diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/1714-h.htm.2021-01-27')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1714-h.htm.2021-01-27 | 2264 |
1 files changed, 2264 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/1714-h.htm.2021-01-27 b/old/1714-h.htm.2021-01-27 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..99edd0a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1714-h.htm.2021-01-27 @@ -0,0 +1,2264 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title>Another Study of Woman, By Balzac</title> + <meta content="pg2html (binary v0.17)" /> + + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic;} + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + .xx-small {font-size: 60%;} + .x-small {font-size: 75%;} + .small {font-size: 85%;} + .large {font-size: 115%;} + .x-large {font-size: 130%;} + .indent5 { margin-left: 5%;} + .indent10 { margin-left: 10%;} + .indent15 { margin-left: 15%;} + .indent20 { margin-left: 20%;} + .indent30 { margin-left: 30%;} + .indent40 { margin-left: 40%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 1%; font-size: 0.6em; + font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; + text-align: right; background-color: #FFFACD; + border: 1px solid; padding: 0.3em;text-indent: 0em;} + .side { float: left; font-size: 75%; width: 15%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + .head { float: left; font-size: 90%; width: 98%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + p.pfirst, p.noindent {text-indent: 0} + span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 0.8 } + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + +<pre> + + + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Another Study of Woman, 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: Another Study of Woman + +Author: Honoré de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + +Release Date: March 1, 2010 [EBook #1714] +Last Updated: October 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANOTHER STUDY OF WOMAN *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, Dagny, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + ANOTHER STUDY OF WOMAN + </h1> + <h2> + By Honoré De Balzac + </h2> + <h3> + Translated by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + DEDICATION + </h3> + <h4> + To Leon Gozlan as a Token of Literary Good-fellowship. + </h4> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> ANOTHER STUDY OF WOMAN </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> + ANOTHER STUDY OF WOMAN + </h2> + <p> + At Paris there are almost always two separate parties going on at every + ball and rout. First, an official party, composed of the persons invited, + a fashionable and much-bored circle. Each one grimaces for his neighbor’s + eye; most of the younger women are there for one person only; when each + woman has assured herself that for that one she is the handsomest woman in + the room, and that the opinion is perhaps shared by a few others, a few + insignificant phrases are exchanged, as: “Do you think of going away soon + to La Crampade?” “How well Madame de Portenduère sang!” “Who is that + little woman with such a load of diamonds?” Or, after firing off some + smart epigrams, which give transient pleasure, and leave wounds that + rankle long, the groups thin out, the mere lookers on go away, and the + waxlights burn down to the sconces. + </p> + <p> + The mistress of the house then waylays a few artists, amusing people or + intimate friends, saying, “Do not go yet; we will have a snug little + supper.” These collect in some small room. The second, the real party, now + begins; a party where, as of old, every one can hear what is said, + conversation is general, each one is bound to be witty and to contribute + to the amusement of all. Everything is made to tell, honest laughter takes + the place of the gloom which in company saddens the prettiest faces. In + short, where the rout ends pleasure begins. + </p> + <p> + The Rout, a cold display of luxury, a review of self-conceits in full + dress, is one of those English inventions which tend to mechanize other + nations. England seems bent on seeing the whole world as dull as itself, + and dull in the same way. So this second party is, in some French houses, + a happy protest on the part of the old spirit of our light-hearted people. + Only, unfortunately, so few houses protest; and the reason is a simple + one. If we no longer have many suppers nowadays, it is because never, + under any rule, have there been fewer men placed, established, and + successful than under the reign of Louis Philippe, when the Revolution + began again, lawfully. Everybody is on the march some whither, or trotting + at the heels of Fortune. Time has become the costliest commodity, so no + one can afford the lavish extravagance of going home to-morrow morning and + getting up late. Hence, there is no second soiree now but at the houses of + women rich enough to entertain, and since July 1830 such women may be + counted in Paris. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the covert opposition of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, two or + three women, among them Madame d’Espard and Mademoiselle des Touches, have + not chosen to give up the share of influence they exercised in Paris, and + have not closed their houses. + </p> + <p> + The salon of Mademoiselle des Touches is noted in Paris as being the last + refuge where the old French wit has found a home, with its reserved + depths, its myriad subtle byways, and its exquisite politeness. You will + there still find grace of manner notwithstanding the conventionalities of + courtesy, perfect freedom of talk notwithstanding the reserve which is + natural to persons of breeding, and, above all, a liberal flow of ideas. + No one there thinks of keeping his thought for a play; and no one regards + a story as material for a book. In short, the hideous skeleton of + literature at bay never stalks there, on the prowl for a clever sally or + an interesting subject. + </p> + <p> + The memory of one of these evenings especially dwells with me, less by + reason of a confidence in which the illustrious de Marsay opened up one of + the deepest recesses of woman’s heart, than on account of the reflections + to which his narrative gave rise, as to the changes that have taken place + in the French woman since the fateful revolution of July. + </p> + <p> + On that evening chance had brought together several persons, whose + indisputable merits have won them European reputations. This is not a + piece of flattery addressed to France, for there were a good many + foreigners present. And, indeed, the men who most shone were not the most + famous. Ingenious repartee, acute remarks, admirable banter, pictures + sketched with brilliant precision, all sparkled and flowed without + elaboration, were poured out without disdain, but without effort, and were + exquisitely expressed and delicately appreciated. The men of the world + especially were conspicuous for their really artistic grace and spirit. + </p> + <p> + Elsewhere in Europe you will find elegant manners, cordiality, genial + fellowship, and knowledge; but only in Paris, in this drawing-room, and + those to which I have alluded, does the particular wit abound which gives + an agreeable and changeful unity to all these social qualities, an + indescribable river-like flow which makes this profusion of ideas, of + definitions, of anecdotes, of historical incidents, meander with ease. + Paris, the capital of taste, alone possesses the science which makes + conversation a tourney in which each type of wit is condensed into a + shaft, each speaker utters his phrase and casts his experience in a word, + in which every one finds amusement, relaxation, and exercise. Here, then, + alone, will you exchange ideas; here you need not, like the dolphin in the + fable, carry a monkey on your shoulders; here you will be understood, and + will not risk staking your gold pieces against base metal. + </p> + <p> + Here, again, secrets neatly betrayed, and talk, light or deep, play and + eddy, changing their aspect and hue at every phrase. Eager criticism and + crisp anecdotes lead on from one to the next. All eyes are listening, a + gesture asks a question, and an expressive look gives the answer. In + short, and in a word, everything is wit and mind. + </p> + <p> + The phenomenon of speech, which, when duly studied and well handled, is + the power of the actor and the story-teller, had never so completely + bewitched me. Nor was I alone under the influence of its spell; we all + spent a delightful evening. The conversation had drifted into anecdote, + and brought out in its rushing course some curious confessions, several + portraits, and a thousand follies, which make this enchanting + improvisation impossible to record; still, by setting these things down in + all their natural freshness and abruptness, their elusive divarications, + you may perhaps feel the charm of a real French evening, taken at the + moment when the most engaging familiarity makes each one forget his own + interests, his personal conceit, or, if you like, his pretensions. + </p> + <p> + At about two in the morning, as supper ended, no one was left sitting + round the table but intimate friends, proved by intercourse of fifteen + years, and some persons of great taste and good breeding, who knew the + world. By tacit agreement, perfectly carried out, at supper every one + renounced his pretensions to importance. Perfect equality set the tone. + But indeed there was no one present who was not very proud of being + himself. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle des Touches always insists on her guests remaining at table + till they leave, having frequently remarked the change which a move + produces in the spirit of a party. Between the dining-room and the + drawing-room the charm is destroyed. According to Sterne, the ideas of an + author after shaving are different from those he had before. If Sterne is + right, may it not be boldly asserted that the frame of mind of a party at + table is not the same as that of the same persons returned to the + drawing-room? The atmosphere is not heady, the eye no longer contemplates + the brilliant disorder of the dessert, lost are the happy effects of that + laxness of mood, that benevolence which comes over us while we remain in + the humor peculiar to the well-filled man, settled comfortably on one of + the springy chairs which are made in these days. Perhaps we are not more + ready to talk face to face with the dessert and in the society of good + wine, during the delightful interval when every one may sit with an elbow + on the table and his head resting on his hand. Not only does every one + like to talk then, but also to listen. Digestion, which is almost always + attent, is loquacious or silent, as characters differ. Then every one + finds his opportunity. + </p> + <p> + Was not this preamble necessary to make you know the charm of the + narrative, by which a celebrated man, now dead, depicted the innocent + jesuistry of women, painting it with the subtlety peculiar to persons who + have seen much of the world, and which makes statesmen such delightful + storytellers when, like Prince Talleyrand and Prince Metternich, they + vouchsafe to tell a story? + </p> + <p> + De Marsay, prime minister for some six months, had already given proofs of + superior capabilities. Those who had known him long were not indeed + surprised to see him display all the talents and various aptitudes of a + statesman; still it might yet be a question whether he would prove to be a + solid politician, or had merely been moulded in the fire of circumstance. + This question had just been asked by a man whom he had made a préfet, a + man of wit and observation, who had for a long time been a journalist, and + who admired de Marsay without infusing into his admiration that dash of + acrid criticism by which, in Paris, one superior man excuses himself from + admiring another. + </p> + <p> + “Was there ever,” said he, “in your former life, any event, any thought or + wish which told you what your vocation was?” asked Émile Blondet; “for we + all, like Newton, have our apple, which falls and leads us to the spot + where our faculties develop——” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said de Marsay; “I will tell you about it.” + </p> + <p> + Pretty women, political dandies, artists, old men, de Marsay’s intimate + friends,—all settled themselves comfortably, each in his favorite + attitude, to look at the Minister. Need it be said that the servants had + left, that the doors were shut, and the curtains drawn over them? The + silence was so complete that the murmurs of the coachmen’s voices could be + heard from the courtyard, and the pawing and champing made by horses when + asking to be taken back to their stable. + </p> + <p> + “The statesman, my friends, exists by one single quality,” said the + Minister, playing with his gold and mother-of-pearl dessert knife. “To + wit: the power of always being master of himself; of profiting more or + less, under all circumstances, by every event, however fortuitous; in + short, of having within himself a cold and disinterested other self, who + looks on as a spectator at all the changes of life, noting our passions + and our sentiments, and whispering to us in every case the judgment of a + sort of moral ready-reckoner.” + </p> + <p> + “That explains why a statesman is so rare a thing in France,” said old + Lord Dudley. + </p> + <p> + “From a sentimental point of view, this is horrible,” the Minister went + on. “Hence, when such a phenomenon is seen in a young man—Richelieu, who, + when warned overnight by a letter of Concini’s peril, slept till midday, + when his benefactor was killed at ten o’clock—or say Pitt, or Napoleon, he + was a monster. I became such a monster at a very early age, thanks to a + woman.” + </p> + <p> + “I fancied,” said Madame de Montcornet with a smile, “that more + politicians were undone by us than we could make.” + </p> + <p> + “The monster of which I speak is a monster just because he withstands + you,” replied de Marsay, with a little ironical bow. + </p> + <p> + “If this is a love-story,” the Baronne de Nucingen interposed, “I request + that it may not be interrupted by any reflections.” + </p> + <p> + “Reflection is so antipathetic to it!” cried Joseph Bridau. + </p> + <p> + “I was seventeen,” de Marsay went on; “the Restoration was being + consolidated; my old friends know how impetuous and fervid I was then. I + was in love for the first time, and I was—I may say so now—one of the + handsomest young fellows in Paris. I had youth and good looks, two + advantages due to good fortune, but of which we are all as proud as of a + conquest. I must be silent as to the rest.—Like all youths, I was in love + with a woman six years older than myself. No one of you here,” said he, + looking carefully round the table, “can suspect her name or recognize her. + Ronquerolles alone, at the time, ever guessed my secret. He had kept it + well, but I should have feared his smile. However, he is gone,” said the + Minister, looking round. + </p> + <p> + “He would not stay to supper,” said Madame de Nucingen. + </p> + <p> + “For six months, possessed by my passion,” de Marsay went on, “but + incapable of suspecting that it had overmastered me, I had abandoned + myself to that rapturous idolatry which is at once the triumph and the + frail joy of the young. I treasured her old gloves; I drank an infusion of + the flowers she had worn; I got out of bed at night to go and gaze at her + window. All my blood rushed to my heart when I inhaled the perfume she + used. I was miles away from knowing that woman is a stove with a marble + casing.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! spare us your terrible verdicts,” cried Madame de Montcornet with a + smile. + </p> + <p> + “I believe I should have crushed with my scorn the philosopher who first + uttered this terrible but profoundly true thought,” said de Marsay. “You + are all far too keen-sighted for me to say any more on that point. These + few words will remind you of your own follies. + </p> + <p> + “A great lady if ever there was one, a widow without children—oh! all was + perfect—my idol would shut herself up to mark my linen with her hair; in + short, she responded to my madness by her own. And how can we fail to + believe in passion when it has the guarantee of madness? + </p> + <p> + “We each devoted all our minds to concealing a love so perfect and so + beautiful from the eyes of the world; and we succeeded. And what charm we + found in our escapades! Of her I will say nothing. She was perfection + then, and to this day is considered one of the most beautiful women in + Paris; but at that time a man would have endured death to win one of her + glances. She had been left with an amount of fortune sufficient for a + woman who had loved and was adored; but the Restoration, to which she owed + renewed lustre, made it seem inadequate in comparison with her name. In my + position I was so fatuous as never to dream of a suspicion. Though my + jealousy would have been of a hundred and twenty Othello-power, that + terrible passion slumbered in me as gold in the nugget. I would have + ordered my servant to thrash me if I had been so base as ever to doubt the + purity of that angel—so fragile and so strong, so fair, so artless, pure, + spotless, and whose blue eyes allowed my gaze to sound it to the very + depths of her heart with adorable submissiveness. Never was there the + slightest hesitancy in her attitude, her look, or word; always white and + fresh, and ready for the Beloved like the Oriental Lily of the ‘Song of + Songs!’ Ah! my friends!” sadly exclaimed the Minister, grown young again, + “a man must hit his head very hard on the marble to dispel that poem!” + </p> + <p> + This cry of nature, finding an echo in the listeners, spurred the + curiosity he had excited in them with so much skill. + </p> + <p> + “Every morning, riding Sultan—the fine horse you sent me from England,” de + Marsay went on, addressing Lord Dudley, “I rode past her open carriage, + the horses’ pace being intentionally reduced to a walk, and read the order + of the day signaled to me by the flowers of her bouquet in case we were + unable to exchange a few words. Though we saw each other almost every + evening in society, and she wrote to me every day, to deceive the curious + and mislead the observant we had adopted a scheme of conduct: never to + look at each other; to avoid meeting; to speak ill of each other. + Self-admiration, swagger, or playing the disdained swain,—all these old + manoeuvres are not to compare on either part with a false passion + professed for an indifferent person and an air of indifference towards the + true idol. If two lovers will only play that game, the world will always + be deceived; but then they must be very secure of each other. + </p> + <p> + “Her stalking-horse was a man in high favor, a courtier, cold and + sanctimonious, whom she never received at her own house. This little + comedy was performed for the benefit of simpletons and drawing-room + circles, who laughed at it. Marriage was never spoken of between us; six + years’ difference of age might give her pause; she knew nothing of my + fortune, of which, on principle, I have always kept the secret. I, on my + part, fascinated by her wit and manners, by the extent of her knowledge + and her experience of the world, would have married her without a thought. + At the same time, her reserve charmed me. If she had been the first to + speak of marriage in a certain tone, I might perhaps have noted it as + vulgar in that accomplished soul. + </p> + <p> + “Six months, full and perfect—a diamond of the purest water! That has been + my portion of love in this base world. + </p> + <p> + “One morning, attacked by the feverish stiffness which marks the beginning + of a cold, I wrote her a line to put off one of those secret festivals + which are buried under the roofs of Paris like pearls in the sea. No + sooner was the letter sent than remorse seized me: she will not believe + that I am ill! thought I. She was wont to affect jealousy and + suspiciousness.—When jealousy is genuine,” said de Marsay, interrupting + himself, “it is the visible sign of an unique passion.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” asked the Princesse de Cadignan eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Unique and true love,” said de Marsay, “produces a sort of corporeal + apathy attuned to the contemplation into which one falls. Then the mind + complicates everything; it works on itself, pictures its fancies, turns + them into reality and torment; and such jealousy is as delightful as it is + distressing.” + </p> + <p> + A foreign minister smiled as, by the light of memory, he felt the truth of + this remark. + </p> + <p> + “Besides,” de Marsay went on, “I said to myself, why miss a happy hour? + Was it not better to go, even though feverish? And, then, if she learns + that I am ill, I believe her capable of hurrying here and compromising + herself. I made an effort; I wrote a second letter, and carried it myself, + for my confidential servant was now gone. The river lay between us. I had + to cross Paris; but at last, within a suitable distance of her house, I + caught sight of a messenger; I charged him to have the note sent up to her + at once, and I had the happy idea of driving past her door in a hackney + cab to see whether she might not by chance receive the two letters + together. At the moment when I arrived it was two o’clock; the great gate + opened to admit a carriage. Whose?—That of the stalking-horse! + </p> + <p> + “It is fifteen years since—well, even while I tell the tale, I, the + exhausted orator, the Minister dried up by the friction of public + business, I still feel a surging in my heart and the hot blood about my + diaphragm. At the end of an hour I passed once more; the carriage was + still in the courtyard! My note no doubt was in the porter’s hands. At + last, at half-past three, the carriage drove out. I could observe my + rival’s expression; he was grave, and did not smile; but he was in love, + and no doubt there was business in hand. + </p> + <p> + “I went to keep my appointment; the queen of my heart met me; I saw her + calm, pure, serene. And here I must confess that I have always thought + that Othello was not only stupid, but showed very bad taste. Only a man + who is half a Negro could behave so: indeed Shakespeare felt this when he + called his play ‘The Moor of Venice.’ The sight of the woman we love is + such a balm to the heart that it must dispel anguish, doubt, and sorrow. + All my rage vanished. I could smile again. Hence this cheerfulness, which + at my age now would be the most atrocious dissimulation, was the result of + my youth and my love. My jealousy once buried, I had the power of + observation. My ailing condition was evident; the horrible doubts that had + fermented in me increased it. At last I found an opening for putting in + these words: ‘You have had no one with you this morning?’ making a pretext + of the uneasiness I had felt in the fear lest she should have disposed of + her time after receiving my first note.—‘Ah!’ she exclaimed, ‘only a man + could have such ideas! As if I could think of anything but your suffering. + Till the moment when I received your second note I could think only of how + I could contrive to see you.’—‘And you were alone?’—‘Alone,’ said she, + looking at me with a face of innocence so perfect that it must have been + his distrust of such a look as that which made the Moor kill Desdemona. As + she lived alone in the house, the word was a fearful lie. One single lie + destroys the absolute confidence which to some souls is the very + foundation of happiness. + </p> + <p> + “To explain to you what passed in me at that moment it must be assumed + that we have an internal self of which the exterior I is but the husk; + that this self, as brilliant as light, is as fragile as a shade—well, that + beautiful self was in me thenceforth for ever shrouded in crape. Yes; I + felt a cold and fleshless hand cast over me the winding-sheet of + experience, dooming me to the eternal mourning into which the first + betrayal plunges the soul. As I cast my eyes down that she might not + observe my dizziness, this proud thought somewhat restored my strength: + ‘If she is deceiving you, she is unworthy of you!’ + </p> + <p> + “I ascribed my sudden reddening and the tears which started to my eyes to + an attack of pain, and the sweet creature insisted on driving me home with + the blinds of the cab drawn. On the way she was full of a solicitude and + tenderness that might have deceived the Moor of Venice whom I have taken + as a standard of comparison. Indeed, if that great child were to hesitate + two seconds longer, every intelligent spectator feels that he would ask + Desdemona’s forgiveness. Thus, killing the woman is the act of a boy.—She + wept as we parted, so much was she distressed at being unable to nurse me + herself. She wished she were my valet, in whose happiness she found a + cause of envy, and all this was as elegantly expressed, oh! as Clarissa + might have written in her happiness. There is always a precious ape in the + prettiest and most angelic woman!” + </p> + <p> + At these words all the women looked down, as if hurt by this brutal truth + so brutally stated. + </p> + <p> + “I will say nothing of the night, nor of the week I spent,” de Marsay went + on. “I discovered that I was a statesman.” + </p> + <p> + It was so well said that we all uttered an admiring exclamation. + </p> + <p> + “As I thought over the really cruel vengeance to be taken on a woman,” + said de Marsay, continuing his story, “with infernal ingenuity—for, as we + had loved each other, some terrible and irreparable revenges were + possible—I despised myself, I felt how common I was, I insensibly + formulated a horrible code—that of Indulgence. In taking vengeance on a + woman, do we not in fact admit that there is but one for us, that we + cannot do without her? And, then, is revenge the way to win her back? If + she is not indispensable, if there are other women in the world, why not + grant her the right to change which we assume? + </p> + <p> + “This, of course, applies only to passion; in any other sense it would be + socially wrong. Nothing more clearly proves the necessity for indissoluble + marriage than the instability of passion. The two sexes must be chained + up, like wild beasts as they are, by inevitable law, deaf and mute. + Eliminate revenge, and infidelity in love is nothing. Those who believe + that for them there is but one woman in the world must be in favor of + vengeance, and then there is but one form of it—that of Othello. + </p> + <p> + “Mine was different.” + </p> + <p> + The words produced in each of us the imperceptible movement which + newspaper writers represent in Parliamentary reports by the words: great + sensation. + </p> + <p> + “Cured of my cold, and of my pure, absolute, divine love, I flung myself + into an adventure, of which the heroine was charming, and of a style of + beauty utterly opposed to that of my deceiving angel. I took care not to + quarrel with this clever woman, who was so good an actress, for I doubt + whether true love can give such gracious delights as those lavished by + such a dexterous fraud. Such refined hypocrisy is as good as virtue.—I am + not speaking to you Englishwomen, my lady,” said the Minister, suavely, + addressing Lady Barimore, Lord Dudley’s daughter. “I tried to be the same + lover. + </p> + <p> + “I wished to have some of my hair worked up for my new angel, and I went + to a skilled artist who at that time dwelt in the Rue Boucher. The man had + a monopoly of capillary keepsakes, and I mention his address for the + benefit of those who have not much hair; he has plenty of every kind and + every color. After I had explained my order, he showed me his work. I then + saw achievements of patience surpassing those which the story books + ascribe to fairies, or which are executed by prisoners. He brought me up + to date as to the caprices and fashions governing the use of hair. ‘For + the last year,’ said he, ‘there has been a rage for marking linen with + hair; happily I had a fine collection of hair and skilled needlewomen,’—on + hearing this a suspicion flashed upon me; I took out my handkerchief and + said, ‘So this was done in your shop, with false hair?’—He looked at the + handkerchief, and said, ‘Ay! that lady was very particular, she insisted + on verifying the tint of the hair. My wife herself marked those + handkerchiefs. You have there, sir, one of the finest pieces of work we + have ever executed.’ Before this last ray of light I might have believed + something—might have taken a woman’s word. I left the shop still having + faith in pleasure, but where love was concerned I was as atheistical as a + mathematician. + </p> + <p> + “Two months later I was sitting by the side of the ethereal being in her + boudoir, on her sofa; I was holding one of her hands—they were very + beautiful—and we scaled the Alps of sentiment, culling their sweetest + flowers, and pulling off the daisy-petals; there is always a moment when + one pulls daisies to pieces, even if it is in a drawing-room and there are + no daisies. At the intensest moment of tenderness, and when we are most in + love, love is so well aware of its own short duration that we are + irresistibly urged to ask, ‘Do you love me? Will you love me always?’ I + seized the elegiac moment, so warm, so flowery, so full-blown, to lead her + to tell her most delightful lies, in the enchanting language of love. + Charlotte displayed her choicest allurements: She could not live without + me; I was to her the only man in the world; she feared to weary me, + because my presence bereft her of all her wits; with me, all her faculties + were lost in love; she was indeed too tender to escape alarms; for the + last six months she had been seeking some way to bind me to her eternally, + and God alone knew that secret; in short, I was her god!” + </p> + <p> + The women who heard de Marsay seemed offended by seeing themselves so well + acted, for he seconded the words by airs, and sidelong attitudes, and + mincing grimaces which were quite illusory. + </p> + <p> + “At the very moment when I might have believed these adorable falsehoods, + as I still held her right hand in mine, I said to her, ‘When are you to + marry the Duke?’ + </p> + <p> + “The thrust was so direct, my gaze met hers so boldly, and her hand lay so + tightly in mine, that her start, slight as it was, could not be disguised; + her eyes fell before mine, and a faint blush colored her cheeks.—‘The + Duke! What do you mean?’ she said, affecting great astonishment.—‘I know + everything,’ replied I; ‘and in my opinion, you should delay no longer; he + is rich; he is a duke; but he is more than devout, he is religious! I am + sure, therefore, that you have been faithful to me, thanks to his + scruples. You cannot imagine how urgently necessary it is that you should + compromise him with himself and with God; short of that you will never + bring him to the point.’—‘Is this a dream?’ said she, pushing her hair + from her forehead, fifteen years before Malibran, with the gesture which + Malibran has made so famous.—‘Come, do not be childish, my angel,’ said I, + trying to take her hands; but she folded them before her with a little + prudish and indignant mein.—‘Marry him, you have my permission,’ said I, + replying to this gesture by using the formal vous instead of tu. ‘Nay, + better, I beg you to do so.’—‘But,’ cried she, falling at my knees, ‘there + is some horrible mistake; I love no one in the world but you; you may + demand any proofs you please.’—‘Rise, my dear,’ said I, ‘and do me the + honor of being truthful.’—‘As before God.’—‘Do you doubt my + love?’—‘No.’—‘Nor my fidelity?’—‘No.’—‘Well, I have committed the greatest + crime,’ I went on. ‘I have doubted your love and your fidelity. Between + two intoxications I looked calmly about me.’—‘Calmly!’ sighed she. ‘That + is enough, Henri; you no longer love me.’ + </p> + <p> + “She had at once found, you perceive, a loophole for escape. In scenes + like these an adverb is dangerous. But, happily, curiosity made her add: + ‘And what did you see? Have I ever spoken of the Duke excepting in public? + Have you detected in my eyes——?’—‘No,’ said I, ‘but in his. And you have + eight times made me go to Saint-Thomas d’Aquin to see you listening to the + same mass as he.’—‘Ah!’ she exclaimed, ‘then I have made you jealous!’—Oh! + I only wish I could be!’ said I, admiring the pliancy of her quick + intelligence, and these acrobatic feats which can only be successful in + the eyes of the blind. ‘But by dint of going to church I have become very + incredulous. On the day of my first cold, and your first treachery, when + you thought I was in bed, you received the Duke, and you told me you had + seen no one.’—‘Do you know that your conduct is infamous?’—‘In what + respect? I consider your marriage to the Duke an excellent arrangement; he + gives you a great name, the only rank that suits you, a brilliant and + distinguished position. You will be one of the queens of Paris. I should + be doing you a wrong if I placed any obstacle in the way of this prospect, + this distinguished life, this splendid alliance. Ah! Charlotte, some day + you will do me justice by discovering how unlike my character is to that + of other young men. You would have been compelled to deceive me; yes, you + would have found it very difficult to break with me, for he watches you. + It is time that we should part, for the Duke is rigidly virtuous. You must + turn prude; I advise you to do so. The Duke is vain; he will be proud of + his wife.’—‘Oh!’ cried she, bursting into tears, ‘Henri, if only you had + spoken! Yes, if you had chosen’—it was I who was to blame, you + understand—‘we would have gone to live all our days in a corner, married, + happy, and defied the world.’—‘Well, it is too late now,’ said I, kissing + her hands, and putting on a victimized air.—‘Good God! But I can undo it + all!’ said she.—‘No, you have gone too far with the Duke. I ought indeed + to go a journey to part us more effectually. We should both have reason to + fear our own affection——’—‘Henri, do you think the Duke has any + suspicions?’ I was still ‘Henri,’ but the tu was lost for ever.—‘I do not + think so,’ I replied, assuming the manner of a friend; ‘but be as devout + as possible, reconcile yourself to God, for the Duke waits for proofs; he + hesitates, you must bring him to the point.’ + </p> + <p> + “She rose, and walked twice round the boudoir in real or affected + agitation; then she no doubt found an attitude and a look beseeming the + new state of affairs, for she stopped in front of me, held out her hand, + and said in a voice broken by emotion, ‘Well, Henri, you are loyal, noble, + and a charming man; I shall never forget you.’ + </p> + <p> + “These were admirable tactics. She was bewitching in this transition of + feeling, indispensable to the situation in which she wished to place + herself in regard to me. I fell into the attitude, the manners, and the + look of a man so deeply distressed, that I saw her too newly assumed + dignity giving way; she looked at me, took my hand, drew me along almost, + threw me on the sofa, but quite gently, and said after a moment’s silence, + ‘I am dreadfully unhappy, my dear fellow. Do you love me?’—‘Oh! + yes.’—‘Well, then, what will become of you?’” + </p> + <p> + At this point the women all looked at each other. + </p> + <p> + “Though I can still suffer when I recall her perfidy, I still laugh at her + expression of entire conviction and sweet satisfaction that I must die, or + at any rate sink into perpetual melancholy,” de Marsay went on. “Oh! do + not laugh yet!” he said to his listeners; “there is better to come. I + looked at her very tenderly after a pause, and said to her, ‘Yes, that is + what I have been wondering.’—‘Well, what will you do?’—‘I asked myself + that the day after my cold.’—‘And——?’ she asked with eager anxiety.—‘And I + have made advances to the little lady to whom I was supposed to be + attached.’ + </p> + <p> + “Charlotte started up from the sofa like a frightened doe, trembling like + a leaf, gave me one of those looks in which women forgo all their dignity, + all their modesty, their refinement, and even their grace, the sparkling + glitter of a hunted viper’s eye when driven into a corner, and said, ‘And + I have loved this man! I have struggled! I have——’ On this last thought, + which I leave you to guess, she made the most impressive pause I ever + heard.—‘Good God!’ she cried, ‘how unhappy are we women! we never can be + loved. To you there is nothing serious in the purest feelings. But never + mind; when you cheat us you still are our dupes!’—‘I see that plainly,’ + said I, with a stricken air; ‘you have far too much wit in your anger for + your heart to suffer from it.‘—This modest epigram increased her rage; she + found some tears of vexation. ‘You disgust me with the world and with + life.’ she said; ‘you snatch away all my illusions; you deprave my heart.’ + </p> + <p> + “She said to me all that I had a right to say to her, and with a simple + effrontery, an artless audacity, which would certainly have nailed any man + but me on the spot.—‘What is to become of us poor women in a state of + society such as Louis XVIII.‘s charter made it?’—(Imagine how her words + had run away with her.)—‘Yes, indeed, we are born to suffer. In matters of + passion we are always superior to you, and you are beneath all loyalty. + There is no honesty in your hearts. To you love is a game in which you + always cheat.’—‘My dear,’ said I, ‘to take anything serious in society + nowadays would be like making romantic love to an actress.’—‘What a + shameless betrayal! It was deliberately planned!’—‘No, only a rational + issue.’—‘Good-bye, Monsieur de Marsay,’ said she; ‘you have deceived me + horribly.’—‘Surely,’ I replied, taking up a submissive attitude, ‘Madame + la Duchesse will not remember Charlotte’s grievances?’—‘Certainly,’ she + answered bitterly.—‘Then, in fact, you hate me?’—She bowed, and I said to + myself, ‘There is something still left!’ + </p> + <p> + “The feeling she had when I parted from her allowed her to believe that + she still had something to avenge. Well, my friends, I have carefully + studied the lives of men who have had great success with women, but I do + not believe that the Maréchal de Richelieu, or Lauzun, or Louis de Valois + ever effected a more judicious retreat at the first attempt. As to my mind + and heart, they were cast in a mould then and there, once for all, and the + power of control I thus acquired over the thoughtless impulses which make + us commit so many follies gained me the admirable presence of mind you all + know.” + </p> + <p> + “How deeply I pity the second!” exclaimed the Baronne de Nucingen. + </p> + <p> + A scarcely perceptible smile on de Marsay’s pale lips made Delphine de + Nucingen color. + </p> + <p> + “How we do forget!” said the Baron de Nucingen. + </p> + <p> + The great banker’s simplicity was so extremely droll, that his wife, who + was de Marsay’s “second,” could not help laughing like every one else. + </p> + <p> + “You are all ready to condemn the woman,” said Lady Dudley. “Well, I quite + understand that she did not regard her marriage as an act of inconstancy. + Men will never distinguish between constancy and fidelity.—I know the + woman whose story Monsieur de Marsay has told us, and she is one of the + last of your truly great ladies.” + </p> + <p> + “Alas! my lady, you are right,” replied de Marsay. “For very nearly fifty + years we have been looking on at the progressive ruin of all social + distinctions. We ought to have saved our women from this great wreck, but + the Civil Code has swept its leveling influence over their heads. However + terrible the words, they must be spoken: Duchesses are vanishing, and + marquises too! As to the baronesses—I must apologize to Madame de + Nucingen, who will become a countess when her husband is made a peer of + France—baronesses have never succeeded in getting people to take them + seriously.” + </p> + <p> + “Aristocracy begins with the viscountess,” said Blondet with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “Countesses will survive,” said de Marsay. “An elegant woman will be more + or less of a countess—a countess of the Empire or of yesterday, a countess + of the old block, or, as they say in Italy, a countess by courtesy. But as + to the great lady, she died out with the dignified splendor of the last + century, with powder, patches, high-heeled slippers, and stiff bodices + with a delta stomacher of bows. Duchesses in these days can pass through a + door without any need to widen it for their hoops. The Empire saw the last + of gowns with trains! I am still puzzled to understand how a sovereign who + wished to see his drawing-room swept by ducal satin and velvet did not + make indestructible laws. Napoleon never guessed the results of the Code + he was so proud of. That man, by creating duchesses, founded the race of + our ‘ladies’ of to-day—the indirect offspring of his legislation.” + </p> + <p> + “It was logic, handled as a hammer by boys just out of school and by + obscure journalists, which demolished the splendors of the social state,” + said the Comte de Vandenesse. “In these days every rogue who can hold his + head straight in his collar, cover his manly bosom with half an ell of + satin by way of a cuirass, display a brow where apocryphal genius gleams + under curling locks, and strut in a pair of patent-leather pumps graced by + silk socks which cost six francs, screws his eye-glass into one of his + eye-sockets by puckering up his cheek, and whether he be an attorney’s + clerk, a contractor’s son, or a banker’s bastard, he stares impertinently + at the prettiest duchess, appraises her as she walks downstairs, and says + to his friend—dressed by Buisson, as we all are, and mounted in + patent-leather like any duke himself—‘There, my boy, that is a perfect + lady.’” + </p> + <p> + “You have not known how to form a party,” said Lord Dudley; “it will be a + long time yet before you have a policy. You talk a great deal in France + about organizing labor, and you have not yet organized property. So this + is what happens: Any duke—and even in the time of Louis XVIII. and Charles + X. there were some left who had two hundred thousand francs a year, a + magnificent residence, and a sumptuous train of servants—well, such a duke + could live like a great lord. The last of these great gentlemen in France + was the Prince de Talleyrand.—This duke leaves four children, two of them + girls. Granting that he has great luck in marrying them all well, each of + these descendants will have but sixty or eighty thousand francs a year + now; each is the father or mother of children, and consequently obliged to + live with the strictest economy in a flat on the ground floor or first + floor of a large house. Who knows if they may not even be hunting a + fortune? Henceforth the eldest son’s wife, a duchess in name only, has no + carriage, no people, no opera-box, no time to herself. She has not her own + rooms in the family mansion, nor her fortune, nor her pretty toys; she is + buried in trade; she buys socks for her dear little children, nurses them + herself, and keeps an eye on her girls, whom she no longer sends to school + at a convent. Thus your noblest dames have been turned into worthy + brood-hens.” + </p> + <p> + “Alas! it is true,” said Joseph Bridau. “In our day we cannot show those + beautiful flowers of womanhood which graced the golden ages of the French + Monarchy. The great lady’s fan is broken. A woman has nothing now to blush + for; she need not slander or whisper, hide her face or reveal it. A fan is + of no use now but for fanning herself. When once a thing is no more than + what it is, it is too useful to be a form of luxury.” + </p> + <p> + “Everything in France has aided and abetted the ‘perfect lady,’” said + Daniel d’Arthez. “The aristocracy has acknowledged her by retreating to + the recesses of its landed estates, where it has hidden itself to + die—emigrating inland before the march of ideas, as of old to foreign + lands before that of the masses. The women who could have founded European + salons, could have guided opinion and turned it inside out like a glove, + could have ruled the world by ruling the men of art or of intellect who + ought to have ruled it, have committed the blunder of abandoning their + ground; they were ashamed of having to fight against the citizen class + drunk with power, and rushing out on to the stage of the world, there to + be cut to pieces perhaps by the barbarians who are at its heels. Hence, + where the middle class insist on seeing princesses, these are really only + ladylike young women. In these days princes can find no great ladies whom + they may compromise; they cannot even confer honor on a woman taken up at + random. The Duc de Bourbon was the last prince to avail himself of this + privilege.” + </p> + <p> + “And God alone knows how dearly he paid for it,” said Lord Dudley. + </p> + <p> + “Nowadays princes have lady-like wives, obliged to share their opera-box + with other ladies; royal favor could not raise them higher by a hair’s + breadth; they glide unremarkable between the waters of the citizen class + and those of the nobility—not altogether noble nor altogether + bourgeoises,” said the Marquise de Rochegude acridly. + </p> + <p> + “The press has fallen heir to the Woman,” exclaimed Rastignac. “She no + longer has the quality of a spoken feuilleton—delightful calumnies graced + by elegant language. We read feuilletons written in a dialect which + changes every three years, society papers about as mirthful as an + undertaker’s mute, and as light as the lead of their type. French + conversation is carried on from one end of the country to the other in a + revolutionary jargon, through long columns of type printed in old mansions + where a press groans in the place where formerly elegant company used to + meet.” + </p> + <p> + “The knell of the highest society is tolling,” said a Russian Prince. “Do + you hear it? And the first stroke is your modern word lady.” + </p> + <p> + “You are right, Prince,” said de Marsay. “The ‘perfect lady,’ issuing from + the ranks of the nobility, or sprouting from the citizen class, and the + product of every soil, even of the provinces is the expression of these + times, a last remaining embodiment of good taste, grace, wit, and + distinction, all combined, but dwarfed. We shall see no more great ladies + in France, but there will be ‘ladies’ for a long time, elected by public + opinion to form an upper chamber of women, and who will be among the fair + sex what a ‘gentleman’ is in England.” + </p> + <p> + “And that they call progress!” exclaimed Mademoiselle des Touches. “I + should like to know where the progress lies?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, in this,” said Madame de Nucingen. “Formerly a woman might have the + voice of a fish-seller, the walk of a grenadier, the face of an impudent + courtesan, her hair too high on her forehead, a large foot, a thick + hand—she was a great lady in spite of it all; but in these days, even if + she were a Montmorency—if a Montmorency would ever be such a creature—she + would not be a lady.” + </p> + <p> + “But what do you mean by a ‘perfect lady’?” asked Count Adam Laginski. + </p> + <p> + “She is a modern product, a deplorable triumph of the elective system as + applied to the fair sex,” said the Minister. “Every revolution has a word + of its own which epitomizes and depicts it.” + </p> + <p> + “You are right,” said the Russian, who had come to make a literary + reputation in Paris. “The explanation of certain words added from time to + time to your beautiful language would make a magnificent history. + Organize, for instance, is the word of the Empire, and sums up Napoleon + completely.” + </p> + <p> + “But all that does not explain what is meant by a lady!” the young Pole + exclaimed, with some impatience. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I will tell you,” said Émile Blondet to Count Adam. “One fine + morning you go for a saunter in Paris. It is past two, but five has not + yet struck. You see a woman coming towards you; your first glance at her + is like the preface to a good book, it leads you to expect a world of + elegance and refinement. Like a botanist over hill and dale in his pursuit + of plants, among the vulgarities of Paris life you have at last found a + rare flower. This woman is attended by two very distinguished-looking men, + of whom one, at any rate, wears an order; or else a servant out of livery + follows her at a distance of ten yards. She displays no gaudy colors, no + open-worked stockings, no over-elaborate waist-buckle, no embroidered + frills to her drawers fussing round her ankles. You will see that she is + shod with prunella shoes, with sandals crossed over extremely fine cotton + stockings, or plain gray silk stockings; or perhaps she wears boots of the + most exquisite simplicity. You notice that her gown is made of a neat and + inexpensive material, but made in a way that surprises more than one woman + of the middle class; it is almost always a long pelisse, with bows to + fasten it, and neatly bound with fine cord or an imperceptible braid. The + Unknown has a way of her own in wrapping herself in her shawl or mantilla; + she knows how to draw it round her from her hips to her neck, outlining a + carapace, as it were, which would make an ordinary woman look like a + turtle, but which in her sets off the most beautiful forms while + concealing them. How does she do it? This secret she keeps, though + unguarded by any patent. + </p> + <p> + “As she walks she gives herself a little concentric and harmonious twist, + which makes her supple or dangerous slenderness writhe under the stuff, as + a snake does under the green gauze of trembling grass. Is it to an angel + or a devil that she owes the graceful undulation which plays under her + long black silk cape, stirs its lace frill, sheds an airy balm, and what I + should like to call the breeze of a Parisienne? You may recognize over her + arms, round her waist, about her throat, a science of drapery recalling + the antique Mnemosyne. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! how thoroughly she understands the cut of her gait—forgive the + expression. Study the way she puts her foot forward moulding her skirt + with such a decent preciseness that the passer-by is filled with + admiration, mingled with desire, but subdued by deep respect. When an + Englishwoman attempts this step, she looks like a grenadier marching + forward to attack a redoubt. The women of Paris have a genius for walking. + The municipality really owed them asphalt footwalks. + </p> + <p> + “Our Unknown jostles no one. If she wants to pass, she waits with proud + humility till some one makes way. The distinction peculiar to a well-bred + woman betrays itself, especially in the way she holds her shawl or cloak + crossed over her bosom. Even as she walks she has a little air of serene + dignity, like Raphael’s Madonnas in their frames. Her aspect, at once + quiet and disdainful, makes the most insolent dandy step aside for her. + </p> + <p> + “Her bonnet, remarkable for its simplicity, is trimmed with crisp ribbons; + there may be flowers in it, but the cleverest of such women wear only + bows. Feathers demand a carriage; flowers are too showy. Beneath it you + see the fresh unworn face of a woman who, without conceit, is sure of + herself; who looks at nothing, and sees everything; whose vanity, satiated + by being constantly gratified, stamps her face with an indifference which + piques your curiosity. She knows that she is looked at, she knows that + everybody, even women, turn round to see her again. And she threads her + way through Paris like a gossamer, spotless and pure. + </p> + <p> + “This delightful species affects the hottest latitudes, the cleanest + longitudes of Paris; you will meet her between the 10th and 110th Arcade + of the Rue de Rivoli; along the line of the Boulevards from the equator of + the Passage des Panoramas, where the products of India flourish, where the + warmest creations of industry are displayed, to the Cape of the Madeleine; + in the least muddy districts of the citizen quarters, between No. 30 and + No. 130 of the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. During the winter, she haunts + the terrace of the Feuillants, but not the asphalt pavement that lies + parallel. According to the weather, she may be seen flying in the Avenue + of the Champs-Élyseés, which is bounded on the east by the Place Louis + XV., on the west by the Avenue de Marigny, to the south by the road, to + the north by the gardens of the Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Never is this + pretty variety of woman to be seen in the hyperborean regions of the Rue + Saint-Denis, never in the Kamtschatka of miry, narrow, commercial streets, + never anywhere in bad weather. These flowers of Paris, blooming only in + Oriental weather, perfume the highways; and after five o’clock fold up + like morning-glory flowers. The women you will see later, looking a little + like them, are would-be ladies; while the fair Unknown, your Beatrice of a + day, is a ‘perfect lady.’ + </p> + <p> + “It is not very easy for a foreigner, my dear Count, to recognize the + differences by which the observer emeritus distinguishes them—women are + such consummate actresses; but they are glaring in the eyes of Parisians: + hooks ill fastened, strings showing loops of rusty-white tape through a + gaping slit in the back, rubbed shoe-leather, ironed bonnet-strings, an + over-full skirt, an over-tight waist. You will see a certain effort in the + intentional droop of the eyelid. There is something conventional in the + attitude. + </p> + <p> + “As to the bourgeoise, the citizen womankind, she cannot possibly be + mistaken for the spell cast over you by the Unknown. She is bustling, and + goes out in all weathers, trots about, comes, goes, gazes, does not know + whether she will or will not go into a shop. Where the lady knows just + what she wants and what she is doing, the townswoman is undecided, tucks + up her skirts to cross a gutter, dragging a child by the hand, which + compels her to look out for the vehicles; she is a mother in public, and + talks to her daughter; she carries money in her bag, and has open-work + stockings on her feet; in winter, she wears a boa over her fur cloak; in + summer, a shawl and a scarf; she is accomplished in the redundancies of + dress. + </p> + <p> + “You will meet the fair Unknown again at the Italiens, at the Opéra, at a + ball. She will then appear under such a different aspect that you would + think them two beings devoid of any analogy. The woman has emerged from + those mysterious garments like a butterfly from its silky cocoon. She + serves up, like some rare dainty, to your lavished eyes, the forms which + her bodice scarcely revealed in the morning. At the theatre she never + mounts higher than the second tier, excepting at the Italiens. You can + there watch at your leisure the studied deliberateness of her movements. + The enchanting deceiver plays off all the little political artifices of + her sex so naturally as to exclude all idea of art or premeditation. If + she has a royally beautiful hand, the most perspicacious beholder will + believe that it is absolutely necessary that she should twist, or refix, + or push aside the ringlet or curl she plays with. If she has some dignity + of profile, you will be persuaded that she is giving irony or grace to + what she says to her neighbor, sitting in such a position as to produce + the magical effect of the ‘lost profile,’ so dear to great painters, by + which the cheek catches the high light, the nose is shown in clear + outline, the nostrils are transparently rosy, the forehead squarely + modeled, the eye has its spangle of fire, but fixed on space, and the + white roundness of the chin is accentuated by a line of light. If she has + a pretty foot, she will throw herself on a sofa with the coquettish grace + of a cat in the sunshine, her feet outstretched without your feeling that + her attitude is anything but the most charming model ever given to a + sculptor by lassitude. + </p> + <p> + “Only the perfect lady is quite at her ease in full dress; nothing + inconveniences her. You will never see her, like the woman of the citizen + class, pulling up a refractory shoulder-strap, or pushing down a + rebellious whalebone, or looking whether her tucker is doing its office of + faithful guardian to two treasures of dazzling whiteness, or glancing in + the mirrors to see if her head-dress is keeping its place. Her toilet is + always in harmony with her character; she had had time to study herself, + to learn what becomes her, for she has long known what does not suit her. + You will not find her as you go out; she vanishes before the end of the + play. If by chance she is to be seen, calm and stately, on the stairs, she + is experiencing some violent emotion; she has to bestow a glance, to + receive a promise. Perhaps she goes down so slowly on purpose to gratify + the vanity of a slave whom she sometimes obeys. If your meeting takes + place at a ball or an evening party, you will gather the honey, natural or + affected of her insinuating voice; her empty words will enchant you, and + she will know how to give them the value of thought by her inimitable + bearing.” + </p> + <p> + “To be such a woman, is it not necessary to be very clever?” asked the + Polish Count. + </p> + <p> + “It is necessary to have great taste,” replied the Princesse de Cadignan. + </p> + <p> + “And in France taste is more than cleverness,” said the Russian. + </p> + <p> + “This woman’s cleverness is the triumph of a purely plastic art,” Blondet + went on. “You will not know what she said, but you will be fascinated. She + will toss her head, or gently shrug her white shoulders; she will gild an + insignificant speech with a charming pout and smile; or throw a Voltairean + epigram into an ‘Indeed!’ an ‘Ah!’ a ‘What then!’ A jerk of her head will + be her most pertinent form of questioning; she will give meaning to the + movement by which she twirls a vinaigrette hanging to her finger by a + ring. She gets an artificial grandeur out of superlative trivialities; she + simply drops her hand impressively, letting it fall over the arm of her + chair as dewdrops hang on the cup of a flower, and all is said—she has + pronounced judgment beyond appeal, to the apprehension of the most obtuse. + She knows how to listen to you; she gives you the opportunity of shining, + and—I ask your modesty—those moments are rare?” + </p> + <p> + The candid simplicity of the young Pole, to whom Blondet spoke, made all + the party shout with laughter. + </p> + <p> + “Now, you will not talk for half-an-hour with a bourgeoise without her + alluding to her husband in one way or another,” Blondet went on with + unperturbed gravity; “whereas, even if you know that your lady is married, + she will have the delicacy to conceal her husband so effectually that it + will need the enterprise of Christopher Columbus to discover him. Often + you will fail in the attempt single-handed. If you have had no opportunity + of inquiring, towards the end of the evening you detect her gazing fixedly + at a middle-aged man wearing a decoration, who bows and goes out. She has + ordered her carriage, and goes. + </p> + <p> + “You are not the rose, but you have been with the rose, and you go to bed + under the golden canopy of a delicious dream, which will last perhaps + after Sleep, with his heavy finger, has opened the ivory gates of the + temple of dreams. + </p> + <p> + “The lady, when she is at home, sees no one before four; she is shrewd + enough always to keep you waiting. In her house you will find everything + in good taste; her luxury is for hourly use, and duly renewed; you will + see nothing under glass shades, no rags of wrappings hanging about, and + looking like a pantry. You will find the staircase warmed. Flowers on all + sides will charm your sight—flowers, the only gift she accepts, and those + only from certain people, for nosegays live but a day; they give pleasure, + and must be replaced; to her they are, as in the East, a symbol and a + promise. The costly toys of fashion lie about, but not so as to suggest a + museum or a curiosity shop. You will find her sitting by the fire in a low + chair, from which she will not rise to greet you. Her talk will not now be + what it was at the ball; there she was our creditor; in her own home she + owes you the pleasure of her wit. These are the shades of which the lady + is a marvelous mistress. What she likes in you is a man to swell her + circle, an object for the cares and attentions which such women are now + happy to bestow. Therefore, to attract you to her drawing-room, she will + be bewitchingly charming. This especially is where you feel how isolated + women are nowadays, and why they want a little world of their own, to + which they may seem a constellation. Conversation is impossible without + generalities.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said de Marsay, “you have truly hit the fault of our age. The + epigram—a volume in a word—no longer strikes, as it did in the eighteenth + century, at persons or at things, but at squalid events, and it dies in a + day.” + </p> + <p> + “Hence,” said Blondet, “the intelligence of the lady, if she has any, + consists in casting doubts on everything. Here lies the great difference + between two women; the townswoman is certainly virtuous; the lady does not + know yet whether she is, or whether she always will be; she hesitates and + struggles where the other refuses point-blank and falls full length. This + hesitancy in everything is one of the last graces left to her by our + horrible times. She rarely goes to church, but she will talk to you of + religion; and if you have the good taste to affect Free-thought, she will + try to convert you, for you will have opened the way for the stereotyped + phrases, the head-shaking and gestures understood by all these women: ‘For + shame! I thought you had too much sense to attack religion. Society is + tottering, and you deprive it of its support. Why, religion at this moment + means you and me; it is property, and the future of our children! Ah! let + us not be selfish! Individualism is the disease of the age, and religion + is the only remedy; it unites families which your laws put asunder,’ and + so forth. Then she plunges into some neo-Christian speech sprinkled with + political notions which is neither Catholic nor Protestant—but moral? Oh! + deuced moral!—in which you may recognize a fag end of every material woven + by modern doctrines, at loggerheads together.” + </p> + <p> + The women could not help laughing at the airs by which Blondet illustrated + his satire. + </p> + <p> + “This explanation, dear Count Adam,” said Blondet, turning to the Pole, + “will have proved to you that the ‘perfect lady’ represents the + intellectual no less than the political muddle, just as she is surrounded + by the showy and not very lasting products of an industry which is always + aiming at destroying its work in order to replace it by something else. + When you leave her you say to yourself: She certainly has superior ideas! + And you believe it all the more because she will have sounded your heart + with a delicate touch, and have asked you your secrets; she affects + ignorance, to learn everything; there are some things she never knows, not + even when she knows them. You alone will be uneasy, you will know nothing + of the state of her heart. The great ladies of old flaunted their + love-affairs, with newspapers and advertisements; in these days the lady + has her little passion neatly ruled like a sheet of music with its + crotchets and quavers and minims, its rests, its pauses, its sharps to + sign the key. A mere weak women, she is anxious not to compromise her + love, or her husband, or the future of her children. Name, position, and + fortune are no longer flags so respected as to protect all kinds of + merchandise on board. The whole aristocracy no longer advances in a body + to screen the lady. She has not, like the great lady of the past, the + demeanor of lofty antagonism; she can crush nothing under foot, it is she + who would be crushed. Thus she is apt at Jesuitical <i>mezzo termine</i>, + she is a creature of equivocal compromises, of guarded proprieties, of + anonymous passions steered between two reef-bound shores. She is as much + afraid of her servants as an Englishwoman who lives in dread of a trial in + the divorce-court. This woman—so free at a ball, so attractive out + walking—is a slave at home; she is never independent but in perfect + privacy, or theoretically. She must preserve herself in her position as a + lady. This is her task. + </p> + <p> + “For in our day a woman repudiated by her husband, reduced to a meagre + allowance, with no carriage, no luxury, no opera-box, none of the divine + accessories of the toilet, is no longer a wife, a maid, or a townswoman; + she is adrift, and becomes a chattel. The Carmelites will not receive a + married woman; it would be bigamy. Would her lover still have anything to + say to her? That is the question. Thus your perfect lady may perhaps give + occasion to calumny, never to slander.” + </p> + <p> + “It is all so horribly true,” said the Princesse de Cadignan. + </p> + <p> + “And so,” said Blondet, “our ‘perfect lady’ lives between English + hypocrisy and the delightful frankness of the eighteenth century—a bastard + system, symptomatic of an age in which nothing that grows up is at all + like the thing that has vanished, in which transition leads nowhere, + everything is a matter of degree; all the great figures shrink into the + background, and distinction is purely personal. I am fully convinced that + it is impossible for a woman, even if she were born close to a throne, to + acquire before the age of five-and-twenty the encyclopaedic knowledge of + trifles, the practice of manoeuvring, the important small things, the + musical tones and harmony of coloring, the angelic bedevilments and + innocent cunning, the speech and the silence, the seriousness and the + banter, the wit and the obtuseness, the diplomacy and the ignorance which + make up the perfect lady.” + </p> + <p> + “And where, in accordance with the sketch you have drawn,” said + Mademoiselle des Touches to Émile Blondet, “would you class the female + author? Is she a perfect lady, a woman <i>comme il faut?</i>” + </p> + <p> + “When she has no genius, she is a woman <i>comme il n’en faut pas</i>,” + Blondet replied, emphasizing the words with a stolen glance, which might + make them seem praise frankly addressed to Camille Maupin. “This epigram + is not mine, but Napoleon’s,” he added. + </p> + <p> + “You need not owe Napoleon any grudge on that score,” said Canalis, with + an emphatic tone and gesture. “It was one of his weaknesses to be jealous + of literary genius—for he had his mean points. Who will ever explain, + depict, or understand Napoleon? A man represented with his arms folded, + and who did everything, who was the greatest force ever known, the most + concentrated, the most mordant, the most acid of all forces; a singular + genius who carried armed civilization in every direction without fixing it + anywhere; a man who could do everything because he willed everything; a + prodigious phenomenon of will, conquering an illness by a battle, and yet + doomed to die of disease in bed after living in the midst of ball and + bullets; a man with a code and a sword in his brain, word and deed; a + clear-sighted spirit that foresaw everything but his own fall; a + capricious politician who risked men by handfuls out of economy, and who + spared three heads—those of Talleyrand, of Pozzo de Borgo, and of + Metternich, diplomatists whose death would have saved the French Empire, + and who seemed to him of greater weight than thousands of soldiers; a man + to whom nature, as a rare privilege, had given a heart in a frame of + bronze; mirthful and kind at midnight amid women, and next morning + manipulating Europe as a young girl might amuse herself by splashing water + in her bath! Hypocritical and generous; loving tawdriness and simplicity; + devoid of taste, but protecting the arts; and in spite of these + antitheses, really great in everything by instinct or by temperament; + Caesar at five-and-twenty, Cromwell at thirty; and then, like my grocer + buried in Père Lachaise, a good husband and a good father. In short, he + improvised public works, empires, kings, codes, verses, a romance—and all + with more range than precision. Did he not aim at making all Europe + France? And after making us weigh on the earth in such a way as to change + the laws of gravitation, he left us poorer than on the day when he first + laid hands on us; while he, who had taken an empire by his name, lost his + name on the frontier of his empire in a sea of blood and soldiers. A man + all thought and all action, who comprehended Desaix and Fouché.” + </p> + <p> + “All despotism and all justice at the right moments. The true king!” said + de Marsay. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! vat a pleashre it is to dichest vile you talk,” said Baron de + Nucingen. + </p> + <p> + “But do you suppose that the treat we are giving you is a common one?” + asked Joseph Bridau. “If you had to pay for the charms of conversation as + you do for those of dancing or of music, your fortune would be inadequate! + There is no second performance of the same flash of wit.” + </p> + <p> + “And are we really so much deteriorated as these gentlemen think?” said + the Princesse de Cadignan, addressing the women with a smile at once + sceptical and ironical. “Because, in these days, under a regime which + makes everything small, you prefer small dishes, small rooms, small + pictures, small articles, small newspapers, small books, does that prove + that women too have grown smaller? Why should the human heart change + because you change your coat? In all ages the passions remain the same. I + know cases of beautiful devotion, of sublime sufferings, which lack the + publicity—the glory, if you choose—which formerly gave lustre to the + errors of some women. But though one may not have saved a King of France, + one is not the less an Agnès Sorel. Do you believe that our dear Marquise + d’Espard is not the peer of Madame Doublet, or Madame du Deffant, in whose + rooms so much evil was spoken and done? Is not Taglioni a match for + Camargo? or Malibran the equal of Saint-Huberti? Are not our poets + superior to those of the eighteenth century? If at this moment, through + the fault of the Grocers who govern us, we have not a style of our own, + had not the Empire its distinguishing stamp as the age of Louis XV. had, + and was not its splendor fabulous? Have the sciences lost anything?” + </p> + <p> + “I am quite of your opinion, madame; the women of this age are truly + great,” replied the Comte de Vandenesse. “When posterity shall have + followed us, will not Madame Recamier appear in proportions as fine as + those of the most beautiful women of the past? We have made so much + history that historians will be lacking. The age of Louis XIV. had but one + Madame de Sévigné; we have a thousand now in Paris who certainly write + better than she did, and who do not publish their letters. Whether the + Frenchwoman be called ‘perfect lady,’ or great lady, she will always be + the woman among women. + </p> + <p> + “Émile Blondet has given us a picture of the fascinations of a woman of + the day; but, at need, this creature who bridles or shows off, who chirps + out the ideas of Mr. This and Mr. That, would be heroic. And it must be + said, your faults, mesdames, are all the more poetical, because they must + always and under all circumstances be surrounded by greater perils. I have + seen much of the world, I have studied it perhaps too late; but in cases + where the illegality of your feelings might be excused, I have always + observed the effects of I know not what chance—which you may call + Providence—inevitably overwhelming such as we consider light women.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope,” said Madame de Vandenesse, “that we can be great in other + ways——” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, let the Comte de Vandenesse preach to us!” exclaimed Madame de + Serizy. + </p> + <p> + “With all the more reason because he has preached a great deal by + example,” said the Baronne de Nucingen. + </p> + <p> + “On my honor!” said General de Montriveau, “in all the dramas—a word you + are very fond of,” he said, looking at Blondet—“in which the finger of God + has been visible, the most frightful I ever knew was very near being by my + act——” + </p> + <p> + “Well, tell us all about it!” cried Lady Barimore; “I love to shudder!” + </p> + <p> + “It is the taste of a virtuous woman,” replied de Marsay, looking at Lord + Dudley’s lovely daughter. + </p> + <p> + “During the campaign of 1812,” General de Montriveau began, “I was the + involuntary cause of a terrible disaster which may be of use to you, + Doctor Bianchon,” turning to me, “since, while devoting yourself to the + human body, you concern yourself a good deal with the mind; it may tend to + solve some of the problems of the will. + </p> + <p> + “I was going through my second campaign; I enjoyed danger, and laughed at + everything, like the young and foolish lieutenant of artillery that I was. + When we reached the Beresina, the army had, as you know, lost all + discipline, and had forgotten military obedience. It was a medley of men + of all nations, instinctively making their way from north to south. The + soldiers would drive a general in rags and bare-foot away from their fire + if he brought neither wood nor victuals. After the passage of this famous + river disorder did not diminish. I had come quietly and alone, without + food, out of the marshes of Zembin, and was wandering in search of a house + where I might be taken in. Finding none or driven away from those I came + across, happily towards evening I perceived a wretched little Polish farm, + of which nothing can give you any idea unless you have seen the wooden + houses of Lower Normandy, or the poorest farm-buildings of la Beauce. + These dwellings consist of a single room, with one end divided off by a + wooden partition, the smaller division serving as a store-room for forage. + </p> + <p> + “In the darkness of twilight I could just see a faint smoke rising above + this house. Hoping to find there some comrades more compassionate than + those I had hitherto addressed, I boldly walked as far as the farm. On + going in, I found the table laid. Several officers, and with them a + woman—a common sight enough—were eating potatoes, some horseflesh broiled + over the charcoal, and some frozen beetroots. I recognized among the + company two or three artillery captains of the regiment in which I had + first served. I was welcomed with a shout of acclamation, which would have + amazed me greatly on the other side of the Beresina; but at this moment + the cold was less intense; my fellow-officers were resting, they were + warm, they had food, and the room, strewn with trusses of straw, gave the + promise of a delightful night. We did not ask for so much in those days. + My comrades could be philanthropists gratis—one of the commonest ways of + being philanthropic. I sat down to eat on one of the bundles of straw. + </p> + <p> + “At the end of the table, by the side of the door opening into the smaller + room full of straw and hay, sat my old colonel, one of the most + extraordinary men I ever saw among all the mixed collection of men it has + been my lot to meet. He was an Italian. Now, whenever human nature is + truly fine in the lands of the South, it is really sublime. I do not know + whether you have ever observed the extreme fairness of Italians when they + are fair. It is exquisite, especially under an artificial light. When I + read the fantastical portrait of Colonel Oudet sketched by Charles Nodier, + I found my own sensations in every one of his elegant phrases. Italian, + then, as were most of the officers of his regiment, which had, in fact, + been borrowed by the Emperor from Eugene’s army, my colonel was a tall + man, at least eight or nine inches above the standard, and was admirably + proportioned—a little stout perhaps, but prodigiously powerful, active, + and clean-limbed as a greyhound. His black hair in abundant curls showed + up his complexion, as white as a woman’s; he had small hands, a shapely + foot, a pleasant mouth, and an aquiline nose delicately formed, of which + the tip used to become naturally pinched and white whenever he was angry, + as happened often. His irascibility was so far beyond belief that I will + tell you nothing about it; you will have the opportunity of judging of it. + No one could be calm in his presence. I alone, perhaps, was not afraid of + him; he had indeed taken such a singular fancy to me that he thought + everything I did right. When he was in a rage his brow was knit and the + muscles of the middle of his forehead set in a delta, or, to be more + explicit, in Redgauntlet’s horseshoe. This mark was, perhaps, even more + terrifying than the magnetic flashes of his blue eyes. His whole frame + quivered, and his strength, great as it was in his normal state, became + almost unbounded. + </p> + <p> + “He spoke with a strong guttural roll. His voice, at least as powerful as + that of Charles Nordier’s Oudet, threw an incredible fulness of tone into + the syllable or the consonant in which this burr was sounded. Though this + faulty pronunciation was at times a grace, when commanding his men, or + when he was excited, you cannot imagine, unless you had heard it, what + force was expressed by this accent, which at Paris is so common. When the + Colonel was quiescent, his blue eyes were angelically sweet, and his + smooth brow had a most charming expression. On parade, or with the army of + Italy, not a man could compare with him. Indeed, d’Orsay himself, the + handsome d’Orsay, was eclipsed by our colonel on the occasion of the last + review held by Napoleon before the invasion of Russia. + </p> + <p> + “Everything was in contrasts in this exceptional man. Passion lives on + contrast. Hence you need not ask whether he exerted over women the + irresistible influences to which our nature yields”—and the general looked + at the Princesse de Cadignan—“as vitreous matter is moulded under the pipe + of the glass-blower; still, by a singular fatality—an observer might + perhaps explain the phenomenon—the Colonel was not a lady-killer, or was + indifferent to such successes. + </p> + <p> + “To give you an idea of his violence, I will tell you in a few words what + I once saw him do in a paroxysm of fury. We were dragging our guns up a + very narrow road, bordered by a somewhat high slope on one side, and by + thickets on the other. When we were half-way up we met another regiment of + artillery, its colonel marching at the head. This colonel wanted to make + the captain who was at the head of our foremost battery back down again. + The captain, of course, refused; but the colonel of the other regiment + signed to his foremost battery to advance, and in spite of the care the + driver took to keep among the scrub, the wheel of the first gun struck our + captain’s right leg and broke it, throwing him over on the near side of + his horse. All this was the work of a moment. Our Colonel, who was but a + little way off, guessed that there was a quarrel; he galloped up, riding + among the guns at the risk of falling with his horse’s four feet in the + air, and reached the spot, face to face with the other colonel, at the + very moment when the captain fell, calling out ‘Help!’ No, our Italian + colonel was no longer human! Foam like the froth of champagne rose to his + lips; he roared inarticulately like a lion. Incapable of uttering a word, + or even a cry, he made a terrific signal to his antagonist, pointing to + the wood and drawing his sword. The two colonels went aside. In two + seconds we saw our Colonel’s opponent stretched on the ground, his skull + split in two. The soldiers of his regiment backed—yes, by heaven, and + pretty quickly too. + </p> + <p> + “The captain, who had been so nearly crushed, and who lay yelping in the + puddle where the gun carriage had thrown him, had an Italian wife, a + beautiful Sicilian of Messina, who was not indifferent to our Colonel. + This circumstance had aggravated his rage. He was pledged to protect the + husband, bound to defend him as he would have defended the woman herself. + </p> + <p> + “Now, in the hovel beyond Zembin, where I was so well received, this + captain was sitting opposite to me, and his wife was at the other end of + the table, facing the Colonel. This Sicilian was a little woman named + Rosina, very dark, but with all the fire of the Southern sun in her black + almond-shaped eyes. At this moment she was deplorably thin; her face was + covered with dust, like fruit exposed to the drought of a highroad. + Scarcely clothed in rags, exhausted by marches, her hair in disorder, and + clinging together under a piece of a shawl tied close over her head, still + she had the graces of a woman; her movements were engaging, her small rose + mouth and white teeth, the outline of her features and figure, charms + which misery, cold, and neglect had not altogether defaced, still + suggested love to any man who could think of a woman. Rosina had one of + those frames which are fragile in appearance, but wiry and full of spring. + Her husband, a gentleman of Piedmont, had a face expressive of ironical + simplicity, if it is allowable to ally the two words. Brave and well + informed, he seemed to know nothing of the connections which had subsisted + between his wife and the Colonel for three years past. I ascribed this + unconcern to Italian manners, or to some domestic secret; yet there was in + the man’s countenance one feature which always filled me with involuntary + distrust. His under lip, which was thin and very restless, turned down at + the corners instead of turning up, and this, as I thought, betrayed a + streak of cruelty in a character which seemed so phlegmatic and indolent. + </p> + <p> + “As you may suppose the conversation was not very sparkling when I went + in. My weary comrades ate in silence; of course, they asked me some + questions, and we related our misadventures, mingled with reflections on + the campaign, the generals, their mistakes, the Russians, and the cold. A + minute after my arrival the colonel, having finished his meagre meal, + wiped his moustache, bid us good-night, shot a black look at the Italian + woman, saying, ‘Rosina?’ and then, without waiting for a reply, went into + the little barn full of hay, to bed. The meaning of the Colonel’s + utterance was self-evident. The young wife replied by an indescribable + gesture, expressing all the annoyance she could not feel at seeing her + thralldom thus flaunted without human decency, and the offence to her + dignity as a woman, and to her husband. But there was, too, in the rigid + setting of her features and the tight knitting of her brows a sort of + presentiment; perhaps she foresaw her fate. Rosina remained quietly in her + place. + </p> + <p> + “A minute later, and apparently when the Colonel was snug in his couch of + straw or hay, he repeated, ‘Rosina?’ + </p> + <p> + “The tone of this second call was even more brutally questioning than the + first. The Colonel’s strong burr, and the length which the Italian + language allows to be given to vowels and the final syllable, concentrated + all the man’s despotism, impatience, and strength of will. Rosina turned + pale, but she rose, passed behind us, and went to the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “All the party sat in utter silence; I, unluckily, after looking at them + all, began to laugh, and then they all laughed too.—‘Tu ridi?—you laugh?’ + said the husband. + </p> + <p> + “‘On my honor, old comrade,’ said I, becoming serious again, ‘I confess + that I was wrong; I ask your pardon a thousand times, and if you are not + satisfied by my apologies I am ready to give you satisfaction.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh! it is not you who are wrong, it is I!’ he replied coldly. + </p> + <p> + “Thereupon we all lay down in the room, and before long all were sound + asleep. + </p> + <p> + “Next morning each one, without rousing his neighbor or seeking + companionship, set out again on his way, with that selfishness which made + our rout one of the most horrible dramas of self-seeking, melancholy, and + horror which ever was enacted under heaven. Nevertheless, at about seven + or eight hundred paces from our shelter we, most of us, met again and + walked on together, like geese led in flocks by a child’s wilful tyranny. + The same necessity urged us all. + </p> + <p> + “Having reached a knoll where we could still see the farmhouse where we + had spent the night, we heard sounds resembling the roar of lions in the + desert, the bellowing of bulls—no, it was a noise which can be compared to + no known cry. And yet, mingling with this horrible and ominous roar, we + could hear a woman’s feeble scream. We all looked round, seized by I know + not what impulse of terror; we no longer saw the house, but a huge + bonfire. The farmhouse had been barricaded, and was in flames. Swirls of + smoke borne on the wind brought us hoarse cries and an indescribable + pungent smell. A few yards behind, the captain was quietly approaching to + join our caravan; we gazed at him in silence, for no one dared question + him; but he, understanding our curiosity, pointed to his breast with the + forefinger of his right hand, and, waving the left in the direction of the + fire, he said, ‘<i>Son’io</i>.’ + </p> + <p> + “We all walked on without saying a word to him.” + </p> + <p> + “There is nothing more terrible than the revolt of a sheep,” said de + Marsay. + </p> + <p> + “It would be frightful to let us leave with this horrible picture in our + memory,” said Madame de Montcornet. “I shall dream of it——” + </p> + <p> + “And what was the punishment of Monsieur de Marsay’s ‘First’?” said Lord + Dudley, smiling. + </p> + <p> + “When the English are in jest, their foils have the buttons on,” said + Blondet. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur Bianchon can tell us, for he saw her dying,” replied de Marsay, + turning to me. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said I; “and her end was one of the most beautiful I ever saw. The + Duke and I had spent the night by the dying woman’s pillow; pulmonary + consumption, in the last stage, left no hope; she had taken the sacrament + the day before. The Duke had fallen asleep. The Duchess, waking at about + four in the morning, signed to me in the most touching way, with a + friendly smile, to bid me leave him to rest, and she meanwhile was about + to die. She had become incredibly thin, but her face had preserved its + really sublime outline and features. Her pallor made her skin look like + porcelain with a light within. Her bright eyes and color contrasted with + this languidly elegant complexion, and her countenance was full of + expressive calm. She seemed to pity the Duke, and the feeling had its + origin in a lofty tenderness which, as death approached, seemed to know no + bounds. The silence was absolute. The room, softly lighted by a lamp, + looked like every sickroom at the hour of death. + </p> + <p> + “At this moment the clock struck. The Duke awoke, and was in despair at + having fallen asleep. I did not see the gesture of impatience by which he + manifested the regret he felt at having lost sight of his wife for a few + of the last minutes vouchsafed to him; but it is quite certain that any + one but the dying woman might have misunderstood it. A busy statesman, + always thinking of the interests of France, the Duke had a thousand odd + ways on the surface, such as often lead to a man of genius being mistaken + for a madman, and of which the explanation lies in the exquisiteness and + exacting needs of their intellect. He came to seat himself in an armchair + by his wife’s side, and looked fixedly at her. The dying woman put her + hand out a little way, took her husband’s and clasped it feebly; and in a + low but agitated voice she said, ‘My poor dear, who is left to understand + you now?’ Then she died, looking at him.” + </p> + <p> + “The stories the doctor tells us,” said the Comte de Vandenesse, “always + leave a deep impression.” + </p> + <p> + “But a sweet one,” said Mademoiselle des Touches, rising. + </p> + <p> + PARIS, June 1839-42. + </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 + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The following personages appear 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: La Grande Breteche + + Blondet, Émile Jealousies of a Country Town + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Modeste Mignon + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + The Firm of Nucingen + The Peasantry + + Blondet, Virginie (Madame Montcornet) Jealousies of a Country Town + The Secrets of a Princess + The Peasantry + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Member for Arcis + A Daughter of Eve + + Bridau, Joseph The Purse + A Bachelor’s Establishment + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Start in Life + Modeste Mignon + Pierre Grassou + Letters of Two Brides + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + + Canalis, Constant-Cyr-Melchior, Baron de Letters of Two Brides + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Modeste Mignon + The Magic Skin + A Start in Life + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + The Member for Arcis + + Dudley, Lord The Lily of the Valley + The Thirteen + A Man of Business + A Daughter of Eve + + Espard, Jeanne-Clementine-Athenais de Blamont-Chauvry, Marquise d’ + The Commission in Lunacy + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Letters of Two Brides + The Gondreville Mystery + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + Beatrix + + Laginski, Comte Adam Mitgislas The Imaginary Mistress + Cousin Betty + + Marsay, Henri de The Thirteen + The Unconscious Humorists + The Lily of the Valley + Father Goriot + Jealousies of a Country Town + Ursule Mirouet + A Marriage Settlement + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Letters of Two Brides + The Ball at Sceaux + Modeste Mignon + The Secrets of a Princess + The Gondreville Mystery + A Daughter of Eve + + Maufrigneuse, Duchesse de The Secrets of a Princess + Modeste Mignon + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Muse of the Department + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Letters of Two Brides + The Gondreville Mystery + The Member for Arcis + + Montriveau, General Marquis Armand de The Thirteen + Father Goriot + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Pierrette + The Member for Arcis + + Nucingen, Baron Frederic de The Firm of Nucingen + Father Goriot + Pierrette + Cesar Birotteau + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Secrets of a Princess + A Man of Business + Cousin Betty + The Muse of the Department + The Unconscious Humorists + + Nucingen, Baronne Delphine de Father Goriot + The Thirteen + Eugenie Grandet + Cesar Birotteau + Melmoth Reconciled + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Commission in Lunacy + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Modeste Mignon + The Firm of Nucingen + A Daughter of Eve + The Member for Arcis + + Portenduere, Vicomtesse Savinien de Ursule Mirouet + Beatrix + + Rastignac, Eugene de Father Goriot + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Commission in Lunacy + A Study of Woman + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + The Gondreville Mystery + The Firm of Nucingen + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + The Unconscious Humorists + + Ronquerolles, Marquis de The Imaginary Mistress + The Peasantry + Ursule Mirouet + A Woman of Thirty + The Thirteen + The Member for Arcis + + Serizy, Comtesse de A Start in Life + The Thirteen + Ursule Mirouet + A Woman of Thirty + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + The Imaginary Mistress + + Touches, Mademoiselle Felicite des Beatrix + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Bachelor’s Establishment + A Daughter of Eve + Honorine + Beatrix + The Muse of the Department + + Vandenesse, Comte Felix de The Lily of the Valley + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Cesar Birotteau + Letters of Two Brides + A Start in Life + The Marriage Settlement + The Secrets of a Princess + The Gondreville Mystery + A Daughter of Eve +</pre> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + +<pre> + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Another Study of Woman, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANOTHER STUDY OF WOMAN *** + +***** This file should be named 1714-h.htm or 1714-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/1/1714/ + +Produced by John Bickers, 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. 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. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +</pre> + + + </body> +</html> |