + room, he fancied he heard the door shut of the closet of which I have + spoken; but when he went in, Madame de Merret was alone, standing in front + of the fireplace. The unsuspecting husband fancied that Rosalie was in the + cupboard; nevertheless, a doubt, ringing in his ears like a peal of bells, + put him on his guard; he looked at his wife, and read in her eyes an + indescribably anxious and haunted expression. + </p> + <p> + “‘You are very late,’ said she.—Her voice, usually so clear and sweet, + struck him as being slightly husky. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur de Merret made no reply, for at this moment Rosalie came in. + This was like a thunder-clap. He walked up and down the room, going from + one window to another at a regular pace, his arms folded. + </p> + <p> + “‘Have you had bad news, or are you ill?’ his wife asked him timidly, + while Rosalie helped her to undress. He made no reply. + </p> + <p> + “‘You can go, Rosalie,’ said Madame de Merret to her maid; ‘I can put in + my curl-papers myself.‘—She scented disaster at the mere aspect of her + husband’s face, and wished to be alone with him. As soon as Rosalie was + gone, or supposed to be gone, for she lingered a few minutes in the + passage, Monsieur de Merret came and stood facing his wife, and said + coldly, ‘Madame, there is some one in your cupboard!’ She looked at her + husband calmly, and replied quite simply, ‘No, monsieur.’ + </p> + <p> + “This ‘No’ wrung Monsieur de Merret’s heart; he did not believe it; and + yet his wife had never appeared purer or more saintly than she seemed to + be at this moment. He rose to go and open the closet door. Madame de + Merret took his hand, stopped him, looked at him sadly, and said in a + voice of strange emotion, ‘Remember, if you should find no one there, + everything must be at an end between you and me.’ + </p> + <p> + “The extraordinary dignity of his wife’s attitude filled him with deep + esteem for her, and inspired him with one of those resolves which need + only a grander stage to become immortal. + </p> + <p> + “‘No, Josephine,’ he said, ‘I will not open it. In either event we should + be parted for ever. Listen; I know all the purity of your soul, I know you + lead a saintly life, and would not commit a deadly sin to save your + life.‘—At these words Madame de Merret looked at her husband with a + haggard stare.—‘See, here is your crucifix,’ he went on. ‘Swear to me + before God that there is no one in there; I will believe you—I will never + open that door.’ + </p> + <p> + “Madame de Merret took up the crucifix and said, ‘I swear it.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Louder,’ said her husband; ‘and repeat: “I swear before God that there + is nobody in that closet.”’ She repeated the words without flinching. + </p> + <p> + “‘That will do,’ said Monsieur de Merret coldly. After a moment’s silence: + ‘You have there a fine piece of work which I never saw before,’ said he, + examining the crucifix of ebony and silver, very artistically wrought. + </p> + <p> + “‘I found it at Duvivier’s; last year when that troop of Spanish prisoners + came through Vendôme, he bought it of a Spanish monk.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Indeed,’ said Monsieur de Merret, hanging the crucifix on its nail; and + he rang the bell. + </p> + <p> + “He had to wait for Rosalie. Monsieur de Merret went forward quickly to + meet her, led her into the bay of the window that looked on to the garden, + and said to her in an undertone: + </p> + <p> + “‘I know that Gorenflot wants to marry you, that poverty alone prevents + your setting up house, and that you told him you would not be his wife + till he found means to become a master mason.—Well, go and fetch him; tell + him to come here with his trowel and tools. Contrive to wake no one in his + house but himself. His reward will be beyond your wishes. Above all, go + out without saying a word—or else!’ and he frowned. + </p> + <p> + “Rosalie was going, and he called her back. ‘Here, take my latch-key,’ + said he. + </p> + <p> + “‘Jean!’ Monsieur de Merret called in a voice of thunder down the passage. + Jean, who was both coachman and confidential servant, left his cards and + came. + </p> + <p> + “‘Go to bed, all of you,’ said his master, beckoning him to come close; + and the gentleman added in a whisper, ‘When they are all asleep—mind, + asleep—you understand?—come down and tell me.’ + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur de Merret, who had never lost sight of his wife while giving his + orders, quietly came back to her at the fireside, and began to tell her + the details of the game of billiards and the discussion at the club. When + Rosalie returned she found Monsieur and Madame de Merret conversing + amiably. + </p> + <p> + “Not long before this Monsieur de Merret had had new ceilings made to all + the reception-rooms on the ground floor. Plaster is very scarce at + Vendôme; the price is enhanced by the cost of carriage; the gentleman had + therefore had a considerable quantity delivered to him, knowing that he + could always find purchasers for what might be left. It was this + circumstance which suggested the plan he carried out. + </p> + <p> + “‘Gorenflot is here, sir,’ said Rosalie in a whisper. + </p> + <p> + “‘Tell him to come in,’ said her master aloud. + </p> + <p> + “Madame de Merret turned paler when she saw the mason. + </p> + <p> + “‘Gorenflot,’ said her husband, ‘go and fetch some bricks from the + coach-house; bring enough to wall up the door of this cupboard; you can + use the plaster that is left for cement.’ Then, dragging Rosalie and the + workman close to him—‘Listen, Gorenflot,’ said he, in a low voice, ‘you + are to sleep here to-night; but to-morrow morning you shall have a + passport to take you abroad to a place I will tell you of. I will give you + six thousand francs for your journey. You must live in that town for ten + years; if you find you do not like it, you may settle in another, but it + must be in the same country. Go through Paris and wait there till I join + you. I will there give you an agreement for six thousand francs more, to + be paid to you on your return, provided you have carried out the + conditions of the bargain. For that price you are to keep perfect silence + as to what you have to do this night. To you, Rosalie, I will secure ten + thousand francs, which will not be paid to you till your wedding day, and + on condition of your marrying Gorenflot; but, to get married, you must + hold your tongue. If not, no wedding gift!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Rosalie,’ said Madame de Merret, ‘come and brush my hair.’ + </p> + <p> + “Her husband quietly walked up and down the room, keeping an eye on the + door, on the mason, and on his wife, but without any insulting display of + suspicion. Gorenflot could not help making some noise. Madame de Merret + seized a moment when he was unloading some bricks, and when her husband + was at the other end of the room to say to Rosalie: ‘My dear child, I will + give you a thousand francs a year if only you will tell Gorenflot to leave + a crack at the bottom.’ Then she added aloud quite coolly: ‘You had better + help him.’ + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur and Madame de Merret were silent all the time while Gorenflot + was walling up the door. This silence was intentional on the husband’s + part; he did not wish to give his wife the opportunity of saying anything + with a double meaning. On Madame de Merret’s side it was pride or + prudence. When the wall was half built up the cunning mason took advantage + of his master’s back being turned to break one of the two panes in the top + of the door with a blow of his pick. By this Madame de Merret understood + that Rosalie had spoken to Gorenflot. They all three then saw the face of + a dark, gloomy-looking man, with black hair and flaming eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Before her husband turned round again the poor woman had nodded to the + stranger, to whom the signal was meant to convey, ‘Hope.’ + </p> + <p> + “At four o’clock, as the day was dawning, for it was the month of + September, the work was done. The mason was placed in charge of Jean, and + Monsieur de Merret slept in his wife’s room. + </p> + <p> + “Next morning when he got up he said with apparent carelessness, ‘Oh, by + the way, I must go to the Maire for the passport.’ He put on his hat, took + two or three steps towards the door, paused, and took the crucifix. His + wife was trembling with joy. + </p> + <p> + “‘He will go to Duvivier’s,’ thought she. + </p> + <p> + “As soon as he had left, Madame de Merret rang for Rosalie, and then in a + terrible voice she cried: ‘The pick! Bring the pick! and set to work. I + saw how Gorenflot did it yesterday; we shall have time to make a gap and + build it up again.’ + </p> + <p> + “In an instant Rosalie had brought her mistress a sort of cleaver; she, + with a vehemence of which no words can give an idea, set to work to + demolish the wall. She had already got out a few bricks, when, turning to + deal a stronger blow than before, she saw behind her Monsieur de Merret. + She fainted away. + </p> + <p> + “‘Lay madame on her bed,’ said he coldly. + </p> + <p> + “Foreseeing what would certainly happen in his absence, he had laid this + trap for his wife; he had merely written to the Maire and sent for + Duvivier. The jeweler arrived just as the disorder in the room had been + repaired. + </p> + <p> + “‘Duvivier,’ asked Monsieur de Merret, ‘did not you buy some crucifixes of + the Spaniards who passed through the town?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘No, monsieur.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Very good; thank you,’ said he, flashing a tiger’s glare at his wife. + ‘Jean,’ he added, turning to his confidential valet, ‘you can serve my + meals here in Madame de Merret’s room. She is ill, and I shall not leave + her till she recovers.’ + </p> + <p> + “The cruel man remained in his wife’s room for twenty days. During the + earlier time, when there was some little noise in the closet, and + Josephine wanted to intercede for the dying man, he said, without allowing + her to utter a word, ‘You swore on the Cross that there was no one + there.’” + </p> + <p> + After this story all the ladies rose from table, and thus the spell under + which Bianchon had held them was broken. But there were some among them + who had almost shivered at the last words. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ADDENDUM The following personage appears in other stories of the Human + </h2> + <p> + Comedy. + </p> + <p> + 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 + </p> + <p> + In addition, M. Bianchon narrated the following: Another Study of Woman + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + +<pre> + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of La Grande Bretèche, by Honore de +Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA GRANDE BRETECHE *** + +***** This file should be named 1710-h.htm or 1710-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/1/1710/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: La Grande Breteche + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + +Release Date: April, 1999 [Etext #1710] +Posting Date: February 28, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA GRANDE BRETECHE *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + + + + + +LA GRANDE BRETECHE + +(Sequel to "Another Study of Woman.") + + +By Honore De Balzac + + +Translated by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + + + + + +LA GRANDE BRETECHE + + +"Ah! madame," replied the doctor, "I have some appalling stories in my +collection. But each one has its proper hour in a conversation--you know +the pretty jest recorded by Chamfort, and said to the Duc de Fronsac: +'Between your sally and the present moment lie ten bottles of +champagne.'" + +"But it is two in the morning, and the story of Rosina has prepared us," +said the mistress of the house. + +"Tell us, Monsieur Bianchon!" was the cry on every side. + +The obliging doctor bowed, and silence reigned. + +"At about a hundred paces from Vendome, on the banks of the Loir," said +he, "stands an old brown house, crowned with very high roofs, and so +completely isolated that there is nothing near it, not even a fetid +tannery or a squalid tavern, such as are commonly seen outside small +towns. In front of this house is a garden down to the river, where the +box shrubs, formerly clipped close to edge the walks, now straggle +at their own will. A few willows, rooted in the stream, have grown +up quickly like an enclosing fence, and half hide the house. The +wild plants we call weeds have clothed the bank with their beautiful +luxuriance. The fruit-trees, neglected for these ten years past, +no longer bear a crop, and their suckers have formed a thicket. The +espaliers are like a copse. The paths, once graveled, are overgrown with +purslane; but, to be accurate there is no trace of a path. + +"Looking down from the hilltop, to which cling the ruins of the old +castle of the Dukes of Vendome, the only spot whence the eye can +see into this enclosure, we think that at a time, difficult now to +determine, this spot of earth must have been the joy of some country +gentleman devoted to roses and tulips, in a word, to horticulture, but +above all a lover of choice fruit. An arbor is visible, or rather +the wreck of an arbor, and under it a table still stands not entirely +destroyed by time. At the aspect of this garden that is no more, the +negative joys of the peaceful life of the provinces may be divined as we +divine the history of a worthy tradesman when we read the epitaph on his +tomb. To complete the mournful and tender impressions which seize the +soul, on one of the walls there is a sundial graced with this homely +Christian motto, '_Ultimam cogita_.' + +"The roof of this house is dreadfully dilapidated; the outside shutters +are always closed; the balconies are hung with swallows' nests; the +doors are for ever shut. Straggling grasses have outlined the flagstones +of the steps with green; the ironwork is rusty. Moon and sun, winter, +summer, and snow have eaten into the wood, warped the boards, peeled +off the paint. The dreary silence is broken only by birds and cats, +polecats, rats, and mice, free to scamper round, and fight, and eat each +other. An invisible hand has written over it all: 'Mystery.' + +"If, prompted by curiosity, you go to look at this house from the +street, you will see a large gate, with a round-arched top; the children +have made many holes in it. I learned later that this door had been +blocked for ten years. Through these irregular breaches you will see +that the side towards the courtyard is in perfect harmony with the side +towards the garden. The same ruin prevails. Tufts of weeds outline +the paving-stones; the walls are scored by enormous cracks, and the +blackened coping is laced with a thousand festoons of pellitory. The +stone steps are disjointed; the bell-cord is rotten; the gutter-spouts +broken. What fire from heaven could have fallen there? By what decree +has salt been sown on this dwelling? Has God been mocked here? Or was +France betrayed? These are the questions we ask ourselves. Reptiles +crawl over it, but give no reply. This empty and deserted house is a +vast enigma of which the answer is known to none. + +"It was formerly a little domain, held in fief, and is known as La +Grande Breteche. During my stay at Vendome, where Despleins had left me +in charge of a rich patient, the sight of this strange dwelling became +one of my keenest pleasures. Was it not far better than a ruin? Certain +memories of indisputable authenticity attach themselves to a ruin; but +this house, still standing, though being slowly destroyed by an avenging +hand, contained a secret, an unrevealed thought. At the very least, +it testified to a caprice. More than once in the evening I boarded the +hedge, run wild, which surrounded the enclosure. I braved scratches, I +got into this ownerless garden, this plot which was no longer public or +private; I lingered there for hours gazing at the disorder. I would not, +as the price of the story to which this strange scene no doubt was due, +have asked a single question of any gossiping native. On that spot I +wove delightful romances, and abandoned myself to little debauches of +melancholy which enchanted me. If I had known the reason--perhaps quite +commonplace--of this neglect, I should have lost the unwritten poetry +which intoxicated me. To me this refuge represented the most various +phases of human life, shadowed by misfortune; sometimes the peace of the +graveyard without the dead, who speak in the language of epitaphs; one +day I saw in it the home of lepers; another, the house of the Atridae; +but, above all, I found there provincial life, with its contemplative +ideas, its hour-glass existence. I often wept there, I never laughed. + +"More than once I felt involuntary terrors as I heard overhead the dull +hum of the wings of some hurrying wood-pigeon. The earth is dank; you +must be on the watch for lizards, vipers, and frogs, wandering about +with the wild freedom of nature; above all, you must have no fear +of cold, for in a few moments you feel an icy cloak settle on your +shoulders, like the Commendatore's hand on Don Giovanni's neck. + +"One evening I felt a shudder; the wind had turned an old rusty +weathercock, and the creaking sounded like a cry from the house, at +the very moment when I was finishing a gloomy drama to account for +this monumental embodiment of woe. I returned to my inn, lost in gloomy +thoughts. When I had supped, the hostess came into my room with an air +of mystery, and said, 'Monsieur, here is Monsieur Regnault.' + +"'Who is Monsieur Regnault?' + +"'What, sir, do you not know Monsieur Regnault?--Well, that's odd,' said +she, leaving the room. + +"On a sudden I saw a man appear, tall, slim, dressed in black, hat +in hand, who came in like a ram ready to butt his opponent, showing a +receding forehead, a small pointed head, and a colorless face of the hue +of a glass of dirty water. You would have taken him for an usher. The +stranger wore an old coat, much worn at the seams; but he had a diamond +in his shirt frill, and gold rings in his ears. + +"'Monsieur,' said I, 'whom have I the honor of addressing?'--He took a +chair, placed himself in front of my fire, put his hat on my table, +and answered while he rubbed his hands: 'Dear me, it is very +cold.--Monsieur, I am Monsieur Regnault.' + +"I was encouraging myself by saying to myself, '_Il bondo cani!_ Seek!' + +"'I am,' he went on, 'notary at Vendome.' + +"'I am delighted to hear it, monsieur,' I exclaimed. 'But I am not in a +position to make a will for reasons best known to myself.' + +"'One moment!' said he, holding up his hand as though to gain silence. +'Allow me, monsieur, allow me! I am informed that you sometimes go to +walk in the garden of la Grande Breteche.' + +"'Yes, monsieur.' + +"'One moment!' said he, repeating his gesture. 'That constitutes a +misdemeanor. Monsieur, as executor under the will of the late Comtesse +de Merret, I come in her name to beg you to discontinue the practice. +One moment! I am not a Turk, and do not wish to make a crime of it. And +besides, you are free to be ignorant of the circumstances which +compel me to leave the finest mansion in Vendome to fall into ruin. +Nevertheless, monsieur, you must be a man of education, and you should +know that the laws forbid, under heavy penalties, any trespass on +enclosed property. A hedge is the same as a wall. But, the state in +which the place is left may be an excuse for your curiosity. For my +part, I should be quite content to make you free to come and go in the +house; but being bound to respect the will of the testatrix, I have +the honor, monsieur, to beg that you will go into the garden no more. +I myself, monsieur, since the will was read, have never set foot in the +house, which, as I had the honor of informing you, is part of the estate +of the late Madame de Merret. We have done nothing there but verify the +number of doors and windows to assess the taxes I have to pay annually +out of the funds left for that purpose by the late Madame de Merret. Ah! +my dear sir, her will made a great commotion in the town.' + +"The good man paused to blow his nose. I respected his volubility, +perfectly understanding that the administration of Madame de Merret's +estate had been the most important event of his life, his reputation, +his glory, his Restoration. As I was forced to bid farewell to my +beautiful reveries and romances, I was to reject learning the truth on +official authority. + +"'Monsieur,' said I, 'would it be indiscreet if I were to ask you the +reasons for such eccentricity?' + +"At these words an expression, which revealed all the pleasure which +men feel who are accustomed to ride a hobby, overspread the lawyer's +countenance. He pulled up the collar of his shirt with an air, took out +his snuffbox, opened it, and offered me a pinch; on my refusing, he took +a large one. He was happy! A man who has no hobby does not know all +the good to be got out of life. A hobby is the happy medium between a +passion and a monomania. At this moment I understood the whole bearing +of Sterne's charming passion, and had a perfect idea of the delight with +which my uncle Toby, encouraged by Trim, bestrode his hobby-horse. + +"'Monsieur,' said Monsieur Regnault, 'I was head-clerk in Monsieur +Roguin's office, in Paris. A first-rate house, which you may have heard +mentioned? No! An unfortunate bankruptcy made it famous.--Not having +money enough to purchase a practice in Paris at the price to which they +were run up in 1816, I came here and bought my predecessor's business. +I had relations in Vendome; among others, a wealthy aunt, who allowed +me to marry her daughter.--Monsieur,' he went on after a little pause, +'three months after being licensed by the Keeper of the Seals, one +evening, as I was going to bed--it was before my marriage--I was sent +for by Madame la Comtesse de Merret, to her Chateau of Merret. Her maid, +a good girl, who is now a servant in this inn, was waiting at my door +with the Countess' own carriage. Ah! one moment! I ought to tell you +that Monsieur le Comte de Merret had gone to Paris to die two months +before I came here. He came to a miserable end, flinging himself into +every kind of dissipation. You understand? + +"'On the day when he left, Madame la Comtesse had quitted la Grand +Breteche, having dismantled it. Some people even say that she had +burnt all the furniture, the hangings--in short, all the chattels and +furniture whatever used in furnishing the premises now let by the +said M.--(Dear, what am I saying? I beg your pardon, I thought I was +dictating a lease.)--In short, that she burnt everything in the meadow +at Merret. Have you been to Merret, monsieur?--No,' said he, answering +himself, 'Ah, it is a very fine place.' + +"'For about three months previously,' he went on, with a jerk of his +head, 'the Count and Countess had lived in a very eccentric way; they +admitted no visitors; Madame lived on the ground-floor, and Monsieur on +the first floor. When the Countess was left alone, she was never seen +excepting at church. Subsequently, at home, at the chateau, she refused +to see the friends, whether gentlemen or ladies, who went to call on +her. She was already very much altered when she left la Grande Breteche +to go to Merret. That dear lady--I say dear lady, for it was she who +gave me this diamond, but indeed I saw her but once--that kind lady was +very ill; she had, no doubt, given up all hope, for she died without +choosing to send for a doctor; indeed, many of our ladies fancied she +was not quite right in her head. Well, sir, my curiosity was strangely +excited by hearing that Madame de Merret had need of my services. Nor +was I the only person who took an interest in the affair. That very +night, though it was already late, all the town knew that I was going to +Merret. + +"'The waiting-woman replied but vaguely to the questions I asked her on +the way; nevertheless, she told me that her mistress had received the +Sacrament in the course of the day at the hands of the Cure of Merret, +and seemed unlikely to live through the night. It was about eleven when +I reached the chateau. I went up the great staircase. After crossing +some large, lofty, dark rooms, diabolically cold and damp, I reached the +state bedroom where the Countess lay. From the rumors that were current +concerning this lady (monsieur, I should never end if I were to repeat +all the tales that were told about her), I had imagined her a coquette. +Imagine, then, that I had great difficulty in seeing her in the great +bed where she was lying. To be sure, to light this enormous room, with +old-fashioned heavy cornices, and so thick with dust that merely to see +it was enough to make you sneeze, she had only an old Argand lamp. Ah! +but you have not been to Merret. Well, the bed is one of those old world +beds, with a high tester hung with flowered chintz. A small table stood +by the bed, on which I saw an "Imitation of Christ," which, by the +way, I bought for my wife, as well as the lamp. There were also a deep +armchair for her confidential maid, and two small chairs. There was no +fire. That was all the furniture, not enough to fill ten lines in an +inventory. + +"'My dear sir, if you had seen, as I then saw, that vast room, papered +and hung with brown, you would have felt yourself transported into a +scene of a romance. It was icy, nay more, funereal,' and he lifted his +hand with a theatrical gesture and paused. + +"'By dint of seeking, as I approached the bed, at last I saw Madame de +Merret, under the glimmer of the lamp, which fell on the pillows. +Her face was as yellow as wax, and as narrow as two folded hands. The +Countess had a lace cap showing her abundant hair, but as white as linen +thread. She was sitting up in bed, and seemed to keep upright with +great difficulty. Her large black eyes, dimmed by fever, no doubt, +and half-dead already, hardly moved under the bony arch of her +eyebrows.--There,' he added, pointing to his own brow. 'Her forehead was +clammy; her fleshless hands were like bones covered with soft skin; +the veins and muscles were perfectly visible. She must have been very +handsome; but at this moment I was startled into an indescribable +emotion at the sight. Never, said those who wrapped her in her shroud, +had any living creature been so emaciated and lived. In short, it was +awful to behold! Sickness so consumed that woman, that she was no more +than a phantom. Her lips, which were pale violet, seemed to me not to +move when she spoke to me. + +"'Though my profession has familiarized me with such spectacles, by +calling me not infrequently to the bedside of the dying to record their +last wishes, I confess that families in tears and the agonies I have +seen were as nothing in comparison with this lonely and silent woman in +her vast chateau. I heard not the least sound, I did not perceive the +movement which the sufferer's breathing ought to have given to the +sheets that covered her, and I stood motionless, absorbed in looking at +her in a sort of stupor. In fancy I am there still. At last her large +eyes moved; she tried to raise her right hand, but it fell back on the +bed, and she uttered these words, which came like a breath, for her +voice was no longer a voice: "I have waited for you with the greatest +impatience." A bright flush rose to her cheeks. It was a great effort to +her to speak. + +"'"Madame," I began. She signed to me to be silent. At that moment +the old housekeeper rose and said in my ear, "Do not speak; Madame la +Comtesse is not in a state to bear the slightest noise, and what you say +might agitate her." + +"'I sat down. A few instants after, Madame de Merret collected all her +remaining strength to move her right hand, and slipped it, not without +infinite difficulty, under the bolster; she then paused a moment. With +a last effort she withdrew her hand; and when she brought out a sealed +paper, drops of perspiration rolled from her brow. "I place my will in +your hands--Oh! God! Oh!" and that was all. She clutched a crucifix that +lay on the bed, lifted it hastily to her lips, and died. + +"'The expression of her eyes still makes me shudder as I think of it. +She must have suffered much! There was joy in her last glance, and it +remained stamped on her dead eyes. + +"'I brought away the will, and when it was opened I found that Madame de +Merret had appointed me her executor. She left the whole of her property +to the hospital at Vendome excepting a few legacies. But these were her +instructions as relating to la Grande Breteche: She ordered me to leave +the place, for fifty years counting from the day of her death, in the +state in which it might be at the time of her death, forbidding any one, +whoever he might be, to enter the apartments, prohibiting any repairs +whatever, and even settling a salary to pay watchmen if it were needful +to secure the absolute fulfilment of her intentions. At the expiration +of that term, if the will of the testatrix has been duly carried out, +the house is to become the property of my heirs, for, as you know, a +notary cannot take a bequest. Otherwise la Grande Breteche reverts to +the heirs-at-law, but on condition of fulfilling certain conditions +set forth in a codicil to the will, which is not to be opened till +the expiration of the said term of fifty years. The will has not been +disputed, so----' And without finishing his sentence, the lanky notary +looked at me with an air of triumph; I made him quite happy by offering +him my congratulations. + +"'Monsieur,' I said in conclusion, 'you have so vividly impressed +me that I fancy I see the dying woman whiter than her sheets; her +glittering eyes frighten me; I shall dream of her to-night.--But you +must have formed some idea as to the instructions contained in that +extraordinary will.' + +"'Monsieur,' said he, with comical reticence, 'I never allow myself +to criticise the conduct of a person who honors me with the gift of a +diamond.' + +"However, I soon loosened the tongue of the discreet notary of Vendome, +who communicated to me, not without long digressions, the opinions of +the deep politicians of both sexes whose judgments are law in Vendome. +But these opinions were so contradictory, so diffuse, that I was +near falling asleep in spite of the interest I felt in this authentic +history. The notary's ponderous voice and monotonous accent, accustomed +no doubt to listen to himself and to make himself listened to by his +clients or fellow-townsmen, were too much for my curiosity. Happily, he +soon went away. + +"'Ah, ha, monsieur,' said he on the stairs, 'a good many persons would +be glad to live five-and-forty years longer; but--one moment!' and he +laid the first finger of his right hand to his nostril with a cunning +look, as much as to say, 'Mark my words!--To last as long as that--as +long as that,' said he, 'you must not be past sixty now.' + +"I closed my door, having been roused from my apathy by this last +speech, which the notary thought very funny; then I sat down in my +armchair, with my feet on the fire-dogs. I had lost myself in a romance +_a la_ Radcliffe, constructed on the juridical base given me by Monsieur +Regnault, when the door, opened by a woman's cautious hand, turned on +the hinges. I saw my landlady come in, a buxom, florid dame, always +good-humored, who had missed her calling in life. She was a Fleming, who +ought to have seen the light in a picture by Teniers. + +"'Well, monsieur,' said she, 'Monsieur Regnault has no doubt been giving +you his history of la Grande Breteche?' + +"'Yes, Madame Lepas.' + +"'And what did he tell you?' + +"I repeated in a few words the creepy and sinister story of Madame de +Merret. At each sentence my hostess put her head forward, looking at +me with an innkeeper's keen scrutiny, a happy compromise between the +instinct of a police constable, the astuteness of a spy, and the cunning +of a dealer. + +"'My good Madame Lepas,' said I as I ended, 'you seem to know more about +it. Heh? If not, why have you come up to me?' + +"'On my word, as an honest woman----' + +"'Do not swear; your eyes are big with a secret. You knew Monsieur de +Merret; what sort of man was he?' + +"'Monsieur de Merret--well, you see he was a man you never could see +the top of, he was so tall! A very good gentleman, from Picardy, and who +had, as we say, his head close to his cap. He paid for everything down, +so as never to have difficulties with any one. He was hot-tempered, you +see! All our ladies liked him very much.' + +"'Because he was hot-tempered?' I asked her. + +"'Well, may be,' said she; 'and you may suppose, sir, that a man had to +have something to show for a figurehead before he could marry Madame de +Merret, who, without any reflection on others, was the handsomest and +richest heiress in our parts. She had about twenty thousand francs +a year. All the town was at the wedding; the bride was pretty and +sweet-looking, quite a gem of a woman. Oh, they were a handsome couple +in their day!' + +"'And were they happy together?' + +"'Hm, hm! so-so--so far as can be guessed, for, as you may suppose, we +of the common sort were not hail-fellow-well-met with them.--Madame de +Merret was a kind woman and very pleasant, who had no doubt sometimes to +put up with her husband's tantrums. But though he was rather haughty, we +were fond of him. After all, it was his place to behave so. When a man +is a born nobleman, you see----' + +"'Still, there must have been some catastrophe for Monsieur and Madame +de Merret to part so violently?' + +"'I did not say there was any catastrophe, sir. I know nothing about +it.' + +"'Indeed. Well, now, I am sure you know everything.' + +"'Well, sir, I will tell you the whole story.--When I saw Monsieur +Regnault go up to see you, it struck me that he would speak to you about +Madame de Merret as having to do with la Grande Breteche. That put it +into my head to ask your advice, sir, seeming to me that you are a +man of good judgment and incapable of playing a poor woman like me +false--for I never did any one a wrong, and yet I am tormented by my +conscience. Up to now I have never dared to say a word to the people of +these parts; they are all chatter-mags, with tongues like knives. And +never till now, sir, have I had any traveler here who stayed so long in +the inn as you have, and to whom I could tell the history of the fifteen +thousand francs----' + +"'My dear Madame Lepas, if there is anything in your story of a nature +to compromise me,' I said, interrupting the flow of her words, 'I would +not hear it for all the world.' + +"'You need have no fears,' said she; 'you will see.' + +"Her eagerness made me suspect that I was not the only person to whom +my worthy landlady had communicated the secret of which I was to be the +sole possessor, but I listened. + +"'Monsieur,' said she, 'when the Emperor sent the Spaniards here, +prisoners of war and others, I was required to lodge at the charge +of the Government a young Spaniard sent to Vendome on parole. +Notwithstanding his parole, he had to show himself every day to the +sub-prefect. He was a Spanish grandee--neither more nor less. He had +a name in _os_ and _dia_, something like Bagos de Feredia. I wrote his +name down in my books, and you may see it if you like. Ah! he was a +handsome young fellow for a Spaniard, who are all ugly they say. He was +not more than five feet two or three in height, but so well made; and he +had little hands that he kept so beautifully! Ah! you should have +seen them. He had as many brushes for his hands as a woman has for her +toilet. He had thick, black hair, a flame in his eye, a somewhat coppery +complexion, but which I admired all the same. He wore the finest linen +I have ever seen, though I have had princesses to lodge here, and, among +others, General Bertrand, the Duc and Duchesse d'Abrantes, Monsieur +Descazes, and the King of Spain. He did not eat much, but he had such +polite and amiable ways that it was impossible to owe him a grudge for +that. Oh! I was very fond of him, though he did not say four words to me +in a day, and it was impossible to have the least bit of talk with him; +if he was spoken to, he did not answer; it is a way, a mania they all +have, it would seem. + +"'He read his breviary like a priest, and went to mass and all the +services quite regularly. And where did he post himself?--we found this +out later.--Within two yards of Madame de Merret's chapel. As he took +that place the very first time he entered the church, no one imagined +that there was any purpose in it. Besides, he never raised his nose +above his book, poor young man! And then, monsieur, of an evening he +went for a walk on the hill among the ruins of the old castle. It was +his only amusement, poor man; it reminded him of his native land. They +say that Spain is all hills! + +"'One evening, a few days after he was sent here, he was out very late. +I was rather uneasy when he did not come in till just on the stroke of +midnight; but we all got used to his whims; he took the key of the door, +and we never sat up for him. He lived in a house belonging to us in the +Rue des Casernes. Well, then, one of our stable-boys told us one evening +that, going down to wash the horses in the river, he fancied he had seen +the Spanish Grandee swimming some little way off, just like a fish. When +he came in, I told him to be careful of the weeds, and he seemed put out +at having been seen in the water. + +"'At last, monsieur, one day, or rather one morning, we did not find +him in his room; he had not come back. By hunting through his things, I +found a written paper in the drawer of his table, with fifty pieces of +Spanish gold of the kind they call doubloons, worth about five thousand +francs; and in a little sealed box ten thousand francs worth of +diamonds. The paper said that in case he should not return, he left us +this money and these diamonds in trust to found masses to thank God for +his escape and for his salvation. + +"'At that time I still had my husband, who ran off in search of him. +And this is the queer part of the story: he brought back the Spaniard's +clothes, which he had found under a big stone on a sort of breakwater +along the river bank, nearly opposite la Grande Breteche. My husband +went so early that no one saw him. After reading the letter, he burnt +the clothes, and, in obedience to Count Feredia's wish, we announced +that he had escaped. + +"'The sub-prefect set all the constabulary at his heels; but, pshaw! he +was never caught. Lepas believed that the Spaniard had drowned himself. +I, sir, have never thought so; I believe, on the contrary, that he had +something to do with the business about Madame de Merret, seeing that +Rosalie told me that the crucifix her mistress was so fond of that she +had it buried with her, was made of ebony and silver; now in the early +days of his stay here, Monsieur Feredia had one of ebony and silver +which I never saw later.--And now, monsieur, do not you say that I need +have no remorse about the Spaniard's fifteen thousand francs? Are they +not really and truly mine?' + +"'Certainly.--But have you never tried to question Rosalie?' said I. + +"'Oh, to be sure I have, sir. But what is to be done? That girl is like +a wall. She knows something, but it is impossible to make her talk.' + +"After chatting with me for a few minutes, my hostess left me a prey +to vague and sinister thoughts, to romantic curiosity, and a religious +dread, not unlike the deep emotion which comes upon us when we go into a +dark church at night and discern a feeble light glimmering under a lofty +vault--a dim figure glides across--the sweep of a gown or of a priest's +cassock is audible--and we shiver! La Grande Breteche, with its rank +grasses, its shuttered windows, its rusty iron-work, its locked doors, +its deserted rooms, suddenly rose before me in fantastic vividness. I +tried to get into the mysterious dwelling to search out the heart of +this solemn story, this drama which had killed three persons. + +"Rosalie became in my eyes the most interesting being in Vendome. As +I studied her, I detected signs of an inmost thought, in spite of the +blooming health that glowed in her dimpled face. There was in her soul +some element of ruth or of hope; her manner suggested a secret, like +the expression of devout souls who pray in excess, or of a girl who has +killed her child and for ever hears its last cry. Nevertheless, she was +simple and clumsy in her ways; her vacant smile had nothing criminal +in it, and you would have pronounced her innocent only from seeing the +large red and blue checked kerchief that covered her stalwart bust, +tucked into the tight-laced bodice of a lilac- and white-striped gown. +'No,' said I to myself, 'I will not quit Vendome without knowing the +whole history of la Grande Breteche. To achieve this end, I will make +love to Rosalie if it proves necessary.' + +"'Rosalie!' said I one evening. + +"'Your servant, sir?' + +"'You are not married?' She started a little. + +"'Oh! there is no lack of men if ever I take a fancy to be miserable!' +she replied, laughing. She got over her agitation at once; for every +woman, from the highest lady to the inn-servant inclusive, has a native +presence of mind. + +"'Yes; you are fresh and good-looking enough never to lack lovers! But +tell me, Rosalie, why did you become an inn-servant on leaving Madame de +Merret? Did she not leave you some little annuity?' + +"'Oh yes, sir. But my place here is the best in all the town of +Vendome.' + +"This reply was such an one as judges and attorneys call evasive. +Rosalie, as it seemed to me, held in this romantic affair the place of +the middle square of the chess-board: she was at the very centre of the +interest and of the truth; she appeared to me to be tied into the knot +of it. It was not a case for ordinary love-making; this girl contained +the last chapter of a romance, and from that moment all my attentions +were devoted to Rosalie. By dint of studying the girl, I observed in +her, as in every woman whom we make our ruling thought, a variety of +good qualities; she was clean and neat; she was handsome, I need not +say; she soon was possessed of every charm that desire can lend to a +woman in whatever rank of life. A fortnight after the notary's visit, +one evening, or rather one morning, in the small hours, I said to +Rosalie: + +"'Come, tell me all you know about Madame de Merret.' + +"'Oh!' she said, 'I will tell you; but keep the secret carefully.' + +"'All right, my child; I will keep all your secrets with a thief's +honor, which is the most loyal known.' + +"'If it is all the same to you,' said she, 'I would rather it should be +with your own.' + +"Thereupon she set her head-kerchief straight, and settled herself to +tell the tale; for there is no doubt a particular attitude of confidence +and security is necessary to the telling of a narrative. The best tales +are told at a certain hour--just as we are all here at table. No one +ever told a story well standing up, or fasting. + +"If I were to reproduce exactly Rosalie's diffuse eloquence, a whole +volume would scarcely contain it. Now, as the event of which she gave me +a confused account stands exactly midway between the notary's gossip and +that of Madame Lepas, as precisely as the middle term of a rule-of-three +sum stands between the first and third, I have only to relate it in as +few words as may be. I shall therefore be brief. + +"The room at la Grande Breteche in which Madame de Merret slept was on +the ground floor; a little cupboard in the wall, about four feet deep, +served her to hang her dresses in. Three months before the evening of +which I have to relate the events, Madame de Merret had been seriously +ailing, so much so that her husband had left her to herself, and had his +own bedroom on the first floor. By one of those accidents which it is +impossible to foresee, he came in that evening two hours later than +usual from the club, where he went to read the papers and talk politics +with the residents in the neighborhood. His wife supposed him to have +come in, to be in bed and asleep. But the invasion of France had been +the subject of a very animated discussion; the game of billiards had +waxed vehement; he had lost forty francs, an enormous sum at Vendome, +where everybody is thrifty, and where social habits are restrained +within the bounds of a simplicity worthy of all praise, and the +foundation perhaps of a form of true happiness which no Parisian would +care for. + +"For some time past Monsieur de Merret had been satisfied to ask Rosalie +whether his wife was in bed; on the girl's replying always in the +affirmative, he at once went to his own room, with the good faith that +comes of habit and confidence. But this evening, on coming in, he took +it into his head to go to see Madame de Merret, to tell her of his +ill-luck, and perhaps to find consolation. During dinner he had observed +that his wife was very becomingly dressed; he reflected as he came +home from the club that his wife was certainly much better, that +convalescence had improved her beauty, discovering it, as husbands +discover everything, a little too late. Instead of calling Rosalie, +who was in the kitchen at the moment watching the cook and the coachman +playing a puzzling hand at cards, Monsieur de Merret made his way to his +wife's room by the light of his lantern, which he set down at the lowest +step of the stairs. His step, easy to recognize, rang under the vaulted +passage. + +"At the instant when the gentleman turned the key to enter his wife's +room, he fancied he heard the door shut of the closet of which I have +spoken; but when he went in, Madame de Merret was alone, standing in +front of the fireplace. The unsuspecting husband fancied that Rosalie +was in the cupboard; nevertheless, a doubt, ringing in his ears like a +peal of bells, put him on his guard; he looked at his wife, and read in +her eyes an indescribably anxious and haunted expression. + +"'You are very late,' said she.--Her voice, usually so clear and sweet, +struck him as being slightly husky. + +"Monsieur de Merret made no reply, for at this moment Rosalie came in. +This was like a thunder-clap. He walked up and down the room, going from +one window to another at a regular pace, his arms folded. + +"'Have you had bad news, or are you ill?' his wife asked him timidly, +while Rosalie helped her to undress. He made no reply. + +"'You can go, Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret to her maid; 'I can put in +my curl-papers myself.'--She scented disaster at the mere aspect of her +husband's face, and wished to be alone with him. As soon as Rosalie +was gone, or supposed to be gone, for she lingered a few minutes in the +passage, Monsieur de Merret came and stood facing his wife, and said +coldly, 'Madame, there is some one in your cupboard!' She looked at her +husband calmly, and replied quite simply, 'No, monsieur.' + +"This 'No' wrung Monsieur de Merret's heart; he did not believe it; and +yet his wife had never appeared purer or more saintly than she seemed +to be at this moment. He rose to go and open the closet door. Madame de +Merret took his hand, stopped him, looked at him sadly, and said in a +voice of strange emotion, 'Remember, if you should find no one there, +everything must be at an end between you and me.' + +"The extraordinary dignity of his wife's attitude filled him with deep +esteem for her, and inspired him with one of those resolves which need +only a grander stage to become immortal. + +"'No, Josephine,' he said, 'I will not open it. In either event we +should be parted for ever. Listen; I know all the purity of your soul, I +know you lead a saintly life, and would not commit a deadly sin to save +your life.'--At these words Madame de Merret looked at her husband with +a haggard stare.--'See, here is your crucifix,' he went on. 'Swear to +me before God that there is no one in there; I will believe you--I will +never open that door.' + +"Madame de Merret took up the crucifix and said, 'I swear it.' + +"'Louder,' said her husband; 'and repeat: "I swear before God that there +is nobody in that closet."' She repeated the words without flinching. + +"'That will do,' said Monsieur de Merret coldly. After a moment's +silence: 'You have there a fine piece of work which I never saw before,' +said he, examining the crucifix of ebony and silver, very artistically +wrought. + +"'I found it at Duvivier's; last year when that troop of Spanish +prisoners came through Vendome, he bought it of a Spanish monk.' + +"'Indeed,' said Monsieur de Merret, hanging the crucifix on its nail; +and he rang the bell. + +"He had to wait for Rosalie. Monsieur de Merret went forward quickly +to meet her, led her into the bay of the window that looked on to the +garden, and said to her in an undertone: + +"'I know that Gorenflot wants to marry you, that poverty alone prevents +your setting up house, and that you told him you would not be his wife +till he found means to become a master mason.--Well, go and fetch him; +tell him to come here with his trowel and tools. Contrive to wake no one +in his house but himself. His reward will be beyond your wishes. Above +all, go out without saying a word--or else!' and he frowned. + +"Rosalie was going, and he called her back. 'Here, take my latch-key,' +said he. + +"'Jean!' Monsieur de Merret called in a voice of thunder down the +passage. Jean, who was both coachman and confidential servant, left his +cards and came. + +"'Go to bed, all of you,' said his master, beckoning him to come close; +and the gentleman added in a whisper, 'When they are all asleep--mind, +_asleep_--you understand?--come down and tell me.' + +"Monsieur de Merret, who had never lost sight of his wife while giving +his orders, quietly came back to her at the fireside, and began to tell +her the details of the game of billiards and the discussion at the club. +When Rosalie returned she found Monsieur and Madame de Merret conversing +amiably. + +"Not long before this Monsieur de Merret had had new ceilings made to +all the reception-rooms on the ground floor. Plaster is very scarce at +Vendome; the price is enhanced by the cost of carriage; the gentleman +had therefore had a considerable quantity delivered to him, knowing +that he could always find purchasers for what might be left. It was this +circumstance which suggested the plan he carried out. + +"'Gorenflot is here, sir,' said Rosalie in a whisper. + +"'Tell him to come in,' said her master aloud. + +"Madame de Merret turned paler when she saw the mason. + +"'Gorenflot,' said her husband, 'go and fetch some bricks from the +coach-house; bring enough to wall up the door of this cupboard; you can +use the plaster that is left for cement.' Then, dragging Rosalie and the +workman close to him--'Listen, Gorenflot,' said he, in a low voice, +'you are to sleep here to-night; but to-morrow morning you shall have a +passport to take you abroad to a place I will tell you of. I will give +you six thousand francs for your journey. You must live in that town for +ten years; if you find you do not like it, you may settle in another, +but it must be in the same country. Go through Paris and wait there till +I join you. I will there give you an agreement for six thousand francs +more, to be paid to you on your return, provided you have carried out +the conditions of the bargain. For that price you are to keep perfect +silence as to what you have to do this night. To you, Rosalie, I will +secure ten thousand francs, which will not be paid to you till your +wedding day, and on condition of your marrying Gorenflot; but, to get +married, you must hold your tongue. If not, no wedding gift!' + +"'Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret, 'come and brush my hair.' + +"Her husband quietly walked up and down the room, keeping an eye on the +door, on the mason, and on his wife, but without any insulting display +of suspicion. Gorenflot could not help making some noise. Madame de +Merret seized a moment when he was unloading some bricks, and when her +husband was at the other end of the room to say to Rosalie: 'My dear +child, I will give you a thousand francs a year if only you will tell +Gorenflot to leave a crack at the bottom.' Then she added aloud quite +coolly: 'You had better help him.' + +"Monsieur and Madame de Merret were silent all the time while Gorenflot +was walling up the door. This silence was intentional on the husband's +part; he did not wish to give his wife the opportunity of saying +anything with a double meaning. On Madame de Merret's side it was pride +or prudence. When the wall was half built up the cunning mason took +advantage of his master's back being turned to break one of the two +panes in the top of the door with a blow of his pick. By this Madame de +Merret understood that Rosalie had spoken to Gorenflot. They all three +then saw the face of a dark, gloomy-looking man, with black hair and +flaming eyes. + +"Before her husband turned round again the poor woman had nodded to the +stranger, to whom the signal was meant to convey, 'Hope.' + +"At four o'clock, as the day was dawning, for it was the month of +September, the work was done. The mason was placed in charge of Jean, +and Monsieur de Merret slept in his wife's room. + +"Next morning when he got up he said with apparent carelessness, 'Oh, +by the way, I must go to the Maire for the passport.' He put on his hat, +took two or three steps towards the door, paused, and took the crucifix. +His wife was trembling with joy. + +"'He will go to Duvivier's,' thought she. + +"As soon as he had left, Madame de Merret rang for Rosalie, and then in +a terrible voice she cried: 'The pick! Bring the pick! and set to work. +I saw how Gorenflot did it yesterday; we shall have time to make a gap +and build it up again.' + +"In an instant Rosalie had brought her mistress a sort of cleaver; she, +with a vehemence of which no words can give an idea, set to work to +demolish the wall. She had already got out a few bricks, when, turning +to deal a stronger blow than before, she saw behind her Monsieur de +Merret. She fainted away. + +"'Lay madame on her bed,' said he coldly. + +"Foreseeing what would certainly happen in his absence, he had laid +this trap for his wife; he had merely written to the Maire and sent for +Duvivier. The jeweler arrived just as the disorder in the room had been +repaired. + +"'Duvivier,' asked Monsieur de Merret, 'did not you buy some crucifixes +of the Spaniards who passed through the town?' + +"'No, monsieur.' + +"'Very good; thank you,' said he, flashing a tiger's glare at his wife. +'Jean,' he added, turning to his confidential valet, 'you can serve my +meals here in Madame de Merret's room. She is ill, and I shall not leave +her till she recovers.' + +"The cruel man remained in his wife's room for twenty days. During +the earlier time, when there was some little noise in the closet, +and Josephine wanted to intercede for the dying man, he said, without +allowing her to utter a word, 'You swore on the Cross that there was no +one there.'" + + +After this story all the ladies rose from table, and thus the spell +under which Bianchon had held them was broken. But there were some among +them who had almost shivered at the last words. + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personage appears in other stories of the Human Comedy. + + 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 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of La Grande Breteche, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA GRANDE BRETECHE *** + +***** This file should be named 1710.txt or 1710.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/1/1710/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: La Grande Bretèche + +Author: Honoré de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + +Release Date: February 28, 2010 [EBook #1710] +Last Updated: October 24, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE *** + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE (Sequel to “Another Study of Woman.”) + </h1> + <h2> + By Honoré De Balzac + </h2> + <h3> + Translated by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> ADDENDUM</a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LA GRANDE BRETÈCHE + </h2> + <p> + “Ah! madame,” replied the doctor, “I have some appalling stories in my + collection. But each one has its proper hour in a conversation—you know + the pretty jest recorded by Chamfort, and said to the Duc de Fronsac: + ‘Between your sally and the present moment lie ten bottles of champagne.’” + </p> + <p> + “But it is two in the morning, and the story of Rosina has prepared us,” + said the mistress of the house. + </p> + <p> + “Tell us, Monsieur Bianchon!” was the cry on every side. + </p> + <p> + The obliging doctor bowed, and silence reigned. + </p> + <p> + “At about a hundred paces from Vendôme, on the banks of the Loir,” said + he, “stands an old brown house, crowned with very high roofs, and so + completely isolated that there is nothing near it, not even a fetid + tannery or a squalid tavern, such as are commonly seen outside small + towns. In front of this house is a garden down to the river, where the box + shrubs, formerly clipped close to edge the walks, now straggle at their + own will. A few willows, rooted in the stream, have grown up quickly like + an enclosing fence, and half hide the house. The wild plants we call weeds + have clothed the bank with their beautiful luxuriance. The fruit-trees, + neglected for these ten years past, no longer bear a crop, and their + suckers have formed a thicket. The espaliers are like a copse. The paths, + once graveled, are overgrown with purslane; but, to be accurate there is + no trace of a path. + </p> + <p> + “Looking down from the hilltop, to which cling the ruins of the old castle + of the Dukes of Vendôme, the only spot whence the eye can see into this + enclosure, we think that at a time, difficult now to determine, this spot + of earth must have been the joy of some country gentleman devoted to roses + and tulips, in a word, to horticulture, but above all a lover of choice + fruit. An arbor is visible, or rather the wreck of an arbor, and under it + a table still stands not entirely destroyed by time. At the aspect of this + garden that is no more, the negative joys of the peaceful life of the + provinces may be divined as we divine the history of a worthy tradesman + when we read the epitaph on his tomb. To complete the mournful and tender + impressions which seize the soul, on one of the walls there is a sundial + graced with this homely Christian motto, ‘Ultimam cogita.’ + </p> + <p> + “The roof of this house is dreadfully dilapidated; the outside shutters + are always closed; the balconies are hung with swallows’ nests; the doors + are for ever shut. Straggling grasses have outlined the flagstones of the + steps with green; the ironwork is rusty. Moon and sun, winter, summer, and + snow have eaten into the wood, warped the boards, peeled off the paint. + The dreary silence is broken only by birds and cats, polecats, rats, and + mice, free to scamper round, and fight, and eat each other. An invisible + hand has written over it all: ‘Mystery.’ + </p> + <p> + “If, prompted by curiosity, you go to look at this house from the street, + you will see a large gate, with a round-arched top; the children have made + many holes in it. I learned later that this door had been blocked for ten + years. Through these irregular breaches you will see that the side towards + the courtyard is in perfect harmony with the side towards the garden. The + same ruin prevails. Tufts of weeds outline the paving-stones; the walls + are scored by enormous cracks, and the blackened coping is laced with a + thousand festoons of pellitory. The stone steps are disjointed; the + bell-cord is rotten; the gutter-spouts broken. What fire from heaven could + have fallen there? By what decree has salt been sown on this dwelling? Has + God been mocked here? Or was France betrayed? These are the questions we + ask ourselves. Reptiles crawl over it, but give no reply. This empty and + deserted house is a vast enigma of which the answer is known to none. + </p> + <p> + “It was formerly a little domain, held in fief, and is known as La Grande + Bretèche. During my stay at Vendôme, where Despleins had left me in charge + of a rich patient, the sight of this strange dwelling became one of my + keenest pleasures. Was it not far better than a ruin? Certain memories of + indisputable authenticity attach themselves to a ruin; but this house, + still standing, though being slowly destroyed by an avenging hand, + contained a secret, an unrevealed thought. At the very least, it testified + to a caprice. More than once in the evening I boarded the hedge, run wild, + which surrounded the enclosure. I braved scratches, I got into this + ownerless garden, this plot which was no longer public or private; I + lingered there for hours gazing at the disorder. I would not, as the price + of the story to which this strange scene no doubt was due, have asked a + single question of any gossiping native. On that spot I wove delightful + romances, and abandoned myself to little debauches of melancholy which + enchanted me. If I had known the reason—perhaps quite commonplace—of this + neglect, I should have lost the unwritten poetry which intoxicated me. To + me this refuge represented the most various phases of human life, shadowed + by misfortune; sometimes the peace of the graveyard without the dead, who + speak in the language of epitaphs; one day I saw in it the home of lepers; + another, the house of the Atridae; but, above all, I found there + provincial life, with its contemplative ideas, its hour-glass existence. I + often wept there, I never laughed. + </p> + <p> + “More than once I felt involuntary terrors as I heard overhead the dull + hum of the wings of some hurrying wood-pigeon. The earth is dank; you must + be on the watch for lizards, vipers, and frogs, wandering about with the + wild freedom of nature; above all, you must have no fear of cold, for in a + few moments you feel an icy cloak settle on your shoulders, like the + Commendatore’s hand on Don Giovanni’s neck. + </p> + <p> + “One evening I felt a shudder; the wind had turned an old rusty + weathercock, and the creaking sounded like a cry from the house, at the + very moment when I was finishing a gloomy drama to account for this + monumental embodiment of woe. I returned to my inn, lost in gloomy + thoughts. When I had supped, the hostess came into my room with an air of + mystery, and said, ‘Monsieur, here is Monsieur Regnault.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Who is Monsieur Regnault?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘What, sir, do you not know Monsieur Regnault?—Well, that’s odd,’ said + she, leaving the room. + </p> + <p> + “On a sudden I saw a man appear, tall, slim, dressed in black, hat in + hand, who came in like a ram ready to butt his opponent, showing a + receding forehead, a small pointed head, and a colorless face of the hue + of a glass of dirty water. You would have taken him for an usher. The + stranger wore an old coat, much worn at the seams; but he had a diamond in + his shirt frill, and gold rings in his ears. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said I, ‘whom have I the honor of addressing?’—He took a + chair, placed himself in front of my fire, put his hat on my table, and + answered while he rubbed his hands: ‘Dear me, it is very cold.—Monsieur, I + am Monsieur Regnault.’ + </p> + <p> + “I was encouraging myself by saying to myself, ‘Seek!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I am,’ he went on, ‘notary at Vendôme.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I am delighted to hear it, monsieur,’ I exclaimed. ‘But I am not in a + position to make a will for reasons best known to myself.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘One moment!’ said he, holding up his hand as though to gain silence. + ‘Allow me, monsieur, allow me! I am informed that you sometimes go to walk + in the garden of la Grande Bretèche.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, monsieur.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘One moment!’ said he, repeating his gesture. ‘That constitutes a + misdemeanor. Monsieur, as executor under the will of the late Comtesse de + Merret, I come in her name to beg you to discontinue the practice. One + moment! I am not a Turk, and do not wish to make a crime of it. And + besides, you are free to be ignorant of the circumstances which compel me + to leave the finest mansion in Vendôme to fall into ruin. Nevertheless, + monsieur, you must be a man of education, and you should know that the + laws forbid, under heavy penalties, any trespass on enclosed property. A + hedge is the same as a wall. But, the state in which the place is left may + be an excuse for your curiosity. For my part, I should be quite content to + make you free to come and go in the house; but being bound to respect the + will of the testatrix, I have the honor, monsieur, to beg that you will go + into the garden no more. I myself, monsieur, since the will was read, have + never set foot in the house, which, as I had the honor of informing you, + is part of the estate of the late Madame de Merret. We have done nothing + there but verify the number of doors and windows to assess the taxes I + have to pay annually out of the funds left for that purpose by the late + Madame de Merret. Ah! my dear sir, her will made a great commotion in the + town.’ + </p> + <p> + “The good man paused to blow his nose. I respected his volubility, + perfectly understanding that the administration of Madame de Merret’s + estate had been the most important event of his life, his reputation, his + glory, his Restoration. As I was forced to bid farewell to my beautiful + reveries and romances, I was to reject learning the truth on official + authority. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said I, ‘would it be indiscreet if I were to ask you the + reasons for such eccentricity?’ + </p> + <p> + “At these words an expression, which revealed all the pleasure which men + feel who are accustomed to ride a hobby, overspread the lawyer’s + countenance. He pulled up the collar of his shirt with an air, took out + his snuffbox, opened it, and offered me a pinch; on my refusing, he took a + large one. He was happy! A man who has no hobby does not know all the good + to be got out of life. A hobby is the happy medium between a passion and a + monomania. At this moment I understood the whole bearing of Sterne’s + charming passion, and had a perfect idea of the delight with which my + uncle Toby, encouraged by Trim, bestrode his hobby-horse. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said Monsieur Regnault, ‘I was head-clerk in Monsieur + Roguin’s office, in Paris. A first-rate house, which you may have heard + mentioned? No! An unfortunate bankruptcy made it famous.—Not having money + enough to purchase a practice in Paris at the price to which they were run + up in 1816, I came here and bought my predecessor’s business. I had + relations in Vendôme; among others, a wealthy aunt, who allowed me to + marry her daughter.—Monsieur,’ he went on after a little pause, ‘three + months after being licensed by the Keeper of the Seals, one evening, as I + was going to bed—it was before my marriage—I was sent for by Madame la + Comtesse de Merret, to her Chateau of Merret. Her maid, a good girl, who + is now a servant in this inn, was waiting at my door with the Countess’ + own carriage. Ah! one moment! I ought to tell you that Monsieur le Comte + de Merret had gone to Paris to die two months before I came here. He came + to a miserable end, flinging himself into every kind of dissipation. You + understand? + </p> + <p> + “‘On the day when he left, Madame la Comtesse had quitted la Grand + Bretèche, having dismantled it. Some people even say that she had burnt + all the furniture, the hangings—in short, all the chattels and furniture + whatever used in furnishing the premises now let by the said M.—(Dear, + what am I saying? I beg your pardon, I thought I was dictating a + lease.)—In short, that she burnt everything in the meadow at Merret. Have + you been to Merret, monsieur?—No,’ said he, answering himself, ‘Ah, it is + a very fine place.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘For about three months previously,’ he went on, with a jerk of his head, + ‘the Count and Countess had lived in a very eccentric way; they admitted + no visitors; Madame lived on the ground-floor, and Monsieur on the first + floor. When the Countess was left alone, she was never seen excepting at + church. Subsequently, at home, at the chateau, she refused to see the + friends, whether gentlemen or ladies, who went to call on her. She was + already very much altered when she left la Grande Bretèche to go to + Merret. That dear lady—I say dear lady, for it was she who gave me this + diamond, but indeed I saw her but once—that kind lady was very ill; she + had, no doubt, given up all hope, for she died without choosing to send + for a doctor; indeed, many of our ladies fancied she was not quite right + in her head. Well, sir, my curiosity was strangely excited by hearing that + Madame de Merret had need of my services. Nor was I the only person who + took an interest in the affair. That very night, though it was already + late, all the town knew that I was going to Merret. + </p> + <p> + “‘The waiting-woman replied but vaguely to the questions I asked her on + the way; nevertheless, she told me that her mistress had received the + Sacrament in the course of the day at the hands of the Curé of Merret, and + seemed unlikely to live through the night. It was about eleven when I + reached the chateau. I went up the great staircase. After crossing some + large, lofty, dark rooms, diabolically cold and damp, I reached the state + bedroom where the Countess lay. From the rumors that were current + concerning this lady (monsieur, I should never end if I were to repeat all + the tales that were told about her), I had imagined her a coquette. + Imagine, then, that I had great difficulty in seeing her in the great bed + where she was lying. To be sure, to light this enormous room, with + old-fashioned heavy cornices, and so thick with dust that merely to see it + was enough to make you sneeze, she had only an old Argand lamp. Ah! but + you have not been to Merret. Well, the bed is one of those old world beds, + with a high tester hung with flowered chintz. A small table stood by the + bed, on which I saw an “Imitation of Christ,” which, by the way, I bought + for my wife, as well as the lamp. There were also a deep armchair for her + confidential maid, and two small chairs. There was no fire. That was all + the furniture, not enough to fill ten lines in an inventory. + </p> + <p> + “‘My dear sir, if you had seen, as I then saw, that vast room, papered and + hung with brown, you would have felt yourself transported into a scene of + a romance. It was icy, nay more, funereal,’ and he lifted his hand with a + theatrical gesture and paused. + </p> + <p> + “‘By dint of seeking, as I approached the bed, at last I saw Madame de + Merret, under the glimmer of the lamp, which fell on the pillows. Her face + was as yellow as wax, and as narrow as two folded hands. The Countess had + a lace cap showing her abundant hair, but as white as linen thread. She + was sitting up in bed, and seemed to keep upright with great difficulty. + Her large black eyes, dimmed by fever, no doubt, and half-dead already, + hardly moved under the bony arch of her eyebrows.—There,’ he added, + pointing to his own brow. ‘Her forehead was clammy; her fleshless hands + were like bones covered with soft skin; the veins and muscles were + perfectly visible. She must have been very handsome; but at this moment I + was startled into an indescribable emotion at the sight. Never, said those + who wrapped her in her shroud, had any living creature been so emaciated + and lived. In short, it was awful to behold! Sickness so consumed that + woman, that she was no more than a phantom. Her lips, which were pale + violet, seemed to me not to move when she spoke to me. + </p> + <p> + “‘Though my profession has familiarized me with such spectacles, by + calling me not infrequently to the bedside of the dying to record their + last wishes, I confess that families in tears and the agonies I have seen + were as nothing in comparison with this lonely and silent woman in her + vast chateau. I heard not the least sound, I did not perceive the movement + which the sufferer’s breathing ought to have given to the sheets that + covered her, and I stood motionless, absorbed in looking at her in a sort + of stupor. In fancy I am there still. At last her large eyes moved; she + tried to raise her right hand, but it fell back on the bed, and she + uttered these words, which came like a breath, for her voice was no longer + a voice: “I have waited for you with the greatest impatience.” A bright + flush rose to her cheeks. It was a great effort to her to speak. + </p> + <p> + “‘"Madame,” I began. She signed to me to be silent. At that moment the old + housekeeper rose and said in my ear, “Do not speak; Madame la Comtesse is + not in a state to bear the slightest noise, and what you say might agitate + her.” + </p> + <p> + “‘I sat down. A few instants after, Madame de Merret collected all her + remaining strength to move her right hand, and slipped it, not without + infinite difficulty, under the bolster; she then paused a moment. With a + last effort she withdrew her hand; and when she brought out a sealed + paper, drops of perspiration rolled from her brow. “I place my will in + your hands—Oh! God! Oh!” and that was all. She clutched a crucifix that + lay on the bed, lifted it hastily to her lips, and died. + </p> + <p> + “‘The expression of her eyes still makes me shudder as I think of it. She + must have suffered much! There was joy in her last glance, and it remained + stamped on her dead eyes. + </p> + <p> + “‘I brought away the will, and when it was opened I found that Madame de + Merret had appointed me her executor. She left the whole of her property + to the hospital at Vendôme excepting a few legacies. But these were her + instructions as relating to la Grande Bretèche: She ordered me to leave + the place, for fifty years counting from the day of her death, in the + state in which it might be at the time of her death, forbidding any one, + whoever he might be, to enter the apartments, prohibiting any repairs + whatever, and even settling a salary to pay watchmen if it were needful to + secure the absolute fulfilment of her intentions. At the expiration of + that term, if the will of the testatrix has been duly carried out, the + house is to become the property of my heirs, for, as you know, a notary + cannot take a bequest. Otherwise la Grande Bretèche reverts to the + heirs-at-law, but on condition of fulfilling certain conditions set forth + in a codicil to the will, which is not to be opened till the expiration of + the said term of fifty years. The will has not been disputed, so——’ And + without finishing his sentence, the lanky notary looked at me with an air + of triumph; I made him quite happy by offering him my congratulations. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ I said in conclusion, ‘you have so vividly impressed me that + I fancy I see the dying woman whiter than her sheets; her glittering eyes + frighten me; I shall dream of her to-night.—But you must have formed some + idea as to the instructions contained in that extraordinary will.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said he, with comical reticence, ‘I never allow myself to + criticise the conduct of a person who honors me with the gift of a + diamond.’ + </p> + <p> + “However, I soon loosened the tongue of the discreet notary of Vendôme, + who communicated to me, not without long digressions, the opinions of the + deep politicians of both sexes whose judgments are law in Vendôme. But + these opinions were so contradictory, so diffuse, that I was near falling + asleep in spite of the interest I felt in this authentic history. The + notary’s ponderous voice and monotonous accent, accustomed no doubt to + listen to himself and to make himself listened to by his clients or + fellow-townsmen, were too much for my curiosity. Happily, he soon went + away. + </p> + <p> + “‘Ah, ha, monsieur,’ said he on the stairs, ‘a good many persons would be + glad to live five-and-forty years longer; but—one moment!’ and he laid the + first finger of his right hand to his nostril with a cunning look, as much + as to say, ‘Mark my words!—To last as long as that—as long as that,’ said + he, ‘you must not be past sixty now.’ + </p> + <p> + “I closed my door, having been roused from my apathy by this last speech, + which the notary thought very funny; then I sat down in my armchair, with + my feet on the fire-dogs. I had lost myself in a romance à la Radcliffe, + constructed on the juridical base given me by Monsieur Regnault, when the + door, opened by a woman’s cautious hand, turned on the hinges. I saw my + landlady come in, a buxom, florid dame, always good-humored, who had + missed her calling in life. She was a Fleming, who ought to have seen the + light in a picture by Teniers. + </p> + <p> + “‘Well, monsieur,’ said she, ‘Monsieur Regnault has no doubt been giving + you his history of la Grande Bretèche?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, Madame Lepas.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘And what did he tell you?’ + </p> + <p> + “I repeated in a few words the creepy and sinister story of Madame de + Merret. At each sentence my hostess put her head forward, looking at me + with an innkeeper’s keen scrutiny, a happy compromise between the instinct + of a police constable, the astuteness of a spy, and the cunning of a + dealer. + </p> + <p> + “‘My good Madame Lepas,’ said I as I ended, ‘you seem to know more about + it. Heh? If not, why have you come up to me?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘On my word, as an honest woman——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Do not swear; your eyes are big with a secret. You knew Monsieur de + Merret; what sort of man was he?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur de Merret—well, you see he was a man you never could see the + top of, he was so tall! A very good gentleman, from Picardy, and who had, + as we say, his head close to his cap. He paid for everything down, so as + never to have difficulties with any one. He was hot-tempered, you see! All + our ladies liked him very much.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Because he was hot-tempered?’ I asked her. + </p> + <p> + “‘Well, may be,’ said she; ‘and you may suppose, sir, that a man had to + have something to show for a figurehead before he could marry Madame de + Merret, who, without any reflection on others, was the handsomest and + richest heiress in our parts. She had about twenty thousand francs a year. + All the town was at the wedding; the bride was pretty and sweet-looking, + quite a gem of a woman. Oh, they were a handsome couple in their day!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘And were they happy together?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Hm, hm! so-so—so far as can be guessed, for, as you may suppose, we of + the common sort were not hail-fellow-well-met with them.—Madame de Merret + was a kind woman and very pleasant, who had no doubt sometimes to put up + with her husband’s tantrums. But though he was rather haughty, we were + fond of him. After all, it was his place to behave so. When a man is a + born nobleman, you see——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Still, there must have been some catastrophe for Monsieur and Madame de + Merret to part so violently?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I did not say there was any catastrophe, sir. I know nothing about it.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Indeed. Well, now, I am sure you know everything.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Well, sir, I will tell you the whole story.—When I saw Monsieur Regnault + go up to see you, it struck me that he would speak to you about Madame de + Merret as having to do with la Grande Bretèche. That put it into my head + to ask your advice, sir, seeming to me that you are a man of good judgment + and incapable of playing a poor woman like me false—for I never did any + one a wrong, and yet I am tormented by my conscience. Up to now I have + never dared to say a word to the people of these parts; they are all + chatter-mags, with tongues like knives. And never till now, sir, have I + had any traveler here who stayed so long in the inn as you have, and to + whom I could tell the history of the fifteen thousand francs——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘My dear Madame Lepas, if there is anything in your story of a nature to + compromise me,’ I said, interrupting the flow of her words, ‘I would not + hear it for all the world.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘You need have no fears,’ said she; ‘you will see.’ + </p> + <p> + “Her eagerness made me suspect that I was not the only person to whom my + worthy landlady had communicated the secret of which I was to be the sole + possessor, but I listened. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said she, ‘when the Emperor sent the Spaniards here, + prisoners of war and others, I was required to lodge at the charge of the + Government a young Spaniard sent to Vendôme on parole. Notwithstanding his + parole, he had to show himself every day to the sub-prefect. He was a + Spanish grandee—neither more nor less. He had a name in os and dia, + something like Bagos de Férédia. I wrote his name down in my books, and + you may see it if you like. Ah! he was a handsome young fellow for a + Spaniard, who are all ugly they say. He was not more than five feet two or + three in height, but so well made; and he had little hands that he kept so + beautifully! Ah! you should have seen them. He had as many brushes for his + hands as a woman has for her toilet. He had thick, black hair, a flame in + his eye, a somewhat coppery complexion, but which I admired all the same. + He wore the finest linen I have ever seen, though I have had princesses to + lodge here, and, among others, General Bertrand, the Duc and Duchesse + d’Abrantes, Monsieur Descazes, and the King of Spain. He did not eat much, + but he had such polite and amiable ways that it was impossible to owe him + a grudge for that. Oh! I was very fond of him, though he did not say four + words to me in a day, and it was impossible to have the least bit of talk + with him; if he was spoken to, he did not answer; it is a way, a mania + they all have, it would seem. + </p> + <p> + “‘He read his breviary like a priest, and went to mass and all the + services quite regularly. And where did he post himself?—we found this out + later.—Within two yards of Madame de Merret’s chapel. As he took that + place the very first time he entered the church, no one imagined that + there was any purpose in it. Besides, he never raised his nose above his + book, poor young man! And then, monsieur, of an evening he went for a walk + on the hill among the ruins of the old castle. It was his only amusement, + poor man; it reminded him of his native land. They say that Spain is all + hills! + </p> + <p> + “‘One evening, a few days after he was sent here, he was out very late. I + was rather uneasy when he did not come in till just on the stroke of + midnight; but we all got used to his whims; he took the key of the door, + and we never sat up for him. He lived in a house belonging to us in the + Rue des Casernes. Well, then, one of our stable-boys told us one evening + that, going down to wash the horses in the river, he fancied he had seen + the Spanish Grandee swimming some little way off, just like a fish. When + he came in, I told him to be careful of the weeds, and he seemed put out + at having been seen in the water. + </p> + <p> + “‘At last, monsieur, one day, or rather one morning, we did not find him + in his room; he had not come back. By hunting through his things, I found + a written paper in the drawer of his table, with fifty pieces of Spanish + gold of the kind they call doubloons, worth about five thousand francs; + and in a little sealed box ten thousand francs worth of diamonds. The + paper said that in case he should not return, he left us this money and + these diamonds in trust to found masses to thank God for his escape and + for his salvation. + </p> + <p> + “‘At that time I still had my husband, who ran off in search of him. And + this is the queer part of the story: he brought back the Spaniard’s + clothes, which he had found under a big stone on a sort of breakwater + along the river bank, nearly opposite la Grande Bretèche. My husband went + so early that no one saw him. After reading the letter, he burnt the + clothes, and, in obedience to Count Férédia’s wish, we announced that he + had escaped. + </p> + <p> + “‘The sub-prefect set all the constabulary at his heels; but, pshaw! he + was never caught. Lepas believed that the Spaniard had drowned himself. I, + sir, have never thought so; I believe, on the contrary, that he had + something to do with the business about Madame de Merret, seeing that + Rosalie told me that the crucifix her mistress was so fond of that she had + it buried with her, was made of ebony and silver; now in the early days of + his stay here, Monsieur Férédia had one of ebony and silver which I never + saw later.—And now, monsieur, do not you say that I need have no remorse + about the Spaniard’s fifteen thousand francs? Are they not really and + truly mine?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Certainly.—But have you never tried to question Rosalie?’ said I. + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh, to be sure I have, sir. But what is to be done? That girl is like a + wall. She knows something, but it is impossible to make her talk.’ + </p> + <p> + “After chatting with me for a few minutes, my hostess left me a prey to + vague and sinister thoughts, to romantic curiosity, and a religious dread, + not unlike the deep emotion which comes upon us when we go into a dark + church at night and discern a feeble light glimmering under a lofty + vault—a dim figure glides across—the sweep of a gown or of a priest’s + cassock is audible—and we shiver! La Grande Bretèche, with its rank + grasses, its shuttered windows, its rusty iron-work, its locked doors, its + deserted rooms, suddenly rose before me in fantastic vividness. I tried to + get into the mysterious dwelling to search out the heart of this solemn + story, this drama which had killed three persons. + </p> + <p> + “Rosalie became in my eyes the most interesting being in Vendôme. As I + studied her, I detected signs of an inmost thought, in spite of the + blooming health that glowed in her dimpled face. There was in her soul + some element of ruth or of hope; her manner suggested a secret, like the + expression of devout souls who pray in excess, or of a girl who has killed + her child and for ever hears its last cry. Nevertheless, she was simple + and clumsy in her ways; her vacant smile had nothing criminal in it, and + you would have pronounced her innocent only from seeing the large red and + blue checked kerchief that covered her stalwart bust, tucked into the + tight-laced bodice of a lilac- and white-striped gown. ‘No,’ said I to + myself, ‘I will not quit Vendôme without knowing the whole history of la + Grande Bretèche. To achieve this end, I will make love to Rosalie if it + proves necessary.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Rosalie!’ said I one evening. + </p> + <p> + “‘Your servant, sir?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘You are not married?’ She started a little. + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh! there is no lack of men if ever I take a fancy to be miserable!’ she + replied, laughing. She got over her agitation at once; for every woman, + from the highest lady to the inn-servant inclusive, has a native presence + of mind. + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes; you are fresh and good-looking enough never to lack lovers! But + tell me, Rosalie, why did you become an inn-servant on leaving Madame de + Merret? Did she not leave you some little annuity?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh yes, sir. But my place here is the best in all the town of Vendôme.’ + </p> + <p> + “This reply was such an one as judges and attorneys call evasive. Rosalie, + as it seemed to me, held in this romantic affair the place of the middle + square of the chess-board: she was at the very centre of the interest and + of the truth; she appeared to me to be tied into the knot of it. It was + not a case for ordinary love-making; this girl contained the last chapter + of a romance, and from that moment all my attentions were devoted to + Rosalie. By dint of studying the girl, I observed in her, as in every + woman whom we make our ruling thought, a variety of good qualities; she + was clean and neat; she was handsome, I need not say; she soon was + possessed of every charm that desire can lend to a woman in whatever rank + of life. A fortnight after the notary’s visit, one evening, or rather one + morning, in the small hours, I said to Rosalie: + </p> + <p> + “‘Come, tell me all you know about Madame de Merret.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh!’ she said, ‘I will tell you; but keep the secret carefully.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘All right, my child; I will keep all your secrets with a thief’s honor, + which is the most loyal known.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘If it is all the same to you,’ said she, ‘I would rather it should be + with your own.’ + </p> + <p> + “Thereupon she set her head-kerchief straight, and settled herself to tell + the tale; for there is no doubt a particular attitude of confidence and + security is necessary to the telling of a narrative. The best tales are + told at a certain hour—just as we are all here at table. No one ever told + a story well standing up, or fasting. + </p> + <p> + “If I were to reproduce exactly Rosalie’s diffuse eloquence, a whole + volume would scarcely contain it. Now, as the event of which she gave me a + confused account stands exactly midway between the notary’s gossip and + that of Madame Lepas, as precisely as the middle term of a rule-of-three + sum stands between the first and third, I have only to relate it in as few + words as may be. I shall therefore be brief. + </p> + <p> + “The room at la Grande Bretèche in which Madame de Merret slept was on the + ground floor; a little cupboard in the wall, about four feet deep, served + her to hang her dresses in. Three months before the evening of which I + have to relate the events, Madame de Merret had been seriously ailing, so + much so that her husband had left her to herself, and had his own bedroom + on the first floor. By one of those accidents which it is impossible to + foresee, he came in that evening two hours later than usual from the club, + where he went to read the papers and talk politics with the residents in + the neighborhood. His wife supposed him to have come in, to be in bed and + asleep. But the invasion of France had been the subject of a very animated + discussion; the game of billiards had waxed vehement; he had lost forty + francs, an enormous sum at Vendôme, where everybody is thrifty, and where + social habits are restrained within the bounds of a simplicity worthy of + all praise, and the foundation perhaps of a form of true happiness which + no Parisian would care for. + </p> + <p> + “For some time past Monsieur de Merret had been satisfied to ask Rosalie + whether his wife was in bed; on the girl’s replying always in the + affirmative, he at once went to his own room, with the good faith that + comes of habit and confidence. But this evening, on coming in, he took it + into his head to go to see Madame de Merret, to tell her of his ill-luck, + and perhaps to find consolation. During dinner he had observed that his + wife was very becomingly dressed; he reflected as he came home from the + club that his wife was certainly much better, that convalescence had + improved her beauty, discovering it, as husbands discover everything, a + little too late. Instead of calling Rosalie, who was in the kitchen at the + moment watching the cook and the coachman playing a puzzling hand at + cards, Monsieur de Merret made his way to his wife’s room by the light of + his lantern, which he set down at the lowest step of the stairs. His step, + easy to recognize, rang under the vaulted passage. + </p> + <p> + “At the instant when the gentleman turned the key to enter his wife’s + room, he fancied he heard the door shut of the closet of which I have + spoken; but when he went in, Madame de Merret was alone, standing in front + of the fireplace. The unsuspecting husband fancied that Rosalie was in the + cupboard; nevertheless, a doubt, ringing in his ears like a peal of bells, + put him on his guard; he looked at his wife, and read in her eyes an + indescribably anxious and haunted expression. + </p> + <p> + “‘You are very late,’ said she.—Her voice, usually so clear and sweet, + struck him as being slightly husky. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur de Merret made no reply, for at this moment Rosalie came in. + This was like a thunder-clap. He walked up and down the room, going from + one window to another at a regular pace, his arms folded. + </p> + <p> + “‘Have you had bad news, or are you ill?’ his wife asked him timidly, + while Rosalie helped her to undress. He made no reply. + </p> + <p> + “‘You can go, Rosalie,’ said Madame de Merret to her maid; ‘I can put in + my curl-papers myself.‘—She scented disaster at the mere aspect of her + husband’s face, and wished to be alone with him. As soon as Rosalie was + gone, or supposed to be gone, for she lingered a few minutes in the + passage, Monsieur de Merret came and stood facing his wife, and said + coldly, ‘Madame, there is some one in your cupboard!’ She looked at her + husband calmly, and replied quite simply, ‘No, monsieur.’ + </p> + <p> + “This ‘No’ wrung Monsieur de Merret’s heart; he did not believe it; and + yet his wife had never appeared purer or more saintly than she seemed to + be at this moment. He rose to go and open the closet door. Madame de + Merret took his hand, stopped him, looked at him sadly, and said in a + voice of strange emotion, ‘Remember, if you should find no one there, + everything must be at an end between you and me.’ + </p> + <p> + “The extraordinary dignity of his wife’s attitude filled him with deep + esteem for her, and inspired him with one of those resolves which need + only a grander stage to become immortal. + </p> + <p> + “‘No, Josephine,’ he said, ‘I will not open it. In either event we should + be parted for ever. Listen; I know all the purity of your soul, I know you + lead a saintly life, and would not commit a deadly sin to save your + life.‘—At these words Madame de Merret looked at her husband with a + haggard stare.—‘See, here is your crucifix,’ he went on. ‘Swear to me + before God that there is no one in there; I will believe you—I will never + open that door.’ + </p> + <p> + “Madame de Merret took up the crucifix and said, ‘I swear it.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Louder,’ said her husband; ‘and repeat: “I swear before God that there + is nobody in that closet.”’ She repeated the words without flinching. + </p> + <p> + “‘That will do,’ said Monsieur de Merret coldly. After a moment’s silence: + ‘You have there a fine piece of work which I never saw before,’ said he, + examining the crucifix of ebony and silver, very artistically wrought. + </p> + <p> + “‘I found it at Duvivier’s; last year when that troop of Spanish prisoners + came through Vendôme, he bought it of a Spanish monk.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Indeed,’ said Monsieur de Merret, hanging the crucifix on its nail; and + he rang the bell. + </p> + <p> + “He had to wait for Rosalie. Monsieur de Merret went forward quickly to + meet her, led her into the bay of the window that looked on to the garden, + and said to her in an undertone: + </p> + <p> + “‘I know that Gorenflot wants to marry you, that poverty alone prevents + your setting up house, and that you told him you would not be his wife + till he found means to become a master mason.—Well, go and fetch him; tell + him to come here with his trowel and tools. Contrive to wake no one in his + house but himself. His reward will be beyond your wishes. Above all, go + out without saying a word—or else!’ and he frowned. + </p> + <p> + “Rosalie was going, and he called her back. ‘Here, take my latch-key,’ + said he. + </p> + <p> + “‘Jean!’ Monsieur de Merret called in a voice of thunder down the passage. + Jean, who was both coachman and confidential servant, left his cards and + came. + </p> + <p> + “‘Go to bed, all of you,’ said his master, beckoning him to come close; + and the gentleman added in a whisper, ‘When they are all asleep—mind, + asleep—you understand?—come down and tell me.’ + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur de Merret, who had never lost sight of his wife while giving his + orders, quietly came back to her at the fireside, and began to tell her + the details of the game of billiards and the discussion at the club. When + Rosalie returned she found Monsieur and Madame de Merret conversing + amiably. + </p> + <p> + “Not long before this Monsieur de Merret had had new ceilings made to all + the reception-rooms on the ground floor. Plaster is very scarce at + Vendôme; the price is enhanced by the cost of carriage; the gentleman had + therefore had a considerable quantity delivered to him, knowing that he + could always find purchasers for what might be left. It was this + circumstance which suggested the plan he carried out. + </p> + <p> + “‘Gorenflot is here, sir,’ said Rosalie in a whisper. + </p> + <p> + “‘Tell him to come in,’ said her master aloud. + </p> + <p> + “Madame de Merret turned paler when she saw the mason. + </p> + <p> + “‘Gorenflot,’ said her husband, ‘go and fetch some bricks from the + coach-house; bring enough to wall up the door of this cupboard; you can + use the plaster that is left for cement.’ Then, dragging Rosalie and the + workman close to him—‘Listen, Gorenflot,’ said he, in a low voice, ‘you + are to sleep here to-night; but to-morrow morning you shall have a + passport to take you abroad to a place I will tell you of. I will give you + six thousand francs for your journey. You must live in that town for ten + years; if you find you do not like it, you may settle in another, but it + must be in the same country. Go through Paris and wait there till I join + you. I will there give you an agreement for six thousand francs more, to + be paid to you on your return, provided you have carried out the + conditions of the bargain. For that price you are to keep perfect silence + as to what you have to do this night. To you, Rosalie, I will secure ten + thousand francs, which will not be paid to you till your wedding day, and + on condition of your marrying Gorenflot; but, to get married, you must + hold your tongue. If not, no wedding gift!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Rosalie,’ said Madame de Merret, ‘come and brush my hair.’ + </p> + <p> + “Her husband quietly walked up and down the room, keeping an eye on the + door, on the mason, and on his wife, but without any insulting display of + suspicion. Gorenflot could not help making some noise. Madame de Merret + seized a moment when he was unloading some bricks, and when her husband + was at the other end of the room to say to Rosalie: ‘My dear child, I will + give you a thousand francs a year if only you will tell Gorenflot to leave + a crack at the bottom.’ Then she added aloud quite coolly: ‘You had better + help him.’ + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur and Madame de Merret were silent all the time while Gorenflot + was walling up the door. This silence was intentional on the husband’s + part; he did not wish to give his wife the opportunity of saying anything + with a double meaning. On Madame de Merret’s side it was pride or + prudence. When the wall was half built up the cunning mason took advantage + of his master’s back being turned to break one of the two panes in the top + of the door with a blow of his pick. By this Madame de Merret understood + that Rosalie had spoken to Gorenflot. They all three then saw the face of + a dark, gloomy-looking man, with black hair and flaming eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Before her husband turned round again the poor woman had nodded to the + stranger, to whom the signal was meant to convey, ‘Hope.’ + </p> + <p> + “At four o’clock, as the day was dawning, for it was the month of + September, the work was done. The mason was placed in charge of Jean, and + Monsieur de Merret slept in his wife’s room. + </p> + <p> + “Next morning when he got up he said with apparent carelessness, ‘Oh, by + the way, I must go to the Maire for the passport.’ He put on his hat, took + two or three steps towards the door, paused, and took the crucifix. His + wife was trembling with joy. + </p> + <p> + “‘He will go to Duvivier’s,’ thought she. + </p> + <p> + “As soon as he had left, Madame de Merret rang for Rosalie, and then in a + terrible voice she cried: ‘The pick! Bring the pick! and set to work. I + saw how Gorenflot did it yesterday; we shall have time to make a gap and + build it up again.’ + </p> + <p> + “In an instant Rosalie had brought her mistress a sort of cleaver; she, + with a vehemence of which no words can give an idea, set to work to + demolish the wall. She had already got out a few bricks, when, turning to + deal a stronger blow than before, she saw behind her Monsieur de Merret. + She fainted away. + </p> + <p> + “‘Lay madame on her bed,’ said he coldly. + </p> + <p> + “Foreseeing what would certainly happen in his absence, he had laid this + trap for his wife; he had merely written to the Maire and sent for + Duvivier. The jeweler arrived just as the disorder in the room had been + repaired. + </p> + <p> + “‘Duvivier,’ asked Monsieur de Merret, ‘did not you buy some crucifixes of + the Spaniards who passed through the town?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘No, monsieur.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Very good; thank you,’ said he, flashing a tiger’s glare at his wife. + ‘Jean,’ he added, turning to his confidential valet, ‘you can serve my + meals here in Madame de Merret’s room. She is ill, and I shall not leave + her till she recovers.’ + </p> + <p> + “The cruel man remained in his wife’s room for twenty days. During the + earlier time, when there was some little noise in the closet, and + Josephine wanted to intercede for the dying man, he said, without allowing + her to utter a word, ‘You swore on the Cross that there was no one + there.’” + </p> + <p> + After this story all the ladies rose from table, and thus the spell under + which Bianchon had held them was broken. But there were some among them + who had almost shivered at the last words. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ADDENDUM The following personage appears in other stories of the Human + </h2> + <p> + Comedy. + </p> + <p> + 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 + </p> + <p> + In addition, M. Bianchon narrated the following: Another Study of Woman + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + +<pre> + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of La Grande Bretèche, by Honore de +Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA GRANDE BRETECHE *** + +***** This file should be named 1710-h.htm or 1710-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/1/1710/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: La Grande Breteche + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Release Date: October 22, 2004 [EBook #1710] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA GRANDE BRETECHE *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and John Bickers, + + + + + LA GRANDE BRETECHE + (Sequel to "Another Study of Woman.") + + BY + + HONORE DE BALZAC + + + Translated By + Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + + + + + LA GRANDE BRETECHE + + + +"Ah! madame," replied the doctor, "I have some appalling stories in my +collection. But each one has its proper hour in a conversation--you +know the pretty jest recorded by Chamfort, and said to the Duc de +Fronsac: 'Between your sally and the present moment lie ten bottles of +champagne.'" + +"But it is two in the morning, and the story of Rosina has prepared +us," said the mistress of the house. + +"Tell us, Monsieur Bianchon!" was the cry on every side. + +The obliging doctor bowed, and silence reigned. + +"At about a hundred paces from Vendome, on the banks of the Loir," +said he, "stands an old brown house, crowned with very high roofs, and +so completely isolated that there is nothing near it, not even a fetid +tannery or a squalid tavern, such as are commonly seen outside small +towns. In front of this house is a garden down to the river, where the +box shrubs, formerly clipped close to edge the walks, now straggle at +their own will. A few willows, rooted in the stream, have grown up +quickly like an enclosing fence, and half hide the house. The wild +plants we call weeds have clothed the bank with their beautiful +luxuriance. The fruit-trees, neglected for these ten years past, no +longer bear a crop, and their suckers have formed a thicket. The +espaliers are like a copse. The paths, once graveled, are overgrown +with purslane; but, to be accurate there is no trace of a path. + +"Looking down from the hilltop, to which cling the ruins of the old +castle of the Dukes of Vendome, the only spot whence the eye can see +into this enclosure, we think that at a time, difficult now to +determine, this spot of earth must have been the joy of some country +gentleman devoted to roses and tulips, in a word, to horticulture, but +above all a lover of choice fruit. An arbor is visible, or rather the +wreck of an arbor, and under it a table still stands not entirely +destroyed by time. At the aspect of this garden that is no more, the +negative joys of the peaceful life of the provinces may be divined as +we divine the history of a worthy tradesman when we read the epitaph +on his tomb. To complete the mournful and tender impressions which +seize the soul, on one of the walls there is a sundial graced with +this homely Christian motto, '_Ultimam cogita_.' + +"The roof of this house is dreadfully dilapidated; the outside +shutters are always closed; the balconies are hung with swallows' +nests; the doors are for ever shut. Straggling grasses have outlined +the flagstones of the steps with green; the ironwork is rusty. Moon +and sun, winter, summer, and snow have eaten into the wood, warped the +boards, peeled off the paint. The dreary silence is broken only by +birds and cats, polecats, rats, and mice, free to scamper round, and +fight, and eat each other. An invisible hand has written over it all: +'Mystery.' + +"If, prompted by curiosity, you go to look at this house from the +street, you will see a large gate, with a round-arched top; the +children have made many holes in it. I learned later that this door +had been blocked for ten years. Through these irregular breaches you +will see that the side towards the courtyard is in perfect harmony +with the side towards the garden. The same ruin prevails. Tufts of +weeds outline the paving-stones; the walls are scored by enormous +cracks, and the blackened coping is laced with a thousand festoons of +pellitory. The stone steps are disjointed; the bell-cord is rotten; +the gutter-spouts broken. What fire from heaven could have fallen +there? By what decree has salt been sown on this dwelling? Has God +been mocked here? Or was France betrayed? These are the questions we +ask ourselves. Reptiles crawl over it, but give no reply. This empty +and deserted house is a vast enigma of which the answer is known to +none. + +"It was formerly a little domain, held in fief, and is known as La +Grande Breteche. During my stay at Vendome, where Despleins had left +me in charge of a rich patient, the sight of this strange dwelling +became one of my keenest pleasures. Was it not far better than a ruin? +Certain memories of indisputable authenticity attach themselves to a +ruin; but this house, still standing, though being slowly destroyed by +an avenging hand, contained a secret, an unrevealed thought. At the +very least, it testified to a caprice. More than once in the evening I +boarded the hedge, run wild, which surrounded the enclosure. I braved +scratches, I got into this ownerless garden, this plot which was no +longer public or private; I lingered there for hours gazing at the +disorder. I would not, as the price of the story to which this strange +scene no doubt was due, have asked a single question of any gossiping +native. On that spot I wove delightful romances, and abandoned myself +to little debauches of melancholy which enchanted me. If I had known +the reason--perhaps quite commonplace--of this neglect, I should have +lost the unwritten poetry which intoxicated me. To me this refuge +represented the most various phases of human life, shadowed by +misfortune; sometimes the peace of the graveyard without the dead, who +speak in the language of epitaphs; one day I saw in it the home of +lepers; another, the house of the Atridae; but, above all, I found +there provincial life, with its contemplative ideas, its hour-glass +existence. I often wept there, I never laughed. + +"More than once I felt involuntary terrors as I heard overhead the +dull hum of the wings of some hurrying wood-pigeon. The earth is dank; +you must be on the watch for lizards, vipers, and frogs, wandering +about with the wild freedom of nature; above all, you must have no +fear of cold, for in a few moments you feel an icy cloak settle on +your shoulders, like the Commendatore's hand on Don Giovanni's neck. + +"One evening I felt a shudder; the wind had turned an old rusty +weathercock, and the creaking sounded like a cry from the house, at +the very moment when I was finishing a gloomy drama to account for +this monumental embodiment of woe. I returned to my inn, lost in +gloomy thoughts. When I had supped, the hostess came into my room with +an air of mystery, and said, 'Monsieur, here is Monsieur Regnault.' + +"'Who is Monsieur Regnault?' + +"'What, sir, do you not know Monsieur Regnault?--Well, that's odd,' +said she, leaving the room. + +"On a sudden I saw a man appear, tall, slim, dressed in black, hat in +hand, who came in like a ram ready to butt his opponent, showing a +receding forehead, a small pointed head, and a colorless face of the +hue of a glass of dirty water. You would have taken him for an usher. +The stranger wore an old coat, much worn at the seams; but he had a +diamond in his shirt frill, and gold rings in his ears. + +"'Monsieur,' said I, 'whom have I the honor of addressing?'--He took +a chair, placed himself in front of my fire, put his hat on my table, +and answered while he rubbed his hands: 'Dear me, it is very cold. +--Monsieur, I am Monsieur Regnault.' + +"I was encouraging myself by saying to myself, '_Il bondo cani!_ +Seek!' + +"'I am,' he went on, 'notary at Vendome.' + +"'I am delighted to hear it, monsieur,' I exclaimed. 'But I am not in +a position to make a will for reasons best known to myself.' + +"'One moment!' said he, holding up his hand as though to gain +silence. 'Allow me, monsieur, allow me! I am informed that you +sometimes go to walk in the garden of la Grande Breteche.' + +"'Yes, monsieur.' + +"'One moment!' said he, repeating his gesture. 'That constitutes a +misdemeanor. Monsieur, as executor under the will of the late Comtesse +de Merret, I come in her name to beg you to discontinue the practice. +One moment! I am not a Turk, and do not wish to make a crime of it. +And besides, you are free to be ignorant of the circumstances which +compel me to leave the finest mansion in Vendome to fall into ruin. +Nevertheless, monsieur, you must be a man of education, and you should +know that the laws forbid, under heavy penalties, any trespass on +enclosed property. A hedge is the same as a wall. But, the state in +which the place is left may be an excuse for your curiosity. For my +part, I should be quite content to make you free to come and go in the +house; but being bound to respect the will of the testatrix, I have +the honor, monsieur, to beg that you will go into the garden no more. +I myself, monsieur, since the will was read, have never set foot in +the house, which, as I had the honor of informing you, is part of the +estate of the late Madame de Merret. We have done nothing there but +verify the number of doors and windows to assess the taxes I have to +pay annually out of the funds left for that purpose by the late Madame +de Merret. Ah! my dear sir, her will made a great commotion in the +town.' + +"The good man paused to blow his nose. I respected his volubility, +perfectly understanding that the administration of Madame de Merret's +estate had been the most important event of his life, his reputation, +his glory, his Restoration. As I was forced to bid farewell to my +beautiful reveries and romances, I was to reject learning the truth on +official authority. + +"'Monsieur,' said I, 'would it be indiscreet if I were to ask you the +reasons for such eccentricity?' + +"At these words an expression, which revealed all the pleasure which +men feel who are accustomed to ride a hobby, overspread the lawyer's +countenance. He pulled up the collar of his shirt with an air, took +out his snuffbox, opened it, and offered me a pinch; on my refusing, +he took a large one. He was happy! A man who has no hobby does not +know all the good to be got out of life. A hobby is the happy medium +between a passion and a monomania. At this moment I understood the +whole bearing of Sterne's charming passion, and had a perfect idea of +the delight with which my uncle Toby, encouraged by Trim, bestrode his +hobby-horse. + +"'Monsieur,' said Monsieur Regnault, 'I was head-clerk in Monsieur +Roguin's office, in Paris. A first-rate house, which you may have +heard mentioned? No! An unfortunate bankruptcy made it famous.--Not +having money enough to purchase a practice in Paris at the price to +which they were run up in 1816, I came here and bought my +predecessor's business. I had relations in Vendome; among others, a +wealthy aunt, who allowed me to marry her daughter.--Monsieur,' he +went on after a little pause, 'three months after being licensed by +the Keeper of the Seals, one evening, as I was going to bed--it was +before my marriage--I was sent for by Madame la Comtesse de Merret, to +her Chateau of Merret. Her maid, a good girl, who is now a servant in +this inn, was waiting at my door with the Countess' own carriage. Ah! +one moment! I ought to tell you that Monsieur le Comte de Merret had +gone to Paris to die two months before I came here. He came to a +miserable end, flinging himself into every kind of dissipation. You +understand? + +"'On the day when he left, Madame la Comtesse had quitted la Grand +Breteche, having dismantled it. Some people even say that she had +burnt all the furniture, the hangings--in short, all the chattels and +furniture whatever used in furnishing the premises now let by the said +M.--(Dear, what am I saying? I beg your pardon, I thought I was +dictating a lease.)--In short, that she burnt everything in the meadow +at Merret. Have you been to Merret, monsieur?--No,' said he, answering +himself, 'Ah, it is a very fine place.' + +"'For about three months previously,' he went on, with a jerk of his +head, 'the Count and Countess had lived in a very eccentric way; they +admitted no visitors; Madame lived on the ground-floor, and Monsieur +on the first floor. When the Countess was left alone, she was never +seen excepting at church. Subsequently, at home, at the chateau, she +refused to see the friends, whether gentlemen or ladies, who went to +call on her. She was already very much altered when she left la Grande +Breteche to go to Merret. That dear lady--I say dear lady, for it was +she who gave me this diamond, but indeed I saw her but once--that kind +lady was very ill; she had, no doubt, given up all hope, for she died +without choosing to send for a doctor; indeed, many of our ladies +fancied she was not quite right in her head. Well, sir, my curiosity +was strangely excited by hearing that Madame de Merret had need of my +services. Nor was I the only person who took an interest in the +affair. That very night, though it was already late, all the town knew +that I was going to Merret. + +"'The waiting-woman replied but vaguely to the questions I asked her +on the way; nevertheless, she told me that her mistress had received +the Sacrament in the course of the day at the hands of the Cure of +Merret, and seemed unlikely to live through the night. It was about +eleven when I reached the chateau. I went up the great staircase. +After crossing some large, lofty, dark rooms, diabolically cold and +damp, I reached the state bedroom where the Countess lay. From the +rumors that were current concerning this lady (monsieur, I should +never end if I were to repeat all the tales that were told about her), +I had imagined her a coquette. Imagine, then, that I had great +difficulty in seeing her in the great bed where she was lying. To be +sure, to light this enormous room, with old-fashioned heavy cornices, +and so thick with dust that merely to see it was enough to make you +sneeze, she had only an old Argand lamp. Ah! but you have not been to +Merret. Well, the bed is one of those old world beds, with a high +tester hung with flowered chintz. A small table stood by the bed, on +which I saw an "Imitation of Christ," which, by the way, I bought for +my wife, as well as the lamp. There were also a deep armchair for her +confidential maid, and two small chairs. There was no fire. That was +all the furniture, not enough to fill ten lines in an inventory. + +"'My dear sir, if you had seen, as I then saw, that vast room, +papered and hung with brown, you would have felt yourself transported +into a scene of a romance. It was icy, nay more, funereal,' and he +lifted his hand with a theatrical gesture and paused. + +"'By dint of seeking, as I approached the bed, at last I saw Madame +de Merret, under the glimmer of the lamp, which fell on the pillows. +Her face was as yellow as wax, and as narrow as two folded hands. The +Countess had a lace cap showing her abundant hair, but as white as +linen thread. She was sitting up in bed, and seemed to keep upright +with great difficulty. Her large black eyes, dimmed by fever, no +doubt, and half-dead already, hardly moved under the bony arch of her +eyebrows.--There,' he added, pointing to his own brow. 'Her forehead +was clammy; her fleshless hands were like bones covered with soft +skin; the veins and muscles were perfectly visible. She must have been +very handsome; but at this moment I was startled into an indescribable +emotion at the sight. Never, said those who wrapped her in her shroud, +had any living creature been so emaciated and lived. In short, it was +awful to behold! Sickness so consumed that woman, that she was no more +than a phantom. Her lips, which were pale violet, seemed to me not to +move when she spoke to me. + +"'Though my profession has familiarized me with such spectacles, by +calling me not infrequently to the bedside of the dying to record +their last wishes, I confess that families in tears and the agonies I +have seen were as nothing in comparison with this lonely and silent +woman in her vast chateau. I heard not the least sound, I did not +perceive the movement which the sufferer's breathing ought to have +given to the sheets that covered her, and I stood motionless, absorbed +in looking at her in a sort of stupor. In fancy I am there still. At +last her large eyes moved; she tried to raise her right hand, but it +fell back on the bed, and she uttered these words, which came like a +breath, for her voice was no longer a voice: "I have waited for you +with the greatest impatience." A bright flush rose to her cheeks. It +was a great effort to her to speak. + +"'"Madame," I began. She signed to me to be silent. At that moment +the old housekeeper rose and said in my ear, "Do not speak; Madame la +Comtesse is not in a state to bear the slightest noise, and what you +say might agitate her." + +"'I sat down. A few instants after, Madame de Merret collected all +her remaining strength to move her right hand, and slipped it, not +without infinite difficulty, under the bolster; she then paused a +moment. With a last effort she withdrew her hand; and when she brought +out a sealed paper, drops of perspiration rolled from her brow. "I +place my will in your hands--Oh! God! Oh!" and that was all. She +clutched a crucifix that lay on the bed, lifted it hastily to her +lips, and died. + +"'The expression of her eyes still makes me shudder as I think of it. +She must have suffered much! There was joy in her last glance, and it +remained stamped on her dead eyes. + +"'I brought away the will, and when it was opened I found that Madame +de Merret had appointed me her executor. She left the whole of her +property to the hospital at Vendome excepting a few legacies. But +these were her instructions as relating to la Grande Breteche: She +ordered me to leave the place, for fifty years counting from the day +of her death, in the state in which it might be at the time of her +death, forbidding any one, whoever he might be, to enter the +apartments, prohibiting any repairs whatever, and even settling a +salary to pay watchmen if it were needful to secure the absolute +fulfilment of her intentions. At the expiration of that term, if the +will of the testatrix has been duly carried out, the house is to +become the property of my heirs, for, as you know, a notary cannot +take a bequest. Otherwise la Grande Breteche reverts to the +heirs-at-law, but on condition of fulfilling certain conditions set +forth in a codicil to the will, which is not to be opened till the +expiration of the said term of fifty years. The will has not been +disputed, so----' And without finishing his sentence, the lanky notary +looked at me with an air of triumph; I made him quite happy by offering +him my congratulations. + +"'Monsieur,' I said in conclusion, 'you have so vividly impressed me +that I fancy I see the dying woman whiter than her sheets; her +glittering eyes frighten me; I shall dream of her to-night.--But you +must have formed some idea as to the instructions contained in that +extraordinary will.' + +"'Monsieur,' said he, with comical reticence, 'I never allow myself +to criticise the conduct of a person who honors me with the gift of a +diamond.' + +"However, I soon loosened the tongue of the discreet notary of +Vendome, who communicated to me, not without long digressions, the +opinions of the deep politicians of both sexes whose judgments are law +in Vendome. But these opinions were so contradictory, so diffuse, that +I was near falling asleep in spite of the interest I felt in this +authentic history. The notary's ponderous voice and monotonous accent, +accustomed no doubt to listen to himself and to make himself listened +to by his clients or fellow-townsmen, were too much for my curiosity. +Happily, he soon went away. + +"'Ah, ha, monsieur,' said he on the stairs, 'a good many persons +would be glad to live five-and-forty years longer; but--one moment!' +and he laid the first finger of his right hand to his nostril with a +cunning look, as much as to say, 'Mark my words!--To last as long as +that--as long as that,' said he, 'you must not be past sixty now.' + +"I closed my door, having been roused from my apathy by this last +speech, which the notary thought very funny; then I sat down in my +armchair, with my feet on the fire-dogs. I had lost myself in a +romance _a la_ Radcliffe, constructed on the juridical base given me +by Monsieur Regnault, when the door, opened by a woman's cautious +hand, turned on the hinges. I saw my landlady come in, a buxom, florid +dame, always good-humored, who had missed her calling in life. She was +a Fleming, who ought to have seen the light in a picture by Teniers. + +"'Well, monsieur,' said she, 'Monsieur Regnault has no doubt been +giving you his history of la Grande Breteche?' + +"'Yes, Madame Lepas.' + +"'And what did he tell you?' + +"I repeated in a few words the creepy and sinister story of Madame de +Merret. At each sentence my hostess put her head forward, looking at +me with an innkeeper's keen scrutiny, a happy compromise between the +instinct of a police constable, the astuteness of a spy, and the +cunning of a dealer. + +"'My good Madame Lepas,' said I as I ended, 'you seem to know more +about it. Heh? If not, why have you come up to me?' + +"'On my word, as an honest woman----' + +"'Do not swear; your eyes are big with a secret. You knew Monsieur de +Merret; what sort of man was he?' + +"'Monsieur de Merret--well, you see he was a man you never could see +the top of, he was so tall! A very good gentleman, from Picardy, and +who had, as we say, his head close to his cap. He paid for everything +down, so as never to have difficulties with any one. He was +hot-tempered, you see! All our ladies liked him very much.' + +"'Because he was hot-tempered?' I asked her. + +"'Well, may be,' said she; 'and you may suppose, sir, that a man had +to have something to show for a figurehead before he could marry +Madame de Merret, who, without any reflection on others, was the +handsomest and richest heiress in our parts. She had about twenty +thousand francs a year. All the town was at the wedding; the bride was +pretty and sweet-looking, quite a gem of a woman. Oh, they were a +handsome couple in their day!' + +"'And were they happy together?' + +"'Hm, hm! so-so--so far as can be guessed, for, as you may suppose, +we of the common sort were not hail-fellow-well-met with them.--Madame +de Merret was a kind woman and very pleasant, who had no doubt +sometimes to put up with her husband's tantrums. But though he was +rather haughty, we were fond of him. After all, it was his place to +behave so. When a man is a born nobleman, you see----' + +"'Still, there must have been some catastrophe for Monsieur and +Madame de Merret to part so violently?' + +"'I did not say there was any catastrophe, sir. I know nothing about +it.' + +"'Indeed. Well, now, I am sure you know everything.' + +"'Well, sir, I will tell you the whole story.--When I saw Monsieur +Regnault go up to see you, it struck me that he would speak to you +about Madame de Merret as having to do with la Grande Breteche. That +put it into my head to ask your advice, sir, seeming to me that you +are a man of good judgment and incapable of playing a poor woman like +me false--for I never did any one a wrong, and yet I am tormented by +my conscience. Up to now I have never dared to say a word to the +people of these parts; they are all chatter-mags, with tongues like +knives. And never till now, sir, have I had any traveler here who +stayed so long in the inn as you have, and to whom I could tell the +history of the fifteen thousand francs----' + +"'My dear Madame Lepas, if there is anything in your story of a +nature to compromise me,' I said, interrupting the flow of her words, +'I would not hear it for all the world.' + +"'You need have no fears,' said she; 'you will see.' + +"Her eagerness made me suspect that I was not the only person to whom +my worthy landlady had communicated the secret of which I was to be +the sole possessor, but I listened. + +"'Monsieur,' said she, 'when the Emperor sent the Spaniards here, +prisoners of war and others, I was required to lodge at the charge of +the Government a young Spaniard sent to Vendome on parole. +Notwithstanding his parole, he had to show himself every day to the +sub-prefect. He was a Spanish grandee--neither more nor less. He had a +name in _os_ and _dia_, something like Bagos de Feredia. I wrote his +name down in my books, and you may see it if you like. Ah! he was a +handsome young fellow for a Spaniard, who are all ugly they say. He +was not more than five feet two or three in height, but so well made; +and he had little hands that he kept so beautifully! Ah! you should +have seen them. He had as many brushes for his hands as a woman has +for her toilet. He had thick, black hair, a flame in his eye, a +somewhat coppery complexion, but which I admired all the same. He wore +the finest linen I have ever seen, though I have had princesses to +lodge here, and, among others, General Bertrand, the Duc and Duchesse +d'Abrantes, Monsieur Descazes, and the King of Spain. He did not eat +much, but he had such polite and amiable ways that it was impossible +to owe him a grudge for that. Oh! I was very fond of him, though he +did not say four words to me in a day, and it was impossible to have +the least bit of talk with him; if he was spoken to, he did not +answer; it is a way, a mania they all have, it would seem. + +"'He read his breviary like a priest, and went to mass and all the +services quite regularly. And where did he post himself?--we found +this out later.--Within two yards of Madame de Merret's chapel. As he +took that place the very first time he entered the church, no one +imagined that there was any purpose in it. Besides, he never raised +his nose above his book, poor young man! And then, monsieur, of an +evening he went for a walk on the hill among the ruins of the old +castle. It was his only amusement, poor man; it reminded him of his +native land. They say that Spain is all hills! + +"'One evening, a few days after he was sent here, he was out very +late. I was rather uneasy when he did not come in till just on the +stroke of midnight; but we all got used to his whims; he took the key +of the door, and we never sat up for him. He lived in a house +belonging to us in the Rue des Casernes. Well, then, one of our +stable-boys told us one evening that, going down to wash the horses in +the river, he fancied he had seen the Spanish Grandee swimming some +little way off, just like a fish. When he came in, I told him to be +careful of the weeds, and he seemed put out at having been seen in the +water. + +"'At last, monsieur, one day, or rather one morning, we did not find +him in his room; he had not come back. By hunting through his things, +I found a written paper in the drawer of his table, with fifty pieces +of Spanish gold of the kind they call doubloons, worth about five +thousand francs; and in a little sealed box ten thousand francs worth +of diamonds. The paper said that in case he should not return, he left +us this money and these diamonds in trust to found masses to thank God +for his escape and for his salvation. + +"'At that time I still had my husband, who ran off in search of him. +And this is the queer part of the story: he brought back the +Spaniard's clothes, which he had found under a big stone on a sort of +breakwater along the river bank, nearly opposite la Grande Breteche. +My husband went so early that no one saw him. After reading the +letter, he burnt the clothes, and, in obedience to Count Feredia's +wish, we announced that he had escaped. + +"'The sub-prefect set all the constabulary at his heels; but, pshaw! +he was never caught. Lepas believed that the Spaniard had drowned +himself. I, sir, have never thought so; I believe, on the contrary, +that he had something to do with the business about Madame de Merret, +seeing that Rosalie told me that the crucifix her mistress was so fond +of that she had it buried with her, was made of ebony and silver; now +in the early days of his stay here, Monsieur Feredia had one of ebony +and silver which I never saw later.--And now, monsieur, do not you say +that I need have no remorse about the Spaniard's fifteen thousand +francs? Are they not really and truly mine?' + +"'Certainly.--But have you never tried to question Rosalie?' said I. + +"'Oh, to be sure I have, sir. But what is to be done? That girl is +like a wall. She knows something, but it is impossible to make her +talk.' + +"After chatting with me for a few minutes, my hostess left me a prey +to vague and sinister thoughts, to romantic curiosity, and a religious +dread, not unlike the deep emotion which comes upon us when we go into +a dark church at night and discern a feeble light glimmering under a +lofty vault--a dim figure glides across--the sweep of a gown or of a +priest's cassock is audible--and we shiver! La Grande Breteche, with +its rank grasses, its shuttered windows, its rusty iron-work, its +locked doors, its deserted rooms, suddenly rose before me in fantastic +vividness. I tried to get into the mysterious dwelling to search out +the heart of this solemn story, this drama which had killed three +persons. + +"Rosalie became in my eyes the most interesting being in Vendome. As I +studied her, I detected signs of an inmost thought, in spite of the +blooming health that glowed in her dimpled face. There was in her soul +some element of ruth or of hope; her manner suggested a secret, like +the expression of devout souls who pray in excess, or of a girl who +has killed her child and for ever hears its last cry. Nevertheless, +she was simple and clumsy in her ways; her vacant smile had nothing +criminal in it, and you would have pronounced her innocent only from +seeing the large red and blue checked kerchief that covered her +stalwart bust, tucked into the tight-laced bodice of a lilac- and +white-striped gown. 'No,' said I to myself, 'I will not quit Vendome +without knowing the whole history of la Grande Breteche. To achieve +this end, I will make love to Rosalie if it proves necessary.' + +"'Rosalie!' said I one evening. + +"'Your servant, sir?' + +"'You are not married?' She started a little. + +"'Oh! there is no lack of men if ever I take a fancy to be +miserable!' she replied, laughing. She got over her agitation at once; +for every woman, from the highest lady to the inn-servant inclusive, +has a native presence of mind. + +"'Yes; you are fresh and good-looking enough never to lack lovers! +But tell me, Rosalie, why did you become an inn-servant on leaving +Madame de Merret? Did she not leave you some little annuity?' + +"'Oh yes, sir. But my place here is the best in all the town of +Vendome.' + +"This reply was such an one as judges and attorneys call evasive. +Rosalie, as it seemed to me, held in this romantic affair the place of +the middle square of the chess-board: she was at the very centre of +the interest and of the truth; she appeared to me to be tied into the +knot of it. It was not a case for ordinary love-making; this girl +contained the last chapter of a romance, and from that moment all my +attentions were devoted to Rosalie. By dint of studying the girl, I +observed in her, as in every woman whom we make our ruling thought, a +variety of good qualities; she was clean and neat; she was handsome, I +need not say; she soon was possessed of every charm that desire can +lend to a woman in whatever rank of life. A fortnight after the +notary's visit, one evening, or rather one morning, in the small +hours, I said to Rosalie: + +"'Come, tell me all you know about Madame de Merret.' + +"'Oh!' she said, 'I will tell you; but keep the secret carefully.' + +"'All right, my child; I will keep all your secrets with a thief's +honor, which is the most loyal known.' + +"'If it is all the same to you,' said she, 'I would rather it should +be with your own.' + +"Thereupon she set her head-kerchief straight, and settled herself to +tell the tale; for there is no doubt a particular attitude of +confidence and security is necessary to the telling of a narrative. +The best tales are told at a certain hour--just as we are all here at +table. No one ever told a story well standing up, or fasting. + +"If I were to reproduce exactly Rosalie's diffuse eloquence, a whole +volume would scarcely contain it. Now, as the event of which she gave +me a confused account stands exactly midway between the notary's +gossip and that of Madame Lepas, as precisely as the middle term of a +rule-of-three sum stands between the first and third, I have only to +relate it in as few words as may be. I shall therefore be brief. + +"The room at la Grande Breteche in which Madame de Merret slept was on +the ground floor; a little cupboard in the wall, about four feet deep, +served her to hang her dresses in. Three months before the evening of +which I have to relate the events, Madame de Merret had been seriously +ailing, so much so that her husband had left her to herself, and had +his own bedroom on the first floor. By one of those accidents which it +is impossible to foresee, he came in that evening two hours later than +usual from the club, where he went to read the papers and talk +politics with the residents in the neighborhood. His wife supposed him +to have come in, to be in bed and asleep. But the invasion of France +had been the subject of a very animated discussion; the game of +billiards had waxed vehement; he had lost forty francs, an enormous +sum at Vendome, where everybody is thrifty, and where social habits +are restrained within the bounds of a simplicity worthy of all praise, +and the foundation perhaps of a form of true happiness which no +Parisian would care for. + +"For some time past Monsieur de Merret had been satisfied to ask +Rosalie whether his wife was in bed; on the girl's replying always in +the affirmative, he at once went to his own room, with the good faith +that comes of habit and confidence. But this evening, on coming in, he +took it into his head to go to see Madame de Merret, to tell her of +his ill-luck, and perhaps to find consolation. During dinner he had +observed that his wife was very becomingly dressed; he reflected as he +came home from the club that his wife was certainly much better, that +convalescence had improved her beauty, discovering it, as husbands +discover everything, a little too late. Instead of calling Rosalie, +who was in the kitchen at the moment watching the cook and the +coachman playing a puzzling hand at cards, Monsieur de Merret made his +way to his wife's room by the light of his lantern, which he set down +at the lowest step of the stairs. His step, easy to recognize, rang +under the vaulted passage. + +"At the instant when the gentleman turned the key to enter his wife's +room, he fancied he heard the door shut of the closet of which I have +spoken; but when he went in, Madame de Merret was alone, standing in +front of the fireplace. The unsuspecting husband fancied that Rosalie +was in the cupboard; nevertheless, a doubt, ringing in his ears like a +peal of bells, put him on his guard; he looked at his wife, and read +in her eyes an indescribably anxious and haunted expression. + +"'You are very late,' said she.--Her voice, usually so clear and +sweet, struck him as being slightly husky. + +"Monsieur de Merret made no reply, for at this moment Rosalie came in. +This was like a thunder-clap. He walked up and down the room, going +from one window to another at a regular pace, his arms folded. + +"'Have you had bad news, or are you ill?' his wife asked him timidly, +while Rosalie helped her to undress. He made no reply. + +"'You can go, Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret to her maid; 'I can put +in my curl-papers myself.'--She scented disaster at the mere aspect of +her husband's face, and wished to be alone with him. As soon as +Rosalie was gone, or supposed to be gone, for she lingered a few +minutes in the passage, Monsieur de Merret came and stood facing his +wife, and said coldly, 'Madame, there is some one in your cupboard!' +She looked at her husband calmly, and replied quite simply, 'No, +monsieur.' + +"This 'No' wrung Monsieur de Merret's heart; he did not believe it; +and yet his wife had never appeared purer or more saintly than she +seemed to be at this moment. He rose to go and open the closet door. +Madame de Merret took his hand, stopped him, looked at him sadly, and +said in a voice of strange emotion, 'Remember, if you should find no +one there, everything must be at an end between you and me.' + +"The extraordinary dignity of his wife's attitude filled him with deep +esteem for her, and inspired him with one of those resolves which need +only a grander stage to become immortal. + +"'No, Josephine,' he said, 'I will not open it. In either event we +should be parted for ever. Listen; I know all the purity of your soul, +I know you lead a saintly life, and would not commit a deadly sin to +save your life.'--At these words Madame de Merret looked at her +husband with a haggard stare.--'See, here is your crucifix,' he went +on. 'Swear to me before God that there is no one in there; I will +believe you--I will never open that door.' + +"Madame de Merret took up the crucifix and said, 'I swear it.' + +"'Louder,' said her husband; 'and repeat: "I swear before God that +there is nobody in that closet."' She repeated the words without +flinching. + +"'That will do,' said Monsieur de Merret coldly. After a moment's +silence: 'You have there a fine piece of work which I never saw +before,' said he, examining the crucifix of ebony and silver, very +artistically wrought. + +"'I found it at Duvivier's; last year when that troop of Spanish +prisoners came through Vendome, he bought it of a Spanish monk.' + +"'Indeed,' said Monsieur de Merret, hanging the crucifix on its nail; +and he rang the bell. + +"He had to wait for Rosalie. Monsieur de Merret went forward quickly +to meet her, led her into the bay of the window that looked on to the +garden, and said to her in an undertone: + +"'I know that Gorenflot wants to marry you, that poverty alone +prevents your setting up house, and that you told him you would not be +his wife till he found means to become a master mason.--Well, go and +fetch him; tell him to come here with his trowel and tools. Contrive +to wake no one in his house but himself. His reward will be beyond +your wishes. Above all, go out without saying a word--or else!' and he +frowned. + +"Rosalie was going, and he called her back. 'Here, take my latch-key,' +said he. + +"'Jean!' Monsieur de Merret called in a voice of thunder down the +passage. Jean, who was both coachman and confidential servant, left +his cards and came. + +"'Go to bed, all of you,' said his master, beckoning him to come +close; and the gentleman added in a whisper, 'When they are all asleep +--mind, _asleep_--you understand?--come down and tell me.' + +"Monsieur de Merret, who had never lost sight of his wife while giving +his orders, quietly came back to her at the fireside, and began to +tell her the details of the game of billiards and the discussion at +the club. When Rosalie returned she found Monsieur and Madame de +Merret conversing amiably. + +"Not long before this Monsieur de Merret had had new ceilings made to +all the reception-rooms on the ground floor. Plaster is very scarce at +Vendome; the price is enhanced by the cost of carriage; the gentleman +had therefore had a considerable quantity delivered to him, knowing +that he could always find purchasers for what might be left. It was +this circumstance which suggested the plan he carried out. + +"'Gorenflot is here, sir,' said Rosalie in a whisper. + +"'Tell him to come in,' said her master aloud. + +"Madame de Merret turned paler when she saw the mason. + +"'Gorenflot,' said her husband, 'go and fetch some bricks from the +coach-house; bring enough to wall up the door of this cupboard; you +can use the plaster that is left for cement.' Then, dragging Rosalie +and the workman close to him--'Listen, Gorenflot,' said he, in a low +voice, 'you are to sleep here to-night; but to-morrow morning you +shall have a passport to take you abroad to a place I will tell you +of. I will give you six thousand francs for your journey. You must +live in that town for ten years; if you find you do not like it, you +may settle in another, but it must be in the same country. Go through +Paris and wait there till I join you. I will there give you an +agreement for six thousand francs more, to be paid to you on your +return, provided you have carried out the conditions of the bargain. +For that price you are to keep perfect silence as to what you have to +do this night. To you, Rosalie, I will secure ten thousand francs, +which will not be paid to you till your wedding day, and on condition +of your marrying Gorenflot; but, to get married, you must hold your +tongue. If not, no wedding gift!' + +"'Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret, 'come and brush my hair.' + +"Her husband quietly walked up and down the room, keeping an eye on +the door, on the mason, and on his wife, but without any insulting +display of suspicion. Gorenflot could not help making some noise. +Madame de Merret seized a moment when he was unloading some bricks, +and when her husband was at the other end of the room to say to +Rosalie: 'My dear child, I will give you a thousand francs a year if +only you will tell Gorenflot to leave a crack at the bottom.' Then she +added aloud quite coolly: 'You had better help him.' + +"Monsieur and Madame de Merret were silent all the time while +Gorenflot was walling up the door. This silence was intentional on the +husband's part; he did not wish to give his wife the opportunity of +saying anything with a double meaning. On Madame de Merret's side it +was pride or prudence. When the wall was half built up the cunning +mason took advantage of his master's back being turned to break one of +the two panes in the top of the door with a blow of his pick. By this +Madame de Merret understood that Rosalie had spoken to Gorenflot. They +all three then saw the face of a dark, gloomy-looking man, with black +hair and flaming eyes. + +"Before her husband turned round again the poor woman had nodded to +the stranger, to whom the signal was meant to convey, 'Hope.' + +"At four o'clock, as the day was dawning, for it was the month of +September, the work was done. The mason was placed in charge of Jean, +and Monsieur de Merret slept in his wife's room. + +"Next morning when he got up he said with apparent carelessness, 'Oh, +by the way, I must go to the Maire for the passport.' He put on his +hat, took two or three steps towards the door, paused, and took the +crucifix. His wife was trembling with joy. + +"'He will go to Duvivier's,' thought she. + +"As soon as he had left, Madame de Merret rang for Rosalie, and then +in a terrible voice she cried: 'The pick! Bring the pick! and set to +work. I saw how Gorenflot did it yesterday; we shall have time to make +a gap and build it up again.' + +"In an instant Rosalie had brought her mistress a sort of cleaver; +she, with a vehemence of which no words can give an idea, set to work +to demolish the wall. She had already got out a few bricks, when, +turning to deal a stronger blow than before, she saw behind her +Monsieur de Merret. She fainted away. + +"'Lay madame on her bed,' said he coldly. + +"Foreseeing what would certainly happen in his absence, he had laid +this trap for his wife; he had merely written to the Maire and sent +for Duvivier. The jeweler arrived just as the disorder in the room had +been repaired. + +"'Duvivier,' asked Monsieur de Merret, 'did not you buy some +crucifixes of the Spaniards who passed through the town?' + +"'No, monsieur.' + +"'Very good; thank you,' said he, flashing a tiger's glare at his +wife. 'Jean,' he added, turning to his confidential valet, 'you can +serve my meals here in Madame de Merret's room. She is ill, and I +shall not leave her till she recovers.' + +"The cruel man remained in his wife's room for twenty days. During the +earlier time, when there was some little noise in the closet, and +Josephine wanted to intercede for the dying man, he said, without +allowing her to utter a word, 'You swore on the Cross that there was +no one there.'" + + + +After this story all the ladies rose from table, and thus the spell +under which Bianchon had held them was broken. But there were some +among them who had almost shivered at the last words. + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personage appears in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +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 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of La Grande Breteche, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LA GRANDE BRETECHE *** + +***** This file should be named 1710.txt or 1710.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.net/1/7/1/1710/ + +Produced by Dagny, and John Bickers, + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz + + + + + +LA GRANDE BRETECHE +(Sequel to "Another Study of Woman.") + +by HONORE DE BALZAC + + + +Translated By +Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + + + + + +LA GRANDE BRETECHE + + + +"Ah! madame," replied the doctor, "I have some appalling stories in my +collection. But each one has its proper hour in a conversation--you +know the pretty jest recorded by Chamfort, and said to the Duc de +Fronsac: 'Between your sally and the present moment lie ten bottles of +champagne.' " + +"But it is two in the morning, and the story of Rosina has prepared +us," said the mistress of the house. + +"Tell us, Monsieur Bianchon!" was the cry on every side. + +The obliging doctor bowed, and silence reigned. + +"At about a hundred paces from Vendome, on the banks of the Loir," +said he, "stands an old brown house, crowned with very high roofs, and +so completely isolated that there is nothing near it, not even a fetid +tannery or a squalid tavern, such as are commonly seen outside small +towns. In front of this house is a garden down to the river, where the +box shrubs, formerly clipped close to edge the walks, now straggle at +their own will. A few willows, rooted in the stream, have grown up +quickly like an enclosing fence, and half hide the house. The wild +plants we call weeds have clothed the bank with their beautiful +luxuriance. The fruit-trees, neglected for these ten years past, no +longer bear a crop, and their suckers have formed a thicket. The +espaliers are like a copse. The paths, once graveled, are overgrown +with purslane; but, to be accurate there is no trace of a path. + +"Looking down from the hilltop, to which cling the ruins of the old +castle of the Dukes of Vendome, the only spot whence the eye can see +into this enclosure, we think that at a time, difficult now to +determine, this spot of earth must have been the joy of some country +gentleman devoted to roses and tulips, in a word, to horticulture, but +above all a lover of choice fruit. An arbor is visible, or rather the +wreck of an arbor, and under it a table still stands not entirely +destroyed by time. At the aspect of this garden that is no more, the +negative joys of the peaceful life of the provinces may be divined as +we divine the history of a worthy tradesman when we read the epitaph +on his tomb. To complete the mournful and tender impressions which +seize the soul, on one of the walls there is a sundial graced with +this homely Christian motto, '/Ultimam cogita/.' + +"The roof of this house is dreadfully dilapidated; the outside +shutters are always closed; the balconies are hung with swallows' +nests; the doors are for ever shut. Straggling grasses have outlined +the flagstones of the steps with green; the ironwork is rusty. Moon +and sun, winter, summer, and snow have eaten into the wood, warped the +boards, peeled off the paint. The dreary silence is broken only by +birds and cats, polecats, rats, and mice, free to scamper round, and +fight, and eat each other. An invisible hand has written over it all: +'Mystery.' + +"If, prompted by curiosity, you go to look at this house from the +street, you will see a large gate, with a round-arched top; the +children have made many holes in it. I learned later that this door +had been blocked for ten years. Through these irregular breaches you +will see that the side towards the courtyard is in perfect harmony +with the side towards the garden. The same ruin prevails. Tufts of +weeds outline the paving-stones; the walls are scored by enormous +cracks, and the blackened coping is laced with a thousand festoons of +pellitory. The stone steps are disjointed; the bell-cord is rotten; +the gutter-spouts broken. What fire from heaven could have fallen +there? By what decree has salt been sown on this dwelling? Has God +been mocked here? Or was France betrayed? These are the questions we +ask ourselves. Reptiles crawl over it, but give no reply. This empty +and deserted house is a vast enigma of which the answer is known to +none. + +"It was formerly a little domain, held in fief, and is known as La +Grande Breteche. During my stay at Vendome, where Despleins had left +me in charge of a rich patient, the sight of this strange dwelling +became one of my keenest pleasures. Was it not far better than a ruin? +Certain memories of indisputable authenticity attach themselves to a +ruin; but this house, still standing, though being slowly destroyed by +an avenging hand, contained a secret, an unrevealed thought. At the +very least, it testified to a caprice. More than once in the evening I +boarded the hedge, run wild, which surrounded the enclosure. I braved +scratches, I got into this ownerless garden, this plot which was no +longer public or private; I lingered there for hours gazing at the +disorder. I would not, as the price of the story to which this strange +scene no doubt was due, have asked a single question of any gossiping +native. On that spot I wove delightful romances, and abandoned myself +to little debauches of melancholy which enchanted me. If I had known +the reason--perhaps quite commonplace--of this neglect, I should have +lost the unwritten poetry which intoxicated me. To me this refuge +represented the most various phases of human life, shadowed by +misfortune; sometimes the peace of the graveyard without the dead, who +speak in the language of epitaphs; one day I saw in it the home of +lepers; another, the house of the Atridae; but, above all, I found +there provincial life, with its contemplative ideas, its hour-glass +existence. I often wept there, I never laughed. + +"More than once I felt involuntary terrors as I heard overhead the +dull hum of the wings of some hurrying wood-pigeon. The earth is dank; +you must be on the watch for lizards, vipers, and frogs, wandering +about with the wild freedom of nature; above all, you must have no +fear of cold, for in a few moments you feel an icy cloak settle on +your shoulders, like the Commendatore's hand on Don Giovanni's neck. + +"One evening I felt a shudder; the wind had turned an old rusty +weathercock, and the creaking sounded like a cry from the house, at +the very moment when I was finishing a gloomy drama to account for +this monumental embodiment of woe. I returned to my inn, lost in +gloomy thoughts. When I had supped, the hostess came into my room with +an air of mystery, and said, 'Monsieur, here is Monsieur Regnault.' + +" 'Who is Monsieur Regnault?' + +" 'What, sir, do you not know Monsieur Regnault?--Well, that's odd,' +said she, leaving the room. + +"On a sudden I saw a man appear, tall, slim, dressed in black, hat in +hand, who came in like a ram ready to butt his opponent, showing a +receding forehead, a small pointed head, and a colorless face of the +hue of a glass of dirty water. You would have taken him for an usher. +The stranger wore an old coat, much worn at the seams; but he had a +diamond in his shirt frill, and gold rings in his ears. + +" 'Monsieur,' said I, 'whom have I the honor of addressing?'--He took +a chair, placed himself in front of my fire, put his hat on my table, +and answered while he rubbed his hands: 'Dear me, it is very cold.-- +Monsieur, I am Monsieur Regnault.' + +" I was encouraging myself by saying to myself, '/Il bondo cani!/ +Seek!' + +" 'I am,' he went on, 'notary at Vendome.' + +" 'I am delighted to hear it, monsieur,' I exclaimed. 'But I am not in +a position to make a will for reasons best known to myself.' + +" 'One moment!' said he, holding up his hand as though to gain +silence. 'Allow me, monsieur, allow me! I am informed that you +sometimes go to walk in the garden of la Grande Breteche.' + +" 'Yes, monsieur.' + +" 'One moment!' said he, repeating his gesture. 'That constitutes a +misdemeanor. Monsieur, as executor under the will of the late Comtesse +de Merret, I come in her name to beg you to discontinue the practice. +One moment! I am not a Turk, and do not wish to make a crime of it. +And besides, you are free to be ignorant of the circumstances which +compel me to leave the finest mansion in Vendome to fall into ruin. +Nevertheless, monsieur, you must be a man of education, and you should +know that the laws forbid, under heavy penalties, any trespass on +enclosed property. A hedge is the same as a wall. But, the state in +which the place is left may be an excuse for your curiosity. For my +part, I should be quite content to make you free to come and go in the +house; but being bound to respect the will of the testatrix, I have +the honor, monsieur, to beg that you will go into the garden no more. +I myself, monsieur, since the will was read, have never set foot in +the house, which, as I had the honor of informing you, is part of the +estate of the late Madame de Merret. We have done nothing there but +verify the number of doors and windows to assess the taxes I have to +pay annually out of the funds left for that purpose by the late Madame +de Merret. Ah! my dear sir, her will made a great commotion in the +town.' + +"The good man paused to blow his nose. I respected his volubility, +perfectly understanding that the administration of Madame de Merret's +estate had been the most important event of his life, his reputation, +his glory, his Restoration. As I was forced to bid farewell to my +beautiful reveries and romances, I was to reject learning the truth on +official authority. + +" 'Monsieur,' said I, 'would it be indiscreet if I were to ask you the +reasons for such eccentricity?' + +"At these words an expression, which revealed all the pleasure which +men feel who are accustomed to ride a hobby, overspread the lawyer's +countenance. He pulled up the collar of his shirt with an air, took +out his snuffbox, opened it, and offered me a pinch; on my refusing, +he took a large one. He was happy! A man who has no hobby does not +know all the good to be got out of life. A hobby is the happy medium +between a passion and a monomania. At this moment I understood the +whole bearing of Sterne's charming passion, and had a perfect idea of +the delight with which my uncle Toby, encouraged by Trim, bestrode his +hobby-horse. + +" 'Monsieur,' said Monsieur Regnault, 'I was head-clerk in Monsieur +Roguin's office, in Paris. A first-rate house, which you may have +heard mentioned? No! An unfortunate bankruptcy made it famous.--Not +having money enough to purchase a practice in Paris at the price to +which they were run up in 1816, I came here and bought my +predecessor's business. I had relations in Vendome; among others, a +wealthy aunt, who allowed me to marry her daughter.--Monsieur,' he +went on after a little pause, 'three months after being licensed by +the Keeper of the Seals, one evening, as I was going to bed--it was +before my marriage--I was sent for by Madame la Comtesse de Merret, to +her Chateau of Merret. Her maid, a good girl, who is now a servant in +this inn, was waiting at my door with the Countess' own carriage. Ah! +one moment! I ought to tell you that Monsieur le Comte de Merret had +gone to Paris to die two months before I came here. He came to a +miserable end, flinging himself into every kind of dissipation. You +understand? + +" 'On the day when he left, Madame la Comtesse had quitted la Grand +Breteche, having dismantled it. Some people even say that she had +burnt all the furniture, the hangings--in short, all the chattels and +furniture whatever used in furnishing the premises now let by the said +M.--(Dear, what am I saying? I beg your pardon, I thought I was +dictating a lease.)--In short, that she burnt everything in the meadow +at Merret. Have you been to Merret, monsieur?--No,' said he, answering +himself, 'Ah, it is a very fine place.' + +" 'For about three months previously,' he went on, with a jerk of his +head, 'the Count and Countess had lived in a very eccentric way; they +admitted no visitors; Madame lived on the ground-floor, and Monsieur +on the first floor. When the Countess was left alone, she was never +seen excepting at church. Subsequently, at home, at the chateau, she +refused to see the friends, whether gentlemen or ladies, who went to +call on her. She was already very much altered when she left la Grande +Breteche to go to Merret. That dear lady--I say dear lady, for it was +she who gave me this diamond, but indeed I saw her but once--that kind +lady was very ill; she had, no doubt, given up all hope, for she died +without choosing to send for a doctor; indeed, many of our ladies +fancied she was not quite right in her head. Well, sir, my curiosity +was strangely excited by hearing that Madame de Merret had need of my +services. Nor was I the only person who took an interest in the +affair. That very night, though it was already late, all the town knew +that I was going to Merret. + +" 'The waiting-woman replied but vaguely to the questions I asked her +on the way; nevertheless, she told me that her mistress had received +the Sacrament in the course of the day at the hands of the Cure of +Merret, and seemed unlikely to live through the night. It was about +eleven when I reached the chateau. I went up the great staircase. +After crossing some large, lofty, dark rooms, diabolically cold and +damp, I reached the state bedroom where the Countess lay. From the +rumors that were current concerning this lady (monsieur, I should +never end if I were to repeat all the tales that were told about her), +I had imagined her a coquette. Imagine, then, that I had great +difficulty in seeing her in the great bed where she was lying. To be +sure, to light this enormous room, with old-fashioned heavy cornices, +and so thick with dust that merely to see it was enough to make you +sneeze, she had only an old Argand lamp. Ah! but you have not been to +Merret. Well, the bed is one of those old world beds, with a high +tester hung with flowered chintz. A small table stood by the bed, on +which I saw an "Imitation of Christ," which, by the way, I bought for +my wife, as well as the lamp. There were also a deep armchair for her +confidential maid, and two small chairs. There was no fire. That was +all the furniture, not enough to fill ten lines in an inventory. + +" 'My dear sir, if you had seen, as I then saw, that vast room, +papered and hung with brown, you would have felt yourself transported +into a scene of a romance. It was icy, nay more, funereal,' and he +lifted his hand with a theatrical gesture and paused. + +" 'By dint of seeking, as I approached the bed, at last I saw Madame +de Merret, under the glimmer of the lamp, which fell on the pillows. +Her face was as yellow as wax, and as narrow as two folded hands. The +Countess had a lace cap showing her abundant hair, but as white as +linen thread. She was sitting up in bed, and seemed to keep upright +with great difficulty. Her large black eyes, dimmed by fever, no +doubt, and half-dead already, hardly moved under the bony arch of her +eyebrows.--There,' he added, pointing to his own brow. 'Her forehead +was clammy; her fleshless hands were like bones covered with soft +skin; the veins and muscles were perfectly visible. She must have been +very handsome; but at this moment I was startled into an indescribable +emotion at the sight. Never, said those who wrapped her in her shroud, +had any living creature been so emaciated and lived. In short, it was +awful to behold! Sickness so consumed that woman, that she was no more +than a phantom. Her lips, which were pale violet, seemed to me not to +move when she spoke to me. + +" 'Though my profession has familiarized me with such spectacles, by +calling me not infrequently to the bedside of the dying to record +their last wishes, I confess that families in tears and the agonies I +have seen were as nothing in comparison with this lonely and silent +woman in her vast chateau. I heard not the least sound, I did not +perceive the movement which the sufferer's breathing ought to have +given to the sheets that covered her, and I stood motionless, absorbed +in looking at her in a sort of stupor. In fancy I am there still. At +last her large eyes moved; she tried to raise her right hand, but it +fell back on the bed, and she uttered these words, which came like a +breath, for her voice was no longer a voice: "I have waited for you +with the greatest impatience." A bright flush rose to her cheeks. It +was a great effort to her to speak. + +" ' "Madame," I began. She signed to me to be silent. At that moment +the old housekeeper rose and said in my ear, "Do not speak; Madame la +Comtesse is not in a state to bear the slightest noise, and what you +say might agitate her." + +" 'I sat down. A few instants after, Madame de Merret collected all +her remaining strength to move her right hand, and slipped it, not +without infinite difficulty, under the bolster; she then paused a +moment. With a last effort she withdrew her hand; and when she brought +out a sealed paper, drops of perspiration rolled from her brow. "I +place my will in your hands--Oh! God! Oh!" and that was all. She +clutched a crucifix that lay on the bed, lifted it hastily to her +lips, and died. + +" 'The expression of her eyes still makes me shudder as I think of it. +She must have suffered much! There was joy in her last glance, and it +remained stamped on her dead eyes. + +" 'I brought away the will, and when it was opened I found that Madame +de Merret had appointed me her executor. She left the whole of her +property to the hospital at Vendome excepting a few legacies. But +these were her instructions as relating to la Grande Breteche: She +ordered me to leave the place, for fifty years counting from the day +of her death, in the state in which it might be at the time of her +death, forbidding any one, whoever he might be, to enter the +apartments, prohibiting any repairs whatever, and even settling a +salary to pay watchmen if it were needful to secure the absolute +fulfilment of her intentions. At the expiration of that term, if the +will of the testatrix has been duly carried out, the house is to +become the property of my heirs, for, as you know, a notary cannot +take a bequest. Otherwise la Grande Breteche reverts to the heirs-at- +law, but on condition of fulfilling certain conditions set forth in a +codicil to the will, which is not to be opened till the expiration of +the said term of fifty years. The will has not been disputed, so----' +And without finishing his sentence, the lanky notary looked at me with +an air of triumph; I made him quite happy by offering him my +congratulations. + +" 'Monsieur,' I said in conclusion, 'you have so vividly impressed me +that I fancy I see the dying woman whiter than her sheets; her +glittering eyes frighten me; I shall dream of her to-night.--But you +must have formed some idea as to the instructions contained in that +extraordinary will.' + +" 'Monsieur,' said he, with comical reticence, 'I never allow myself +to criticise the conduct of a person who honors me with the gift of a +diamond.' + +"However, I soon loosened the tongue of the discreet notary of +Vendome, who communicated to me, not without long digressions, the +opinions of the deep politicians of both sexes whose judgments are law +in Vendome. But these opinions were so contradictory, so diffuse, that +I was near falling asleep in spite of the interest I felt in this +authentic history. The notary's ponderous voice and monotonous accent, +accustomed no doubt to listen to himself and to make himself listened +to by his clients or fellow-townsmen, were too much for my curiosity. +Happily, he soon went away. + +" 'Ah, ha, monsieur,' said he on the stairs, 'a good many persons +would be glad to live five-and-forty years longer; but--one moment!' +and he laid the first finger of his right hand to his nostril with a +cunning look, as much as to say, 'Mark my words!--To last as long as +that--as long as that,' said he, 'you must not be past sixty now.' + +"I closed my door, having been roused from my apathy by this last +speech, which the notary thought very funny; then I sat down in my +armchair, with my feet on the fire-dogs. I had lost myself in a +romance /a la/ Radcliffe, constructed on the juridical base given me +by Monsieur Regnault, when the door, opened by a woman's cautious +hand, turned on the hinges. I saw my landlady come in, a buxom, florid +dame, always good-humored, who had missed her calling in life. She was +a Fleming, who ought to have seen the light in a picture by Teniers. + +" 'Well, monsieur,' said she, 'Monsieur Regnault has no doubt been +giving you his history of la Grande Breteche?' + +" 'Yes, Madame Lepas.' + +" 'And what did he tell you?' + +"I repeated in a few words the creepy and sinister story of Madame de +Merret. At each sentence my hostess put her head forward, looking at +me with an innkeeper's keen scrutiny, a happy compromise between the +instinct of a police constable, the astuteness of a spy, and the +cunning of a dealer. + +" 'My good Madame Lepas,' said I as I ended, 'you seem to know more +about it. Heh? If not, why have you come up to me?' + +" 'On my word, as an honest woman----' + +" 'Do not swear; your eyes are big with a secret. You knew Monsieur de +Merret; what sort of man was he?' + +" 'Monsieur de Merret--well, you see he was a man you never could see +the top of, he was so tall! A very good gentleman, from Picardy, and +who had, as we say, his head close to his cap. He paid for everything +down, so as never to have difficulties with any one. He was hot- +tempered, you see! All our ladies liked him very much.' + +" 'Because he was hot-tempered?' I asked her. + +" 'Well, may be,' said she; 'and you may suppose, sir, that a man had +to have something to show for a figurehead before he could marry +Madame de Merret, who, without any reflection on others, was the +handsomest and richest heiress in our parts. She had about twenty +thousand francs a year. All the town was at the wedding; the bride was +pretty and sweet-looking, quite a gem of a woman. Oh, they were a +handsome couple in their day!' + +" 'And were they happy together?' + +" 'Hm, hm! so-so--so far as can be guessed, for, as you may suppose, +we of the common sort were not hail-fellow-well-met with them.--Madame +de Merret was a kind woman and very pleasant, who had no doubt +sometimes to put up with her husband's tantrums. But though he was +rather haughty, we were fond of him. After all, it was his place to +behave so. When a man is a born nobleman, you see----' + +" 'Still, there must have been some catastrophe for Monsieur and +Madame de Merret to part so violently?' + +" 'I did not say there was any catastrophe, sir. I know nothing about +it.' + +" 'Indeed. Well, now, I am sure you know everything.' + +" 'Well, sir, I will tell you the whole story.--When I saw Monsieur +Regnault go up to see you, it struck me that he would speak to you +about Madame de Merret as having to do with la Grande Breteche. That +put it into my head to ask your advice, sir, seeming to me that you +are a man of good judgment and incapable of playing a poor woman like +me false--for I never did any one a wrong, and yet I am tormented by +my conscience. Up to now I have never dared to say a word to the +people of these parts; they are all chatter-mags, with tongues like +knives. And never till now, sir, have I had any traveler here who +stayed so long in the inn as you have, and to whom I could tell the +history of the fifteen thousand francs----' + +" 'My dear Madame Lepas, if there is anything in your story of a +nature to compromise me,' I said, interrupting the flow of her words, +'I would not hear it for all the world.' + +" 'You need have no fears,' said she; 'you will see.' + +"Her eagerness made me suspect that I was not the only person to whom +my worthy landlady had communicated the secret of which I was to be +the sole possessor, but I listened. + +" 'Monsieur,' said she, 'when the Emperor sent the Spaniards here, +prisoners of war and others, I was required to lodge at the charge of +the Government a young Spaniard sent to Vendome on parole. +Notwithstanding his parole, he had to show himself every day to the +sub-prefect. He was a Spanish grandee--neither more nor less. He had a +name in /os/ and /dia/, something like Bagos de Feredia. I wrote his +name down in my books, and you may see it if you like. Ah! he was a +handsome young fellow for a Spaniard, who are all ugly they say. He +was not more than five feet two or three in height, but so well made; +and he had little hands that he kept so beautifully! Ah! you should +have seen them. He had as many brushes for his hands as a woman has +for her toilet. He had thick, black hair, a flame in his eye, a +somewhat coppery complexion, but which I admired all the same. He wore +the finest linen I have ever seen, though I have had princesses to +lodge here, and, among others, General Bertrand, the Duc and Duchesse +d'Abrantes, Monsieur Descazes, and the King of Spain. He did not eat +much, but he had such polite and amiable ways that it was impossible +to owe him a grudge for that. Oh! I was very fond of him, though he +did not say four words to me in a day, and it was impossible to have +the least bit of talk with him; if he was spoken to, he did not +answer; it is a way, a mania they all have, it would seem. + +" 'He read his breviary like a priest, and went to mass and all the +services quite regularly. And where did he post himself?--we found +this out later.--Within two yards of Madame de Merret's chapel. As he +took that place the very first time he entered the church, no one +imagined that there was any purpose in it. Besides, he never raised +his nose above his book, poor young man! And then, monsieur, of an +evening he went for a walk on the hill among the ruins of the old +castle. It was his only amusement, poor man; it reminded him of his +native land. They say that Spain is all hills! + +" 'One evening, a few days after he was sent here, he was out very +late. I was rather uneasy when he did not come in till just on the +stroke of midnight; but we all got used to his whims; he took the key +of the door, and we never sat up for him. He lived in a house +belonging to us in the Rue des Casernes. Well, then, one of our +stable-boys told us one evening that, going down to wash the horses in +the river, he fancied he had seen the Spanish Grandee swimming some +little way off, just like a fish. When he came in, I told him to be +careful of the weeds, and he seemed put out at having been seen in the +water. + +" 'At last, monsieur, one day, or rather one morning, we did not find +him in his room; he had not come back. By hunting through his things, +I found a written paper in the drawer of his table, with fifty pieces +of Spanish gold of the kind they call doubloons, worth about five +thousand francs; and in a little sealed box ten thousand francs worth +of diamonds. The paper said that in case he should not return, he left +us this money and these diamonds in trust to found masses to thank God +for his escape and for his salvation. + +" 'At that time I still had my husband, who ran off in search of him. +And this is the queer part of the story: he brought back the +Spaniard's clothes, which he had found under a big stone on a sort of +breakwater along the river bank, nearly opposite la Grande Breteche. +My husband went so early that no one saw him. After reading the +letter, he burnt the clothes, and, in obedience to Count Feredia's +wish, we announced that he had escaped. + +" 'The sub-prefect set all the constabulary at his heels; but, pshaw! +he was never caught. Lepas believed that the Spaniard had drowned +himself. I, sir, have never thought so; I believe, on the contrary, +that he had something to do with the business about Madame de Merret, +seeing that Rosalie told me that the crucifix her mistress was so fond +of that she had it buried with her, was made of ebony and silver; now +in the early days of his stay here, Monsieur Feredia had one of ebony +and silver which I never saw later.--And now, monsieur, do not you say +that I need have no remorse about the Spaniard's fifteen thousand +francs? Are they not really and truly mine?' + +" 'Certainly.--But have you never tried to question Rosalie?' said I. + +" 'Oh, to be sure I have, sir. But what is to be done? That girl is +like a wall. She knows something, but it is impossible to make her +talk.' + +"After chatting with me for a few minutes, my hostess left me a prey +to vague and sinister thoughts, to romantic curiosity, and a religious +dread, not unlike the deep emotion which comes upon us when we go into +a dark church at night and discern a feeble light glimmering under a +lofty vault--a dim figure glides across--the sweep of a gown or of a +priest's cassock is audible--and we shiver! La Grande Breteche, with +its rank grasses, its shuttered windows, its rusty iron-work, its +locked doors, its deserted rooms, suddenly rose before me in fantastic +vividness. I tried to get into the mysterious dwelling to search out +the heart of this solemn story, this drama which had killed three +persons. + +"Rosalie became in my eyes the most interesting being in Vendome. As I +studied her, I detected signs of an inmost thought, in spite of the +blooming health that glowed in her dimpled face. There was in her soul +some element of ruth or of hope; her manner suggested a secret, like +the expression of devout souls who pray in excess, or of a girl who +has killed her child and for ever hears its last cry. Nevertheless, +she was simple and clumsy in her ways; her vacant smile had nothing +criminal in it, and you would have pronounced her innocent only from +seeing the large red and blue checked kerchief that covered her +stalwart bust, tucked into the tight-laced bodice of a lilac- and +white-striped gown. 'No,' said I to myself, 'I will not quit Vendome +without knowing the whole history of la Grande Breteche. To achieve +this end, I will make love to Rosalie if it proves necessary.' + +" 'Rosalie!' said I one evening. + +" 'Your servant, sir?' + +" 'You are not married?' She started a little. + +" 'Oh! there is no lack of men if ever I take a fancy to be +miserable!' she replied, laughing. She got over her agitation at once; +for every woman, from the highest lady to the inn-servant inclusive, +has a native presence of mind. + +" 'Yes; you are fresh and good-looking enough never to lack lovers! +But tell me, Rosalie, why did you become an inn-servant on leaving +Madame de Merret? Did she not leave you some little annuity?' + +" 'Oh yes, sir. But my place here is the best in all the town of +Vendome.' + +"This reply was such an one as judges and attorneys call evasive. +Rosalie, as it seemed to me, held in this romantic affair the place of +the middle square of the chess-board: she was at the very centre of +the interest and of the truth; she appeared to me to be tied into the +knot of it. It was not a case for ordinary love-making; this girl +contained the last chapter of a romance, and from that moment all my +attentions were devoted to Rosalie. By dint of studying the girl, I +observed in her, as in every woman whom we make our ruling thought, a +variety of good qualities; she was clean and neat; she was handsome, I +need not say; she soon was possessed of every charm that desire can +lend to a woman in whatever rank of life. A fortnight after the +notary's visit, one evening, or rather one morning, in the small +hours, I said to Rosalie: + +" 'Come, tell me all you know about Madame de Merret.' + +" 'Oh!' she said, 'I will tell you; but keep the secret carefully.' + +" 'All right, my child; I will keep all your secrets with a thief's +honor, which is the most loyal known.' + +" 'If it is all the same to you,' said she, 'I would rather it should +be with your own.' + +"Thereupon she set her head-kerchief straight, and settled herself to +tell the tale; for there is no doubt a particular attitude of +confidence and security is necessary to the telling of a narrative. +The best tales are told at a certain hour--just as we are all here at +table. No one ever told a story well standing up, or fasting. + +"If I were to reproduce exactly Rosalie's diffuse eloquence, a whole +volume would scarcely contain it. Now, as the event of which she gave +me a confused account stands exactly midway between the notary's +gossip and that of Madame Lepas, as precisely as the middle term of a +rule-of-three sum stands between the first and third, I have only to +relate it in as few words as may be. I shall therefore be brief. + +"The room at la Grande Breteche in which Madame de Merret slept was on +the ground floor; a little cupboard in the wall, about four feet deep, +served her to hang her dresses in. Three months before the evening of +which I have to relate the events, Madame de Merret had been seriously +ailing, so much so that her husband had left her to herself, and had +his own bedroom on the first floor. By one of those accidents which it +is impossible to foresee, he came in that evening two hours later than +usual from the club, where he went to read the papers and talk +politics with the residents in the neighborhood. His wife supposed him +to have come in, to be in bed and asleep. But the invasion of France +had been the subject of a very animated discussion; the game of +billiards had waxed vehement; he had lost forty francs, an enormous +sum at Vendome, where everybody is thrifty, and where social habits +are restrained within the bounds of a simplicity worthy of all praise, +and the foundation perhaps of a form of true happiness which no +Parisian would care for. + +"For some time past Monsieur de Merret had been satisfied to ask +Rosalie whether his wife was in bed; on the girl's replying always in +the affirmative, he at once went to his own room, with the good faith +that comes of habit and confidence. But this evening, on coming in, he +took it into his head to go to see Madame de Merret, to tell her of +his ill-luck, and perhaps to find consolation. During dinner he had +observed that his wife was very becomingly dressed; he reflected as he +came home from the club that his wife was certainly much better, that +convalescence had improved her beauty, discovering it, as husbands +discover everything, a little too late. Instead of calling Rosalie, +who was in the kitchen at the moment watching the cook and the +coachman playing a puzzling hand at cards, Monsieur de Merret made his +way to his wife's room by the light of his lantern, which he set down +at the lowest step of the stairs. His step, easy to recognize, rang +under the vaulted passage. + +"At the instant when the gentleman turned the key to enter his wife's +room, he fancied he heard the door shut of the closet of which I have +spoken; but when he went in, Madame de Merret was alone, standing in +front of the fireplace. The unsuspecting husband fancied that Rosalie +was in the cupboard; nevertheless, a doubt, ringing in his ears like a +peal of bells, put him on his guard; he looked at his wife, and read +in her eyes an indescribably anxious and haunted expression. + +" 'You are very late,' said she.--Her voice, usually so clear and +sweet, struck him as being slightly husky. + +"Monsieur de Merret made no reply, for at this moment Rosalie came in. +This was like a thunder-clap. He walked up and down the room, going +from one window to another at a regular pace, his arms folded. + +" 'Have you had bad news, or are you ill?' his wife asked him timidly, +while Rosalie helped her to undress. He made no reply. + +" 'You can go, Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret to her maid; 'I can put +in my curl-papers myself.'--She scented disaster at the mere aspect of +her husband's face, and wished to be alone with him. As soon as +Rosalie was gone, or supposed to be gone, for she lingered a few +minutes in the passage, Monsieur de Merret came and stood facing his +wife, and said coldly, 'Madame, there is some one in your cupboard!' +She looked at her husband calmly, and replied quite simply, 'No, +monsieur.' + +"This 'No' wrung Monsieur de Merret's heart; he did not believe it; +and yet his wife had never appeared purer or more saintly than she +seemed to be at this moment. He rose to go and open the closet door. +Madame de Merret took his hand, stopped him, looked at him sadly, and +said in a voice of strange emotion, 'Remember, if you should find no +one there, everything must be at an end between you and me.' + +"The extraordinary dignity of his wife's attitude filled him with deep +esteem for her, and inspired him with one of those resolves which need +only a grander stage to become immortal. + +" 'No, Josephine,' he said, 'I will not open it. In either event we +should be parted for ever. Listen; I know all the purity of your soul, +I know you lead a saintly life, and would not commit a deadly sin to +save your life.'--At these words Madame de Merret looked at her +husband with a haggard stare.--'See, here is your crucifix,' he went +on. 'Swear to me before God that there is no one in there; I will +believe you--I will never open that door.' + +"Madame de Merret took up the crucifix and said, 'I swear it.' + +" 'Louder,' said her husband; 'and repeat: "I swear before God that +there is nobody in that closet." ' She repeated the words without +flinching. + +" 'That will do,' said Monsieur de Merret coldly. After a moment's +silence: 'You have there a fine piece of work which I never saw +before,' said he, examining the crucifix of ebony and silver, very +artistically wrought. + +" 'I found it at Duvivier's; last year when that troop of Spanish +prisoners came through Vendome, he bought it of a Spanish monk.' + +" 'Indeed,' said Monsieur de Merret, hanging the crucifix on its nail; +and he rang the bell. + +"He had to wait for Rosalie. Monsieur de Merret went forward quickly +to meet her, led her into the bay of the window that looked on to the +garden, and said to her in an undertone: + +" 'I know that Gorenflot wants to marry you, that poverty alone +prevents your setting up house, and that you told him you would not be +his wife till he found means to become a master mason.--Well, go and +fetch him; tell him to come here with his trowel and tools. Contrive +to wake no one in his house but himself. His reward will be beyond +your wishes. Above all, go out without saying a word--or else!' and he +frowned. + +"Rosalie was going, and he called her back. 'Here, take my latch-key,' +said he. + +" 'Jean!' Monsieur de Merret called in a voice of thunder down the +passage. Jean, who was both coachman and confidential servant, left +his cards and came. + +" 'Go to bed, all of you,' said his master, beckoning him to come +close; and the gentleman added in a whisper, 'When they are all asleep +--mind, /asleep/--you understand?--come down and tell me.' + +"Monsieur de Merret, who had never lost sight of his wife while giving +his orders, quietly came back to her at the fireside, and began to +tell her the details of the game of billiards and the discussion at +the club. When Rosalie returned she found Monsieur and Madame de +Merret conversing amiably. + +"Not long before this Monsieur de Merret had had new ceilings made to +all the reception-rooms on the ground floor. Plaster is very scarce at +Vendome; the price is enhanced by the cost of carriage; the gentleman +had therefore had a considerable quantity delivered to him, knowing +that he could always find purchasers for what might be left. It was +this circumstance which suggested the plan he carried out. + +" 'Gorenflot is here, sir,' said Rosalie in a whisper. + +" 'Tell him to come in,' said her master aloud. + +"Madame de Merret turned paler when she saw the mason. + +" 'Gorenflot,' said her husband, 'go and fetch some bricks from the +coach-house; bring enough to wall up the door of this cupboard; you +can use the plaster that is left for cement.' Then, dragging Rosalie +and the workman close to him--'Listen, Gorenflot,' said he, in a low +voice, 'you are to sleep here to-night; but to-morrow morning you +shall have a passport to take you abroad to a place I will tell you +of. I will give you six thousand francs for your journey. You must +live in that town for ten years; if you find you do not like it, you +may settle in another, but it must be in the same country. Go through +Paris and wait there till I join you. I will there give you an +agreement for six thousand francs more, to be paid to you on your +return, provided you have carried out the conditions of the bargain. +For that price you are to keep perfect silence as to what you have to +do this night. To you, Rosalie, I will secure ten thousand francs, +which will not be paid to you till your wedding day, and on condition +of your marrying Gorenflot; but, to get married, you must hold your +tongue. If not, no wedding gift!' + +" 'Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret, 'come and brush my hair.' + +"Her husband quietly walked up and down the room, keeping an eye on +the door, on the mason, and on his wife, but without any insulting +display of suspicion. Gorenflot could not help making some noise. +Madame de Merret seized a moment when he was unloading some bricks, +and when her husband was at the other end of the room to say to +Rosalie: 'My dear child, I will give you a thousand francs a year if +only you will tell Gorenflot to leave a crack at the bottom.' Then she +added aloud quite coolly: 'You had better help him.' + +"Monsieur and Madame de Merret were silent all the time while +Gorenflot was walling up the door. This silence was intentional on the +husband's part; he did not wish to give his wife the opportunity of +saying anything with a double meaning. On Madame de Merret's side it +was pride or prudence. When the wall was half built up the cunning +mason took advantage of his master's back being turned to break one of +the two panes in the top of the door with a blow of his pick. By this +Madame de Merret understood that Rosalie had spoken to Gorenflot. They +all three then saw the face of a dark, gloomy-looking man, with black +hair and flaming eyes. + +"Before her husband turned round again the poor woman had nodded to +the stranger, to whom the signal was meant to convey, 'Hope.' + +"At four o'clock, as the day was dawning, for it was the month of +September, the work was done. The mason was placed in charge of Jean, +and Monsieur de Merret slept in his wife's room. + +"Next morning when he got up he said with apparent carelessness, 'Oh, +by the way, I must go to the Maire for the passport.' He put on his +hat, took two or three steps towards the door, paused, and took the +crucifix. His wife was trembling with joy. + +" 'He will go to Duvivier's,' thought she. + +"As soon as he had left, Madame de Merret rang for Rosalie, and then +in a terrible voice she cried: 'The pick! Bring the pick! and set to +work. I saw how Gorenflot did it yesterday; we shall have time to make +a gap and build it up again.' + +"In an instant Rosalie had brought her mistress a sort of cleaver; +she, with a vehemence of which no words can give an idea, set to work +to demolish the wall. She had already got out a few bricks, when, +turning to deal a stronger blow than before, she saw behind her +Monsieur de Merret. She fainted away. + +" 'Lay madame on her bed,' said he coldly. + +"Foreseeing what would certainly happen in his absence, he had laid +this trap for his wife; he had merely written to the Maire and sent +for Duvivier. The jeweler arrived just as the disorder in the room had +been repaired. + +" 'Duvivier,' asked Monsieur de Merret, 'did not you buy some +crucifixes of the Spaniards who passed through the town?' + +" 'No, monsieur.' + +" 'Very good; thank you,' said he, flashing a tiger's glare at his +wife. 'Jean,' he added, turning to his confidential valet, 'you can +serve my meals here in Madame de Merret's room. She is ill, and I +shall not leave her till she recovers.' + +"The cruel man remained in his wife's room for twenty days. During the +earlier time, when there was some little noise in the closet, and +Josephine wanted to intercede for the dying man, he said, without +allowing her to utter a word, 'You swore on the Cross that there was +no one there.' " + + + +After this story all the ladies rose from table, and thus the spell +under which Bianchon had held them was broken. But there were some +among them who had almost shivered at the last words. + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personage appears in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +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 + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac + diff --git a/old/brtch10.zip b/old/brtch10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0943aa3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/brtch10.zip |