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diff --git a/old/cbtty10h.htm b/old/cbtty10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aad7e77 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cbtty10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,29921 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>Cousin Betty</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cousin Betty, by Honore de Balzac +#66 in our series by Honore de Balzac + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Cousin Betty + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Release Date: May, 1999 [EBook #1749] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 6, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COUSIN BETTY *** + + + + +HTM version produced by Walter Debeuf, the original eBook +was prepared by Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz + + + +</pre> + +<p> </p> + +<h2>Cousin Betty</h2> + +<h3>by Honore de Balzac</h3> + +<h4><br> + Translated by James Waring</h4> + +<h4><br> + DEDICATION</h4> + +<p>To Don Michele Angelo Cajetani, Prince of Teano.</p> + +<p>It is neither to the Roman Prince, nor to the representative +of<br> + the illustrious house of Cajetani, which has given more than +one<br> + Pope to the Christian Church, that I dedicate this short +portion<br> + of a long history; it is to the learned commentator of +Dante.</p> + +<p>It was you who led me to understand the marvelous framework +of<br> + ideas on which the great Italian poet built his poem, the +only<br> + work which the moderns can place by that of Homer. Till I +heard<br> + you, the Divine Comedy was to me a vast enigma to which none +had<br> + found the clue--the commentators least of all. Thus, to +understand<br> + Dante is to be as great as he; but every form of greatness +is<br> + familiar to you.</p> + +<p><br> + A French savant could make a reputation, earn a professor's +chair,<br> + and a dozen decorations, by publishing in a dogmatic volume +the<br> + improvised lecture by which you lent enchantment to one of +those<br> + evenings which are rest after seeing Rome. You do not know,<br> + perhaps, that most of our professors live on Germany, on +England,<br> + on the East, or on the North, as an insect lives on a tree; +and,<br> + like the insect, become an integral part of it, borrowing +their<br> + merit from that of what they feed on. Now, Italy hitherto has +not<br> + yet been worked out in public lectures. No one will ever give +me<br> + credit for my literary honesty. Merely by plundering you I +might<br> + have been as learned as three Schlegels in one, whereas I mean +to<br> + remain a humble Doctor of the Faculty of Social Medicine, a<br> + veterinary surgeon for incurable maladies. Were it only to lay +a<br> + token of gratitude at the feet of my cicerone, I would fain +add<br> + your illustrious name to those of Porcia, of San-Severino, +of<br> + Pareto, of di Negro, and of Belgiojoso, who will represent in +this<br> + "Human Comedy" the close and constant alliance between Italy +and<br> + France, to which Bandello did honor in the same way in the<br> + sixteenth century--Bandello, the bishop and author of some +strange<br> + tales indeed, who left us the splendid collection of +romances<br> + whence Shakespeare derived many of his plots and even +complete<br> + characters, word for word.</p> + +<p>The two sketches I dedicate to you are the two eternal aspects +of<br> + one and the same fact. Homo duplex, said the great Buffon: why +not<br> + add Res duplex? Everything has two sides, even virtue. Hence<br> + Moliere always shows us both sides of every human problem; +and<br> + Diderot, imitating him, once wrote, "This is not a mere +tale"--in<br> + what is perhaps Diderot's masterpiece, where he shows us the<br> + beautiful picture of Mademoiselle de Lachaux sacrificed by<br> + Gardanne, side by side with that of a perfect lover dying for +his<br> + mistress.</p> + +<p>In the same way, these two romances form a pair, like twins +of<br> + opposite sexes. This is a literary vagary to which a writer +may<br> + for once give way, especially as part of a work in which I +am<br> + endeavoring to depict every form that can serve as a garb to +mind.</p> + +<p>Most human quarrels arise from the fact that both wise men +and<br> + dunces exist who are so constituted as to be incapable of +seeing<br> + more than one side of any fact or idea, while each asserts +that<br> + the side he sees is the only true and right one. Thus it is<br> + written in the Holy Book, "God will deliver the world over +to<br> + divisions." I must confess that this passage of Scripture +alone<br> + should persuade the Papal See to give you the control of the +two<br> + Chambers to carry out the text which found its commentary in +1814,<br> + in the decree of Louis XVIII.</p> + +<p>May your wit and the poetry that is in you extend a +protecting<br> + hand over these two histories of "The Poor Relations"</p> + +<p>Of your affectionate humble servant,</p> + +<p>DE BALZAC.<br> + PARIS, August-September, 1846.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p> </p> + +<h1>COUSIN BETTY</h1> + +<h2>PART I</h2> + +<h3>THE PRODIGAL FATHER</h3> + +<p>One day, about the middle of July 1838, one of the carriages, +then<br> + lately introduced to Paris cabstands, and known as +<i>Milords</i>, was<br> + driving down the Rue de l'Universite, conveying a stout man of +middle<br> + height in the uniform of a captain of the National Guard.</p> + +<p>Among the Paris crowd, who are supposed to be so clever, there +are<br> + some men who fancy themselves infinitely more attractive in +uniform<br> + than in their ordinary clothes, and who attribute to women so +depraved<br> + a taste that they believe they will be favorably impressed by +the<br> + aspect of a busby and of military accoutrements.</p> + +<p><br> + The countenance of this Captain of the Second Company beamed +with a<br> + self-satisfaction that added splendor to his ruddy and somewhat +chubby<br> + face. The halo of glory that a fortune made in business gives to +a<br> + retired tradesman sat on his brow, and stamped him as one of the +elect<br> + of Paris--at least a retired deputy-mayor of his quarter of the +town.<br> + And you may be sure that the ribbon of the Legion of Honor was +not<br> + missing from his breast, gallantly padded <i>a la +Prussienne</i>. Proudly<br> + seated in one corner of the <i>milord</i>, this splendid person +let his<br> + gaze wander over the passers-by, who, in Paris, often thus meet +an<br> + ingratiating smile meant for sweet eyes that are absent.</p> + +<p>The vehicle stopped in the part of the street between the Rue +de<br> + Bellechasse and the Rue de Bourgogne, at the door of a large, +newly-<br> + build house, standing on part of the court-yard of an ancient +mansion<br> + that had a garden. The old house remained in its original +state,<br> + beyond the courtyard curtailed by half its extent.</p> + +<p>Only from the way in which the officer accepted the assistance +of the<br> + coachman to help him out, it was plain that he was past fifty. +There<br> + are certain movements so undisguisedly heavy that they are as +tell-<br> + tale as a register of birth. The captain put on his +lemon-colored<br> + right-hand glove, and, without any question to the gatekeeper, +went up<br> + the outer steps to the ground of the new house with a look +that<br> + proclaimed, "She is mine!"</p> + +<p>The <i>concierges</i> of Paris have sharp eyes; they do not +stop visitors<br> + who wear an order, have a blue uniform, and walk ponderously; +in<br> + short, they know a rich man when they see him.</p> + +<p>This ground floor was entirely occupied by Monsieur le Baron +Hulot<br> + d'Ervy, Commissary General under the Republic, retired army<br> + contractor, and at the present time at the head of one of the +most<br> + important departments of the War Office, Councillor of State, +officer<br> + of the Legion of Honor, and so forth.</p> + +<p>This Baron Hulot had taken the name of d'Ervy--the place of +his birth<br> + --to distinguish him from his brother, the famous General +Hulot,<br> + Colonel of the Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard, created by +the<br> + Emperor Comte de Forzheim after the campaign of 1809. The Count, +the<br> + elder brother, being responsible for his junior, had, with +paternal<br> + care, placed him in the commissariat, where, thanks to the +services of<br> + the two brothers, the Baron deserved and won Napoleon's good +graces.<br> + After 1807, Baron Hulot was Commissary General for the army in +Spain.</p> + +<p>Having rung the bell, the citizen-captain made strenuous +efforts to<br> + pull his coat into place, for it had rucked up as much at the +back as<br> + in front, pushed out of shape by the working of a piriform +stomach.<br> + Being admitted as soon as the servant in livery saw him, the +important<br> + and imposing personage followed the man, who opened the door of +the<br> + drawing-room, announcing:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Crevel."</p> + +<p>On hearing the name, singularly appropriate to the figure of +the man<br> + who bore it, a tall, fair woman, evidently young-looking for her +age,<br> + rose as if she had received an electric shock.</p> + +<p>"Hortense, my darling, go into the garden with your Cousin +Betty," she<br> + said hastily to her daughter, who was working at some embroidery +at<br> + her mother's side.</p> + +<p>After curtseying prettily to the captain, Mademoiselle +Hortense went<br> + out by a glass door, taking with her a withered-looking +spinster, who<br> + looked older than the Baroness, though she was five years +younger.</p> + +<p>"They are settling your marriage," said Cousin Betty in the +girl's<br> + ear, without seeming at all offended at the way in which the +Baroness<br> + had dismissed them, counting her almost as zero.</p> + +<p>The cousin's dress might, at need, have explained this +free-and-easy<br> + demeanor. The old maid wore a merino gown of a dark plum color, +of<br> + which the cut and trimming dated from the year of the +Restoration; a<br> + little worked collar, worth perhaps three francs; and a common +straw<br> + hat with blue satin ribbons edged with straw plait, such as the +old-<br> + clothes buyers wear at market. On looking down at her kid shoes, +made,<br> + it was evident, by the veriest cobbler, a stranger would +have<br> + hesitated to recognize Cousin Betty as a member of the family, +for she<br> + looked exactly like a journeywoman sempstress. But she did not +leave<br> + the room without bestowing a little friendly nod on Monsieur +Crevel,<br> + to which that gentleman responded by a look of mutual +understanding.</p> + +<p>"You are coming to us to-morrow, I hope, Mademoiselle +Fischer?" said<br> + he.</p> + +<p>"You have no company?" asked Cousin Betty.</p> + +<p>"My children and yourself, no one else," replied the +visitor.</p> + +<p>"Very well," replied she; "depend on me."</p> + +<p>"And here am I, madame, at your orders," said the +citizen-captain,<br> + bowing again to Madame Hulot.</p> + +<p>He gave such a look at Madame Hulot as Tartuffe casts at +Elmire--when<br> + a provincial actor plays the part and thinks it necessary to +emphasize<br> + its meaning--at Poitiers, or at Coutances.</p> + +<p>"If you will come into this room with me, we shall be more<br> + conveniently placed for talking business than we are in this +room,"<br> + said Madame Hulot, going to an adjoining room, which, as the +apartment<br> + was arranged, served as a cardroom.</p> + +<p>It was divided by a slight partition from a boudoir looking +out on the<br> + garden, and Madame Hulot left her visitor to himself for a +minute, for<br> + she thought it wise to shut the window and the door of the +boudoir, so<br> + that no one should get in and listen. She even took the +precaution of<br> + shutting the glass door of the drawing-room, smiling on her +daughter<br> + and her cousin, whom she saw seated in an old summer-house at +the end<br> + of the garden. As she came back she left the cardroom door open, +so as<br> + to hear if any one should open that of the drawing-room to come +in.</p> + +<p>As she came and went, the Baroness, seen by nobody, allowed +her face<br> + to betray all her thoughts, and any one who could have seen her +would<br> + have been shocked to see her agitation. But when she finally +came back<br> + from the glass door of the drawing-room, as she entered the +cardroom,<br> + her face was hidden behind the impenetrable reserve which every +woman,<br> + even the most candid, seems to have at her command.</p> + +<p>During all these preparations--odd, to say the least--the +National<br> + Guardsman studied the furniture of the room in which he found +himself.<br> + As he noted the silk curtains, once red, now faded to dull +purple by<br> + the sunshine, and frayed in the pleats by long wear; the carpet, +from<br> + which the hues had faded; the discolored gilding of the +furniture; and<br> + the silk seats, discolored in patches, and wearing into +strips--<br> + expressions of scorn, satisfaction, and hope dawned in +succession<br> + without disguise on his stupid tradesman's face. He looked at +himself<br> + in the glass over an old clock of the Empire, and was +contemplating<br> + the general effect, when the rustle of her silk skirt announced +the<br> + Baroness. He at once struck at attitude.</p> + +<p>After dropping on to a sofa, which had been a very handsome +one in the<br> + year 1809, the Baroness, pointing to an armchair with the arms +ending<br> + in bronze sphinxes' heads, while the paint was peeling from the +wood,<br> + which showed through in many places, signed to Crevel to be +seated.</p> + +<p>"All the precautions you are taking, madame, would seem full +of<br> + promise to a----"</p> + +<p>"To a lover," said she, interrupting him.</p> + +<p>"The word is too feeble," said he, placing his right hand on +his<br> + heart, and rolling his eyes in a way which almost always makes a +woman<br> + laugh when she, in cold blood, sees such a look. "A lover! A +lover?<br> + Say a man bewitched----"</p> + +<p>"Listen, Monsieur Crevel," said the Baroness, too anxious to +be able<br> + to laugh, "you are fifty--ten years younger than Monsieur Hulot, +I<br> + know; but at my age a woman's follies ought to be justified by +beauty,<br> + youth, fame, superior merit--some one of the splendid qualities +which<br> + can dazzle us to the point of making us forget all else--even at +our<br> + age. Though you may have fifty thousand francs a year, your +age<br> + counterbalances your fortune; thus you have nothing whatever of +what a<br> + woman looks for----"</p> + +<p>"But love!" said the officer, rising and coming forward. "Such +love<br> + as----"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur, such obstinacy!" said the Baroness, +interrupting him to<br> + put an end to his absurdity.</p> + +<p>"Yes, obstinacy," said he, "and love; but something stronger +still--a<br> + claim----"</p> + +<p>"A claim!" cried Madame Hulot, rising sublime with scorn, +defiance,<br> + and indignation. "But," she went on, "this will bring us to no +issues;<br> + I did not ask you to come here to discuss the matter which led +to your<br> + banishment in spite of the connection between our +families----"</p> + +<p>"I had fancied so."</p> + +<p>"What! still?" cried she. "Do you not see, monsieur, by the +entire<br> + ease and freedom with which I can speak of lovers and love, +of<br> + everything least creditable to a woman, that I am perfectly +secure in<br> + my own virtue? I fear nothing--not even to shut myself in alone +with<br> + you. Is that the conduct of a weak woman? You know full well why +I<br> + begged you to come."</p> + +<p>"No, madame," replied Crevel, with an assumption of great +coldness. He<br> + pursed up his lips, and again struck an attitude.</p> + +<p>"Well, I will be brief, to shorten our common discomfort," +said the<br> + Baroness, looking at Crevel.</p> + +<p>Crevel made an ironical bow, in which a man who knew the race +would<br> + have recognized the graces of a bagman.</p> + +<p>"Our son married your daughter----"</p> + +<p>"And if it were to do again----" said Crevel.</p> + +<p>"It would not be done at all, I suspect," said the baroness +hastily.<br> + "However, you have nothing to complain of. My son is not only +one of<br> + the leading pleaders of Paris, but for the last year he has sat +as<br> + Deputy, and his maiden speech was brilliant enough to lead us +to<br> + suppose that ere long he will be in office. Victorin has twice +been<br> + called upon to report on important measures; and he might even +now, if<br> + he chose, be made Attorney-General in the Court of Appeal. So, +if you<br> + mean to say that your son-in-law has no fortune----"</p> + +<p>"Worse than that, madame, a son-in-law whom I am obliged to +maintain,"<br> + replied Crevel. "Of the five hundred thousand francs that formed +my<br> + daughter's marriage portion, two hundred thousand have +vanished--God<br> + knows how!--in paying the young gentleman's debts, in furnishing +his<br> + house splendaciously--a house costing five hundred thousand +francs,<br> + and bringing in scarcely fifteen thousand, since he occupies +the<br> + larger part of it, while he owes two hundred and sixty thousand +francs<br> + of the purchase-money. The rent he gets barely pays the interest +on<br> + the debt. I have had to give my daughter twenty thousand francs +this<br> + year to help her to make both ends meet. And then my son-in-law, +who<br> + was making thirty thousand francs a year at the Assizes, I am +told, is<br> + going to throw that up for the Chamber----"</p> + +<p>"This, again, Monsieur Crevel, is beside the mark; we are +wandering<br> + from the point. Still, to dispose of it finally, it may be said +that<br> + if my son gets into office, if he has you made an officer of +the<br> + Legion of Honor and councillor of the municipality of Paris, +you, as a<br> + retired perfumer, will not have much to complain of----"</p> + +<p>"Ah! there we are again, madame! Yes, I am a tradesman, a +shopkeeper,<br> + a retail dealer in almond-paste, eau-de-Portugal, and hair-oil, +and<br> + was only too much honored when my only daughter was married to +the son<br> + of Monsieur le Baron Hulot d'Ervy--my daughter will be a +Baroness!<br> + This is Regency, Louis XV., (Eil-de-boeuf--quite tip-top!--very +good.)<br> + I love Celestine as a man loves his only child--so well indeed, +that,<br> + to preserve her from having either brother or sister, I +resigned<br> + myself to all the privations of a widower--in Paris, and in the +prime<br> + of life, madame. But you must understand that, in spite of +this<br> + extravagant affection for my daughter, I do not intend to reduce +my<br> + fortune for the sake of your son, whose expenses are not +wholly<br> + accounted for--in my eyes, as an old man of business."</p> + +<p><br> + "Monsieur, you may at this day see in the Ministry of +Commerce<br> + Monsieur Popinot, formerly a druggist in the Rue des +Lombards----"</p> + +<p>"And a friend of mine, madame," said the ex-perfumer. "For I, +Celestin<br> + Crevel, foreman once to old Cesar Birotteau, brought up the said +Cesar<br> + Birotteau's stock; and he was Popinot's father-in-law. Why, that +very<br> + Popinot was no more than a shopman in the establishment, and he +is the<br> + first to remind me of it; for he is not proud, to do him +justice, to<br> + men in a good position with an income of sixty thousand francs +in the<br> + funds."</p> + +<p>"Well then, monsieur, the notions you term 'Regency' are quite +out of<br> + date at a time when a man is taken at his personal worth; and +that is<br> + what you did when you married your daughter to my son."</p> + +<p>"But you do not know how the marriage was brought about!" +cried<br> + Crevel. "Oh, that cursed bachelor life! But for my misconduct, +my<br> + Celestine might at this day be Vicomtesse Popinot!"</p> + +<p>"Once more have done with recriminations over accomplished +facts,"<br> + said the Baroness anxiously. "Let us rather discuss the +complaints I<br> + have found on your strange behavior. My daughter Hortense had a +chance<br> + of marrying; the match depended entirely on you; I believed you +felt<br> + some sentiments of generosity; I thought you would do justice to +a<br> + woman who has never had a thought in her heart for any man but +her<br> + husband, that you would have understood how necessary it is for +her<br> + not to receive a man who may compromise her, and that for the +honor of<br> + the family with which you are allied you would have been eager +to<br> + promote Hortense's settlement with Monsieur le Conseiller +Lebas.--And<br> + it is you, monsieur, you have hindered the marriage."</p> + +<p>"Madame," said the ex-perfumer, "I acted the part of an honest +man. I<br> + was asked whether the two hundred thousand francs to be settled +on<br> + Mademoiselle Hortense would be forthcoming. I replied exactly in +these<br> + words: 'I would not answer for it. My son-in-law, to whom the +Hulots<br> + had promised the same sum, was in debt; and I believe that if +Monsieur<br> + Hulot d'Ervy were to die to-morrow, his widow would have nothing +to<br> + live on.'--There, fair lady."</p> + +<p>"And would you have said as much, monsieur," asked Madame +Hulot,<br> + looking Crevel steadily in the face, "if I had been false to my +duty?"</p> + +<p>"I should not be in a position to say it, dearest Adeline," +cried this<br> + singular adorer, interrupting the Baroness, "for you would have +found<br> + the amount in my pocket-book."</p> + +<p>And adding action to word, the fat guardsman knelt down on one +knee<br> + and kissed Madame Hulot's hand, seeing that his speech had +filled her<br> + with speechless horror, which he took for hesitancy.</p> + +<p>"What, buy my daughter's fortune at the cost of----? Rise, +monsieur--<br> + or I ring the bell."</p> + +<p>Crevel rose with great difficulty. This fact made him so +furious that<br> + he again struck his favorite attitude. Most men have some +habitual<br> + position by which they fancy that they show to the best +advantage the<br> + good points bestowed on them by nature. This attitude in +Crevel<br> + consisted in crossing his arms like Napoleon, his head showing +three-<br> + quarters face, and his eyes fixed on the horizon, as the painter +has<br> + shown the Emperor in his portrait.</p> + +<p>"To be faithful," he began, with well-acted indignation, "so +faithful<br> + to a liber----"</p> + +<p>"To a husband who is worthy of such fidelity," Madame Hulot +put in, to<br> + hinder Crevel from saying a word she did not choose to hear.</p> + +<p>"Come, madame; you wrote to bid me here, you ask the reasons +for my<br> + conduct, you drive me to extremities with your imperial airs, +your<br> + scorn, and your contempt! Any one might think I was a Negro. But +I<br> + repeat it, and you may believe me, I have a right to--to make +love to<br> + you, for---- But no; I love you well enough to hold my +tongue."</p> + +<p>"You may speak, monsieur. In a few days I shall be +eight-and-forty; I<br> + am no prude; I can hear whatever you can say."</p> + +<p>"Then will you give me your word of honor as an honest +woman--for you<br> + are, alas for me! an honest woman--never to mention my name or +to say<br> + that it was I who betrayed the secret?"</p> + +<p>"If that is the condition on which you speak, I will swear +never to<br> + tell any one from whom I heard the horrors you propose to tell +me, not<br> + even my husband."</p> + +<p>"I should think not indeed, for only you and he are +concerned."</p> + +<p>Madame Hulot turned pale.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if you still really love Hulot, it will distress you. +Shall I say<br> + no more?"</p> + +<p>"Speak, monsieur; for by your account you wish to justify in +my eyes<br> + the extraordinary declarations you have chosen to make me, and +your<br> + persistency in tormenting a woman of my age, whose only wish is +to see<br> + her daughter married, and then--to die in peace----"</p> + +<p>"You see; you are unhappy."</p> + +<p>"I, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, beautiful, noble creature!" cried Crevel. "You have +indeed been<br> + too wretched!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, be silent and go--or speak to me as you ought."</p> + +<p>"Do you know, madame, how Master Hulot and I first made +acquaintance?<br> + --At our mistresses', madame."</p> + +<p>"Oh, monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame, at our mistresses'," Crevel repeated in a +melodramatic<br> + tone, and leaving his position to wave his right hand.</p> + +<p>"Well, and what then?" said the Baroness coolly, to Crevel's +great<br> + amazement.</p> + +<p>Such mean seducers cannot understand a great soul.</p> + +<p>"I, a widower five years since," Crevel began, in the tone of +a man<br> + who has a story to tell, "and not wishing to marry again for the +sake<br> + of the daughter I adore, not choosing either to cultivate any +such<br> + connection in my own establishment, though I had at the time a +very<br> + pretty lady-accountant. I set up, 'on her own account,' as they +say, a<br> + little sempstress of fifteen--really a miracle of beauty, with +whom I<br> + fell desperately in love. And in fact, madame, I asked an aunt +of my<br> + own, my mother's sister, whom I sent for from the country, to +live<br> + with the sweet creature and keep an eye on her, that she might +behave<br> + as well as might be in this rather--what shall I +say--shady?--no,<br> + delicate position.</p> + +<p>"The child, whose talent for music was striking, had masters, +she was<br> + educated--I had to give her something to do. Besides, I wished +to be<br> + at once her father, her benefactor, and--well, out with it--her +lover;<br> + to kill two birds with one stone, a good action and a +sweetheart. For<br> + five years I was very happy. The girl had one of those voices +that<br> + make the fortune of a theatre; I can only describe her by saying +that<br> + she is a Duprez in petticoats. It cost me two thousand francs a +year<br> + only to cultivate her talent as a singer. She made me music-mad; +I<br> + took a box at the opera for her and for my daughter, and went +there<br> + alternate evenings with Celestine or Josepha."</p> + +<p>"What, the famous singer?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame," said Crevel with pride, "the famous Josepha +owes<br> + everything to me.--At last, in 1834, when the child was +twenty,<br> + believing that I had attached her to me for ever, and being very +weak<br> + where she was concerned, I thought I would give her a little<br> + amusement, and I introduced her to a pretty little actress, +Jenny<br> + Cadine, whose life had been somewhat like her own. This actress +also<br> + owed everything to a protector who had brought her up in +leading-<br> + strings. That protector was Baron Hulot."</p> + +<p>"I know that," said the Baroness, in a calm voice without the +least<br> + agitation.</p> + +<p>"Bless me!" cried Crevel, more and more astounded. "Well! But +do you<br> + know that your monster of a husband took Jenny Cadine in hand at +the<br> + age of thirteen?"</p> + +<p>"What then?" said the Baroness.</p> + +<p>"As Jenny Cadine and Josepha were both aged twenty when they +first<br> + met," the ex-tradesman went on, "the Baron had been playing the +part<br> + of Louis XV. to Mademoiselle de Romans ever since 1826, and you +were<br> + twelve years younger then----"</p> + +<p>"I had my reasons, monsieur, for leaving Monsieur Hulot his +liberty."</p> + +<p>"That falsehood, madame, will surely be enough to wipe out +every sin<br> + you have ever committed, and to open to you the gates of +Paradise,"<br> + replied Crevel, with a knowing air that brought the color to +the<br> + Baroness' cheeks. "Sublime and adored woman, tell that to those +who<br> + will believe it, but not to old Crevel, who has, I may tell +you,<br> + feasted too often as one of four with your rascally husband not +to<br> + know what your high merits are! Many a time has he blamed +himself when<br> + half tipsy as he has expatiated on your perfections. Oh, I know +you<br> + well!--A libertine might hesitate between you and a girl of +twenty. I<br> + do not hesitate----"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I say no more. But you must know, saintly and noble +woman, that<br> + a husband under certain circumstances will tell things about his +wife<br> + to his mistress that will mightily amuse her."</p> + +<p>Tears of shame hanging to Madame Hulot's long lashes checked +the<br> + National Guardsman. He stopped short, and forgot his +attitude.</p> + +<p>"To proceed," said he. "We became intimate, the Baron and I, +through<br> + the two hussies. The Baron, like all bad lots, is very pleasant, +a<br> + thoroughly jolly good fellow. Yes, he took my fancy, the old +rascal.<br> + He could be so funny!--Well, enough of those reminiscences. We +got to<br> + be like brothers. The scoundrel--quite Regency in his +notions--tried<br> + indeed to deprave me altogether, preached Saint-Simonism as to +women,<br> + and all sorts of lordly ideas; but, you see, I was fond enough +of my<br> + girl to have married her, only I was afraid of having +children.</p> + +<p>"Then between two old daddies, such friends as--as we were, +what more<br> + natural than that we should think of our children marrying each +other?<br> + --Three months after his son had married my Celestine, Hulot--I +don't<br> + know how I can utter the wretch's name! he has cheated us both, +madame<br> + --well, the villain did me out of my little Josepha. The +scoundrel<br> + knew that he was supplanted in the heart of Jenny Cadine by a +young<br> + lawyer and by an artist--only two of them!--for the girl had +more and<br> + more of a howling success, and he stole my sweet little girl, +a<br> + perfect darling--but you must have seen her at the opera; he got +her<br> + an engagement there. Your husband is not so well behaved as I +am. I am<br> + ruled as straight as a sheet of music-paper. He had dropped a +good<br> + deal of money on Jenny Cadine, who must have cost him near on +thirty<br> + thousand francs a year. Well, I can only tell you that he is +ruining<br> + himself outright for Josepha.</p> + +<p><br> + "Josepha, madame, is a Jewess. Her name is Mirah, the anagram +of<br> + Hiram, an Israelite mark that stamps her, for she was a +foundling<br> + picked up in Germany, and the inquiries I have made prove that +she is<br> + the illegitimate child of a rich Jew banker. The life of the +theatre,<br> + and, above all, the teaching of Jenny Cadine, Madame Schontz, +Malaga,<br> + and Carabine, as to the way to treat an old man, have developed, +in<br> + the child whom I had kept in a respectable and not too expensive +way<br> + of life, all the native Hebrew instinct for gold and jewels--for +the<br> + golden calf.</p> + +<p>"So this famous singer, hungering for plunder, now wants to be +rich,<br> + very rich. She tried her 'prentice hand on Baron Hulot, and +soon<br> + plucked him bare--plucked him, ay, and singed him to the skin. +The<br> + miserable man, after trying to vie with one of the Kellers and +with<br> + the Marquis d'Esgrignon, both perfectly mad about Josepha, to +say<br> + nothing of unknown worshipers, is about to see her carried off +by that<br> + very rich Duke, who is such a patron of the arts. Oh, what is +his<br> + name?--a dwarf.--Ah, the Duc d'Herouville. This fine gentleman +insists<br> + on having Josepha for his very own, and all that set are talking +about<br> + it; the Baron knows nothing of it as yet; for it is the same in +the<br> + Thirteenth Arrondissement as in every other: the lover, like +the<br> + husband, is last to get the news.</p> + +<p>"Now, do you understand my claim? Your husband, dear lady, has +robbed<br> + me of my joy in life, the only happiness I have known since I +became a<br> + widower. Yes, if I had not been so unlucky as to come across +that old<br> + rip, Josepha would still be mine; for I, you know, should never +have<br> + placed her on the stage. She would have lived obscure, well +conducted,<br> + and mine. Oh! if you could but have seen her eight years ago, +slight<br> + and wiry, with the golden skin of an Andalusian, as they say, +black<br> + hair as shiny as satin, an eye that flashed lightning under long +brown<br> + lashes, the style of a duchess in every movement, the modesty of +a<br> + dependent, decent grace, and the pretty ways of a wild fawn. And +by<br> + that Hulot's doing all this charm and purity has been degraded +to a<br> + man-trap, a money-box for five-franc pieces! The girl is the +Queen of<br> + Trollops; and nowadays she humbugs every one--she who knew +nothing,<br> + not even that word."</p> + +<p>At this stage the retired perfumer wiped his eyes, which were +full of<br> + tears. The sincerity of his grief touched Madame Hulot, and +roused her<br> + from the meditation into which she had sunk.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, madame, is a man of fifty-two likely to find such +another<br> + jewel? At my age love costs thirty thousand francs a year. It +is<br> + through your husband's experience that I know the price, and I +love<br> + Celestine too truly to be her ruin. When I saw you, at the +first<br> + evening party you gave in our honor, I wondered how that +scoundrel<br> + Hulot could keep a Jenny Cadine--you had the manner of an +Empress. You<br> + do not look thirty," he went on. "To me, madame, you look young, +and<br> + you are beautiful. On my word of honor, that evening I was +struck to<br> + the heart. I said to myself, 'If I had not Josepha, since old +Hulot<br> + neglects his wife, she would fit me like a glove.' Forgive +me--it is a<br> + reminiscence of my old business. The perfumer will crop up now +and<br> + then, and that is what keeps me from standing to be elected +deputy.</p> + +<p>"And then, when I was so abominably deceived by the Baron, for +really<br> + between old rips like us our friend's mistress should be sacred, +I<br> + swore I would have his wife. It is but justice. The Baron could +say<br> + nothing; we are certain of impunity. You showed me the door like +a<br> + mangy dog at the first words I uttered as to the state of my +feelings;<br> + you only made my passion--my obstinacy, if you will--twice as +strong,<br> + and you shall be mine."</p> + +<p>"Indeed; how?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know; but it will come to pass. You see, madame, an +idiot of<br> + a perfumer--retired from business--who has but one idea in his +head,<br> + is stronger than a clever fellow who has a thousand. I am +smitten with<br> + you, and you are the means of my revenge; it is like being in +love<br> + twice over. I am speaking to you quite frankly, as a man who +knows<br> + what he means. I speak coldly to you, just as you do to me, when +you<br> + say, 'I never will be yours,' In fact, as they say, I play the +game<br> + with the cards on the table. Yes, you shall be mine, sooner or +later;<br> + if you were fifty, you should still be my mistress. And it will +be;<br> + for I expect anything from your husband!"</p> + +<p>Madame Hulot looked at this vulgar intriguer with such a fixed +stare<br> + of terror, that he thought she had gone mad, and he stopped.</p> + +<p>"You insisted on it, you heaped me with scorn, you defied +me--and I<br> + have spoken," said he, feeling that he must justify the ferocity +of<br> + his last words.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my daughter, my daughter," moaned the Baroness in a voice +like a<br> + dying woman's.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I have forgotten all else," Crevel went on. "The day when +I was<br> + robbed of Josepha I was like a tigress robbed of her cubs; in +short,<br> + as you see me now.--Your daughter? Yes, I regard her as the +means of<br> + winning you. Yes, I put a spoke in her marriage--and you will +not get<br> + her married without my help! Handsome as Mademoiselle Hortense +is, she<br> + needs a fortune----"</p> + +<p>"Alas! yes," said the Baroness, wiping her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Well, just ask your husband for ten thousand francs," said +Crevel,<br> + striking his attitude once more. He waited a minute, like an +actor who<br> + has made a point.</p> + +<p>"If he had the money, he would give it to the woman who will +take<br> + Josepha's place," he went on, emphasizing his tones. "Does a man +ever<br> + pull up on the road he has taken? In the first place, he is too +sweet<br> + on women. There is a happy medium in all things, as our King has +told<br> + us. And then his vanity is implicated! He is a handsome man!--He +would<br> + bring you all to ruin for his pleasure; in fact, you are already +on<br> + the highroad to the workhouse. Why, look, never since I set foot +in<br> + your house have you been able to do up your drawing-room +furniture.<br> + 'Hard up' is the word shouted by every slit in the stuff. Where +will<br> + you find a son-in-law who would not turn his back in horror of +the<br> + ill-concealed evidence of the most cruel misery there is--that +of<br> + people in decent society? I have kept shop, and I know. There is +no<br> + eye so quick as that of the Paris tradesman to detect real +wealth from<br> + its sham.--You have no money," he said, in a lower voice. "It +is<br> + written everywhere, even on your man-servant's coat.</p> + +<p>"Would you like me to disclose any more hideous mysteries that +are<br> + kept from you?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," cried Madame Hulot, whose handkerchief was wet +through<br> + with her tears, "enough, enough!"</p> + +<p>"My son-in-law, I tell you, gives his father money, and this +is what I<br> + particularly wanted to come to when I began by speaking of your +son's<br> + expenses. But I keep an eye on my daughter's interests, be +easy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if I could but see my daughter married, and die!" cried +the poor<br> + woman, quite losing her head.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, this is the way," said the ex-perfumer.</p> + +<p>Madame Hulot looked at Crevel with a hopeful expression, which +so<br> + completely changed her countenance, that this alone ought to +have<br> + touched the man's feelings and have led him to abandon his +monstrous<br> + schemes.</p> + +<p>"You will still be handsome ten years hence," Crevel went on, +with his<br> + arms folded; "be kind to me, and Mademoiselle Hulot will marry. +Hulot<br> + has given me the right, as I have explained to you, to put the +matter<br> + crudely, and he will not be angry. In three years I have saved +the<br> + interest on my capital, for my dissipations have been +restricted. I<br> + have three hundred thousand francs in the bank over and above +my<br> + invested fortune--they are yours----"</p> + +<p>"Go," said Madame Hulot. "Go, monsieur, and never let me see +you<br> + again. But for the necessity in which you placed me to learn +the<br> + secret of your cowardly conduct with regard to the match I had +planned<br> + for Hortense--yes, cowardly!" she repeated, in answer to a +gesture<br> + from Crevel. "How can you load a poor girl, a pretty, +innocent<br> + creature, with such a weight of enmity? But for the necessity +that<br> + goaded me as a mother, you would never have spoken to me again, +never<br> + again have come within my doors. Thirty-two years of an +honorable and<br> + loyal life shall not be swept away by a blow from Monsieur +Crevel----"</p> + +<p>"The retired perfumer, successor to Cesar Birotteau at the +<i>Queen of<br> + the Roses</i>, Rue Saint-Honore," added Crevel, in mocking +tones.<br> + "Deputy-mayor, captain in the National Guard, Chevalier of the +Legion<br> + of Honor--exactly what my predecessor was!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," said the Baroness, "if, after twenty years of +constancy,<br> + Monsieur Hulot is tired of his wife, that is nobody's concern +but<br> + mine. As you see, he has kept his infidelity a mystery, for I +did not<br> + know that he had succeeded you in the affections of +Mademoiselle<br> + Josepha----"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it has cost him a pretty penny, madame. His singing-bird +has cost<br> + him more than a hundred thousand francs in these two years. Ah, +ha!<br> + you have not seen the end of it!"</p> + +<p>"Have done with all this, Monsieur Crevel. I will not, for +your sake,<br> + forego the happiness a mother knows who can embrace her +children<br> + without a single pang of remorse in her heart, who sees +herself<br> + respected and loved by her family; and I will give up my soul to +God<br> + unspotted----"</p> + +<p>"Amen!" exclaimed Crevel, with the diabolical rage that +embitters the<br> + face of these pretenders when they fail for the second time in +such an<br> + attempt. "You do not yet know the latter end of +poverty--shame,<br> + disgrace.--I have tried to warn you; I would have saved you, you +and<br> + your daughter. Well, you must study the modern parable of +the<br> + <i>Prodigal Father</i> from A to Z. Your tears and your pride +move me<br> + deeply," said Crevel, seating himself, "for it is frightful to +see the<br> + woman one loves weeping. All I can promise you, dear Adeline, is +to do<br> + nothing against your interests or your husband's. Only never +send to<br> + me for information. That is all."</p> + +<p>"What is to be done?" cried Madame Hulot.</p> + +<p>Up to now the Baroness had bravely faced the threefold torment +which<br> + this explanation inflicted on her; for she was wounded as a +woman, as<br> + a mother, and as a wife. In fact, so long as her son's +father-in-law<br> + was insolent and offensive, she had found the strength in +her<br> + resistance to the aggressive tradesman; but the sort of +good-nature he<br> + showed, in spite of his exasperation as a mortified adorer and +as a<br> + humiliated National Guardsman, broke down her nerve, strung to +the<br> + point of snapping. She wrung her hands, melted into tears, and +was in<br> + a state of such helpless dejection, that she allowed Crevel to +kneel<br> + at her feet, kissing her hands.</p> + +<p>"Good God! what will become of us!" she went on, wiping away +her<br> + tears. "Can a mother sit still and see her child pine away +before her<br> + eyes? What is to be the fate of that splendid creature, as +strong in<br> + her pure life under her mother's care as she is by every gift +of<br> + nature? There are days when she wanders round the garden, out +of<br> + spirits without knowing why; I find her with tears in her +eyes----"</p> + +<p>"She is one-and-twenty," said Crevel.</p> + +<p>"Must I place her in a convent?" asked the Baroness. "But in +such<br> + cases religion is impotent to subdue nature, and the most +piously<br> + trained girls lose their head!--Get up, pray, monsieur; do you +not<br> + understand that everything is final between us? that I look upon +you<br> + with horror? that you have crushed a mother's last +hopes----"</p> + +<p>"But if I were to restore them," asked he.</p> + +<p>Madame Hulot looked at Crevel with a frenzied expression that +really<br> + touched him. But he drove pity back to the depths of his heart; +she<br> + had said, "I look upon you with horror."</p> + +<p>Virtue is always a little too rigid; it overlooks the shades +and<br> + instincts by help of which we are able to tack when in a +false<br> + position.</p> + +<p>"So handsome a girl as Mademoiselle Hortense does not find a +husband<br> + nowadays if she is penniless," Crevel remarked, resuming his<br> + starchiest manner. "Your daughter is one of those beauties who +rather<br> + alarm intending husbands; like a thoroughbred horse, which is +too<br> + expensive to keep up to find a ready purchaser. If you go out +walking<br> + with such a woman on your arm, every one will turn to look at +you, and<br> + follow and covet his neighbor's wife. Such success is a source +of much<br> + uneasiness to men who do not want to be killing lovers; for, +after<br> + all, no man kills more than one. In the position in which you +find<br> + yourself there are just three ways of getting your daughter +married:<br> + Either by my help--and you will have none of it! That is +one.--Or by<br> + finding some old man of sixty, very rich, childless, and anxious +to<br> + have children; that is difficult, still such men are to be met +with.<br> + Many old men take up with a Josepha, a Jenny Cadine, why should +not<br> + one be found who is ready to make a fool of himself under +legal<br> + formalities? If it were not for Celestine and our two +grandchildren, I<br> + would marry Hortense myself. That is two.--The last way is +the<br> + easiest----"</p> + +<p>Madame Hulot raised her head, and looked uneasily at the +ex-perfumer.</p> + +<p>"Paris is a town whither every man of energy--and they sprout +like<br> + saplings on French soil--comes to meet his kind; talent swarms +here<br> + without hearth or home, and energy equal to anything, even to +making a<br> + fortune. Well, these youngsters--your humble servant was such a +one in<br> + his time, and how many he has known! What had du Tillet or +Popinot<br> + twenty years since? They were both pottering round in Daddy<br> + Birotteau's shop, with not a penny of capital but their +determination<br> + to get on, which, in my opinion, is the best capital a man can +have.<br> + Money may be eaten through, but you don't eat through your<br> + determination. Why, what had I? The will to get on, and plenty +of<br> + pluck. At this day du Tillet is a match for the greatest folks; +little<br> + Popinot, the richest druggist of the Rue des Lombards, became +a<br> + deputy, now he is in office.--Well, one of these free lances, as +we<br> + say on the stock market, of the pen, or of the brush, is the +only man<br> + in Paris who would marry a penniless beauty, for they have +courage<br> + enough for anything. Monsieur Popinot married Mademoiselle +Birotteau<br> + without asking for a farthing. Those men are madmen, to be sure! +They<br> + trust in love as they trust in good luck and brains!--Find a man +of<br> + energy who will fall in love with your daughter, and he will +marry<br> + without a thought of money. You must confess that by way of an +enemy I<br> + am not ungenerous, for this advice is against my own +interests."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Monsieur Crevel, if you would indeed be my friend and +give up<br> + your ridiculous notions----"</p> + +<p>"Ridiculous? Madame, do not run yourself down. Look at +yourself--I<br> + love you, and you will come to be mine. The day will come when I +shall<br> + say to Hulot, 'You took Josepha, I have taken your wife!'</p> + +<p>"It is the old law of tit-for-tat! And I will persevere till I +have<br> + attained my end, unless you should become extremely ugly.--I +shall<br> + succeed; and I will tell you why," he went on, resuming his +attitude,<br> + and looking at Madame Hulot. "You will not meet with such an old +man,<br> + or such a young lover," he said after a pause, "because you love +your<br> + daughter too well to hand her over to the manoeuvres of an +old<br> + libertine, and because you--the Baronne Hulot, sister of the +old<br> + Lieutenant-General who commanded the veteran Grenadiers of the +Old<br> + Guard--will not condescend to take a man of spirit wherever you +may<br> + find him; for he might be a mere craftsman, as many a +millionaire of<br> + to-day was ten years ago, a working artisan, or the foreman of +a<br> + factory.</p> + +<p><br> + "And then, when you see the girl, urged by her twenty years, +capable<br> + of dishonoring you all, you will say to yourself, 'It will be +better<br> + that I should fall! If Monsieur Crevel will but keep my secret, +I will<br> + earn my daughter's portion--two hundred thousand francs for ten +years'<br> + attachment to that old gloveseller--old Crevel!'--I disgust you +no<br> + doubt, and what I am saying is horribly immoral, you think? But +if you<br> + happened to have been bitten by an overwhelming passion, you +would<br> + find a thousand arguments in favor of yielding--as women do when +they<br> + are in love.--Yes, and Hortense's interests will suggest to +your<br> + feelings such terms of surrendering your conscience----"</p> + +<p>"Hortense has still an uncle."</p> + +<p>"What! Old Fischer? He is winding up his concerns, and that +again is<br> + the Baron's fault; his rake is dragged over every till within +his<br> + reach."</p> + +<p>"Comte Hulot----"</p> + +<p>"Oh, madame, your husband has already made thin air of the +old<br> + General's savings. He spent them in furnishing his singer's +rooms.--<br> + Now, come; am I to go without a hope?"</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, monsieur. A man easily gets over a passion for a +woman of<br> + my age, and you will fall back on Christian principles. God +takes care<br> + of the wretched----"</p> + +<p>The Baroness rose to oblige the captain to retreat, and drove +him back<br> + into the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>"Ought the beautiful Madame Hulot to be living amid such +squalor?"<br> + said he, and he pointed to an old lamp, a chandelier bereft of +its<br> + gilding, the threadbare carpet, the very rags of wealth which +made the<br> + large room, with its red, white, and gold, look like a corpse +of<br> + Imperial festivities.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, virtue shines on it all. I have no wish to owe a +handsome<br> + abode to having made of the beauty you are pleased to ascribe to +me a<br> + <i>man-trap</i> and <i>a money-box for five-franc +pieces</i>!"</p> + +<p>The captain bit his lips as he recognized the words he had +used to<br> + vilify Josepha's avarice.</p> + +<p>"And for whom are you so magnanimous?" said he. By this time +the<br> + baroness had got her rejected admirer as far as the door.--"For +a<br> + libertine!" said he, with a lofty grimace of virtue and +superior<br> + wealth.</p> + +<p>"If you are right, my constancy has some merit, monsieur. That +is<br> + all."</p> + +<p>After bowing to the officer as a woman bows to dismiss an +importune<br> + visitor, she turned away too quickly to see him once more fold +his<br> + arms. She unlocked the doors she had closed, and did not see +the<br> + threatening gesture which was Crevel's parting greeting. She +walked<br> + with a proud, defiant step, like a martyr to the Coliseum, but +her<br> + strength was exhausted; she sank on the sofa in her blue room, +as if<br> + she were ready to faint, and sat there with her eyes fixed on +the<br> + tumble-down summer-house, where her daughter was gossiping with +Cousin<br> + Betty.</p> + +<p>From the first days of her married life to the present time +the<br> + Baroness had loved her husband, as Josephine in the end had +loved<br> + Napoleon, with an admiring, maternal, and cowardly devotion. +Though<br> + ignorant of the details given her by Crevel, she knew that for +twenty<br> + years past Baron Hulot been anything rather than a faithful +husband;<br> + but she had sealed her eyes with lead, she had wept in silence, +and no<br> + word of reproach had ever escaped her. In return for this +angelic<br> + sweetness, she had won her husband's veneration and +something<br> + approaching to worship from all who were about her.</p> + +<p>A wife's affection for her husband and the respect she pays +him are<br> + infectious in a family. Hortense believed her father to be a +perfect<br> + model of conjugal affection; as to their son, brought up to +admire the<br> + Baron, whom everybody regarded as one of the giants who so +effectually<br> + backed Napoleon, he knew that he owed his advancement to his +father's<br> + name, position, and credit; and besides, the impressions of +childhood<br> + exert an enduring influence. He still was afraid of his father; +and if<br> + he had suspected the misdeeds revealed by Crevel, as he was too +much<br> + overawed by him to find fault, he would have found excuses in +the view<br> + every man takes of such matters.</p> + +<p>It now will be necessary to give the reasons for the +extraordinary<br> + self-devotion of a good and beautiful woman; and this, in a few +words,<br> + is her past history.</p> + +<p>Three brothers, simple laboring men, named Fischer, and living +in a<br> + village situated on the furthest frontier of Lorraine, were +compelled<br> + by the Republican conscription to set out with the so-called +army of<br> + the Rhine.</p> + +<p>In 1799 the second brother, Andre, a widower, and Madame +Hulot's<br> + father, left his daughter to the care of his elder brother, +Pierre<br> + Fischer, disabled from service by a wound received in 1797, and +made a<br> + small private venture in the military transport service, an +opening he<br> + owed to the favor of Hulot d'Ervy, who was high in the +commissariat.<br> + By a very obvious chance Hulot, coming to Strasbourg, saw the +Fischer<br> + family. Adeline's father and his younger brother were at that +time<br> + contractors for forage in the province of Alsace.</p> + +<p>Adeline, then sixteen years of age, might be compared with the +famous<br> + Madame du Barry, like her, a daughter of Lorraine. She was one +of<br> + those perfect and striking beauties--a woman like Madame +Tallien,<br> + finished with peculiar care by Nature, who bestows on them all +her<br> + choicest gifts--distinction, dignity, grace, refinement, +elegance,<br> + flesh of a superior texture, and a complexion mingled in the +unknown<br> + laboratory where good luck presides. These beautiful creatures +all<br> + have something in common: Bianca Capella, whose portrait is one +of<br> + Bronzino's masterpieces; Jean Goujon's Venus, painted from the +famous<br> + Diane de Poitiers; Signora Olympia, whose picture adorns the +Doria<br> + gallery; Ninon, Madame du Barry, Madame Tallien, Mademoiselle +Georges,<br> + Madame Recamier.--all these women who preserved their beauty in +spite<br> + of years, of passion, and of their life of excess and pleasure, +have<br> + in figure, frame, and in the character of their beauty +certain<br> + striking resemblances, enough to make one believe that there is +in the<br> + ocean of generations an Aphrodisian current whence every such +Venus is<br> + born, all daughters of the same salt wave.</p> + +<p>Adeline Fischer, one of the loveliest of this race of +goddesses, had<br> + the splendid type, the flowing lines, the exquisite texture of a +woman<br> + born a queen. The fair hair that our mother Eve received from +the hand<br> + of God, the form of an Empress, an air of grandeur, and an +august line<br> + of profile, with her rural modesty, made every man pause in +delight as<br> + she passed, like amateurs in front of a Raphael; in short, +having once<br> + seen her, the Commissariat officer made Mademoiselle Adeline +Fischer<br> + his wife as quickly as the law would permit, to the great +astonishment<br> + of the Fischers, who had all been brought up in the fear of +their<br> + betters.</p> + +<p>The eldest, a soldier of 1792, severely wounded in the attack +on the<br> + lines at Wissembourg, adored the Emperor Napoleon and everything +that<br> + had to do with the <i>Grande Armee</i>. Andre and Johann spoke +with respect<br> + of Commissary Hulot, the Emperor's protege, to whom indeed they +owed<br> + their prosperity; for Hulot d'Ervy, finding them intelligent +and<br> + honest, had taken them from the army provision wagons to place +them in<br> + charge of a government contract needing despatch. The brothers +Fischer<br> + had done further service during the campaign of 1804. At the +peace<br> + Hulot had secured for them the contract for forage from Alsace, +not<br> + knowing that he would presently be sent to Strasbourg to prepare +for<br> + the campaign of 1806.</p> + +<p>This marriage was like an Assumption to the young peasant +girl. The<br> + beautiful Adeline was translated at once from the mire of her +village<br> + to the paradise of the Imperial Court; for the contractor, one +of the<br> + most conscientious and hard-working of the Commissariat staff, +was<br> + made a Baron, obtained a place near the Emperor, and was +attached to<br> + the Imperial Guard. The handsome rustic bravely set to work to +educate<br> + herself for love of her husband, for she was simply crazy about +him;<br> + and, indeed, the Commissariat office was as a man a perfect +match for<br> + Adeline as a woman. He was one of the picked corps of fine men. +Tall,<br> + well-built, fair, with beautiful blue eyes full of irresistible +fire<br> + and life, his elegant appearance made him remarkable by the side +of<br> + d'Orsay, Forbin, Ouvrard; in short, in the battalion of fine men +that<br> + surrounded the Emperor. A conquering "buck," and holding the +ideas of<br> + the Directoire with regard to women, his career of gallantry +was<br> + interrupted for some long time by his conjugal affection.</p> + +<p>To Adeline the Baron was from the first a sort of god who +could do no<br> + wrong. To him she owed everything: fortune--she had a carriage, +a fine<br> + house, every luxury of the day; happiness--he was devoted to her +in<br> + the face of the world; a title, for she was a Baroness; fame, +for she<br> + was spoken of as the beautiful Madame Hulot--and in Paris! +Finally,<br> + she had the honor of refusing the Emperor's advances, for +Napoleon<br> + made her a present of a diamond necklace, and always remembered +her,<br> + asking now and again, "And is the beautiful Madame Hulot still a +model<br> + of virtue?" in the tone of a man who might have taken his +revenge on<br> + one who should have triumphed where he had failed.</p> + +<p>So it needs no great intuition to discern what were the +motives in a<br> + simple, guileless, and noble soul for the fanaticism of Madame +Hulot's<br> + love. Having fully persuaded herself that her husband could do +her no<br> + wrong, she made herself in the depths of her heart the humble, +abject,<br> + and blindfold slave of the man who had made her. It must be +noted,<br> + too, that she was gifted with great good sense--the good sense +of the<br> + people, which made her education sound. In society she spoke +little,<br> + and never spoke evil of any one; she did not try to shine; she +thought<br> + out many things, listened well, and formed herself on the model +of the<br> + best-conducted women of good birth.</p> + +<p>In 1815 Hulot followed the lead of the Prince de Wissembourg, +his<br> + intimate friend, and became one of the officers who organized +the<br> + improvised troops whose rout brought the Napoleonic cycle to a +close<br> + at Waterloo. In 1816 the Baron was one of the men best hated by +the<br> + Feltre administration, and was not reinstated in the +Commissariat till<br> + 1823, when he was needed for the Spanish war. In 1830 he took +office<br> + as the fourth wheel of the coach, at the time of the levies, a +sort of<br> + conscription made by Louis Philippe on the old Napoleonic +soldiery.<br> + From the time when the younger branch ascended the throne, +having<br> + taken an active part in bringing that about, he was regarded as +an<br> + indispensable authority at the War Office. He had already won +his<br> + Marshal's baton, and the King could do no more for him unless +by<br> + making him minister or a peer of France.</p> + +<p>From 1818 till 1823, having no official occupation, Baron +Hulot had<br> + gone on active service to womankind. Madame Hulot dated her +Hector's<br> + first infidelities from the grand <i>finale</i> of the Empire. +Thus, for<br> + twelve years the Baroness had filled the part in her household +of<br> + <i>prima donna assoluta</i>, without a rival. She still could +boast of the<br> + old-fashioned, inveterate affection which husbands feel for +wives who<br> + are resigned to be gentle and virtuous helpmates; she knew that +if she<br> + had a rival, that rival would not subsist for two hours under a +word<br> + of reproof from herself; but she shut her eyes, she stopped her +ears,<br> + she would know nothing of her husband's proceedings outside his +home.<br> + In short, she treated her Hector as a mother treats a spoilt +child.</p> + +<p>Three years before the conversation reported above, Hortense, +at the<br> + Theatre des Varietes, had recognized her father in a lower tier +stage-<br> + box with Jenny Cadine, and had exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"There is papa!"</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, my darling; he is at the Marshal's," the +Baroness<br> + replied.</p> + +<p>She too had seen Jenny Cadine; but instead of feeling a pang +when she<br> + saw how pretty she was, she said to herself, "That rascal Hector +must<br> + think himself very lucky."</p> + +<p>She suffered nevertheless; she gave herself up in secret to +rages of<br> + torment; but as soon as she saw Hector, she always remembered +her<br> + twelve years of perfect happiness, and could not find it in her +to<br> + utter a word of complaint. She would have been glad if the Baron +would<br> + have taken her into his confidence; but she never dared to let +him see<br> + that she knew of his kicking over the traces, out of respect for +her<br> + husband. Such an excess of delicacy is never met with but in +those<br> + grand creatures, daughters of the soil, whose instinct it is to +take<br> + blows without ever returning them; the blood of the early +martyrs<br> + still lives in their veins. Well-born women, their husbands' +equals,<br> + feel the impulse to annoy them, to mark the points of their +tolerance,<br> + like points at billiards, by some stinging word, partly in the +spirit<br> + of diabolical malice, and to secure the upper hand or the right +of<br> + turning the tables.</p> + +<p><br> + The Baroness had an ardent admirer in her brother-in-law, +Lieutenant-<br> + General Hulot, the venerable Colonel of the Grenadiers of the +Imperial<br> + Infantry Guard, who was to have a Marshal's baton in his old +age. This<br> + veteran, after having served from 1830 to 1834 as Commandant of +the<br> + military division, including the departments of Brittany, the +scene of<br> + his exploits in 1799 and 1800, had come to settle in Paris near +his<br> + brother, for whom he had a fatherly affection.</p> + +<p>This old soldier's heart was in sympathy with his +sister-in-law; he<br> + admired her as the noblest and saintliest of her sex. He had +never<br> + married, because he hoped to find a second Adeline, though he +had<br> + vainly sought for her through twenty campaigns in as many lands. +To<br> + maintain her place in the esteem of this blameless and spotless +old<br> + republican--of whom Napoleon had said, "That brave old Hulot is +the<br> + most obstinate republican, but he will never be false to +me"--Adeline<br> + would have endured griefs even greater than those that had just +come<br> + upon her. But the old soldier, seventy-two years of age, +battered by<br> + thirty campaigns, and wounded for the twenty-seventh time at +Waterloo,<br> + was Adeline's admirer, and not a "protector." The poor old +Count,<br> + among other infirmities, could only hear through a speaking +trumpet.</p> + +<p>So long as Baron Hulot d'Ervy was a fine man, his flirtations +did not<br> + damage his fortune; but when a man is fifty, the Graces claim +payment.<br> + At that age love becomes vice; insensate vanities come into +play.<br> + Thus, at about that time, Adeline saw that her husband was +incredibly<br> + particular about his dress; he dyed his hair and whiskers, and +wore a<br> + belt and stays. He was determined to remain handsome at any +cost. This<br> + care of his person, a weakness he had once mercilessly mocked +at, was<br> + carried out in the minutest details.</p> + +<p>At last Adeline perceived that the Pactolus poured out before +the<br> + Baron's mistresses had its source in her pocket. In eight years +he had<br> + dissipated a considerable amount of money; and so effectually, +that,<br> + on his son's marriage two years previously, the Baron had +been<br> + compelled to explain to his wife that his pay constituted their +whole<br> + income.</p> + +<p>"What shall we come to?" asked Adeline.</p> + +<p>"Be quite easy," said the official, "I will leave the whole of +my<br> + salary in your hands, and I will make a fortune for Hortense, +and some<br> + savings for the future, in business."</p> + +<p>The wife's deep belief in her husband's power and superior +talents, in<br> + his capabilities and character, had, in fact, for the moment +allayed<br> + her anxiety.</p> + +<p>What the Baroness' reflections and tears were after Crevel's +departure<br> + may now be clearly imagined. The poor woman had for two years +past<br> + known that she was at the bottom of a pit, but she had fancied +herself<br> + alone in it. How her son's marriage had been finally arranged +she had<br> + not known; she had known nothing of Hector's connection with +the<br> + grasping Jewess; and, above all, she hoped that no one in the +world<br> + knew anything of her troubles. Now, if Crevel went about so +ready to<br> + talk of the Baron's excesses, Hector's reputation would suffer. +She<br> + could see, under the angry ex-perfumer's coarse harangue, the +odious<br> + gossip behind the scenes which led to her son's marriage. +Two<br> + reprobate hussies had been the priestesses of this union planned +at<br> + some orgy amid the degrading familiarities of two tipsy old +sinners.</p> + +<p>"And has he forgotten Hortense!" she wondered.</p> + +<p>"But he sees her every day; will he try to find her a husband +among<br> + his good-for-nothing sluts?"</p> + +<p>At this moment it was the mother that spoke rather than the +wife, for<br> + she saw Hortense laughing with her Cousin Betty--the reckless +laughter<br> + of heedless youth; and she knew that such hysterical laughter +was<br> + quite as distressing a symptom as the tearful reverie of +solitary<br> + walks in the garden.</p> + +<p>Hortense was like her mother, with golden hair that waved +naturally,<br> + and was amazingly long and thick. Her skin had the lustre of +mother-<br> + of-pearl. She was visibly the offspring of a true marriage, of a +pure<br> + and noble love in its prime. There was a passionate vitality in +her<br> + countenance, a brilliancy of feature, a full fount of youth, a +fresh<br> + vigor and abundance of health, which radiated from her with +electric<br> + flashes. Hortense invited the eye.</p> + +<p>When her eye, of deep ultramarine blue, liquid with the +moisture of<br> + innocent youth, rested on a passer-by, he was involuntarily +thrilled.<br> + Nor did a single freckle mar her skin, such as those with which +many a<br> + white and golden maid pays toll for her milky whiteness. Tall, +round<br> + without being fat, with a slender dignity as noble as her +mother's,<br> + she really deserved the name of goddess, of which old authors +were so<br> + lavish. In fact, those who saw Hortense in the street could +hardly<br> + restrain the exclamation, "What a beautiful girl!"</p> + +<p>She was so genuinely innocent, that she could say to her +mother:</p> + +<p>"What do they mean, mamma, by calling me a beautiful girl when +I am<br> + with you? Are not you much handsomer than I am?"</p> + +<p>And, in point of fact, at seven-and-forty the Baroness might +have been<br> + preferred to her daughter by amateurs of sunset beauty; for she +had<br> + not yet lost any of her charms, by one of those phenomena which +are<br> + especially rare in Paris, where Ninon was regarded as +scandalous,<br> + simply because she thus seemed to enjoy such an unfair advantage +over<br> + the plainer women of the seventeenth century.</p> + +<p>Thinking of her daughter brought her back to the father; she +saw him<br> + sinking by degrees, day after day, down to the social mire, and +even<br> + dismissed some day from his appointment. The idea of her idol's +fall,<br> + with a vague vision of the disasters prophesied by Crevel, was +such a<br> + terror to the poor woman, that she became rapt in the +contemplation<br> + like an ecstatic.</p> + +<p>Cousin Betty, from time to time, as she chatted with Hortense, +looked<br> + round to see when they might return to the drawing-room; but her +young<br> + cousin was pelting her with questions, and at the moment when +the<br> + Baroness opened the glass door she did not happen to be +looking.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth Fischer, though the daughter of the eldest of the +three<br> + brothers, was five years younger than Madame Hulot; she was far +from<br> + being as handsome as her cousin, and had been desperately +jealous of<br> + Adeline. Jealousy was the fundamental passion of this +character,<br> + marked by eccentricities--a word invented by the English to +describe<br> + the craziness not of the asylum, but of respectable households. +A<br> + native of the Vosges, a peasant in the fullest sense of the +word,<br> + lean, brown, with shining black hair and thick eyebrows joining +in a<br> + tuft, with long, strong arms, thick feet, and some moles on her +narrow<br> + simian face--such is a brief description of the elderly +virgin.</p> + +<p>The family, living all under one roof, had sacrificed the +common-<br> + looking girl to the beauty, the bitter fruit to the splendid +flower.<br> + Lisbeth worked in the fields, while her cousin was indulged; and +one<br> + day, when they were alone together, she had tried to destroy +Adeline's<br> + nose, a truly Greek nose, which the old mothers admired. Though +she<br> + was beaten for this misdeed, she persisted nevertheless in +tearing the<br> + favorite's gowns and crumpling her collars.</p> + +<p>At the time of Adeline's wonderful marriage, Lisbeth had bowed +to<br> + fate, as Napoleon's brothers and sisters bowed before the +splendor of<br> + the throne and the force of authority.</p> + +<p>Adeline, who was extremely sweet and kind, remembered Lisbeth +when she<br> + found herself in Paris, and invited her there in 1809, intending +to<br> + rescue her from poverty by finding her a husband. But seeing +that it<br> + was impossible to marry the girl out of hand, with her black +eyes and<br> + sooty brows, unable, too, to read or write, the Baron began +by<br> + apprenticing her to a business; he placed her as a learner with +the<br> + embroiderers to the Imperial Court, the well-known Pons +Brothers.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, called Betty for short, having learned to embroider +in gold<br> + and silver, and possessing all the energy of a mountain race, +had<br> + determination enough to learn to read, write, and keep accounts; +for<br> + her cousin the Baron had pointed out the necessity for these<br> + accomplishments if she hoped to set up in business as an +embroiderer.</p> + +<p>She was bent on making a fortune; in two years she was +another<br> + creature. In 1811 the peasant woman had become a very +presentable,<br> + skilled, and intelligent forewoman.</p> + +<p>Her department, that of gold and silver lace-work, as it is +called,<br> + included epaulettes, sword-knots, aiguillettes; in short, the +immense<br> + mass of glittering ornaments that sparkled on the rich uniforms +of the<br> + French army and civil officials. The Emperor, a true Italian in +his<br> + love of dress, had overlaid the coats of all his servants with +silver<br> + and gold, and the Empire included a hundred and thirty-three<br> + Departments. These ornaments, usually supplied to tailors who +were<br> + solvent and wealthy paymasters, were a very secure branch of +trade.</p> + +<p>Just when Cousin Betty, the best hand in the house of Pons +Brothers,<br> + where she was forewoman of the embroidery department, might have +set<br> + up in business on her own account, the Empire collapsed. The +olive-<br> + branch of peace held out by the Bourbons did not reassure +Lisbeth; she<br> + feared a diminution of this branch of trade, since henceforth +there<br> + were to be but eighty-six Departments to plunder, instead of a +hundred<br> + and thirty-three, to say nothing of the immense reduction of the +army.<br> + Utterly scared by the ups and downs of industry, she refused +the<br> + Baron's offers of help, and he thought she must be mad. She +confirmed<br> + this opinion by quarreling with Monsieur Rivet, who bought +the<br> + business of Pons Brothers, and with whom the Baron wished to +place her<br> + in partnership; she would be no more than a workwoman. Thus +the<br> + Fischer family had relapsed into the precarious mediocrity from +which<br> + Baron Hulot had raised it.</p> + +<p>The three brothers Fischer, who had been ruined by the +abdication at<br> + Fontainebleau, in despair joined the irregular troops in 1815. +The<br> + eldest, Lisbeth's father, was killed. Adeline's father, +sentenced to<br> + death by court-martial, fled to Germany, and died at Treves in +1820.<br> + Johann, the youngest, came to Paris, a petitioner to the queen +of the<br> + family, who was said to dine off gold and silver plate, and +never to<br> + be seen at a party but with diamonds in her hair as big as +hazel-nuts,<br> + given to her by the Emperor.</p> + +<p>Johann Fischer, then aged forty-three, obtained from Baron +Hulot a<br> + capital of ten thousand francs with which to start a small +business as<br> + forage-dealer at Versailles, under the patronage of the War +Office,<br> + through the influence of the friends still in office, of the +late<br> + Commissary-General.</p> + +<p>These family catastrophes, Baron Hulot's dismissal, and the +knowledge<br> + that he was a mere cipher in that immense stir of men and +interests<br> + and things which makes Paris at once a paradise and a hell, +quite<br> + quelled Lisbeth Fischer. She gave up all idea of rivalry and<br> + comparison with her cousin after feeling her great superiority; +but<br> + envy still lurked in her heart, like a plague-germ that may +hatch and<br> + devastate a city if the fatal bale of wool is opened in which it +is<br> + concealed.</p> + +<p>Now and again, indeed, she said to herself:</p> + +<p>"Adeline and I are the same flesh and blood, our fathers were +brothers<br> + --and she is in a mansion, while I am in a garret."</p> + +<p>But every New Year Lisbeth had presents from the Baron and +Baroness;<br> + the Baron, who was always good to her, paid for her firewood in +the<br> + winter; old General Hulot had her to dinner once a week; and +there was<br> + always a cover laid for her at her cousin's table. They laughed +at her<br> + no doubt, but they never were ashamed to own her. In short, they +had<br> + made her independent in Paris, where she lived as she +pleased.</p> + +<p>The old maid had, in fact, a terror of any kind of tie. Her +cousin had<br> + offered her a room in her own house--Lisbeth suspected the +halter of<br> + domestic servitude; several times the Baron had found a solution +of<br> + the difficult problem of her marriage; but though tempted in the +first<br> + instance, she would presently decline, fearing lest she should +be<br> + scorned for her want of education, her general ignorance, and +her<br> + poverty; finally, when the Baroness suggested that she should +live<br> + with their uncle Johann, and keep house for him, instead of the +upper<br> + servant, who must cost him dear, Lisbeth replied that that was +the<br> + very last way she should think of marrying.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth Fischer had the sort of strangeness in her ideas which +is<br> + often noticeable in characters that have developed late, in +savages,<br> + who think much and speak little. Her peasant's wit had acquired +a good<br> + deal of Parisian asperity from hearing the talk of workshops +and<br> + mixing with workmen and workwomen. She, whose character had a +marked<br> + resemblance to that of the Corsicans, worked upon without +fruition by<br> + the instincts of a strong nature, would have liked to be the<br> + protectress of a weak man; but, as a result of living in the +capital,<br> + the capital had altered her superficially. Parisian polish +became rust<br> + on this coarsely tempered soul. Gifted with a cunning which had +become<br> + unfathomable, as it always does in those whose celibacy is +genuine,<br> + with the originality and sharpness with which she clothed her +ideas,<br> + in any other position she would have been formidable. Full of +spite,<br> + she was capable of bringing discord into the most united +family.</p> + +<p>In early days, when she indulged in certain secret hopes which +she<br> + confided to none, she took to wearing stays, and dressing in +the<br> + fashion, and so shone in splendor for a short time, that the +Baron<br> + thought her marriageable. Lisbeth at that stage was the +piquante<br> + brunette of old-fashioned novels. Her piercing glance, her olive +skin,<br> + her reed-like figure, might invite a half-pay major; but she +was<br> + satisfied, she would say laughing, with her own admiration.</p> + +<p>And, indeed, she found her life pleasant enough when she had +freed it<br> + from practical anxieties, for she dined out every evening +after<br> + working hard from sunrise. Thus she had only her rent and her +midday<br> + meal to provide for; she had most of her clothes given her, and +a<br> + variety of very acceptable stores, such as coffee, sugar, wine, +and so<br> + forth.</p> + +<p>In 1837, after living for twenty-seven years, half maintained +by the<br> + Hulots and her Uncle Fischer, Cousin Betty, resigned to being +nobody,<br> + allowed herself to be treated so. She herself refused to appear +at any<br> + grand dinners, preferring the family party, where she held her +own and<br> + was spared all slights to her pride.</p> + +<p>Wherever she went--at General Hulot's, at Crevel's, at the +house of<br> + the young Hulots, or at Rivet's (Pons' successor, with whom she +made<br> + up her quarrel, and who made much of her), and at the Baroness' +table<br> + --she was treated as one of the family; in fact, she managed to +make<br> + friends of the servants by making them an occasional small +present,<br> + and always gossiping with them for a few minutes before going +into the<br> + drawing-room. This familiarity, by which she uncompromisingly +put<br> + herself on their level, conciliated their servile good-nature, +which<br> + is indispensable to a parasite. "She is a good, steady woman," +was<br> + everybody's verdict.</p> + +<p>Her willingness to oblige, which knew no bounds when it was +not<br> + demanded of her, was indeed, like her assumed bluntness, a +necessity<br> + of her position. She had at length understood what her life must +be,<br> + seeing that she was at everybody's mercy; and needing to +please<br> + everybody, she would laugh with young people, who liked her for +a sort<br> + of wheedling flattery which always wins them; guessing and +taking part<br> + with their fancies, she would make herself their spokeswoman, +and they<br> + thought her a delightful <i>confidante</i>, since she had no +right to find<br> + fault with them.</p> + +<p>Her absolute secrecy also won her the confidence of their +seniors;<br> + for, like Ninon, she had certain manly qualities. As a rule, +our<br> + confidence is given to those below rather than above us. We +employ our<br> + inferiors rather than our betters in secret transactions, and +they<br> + thus become the recipients of our inmost thoughts, and look on +at our<br> + meditations; Richelieu thought he had achieved success when he +was<br> + admitted to the Council. This penniless woman was supposed to be +so<br> + dependent on every one about her, that she seemed doomed to +perfect<br> + silence. She herself called herself the Family Confessional.</p> + +<p><br> + The Baroness only, remembering her ill-usage in childhood by +the<br> + cousin who, though younger, was stronger than herself, never +wholly<br> + trusted her. Besides, out of sheer modesty, she would never have +told<br> + her domestic sorrows to any one but God.</p> + +<p>It may here be well to add that the Baron's house preserved +all its<br> + magnificence in the eyes of Lisbeth Fischer, who was not struck, +as<br> + the parvenu perfumer had been, with the penury stamped on the +shabby<br> + chairs, the dirty hangings, and the ripped silk. The furniture +we live<br> + with is in some sort like our own person; seeing ourselves every +day,<br> + we end, like the Baron, by thinking ourselves but little +altered, and<br> + still youthful, when others see that our head is covered +with<br> + chinchilla, our forehead scarred with circumflex accents, our +stomach<br> + assuming the rotundity of a pumpkin. So these rooms, always +blazing in<br> + Betty's eyes with the Bengal fire of Imperial victory, were to +her<br> + perennially splendid.</p> + +<p>As time went on, Lisbeth had contracted some rather strange +old-<br> + maidish habits. For instance, instead of following the fashions, +she<br> + expected the fashion to accept her ways and yield to her always +out-<br> + of-date notions. When the Baroness gave her a pretty new bonnet, +or a<br> + gown in the fashion of the day, Betty remade it completely at +home,<br> + and spoilt it by producing a dress of the style of the Empire or +of<br> + her old Lorraine costume. A thirty-franc bonnet came out a rag, +and<br> + the gown a disgrace. On this point, Lisbeth was as obstinate as +a<br> + mule; she would please no one but herself and believed +herself<br> + charming; whereas this assimilative process--harmonious, no +doubt, in<br> + so far as that it stamped her for an old maid from head to +foot--made<br> + her so ridiculous, that, with the best will in the world, no one +could<br> + admit her on any smart occasion.</p> + +<p>This refractory, capricious, and independent spirit, and +the<br> + inexplicable wild shyness of the woman for whom the Baron had +four<br> + times found a match--an employe in his office, a retired major, +an<br> + army contractor, and a half-pay captain--while she had refused +an army<br> + lacemaker, who had since made his fortune, had won her the name +of the<br> + Nanny Goat, which the Baron gave her in jest. But this nickname +only<br> + met the peculiarities that lay on the surface, the +eccentricities<br> + which each of us displays to his neighbors in social life. This +woman,<br> + who, if closely studied, would have shown the most savage traits +of<br> + the peasant class, was still the girl who had clawed her +cousin's<br> + nose, and who, if she had not been trained to reason, would +perhaps<br> + have killed her in a fit of jealousy.</p> + +<p>It was only her knowledge of the laws and of the world that +enabled<br> + her to control the swift instinct with which country folk, like +wild<br> + men, reduce impulse to action. In this alone, perhaps, lies +the<br> + difference between natural and civilized man. The savage has +only<br> + impulse; the civilized man has impulses and ideas. And in the +savage<br> + the brain retains, as we may say, but few impressions, it is +wholly at<br> + the mercy of the feeling that rushes in upon it; while in +the<br> + civilized man, ideas sink into the heart and change it; he has +a<br> + thousand interests and many feelings, where the savage has but +one at<br> + a time. This is the cause of the transient ascendency of a child +over<br> + its parents, which ceases as soon as it is satisfied; in the man +who<br> + is still one with nature, this contrast is constant. Cousin +Betty, a<br> + savage of Lorraine, somewhat treacherous too, was of this class +of<br> + natures, which are commoner among the lower orders than is +supposed,<br> + accounting for the conduct of the populace during +revolutions.</p> + +<p>At the time when this <i>Drama</i> opens, if Cousin Betty +would have<br> + allowed herself to be dressed like other people; if, like the +women of<br> + Paris, she had been accustomed to wear each fashion in its turn, +she<br> + would have been presentable and acceptable, but she preserved +the<br> + stiffness of a stick. Now a woman devoid of all the graces, in +Paris<br> + simply does not exist. The fine but hard eyes, the severe +features,<br> + the Calabrian fixity of complexion which made Lisbeth like a +figure by<br> + Giotto, and of which a true Parisian would have taken advantage, +above<br> + all, her strange way of dressing, gave her such an +extraordinary<br> + appearance that she sometimes looked like one of those monkeys +in<br> + petticoats taken about by little Savoyards. As she was well +known in<br> + the houses connected by family which she frequented, and +restricted<br> + her social efforts to that little circle, as she liked her own +home,<br> + her singularities no longer astonished anybody; and out of doors +they<br> + were lost in the immense stir of Paris street-life, where only +pretty<br> + women are ever looked at.</p> + +<p>Hortense's laughter was at this moment caused by a victory won +over<br> + her Cousin Lisbeth's perversity; she had just wrung from her an +avowal<br> + she had been hoping for these three years past. However +secretive an<br> + old maid may be, there is one sentiment which will always avail +to<br> + make her break her fast from words, and that is her vanity. For +the<br> + last three years, Hortense, having become very inquisitive on +such<br> + matters, had pestered her cousin with questions, which, however, +bore<br> + the stamp of perfect innocence. She wanted to know why her +cousin had<br> + never married. Hortense, who knew of the five offers that she +had<br> + refused, had constructed her little romance; she supposed that +Lisbeth<br> + had had a passionate attachment, and a war of banter was the +result.<br> + Hortense would talk of "We young girls!" when speaking of +herself and<br> + her cousin.</p> + +<p>Cousin Betty had on several occasions answered in the same +tone--"And<br> + who says I have not a lover?" So Cousin Betty's lover, real +or<br> + fictitious, became a subject of mild jesting. At last, after two +years<br> + of this petty warfare, the last time Lisbeth had come to the +house<br> + Hortense's first question had been:</p> + +<p>"And how is your lover?"</p> + +<p>"Pretty well, thank you," was the answer. "He is rather +ailing, poor<br> + young man."</p> + +<p>"He has delicate health?" asked the Baroness, laughing.</p> + +<p>"I should think so! He is fair. A sooty thing like me can love +none<br> + but a fair man with a color like the moon."</p> + +<p>"But who is he? What does he do?" asked Hortense. "Is he a +prince?"</p> + +<p>"A prince of artisans, as I am queen of the bobbin. Is a poor +woman<br> + like me likely to find a lover in a man with a fine house and +money in<br> + the funds, or in a duke of the realm, or some Prince Charming +out of a<br> + fairy tale?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I should so much like to see him!" cried Hortense, +smiling.</p> + +<p>"To see what a man can be like who can love the Nanny Goat?" +retorted<br> + Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"He must be some monster of an old clerk, with a goat's +beard!"<br> + Hortense said to her mother.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, you are quite mistaken, mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>"Then you mean that you really have a lover?" Hortense +exclaimed in<br> + triumph.</p> + +<p>"As sure as you have not!" retorted Lisbeth, nettled.</p> + +<p>"But if you have a lover, why don't you marry him, Lisbeth?" +said the<br> + Baroness, shaking her head at her daughter. "We have been +hearing<br> + rumors about him these three years. You have had time to study +him;<br> + and if he has been faithful so long, you should not persist in a +delay<br> + which must be hard upon him. After all, it is a matter of +conscience;<br> + and if he is young, it is time to take a brevet of dignity."</p> + +<p>Cousin Betty had fixed her gaze on Adeline, and seeing that +she was<br> + jesting, she replied:</p> + +<p>"It would be marrying hunger and thirst; he is a workman, I am +a<br> + workwoman. If we had children, they would be workmen.--No, no; +we love<br> + each other spiritually; it is less expensive."</p> + +<p>"Why do you keep him in hiding?" Hortense asked.</p> + +<p>"He wears a round jacket," replied the old maid, laughing.</p> + +<p>"You truly love him?" the Baroness inquired.</p> + +<p>"I believe you! I love him for his own sake, the dear cherub. +For four<br> + years his home has been in my heart."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, if you love him for himself," said the Baroness +gravely,<br> + "and if he really exists, you are treating him criminally. You +do not<br> + know how to love truly."</p> + +<p>"We all know that from our birth," said Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"No, there are women who love and yet are selfish, and that is +your<br> + case."</p> + +<p>Cousin Betty's head fell, and her glance would have made any +one<br> + shiver who had seen it; but her eyes were on her reel of +thread.</p> + +<p>"If you would introduce your so-called lover to us, Hector +might find<br> + him employment, or put him in a position to make money."</p> + +<p>"That is out of the question," said Cousin Betty.</p> + +<p>"And why?"</p> + +<p>"He is a sort of Pole--a refugee----"</p> + +<p>"A conspirator?" cried Hortense. "What luck for you!--Has he +had any<br> + adventures?"</p> + +<p>"He has fought for Poland. He was a professor in the school +where the<br> + students began the rebellion; and as he had been placed there by +the<br> + Grand Duke Constantine, he has no hope of mercy----"</p> + +<p>"A professor of what?"</p> + +<p>"Of fine arts."</p> + +<p>"And he came to Paris when the rebellion was quelled?"</p> + +<p>"In 1833. He came through Germany on foot."</p> + +<p>"Poor young man! And how old is he?"</p> + +<p>"He was just four-and-twenty when the insurrection broke +out--he is<br> + twenty-nine now."</p> + +<p>"Fifteen years your junior," said the Baroness.</p> + +<p>"And what does he live on?" asked Hortense.</p> + +<p>"His talent."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he gives lessons?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Cousin Betty; "he gets them, and hard ones +too!"</p> + +<p>"And his Christian name--is it a pretty name?"</p> + +<p>"Wenceslas."</p> + +<p>"What a wonderful imagination you old maids have!" exclaimed +the<br> + Baroness. "To hear you talk, Lisbeth, one might really believe +you."</p> + +<p>"You see, mamma, he is a Pole, and so accustomed to the knout +that<br> + Lisbeth reminds him of the joys of his native land."</p> + +<p>They all three laughed, and Hortense sang <i>Wenceslas! idole +de mon<br> + ame</i>! instead of <i>O Mathilde.</i></p> + +<p>Then for a few minutes there was a truce.</p> + +<p>"These children," said Cousin Betty, looking at Hortense as +she went<br> + up to her, "fancy that no one but themselves can have +lovers."</p> + +<p>"Listen," Hortense replied, finding herself alone with her +cousin, "if<br> + you prove to me that Wenceslas is not a pure invention, I will +give<br> + you my yellow cashmere shawl."</p> + +<p>"He is a Count."</p> + +<p>"Every Pole is a Count!"</p> + +<p>"But he is not a Pole; he comes from Liva--Litha----"</p> + +<p>"Lithuania?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Livonia?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's it!"</p> + +<p>"But what is his name?"</p> + +<p>"I wonder if you are capable of keeping a secret."</p> + +<p>"Cousin Betty, I will be as mute!----"</p> + +<p>"As a fish?"</p> + +<p>"As a fish."</p> + +<p>"By your life eternal?"</p> + +<p>"By my life eternal!"</p> + +<p>"No, by your happiness in this world?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, his name is Wenceslas Steinbock."</p> + +<p>"One of Charles XII.'s Generals was named Steinbock."</p> + +<p>"He was his grand-uncle. His own father settled in Livonia +after the<br> + death of the King of Sweden; but he lost all his fortune during +the<br> + campaign of 1812, and died, leaving the poor boy at the age of +eight<br> + without a penny. The Grand Duke Constantine, for the honor of +the name<br> + of Steinbock, took him under his protection and sent him to +school."</p> + +<p>"I will not break my word," Hortense replied; "prove his +existence,<br> + and you shall have the yellow shawl. The color is most becoming +to<br> + dark skins."</p> + +<p>"And you will keep my secret?"</p> + +<p>"And tell you mine."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, the next time I come you shall have the +proof."</p> + +<p>"But the proof will be the lover," said Hortense.</p> + +<p>Cousin Betty, who, since her first arrival in Paris, had been +bitten<br> + by a mania for shawls, was bewitched by the idea of owning the +yellow<br> + cashmere given to his wife by the Baron in 1808, and handed down +from<br> + mother to daughter after the manner of some families in 1830. +The<br> + shawl had been a good deal worn ten years ago; but the costly +object,<br> + now always kept in its sandal-wood box, seemed to the old maid +ever<br> + new, like the drawing-room furniture. So she brought in her +handbag a<br> + present for the Baroness' birthday, by which she proposed to +prove the<br> + existence of her romantic lover.</p> + +<p><br> + This present was a silver seal formed of three little figures +back to<br> + back, wreathed with foliage, and supporting the Globe. They<br> + represented Faith, Hope, and Charity; their feet rested on +monsters<br> + rending each other, among them the symbolical serpent. In 1846, +now<br> + that such immense strides have been made in the art of which +Benvenuto<br> + Cellini was the master, by Mademoiselle de Fauveau, Wagner, +Jeanest,<br> + Froment-Meurice, and wood-carvers like Lienard, this little<br> + masterpiece would amaze nobody; but at that time a girl who +understood<br> + the silversmith's art stood astonished as she held the seal +which<br> + Lisbeth put into her hands, saying:</p> + +<p>"There! what do you think of that?"</p> + +<p>In design, attitude, and drapery the figures were of the +school of<br> + Raphael; but the execution was in the style of the Florentine +metal<br> + workers--the school created by Donatello, Brunelleschi, +Ghiberti,<br> + Benvenuto Cellini, John of Bologna, and others. The French +masters of<br> + the Renaissance had never invented more strangely twining +monsters<br> + than these that symbolized the evil passions. The palms, ferns, +reeds,<br> + and foliage that wreathed the Virtues showed a style, a taste, +a<br> + handling that might have driven a practised craftsman to +despair; a<br> + scroll floated above the three figures; and on its surface, +between<br> + the heads, were a W, a chamois, and the word <i>fecit</i>.</p> + +<p>"Who carved this?" asked Hortense.</p> + +<p>"Well, just my lover," replied Lisbeth. "There are ten months' +work in<br> + it; I could earn more at making sword-knots.--He told me +that<br> + Steinbock means a rock goat, a chamois, in German. And he +intends to<br> + mark all his work in that way.--Ah, ha! I shall have the +shawl."</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose I could buy such a thing, or order it? +Impossible!<br> + Well, then, it must have been given to me. And who would make me +such<br> + a present? A lover!"</p> + +<p>Hortense, with an artfulness that would have frightened +Lisbeth<br> + Fischer if she had detected it, took care not to express all +her<br> + admiration, though she was full of the delight which every soul +that<br> + is open to a sense of beauty must feel on seeing a faultless +piece of<br> + work--perfect and unexpected.</p> + +<p>"On my word," said she, "it is very pretty."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is pretty," said her cousin; "but I like an +orange-colored<br> + shawl better.--Well, child, my lover spends his time in doing +such<br> + work as that. Since he came to Paris he has turned out three or +four<br> + little trifles in that style, and that is the fruit of four +years'<br> + study and toil. He has served as apprentice to founders, +metal-<br> + casters, and goldsmiths.--There he has paid away thousands +and<br> + hundreds of francs. And my gentleman tells me that in a few +months now<br> + he will be famous and rich----"</p> + +<p>"Then you often see him?"</p> + +<p>"Bless me, do you think it is all a fable? I told you truth in +jest."</p> + +<p>"And he is in love with you?" asked Hortense eagerly.</p> + +<p>"He adores me," replied Lisbeth very seriously. "You see, +child, he<br> + had never seen any women but the washed out, pale things they +all are<br> + in the north, and a slender, brown, youthful thing like me +warmed his<br> + heart.--But, mum; you promised, you know!"</p> + +<p>"And he will fare like the five others," said the girl +ironically, as<br> + she looked at the seal.</p> + +<p>"Six others, miss. I left one in Lorraine, who, to this day, +would<br> + fetch the moon down for me."</p> + +<p>"This one does better than that," said Hortense; "he has +brought down<br> + the sun."</p> + +<p>"Where can that be turned into money?" asked her cousin. "It +takes<br> + wide lands to benefit by the sunshine."</p> + +<p>These witticisms, fired in quick retort, and leading to the +sort of<br> + giddy play that may be imagined, had given cause for the +laughter<br> + which had added to the Baroness' troubles by making her compare +her<br> + daughter's future lot with the present, when she was free to +indulge<br> + the light-heartedness of youth.</p> + +<p>"But to give you a gem which cost him six months of work, he +must be<br> + under some great obligations to you?" said Hortense, in whom +the<br> + silver seal had suggested very serious reflections.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you want to know too much at once!" said her cousin. +"But,<br> + listen, I will let you into a little plot."</p> + +<p>"Is your lover in it too?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho! you want so much to see him! But, as you may suppose, +an old<br> + maid like Cousin Betty, who had managed to keep a lover for +five<br> + years, keeps him well hidden.--Now, just let me alone. You see, +I have<br> + neither cat nor canary, neither dog nor a parrot, and the old +Nanny<br> + Goat wanted something to pet and tease--so I treated myself to +a<br> + Polish Count."</p> + +<p>"Has he a moustache?"</p> + +<p>"As long as that," said Lisbeth, holding up her shuttle filled +with<br> + gold thread. She always took her lace-work with her, and worked +till<br> + dinner was served.</p> + +<p>"If you ask too many questions, you will be told nothing," she +went<br> + on. "You are but two-and-twenty, and you chatter more than I do +though<br> + I am forty-two--not to say forty-three."</p> + +<p>"I am listening; I am a wooden image," said Hortense.</p> + +<p>"My lover has finished a bronze group ten inches high," +Lisbeth went<br> + on. "It represents Samson slaying a lion, and he has kept it +buried<br> + till it is so rusty that you might believe it to be as old as +Samson<br> + himself. This fine piece is shown at the shop of one of the +old<br> + curiosity sellers on the Place du Carrousel, near my lodgings. +Now,<br> + your father knows Monsieur Popinot, the Minister of Commerce +and<br> + Agriculture, and the Comte de Rastignac, and if he would mention +the<br> + group to them as a fine antique he had seen by chance! It seems +that<br> + such things take the fancy of your grand folks, who don't care +so much<br> + about gold lace, and that my man's fortune would be made if one +of<br> + them would buy or even look at the wretched piece of metal. The +poor<br> + fellow is sure that it might be mistaken for old work, and that +the<br> + rubbish is worth a great deal of money. And then, if one of +the<br> + ministers should purchase the group, he would go to pay his +respects,<br> + and prove that he was the maker, and be almost carried in +triumph! Oh!<br> + he believes he has reached the pinnacle; poor young man, and he +is as<br> + proud as two newly-made Counts."</p> + +<p>"Michael Angelo over again; but, for a lover, he has kept his +head on<br> + his shoulders!" said Hortense. "And how much does he want for +it?"</p> + +<p>"Fifteen hundred francs. The dealer will not let it go for +less, since<br> + he must take his commission."</p> + +<p>"Papa is in the King's household just now," said Hortense. "He +sees<br> + those two ministers every day at the Chamber, and he will do the +thing<br> + --I undertake that. You will be a rich woman, Madame la Comtesse +de<br> + Steinbock."</p> + +<p>"No, the boy is too lazy; for whole weeks he sits twiddling +with bits<br> + of red wax, and nothing comes of it. Why, he spends all his days +at<br> + the Louvre and the Library, looking at prints and sketching +things. He<br> + is an idler!"</p> + +<p>The cousins chatted and giggled; Hortense laughing a forced +laugh, for<br> + she was invaded by a kind of love which every girl has gone +through--<br> + the love of the unknown, love in its vaguest form, when every +thought<br> + is accreted round some form which is suggested by a chance word, +as<br> + the efflorescence of hoar-frost gathers about a straw that the +wind<br> + has blown against the window-sill.</p> + +<p>For the past ten months she had made a reality of her +cousin's<br> + imaginary romance, believing, like her mother, that Lisbeth +would<br> + never marry; and now, within a week, this visionary being had +become<br> + Comte Wenceslas Steinbock, the dream had a certificate of birth, +the<br> + wraith had solidified into a young man of thirty. The seal she +held in<br> + her hand--a sort of Annunciation in which genius shone like +an<br> + immanent light--had the powers of a talisman. Hortense felt such +a<br> + surge of happiness, that she almost doubted whether the tale +were<br> + true; there was a ferment in her blood, and she laughed wildly +to<br> + deceive her cousin.</p> + +<p><br> + "But I think the drawing-room door is open," said Lisbeth; "let +us go<br> + and see if Monsieur Crevel is gone."</p> + +<p>"Mamma has been very much out of spirits these two days. I +suppose the<br> + marriage under discussion has come to nothing!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it may come on again. He is--I may tell you so much--a +Councillor<br> + of the Supreme Court. How would you like to be Madame la +Presidente?<br> + If Monsieur Crevel has a finger in it, he will tell me about it +if I<br> + ask him. I shall know by to-morrow if there is any hope."</p> + +<p>"Leave the seal with me," said Hortense; "I will not show +it--mamma's<br> + birthday is not for a month yet; I will give it to you that +morning."</p> + +<p>"No, no. Give it back to me; it must have a case."</p> + +<p>"But I will let papa see it, that he may know what he is +talking about<br> + to the ministers, for men in authority must be careful what they +say,"<br> + urged the girl.</p> + +<p>"Well, do not show it to your mother--that is all I ask; for +if she<br> + believed I had a lover, she would make game of me."</p> + +<p>"I promise."</p> + +<p>The cousins reached the drawing-room just as the Baroness +turned<br> + faint. Her daughter's cry of alarm recalled her to herself. +Lisbeth<br> + went off to fetch some salts. When she came back, she found the +mother<br> + and daughter in each other's arms, the Baroness soothing her<br> + daughter's fears, and saying:</p> + +<p>"It was nothing; a little nervous attack.--There is your +father," she<br> + added, recognizing the Baron's way of ringing the bell. "Say not +a<br> + word to him."</p> + +<p>Adeline rose and went to meet her husband, intending to take +him into<br> + the garden and talk to him till dinner should be served of +the<br> + difficulties about the proposed match, getting him to come to +some<br> + decision as to the future, and trying to hint at some warning +advice.</p> + +<p>Baron Hector Hulot came in, in a dress at once lawyer-like +and<br> + Napoleonic, for Imperial men--men who had been attached to the +Emperor<br> + --were easily distinguishable by their military deportment, +their blue<br> + coats with gilt buttons, buttoned to the chin, their black silk +stock,<br> + and an authoritative demeanor acquired from a habit of command +in<br> + circumstances requiring despotic rapidity. There was nothing of +the<br> + old man in the Baron, it must be admitted; his sight was still +so<br> + good, that he could read without spectacles; his handsome oval +face,<br> + framed in whiskers that were indeed too black, showed a +brilliant<br> + complexion, ruddy with the veins that characterize a +sanguine<br> + temperament; and his stomach, kept in order by a belt, had +not<br> + exceeded the limits of "the majestic," as Brillat-Savarin says. +A fine<br> + aristocratic air and great affability served to conceal the +libertine<br> + with whom Crevel had had such high times. He was one of those +men<br> + whose eyes always light up at the sight of a pretty woman, even +of<br> + such as merely pass by, never to be seen again.</p> + +<p>"Have you been speaking, my dear?" asked Adeline, seeing him +with an<br> + anxious brow.</p> + +<p>"No," replied Hector, "but I am worn out with hearing others +speak for<br> + two hours without coming to a vote. They carry on a war of +words, in<br> + which their speeches are like a cavalry charge which has no +effect on<br> + the enemy. Talk has taken the place of action, which goes very +much<br> + against the grain with men who are accustomed to marching +orders, as I<br> + said to the Marshal when I left him. However, I have enough of +being<br> + bored on the ministers' bench; here I may play.--How do, la +Chevre!--<br> + Good morning, little kid," and he took his daughter round the +neck,<br> + kissed her, and made her sit on his knee, resting her head on +his<br> + shoulder, that he might feel her soft golden hair against his +cheek.</p> + +<p>"He is tired and worried," said his wife to herself. "I shall +only<br> + worry him more.--I will wait.--Are you going to be at home +this<br> + evening?" she asked him.</p> + +<p>"No, children. After dinner I must go out. If it had not been +the day<br> + when Lisbeth and the children and my brother come to dinner, you +would<br> + not have seen me at all."</p> + +<p>The Baroness took up the newspaper, looked down the list of +theatres,<br> + and laid it down again when she had seen that Robert <i>le +Diable</i> was<br> + to be given at the Opera. Josepha, who had left the Italian +Opera six<br> + months since for the French Opera, was to take the part of +Alice.</p> + +<p>This little pantomime did not escape the Baron, who looked +hard at his<br> + wife. Adeline cast down her eyes and went out into the garden; +her<br> + husband followed her.</p> + +<p>"Come, what is it, Adeline?" said he, putting his arm round +her waist<br> + and pressing her to his side. "Do not you know that I love you +more<br> + than----"</p> + +<p>"More than Jenny Cadine or Josepha!" said she, boldly +interrupting<br> + him.</p> + +<p>"Who put that into your head?" exclaimed the Baron, releasing +his<br> + wife, and starting back a step or two.</p> + +<p>"I got an anonymous letter, which I burnt at once, in which I +was<br> + told, my dear, that the reason Hortense's marriage was broken +off was<br> + the poverty of our circumstances. Your wife, my dear Hector, +would<br> + never have said a word; she knew of your connection with Jenny +Cadine,<br> + and did she ever complain?--But as the mother of Hortense, I am +bound<br> + to speak the truth."</p> + +<p>Hulot, after a short silence, which was terrible to his wife, +whose<br> + heart beat loud enough to be heard, opened his arms, clasped her +to<br> + his heart, kissed her forehead, and said with the vehemence +of<br> + enthusiasm:</p> + +<p>"Adeline, you are an angel, and I am a wretch----"</p> + +<p>"No, no," cried the Baroness, hastily laying her hand upon his +lips to<br> + hinder him from speaking evil of himself.</p> + +<p>"Yes, for I have not at this moment a sou to give to Hortense, +and I<br> + am most unhappy. But since you open your heart to me, I may pour +into<br> + it the trouble that is crushing me.--Your Uncle Fischer is +in<br> + difficulties, and it is I who dragged him there, for he has +accepted<br> + bills for me to the amount of twenty-five thousand francs! And +all for<br> + a woman who deceives me, who laughs at me behind my back, and +calls me<br> + an old dyed Tom. It is frightful! A vice which costs me more +than it<br> + would to maintain a family!--And I cannot resist!--I would +promise you<br> + here and now never to see that abominable Jewess again; but if +she<br> + wrote me two lines, I should go to her, as we marched into fire +under<br> + the Emperor."</p> + +<p>"Do not be so distressed," cried the poor woman in despair, +but<br> + forgetting her daughter as she saw the tears in her husband's +eyes.<br> + "There are my diamonds; whatever happens, save my uncle."</p> + +<p>"Your diamonds are worth scarcely twenty thousand francs +nowadays.<br> + That would not be enough for old Fischer, so keep them for +Hortense; I<br> + will see the Marshal to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"My poor dear!" said the Baroness, taking her Hector's hands +and<br> + kissing them.</p> + +<p>This was all the scolding he got. Adeline sacrificed her +jewels, the<br> + father made them a present to Hortense, she regarded this as a +sublime<br> + action, and she was helpless.</p> + +<p>"He is the master; he could take everything, and he leaves me +my<br> + diamonds; he is divine!"</p> + +<p>This was the current of her thoughts; and indeed the wife had +gained<br> + more by her sweetness than another perhaps could have achieved +by a<br> + fit of angry jealousy.</p> + +<p>The moralist cannot deny that, as a rule, well-bred though +very wicked<br> + men are far more attractive and lovable than virtuous men; +having<br> + crimes to atone for, they crave indulgence by anticipation, by +being<br> + lenient to the shortcomings of those who judge them, and they +are<br> + thought most kind. Though there are no doubt some charming +people<br> + among the virtuous, Virtue considers itself fair enough, +unadorned, to<br> + be at no pains to please; and then all really virtuous persons, +for<br> + the hypocrites do not count, have some slight doubts as to +their<br> + position; they believe that they are cheated in the bargain of +life on<br> + the whole, and they indulge in acid comments after the fashion +of<br> + those who think themselves unappreciated.</p> + +<p>Hence the Baron, who accused himself of ruining his family, +displayed<br> + all his charm of wit and his most seductive graces for the +benefit of<br> + his wife, for his children, and his Cousin Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>Then, when his son arrived with Celestine, Crevel's daughter, +who was<br> + nursing the infant Hulot, he was delightful to his +daughter-in-law,<br> + loading her with compliments--a treat to which Celestine's +vanity was<br> + little accustomed for no moneyed bride more commonplace or +more<br> + utterly insignificant was ever seen. The grandfather took the +baby<br> + from her, kissed it, declared it was a beauty and a darling; he +spoke<br> + to it in baby language, prophesied that it would grow to be +taller<br> + than himself, insinuated compliments for his son's benefit, +and<br> + restored the child to the Normandy nurse who had charge of +it.<br> + Celestine, on her part, gave the Baroness a look, as much as to +say,<br> + "What a delightful man!" and she naturally took her +father-in-law's<br> + part against her father.</p> + +<p>After thus playing the charming father-in-law and the +indulgent<br> + grandpapa, the Baron took his son into the garden, and laid +before him<br> + a variety of observations full of good sense as to the attitude +to be<br> + taken up by the Chamber on a certain ticklish question which had +that<br> + morning come under discussion. The young lawyer was struck +with<br> + admiration for the depth of his father's insight, touched by +his<br> + cordiality, and especially by the deferential tone which seemed +to<br> + place the two men on a footing of equality.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Hulot <i>junior</i> was in every respect the young +Frenchman, as<br> + he has been moulded by the Revolution of 1830; his mind +infatuated<br> + with politics, respectful of his own hopes, and concealing them +under<br> + an affectation of gravity, very envious of successful men, +making<br> + sententiousness do the duty of witty rejoinders--the gems of +the<br> + French language--with a high sense of importance, and +mistaking<br> + arrogance for dignity.</p> + +<p>Such men are walking coffins, each containing a Frenchman of +the past;<br> + now and again the Frenchman wakes up and kicks against his +English-<br> + made casing; but ambition stifles him, and he submits to be +smothered.<br> + The coffin is always covered with black cloth.</p> + +<p>"Ah, here is my brother!" said Baron Hulot, going to meet the +Count at<br> + the drawing-room door.</p> + +<p>Having greeted the probable successor of the late Marshal +Montcornet,<br> + he led him forward by the arm with every show of affection +and<br> + respect.</p> + +<p>The older man, a member of the Chamber of Peers, but excused +from<br> + attendance on account of his deafness, had a handsome head, +chilled by<br> + age, but with enough gray hair still to be marked in a circle by +the<br> + pressure of his hat. He was short, square, and shrunken, but +carried<br> + his hale old age with a free-and-easy air; and as he was full +of<br> + excessive activity, which had now no purpose, he divided his +time<br> + between reading and taking exercise. In a drawing-room he +devoted his<br> + attention to waiting on the wishes of the ladies.</p> + +<p>"You are very merry here," said he, seeing that the Baron shed +a<br> + spirit of animation on the little family gathering. "And yet +Hortense<br> + is not married," he added, noticing a trace of melancholy on +his<br> + sister-in-law's countenance.</p> + +<p>"That will come all in good time," Lisbeth shouted in his ear +in a<br> + formidable voice.</p> + +<p>"So there you are, you wretched seedling that could never +blossom,"<br> + said he, laughing.</p> + +<p>The hero of Forzheim rather liked Cousin Betty, for there were +certain<br> + points of resemblance between them. A man of the ranks, without +any<br> + education, his courage had been the sole mainspring of his +military<br> + promotion, and sound sense had taken the place of brilliancy. Of +the<br> + highest honor and clean-handed, he was ending a noble life in +full<br> + contentment in the centre of his family, which claimed all +his<br> + affections, and without a suspicion of his brother's still<br> + undiscovered misconduct. No one enjoyed more than he the +pleasing<br> + sight of this family party, where there never was the +smallest<br> + disagreement, for the brothers and sisters were all equally +attached,<br> + Celestine having been at once accepted as one of the family. But +the<br> + worthy little Count wondered now and then why Monsieur Crevel +never<br> + joined the party. "Papa is in the country," Celestine shouted, +and it<br> + was explained to him that the ex-perfumer was away from +home.</p> + +<p>This perfect union of all her family made Madame Hulot say to +herself,<br> + "This, after all, is the best kind of happiness, and who can +deprive<br> + us of it?"</p> + +<p>The General, on seeing his favorite Adeline the object of +her<br> + husband's attentions, laughed so much about it that the Baron, +fearing<br> + to seem ridiculous, transferred his gallantries to his +daughter-in-<br> + law, who at these family dinners was always the object of his +flattery<br> + and kind care, for he hoped to win Crevel back through her, and +make<br> + him forego his resentment.</p> + +<p>Any one seeing this domestic scene would have found it hard to +believe<br> + that the father was at his wits' end, the mother in despair, the +son<br> + anxious beyond words as to his father's future fate, and the +daughter<br> + on the point of robbing her cousin of her lover.</p> + +<p>At seven o'clock the Baron, seeing his brother, his son, the +Baroness,<br> + and Hortense all engaged at whist, went off to applaud his +mistress at<br> + the Opera, taking with him Lisbeth Fischer, who lived in the Rue +du<br> + Doyenne, and who always made an excuse of the solitude of +that<br> + deserted quarter to take herself off as soon as dinner was +over.<br> + Parisians will all admit that the old maid's prudence was +but<br> + rational.</p> + +<p>The existence of the maze of houses under the wing of the old +Louvre<br> + is one of those protests against obvious good sense which +Frenchmen<br> + love, that Europe may reassure itself as to the quantum of +brains they<br> + are known to have, and not be too much alarmed. Perhaps +without<br> + knowing it, this reveals some profound political idea.</p> + +<p>It will surely not be a work of supererogation to describe +this part<br> + of Paris as it is even now, when we could hardly expect its +survival;<br> + and our grandsons, who will no doubt see the Louvre finished, +may<br> + refuse to believe that such a relic of barbarism should have +survived<br> + for six-and-thirty years in the heart of Paris and in the face +of the<br> + palace where three dynasties of kings have received, during +those<br> + thirty-six years, the elite of France and of Europe.</p> + +<p>Between the little gate leading to the Bridge of the Carrousel +and the<br> + Rue du Musee, every one having come to Paris, were it but for a +few<br> + days, must have seen a dozen of houses with a decayed frontage +where<br> + the dejected owners have attempted no repairs, the remains of an +old<br> + block of buildings of which the destruction was begun at the +time when<br> + Napoleon determined to complete the Louvre. This street, and the +blind<br> + alley known as the Impasse du Doyenne, are the only passages +into this<br> + gloomy and forsaken block, inhabited perhaps by ghosts, for +there<br> + never is anybody to be seen. The pavement is much below the +footway of<br> + the Rue du Musee, on a level with that of the Rue Froidmanteau. +Thus,<br> + half sunken by the raising of the soil, these houses are also +wrapped<br> + in the perpetual shadow cast by the lofty buildings of the +Louvre,<br> + darkened on that side by the northern blast. Darkness, silence, +an icy<br> + chill, and the cavernous depth of the soil combine to make +these<br> + houses a kind of crypt, tombs of the living. As we drive in a +hackney<br> + cab past this dead-alive spot, and chance to look down the +little Rue<br> + du Doyenne, a shudder freezes the soul, and we wonder who can +lie<br> + there, and what things may be done there at night, at an hour +when the<br> + alley is a cut-throat pit, and the vices of Paris run riot there +under<br> + the cloak of night. This question, frightful in itself, +becomes<br> + appalling when we note that these dwelling-houses are shut in on +the<br> + side towards the Rue de Richelieu by marshy ground, by a sea +of<br> + tumbled paving-stones between them and the Tuileries, by +little<br> + garden-plots and suspicious-looking hovels on the side of the +great<br> + galleries, and by a desert of building-stone and old rubbish on +the<br> + side towards the old Louvre. Henri III. and his favorites in +search of<br> + their trunk-hose, and Marguerite's lovers in search of their +heads,<br> + must dance sarabands by moonlight in this wilderness overlooked +by the<br> + roof of a chapel still standing there as if to prove that the +Catholic<br> + religion--so deeply rooted in France--survives all else.</p> + +<p><br> + For forty years now has the Louvre been crying out by every gap +in<br> + these damaged walls, by every yawning window, "Rid me of these +warts<br> + upon my face!" This cutthroat lane has no doubt been regarded +as<br> + useful, and has been thought necessary as symbolizing in the +heart of<br> + Paris the intimate connection between poverty and the splendor +that is<br> + characteristic of the queen of cities. And indeed these chill +ruins,<br> + among which the Legitimist newspaper contracted the disease it +is<br> + dying of--the abominable hovels of the Rue du Musee, and the +hoarding<br> + appropriated by the shop stalls that flourish there--will +perhaps live<br> + longer and more prosperously than three successive +dynasties.</p> + +<p>In 1823 the low rents in these already condemned houses had +tempted<br> + Lisbeth Fischer to settle there, notwithstanding the necessity +imposed<br> + upon her by the state of the neighborhood to get home before<br> + nightfall. This necessity, however, was in accordance with the +country<br> + habits she retained, of rising and going to bed with the sun, +an<br> + arrangement which saves country folk considerable sums in lights +and<br> + fuel. She lived in one of the houses which, since the demolition +of<br> + the famous Hotel Cambaceres, command a view of the square.</p> + +<p>Just as Baron Hulot set his wife's cousin down at the door of +this<br> + house, saying, "Good-night, Cousin," an elegant-looking woman, +young,<br> + small, slender, pretty, beautifully dressed, and redolent of +some<br> + delicate perfume, passed between the wall and the carriage to go +in.<br> + This lady, without any premeditation, glanced up at the Baron +merely<br> + to see the lodger's cousin, and the libertine at once felt the +swift<br> + impression which all Parisians know on meeting a pretty +woman,<br> + realizing, as entomologists have it, their <i>desiderata</i>; so +he waited<br> + to put on one of his gloves with judicious deliberation before +getting<br> + into the carriage again, to give himself an excuse for allowing +his<br> + eye to follow the young woman, whose skirts were pleasingly set +out by<br> + something else than these odious and delusive crinoline +bustles.</p> + +<p>"That," said he to himself, "is a nice little person whose +happiness I<br> + should like to provide for, as she would certainly secure +mine."</p> + +<p>When the unknown fair had gone into the hall at the foot of +the stairs<br> + going up to the front rooms, she glanced at the gate out of the +corner<br> + of her eye without precisely looking round, and she could see +the<br> + Baron riveted to the spot in admiration, consumed by curiosity +and<br> + desire. This is to every Parisian woman a sort of flower which +she<br> + smells at with delight, if she meets it on her way. Nay, +certain<br> + women, though faithful to their duties, pretty, and virtuous, +come<br> + home much put out if they have failed to cull such a posy in +the<br> + course of their walk.</p> + +<p>The lady ran upstairs, and in a moment a window on the second +floor<br> + was thrown open, and she appeared at it, but accompanied by a +man<br> + whose baldhead and somewhat scowling looks announced him as +her<br> + husband.</p> + +<p>"If they aren't sharp and ingenious, the cunning jades!" +thought the<br> + Baron. "She does that to show me where she lives. But this is +getting<br> + rather warm, especially for this part of Paris. We must mind +what we<br> + are at."</p> + +<p>As he got into the <i>milord</i>, he looked up, and the lady +and the<br> + husband hastily vanished, as though the Baron's face had +affected them<br> + like the mythological head of Medusa.</p> + +<p>"It would seem that they know me," thought the Baron. "That +would<br> + account for everything."</p> + +<p>As the carriage went up the Rue du Musee, he leaned forward to +see the<br> + lady again, and in fact she was again at the window. Ashamed of +being<br> + caught gazing at the hood under which her admirer was sitting, +the<br> + unknown started back at once.</p> + +<p>"Nanny shall tell me who it is," said the Baron to +himself.</p> + +<p>The sight of the Government official had, as will be seen, +made a deep<br> + impression on this couple.</p> + +<p>"Why, it is Baron Hulot, the chief of the department to which +my<br> + office belongs!" exclaimed the husband as he left the +window.</p> + +<p>"Well, Marneffe, the old maid on the third floor at the back +of the<br> + courtyard, who lives with that young man, is his cousin. Is it +not odd<br> + that we should never have known that till to-day, and now find +it out<br> + by chance?"</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle Fischer living with a young man?" repeated the +husband.<br> + "That is porter's gossip; do not speak so lightly of the cousin +of a<br> + Councillor of State who can blow hot and cold in the office as +he<br> + pleases. Now, come to dinner; I have been waiting for you since +four<br> + o'clock."</p> + +<p>Pretty--very pretty--Madame Marneffe, the natural daughter of +Comte<br> + Montcornet, one of Napoleon's most famous officers, had, on +the<br> + strength of a marriage portion of twenty thousand francs, found +a<br> + husband in an inferior official at the War Office. Through +the<br> + interest of the famous lieutenant-general--made marshal of +France six<br> + months before his death--this quill-driver had risen to +unhoped-for<br> + dignity as head-clerk of his office; but just as he was to be +promoted<br> + to be deputy-chief, the marshal's death had cut off +Marneffe's<br> + ambitions and his wife's at the root. The very small salary +enjoyed by<br> + Sieur Marneffe had compelled the couple to economize in the +matter of<br> + rent; for in his hands Mademoiselle Valerie Fortin's fortune +had<br> + already melted away--partly in paying his debts, and partly in +the<br> + purchase of necessaries for furnishing a house, but chiefly +in<br> + gratifying the requirements of a pretty young wife, accustomed +in her<br> + mother's house to luxuries she did not choose to dispense with. +The<br> + situation of the Rue du Doyenne, within easy distance of the +War<br> + Office, and the gay part of Paris, smiled on Monsieur and +Madame<br> + Marneffe, and for the last four years they had dwelt under the +same<br> + roof as Lisbeth Fischer.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Jean-Paul-Stanislas Marneffe was one of the class of +employes<br> + who escape sheer brutishness by the kind of power that comes +of<br> + depravity. The small, lean creature, with thin hair and a +starved<br> + beard, an unwholesome pasty face, worn rather than wrinkled, +with red-<br> + lidded eyes harnessed with spectacles, shuffling in his gait, +and yet<br> + meaner in his appearance, realized the type of man that any one +would<br> + conceive of as likely to be placed in the dock for an offence +against<br> + decency.</p> + +<p>The rooms inhabited by this couple had the illusory appearance +of sham<br> + luxury seen in many Paris homes, and typical of a certain class +of<br> + household. In the drawing-room, the furniture covered with +shabby<br> + cotton velvet, the plaster statuettes pretending to be +Florentine<br> + bronze, the clumsy cast chandelier merely lacquered, with cheap +glass<br> + saucers, the carpet, whose small cost was accounted for in +advancing<br> + life by the quality of cotton used in the manufacture, now +visible to<br> + the naked eye,--everything, down to the curtains, which plainly +showed<br> + that worsted damask has not three years of prime, proclaimed +poverty<br> + as loudly as a beggar in rags at a church door.</p> + +<p>The dining-room, badly kept by a single servant, had the +sickening<br> + aspect of a country inn; everything looked greasy and +unclean.</p> + +<p>Monsieur's room, very like a schoolboy's, furnished with the +bed and<br> + fittings remaining from his bachelor days, as shabby and worn as +he<br> + was, dusted perhaps once a week--that horrible room where +everything<br> + was in a litter, with old socks hanging over the +horsehair-seated<br> + chairs, the pattern outlined in dust, was that of a man to whom +home<br> + is a matter of indifference, who lives out of doors, gambling in +cafes<br> + or elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Madame's room was an exception to the squalid slovenliness +that<br> + disgraced the living rooms, where the curtains were yellow with +smoke<br> + and dust, and where the child, evidently left to himself, +littered<br> + every spot with his toys. Valerie's room and dressing-room +were<br> + situated in the part of the house which, on one side of the +courtyard,<br> + joined the front half, looking out on the street, to the wing +forming<br> + the inner side of the court backing against the adjoining +property.<br> + Handsomely hung with chintz, furnished with rosewood, and +thickly<br> + carpeted, they proclaimed themselves as belonging to a pretty +woman--<br> + and indeed suggested the kept mistress. A clock in the +fashionable<br> + style stood on the velvet-covered mantelpiece. There was a +nicely<br> + fitted cabinet, and the Chinese flower-stands were handsomely +filled.<br> + The bed, the toilet-table, the wardrobe with its mirror, the +little<br> + sofa, and all the lady's frippery bore the stamp of fashion +or<br> + caprice. Though everything was quite third-rate as to elegance +or<br> + quality, and nothing was absolutely newer than three years old, +a<br> + dandy would have had no fault to find but that the taste of all +this<br> + luxury was commonplace. Art, and the distinction that comes of +the<br> + choice of things that taste assimilates, was entirely wanting. +A<br> + doctor of social science would have detected a lover in two or +three<br> + specimens of costly trumpery, which could only have come there +through<br> + that demi-god--always absent, but always present if the lady +is<br> + married.</p> + +<p><br> + The dinner, four hours behind time, to which the husband, wife, +and<br> + child sat down, betrayed the financial straits in which the +household<br> + found itself, for the table is the surest thermometer for +gauging the<br> + income of a Parisian family. Vegetable soup made with the +water<br> + haricot beans had been boiled in, a piece of stewed veal and +potatoes<br> + sodden with water by way of gravy, a dish of haricot beans, and +cheap<br> + cherries, served and eaten in cracked plates and dishes, with +the<br> + dull-looking and dull-sounding forks of German silver--was this +a<br> + banquet worthy of this pretty young woman? The Baron would have +wept<br> + could he have seen it. The dingy decanters could not disguise +the vile<br> + hue of wine bought by the pint at the nearest wineshop. The +table-<br> + napkins had seen a week's use. In short, everything betrayed<br> + undignified penury, and the equal indifference of the husband +and wife<br> + to the decencies of home. The most superficial observer on +seeing them<br> + would have said that these two beings had come to the stage when +the<br> + necessity of living had prepared them for any kind of dishonor +that<br> + might bring luck to them. Valerie's first words to her husband +will<br> + explain the delay that had postponed the dinner by the not<br> + disinterested devotion of the cook.</p> + +<p>"Samanon will only take your bills at fifty per cent, and +insists on a<br> + lien on your salary as security."</p> + +<p>So poverty, still unconfessed in the house of the superior +official,<br> + and hidden under a stipend of twenty-four thousand francs,<br> + irrespective of presents, had reached its lowest stage in that +of the<br> + clerk.</p> + +<p>"You have caught on with the chief," said the man, looking at +his<br> + wife.</p> + +<p>"I rather think so," replied she, understanding the full +meaning of<br> + his slang expression.</p> + +<p>"What is to become of us?" Marneffe went on. "The landlord +will be<br> + down on us to-morrow. And to think of your father dying without +making<br> + a will! On my honor, those men of the Empire all think +themselves as<br> + immortal as their Emperor."</p> + +<p>"Poor father!" said she. "I was his only child, and he was +very fond<br> + of me. The Countess probably burned the will. How could he +forget me<br> + when he used to give us as much as three or four thousand-franc +notes<br> + at once, from time to time?"</p> + +<p>"We owe four quarters' rent, fifteen hundred francs. Is the +furniture<br> + worth so much? <i>That is the question</i>, as Shakespeare +says."</p> + +<p>"Now, good-bye, ducky!" said Valerie, who had only eaten a +few<br> + mouthfuls of the veal, from which the maid had extracted all the +gravy<br> + for a brave soldier just home from Algiers. "Great evils demand +heroic<br> + remedies."</p> + +<p>"Valerie, where are you off to?" cried Marneffe, standing +between his<br> + wife and the door.</p> + +<p>"I am going to see the landlord," she replied, arranging her +ringlets<br> + under her smart bonnet. "You had better try to make friends with +that<br> + old maid, if she really is your chief's cousin."</p> + +<p>The ignorance in which the dwellers under one roof can exist +as to the<br> + social position of their fellow-lodgers is a permanent fact +which, as<br> + much as any other, shows what the rush of Paris life is. Still, +it is<br> + easily conceivable that a clerk who goes early every morning to +his<br> + office, comes home only to dinner, and spends every evening out, +and a<br> + woman swallowed up in a round of pleasures, should know nothing +of an<br> + old maid living on the third floor beyond the courtyard of the +house<br> + they dwell in, especially when she lives as Mademoiselle Fischer +did.</p> + +<p>Up in the morning before any one else, Lisbeth went out to buy +her<br> + bread, milk, and live charcoal, never speaking to any one, and +she<br> + went to bed with the sun; she never had a letter or a visitor, +nor<br> + chatted with her neighbors. Here was one of those anonymous,<br> + entomological existences such as are to be met with in many +large<br> + tenements where, at the end of four years, you unexpectedly +learn that<br> + up on the fourth floor there is an old man lodging who knew +Voltaire,<br> + Pilatre de Rozier, Beaujon, Marcel, Mole, Sophie Arnould, +Franklin,<br> + and Robespierre. What Monsieur and Madame Marneffe had just +said<br> + concerning Lisbeth Fischer they had come to know, in +consequence,<br> + partly, of the loneliness of the neighborhood, and of the +alliance, to<br> + which their necessities had led, between them and the +doorkeepers,<br> + whose goodwill was too important to them not to have been +carefully<br> + encouraged.</p> + +<p>Now, the old maid's pride, silence, and reserve had engendered +in the<br> + porter and his wife the exaggerated respect and cold civility +which<br> + betray the unconfessed annoyance of an inferior. Also, the +porter<br> + thought himself in all essentials the equal of any lodger whose +rent<br> + was no more than two hundred and fifty francs. Cousin +Betty's<br> + confidences to Hortense were true; and it is evident that the +porter's<br> + wife might be very likely to slander Mademoiselle Fischer in +her<br> + intimate gossip with the Marneffes, while only intending to +tell<br> + tales.</p> + +<p>When Lisbeth had taken her candle from the hands of worthy +Madame<br> + Olivier the portress, she looked up to see whether the windows +of the<br> + garret over her own rooms were lighted up. At that hour, even in +July,<br> + it was so dark within the courtyard that the old maid could not +get to<br> + bed without a light.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you may be quite easy, Monsieur Steinbock is in his room. +He has<br> + not been out even," said Madame Olivier, with meaning.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth made no reply. She was still a peasant, in so far that +she was<br> + indifferent to the gossip of persons unconnected with her. Just +as a<br> + peasant sees nothing beyond his village, she cared for +nobody's<br> + opinion outside the little circle in which she lived. So she +boldly<br> + went up, not to her own room, but to the garret; and this is +why. At<br> + dessert she had filled her bag with fruit and sweets for her +lover,<br> + and she went to give them to him, exactly as an old lady brings +home a<br> + biscuit for her dog.</p> + +<p>She found the hero of Hortense's dreams working by the light +of a<br> + small lamp, of which the light was intensified by the use of a +bottle<br> + of water as a lens--a pale young man, seated at a workman's +bench<br> + covered with a modeler's tools, wax, chisels, rough-hewn stone, +and<br> + bronze castings; he wore a blouse, and had in his hand a little +group<br> + in red wax, which he gazed at like a poet absorbed in his +labors.</p> + +<p>"Here, Wenceslas, see what I have brought you," said she, +laying her<br> + handkerchief on a corner of the table; then she carefully took +the<br> + sweetmeats and fruit out of her bag.</p> + +<p>"You are very kind, mademoiselle," replied the exile in +melancholy<br> + tones.</p> + +<p>"It will do you good, poor boy. You get feverish by working so +hard;<br> + you were not born to such a rough life."</p> + +<p>Wenceslas Steinbock looked at her with a bewildered air.</p> + +<p>"Eat--come, eat," said she sharply, "instead of looking at me +as you<br> + do at one of your images when you are satisfied with it."</p> + +<p>On being thus smacked with words, the young man seemed less +puzzled,<br> + for this, indeed, was the female Mentor whose tender moods were +always<br> + a surprise to him, so much more accustomed was he to be +scolded.</p> + +<p>Though Steinbock was nine-and-twenty, like many fair men, he +looked<br> + five or six years younger; and seeing his youth, though its +freshness<br> + had faded under the fatigue and stress of life in exile, by the +side<br> + of that dry, hard face, it seemed as though Nature had blundered +in<br> + the distribution of sex. He rose and threw himself into a deep +chair<br> + of Louis XV. pattern, covered with yellow Utrecht velvet, as if +to<br> + rest himself. The old maid took a greengage and offered it to +him.</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said he, taking the plum.</p> + +<p>"Are you tired?" said she, giving him another.</p> + +<p>"I am not tired with work, but tired of life," said he.</p> + +<p>"What absurd notions you have!" she exclaimed with some +annoyance.<br> + "Have you not had a good genius to keep an eye on you?" she +said,<br> + offering him the sweetmeats, and watching him with pleasure as +he ate<br> + them all. "You see, I thought of you when dining with my +cousin."</p> + +<p>"I know," said he, with a look at Lisbeth that was at once<br> + affectionate and plaintive, "but for you I should long since +have<br> + ceased to live. But, my dear lady, artists require +relaxation----"</p> + +<p>"Ah! there we come to the point!" cried she, interrupting him, +her<br> + hands on her hips, and her flashing eyes fixed on him. "You want +to go<br> + wasting your health in the vile resorts of Paris, like so +many<br> + artisans, who end by dying in the workhouse. No, no, make a +fortune,<br> + and then, when you have money in the funds, you may amuse +yourself,<br> + child; then you will have enough to pay for the doctor and for +your<br> + pleasure, libertine that you are."</p> + +<p>Wenceslas Steinbock, on receiving this broadside, with an<br> + accompaniment of looks that pierced him like a magnetic flame, +bent<br> + his head. The most malignant slanderer on seeing this scene +would at<br> + once have understood that the hints thrown out by the Oliviers +were<br> + false. Everything in this couple, their tone, manner, and way +of<br> + looking at each other, proved the purity of their private live. +The<br> + old maid showed the affection of rough but very genuine +maternal<br> + feeling; the young man submitted, as a respectful son yields to +the<br> + tyranny of a mother. The strange alliance seemed to be the +outcome of<br> + a strong will acting constantly on a weak character, on the +fluid<br> + nature peculiar to the Slavs, which, while it does not hinder +them<br> + from showing heroic courage in battle, gives them an amazing<br> + incoherency of conduct, a moral softness of which physiologists +ought<br> + to try to detect the causes, since physiologists are to +political life<br> + what entomologists are to agriculture.</p> + +<p>"But if I die before I am rich?" said Wenceslas dolefully.</p> + +<p>"Die!" cried she. "Oh, I will not let you die. I have life +enough for<br> + both, and I would have my blood injected into your veins if<br> + necessary."</p> + +<p>Tears rose to Steinbock's eyes as he heard her vehement and +artless<br> + speech.</p> + +<p>"Do not be unhappy, my little Wenceslas," said Lisbeth with +feeling.<br> + "My cousin Hortense thought your seal quite pretty, I am sure; +and I<br> + will manage to sell your bronze group, you will see; you will +have<br> + paid me off, you will be able to do as you please, you will soon +be<br> + free. Come, smile a little!"</p> + +<p>"I can never repay you, mademoiselle," said the exile.</p> + +<p>"And why not?" asked the peasant woman, taking the Livonian's +part<br> + against herself.</p> + +<p>"Because you not only fed me, lodged me, cared for me in my +poverty,<br> + but you also gave me strength. You have made me what I am; you +have<br> + often been stern, you have made me very unhappy----"</p> + +<p>"I?" said the old maid. "Are you going to pour out all your +nonsense<br> + once more about poetry and the arts, and to crack your fingers +and<br> + stretch your arms while you spout about the ideal, and beauty, +and all<br> + your northern madness?--Beauty is not to compare with solid +pudding--<br> + and what am I!--You have ideas in your brain? What is the use of +them?<br> + I too have ideas. What is the good of all the fine things you +may have<br> + in your soul if you can make no use of them? Those who have +ideas do<br> + not get so far as those who have none, if they don't know which +way to<br> + go.</p> + +<p>"Instead of thinking over your ideas you must work.--Now, what +have<br> + you done while I was out?"</p> + +<p>"What did your pretty cousin say?"</p> + +<p>"Who told you she was pretty?" asked Lisbeth sharply, in a +tone hollow<br> + with tiger-like jealousy.</p> + +<p>"Why, you did."</p> + +<p>"That was only to see your face. Do you want to go trotting +after<br> + petticoats? You who are so fond of women, well, make them in +bronze.<br> + Let us see a cast of your desires, for you will have to do +without the<br> + ladies for some little time yet, and certainly without my +cousin, my<br> + good fellow. She is not game for your bag; that young lady wants +a man<br> + with sixty thousand francs a year--and has found him!</p> + +<p>"Why, your bed is not made!" she exclaimed, looking into the +adjoining<br> + room. "Poor dear boy, I quite forgot you!"</p> + +<p>The sturdy woman pulled off her gloves, her cape and bonnet, +and<br> + remade the artist's little camp bed as briskly as any housemaid. +This<br> + mixture of abruptness, of roughness even, with real kindness, +perhaps<br> + accounts for the ascendency Lisbeth had acquired over the man +whom she<br> + regarded as her personal property. Is not our attachment to life +based<br> + on its alternations of good and evil?</p> + +<p>If the Livonian had happened to meet Madame Marneffe instead +of<br> + Lisbeth Fischer, he would have found a protectress whose +complaisance<br> + must have led him into some boggy or discreditable path, where +he<br> + would have been lost. He would certainly never have worked, nor +the<br> + artist have been hatched out. Thus, while he deplored the old +maid's<br> + grasping avarice, his reason bid him prefer her iron hand to the +life<br> + of idleness and peril led by many of his fellow-countrymen.</p> + +<p>This was the incident that had given rise to the coalition of +female<br> + energy and masculine feebleness--a contrast in union said not to +be<br> + uncommon in Poland.</p> + +<p>In 1833 Mademoiselle Fischer, who sometimes worked into the +night when<br> + business was good, at about one o'clock one morning perceived a +strong<br> + smell of carbonic acid gas, and heard the groans of a dying man. +The<br> + fumes and the gasping came from a garret over the two rooms +forming<br> + her dwelling, and she supposed that a young man who had but +lately<br> + come to lodge in this attic--which had been vacant for three +years--<br> + was committing suicide. She ran upstairs, broke in the door by a +push<br> + with her peasant strength, and found the lodger writhing on a +camp-bed<br> + in the convulsions of death. She extinguished the brazier; the +door<br> + was open, the air rushed in, and the exile was saved. Then, +when<br> + Lisbeth had put him to bed like a patient, and he was asleep, +she<br> + could detect the motives of his suicide in the destitution of +the<br> + rooms, where there was nothing whatever but a wretched table, +the<br> + camp-bed, and two chairs.</p> + +<p><br> + On the table lay a document, which she read:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"I am Count Wenceslas Steinbock, born at Prelia, in +Livonia.</p> + +<p>"No one is to be accused of my death; my reasons for +killing<br> + myself are, in the words of Kosciusko, <i>Finis +Polonioe</i>!</p> + +<p>"The grand-nephew of a valiant General under Charles XII. +could<br> + not beg. My weakly constitution forbids my taking military<br> + service, and I yesterday saw the last of the hundred thalers +which<br> + I had brought with me from Dresden to Paris. I have left +twenty-<br> + five francs in the drawer of this table to pay the rent I owe +to<br> + the landlord.</p> + +<p>"My parents being dead, my death will affect nobody. I desire +that<br> + my countrymen will not blame the French Government. I have +never<br> + registered myself as a refugee, and I have asked for nothing; +I<br> + have met none of my fellow-exiles; no one in Paris knows of +my<br> + existence.</p> + +<p>"I am dying in Christian beliefs. May God forgive the last of +the<br> + Steinbocks!</p> + +<p>"WENCESLAS."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><br> + Mademoiselle Fischer, deeply touched by the dying man's +honesty,<br> + opened the drawer and found the five five-franc pieces to pay +his<br> + rent.</p> + +<p><br> + "Poor young man!" cried she. "And with no one in the world to +care<br> + about him!"</p> + +<p>She went downstairs to fetch her work, and sat stitching in +the<br> + garret, watching over the Livonian gentleman.</p> + +<p>When he awoke his astonishment may be imagined on finding a +woman<br> + sitting by his bed; it was like the prolongation of a dream. As +she<br> + sat there, covering aiguillettes with gold thread, the old maid +had<br> + resolved to take charge of the poor youth whom she admired as he +lay<br> + sleeping.</p> + +<p>As soon as the young Count was fully awake, Lisbeth talked to +give him<br> + courage, and questioned him to find out how he might make a +living.<br> + Wenceslas, after telling his story, added that he owed his +position to<br> + his acknowledged talent for the fine arts. He had always had +a<br> + preference for sculpture; the necessary time for study had, +however,<br> + seemed to him too long for a man without money; and at this +moment he<br> + was far too weak to do any hard manual labor or undertake an +important<br> + work in sculpture. All this was Greek to Lisbeth Fischer. She +replied<br> + to the unhappy man that Paris offered so many openings that any +man<br> + with will and courage might find a living there. A man of spirit +need<br> + never perish if he had a certain stock of endurance.</p> + +<p>"I am but a poor girl myself, a peasant, and I have managed to +make<br> + myself independent," said she in conclusion. "If you will work +in<br> + earnest, I have saved a little money, and I will lend you, month +by<br> + month, enough to live upon; but to live frugally, and not to +play<br> + ducks and drakes with or squander in the streets. You can dine +in<br> + Paris for twenty-five sous a day, and I will get you your +breakfast<br> + with mine every day. I will furnish your rooms and pay for +such<br> + teaching as you may think necessary. You shall give me +formal<br> + acknowledgment for the money I may lay out for you, and when you +are<br> + rich you shall repay me all. But if you do not work, I shall +not<br> + regard myself as in any way pledged to you, and I shall leave +you to<br> + your fate."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" cried the poor fellow, still smarting from the +bitterness of his<br> + first struggle with death, "exiles from every land may well +stretch<br> + out their hands to France, as the souls in Purgatory do to +Paradise.<br> + In what other country is such help to be found, and generous +hearts<br> + even in such a garret as this? You will be everything to me, +my<br> + beloved benefactress; I am your slave! Be my sweetheart," he +added,<br> + with one of the caressing gestures familiar to the Poles, for +which<br> + they are unjustly accused of servility.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no; I am too jealous, I should make you unhappy; but I +will<br> + gladly be a sort of comrade," replied Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"Ah, if only you knew how I longed for some fellow-creature, +even a<br> + tyrant, who would have something to say to me when I was +struggling in<br> + the vast solitude of Paris!" exclaimed Wenceslas. "I +regretted<br> + Siberia, whither I should be sent by the Emperor if I went +home.--Be<br> + my Providence!--I will work; I will be a better man than I am, +though<br> + I am not such a bad fellow!"</p> + +<p>"Will you do whatever I bid you?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, I will adopt you as my child," said she lightly. +"Here I<br> + am with a son risen from the grave. Come! we will begin at once. +I<br> + will go out and get what I want; you can dress, and come down +to<br> + breakfast with me when I knock on the ceiling with the +broomstick."</p> + +<p>That day, Mademoiselle Fischer made some inquiries, at the +houses to<br> + which she carried her work home, as to the business of a +sculptor. By<br> + dint of many questions she ended by hearing of the studio kept +by<br> + Florent and Chanor, a house that made a special business of +casting<br> + and finishing decorative bronzes and handsome silver plate. +Thither<br> + she went with Steinbock, recommending him as an apprentice +in<br> + sculpture, an idea that was regarded as too eccentric. Their +business<br> + was to copy the works of the greatest artists, but they did not +teach<br> + the craft. The old maid's persistent obstinacy so far succeeded +that<br> + Steinbock was taken on to design ornament. He very soon learned +to<br> + model ornament, and invented novelties; he had a gift for +it.</p> + +<p>Five months after he was out of his apprenticeship as a +finisher, he<br> + made acquaintance with Stidmann, the famous head of Florent's +studios.<br> + Within twenty months Wenceslas was ahead of his master; but in +thirty<br> + months the old maid's savings of sixteen years had melted +entirely.<br> + Two thousand five hundred francs in gold!--a sum with which she +had<br> + intended to purchase an annuity; and what was there to show for +it? A<br> + Pole's receipt! And at this moment Lisbeth was working as hard +as in<br> + her young days to supply the needs of her Livonian.</p> + +<p>When she found herself the possessor of a piece of paper +instead of<br> + her gold louis, she lost her head, and went to consult Monsieur +Rivet,<br> + who for fifteen years had been his clever head-worker's friend +and<br> + counselor. On hearing her story, Monsieur and Madame Rivet +scolded<br> + Lisbeth, told her she was crazy, abused all refugees whose plots +for<br> + reconstructing their nation compromised the prosperity of the +country<br> + and the maintenance of peace; and they urged Lisbeth to find +what in<br> + trade is called security.</p> + +<p>"The only hold you have over this fellow is on his liberty," +observed<br> + Monsieur Rivet.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Achille Rivet was assessor at the Tribunal of +Commerce.</p> + +<p>"Imprisonment is no joke for a foreigner," said he. "A +Frenchman<br> + remains five years in prison and comes out, free of his debts to +be<br> + sure, for he is thenceforth bound only by his conscience, and +that<br> + never troubles him; but a foreigner never comes out.--Give me +your<br> + promissory note; my bookkeeper will take it up; he will get +it<br> + protested; you will both be prosecuted and both be condemned +to<br> + imprisonment in default of payment; then, when everything is in +due<br> + form, you must sign a declaration. By doing this your interest +will be<br> + accumulating, and you will have a pistol always primed to fire +at your<br> + Pole!"</p> + +<p>The old maid allowed these legal steps to be taken, telling +her<br> + protege not to be uneasy, as the proceedings were merely to +afford a<br> + guarantee to a money-lender who agreed to advance them certain +sums.<br> + This subterfuge was due to the inventive genius of Monsieur +Rivet. The<br> + guileless artist, blindly trusting to his benefactress, lighted +his<br> + pipe with the stamped paper, for he smoked as all men do who +have<br> + sorrows or energies that need soothing.</p> + +<p>One fine day Monsieur Rivet showed Mademoiselle Fischer a +schedule,<br> + and said to her:</p> + +<p>"Here you have Wenceslas Steinbock bound hand and foot, and +so<br> + effectually, that within twenty-four hours you can have him snug +in<br> + Clichy for the rest of his days."</p> + +<p>This worthy and honest judge at the Chamber of Commerce +experienced<br> + that day the satisfaction that must come of having done a +malignant<br> + good action. Beneficence has so many aspects in Paris that +this<br> + contradictory expression really represents one of them. The +Livonian<br> + being fairly entangled in the toils of commercial procedure, the +point<br> + was to obtain payment; for the illustrious tradesman looked +on<br> + Wenceslas as a swindler. Feeling, sincerity, poetry, were in his +eyes<br> + mere folly in business matters.</p> + +<p>So Rivet went off to see, in behalf of that poor Mademoiselle +Fischer,<br> + who, as he said, had been "done" by the Pole, the rich +manufacturers<br> + for whom Steinbock had worked. It happened that Stidmann--who, +with<br> + the help of these distinguished masters of the goldsmiths' art, +was<br> + raising French work to the perfection it has now reached, +allowing it<br> + to hold its own against Florence and the Renaissance--Stidmann +was in<br> + Chanor's private room when the army lace manufacturer called to +make<br> + inquiries as to "One Steinbock, a Polish refugee."</p> + +<p>"Whom do you call 'One Steinbock'? Do you mean a young +Livonian who<br> + was a pupil of mine?" cried Stidmann ironically. "I may tell +you,<br> + monsieur, that he is a very great artist. It is said of me that +I<br> + believe myself to be the Devil. Well, that poor fellow does not +know<br> + that he is capable of becoming a god."</p> + +<p>"Indeed," said Rivet, well pleased. And then he added, "Though +you<br> + take a rather cavalier tone with a man who has the honor to be +an<br> + Assessor on the Tribunal of Commerce of the Department of the +Seine."</p> + +<p>"Your pardon, Consul!" said Stidmann, with a military +salute.</p> + +<p>"I am delighted," the Assessor went on, "to hear what you say. +The man<br> + may make money then?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said Chanor; "but he must work. He would have a +tidy sum<br> + by now if he had stayed with us. What is to be done? Artists +have a<br> + horror of not being free."</p> + +<p>"They have a proper sense of their value and dignity," +replied<br> + Stidmann. "I do not blame Wenceslas for walking alone, trying to +make<br> + a name, and to become a great man; he had a right to do so! But +he was<br> + a great loss to me when he left."</p> + +<p>"That, you see," exclaimed Rivet, "is what all young students +aim at<br> + as soon as they are hatched out of the school-egg. Begin by +saving<br> + money, I say, and seek glory afterwards."</p> + +<p>"It spoils your touch to be picking up coin," said Stidmann. +"It is<br> + Glory's business to bring us wealth."</p> + +<p>"And, after all," said Chanor to Rivet, "you cannot tether +them."</p> + +<p>"They would eat the halter," replied Stidmann.</p> + +<p>"All these gentlemen have as much caprice as talent," said +Chanor,<br> + looking at Stidmann. "They spend no end of money; they keep +their<br> + girls, they throw coin out of window, and then they have no time +to<br> + work. They neglect their orders; we have to employ workmen who +are<br> + very inferior, but who grow rich; and then they complain of the +hard<br> + times, while, if they were but steady, they might have piles of +gold."</p> + +<p>"You old Lumignon," said Stidmann, "you remind me of the +publisher<br> + before the Revolution who said--'If only I could keep +Montesquieu,<br> + Voltaire, and Rousseau very poor in my backshed, and lock up +their<br> + breeches in a cupboard, what a lot of nice little books they +would<br> + write to make my fortune.'--If works of art could be hammered +out like<br> + nails, workmen would make them.--Give me a thousand francs, and +don't<br> + talk nonsense."</p> + +<p>Worthy Monsieur Rivet went home, delighted for poor +Mademoiselle<br> + Fischer, who dined with him every Monday, and whom he found +waiting<br> + for him.</p> + +<p>"If you can only make him work," said he, "you will have more +luck<br> + than wisdom; you will be repaid, interest, capital, and costs. +This<br> + Pole has talent, he can make a living; but lock up his trousers +and<br> + his shoes, do not let him go to the <i>Chaumiere</i> or the +parish of<br> + Notre-Dame de Lorette, keep him in leading-strings. If you do +not take<br> + such precautions, your artist will take to loafing, and if you +only<br> + knew what these artists mean by loafing! Shocking! Why, I have +just<br> + heard that they will spend a thousand-franc note in a day!"</p> + +<p>This episode had a fatal influence on the home-life of +Wenceslas and<br> + Lisbeth. The benefactress flavored the exile's bread with the +wormwood<br> + of reproof, now that she saw her money in danger, and often +believed<br> + it to be lost. From a kind mother she became a stepmother; she +took<br> + the poor boy to task, she nagged him, scolded him for working +too<br> + slowly, and blamed him for having chosen so difficult a +profession.<br> + She could not believe that those models in red wax--little +figures and<br> + sketches for ornamental work--could be of any value. Before +long,<br> + vexed with herself for her severity, she would try to efface the +tears<br> + by her care and attention.</p> + +<p>Then the poor young man, after groaning to think that he was +dependent<br> + on this shrew and under the thumb of a peasant of the Vosges, +was<br> + bewitched by her coaxing ways and by a maternal affection +that<br> + attached itself solely to the physical and material side of +life. He<br> + was like a woman who forgives a week of ill-usage for the sake +of a<br> + kiss and a brief reconciliation.</p> + +<p>Thus Mademoiselle Fischer obtained complete power over his +mind. The<br> + love of dominion that lay as a germ in the old maid's heart +developed<br> + rapidly. She could now satisfy her pride and her craving for +action;<br> + had she not a creature belonging to her, to be schooled, +scolded,<br> + flattered, and made happy, without any fear of a rival? Thus the +good<br> + and bad sides of her nature alike found play. If she +sometimes<br> + victimized the poor artist, she had, on the other hand, +delicate<br> + impulses like the grace of wild flowers; it was a joy to her +to<br> + provide for all his wants; she would have given her life for +him, and<br> + Wenceslas knew it. Like every noble soul, the poor fellow forgot +the<br> + bad points, the defects of the woman who had told him the story +of her<br> + life as an excuse for her rough ways, and he remembered only +the<br> + benefits she had done him.</p> + +<p>One day, exasperated with Wenceslas for having gone out +walking<br> + instead of sitting at work, she made a great scene.</p> + +<p>"You belong to me," said she. "If you were an honest man, you +would<br> + try to repay me the money you owe as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>The gentleman, in whose veins the blood of the Steinbocks was +fired,<br> + turned pale.</p> + +<p>"Bless me," she went on, "we soon shall have nothing to live +on but<br> + the thirty sous I earn--a poor work-woman!"</p> + +<p>The two penniless creatures, worked up by their own war of +words, grew<br> + vehement; and for the first time the unhappy artist reproached +his<br> + benefactress for having rescued him from death only to make him +lead<br> + the life of a galley slave, worse than the bottomless void, +where at<br> + least, said he, he would have found rest. And he talked of +flight.</p> + +<p>"Flight!" cried Lisbeth. "Ah, Monsieur Rivet was right."</p> + +<p>And she clearly explained to the Pole that within twenty-four +hours he<br> + might be clapped into prison for the rest of his days. It was +a<br> + crushing blow. Steinbock sank into deep melancholy and total +silence.</p> + +<p>In the course of the following night, Lisbeth hearing overhead +some<br> + preparations for suicide, went up to her pensioner's room, and +gave<br> + him the schedule and a formal release.</p> + +<p>"Here, dear child, forgive me," she said with tears in her +eyes. "Be<br> + happy; leave me! I am too cruel to you; only tell me that you +will<br> + sometimes remember the poor girl who has enabled you to make a +living.<br> + --What can I say? You are the cause of my ill-humor. I might +die;<br> + where would you be without me? That is the reason of my +being<br> + impatient to see you do some salable work. I do not want my +money back<br> + for myself, I assure you! I am only frightened at your idleness, +which<br> + you call meditation; at your ideas, which take up so many hours +when<br> + you sit gazing at the sky; I want you to get into habits of +industry."</p> + +<p>All this was said with an emphasis, a look, and tears that +moved the<br> + high-minded artist; he clasped his benefactress to his heart +and<br> + kissed her forehead.</p> + +<p>"Keep these pieces," said he with a sort of cheerfulness. "Why +should<br> + you send me to Clichy? Am I not a prisoner here out of +gratitude?"</p> + +<p>This episode of their secret domestic life had occurred six +months<br> + previously, and had led to Steinbock's producing three finished +works:<br> + the seal in Hortense's possession, the group he had placed with +the<br> + curiosity dealer, and a beautiful clock to which he was putting +the<br> + last touches, screwing in the last rivets.</p> + +<p>This clock represented the twelve Hours, charmingly +personified by<br> + twelve female figures whirling round in so mad and swift a dance +that<br> + three little Loves perched on a pile of fruit and flowers could +not<br> + stop one of them; only the torn skirts of Midnight remained in +the<br> + hand of the most daring cherub. The group stood on an +admirably<br> + treated base, ornamented with grotesque beasts. The hours were +told by<br> + a monstrous mouth that opened to yawn, and each Hour bore +some<br> + ingeniously appropriate symbol characteristic of the various<br> + occupations of the day.</p> + +<p>It is now easy to understand the extraordinary attachment +of<br> + Mademoiselle Fischer for her Livonian; she wanted him to be +happy, and<br> + she saw him pining, fading away in his attic. The causes of +this<br> + wretched state of affairs may be easily imagined. The peasant +woman<br> + watched this son of the North with the affection of a mother, +with the<br> + jealousy of a wife, and the spirit of a dragon; hence she +managed to<br> + put every kind of folly or dissipation out of his power by +leaving him<br> + destitute of money. She longed to keep her victim and companion +for<br> + herself alone, well conducted perforce, and she had no +conception of<br> + the cruelty of this senseless wish, since she, for her own part, +was<br> + accustomed to every privation. She loved Steinbock well enough +not to<br> + marry him, and too much to give him up to any other woman; she +could<br> + not resign herself to be no more than a mother to him, though +she saw<br> + that she was mad to think of playing the other part.</p> + +<p>These contradictions, this ferocious jealousy, and the joy of +having a<br> + man to herself, all agitated her old maid's heart beyond +measure.<br> + Really in love as she had been for four years, she cherished +the<br> + foolish hope of prolonging this impossible and aimless way of +life in<br> + which her persistence would only be the ruin of the man she +thought of<br> + as her child. This contest between her instincts and her reason +made<br> + her unjust and tyrannical. She wreaked on the young man her +vengeance<br> + for her own lot in being neither young, rich, nor handsome; +then,<br> + after each fit of rage, recognizing herself wrong, she stooped +to<br> + unlimited humility, infinite tenderness. She never could +sacrifice to<br> + her idol till she had asserted her power by blows of the axe. In +fact,<br> + it was the converse of Shakespeare's <i>Tempest</i>--Caliban +ruling Ariel<br> + and Prospero.</p> + +<p>As to the poor youth himself, high-minded, meditative, and +inclined to<br> + be lazy, the desert that his protectress made in his soul might +be<br> + seen in his eyes, as in those of a caged lion. The penal +servitude<br> + forced on him by Lisbeth did not fulfil the cravings of his +heart. His<br> + weariness became a physical malady, and he was dying without +daring to<br> + ask, or knowing where to procure, the price of some little +necessary<br> + dissipation. On some days of special energy, when a feeling of +utter<br> + ill-luck added to his exasperation, he would look at Lisbeth as +a<br> + thirsty traveler on a sandy shore must look at the bitter +sea-water.</p> + +<p>These harsh fruits of indigence, and this isolation in the +midst of<br> + Paris, Lisbeth relished with delight. And besides, she foresaw +that<br> + the first passion would rob her of her slave. Sometimes she +even<br> + blamed herself because her own tyranny and reproaches had +compelled<br> + the poetic youth to become so great an artist of delicate work, +and<br> + she had thus given him the means of casting her off.</p> + +<p>On the day after, these three lives, so differently but so +utterly<br> + wretched--that of a mother in despair, that of the Marneffe +household,<br> + and that of the unhappy exile--were all to be influenced by +Hortense's<br> + guileless passion, and by the strange outcome of the Baron's +luckless<br> + passion for Josepha.</p> + +<p>Just as Hulot was going into the opera-house, he was stopped +by the<br> + darkened appearance of the building and of the Rue le Peletier, +where<br> + there were no gendarmes, no lights, no theatre-servants, no +barrier to<br> + regulate the crowd. He looked up at the announcement-board, and +beheld<br> + a strip of white paper, on which was printed the solemn +notice:</p> + +<p>"CLOSED ON ACCOUNT OF ILLNESS."</p> + +<p>He rushed off to Josepha's lodgings in the Rue Chauchat; for, +like all<br> + the singers, she lived close at hand.</p> + +<p>"Whom do you want, sir?" asked the porter, to the Baron's +great<br> + astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Have you forgotten me?" said Hulot, much puzzled.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, sir, it is because I have the honor to +remember you<br> + that I ask you, Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>A mortal chill fell upon the Baron.</p> + +<p>"What has happened?" he asked.</p> + +<p><br> + "If you go up to Mademoiselle Mirah's rooms, Monsieur le Baron, +you<br> + will find Mademoiselle Heloise Brisetout there--and Monsieur +Bixiou,<br> + Monsieur Leon de Lora, Monsieur Lousteau, Monsieur de +Vernisset,<br> + Monsieur Stidmann; and ladies smelling of patchouli--holding +a<br> + housewarming."</p> + +<p>"Then, where--where is----?"</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle Mirah?--I don't know that I ought to tell +you."</p> + +<p>The Baron slipped two five-franc pieces into the porter's +hand.</p> + +<p>"Well, she is now in the Rue de la Ville l'Eveque, in a fine +house,<br> + given to her, they say, by the Duc d'Herouville," replied the +man in a<br> + whisper.</p> + +<p>Having ascertained the number of the house, Monsieur Hulot +called a<br> + <i>milord</i> and drove to one of those pretty modern houses +with double<br> + doors, where everything, from the gaslight at the entrance, +proclaims<br> + luxury.</p> + +<p>The Baron, in his blue cloth coat, white neckcloth, nankeen +trousers,<br> + patent leather boots, and stiffly starched shirt-frill, was +supposed<br> + to be a guest, though a late arrival, by the janitor of this new +Eden.<br> + His alacrity of manner and quick step justified this +opinion.</p> + +<p>The porter rang a bell, and a footman appeared in the hall. +This man,<br> + as new as the house, admitted the visitor, who said to him in +an<br> + imperious tone, and with a lordly gesture:</p> + +<p>"Take in this card to Mademoiselle Josepha."</p> + +<p>The victim mechanically looked round the room in which he +found<br> + himself--an anteroom full of choice flowers and of furniture +that must<br> + have cost twenty thousand francs. The servant, on his return, +begged<br> + monsieur to wait in the drawing-room till the company came to +their<br> + coffee.</p> + +<p>Though the Baron had been familiar with Imperial luxury, which +was<br> + undoubtedly prodigious, while its productions, though not +durable in<br> + kind, had nevertheless cost enormous sums, he stood dazzled,<br> + dumfounded, in this drawing-room with three windows looking out +on a<br> + garden like fairyland, one of those gardens that are created in +a<br> + month with a made soil and transplanted shrubs, while the grass +seems<br> + as if it must be made to grow by some chemical process. He +admired not<br> + only the decoration, the gilding, the carving, in the most +expensive<br> + Pompadour style, as it is called, and the magnificent brocades, +all of<br> + which any enriched tradesman could have procured for money; but +he<br> + also noted such treasures as only princes can select and find, +can pay<br> + for and give away; two pictures by Greuze, two by Watteau, two +heads<br> + by Vandyck, two landscapes by Ruysdael, and two by le Guaspre, +a<br> + Rembrandt, a Holbein, a Murillo, and a Titian, two paintings, +by<br> + Teniers, and a pair by Metzu, a Van Huysum, and an Abraham +Mignon--in<br> + short, two hundred thousand francs' worth of pictures superbly +framed.<br> + The gilding was worth almost as much as the paintings.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha! Now you understand, my good man?" said Josepha.</p> + +<p>She had stolen in on tiptoe through a noiseless door, over +Persian<br> + carpets, and came upon her adorer, standing lost in +amazement--in the<br> + stupid amazement when a man's ears tingle so loudly that he +hears<br> + nothing but that fatal knell.</p> + +<p>The words "my good man," spoken to an official of such +high<br> + importance, so perfectly exemplified the audacity with which +these<br> + creatures pour contempt on the loftiest, that the Baron was +nailed to<br> + the spot. Josepha, in white and yellow, was so beautifully +dressed for<br> + the banquet, that amid all this lavish magnificence she still +shone<br> + like a rare jewel.</p> + +<p>"Isn't this really fine?" said she. "The Duke has spent all +the money<br> + on it that he got out of floating a company, of which the shares +all<br> + sold at a premium. He is no fool, is my little Duke. There is +nothing<br> + like a man who has been a grandee in his time for turning coals +into<br> + gold. Just before dinner the notary brought me the title-deeds +to sign<br> + and the bills receipted!--They are all a first-class set in +there--<br> + d'Esgrignon, Rastignac, Maxime, Lenoncourt, Verneuil, +Laginski,<br> + Rochefide, la Palferine, and from among the bankers Nucingen and +du<br> + Tillet, with Antonia, Malaga, Carabine, and la Schontz; and they +all<br> + feel for you deeply.--Yes, old boy, and they hope you will join +them,<br> + but on condition that you forthwith drink up to two bottles full +of<br> + Hungarian wine, Champagne, or Cape, just to bring you up to +their<br> + mark.--My dear fellow, we are all so much <i>on</i> here, that +it was<br> + necessary to close the Opera. The manager is as drunk as a +cornet-a-<br> + piston; he is hiccuping already."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Josepha!----" cried the Baron.</p> + +<p>"Now, can anything be more absurd than explanations?" she +broke in<br> + with a smile. "Look here; can you stand six hundred thousand +francs<br> + which this house and furniture cost? Can you give me a bond to +the<br> + tune of thirty thousand francs a year, which is what the Duke +has just<br> + given me in a packet of common sugared almonds from the +grocer's?--a<br> + pretty notion that----"</p> + +<p>"What an atrocity!" cried Hulot, who in his fury would have +given his<br> + wife's diamonds to stand in the Duc d'Herouville's shoes for +twenty-<br> + four hours.</p> + +<p>"Atrocity is my trade," said she. "So that is how you take it? +Well,<br> + why don't you float a company? Goodness me! my poor dyed Tom, +you<br> + ought to be grateful to me; I have thrown you over just when you +would<br> + have spent on me your widow's fortune, your daughter's +portion.--What,<br> + tears! The Empire is a thing of the past--I hail the coming +Empire!"</p> + +<p>She struck a tragic attitude, and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"They call you Hulot! Nay, I know you not--"</p> + +<p>And she went into the other room.</p> + +<p>Through the door, left ajar, there came, like a +lightning-flash, a<br> + streak of light with an accompaniment of the crescendo of the +orgy and<br> + the fragrance of a banquet of the choicest description.</p> + +<p>The singer peeped through the partly open door, and seeing +Hulot<br> + transfixed as if he had been a bronze image, she came one step +forward<br> + into the room.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," said she, "I have handed over the rubbish in the +Rue<br> + Chauchat to Bixiou's little Heloise Brisetout. If you wish to +claim<br> + your cotton nightcap, your bootjack, your belt, and your wax +dye, I<br> + have stipulated for their return."</p> + +<p>This insolent banter made the Baron leave the room as +precipitately as<br> + Lot departed from Gomorrah, but he did not look back like Mrs. +Lot.</p> + +<p>Hulot went home, striding along in a fury, and talking to +himself; he<br> + found his family still playing the game of whist at two sous a +point,<br> + at which he left them. On seeing her husband return, poor +Adeline<br> + imagined something dreadful, some dishonor; she gave her cards +to<br> + Hortense, and led Hector away into the very room where, only +five<br> + hours since, Crevel had foretold her the utmost disgrace of +poverty.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" she said, terrified.</p> + +<p>"Oh, forgive me--but let me tell you all these horrors." And +for ten<br> + minutes he poured out his wrath.</p> + +<p>"But, my dear," said the unhappy woman, with heroic courage, +"these<br> + creatures do not know what love means--such pure and devoted +love as<br> + you deserve. How could you, so clear-sighted as you are, dream +of<br> + competing with millions?"</p> + +<p>"Dearest Adeline!" cried the Baron, clasping her to his +heart.</p> + +<p>The Baroness' words had shed balm on the bleeding wounds to +his<br> + vanity.</p> + +<p>"To be sure, take away the Duc d'Herouville's fortune, and she +could<br> + not hesitate between us!" said the Baron.</p> + +<p>"My dear," said Adeline with a final effort, "if you +positively must<br> + have mistresses, why do you not seek them, like Crevel, among +women<br> + who are less extravagant, and of a class that can for a time +be<br> + content with little? We should all gain by that +arrangement.--I<br> + understand your need--but I do not understand that +vanity----"</p> + +<p>"Oh, what a kind and perfect wife you are!" cried he. "I am an +old<br> + lunatic, I do not deserve to have such a wife!"</p> + +<p>"I am simply the Josephine of my Napoleon," she replied, with +a touch<br> + of melancholy.</p> + +<p>"Josephine was not to compare with you!" said he. "Come; I +will play a<br> + game of whist with my brother and the children. I must try my +hand at<br> + the business of a family man; I must get Hortense a husband, and +bury<br> + the libertine."</p> + +<p>His frankness so greatly touched poor Adeline, that she +said:</p> + +<p>"The creature has no taste to prefer any man in the world to +my<br> + Hector. Oh, I would not give you up for all the gold on earth. +How can<br> + any woman throw you over who is so happy as to be loved by +you?"</p> + +<p>The look with which the Baron rewarded his wife's fanaticism +confirmed<br> + her in her opinion that gentleness and docility were a +woman's<br> + strongest weapons.</p> + +<p>But in this she was mistaken. The noblest sentiments, carried +to an<br> + excess, can produce mischief as great as do the worst vices. +Bonaparte<br> + was made Emperor for having fired on the people, at a stone's +throw<br> + from the spot where Louis XVI. lost his throne and his head +because he<br> + would not allow a certain Monsieur Sauce to be hurt.</p> + +<p>On the following morning, Hortense, who had slept with the +seal under<br> + her pillow, so as to have it close to her all night, dressed +very<br> + early, and sent to beg her father to join her in the garden as +soon as<br> + he should be down.</p> + +<p>By about half-past nine, the father, acceding to his +daughter's<br> + petition, gave her his arm for a walk, and they went along the +quays<br> + by the Pont Royal to the Place du Carrousel.</p> + +<p>"Let us look into the shop windows, papa," said Hortense, as +they went<br> + through the little gate to cross the wide square.</p> + +<p>"What--here?" said her father, laughing at her.</p> + +<p>"We are supposed to have come to see the pictures, and over +there"--<br> + and she pointed to the stalls in front of the houses at a right +angle<br> + to the Rue du Doyenne--"look! there are dealers in curiosities +and<br> + pictures----"</p> + +<p>"Your cousin lives there."</p> + +<p>"I know it, but she must not see us."</p> + +<p>"And what do you want to do?" said the Baron, who, finding +himself<br> + within thirty yards of Madame Marneffe's windows, suddenly +remembered<br> + her.</p> + +<p>Hortense had dragged her father in front of one of the shops +forming<br> + the angle of a block of houses built along the front of the +Old<br> + Louvre, and facing the Hotel de Nantes. She went into this shop; +her<br> + father stood outside, absorbed in gazing at the windows of the +pretty<br> + little lady, who, the evening before, had left her image stamped +on<br> + the old beau's heart, as if to alleviate the wound he was so +soon to<br> + receive; and he could not help putting his wife's sage advice +into<br> + practice.</p> + +<p>"I will fall back on a simple little citizen's wife," said he +to<br> + himself, recalling Madame Marneffe's adorable graces. "Such a +woman as<br> + that will soon make me forget that grasping Josepha."</p> + +<p>Now, this was what was happening at the same moment outside +and inside<br> + the curiosity shop.</p> + +<p>As he fixed his eyes on the windows of his new <i>belle</i>, +the Baron saw<br> + the husband, who, while brushing his coat with his own hands, +was<br> + apparently on the lookout, expecting to see some one on the +square.<br> + Fearing lest he should be seen, and subsequently recognized, +the<br> + amorous Baron turned his back on the Rue du Doyenne, or rather +stood<br> + at three-quarters' face, as it were, so as to be able to glance +round<br> + from time to time. This manoeuvre brought him face to face with +Madame<br> + Marneffe, who, coming up from the quay, was doubling the +promontory of<br> + houses to go home.</p> + +<p>Valerie was evidently startled as she met the Baron's +astonished eye,<br> + and she responded with a prudish dropping of her eyelids.</p> + +<p>"A pretty woman," exclaimed he, "for whom a man would do many +foolish<br> + things."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, monsieur?" said she, turning suddenly, like a woman +who has<br> + just come to some vehement decision, "you are Monsieur le Baron +Hulot,<br> + I believe?"</p> + +<p>The Baron, more and more bewildered, bowed assent.</p> + +<p>"Then, as chance has twice made our eyes meet, and I am so +fortunate<br> + as to have interested or puzzled you, I may tell you that, +instead of<br> + doing anything foolish, you ought to do justice.--My husband's +fate<br> + rests with you."</p> + +<p>"And how may that be?" asked the gallant Baron.</p> + +<p>"He is employed in your department in the War Office, under +Monsieur<br> + Lebrun, in Monsieur Coquet's room," said she with a smile.</p> + +<p>"I am quite disposed, Madame--Madame----?"</p> + +<p>"Madame Marneffe."</p> + +<p>"Dear little Madame Marneffe, to do injustice for your +sake.--I have a<br> + cousin living in your house; I will go to see her one day +soon--as<br> + soon as possible; bring your petition to me in her rooms."</p> + +<p>"Pardon my boldness, Monsieur le Baron; you must understand +that if I<br> + dare to address you thus, it is because I have no friend to +protect<br> + me----"</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, you misunderstand me," said she, lowering her +eyelids.</p> + +<p>Hulot felt as if the sun had disappeared.</p> + +<p>"I am at my wits' end, but I am an honest woman!" she went on. +"About<br> + six months ago my only protector died, Marshal Montcornet--"</p> + +<p>"Ah! You are his daughter?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur; but he never acknowledged me."</p> + +<p>"That was that he might leave you part of his fortune."</p> + +<p>"He left me nothing; he made no will."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! Poor little woman! The Marshal died suddenly of +apoplexy.<br> + But, come, madame, hope for the best. The State must do +something for<br> + the daughter of one of the Chevalier Bayards of the Empire."</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe bowed gracefully and went off, as proud of her +success<br> + as the Baron was of his.</p> + +<p>"Where the devil has she been so early?" thought he watching +the flow<br> + of her skirts, to which she contrived to impart a somewhat +exaggerated<br> + grace. "She looks too tired to have just come from a bath, and +her<br> + husband is waiting for her. It is strange, and puzzles me +altogether."</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe having vanished within, the Baron wondered +what his<br> + daughter was doing in the shop. As he went in, still staring at +Madame<br> + Marneffe's windows, he ran against a young man with a pale brow +and<br> + sparkling gray eyes, wearing a summer coat of black merino, +coarse<br> + drill trousers, and tan shoes, with gaiters, rushing away +headlong; he<br> + saw him run to the house in the Rue du Doyenne, into which he +went.</p> + +<p>Hortense, on going into the shop, had at once recognized the +famous<br> + group, conspicuously placed on a table in the middle and in +front of<br> + the door. Even without the circumstances to which she owed +her<br> + knowledge of this masterpiece, it would probably have struck her +by<br> + the peculiar power which we must call the <i>brio</i>--the +<i>go</i>--of great<br> + works; and the girl herself might in Italy have been taken as a +model<br> + for the personification of <i>Brio</i>.</p> + +<p><br> + Not every work by a man of genius has in the same degree +that<br> + brilliancy, that glory which is at once patent even to the +most<br> + ignoble beholder. Thus, certain pictures by Raphael, such as +the<br> + famous <i>Transfiguration</i>, the <i>Madonna di Foligno</i>, +and the frescoes<br> + of the <i>Stanze</i> in the Vatican, do not at first captivate +our<br> + admiration, as do the <i>Violin-player</i> in the Sciarra +Palace, the<br> + portraits of the Doria family, and the <i>Vision of Ezekiel</i> +in the<br> + Pitti Gallery, the <i>Christ bearing His Cross</i> in the +Borghese<br> + collection, and the <i>Marriage of the Virgin</i> in the Brera +at Milan.<br> + The <i>Saint John the Baptist</i> of the Tribuna, and <i>Saint +Luke painting</i><br> + <i>the Virgin's portrait</i> in the Accademia at Rome, have not +the charm of<br> + the <i>Portrait of Leo X.</i>, and of the <i>Virgin</i> at +Dresden.</p> + +<p>And yet they are all of equal merit. Nay, more. The +<i>Stanze</i>, the<br> + <i>Transfiguration</i>, the panels, and the three easel pictures +in the<br> + Vatican are in the highest degree perfect and sublime. But they +demand<br> + a stress of attention, even from the most accomplished beholder, +and<br> + serious study, to be fully understood; while the +<i>Violin-player</i>, the<br> + <i>Marriage of the Virgin</i>, and the <i>Vision of Ezekiel</i> +go straight to<br> + the heart through the portal of sight, and make their home +there. It<br> + is a pleasure to receive them thus without an effort; if it is +not the<br> + highest phase of art, it is the happiest. This fact proves that, +in<br> + the begetting of works of art, there is as much chance in +the<br> + character of the offspring as there is in a family of children; +that<br> + some will be happily graced, born beautiful, and costing their +mothers<br> + little suffering, creatures on whom everything smiles, and with +whom<br> + everything succeeds; in short, genius, like love, has its +fairer<br> + blossoms.</p> + +<p>This <i>brio</i>, an Italian word which the French have begun +to use, is<br> + characteristic of youthful work. It is the fruit of an impetus +and<br> + fire of early talent--an impetus which is met with again later +in some<br> + happy hours; but this particular <i>brio</i> no longer comes +from the<br> + artist's heart; instead of his flinging it into his work as a +volcano<br> + flings up its fires, it comes to him from outside, inspired +by<br> + circumstances, by love, or rivalry, often by hatred, and more +often<br> + still by the imperious need of glory to be lived up to.</p> + +<p>This group by Wenceslas was to his later works what the +<i>Marriage of</i><br> + <i>the Virgin</i> is to the great mass of Raphael's, the first +step of a<br> + gifted artist taken with the inimitable grace, the eagerness, +and<br> + delightful overflowingness of a child, whose strength is +concealed<br> + under the pink-and-white flesh full of dimples which seem to +echo to a<br> + mother's laughter. Prince Eugene is said to have paid four +hundred<br> + thousand francs for this picture, which would be worth a million +to<br> + any nation that owned no picture by Raphael, but no one would +give<br> + that sum for the finest of the frescoes, though their value is +far<br> + greater as works of art.</p> + +<p>Hortense restrained her admiration, for she reflected on the +amount of<br> + her girlish savings; she assumed an air of indifference, and +said to<br> + the dealer:</p> + +<p>"What is the price of that?"</p> + +<p>"Fifteen hundred francs," replied the man, sending a glance +of<br> + intelligence to a young man seated on a stool in the corner.</p> + +<p>The young man himself gazed in a stupefaction at Monsieur +Hulot's<br> + living masterpiece. Hortense, forewarned, at once identified him +as<br> + the artist, from the color that flushed a face pale with +endurance;<br> + she saw the spark lighted up in his gray eyes by her question; +she<br> + looked on the thin, drawn features, like those of a monk +consumed by<br> + asceticism; she loved the red, well-formed mouth, the delicate +chin,<br> + and the Pole's silky chestnut hair.</p> + +<p>"If it were twelve hundred," said she, "I would beg you to +send it to<br> + me."</p> + +<p>"It is antique, mademoiselle," the dealer remarked, thinking, +like all<br> + his fraternity, that, having uttered this <i>ne plus ultra</i> +of bric-a-<br> + brac, there was no more to be said.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, monsieur," she replied very quietly, "it was made +this<br> + year; I came expressly to beg you, if my price is accepted, to +send<br> + the artist to see us, as it might be possible to procure him +some<br> + important commissions."</p> + +<p>"And if he is to have the twelve hundred francs, what am I +to<br> + get? I am the dealer," said the man, with candid good-humor.</p> + +<p>"To be sure!" replied the girl, with a slight curl of +disdain.</p> + +<p>"Oh! mademoiselle, take it; I will make terms with the +dealer,"<br> + cried the Livonian, beside himself.</p> + +<p>Fascinated by Hortense's wonderful beauty and the love of art +she<br> + displayed, he added:</p> + +<p>"I am the sculptor of the group, and for ten days I have come +here<br> + three times a day to see if anybody would recognize its merit +and<br> + bargain for it. You are my first admirer--take it!"</p> + +<p>"Come, then, monsieur, with the dealer, an hour hence.--Here +is my<br> + father's card," replied Hortense.</p> + +<p>Then, seeing the shopkeeper go into a back room to wrap the +group in a<br> + piece of linen rag, she added in a low voice, to the great<br> + astonishment of the artist, who thought he must be dreaming:</p> + +<p>"For the benefit of your future prospects, Monsieur Wenceslas, +do not<br> + mention the name of the purchaser to Mademoiselle Fischer, for +she is<br> + our cousin."</p> + +<p>The word cousin dazzled the artist's mind; he had a glimpse +of<br> + Paradise whence this daughter of Eve had come to him. He had +dreamed<br> + of the beautiful girl of whom Lisbeth had told him, as Hortense +had<br> + dreamed of her cousin's lover; and, as she had entered the +shop--</p> + +<p>"Ah!" thought he, "if she could but be like this!"</p> + +<p>The look that passed between the lovers may be imagined; it +was a<br> + flame, for virtuous lovers have no hypocrisies.</p> + +<p>"Well, what the deuce are you doing here?" her father asked +her.</p> + +<p>"I have been spending twelve hundred francs that I had saved. +Come."<br> + And she took her father's arm.</p> + +<p>"Twelve hundred francs?" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"To be exact, thirteen hundred; you will lend me the odd +hundred?"</p> + +<p>"And on what, in such a place, could you spend so much?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that is the question!" replied the happy girl. "If I have +got a<br> + husband, he is not dear at the money."</p> + +<p>"A husband! In that shop, my child?"</p> + +<p>"Listen, dear little father; would you forbid my marrying a +great<br> + artist?"</p> + +<p>"No, my dear. A great artist in these days is a prince without +a title<br> + --he has glory and fortune, the two chief social +advantages--next to<br> + virtue," he added, in a smug tone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, of course!" said Hortense. "And what do you think of +sculpture?"</p> + +<p>"It is very poor business," replied Hulot, shaking his head. +"It needs<br> + high patronage as well as great talent, for Government is the +only<br> + purchaser. It is an art with no demand nowadays, where there are +no<br> + princely houses, no great fortunes, no entailed mansions, no<br> + hereditary estates. Only small pictures and small figures can +find a<br> + place; the arts are endangered by this need of small +things."</p> + +<p>"But if a great artist could find a demand?" said +Hortense.</p> + +<p>"That indeed would solve the problem."</p> + +<p>"Or had some one to back him?"</p> + +<p>"That would be even better."</p> + +<p>"If he were of noble birth?"</p> + +<p>"Pooh!"</p> + +<p>"A Count."</p> + +<p>"And a sculptor?"</p> + +<p>"He has no money."</p> + +<p>"And so he counts on that of Mademoiselle Hortense Hulot?" +said the<br> + Baron ironically, with an inquisitorial look into his daughter's +eyes.</p> + +<p>"This great artist, a Count and a sculptor, has just seen +your<br> + daughter for the first time in his life, and for the space of +five<br> + minutes, Monsieur le Baron," Hortense calmly replied. +"Yesterday, you<br> + must know, dear little father, while you were at the Chamber, +mamma<br> + had a fainting fit. This, which she ascribed to a nervous +attack, was<br> + the result of some worry that had to do with the failure of +my<br> + marriage, for she told me that to get rid of me---"</p> + +<p>"She is too fond of you to have used an expression----"</p> + +<p>"So unparliamentary!" Hortense put in with a laugh. "No, she +did not<br> + use those words; but I know that a girl old enough to marry and +who<br> + does not find a husband is a heavy cross for respectable parents +to<br> + bear.--Well, she thinks that if a man of energy and talent could +be<br> + found, who would be satisfied with thirty thousand francs for +my<br> + marriage portion, we might all be happy. In fact, she thought +it<br> + advisable to prepare me for the modesty of my future lot, and +to<br> + hinder me from indulging in too fervid dreams.--Which evidently +meant<br> + an end to the intended marriage, and no settlements for me!"</p> + +<p><br> + "Your mother is a very good woman, noble, admirable!" replied +the<br> + father, deeply humiliated, though not sorry to hear this +confession.</p> + +<p>"She told me yesterday that she had your permission to sell +her<br> + diamonds so as to give me something to marry on; but I should +like her<br> + to keep her jewels, and to find a husband myself. I think I have +found<br> + the man, the possible husband, answering to mamma's +prospectus----"</p> + +<p>"There?--in the Place du Carrousel?--and in one morning?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, papa, the mischief lies deeper!" said she archly.</p> + +<p>"Well, come, my child, tell the whole story to your good old +father,"<br> + said he persuasively, and concealing his uneasiness.</p> + +<p>Under promise of absolute secrecy, Hortense repeated the +upshot of her<br> + various conversations with her Cousin Betty. Then, when they got +home,<br> + she showed the much-talked-of-seal to her father in evidence of +the<br> + sagacity of her views. The father, in the depth of his heart, +wondered<br> + at the skill and acumen of girls who act on instinct, discerning +the<br> + simplicity of the scheme which her idealized love had suggested +in the<br> + course of a single night to his guileless daughter.</p> + +<p>"You will see the masterpiece I have just bought; it is to be +brought<br> + home, and that dear Wenceslas is to come with the dealer.--The +man who<br> + made that group ought to make a fortune; only use your influence +to<br> + get him an order for a statue, and rooms at the +Institut----"</p> + +<p>"How you run on!" cried her father. "Why, if you had your own +way, you<br> + would be man and wife within the legal period--in eleven +days----"</p> + +<p>"Must we wait so long?" said she, laughing. "But I fell in +love with<br> + him in five minutes, as you fell in love with mamma at first +sight.<br> + And he loves me as if we had known each other for two years. +Yes," she<br> + said in reply to her father's look, "I read ten volumes of love +in his<br> + eyes. And will not you and mamma accept him as my husband when +you see<br> + that he is a man of genius? Sculpture is the greatest of the +Arts,"<br> + she cried, clapping her hands and jumping. "I will tell you<br> + everything----"</p> + +<p>"What, is there more to come?" asked her father, smiling.</p> + +<p>The child's complete and effervescent innocence had restored +her<br> + father's peace of mind.</p> + +<p>"A confession of the first importance," said she. "I loved him +without<br> + knowing him; and, for the last hour, since seeing him, I am +crazy<br> + about him."</p> + +<p>"A little too crazy!" said the Baron, who was enjoying the +sight of<br> + this guileless passion.</p> + +<p>"Do not punish me for confiding in you," replied she. "It is +so<br> + delightful to say to my father's heart, 'I love him! I am so +happy in<br> + loving him!'--You will see my Wenceslas! His brow is so sad. The +sun<br> + of genius shines in his gray eyes--and what an air he has! What +do you<br> + think of Livonia? Is it a fine country?--The idea of Cousin +Betty's<br> + marrying that young fellow! She might be his mother. It would +be<br> + murder! I am quite jealous of all she has ever done for him. But +I<br> + don't think my marriage will please her."</p> + +<p>"See, my darling, we must hide nothing from your mother."</p> + +<p>"I should have to show her the seal, and I promised not to +betray<br> + Cousin Lisbeth, who is afraid, she says, of mamma's laughing at +her,"<br> + said Hortense.</p> + +<p>"You have scruples about the seal, and none about robbing your +cousin<br> + of her lover."</p> + +<p>"I promised about the seal--I made no promise about the +sculptor."</p> + +<p>This adventure, patriarchal in its simplicity, came admirably +<i>a</i><br> + <i>propos</i> to the unconfessed poverty of the family; the +Baron, while<br> + praising his daughter for her candor, explained to her that she +must<br> + now leave matters to the discretion of her parents.</p> + +<p>"You understand, my child, that it is not your part to +ascertain<br> + whether your cousin's lover is a Count, if he has all his +papers<br> + properly certified, and if his conduct is a guarantee for +his<br> + respectability.--As for your cousin, she refused five offers +when she<br> + was twenty years younger; that will prove no obstacle, I +undertake to<br> + say."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, papa; if you really wish to see me married, +never say a<br> + word to Lisbeth about it till just before the contract is +signed. I<br> + have been catechizing her about this business for the last six +months!<br> + Well, there is something about her quite inexplicable----"</p> + +<p>"What?" said her father, puzzled.</p> + +<p>"Well, she looks evil when I say too much, even in joke, about +her<br> + lover. Make inquiries, but leave me to row my own boat. My +confidence<br> + ought to reassure you."</p> + +<p>"The Lord said, 'Suffer little children to come unto Me.' You +are one<br> + of those who have come back again," replied the Baron with a +touch of<br> + irony.</p> + +<p>After breakfast the dealer was announced, and the artist with +his<br> + group. The sudden flush that reddened her daughter's face at +once made<br> + the Baroness suspicious and then watchful, and the girl's +confusion<br> + and the light in her eyes soon betrayed the mystery so badly +guarded<br> + in her simple heart.</p> + +<p>Count Steinbock, dressed in black, struck the Baron as a +very<br> + gentlemanly young man.</p> + +<p>"Would you undertake a bronze statue?" he asked, as he held up +the<br> + group.</p> + +<p>After admiring it on trust, he passed it on to his wife, who +knew<br> + nothing about sculpture.</p> + +<p>"It is beautiful, isn't it, mamma?" said Hortense in her +mother' ear.</p> + +<p>"A statue! Monsieur, it is less difficult to execute a statue +than to<br> + make a clock like this, which my friend here has been kind +enough to<br> + bring," said the artist in reply.</p> + +<p>The dealer was placing on the dining-room sideboard the wax +model of<br> + the twelve Hours that the Loves were trying to delay.</p> + +<p>"Leave the clock with me," said the Baron, astounded at the +beauty of<br> + the sketch. "I should like to show it to the Ministers of the +Interior<br> + and of Commerce."</p> + +<p>"Who is the young man in whom you take so much interest?" the +Baroness<br> + asked her daughter.</p> + +<p>"An artist who could afford to execute this model could get a +hundred<br> + thousand francs for it," said the curiosity-dealer, putting on +a<br> + knowing and mysterious look as he saw that the artist and the +girl<br> + were interchanging glances. "He would only need to sell twenty +copies<br> + at eight thousand francs each--for the materials would cost +about a<br> + thousand crowns for each example. But if each copy were numbered +and<br> + the mould destroyed, it would certainly be possible to meet +with<br> + twenty amateurs only too glad to possess a replica of such a +work."</p> + +<p>"A hundred thousand francs!" cried Steinbock, looking from the +dealer<br> + to Hortense, the Baron, and the Baroness.</p> + +<p>"Yes, a hundred thousand francs," repeated the dealer. "If I +were rich<br> + enough, I would buy it of you myself for twenty thousand francs; +for<br> + by destroying the mould it would become a valuable property. But +one<br> + of the princes ought to pay thirty or forty thousand francs for +such a<br> + work to ornament his drawing-room. No man has ever succeeded in +making<br> + a clock satisfactory alike to the vulgar and to the connoisseur, +and<br> + this one, sir, solves the difficulty."</p> + +<p>"This is for yourself, monsieur," said Hortense, giving six +gold<br> + pieces to the dealer.</p> + +<p>"Never breath a word of this visit to any one living," said +the artist<br> + to his friend, at the door. "If you should be asked where we +sold the<br> + group, mention the Duc d'Herouville, the famous collector in the +Rue<br> + de Varenne."</p> + +<p>The dealer nodded assent.</p> + +<p>"And your name?" said Hulot to the artist when he came +back.</p> + +<p>"Count Steinbock."</p> + +<p>"Have you the papers that prove your identity?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Monsieur le Baron. They are in Russian and in German, +but not<br> + legalized."</p> + +<p>"Do you feel equal to undertaking a statue nine feet +high?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, if the persons whom I shall consult are satisfied +with<br> + your work, I can secure you the commission for the statue of +Marshal<br> + Montcornet, which is to be erected on his monument at +Pere-Lachaise.<br> + The Minister of War and the old officers of the Imperial Guard +have<br> + subscribed a sum large enough to enable us to select our +artist."</p> + +<p>"Oh, monsieur, it will make my fortune!" exclaimed +Steinbock,<br> + overpowered by so much happiness at once.</p> + +<p>"Be easy," replied the Baron graciously. "If the two ministers +to whom<br> + I propose to show your group and this sketch in wax are +delighted with<br> + these two pieces, your prospects of a fortune are good."</p> + +<p>Hortense hugged her father's arm so tightly as to hurt +him.</p> + +<p>"Bring me your papers, and say nothing of your hopes to +anybody, not<br> + even to our old Cousin Betty."</p> + +<p>"Lisbeth?" said Madame Hulot, at last understanding the end of +all<br> + this, though unable to guess the means.</p> + +<p>"I could give proof of my skill by making a bust of the +Baroness,"<br> + added Wenceslas.</p> + +<p>The artist, struck by Madame Hulot's beauty, was comparing the +mother<br> + and daughter.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, monsieur, life may smile upon you," said the Baron, +quite<br> + charmed by Count Steinbock's refined and elegant manner. "You +will<br> + find out that in Paris no man is clever for nothing, and +that<br> + persevering toil always finds its reward here."</p> + +<p>Hortense, with a blush, held out to the young man a pretty +Algerine<br> + purse containing sixty gold pieces. The artist, with something +still<br> + of a gentleman's pride, responded with a mounting color easy +enough to<br> + interpret.</p> + +<p>"This, perhaps, is the first money your works have brought +you?" said<br> + Adeline.</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame--my works of art. It is not the first-fruits of +my labor,<br> + for I have been a workman."</p> + +<p>"Well, we must hope my daughter's money will bring you good +luck,"<br> + said she.</p> + +<p>"And take it without scruple," added the Baron, seeing that +Wenceslas<br> + held the purse in his hand instead of pocketing it. "The sum +will be<br> + repaid by some rich man, a prince perhaps, who will offer it +with<br> + interest to possess so fine a work."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I want it too much myself, papa, to give it up to anybody +in the<br> + world, even a royal prince!"</p> + +<p>"I can make a far prettier thing than that for you, +mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>"But it would not be this one," replied she; and then, as if +ashamed<br> + of having said too much, she ran out into the garden.</p> + +<p>"Then I shall break the mould and the model as soon as I go +home,"<br> + said Steinbock.</p> + +<p>"Fetch me your papers, and you will hear of me before long, if +you are<br> + equal to what I expect of you, monsieur."</p> + +<p>The artist on this could but take leave. After bowing to +Madame Hulot<br> + and Hortense, who came in from the garden on purpose, he went +off to<br> + walk in the Tuileries, not bearing--not daring--to return to +his<br> + attic, where his tyrant would pelt him with questions and wring +his<br> + secret from him.</p> + +<p>Hortense's adorer conceived of groups and statues by the +hundred; he<br> + felt strong enough to hew the marble himself, like Canova, who +was<br> + also a feeble man, and nearly died of it. He was transfigured +by<br> + Hortense, who was to him inspiration made visible.</p> + +<p>"Now then," said the Baroness to her daughter, "what does all +this<br> + mean?"</p> + +<p>"Well, dear mamma, you have just seen Cousin Lisbeth's lover, +who now,<br> + I hope, is mine. But shut your eyes, know nothing. Good Heavens! +I was<br> + to keep it all from you, and I cannot help telling you +everything----"</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, children!" said the Baron, kissing his wife and +daughter;<br> + "I shall perhaps go to call on the Nanny, and from her I shall +hear a<br> + great deal about our young man."</p> + +<p>"Papa, be cautious!" said Hortense.</p> + +<p>"Oh! little girl!" cried the Baroness when Hortense had poured +out her<br> + poem, of which the morning's adventure was the last canto, +"dear<br> + little girl, Artlessness will always be the artfulest puss on +earth!"</p> + +<p>Genuine passions have an unerring instinct. Set a greedy man +before a<br> + dish of fruit and he will make no mistake, but take the choicest +even<br> + without seeing it. In the same way, if you allow a girl who is +well<br> + brought up to choose a husband for herself, if she is in a +position to<br> + meet the man of her heart, rarely will she blunder. The act of +nature<br> + in such cases is known as love at first sight; and in love, +first<br> + sight is practically second sight.</p> + +<p>The Baroness' satisfaction, though disguised under maternal +dignity,<br> + was as great as her daughter's; for, of the three ways of +marrying<br> + Hortense of which Crevel had spoken, the best, as she opined, +was<br> + about to be realized. And she regarded this little drama as an +answer<br> + by Providence to her fervent prayers.</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle Fischer's galley slave, obliged at last to go +home,<br> + thought he might hide his joy as a lover under his glee as an +artist<br> + rejoicing over his first success.</p> + +<p>"Victory! my group is sold to the Duc d'Herouville, who is +going to<br> + give me some commissions," cried he, throwing the twelve +hundred<br> + francs in gold on the table before the old maid.</p> + +<p>He had, as may be supposed concealed Hortense's purse; it lay +next to<br> + his heart.</p> + +<p>"And a very good thing too," said Lisbeth. "I was working +myself to<br> + death. You see, child, money comes in slowly in the business you +have<br> + taken up, for this is the first you have earned, and you have +been<br> + grinding at it for near on five years now. That money barely +repays me<br> + for what you have cost me since I took your promissory note; +that is<br> + all I have got by my savings. But be sure of one thing," she +said,<br> + after counting the gold, "this money will all be spent on you. +There<br> + is enough there to keep us going for a year. In a year you may +now be<br> + able to pay your debt and have a snug little sum of your own, if +you<br> + go on in the same way."</p> + +<p>Wenceslas, finding his trick successful, expatiated on the +Duc<br> + d'Herouville.</p> + +<p>"I will fit you out in a black suit, and get you some new +linen," said<br> + Lisbeth, "for you must appear presentably before your patrons; +and<br> + then you must have a larger and better apartment than your +horrible<br> + garret, and furnish it property.--You look so bright, you are +not like<br> + the same creature," she added, gazing at Wenceslas.</p> + +<p>"But my work is pronounced a masterpiece."</p> + +<p>"Well, so much the better! Do some more," said the arid +creature, who<br> + was nothing but practical, and incapable of understanding the +joy of<br> + triumph or of beauty in Art. "Trouble your head no further about +what<br> + you have sold; make something else to sell. You have spent two +hundred<br> + francs in money, to say nothing of your time and your labor, on +that<br> + devil of a <i>Samson</i>. Your clock will cost you more than two +thousand<br> + francs to execute. I tell you what, if you will listen to me, +you will<br> + finish the two little boys crowning the little girl with +cornflowers;<br> + that would just suit the Parisians.--I will go round to Monsieur +Graff<br> + the tailor before going to Monsieur Crevel.--Go up now and leave +me to<br> + dress."</p> + +<p>Next day the Baron, perfectly crazy about Madame Marneffe, +went to see<br> + Cousin Betty, who was considerably amazed on opening the door to +see<br> + who her visitor was, for he had never called on her before. She +at<br> + once said to herself, "Can it be that Hortense wants my +lover?"--for<br> + she had heard the evening before, at Monsieur Crevel's, that +the<br> + marriage with the Councillor of the Supreme Court was broken +off.</p> + +<p>"What, Cousin! you here? This is the first time you have ever +been to<br> + see me, and it is certainly not for love of my fine eyes that +you have<br> + come now."</p> + +<p>"Fine eyes is the truth," said the Baron; "you have as fine +eyes as I<br> + have ever seen----"</p> + +<p>"Come, what are you here for? I really am ashamed to receive +you in<br> + such a kennel."</p> + +<p>The outer room of the two inhabited by Lisbeth served her as +sitting-<br> + room, dining-room, kitchen, and workroom. The furniture was such +as<br> + beseemed a well-to-do artisan--walnut-wood chairs with straw +seats, a<br> + small walnut-wood dining table, a work table, some colored +prints in<br> + black wooden frames, short muslin curtains to the windows, the +floor<br> + well polished and shining with cleanliness, not a speck of +dust<br> + anywhere, but all cold and dingy, like a picture by Terburg in +every<br> + particular, even to the gray tone given by a wall paper once +blue and<br> + now faded to gray. As to the bedroom, no human being had +ever<br> + penetrated its secrets.</p> + +<p>The Baron took it all in at a glance, saw the sign-manual +of<br> + commonness on every detail, from the cast-iron stove to the +household<br> + utensils, and his gorge rose as he said to himself, "And +<i>this</i> is<br> + virtue!--What am I here for?" said he aloud. "You are far too +cunning<br> + not to guess, and I had better tell you plainly," cried he, +sitting<br> + down and looking out across the courtyard through an opening he +made<br> + in the puckered curtain. "There is a very pretty woman in +the<br> + house----"</p> + +<p>"Madame Marneffe! Now I understand!" she exclaimed, seeing it +all.<br> + "But Josepha?"</p> + +<p>"Alas, Cousin, Josepha is no more. I was turned out of doors +like a<br> + discarded footman."</p> + +<p>"And you would like . . .?" said Lisbeth, looking at the Baron +with<br> + the dignity of a prude on her guard a quarter of an hour too +soon.</p> + +<p>"As Madame Marneffe is very much the lady, and the wife of an +employe,<br> + you can meet her without compromising yourself," the Baron went +on,<br> + "and I should like to see you neighborly. Oh! you need not be +alarmed;<br> + she will have the greatest consideration for the cousin of +her<br> + husband's chief."</p> + +<p>At this moment the rustle of a gown was heard on the stairs +and the<br> + footstep of a woman wearing the thinnest boots. The sound ceased +on<br> + the landing. There was a tap at the door, and Madame Marneffe +came in.</p> + +<p>"Pray excuse me, mademoiselle, for thus intruding upon you, +but I<br> + failed to find you yesterday when I came to call; we are +near<br> + neighbors; and if I had known that you were related to Monsieur +le<br> + Baron, I should long since have craved your kind interest with +him. I<br> + saw him come in, so I took the liberty of coming across; for +my<br> + husband, Monsieur le Baron, spoke to me of a report on the +office<br> + clerks which is to be laid before the minister to-morrow."</p> + +<p>She seemed quite agitated and nervous--but she had only run +upstairs.</p> + +<p>"You have no need to play the petitioner, fair lady," replied +the<br> + Baron. "It is I who should ask the favor of seeing you."</p> + +<p>"Very well, if mademoiselle allows it, pray come!" said +Madame<br> + Marneffe.</p> + +<p>"Yes--go, Cousin, I will join you," said Lisbeth +judiciously.</p> + +<p>The Parisienne had so confidently counted on the chief's visit +and<br> + intelligence, that not only had she dressed herself for so +important<br> + an interview--she had dressed her room. Early in the day it had +been<br> + furnished with flowers purchased on credit. Marneffe had helped +his<br> + wife to polish the furniture, down to the smallest objects, +washing,<br> + brushing, and dusting everything. Valerie wished to be found in +an<br> + atmosphere of sweetness, to attract the chief and to please him +enough<br> + to have a right to be cruel; to tantalize him as a child would, +with<br> + all the tricks of fashionable tactics. She had gauged Hulot. +Give a<br> + Paris woman at bay four-and-twenty hours, and she will overthrow +a<br> + ministry.</p> + +<p><br> + The man of the Empire, accustomed to the ways to the Empire, was +no<br> + doubt quite ignorant of the ways of modern love-making, of +the<br> + scruples in vogue and the various styles of conversation +invented<br> + since 1830, which led to the poor weak woman being regarded as +the<br> + victim of her lover's desires--a Sister of Charity salving a +wound, an<br> + angel sacrificing herself.</p> + +<p>This modern art of love uses a vast amount of evangelical +phrases in<br> + the service of the Devil. Passion is martyrdom. Both parties +aspire to<br> + the Ideal, to the Infinite; love is to make them so much better. +All<br> + these fine words are but a pretext for putting increased ardor +into<br> + the practical side of it, more frenzy into a fall than of old. +This<br> + hypocrisy, a characteristic of the times, is a gangrene in +gallantry.<br> + The lovers are both angels, and they behave, if they can, like +two<br> + devils.</p> + +<p>Love had no time for such subtle analysis between two +campaigns, and<br> + in 1809 its successes were as rapid as those of the Empire. So, +under<br> + the Restoration, the handsome Baron, a lady's man once more, had +begun<br> + by consoling some old friends now fallen from the political +firmament,<br> + like extinguished stars, and then, as he grew old, was captured +by<br> + Jenny Cadine and Josepha.</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe had placed her batteries after due study of +the<br> + Baron's past life, which her husband had narrated in much +detail,<br> + after picking up some information in the offices. The comedy of +modern<br> + sentiment might have the charm of novelty to the Baron; Valerie +had<br> + made up her mind as to her scheme; and we may say the trial of +her<br> + power that she made this morning answered her highest +expectations.<br> + Thanks to her manoeuvres, sentimental, high-flown, and +romantic,<br> + Valerie, without committing herself to any promises, obtained +for her<br> + husband the appointment as deputy head of the office and the +Cross of<br> + the Legion of Honor.</p> + +<p>The campaign was not carried out without little dinners at the +<i>Rocher</i><br> + <i>de Cancale</i>, parties to the play, and gifts in the form of +lace,<br> + scarves, gowns, and jewelry. The apartment in the Rue du Doyenne +was<br> + not satisfactory; the Baron proposed to furnish another +magnificently<br> + in a charming new house in the Rue Vanneau.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Marneffe got a fortnight's leave, to be taken a month +hence<br> + for urgent private affairs in the country, and a present in +money; he<br> + promised himself that he would spend both in a little town +in<br> + Switzerland, studying the fair sex.</p> + +<p>While Monsieur Hulot thus devoted himself to the lady he +was<br> + "protecting," he did not forget the young artist. Comte +Popinot,<br> + Minister of Commerce, was a patron of Art; he paid two thousand +francs<br> + for a copy of the <i>Samson</i> on condition that the mould +should be<br> + broken, and that there should be no <i>Samson</i> but his and +Mademoiselle<br> + Hulot's. The group was admired by a Prince, to whom the model +sketch<br> + for the clock was also shown, and who ordered it; but that again +was<br> + to be unique, and he offered thirty thousand francs for it.</p> + +<p>Artists who were consulted, and among them Stidmann, were of +opinion<br> + that the man who had sketched those two models was capable +of<br> + achieving a statue. The Marshal Prince de Wissembourg, Minister +of<br> + War, and President of the Committee for the subscriptions to +the<br> + monument of Marshal Montcornet, called a meeting, at which it +was<br> + decided that the execution of the work should be placed in +Steinbock's<br> + hands. The Comte de Rastignac, at that time Under-secretary of +State,<br> + wished to possess a work by the artist, whose glory was waxing +amid<br> + the acclamations of his rivals. Steinbock sold to him the +charming<br> + group of two little boys crowning a little girl, and he promised +to<br> + secure for the sculptor a studio attached to the Government +marble-<br> + quarries, situated, as all the world knows, at Le +Gros-Caillou.</p> + +<p>This was a success, such success as is won in Paris, that is +to say,<br> + stupendous success, that crushes those whose shoulders and loins +are<br> + not strong enough to bear it--as, be it said, not unfrequently +is the<br> + case. Count Wenceslas Steinbock was written about in all the<br> + newspapers and reviews without his having the least suspicion of +it,<br> + any more than had Mademoiselle Fischer. Every day, as soon as +Lisbeth<br> + had gone out to dinner, Wenceslas went to the Baroness' and +spent an<br> + hour or two there, excepting on the evenings when Lisbeth dined +with<br> + the Hulots.</p> + +<p>This state of things lasted for several days.</p> + +<p>The Baron, assured of Count Steinbock's titles and position; +the<br> + Baroness, pleased with his character and habits; Hortense, proud +of<br> + her permitted love and of her suitor's fame, none of them +hesitated to<br> + speak of the marriage; in short, the artist was in the seventh +heaven,<br> + when an indiscretion on Madame Marneffe's part spoilt all.</p> + +<p>And this was how.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, whom the Baron wished to see intimate with Madame +Marneffe,<br> + that she might keep an eye on the couple, had already dined +with<br> + Valerie; and she, on her part, anxious to have an ear in the +Hulot<br> + house, made much of the old maid. It occurred to Valerie to +invite<br> + Mademoiselle Fischer to a house-warming in the new apartments +she was<br> + about to move into. Lisbeth, glad to have found another house to +dine<br> + in, and bewitched by Madame Marneffe, had taken a great fancy +to<br> + Valerie. Of all the persons she had made acquaintance with, no +one had<br> + taken so much pains to please her. In fact, Madame Marneffe, +full of<br> + attentions for Mademoiselle Fischer, found herself in the +position<br> + towards Lisbeth that Lisbeth held towards the Baroness, +Monsieur<br> + Rivet, Crevel, and the others who invited her to dinner.</p> + +<p>The Marneffes had excited Lisbeth's compassion by allowing her +to see<br> + the extreme poverty of the house, while varnishing it as usual +with<br> + the fairest colors; their friends were under obligations to them +and<br> + ungrateful; they had had much illness; Madame Fortin, her +mother, had<br> + never known of their distress, and had died believing herself +wealthy<br> + to the end, thanks to their superhuman efforts--and so +forth.</p> + +<p>"Poor people!" said she to her Cousin Hulot, "you are right to +do what<br> + you can for them; they are so brave and so kind! They can hardly +live<br> + on the thousand crowns he gets as deputy-head of the office, for +they<br> + have got into debt since Marshal Montcornet's death. It is +barbarity<br> + on the part of the Government to suppose that a clerk with a +wife and<br> + family can live in Paris on two thousand four hundred francs a +year."</p> + +<p>And so, within a very short time, a young woman who affected +regard<br> + for her, who told her everything, and consulted her, who +flattered<br> + her, and seemed ready to yield to her guidance, had become +dearer to<br> + the eccentric Cousin Lisbeth than all her relations.</p> + +<p>The Baron, on his part, admiring in Madame Marneffe such +propriety,<br> + education, and breeding as neither Jenny Cadine nor Josepha, nor +any<br> + friend of theirs had to show, had fallen in love with her in a +month,<br> + developing a senile passion, a senseless passion, which had +an<br> + appearance of reason. In fact, he found here neither the banter, +nor<br> + the orgies, nor the reckless expenditure, nor the depravity, nor +the<br> + scorn of social decencies, nor the insolent independence which +had<br> + brought him to grief alike with the actress and the singer. He +was<br> + spared, too, the rapacity of the courtesan, like unto the thirst +of<br> + dry sand.</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe, of whom he had made a friend and confidante, +made the<br> + greatest difficulties over accepting any gift from him.</p> + +<p>"Appointments, official presents, anything you can extract +from the<br> + Government; but do not begin by insulting a woman whom you +profess to<br> + love," said Valerie. "If you do, I shall cease to believe +you--and I<br> + like to believe you," she added, with a glance like Saint +Theresa<br> + leering at heaven.</p> + +<p>Every time he made her a present there was a fortress to be +stormed, a<br> + conscience to be over-persuaded. The hapless Baron laid deep<br> + stratagems to offer her some trifle--costly, nevertheless--proud +of<br> + having at last met with virtue and the realization of his +dreams. In<br> + this primitive household, as he assured himself, he was the god +as<br> + much as in his own. And Monsieur Marneffe seemed at a thousand +leagues<br> + from suspecting that the Jupiter of his office intended to +descend on<br> + his wife in a shower of gold; he was his august chief's +humblest<br> + slave.</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe, twenty-three years of age, a pure and bashful +middle-<br> + class wife, a blossom hidden in the Rue du Doyenne, could know +nothing<br> + of the depravity and demoralizing harlotry which the Baron could +no<br> + longer think of without disgust, for he had never known the +charm of<br> + recalcitrant virtue, and the coy Valerie made him enjoy it to +the<br> + utmost--all along the line, as the saying goes.</p> + +<p>The question having come to this point between Hector and +Valerie, it<br> + is not astonishing that Valerie should have heard from Hector +the<br> + secret of the intended marriage between the great sculptor +Steinbock<br> + and Hortense Hulot. Between a lover on his promotion and a lady +who<br> + hesitates long before becoming his mistress, there are +contests,<br> + uttered or unexpressed, in which a word often betrays a thought; +as,<br> + in fencing, the foils fly as briskly as the swords in duel. Then +a<br> + prudent man follows the example of Monsieur de Turenne. Thus the +Baron<br> + had hinted at the greater freedom his daughter's marriage would +allow<br> + him, in reply to the tender Valerie, who more than once had +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"I cannot imagine how a woman can go wrong for a man who is +not wholly<br> + hers."</p> + +<p>And a thousand times already the Baron had declared that for +five-and-<br> + twenty years all had been at an end between Madame Hulot and +himself.</p> + +<p>"And they say she is so handsome!" replied Madame Marneffe. "I +want<br> + proof."</p> + +<p>"You shall have it," said the Baron, made happy by this +demand, by<br> + which his Valerie committed herself.</p> + +<p>Hector had then been compelled to reveal his plans, already +being<br> + carried into effect in the Rue Vanneau, to prove to Valerie that +he<br> + intended to devote to her that half of his life which belonged +to his<br> + lawful wife, supposing that day and night equally divide the +existence<br> + of civilized humanity. He spoke of decently deserting his +wife,<br> + leaving her to herself as soon as Hortense should be married. +The<br> + Baroness would then spend all her time with Hortense or the +young<br> + Hulot couple; he was sure of her submission.</p> + +<p>"And then, my angel, my true life, my real home will be in the +Rue<br> + Vanneau."</p> + +<p>"Bless me, how you dispose of me!" said Madame Marneffe. "And +my<br> + husband----"</p> + +<p>"That rag!"</p> + +<p>"To be sure, as compared with you so he is!" said she with a +laugh.</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe, having heard Steinbock's history, was +frantically<br> + eager to see the young Count; perhaps she wished to have some +trifle<br> + of his work while they still lived under the same roof. This +curiosity<br> + so seriously annoyed the Baron that Valerie swore to him that +she<br> + would never even look at Wenceslas. But though she obtained, as +the<br> + reward of her surrender of this wish, a little tea-service of +old<br> + Sevres <i>pate tendre</i>, she kept her wish at the bottom of +her heart, as<br> + if written on tablets.</p> + +<p>So one day when she had begged "<i>my</i> Cousin Betty" to +come to take<br> + coffee with her in her room, she opened on the subject of her +lover,<br> + to know how she might see him without risk.</p> + +<p>"My dear child," said she, for they called each my dear, "why +have you<br> + never introduced your lover to me? Do you know that within a +short<br> + time he has become famous?"</p> + +<p>"He famous?"</p> + +<p>"He is the one subject of conversation."</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" cried Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"He is going to execute the statue of my father, and I could +be of<br> + great use to him and help him to succeed in the work; for +Madame<br> + Montcornet cannot lend him, as I can, a miniature by Sain, a +beautiful<br> + thing done in 1809, before the Wagram Campaign, and given to my +poor<br> + mother--Montcornet when he was young and handsome."</p> + +<p>Sain and Augustin between them held the sceptre of miniature +painting<br> + under the Empire.</p> + +<p>"He is going to make a statue, my dear, did you say?"</p> + +<p>"Nine feet high--by the orders of the Minister of War. Why, +where have<br> + you dropped from that I should tell you the news? Why, the +Government<br> + is going to give Count Steinbock rooms and a studio at Le +Gros-<br> + Caillou, the depot for marble; your Pole will be made the +Director, I<br> + should not wonder, with two thousand francs a year and a ring on +his<br> + finger."</p> + +<p>"How do you know all this when I have heard nothing about it?" +said<br> + Lisbeth at last, shaking off her amazement.</p> + +<p>"Now, my dear little Cousin Betty," said Madame Marneffe, in +an<br> + insinuating voice, "are you capable of devoted friendship, put +to any<br> + test? Shall we henceforth be sisters? Will you swear to me never +to<br> + have a secret from me any more than I from you--to act as my +spy, as I<br> + will be yours?--Above all, will you pledge yourself never to +betray me<br> + either to my husband or to Monsieur Hulot, and never reveal that +it<br> + was I who told you----?"</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe broke off in this spurring harangue; +Lisbeth<br> + frightened her. The peasant-woman's face was terrible; her +piercing<br> + black eyes had the glare of the tiger's; her face was like that +we<br> + ascribe to a pythoness; she set her teeth to keep them from<br> + chattering, and her whole frame quivered convulsively. She had +pushed<br> + her clenched fingers under her cap to clutch her hair and +support her<br> + head, which felt too heavy; she was on fire. The smoke of the +flame<br> + that scorched her seemed to emanate from her wrinkles as from +the<br> + crevasses rent by a volcanic eruption. It was a startling +spectacle.</p> + +<p>"Well, why do you stop?" she asked in a hollow voice. "I will +be all<br> + to you that I have been to him.--Oh, I would have given him my +life-<br> + blood!"</p> + +<p>"You loved him then?"</p> + +<p>"Like a child of my own!"</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said Madame Marneffe, with a breath of relief, +"if you<br> + only love him in that way, you will be very happy--for you wish +him to<br> + be happy?"</p> + +<p>Lisbeth replied by a nod as hasty as a madwoman's.</p> + +<p>"He is to marry your Cousin Hortense in a month's time."</p> + +<p>"Hortense!" shrieked the old maid, striking her forehead, and +starting<br> + to her feet.</p> + +<p>"Well, but then you were really in love with this young man?" +asked<br> + Valerie.</p> + +<p>"My dear, we are bound for life and death, you and I," +said<br> + Mademoiselle Fischer. "Yes, if you have any love affairs, to me +they<br> + are sacred. Your vices will be virtues in my eyes.--For I shall +need<br> + your vices!"</p> + +<p>"Then did you live with him?" asked Valerie.</p> + +<p>"No; I meant to be a mother to him."</p> + +<p>"I give it up. I cannot understand," said Valerie. "In that +case you<br> + are neither betrayed nor cheated, and you ought to be very happy +to<br> + see him so well married; he is now fairly afloat. And, at any +rate,<br> + your day is over. Our artist goes to Madame Hulot's every +evening as<br> + soon as you go out to dinner."</p> + +<p>"Adeline!" muttered Lisbeth. "Oh, Adeline, you shall pay for +this! I<br> + will make you uglier than I am."</p> + +<p>"You are as pale as death!" exclaimed Valerie. "There is +something<br> + wrong?--Oh, what a fool I am! The mother and daughter must +have<br> + suspected that you would raise some obstacles in the way of +this<br> + affair since they have kept it from you," said Madame Marneffe. +"But<br> + if you did not live with the young man, my dear, all this is a +greater<br> + puzzle to me than my husband's feelings----"</p> + +<p>"Ah, you don't know," said Lisbeth; "you have no idea of all +their<br> + tricks. It is the last blow that kills. And how many such blows +have I<br> + had to bruise my soul! You don't know that from the time when I +could<br> + first feel, I have been victimized for Adeline. I was beaten, +and she<br> + was petted; I was dressed like a scullion, and she had clothes +like a<br> + lady's; I dug in the garden and cleaned the vegetables, and +she--she<br> + never lifted a finger for anything but to make up some +finery!--She<br> + married the Baron, she came to shine at the Emperor's Court, +while I<br> + stayed in our village till 1809, waiting for four years for a +suitable<br> + match; they brought me away, to be sure, but only to make me a +work-<br> + woman, and to offer me clerks or captains like coalheavers for +a<br> + husband! I have had their leavings for twenty-six years!--And +now like<br> + the story in the Old Testament, the poor relation has one +ewe-lamb<br> + which is all her joy, and the rich man who has flocks covets the +ewe-<br> + lamb and steals it--without warning, without asking. Adeline +has<br> + meanly robbed me of my happiness!--Adeline! Adeline! I will see +you in<br> + the mire, and sunk lower than myself!--And Hortense--I loved +her, and<br> + she has cheated me. The Baron.--No, it is impossible. Tell me +again<br> + what is really true of all this."</p> + +<p><br> + "Be calm, my dear child."</p> + +<p>"Valerie, my darling, I will be calm," said the strange +creature,<br> + sitting down again. "One thing only can restore me to reason; +give me<br> + proofs."</p> + +<p>"Your Cousin Hortense has the <i>Samson</i> group--here is a +lithograph<br> + from it published in a review. She paid for it out of her +pocket-<br> + money, and it is the Baron who, to benefit his future +son-in-law, is<br> + pushing him, getting everything for him."</p> + +<p>"Water!--water!" said Lisbeth, after glancing at the print, +below<br> + which she read, "A group belonging to Mademoiselle Hulot +d'Ervy."<br> + "Water! my head is burning, I am going mad!"</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe fetched some water. Lisbeth took off her +cap,<br> + unfastened her black hair, and plunged her head into the basin +her new<br> + friend held for her. She dipped her forehead into it several +times,<br> + and checked the incipient inflammation. After this douche +she<br> + completely recovered her self-command.</p> + +<p>"Not a word," said she to Madame Marneffe as she wiped her +face--"not<br> + a word of all this.--You see, I am quite calm; everything is<br> + forgotten. I am thinking of something very different."</p> + +<p>"She will be in Charenton to-morrow, that is very certain," +thought<br> + Madame Marneffe, looking at the old maid.</p> + +<p>"What is to be done?" Lisbeth went on. "You see, my angel, +there is<br> + nothing for it but to hold my tongue, bow my head, and drift to +the<br> + grave, as all water runs to the river. What could I try to do? +I<br> + should like to grind them all--Adeline, her daughter, and the +Baron--<br> + all to dust! But what can a poor relation do against a rich +family? It<br> + would be the story of the earthen pot and the iron pot."</p> + +<p>"Yes; you are right," said Valerie. "You can only pull as much +hay as<br> + you can to your side of the manger. That is all the upshot of +life in<br> + Paris."</p> + +<p>"Besides," said Lisbeth, "I shall soon die, I can tell you, if +I lose<br> + that boy to whom I fancied I could always be a mother, and with +whom I<br> + counted on living all my days----"</p> + +<p>There were tears in her eyes, and she paused. Such emotion in +this<br> + woman made of sulphur and flame, made Valerie shudder.</p> + +<p>"Well, at any rate, I have found you," said Lisbeth, taking +Valerie's<br> + hand, "that is some consolation in this dreadful trouble.--We +shall be<br> + true friends; and why should we ever part? I shall never cross +your<br> + track. No one will ever be in love with me!--Those who would +have<br> + married me, would only have done it to secure my Cousin +Hulot's<br> + interest. With energy enough to scale Paradise, to have to +devote it<br> + to procuring bread and water, a few rags, and a garret!--That +is<br> + martyrdom, my dear, and I have withered under it."</p> + +<p>She broke off suddenly, and shot a black flash into Madame +Marneffe's<br> + blue eyes, a glance that pierced the pretty woman's soul, as the +point<br> + of a dagger might have pierced her heart.</p> + +<p>"And what is the use of talking?" she exclaimed in reproof to +herself.<br> + "I never said so much before, believe me! The tables will be +turned<br> + yet!" she added after a pause. "As you so wisely say, let us +sharpen<br> + our teeth, and pull down all the hay we can get."</p> + +<p>"You are very wise," said Madame Marneffe, who had been +frightened by<br> + this scene, and had no remembrance of having uttered this maxim. +"I am<br> + sure you are right, my dear child. Life is not so long after +all, and<br> + we must make the best of it, and make use of others to +contribute to<br> + our enjoyment. Even I have learned that, young as I am. I was +brought<br> + up a spoilt child, my father married ambitiously, and almost +forgot<br> + me, after making me his idol and bringing me up like a +queen's<br> + daughter! My poor mother, who filled my head with splendid +visions,<br> + died of grief at seeing me married to an office clerk with +twelve<br> + hundred francs a year, at nine-and-thirty an aged and +hardened<br> + libertine, as corrupt as the hulks, looking on me, as others +looked on<br> + you, as a means of fortune!--Well, in that wretched man, I have +found<br> + the best of husbands. He prefers the squalid sluts he picks up +at the<br> + street corners, and leaves me free. Though he keeps all his +salary to<br> + himself, he never asks me where I get money to live on----"</p> + +<p>And she in her turn stopped short, as a woman does who feels +herself<br> + carried away by the torrent of her confessions; struck, too, +by<br> + Lisbeth's eager attention, she thought well to make sure of +Lisbeth<br> + before revealing her last secrets.</p> + +<p>"You see, dear child, how entire is my confidence in you!" +she<br> + presently added, to which Lisbeth replied by a most comforting +nod.</p> + +<p>An oath may be taken by a look and a nod more solemnly than in +a court<br> + of justice.</p> + +<p>"I keep up every appearance of respectability," Valerie went +on,<br> + laying her hand on Lisbeth's as if to accept her pledge. "I am +a<br> + married woman, and my own mistress, to such a degree, that in +the<br> + morning, when Marneffe sets out for the office, if he takes it +into<br> + his head to say good-bye and finds my door locked, he goes off +without<br> + a word. He cares less for his boy than I care for one of the +marble<br> + children that play at the feet of one of the river-gods in +the<br> + Tuileries. If I do not come home to dinner, he dines quite +contentedly<br> + with the maid, for the maid is devoted to monsieur; and he goes +out<br> + every evening after dinner, and does not come in till twelve or +one<br> + o'clock. Unfortunately, for a year past, I have had no ladies' +maid,<br> + which is as much as to say that I am a widow!</p> + +<p>"I have had one passion, once have been happy--a rich +Brazilian--who<br> + went away a year ago--my only lapse!--He went away to sell +his<br> + estates, to realize his land, and come back to live in France. +What<br> + will he find left of his Valerie? A dunghill. Well! it is his +fault<br> + and not mine; why does he delay coming so long? Perhaps he has +been<br> + wrecked--like my virtue."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, my dear," said Lisbeth abruptly; "we are friends +for ever.<br> + I love you, I esteem you, I am wholly yours! My cousin is +tormenting<br> + me to go and live in the house you are moving to, in the Rue +Vanneau;<br> + but I would not go, for I saw at once the reasons for this fresh +piece<br> + of kindness----"</p> + +<p>"Yes; you would have kept an eye on me, I know!" said Madame +Marneffe.</p> + +<p>"That was, no doubt, the motive of his generosity," replied +Lisbeth.<br> + "In Paris, most beneficence is a speculation, as most acts +of<br> + ingratitude are revenge! To a poor relation you behave as you do +to<br> + rats to whom you offer a bit of bacon. Now, I will accept the +Baron's<br> + offer, for this house has grown intolerable to me. You and I +have wit<br> + enough to hold our tongues about everything that would damage +us, and<br> + tell all that needs telling. So, no blabbing--and we are +friends."</p> + +<p>"Through thick and thin!" cried Madame Marneffe, delighted to +have a<br> + sheep-dog, a confidante, a sort of respectable aunt. "Listen to +me;<br> + the Baron is doing a great deal in the Rue Vanneau----"</p> + +<p>"I believe you!" interrupted Lisbeth. "He has spent thirty +thousand<br> + francs! Where he got the money, I am sure I don't know, for +Josepha<br> + the singer bled him dry.--Oh! you are in luck," she went on. +"The<br> + Baron would steal for a woman who held his heart in two little +white<br> + satin hands like yours!"</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said Madame Marneffe, with the liberality of +such<br> + creatures, which is mere recklessness, "look here, my dear +child; take<br> + away from here everything that may serve your turn in your +new<br> + quarters--that chest of drawers, that wardrobe and mirror, the +carpet,<br> + the curtains----"</p> + +<p>Lisbeth's eyes dilated with excessive joy; she was incredulous +of such<br> + a gift.</p> + +<p>"You are doing more for me in a breath than my rich relations +have<br> + done in thirty years!" she exclaimed. "They have never even +asked<br> + themselves whether I had any furniture at all. On his first +visit, a<br> + few weeks ago, the Baron made a rich man's face on seeing how +poor I<br> + was.--Thank you, my dear; and I will give you your money's +worth, you<br> + will see how by and by."</p> + +<p>Valerie went out on the landing with <i>her</i> Cousin Betty, +and the two<br> + women embraced.</p> + +<p>"Pouh! How she stinks of hard work!" said the pretty little +woman to<br> + herself when she was alone. "I shall not embrace you often, my +dear<br> + cousin! At the same time, I must look sharp. She must be +skilfully<br> + managed, for she can be of use, and help me to make my +fortune."</p> + +<p>Like the true Creole of Paris, Madame Marneffe abhorred +trouble; she<br> + had the calm indifference of a cat, which never jumps or runs +but when<br> + urged by necessity. To her, life must be all pleasure; and +the<br> + pleasure without difficulties. She loved flowers, provided they +were<br> + brought to her. She could not imagine going to the play but to a +good<br> + box, at her own command, and in a carriage to take her there. +Valerie<br> + inherited these courtesan tastes from her mother, on whom +General<br> + Montcornet had lavished luxury when he was in Paris, and who +for<br> + twenty years had seen all the world at her feet; who had been +wasteful<br> + and prodigal, squandering her all in the luxurious living of +which the<br> + programme has been lost since the fall of Napoleon.</p> + +<p>The grandees of the Empire were a match in their follies for +the great<br> + nobles of the last century. Under the Restoration the nobility +cannot<br> + forget that it has been beaten and robbed, and so, with two or +three<br> + exceptions, it has become thrifty, prudent, and stay-at-home, +in<br> + short, bourgeois and penurious. Since then, 1830 has crowned the +work<br> + of 1793. In France, henceforth, there will be great names, but +no<br> + great houses, unless there should be political changes which we +can<br> + hardly foresee. Everything takes the stamp of individuality. +The<br> + wisest invest in annuities. Family pride is destroyed.</p> + +<p>The bitter pressure of poverty which had stung Valerie to the +quick on<br> + the day when, to use Marneffe's expression, she had "caught on" +with<br> + Hulot, had brought the young woman to the conclusion that she +would<br> + make a fortune by means of her good looks. So, for some days, +she had<br> + been feeling the need of having a friend about her to take the +place<br> + of a mother--a devoted friend, to whom such things may be told +as must<br> + be hidden from a waiting-maid, and who could act, come and go, +and<br> + think for her, a beast of burden resigned to an unequal share of +life.<br> + Now, she, quite as keenly as Lisbeth, had understood the +Baron's<br> + motives for fostering the intimacy between his cousin and +herself.</p> + +<p>Prompted by the formidable perspicacity of the Parisian +half-breed,<br> + who spends her days stretched on a sofa, turning the lantern of +her<br> + detective spirit on the obscurest depths of souls, sentiments, +and<br> + intrigues, she had decided on making an ally of the spy. +This<br> + supremely rash step was, perhaps premeditated; she had discerned +the<br> + true nature of this ardent creature, burning with wasted +passion, and<br> + meant to attach her to herself. Thus, their conversation was +like the<br> + stone a traveler casts into an abyss to demonstrate its depth. +And<br> + Madame Marneffe had been terrified to find this old maid a +combination<br> + of Iago and Richard III., so feeble as she seemed, so humble, +and so<br> + little to be feared.</p> + +<p>For that instant, Lisbeth Fischer had been her real self; +that<br> + Corsican and savage temperament, bursting the slender bonds that +held<br> + it under, had sprung up to its terrible height, as the branch of +a<br> + tree flies up from the hand of a child that has bent it down to +gather<br> + the green fruit.</p> + +<p>To those who study the social world, it must always be a +matter of<br> + astonishment to see the fulness, the perfection, and the +rapidity with<br> + which an idea develops in a virgin nature.</p> + +<p>Virginity, like every other monstrosity, has its special +richness, its<br> + absorbing greatness. Life, whose forces are always economized, +assumes<br> + in the virgin creature an incalculable power of resistance +and<br> + endurance. The brain is reinforced in the sum-total of its +reserved<br> + energy. When really chaste natures need to call on the resources +of<br> + body or soul, and are required to act or to think, they have +muscles<br> + of steel, or intuitive knowledge in their +intelligence--diabolical<br> + strength, or the black magic of the Will.</p> + +<p>From this point of view the Virgin Mary, even if we regard her +only as<br> + a symbol, is supremely great above every other type, whether +Hindoo,<br> + Egyptian, or Greek. Virginity, the mother of great things, +<i>magna</i><br> + <i>parens rerum</i>, holds in her fair white hands the keys of +the upper<br> + worlds. In short, that grand and terrible exception deserves all +the<br> + honors decreed to her by the Catholic Church.</p> + +<p>Thus, in one moment, Lisbeth Fischer had become the Mohican +whose<br> + snares none can escape, whose dissimulation is inscrutable, +whose<br> + swift decisiveness is the outcome of the incredible perfection +of<br> + every organ of sense. She was Hatred and Revenge, as implacable +as<br> + they are in Italy, Spain, and the East. These two feelings, +the<br> + obverse of friendship and love carried to the utmost, are known +only<br> + in lands scorched by the sun. But Lisbeth was also a daughter +of<br> + Lorraine, bent on deceit.</p> + +<p>She accepted this detail of her part against her will; she +began by<br> + making a curious attempt, due to her ignorance. She fancied, +as<br> + children do, that being imprisoned meant the same thing as +solitary<br> + confinement. But this is the superlative degree of imprisonment, +and<br> + that superlative is the privilege of the Criminal Bench.</p> + +<p>As soon as she left Madame Marneffe, Lisbeth hurried off to +Monsieur<br> + Rivet, and found him in his office.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear Monsieur Rivet," she began, when she had bolted +the<br> + door of the room. "You were quite right. Those Poles! They are +low<br> + villains--all alike, men who know neither law nor fidelity."</p> + +<p>"And who want to set Europe on fire," said the peaceable +Rivet, "to<br> + ruin every trade and every trader for the sake of a country that +is<br> + all bog-land, they say, and full of horrible Jews, to say +nothing of<br> + the Cossacks and the peasants--a sort of wild beasts classed +by<br> + mistake with human beings. Your Poles do not understand the +times we<br> + live in; we are no longer barbarians. War is coming to an end, +my dear<br> + mademoiselle; it went out with the Monarchy. This is the age +of<br> + triumph for commerce, and industry, and middle-class prudence, +such as<br> + were the making of Holland.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he went on with animation, "we live in a period when +nations<br> + must obtain all they need by the legal extension of their +liberties<br> + and by the pacific action of Constitutional Institutions; that +is what<br> + the Poles do not see, and I hope----</p> + +<p>"You were saying, my dear?--" he added, interrupting himself +when he<br> + saw from his work-woman's face that high politics were beyond +her<br> + comprehension.</p> + +<p>"Here is the schedule," said Lisbeth. "If I don't want to lose +my<br> + three thousand two hundred and ten francs, I must clap this +rogue into<br> + prison."</p> + +<p>"Didn't I tell you so?" cried the oracle of the Saint-Denis +quarter.</p> + +<p>The Rivets, successor to Pons Brothers, had kept their shop +still in<br> + the Rue des Mauvaises-Paroles, in the ancient Hotel Langeais, +built by<br> + that illustrious family at the time when the nobility still +gathered<br> + round the Louvre.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I blessed you on my way here," replied Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"If he suspects nothing, he can be safe in prison by eight +o'clock in<br> + the morning," said Rivet, consulting the almanac to ascertain +the hour<br> + of sunrise; "but not till the day after to-morrow, for he cannot +be<br> + imprisoned till he has had notice that he is to be arrested by +writ,<br> + with the option of payment or imprisonment. And so----"</p> + +<p>"What an idiotic law!" exclaimed Lisbeth. "Of course the +debtor<br> + escapes."</p> + +<p>"He has every right to do so," said the Assessor, smiling. "So +this is<br> + the way----"</p> + +<p>"As to that," said Lisbeth, interrupting him, "I will take the +paper<br> + and hand it to him, saying that I have been obliged to raise +the<br> + money, and that the lender insists on this formality. I know +my<br> + gentleman. He will not even look at the paper; he will light his +pipe<br> + with it."</p> + +<p>"Not a bad idea, not bad, Mademoiselle Fischer! Well, make +your mind<br> + easy; the job shall be done.--But stop a minute; to put your man +in<br> + prison is not the only point to be considered; you only want +to<br> + indulge in that legal luxury in order to get your money. Who is +to pay<br> + you?"</p> + +<p>"Those who give him money."</p> + +<p>"To be sure; I forgot that the Minister of War had +commissioned him to<br> + erect a monument to one of our late customers. Ah! the house +has<br> + supplied many an uniform to General Montcornet; he soon +blackened them<br> + with the smoke of cannon. A brave man, he was! and he paid on +the<br> + nail."</p> + +<p>A marshal of France may have saved the Emperor or his country; +"He<br> + paid on the nail" will always be the highest praise he can have +from a<br> + tradesman.</p> + +<p>"Very well. And on Saturday, Monsieur Rivet, you shall have +the flat<br> + tassels.--By the way, I am moving from the Rue du Doyenne; I am +going<br> + to live in the Rue Vanneau."</p> + +<p>"You are very right. I could not bear to see you in that hole +which,<br> + in spite of my aversion to the Opposition, I must say is a +disgrace; I<br> + repeat it, yes! is a disgrace to the Louvre and the Place du<br> + Carrousel. I am devoted to Louis-Philippe, he is my idol; he is +the<br> + august and exact representative of the class on whom he founded +his<br> + dynasty, and I can never forget what he did for the +trimming-makers by<br> + restoring the National Guard----"</p> + +<p>"When I hear you speak so, Monsieur Rivet, I cannot help +wondering why<br> + you are not made a deputy."</p> + +<p>"They are afraid of my attachment to the dynasty," replied +Rivet. "My<br> + political enemies are the King's. He has a noble character! They +are a<br> + fine family; in short," said he, returning to the charge, "he is +our<br> + ideal: morality, economy, everything. But the completion of the +Louvre<br> + is one of the conditions on which we gave him the crown, and the +civil<br> + list, which, I admit, had no limits set to it, leaves the heart +of<br> + Paris in a most melancholy state.--It is because I am so +strongly in<br> + favor of the middle course that I should like to see the middle +of<br> + Paris in a better condition. Your part of the town is +positively<br> + terrifying. You would have been murdered there one fine +day.--And so<br> + your Monsieur Crevel has been made Major of his division! He +will come<br> + to us, I hope, for his big epaulette."</p> + +<p>"I am dining with him to-night, and will send him to you."</p> + +<p>Lisbeth believed that she had secured her Livonian to herself +by<br> + cutting him off from all communication with the outer world. If +he<br> + could no longer work, the artist would be forgotten as +completely as a<br> + man buried in a cellar, where she alone would go to see him. +Thus she<br> + had two happy days, for she hoped to deal a mortal blow at +the<br> + Baroness and her daughter.</p> + +<p>To go to Crevel's house, in the Rue des Saussayes, she crossed +the<br> + Pont du Carrousel, went along the Quai Voltaire, the Quai +d'Orsay, the<br> + Rue Bellechasse, Rue de l'Universite, the Pont de la Concorde, +and the<br> + Avenue de Marigny. This illogical route was traced by the logic +of<br> + passion, always the foe of the legs.</p> + +<p>Cousin Betty, as long as she followed the line of the quays, +kept<br> + watch on the opposite shore of the Seine, walking very slowly. +She had<br> + guessed rightly. She had left Wenceslas dressing; she at +once<br> + understood that, as soon as he should be rid of her, the lover +would<br> + go off to the Baroness' by the shortest road. And, in fact, as +she<br> + wandered along by the parapet of the Quai Voltaire, in fancy<br> + suppressing the river and walking along the opposite bank, +she<br> + recognized the artist as he came out of the Tuileries to cross +the<br> + Pont Royal. She there came up with the faithless one, and could +follow<br> + him unseen, for lovers rarely look behind them. She escorted him +as<br> + far as Madame Hulot's house, where he went in like an +accustomed<br> + visitor.</p> + +<p>This crowning proof, confirming Madame Marneffe's revelations, +put<br> + Lisbeth quite beside herself.</p> + +<p>She arrived at the newly promoted Major's door in the state of +mental<br> + irritation which prompts men to commit murder, and found +Monsieur<br> + Crevel <i>senior</i> in his drawing-room awaiting his children, +Monsieur<br> + and Madame Hulot <i>junior</i>.</p> + +<p>But Celestin Crevel was so unconscious and so perfect a type +of the<br> + Parisian parvenu, that we can scarcely venture so +unceremoniously into<br> + the presence of Cesar Birotteau's successor. Celestin Crevel was +a<br> + world in himself; and he, even more than Rivet, deserves the +honors of<br> + the palette by reason of his importance in this domestic +drama.</p> + +<p>Have you ever observed how in childhood, or at the early +stages of<br> + social life, we create a model for our own imitation, with our +own<br> + hands as it were, and often without knowing it? The banker's +clerk,<br> + for instance, as he enters his master's drawing-room, dreams +of<br> + possessing such another. If he makes a fortune, it will not be +the<br> + luxury of the day, twenty years later, that you will find in +his<br> + house, but the old-fashioned splendor that fascinated him of +yore. It<br> + is impossible to tell how many absurdities are due to this<br> + retrospective jealousy; and in the same way we know nothing of +the<br> + follies due to the covert rivalry that urges men to copy the +type they<br> + have set themselves, and exhaust their powers in shining with +a<br> + reflected light, like the moon.</p> + +<p>Crevel was deputy mayor because his predecessor had been; he +was Major<br> + because he coveted Cesar Birotteau's epaulettes. In the same +way,<br> + struck by the marvels wrought by Grindot the architect, at the +time<br> + when Fortune had carried his master to the top of the wheel, +Crevel<br> + had "never looked at both sides of a crown-piece," to use his +own<br> + language, when he wanted to "do up" his rooms; he had gone with +his<br> + purse open and his eyes shut to Grindot, who by this time was +quite<br> + forgotten. It is impossible to guess how long an extinct +reputation<br> + may survive, supported by such stale admiration.</p> + +<p>So Grindot, for the thousandth time had displayed his +white-and-gold<br> + drawing-room paneled with crimson damask. The furniture, of +rosewood,<br> + clumsily carved, as such work is done for the trade, had in +the<br> + country been the source of just pride in Paris workmanship on +the<br> + occasion of an industrial exhibition. The candelabra, the +fire-dogs,<br> + the fender, the chandelier, the clock, were all in the most +unmeaning<br> + style of scroll-work; the round table, a fixture in the middle +of the<br> + room, was a mosaic of fragments of Italian and antique +marbles,<br> + brought from Rome, where these dissected maps are made of<br> + mineralogical specimens--for all the world like tailors' +patterns--an<br> + object of perennial admiration to Crevel's citizen friends. +The<br> + portraits of the late lamented Madame Crevel, of Crevel himself, +of<br> + his daughter and his son-in-law, hung on the walls, two and two; +they<br> + were the work of Pierre Grassou, the favored painter of the<br> + bourgeoisie, to whom Crevel owed his ridiculous Byronic +attitude. The<br> + frames, costing a thousand francs each, were quite in harmony +with<br> + this coffee-house magnificence, which would have made any true +artist<br> + shrug his shoulders.</p> + +<p><br> + Money never yet missed the smallest opportunity of being stupid. +We<br> + should have in Paris ten Venices if our retired merchants had +had the<br> + instinct for fine things characteristic of the Italians. Even in +our<br> + own day a Milanese merchant could leave five hundred thousand +francs<br> + to the Duomo, to regild the colossal statue of the Virgin that +crowns<br> + the edifice. Canova, in his will, desired his brother to build +a<br> + church costing four million francs, and that brother adds +something on<br> + his own account. Would a citizen of Paris--and they all, like +Rivet,<br> + love their Paris in their heart--ever dream of building the +spires<br> + that are lacking to the towers of Notre-Dame? And only think of +the<br> + sums that revert to the State in property for which no heirs +are<br> + found.</p> + +<p>All the improvements of Paris might have been completed with +the money<br> + spent on stucco castings, gilt mouldings, and sham sculpture +during<br> + the last fifteen years by individuals of the Crevel stamp.</p> + +<p>Beyond this drawing-room was a splendid boudoir furnished with +tables<br> + and cabinets in imitation of Boulle.</p> + +<p>The bedroom, smart with chintz, also opened out of the +drawing-room.<br> + Mahogany in all its glory infested the dining-room, and Swiss +views,<br> + gorgeously framed, graced the panels. Crevel, who hoped to +travel in<br> + Switzerland, had set his heart on possessing the scenery in +painting<br> + till the time should come when he might see it in reality.</p> + +<p>So, as will have been seen, Crevel, the Mayor's deputy, of the +Legion<br> + of Honor and of the National Guard, had faithfully reproduced +all the<br> + magnificence, even as to furniture, of his luckless predecessor. +Under<br> + the Restoration, where one had sunk, this other, quite +overlooked, had<br> + come to the top--not by any strange stroke of fortune, but by +the<br> + force of circumstance. In revolutions, as in storms at sea, +solid<br> + treasure goes to the bottom, and light trifles are floated to +the<br> + surface. Cesar Birotteau, a Royalist, in favor and envied, had +been<br> + made the mark of bourgeois hostility, while bourgeoisie +triumphant<br> + found its incarnation in Crevel.</p> + +<p>This apartment, at a rent of a thousand crowns, crammed with +all the<br> + vulgar magnificence that money can buy, occupied the first floor +of a<br> + fine old house between a courtyard and a garden. Everything was +as<br> + spick-and-span as the beetles in an entomological case, for +Crevel<br> + lived very little at home.</p> + +<p>This gorgeous residence was the ambitious citizen's legal +domicile.<br> + His establishment consisted of a woman-cook and a valet; he +hired two<br> + extra men, and had a dinner sent in by Chevet, whenever he gave +a<br> + banquet to his political friends, to men he wanted to dazzle or +to a<br> + family party.</p> + +<p>The seat of Crevel's real domesticity, formerly in the Rue +Notre-Dame<br> + de Lorette, with Mademoiselle Heloise Brisetout, had lately +been<br> + transferred, as we have seen, to the Rue Chauchat. Every morning +the<br> + retired merchant--every ex-tradesman is a retired +merchant--spent two<br> + hours in the Rue des Saussayes to attend to business, and gave +the<br> + rest of his time to Mademoiselle Zaire, which annoyed Zaire very +much.<br> + Orosmanes-Crevel had a fixed bargain with Mademoiselle Heloise; +she<br> + owed him five hundred francs worth of enjoyment every month, and +no<br> + "bills delivered." He paid separately for his dinner and all +extras.<br> + This agreement, with certain bonuses, for he made her a good +many<br> + presents, seemed cheap to the ex-attache of the great singer; +and he<br> + would say to widowers who were fond of their daughters, that it +paid<br> + better to job your horses than to have a stable of your own. At +the<br> + same time, if the reader remembers the speech made to the Baron +by the<br> + porter at the Rue Chauchat, Crevel did not escape the coachman +and the<br> + groom.</p> + +<p>Crevel, as may be seen, had turned his passionate affection +for his<br> + daughter to the advantage of his self-indulgence. The immoral +aspect<br> + of the situation was justified by the highest morality. And then +the<br> + ex-perfumer derived from this style of living--it was the +inevitable,<br> + a free-and-easy life, <i>Regence, Pompadour, Marechal de +Richelieu</i>,<br> + what not--a certain veneer of superiority. Crevel set up for +being a<br> + man of broad views, a fine gentleman with an air and grace, a +liberal<br> + man with nothing narrow in his ideas--and all for the small sum +of<br> + about twelve to fifteen hundred francs a month. This was the +result<br> + not of hypocritical policy, but of middle-class vanity, though +it came<br> + to the same in the end.</p> + +<p>On the Bourse Crevel was regarded as a man superior to his +time, and<br> + especially as a man of pleasure, a <i>bon vivant</i>. In this +particular<br> + Crevel flattered himself that he had overtopped his worthy +friend<br> + Birotteau by a hundred cubits.</p> + +<p>"And is it you?" cried Crevel, flying into a rage as he saw +Lisbeth<br> + enter the room, "who have plotted this marriage between +Mademoiselle<br> + Hulot and your young Count, whom you have been bringing up by +hand for<br> + her?"</p> + +<p>"You don't seem best pleased at it?" said Lisbeth, fixing a +piercing<br> + eye on Crevel. "What interest can you have in hindering my +cousin's<br> + marriage? For it was you, I am told, who hindered her +marrying<br> + Monsieur Lebas' son."</p> + +<p>"You are a good soul and to be trusted," said Crevel. "Well, +then, do<br> + you suppose that I will ever forgive Monsieur Hulot for the +crime of<br> + having robbed me of Josepha--especially when he turned a decent +girl,<br> + whom I should have married in my old age, into a +good-for-nothing<br> + slut, a mountebank, an opera singer!--No, no. Never!"</p> + +<p>"He is a very good fellow, too, is Monsieur Hulot," said +Cousin Betty.</p> + +<p>"Amiable, very amiable--too amiable," replied Crevel. "I wish +him no<br> + harm; but I do wish to have my revenge, and I will have it. It +is my<br> + one idea."</p> + +<p>"And is that desire the reason why you no longer visit Madame +Hulot?"</p> + +<p>"Possibly."</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha! then you were courting my fair cousin?" said Lisbeth, +with a<br> + smile. "I thought as much."</p> + +<p>"And she treated me like a dog!--worse, like a footman; nay, I +might<br> + say like a political prisoner.--But I will succeed yet," said +he,<br> + striking his brow with his clenched fist.</p> + +<p>"Poor man! It would be dreadful to catch his wife deceiving +him after<br> + being packed off by his mistress."</p> + +<p>"Josepha?" cried Crevel. "Has Josepha thrown him over, packed +him off,<br> + turned him out neck and crop? Bravo, Josepha, you have avenged +me! I<br> + will send you a pair of pearls to hang in your ears, my +ex-sweetheart!<br> + --I knew nothing of it; for after I had seen you, on the day +after<br> + that when the fair Adeline had shown me the door, I went back to +visit<br> + the Lebas, at Corbeil, and have but just come back. Heloise +played the<br> + very devil to get me into the country, and I have found out +the<br> + purpose of her game; she wanted me out of the way while she gave +a<br> + house-warming in the Rue Chauchat, with some artists, and +players, and<br> + writers.--She took me in! But I can forgive her, for Heloise +amuses<br> + me. She is a Dejazet under a bushel. What a character the hussy +is!<br> + There is the note I found last evening:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>" 'DEAR OLD CHAP,--I have pitched my tent in the Rue Chauchat. +I<br> + have taken the precaution of getting a few friends to clean up +the<br> + paint. All is well. Come when you please, monsieur; Hagar +awaits<br> + her Abraham.'</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>"Heloise will have some news for me, for she has her bohemia +at her<br> + fingers' end."</p> + +<p>"But Monsieur Hulot took the disaster very calmly," said +Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"Impossible!" cried Crevel, stopping in a parade as regular as +the<br> + swing of a pendulum.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Hulot is not as young as he was," Lisbeth +remarked<br> + significantly.</p> + +<p><br> + "I know that," said Crevel, "but in one point we are alike: +Hulot<br> + cannot do without an attachment. He is capable of going back to +his<br> + wife. It would be a novelty for him, but an end to my vengeance. +You<br> + smile, Mademoiselle Fischer--ah! perhaps you know +something?"</p> + +<p>"I am smiling at your notions," replied Lisbeth. "Yes, my +cousin is<br> + still handsome enough to inspire a passion. I should certainly +fall in<br> + love with her if I were a man."</p> + +<p>"Cut and come again!" exclaimed Crevel. "You are laughing at +me.--The<br> + Baron has already found consolation?"</p> + +<p>Lisbeth bowed affirmatively.</p> + +<p>"He is a lucky man if he can find a second Josepha within +twenty-four<br> + hours!" said Crevel. "But I am not altogether surprised, for he +told<br> + me one evening at supper that when he was a young man he always +had<br> + three mistresses on hand that he might not be left high and +dry--the<br> + one he was giving over, the one in possession, and the one he +was<br> + courting for a future emergency. He had some smart little +work-woman<br> + in reserve, no doubt--in his fish-pond--his +<i>Parc-aux-cerfs</i>! He is<br> + very Louis XV., is my gentleman. He is in luck to be so +handsome!--<br> + However, he is ageing; his face shows it.--He has taken up with +some<br> + little milliner?"</p> + +<p>"Dear me, no," replied Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Crevel, "what would I not do to hinder him from +hanging up<br> + his hat! I could not win back Josepha; women of that kind never +come<br> + back to their first love.--Besides, it is truly said, such a +return is<br> + not love.--But, Cousin Betty, I would pay down fifty thousand +francs--<br> + that is to say, I would spend it--to rob that great +good-looking<br> + fellow of his mistress, and to show him that a Major with a +portly<br> + stomach and a brain made to become Mayor of Paris, though he is +a<br> + grandfather, is not to have his mistress tickled away by a +poacher<br> + without turning the tables."</p> + +<p>"My position," said Lisbeth, "compels me to hear everything +and know<br> + nothing. You may talk to me without fear; I never repeat a word +of<br> + what any one may choose to tell me. How can you suppose I should +ever<br> + break that rule of conduct? No one would ever trust me +again."</p> + +<p>"I know," said Crevel; "you are the very jewel of old maids. +Still,<br> + come, there are exceptions. Look here, the family have never +settled<br> + an allowance on you?"</p> + +<p>"But I have my pride," said Lisbeth. "I do not choose to be an +expense<br> + to anybody."</p> + +<p>"If you will but help me to my revenge," the tradesman went +on, "I<br> + will sink ten thousand francs in an annuity for you. Tell me, my +fair<br> + cousin, tell me who has stepped into Josepha's shoes, and you +will<br> + have money to pay your rent, your little breakfast in the +morning, the<br> + good coffee you love so well--you might allow yourself pure +Mocha,<br> + heh! And a very good thing is pure Mocha!"</p> + +<p>"I do not care so much for the ten thousand francs in an +annuity,<br> + which would bring me nearly five hundred francs a year, as +for<br> + absolute secrecy," said Lisbeth. "For, you see, my dear +Monsieur<br> + Crevel, the Baron is very good to me; he is to pay my +rent----"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, long may that last! I advise you to trust him," cried +Crevel.<br> + "Where will he find the money?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, that I don't know. At the same time, he is spending more +than<br> + thirty thousand francs on the rooms he is furnishing for this +little<br> + lady."</p> + +<p>"A lady! What, a woman in society; the rascal, what luck he +has! He is<br> + the only favorite!"</p> + +<p>"A married woman, and quite the lady," Lisbeth affirmed.</p> + +<p>"Really and truly?" cried Crevel, opening wide eyes flashing +with<br> + envy, quite as much as at the magic words <i>quite the +lady</i>.</p> + +<p>"Yes, really," said Lisbeth. "Clever, a musician, +three-and-twenty, a<br> + pretty, innocent face, a dazzling white skin, teeth like a +puppy's,<br> + eyes like stars, a beautiful forehead--and tiny feet, I never +saw the<br> + like, they are not wider than her stay-busk."</p> + +<p>"And ears?" asked Crevel, keenly alive to this catalogue of +charms.</p> + +<p>"Ears for a model," she replied.</p> + +<p>"And small hands?"</p> + +<p>"I tell you, in few words, a gem of a woman--and high-minded, +and<br> + modest, and refined! A beautiful soul, an angel--and with +every<br> + distinction, for her father was a Marshal of France----"</p> + +<p>"A Marshal of France!" shrieked Crevel, positively bounding +with<br> + excitement. "Good Heavens! by the Holy Piper! By all the joys +in<br> + Paradise!--The rascal!--I beg your pardon, Cousin, I am going +crazy!--<br> + I think I would give a hundred thousand francs----"</p> + +<p>"I dare say you would, and, I tell you, she is a respectable +woman--a<br> + woman of virtue. The Baron has forked out handsomely."</p> + +<p>"He has not a sou, I tell you."</p> + +<p>"There is a husband he has pushed----"</p> + +<p>"Where did he push him?" asked Crevel, with a bitter +laugh.</p> + +<p>"He is promoted to be second in his office--this husband who +will<br> + oblige, no doubt;--and his name is down for the Cross of the +Legion of<br> + Honor."</p> + +<p>"The Government ought to be judicious and respect those who +have the<br> + Cross by not flinging it broadcast," said Crevel, with the look +of an<br> + aggrieved politician. "But what is there about the man--that +old<br> + bulldog of a Baron?" he went on. "It seems to me that I am quite +a<br> + match for him," and he struck an attitude as he looked at +himself in<br> + the glass. "Heloise has told me many a time, at moments when a +woman<br> + speaks the truth, that I was wonderful."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Lisbeth, "women like big men; they are almost +always good-<br> + natured; and if I had to decide between you and the Baron, I +should<br> + choose you. Monsieur Hulot is amusing, handsome, and has a +figure; but<br> + you, you are substantial, and then--you see--you look an even +greater<br> + scamp than he does."</p> + +<p>"It is incredible how all women, even pious women, take to men +who<br> + have that about them!" exclaimed Crevel, putting his arm +round<br> + Lisbeth's waist, he was so jubilant.</p> + +<p>"The difficulty does not lie there," said Betty. "You must see +that a<br> + woman who is getting so many advantages will not be unfaithful +to her<br> + patron for nothing; and it would cost you more than a hundred +odd<br> + thousand francs, for our little friend can look forward to +seeing her<br> + husband at the head of his office within two years' time.--It +is<br> + poverty that is dragging the poor little angel into that +pit."</p> + +<p>Crevel was striding up and down the drawing-room in a state of +frenzy.</p> + +<p>"He must be uncommonly fond of the woman?" he inquired after a +pause,<br> + while his desires, thus goaded by Lisbeth, rose to a sort of +madness.</p> + +<p>"You may judge for yourself," replied Lisbeth. I don't believe +he has<br> + had <i>that</i> of her," said she, snapping her thumbnail +against one of<br> + her enormous white teeth, "and he has given her ten thousand +francs'<br> + worth of presents already."</p> + +<p>"What a good joke it would be!" cried Crevel, "if I got to the +winning<br> + post first!"</p> + +<p>"Good heavens! It is too bad of me to be telling you all this +tittle-<br> + tattle," said Lisbeth, with an air of compunction.</p> + +<p>"No.--I mean to put your relations to the blush. To-morrow I +shall<br> + invest in your name such a sum in five-per-cents as will give +you six<br> + hundred francs a year; but then you must tell me +everything--his<br> + Dulcinea's name and residence. To you I will make a clean breast +of<br> + it.--I never have had a real lady for a mistress, and it is the +height<br> + of my ambition. Mahomet's houris are nothing in comparison with +what I<br> + fancy a woman of fashion must be. In short, it is my dream, my +mania,<br> + and to such a point, that I declare to you the Baroness Hulot to +me<br> + will never be fifty," said he, unconsciously plagiarizing one of +the<br> + greatest wits of the last century. "I assure you, my good +Lisbeth, I<br> + am prepared to sacrifice a hundred, two hundred--Hush! Here are +the<br> + young people, I see them crossing the courtyard. I shall never +have<br> + learned anything through you, I give you my word of honor; for I +do<br> + not want you to lose the Baron's confidence, quite the contrary. +He<br> + must be amazingly fond of this woman--that old boy."</p> + +<p>"He is crazy about her," said Lisbeth. "He could not find +forty<br> + thousand francs to marry his daughter off, but he has got them +somehow<br> + for his new passion."</p> + +<p>"And do you think that she loves him?"</p> + +<p>"At his age!" said the old maid.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what an owl I am!" cried Crevel, "when I myself allowed +Heloise<br> + to keep her artist exactly as Henri IX. allowed Gabrielle +her<br> + Bellegrade. Alas! old age, old age!--Good-morning, Celestine. +How do,<br> + my jewel!--And the brat? Ah! here he comes; on my honor, he +is<br> + beginning to be like me!--Good-day, Hulot--quite well? We shall +soon<br> + be having another wedding in the family."</p> + +<p>Celestine and her husband, as a hint to their father, glanced +at the<br> + old maid, who audaciously asked, in reply to Crevel:</p> + +<p>"Indeed--whose?"</p> + +<p>Crevel put on an air of reserve which was meant to convey that +he<br> + would make up for her indiscretions.</p> + +<p>"That of Hortense," he replied; "but it is not yet quite +settled. I<br> + have just come from the Lebas', and they were talking of +Mademoiselle<br> + Popinot as a suitable match for their son, the young councillor, +for<br> + he would like to get the presidency of a provincial court.--Now, +come<br> + to dinner."</p> + +<p>By seven o'clock Lisbeth had returned home in an omnibus, for +she was<br> + eager to see Wenceslas, whose dupe she had been for three weeks, +and<br> + to whom she was carrying a basket filled with fruit by the hands +of<br> + Crevel himself, whose attentions were doubled towards <i>his</i> +Cousin<br> + Betty.</p> + +<p>She flew up to the attic at a pace that took her breath away, +and<br> + found the artist finishing the ornamentation of a box to be +presented<br> + to the adored Hortense. The framework of the lid represented<br> + hydrangeas--in French called <i>Hortensias</i>--among which +little Loves<br> + were playing. The poor lover, to enable him to pay for the +materials<br> + of the box, of which the panels were of malachite, had designed +two<br> + candlesticks for Florent and Chanor, and sold them the +copyright--two<br> + admirable pieces of work.</p> + +<p>"You have been working too hard these last few days, my dear +fellow,"<br> + said Lisbeth, wiping the perspiration from his brow, and giving +him a<br> + kiss. "Such laborious diligence is really dangerous in the month +of<br> + August. Seriously, you may injure your health. Look, here are +some<br> + peaches and plums from Monsieur Crevel.--Now, do not worry +yourself so<br> + much; I have borrowed two thousand francs, and, short of +some<br> + disaster, we can repay them when you sell your clock. At the +same<br> + time, the lender seems to me suspicious, for he has just sent in +this<br> + document."</p> + +<p>She laid the writ under the model sketch of the statue of +General<br> + Montcornet.</p> + +<p>"For whom are you making this pretty thing?" said she, taking +up the<br> + model sprays of hydrangea in red wax which Wenceslas had laid +down<br> + while eating the fruit.</p> + +<p>"For a jeweler."</p> + +<p>"For what jeweler?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. Stidmann asked me to make something out of +them, as he<br> + is very busy."</p> + +<p>"But these," she said in a deep voice, "are <i>Hortensias</i>. +How is it<br> + that you have never made anything in wax for me? Is it so +difficult to<br> + design a pin, a little box--what not, as a keepsake?" and she +shot a<br> + fearful glance at the artist, whose eyes were happily lowered. +"And<br> + yet you say you love me?"</p> + +<p>"Can you doubt it, mademoiselle?"</p> + +<p>"That is indeed an ardent <i>mademoiselle</i>!--Why, you have +been my only<br> + thought since I found you dying--just there. When I saved you, +you<br> + vowed you were mine, I mean to hold you to that pledge; but I +made a<br> + vow to myself! I said to myself, 'Since the boy says he is mine, +I<br> + mean to make him rich and happy!' Well, and I can make your +fortune."</p> + +<p>"How?" said the hapless artist, at the height of joy, and too +artless<br> + to dream of a snare.</p> + +<p>"Why, thus," said she.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth could not deprive herself of the savage pleasure of +gazing at<br> + Wenceslas, who looked up at her with filial affection, the +expression<br> + really of his love for Hortense, which deluded the old maid. +Seeing in<br> + a man's eyes, for the first time in her life, the blazing torch +of<br> + passion, she fancied it was for her that it was lighted.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Crevel will back us to the extent of a hundred +thousand<br> + francs to start in business, if, as he says, you will marry me. +He has<br> + queer ideas, has the worthy man.--Well, what do you say to it?" +she<br> + added.</p> + +<p>The artist, as pale as the dead, looked at his benefactress +with a<br> + lustreless eye, which plainly spoke his thoughts. He stood +stupefied<br> + and open-mouthed.</p> + +<p>"I never before was so distinctly told that I am hideous," +said she,<br> + with a bitter laugh.</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle," said Steinbock, "my benefactress can never be +ugly in<br> + my eyes; I have the greatest affection for you. But I am not +yet<br> + thirty, and----"</p> + +<p>"I am forty-three," said Lisbeth. "My cousin Adeline is +forty-eight,<br> + and men are still madly in love with her; but then she is +handsome--<br> + she is!"</p> + +<p>"Fifteen years between us, mademoiselle! How could we get on +together!<br> + For both our sakes I think we should be wise to think it over. +My<br> + gratitude shall be fully equal to your great kindness.--And your +money<br> + shall be repaid in a few days."</p> + +<p>"My money!" cried she. "You treat me as if I were nothing but +an<br> + unfeeling usurer."</p> + +<p>"Forgive me," said Wenceslas, "but you remind me of it so +often.--<br> + Well, it is you who have made me; do not crush me."</p> + +<p>"You mean to be rid of me, I can see," said she, shaking her +head.<br> + "Who has endowed you with this strength of ingratitude--you who +are a<br> + man of papier-mache? Have you ceased to trust me--your good +genius?--<br> + me, when I have spent so many nights working for you--when I +have<br> + given you every franc I have saved in my lifetime--when for four +years<br> + I have shared my bread with you, the bread of a hard-worked +woman, and<br> + given you all I had, to my very courage."</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle--no more, no more!" he cried, kneeling before +her with<br> + uplifted hands. "Say not another word! In three days I will tell +you,<br> + you shall know all.--Let me, let me be happy," and he kissed +her<br> + hands. "I love--and I am loved."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, my child, be happy," she said, lifting him up. +And she<br> + kissed his forehead and hair with the eagerness that a man +condemned<br> + to death must feel as he lives through the last morning.</p> + +<p>"Ah! you are of all creatures the noblest and best! You are a +match<br> + for the woman I love," said the poor artist.</p> + +<p>"I love you well enough to tremble for your future fate," said +she<br> + gloomily. "Judas hanged himself--the ungrateful always come to a +bad<br> + end! You are deserting me, and you will never again do any good +work.<br> + Consider whether, without being married--for I know I am an old +maid,<br> + and I do not want to smother the blossom of your youth, your +poetry,<br> + as you call it, in my arms, that are like vine-stocks--but +whether,<br> + without being married, we could not get on together? Listen; I +have<br> + the commercial spirit; I could save you a fortune in the course +of ten<br> + years' work, for Economy is my name!--while, with a young wife, +who<br> + would be sheer Expenditure, you would squander everything; you +would<br> + work only to indulge her. But happiness creates nothing but +memories.<br> + Even I, when I am thinking of you, sit for hours with my hands +in my<br> + lap----</p> + +<p>"Come, Wenceslas, stay with me.--Look here, I understand all +about it;<br> + you shall have your mistresses; pretty ones too, like that +little<br> + Marneffe woman who wants to see you, and who will give you +happiness<br> + you could never find with me. Then, when I have saved you +thirty<br> + thousand francs a year in the funds----"</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle, you are an angel, and I shall never forget this +hour,"<br> + said Wenceslas, wiping away his tears.</p> + +<p>"That is how I like to see you, my child," said she, gazing at +him<br> + with rapture.</p> + +<p>Vanity is so strong a power in us all that Lisbeth believed in +her<br> + triumph. She had conceded so much when offering him Madame +Marneffe.<br> + It was the crowning emotion of her life; for the first time she +felt<br> + the full tide of joy rising in her heart. To go through such +an<br> + experience again she would have sold her soul to the Devil.</p> + +<p>"I am engaged to be married," Steinbock replied, "and I love a +woman<br> + with whom no other can compete or compare.--But you are, and +always<br> + will be, to me the mother I have lost."</p> + +<p>The words fell like an avalanche of snow on a burning crater. +Lisbeth<br> + sat down. She gazed with despondent eyes on the youth before +her, on<br> + his aristocratic beauty--the artist's brow, the splendid +hair,<br> + everything that appealed to her suppressed feminine instincts, +and<br> + tiny tears moistened her eyes for an instant and immediately +dried up.<br> + She looked like one of those meagre statues which the sculptors +of the<br> + Middle Ages carved on monuments.</p> + +<p>"I cannot curse you," said she, suddenly rising. "You--you are +but a<br> + boy. God preserve you!"</p> + +<p>She went downstairs and shut herself into her own room.</p> + +<p>"She is in love with me, poor creature!" said Wenceslas to +himself.<br> + "And how fervently eloquent! She is crazy."</p> + +<p>This last effort on the part of an arid and narrow nature to +keep hold<br> + on an embodiment of beauty and poetry was, in truth, so violent +that<br> + it can only be compared to the frenzied vehemence of a +shipwrecked<br> + creature making the last struggle to reach shore.</p> + +<p>On the next day but one, at half-past four in the morning, +when Count<br> + Steinbock was sunk in the deepest sleep, he heard a knock at the +door<br> + of his attic; he rose to open it, and saw two men in shabby +clothing,<br> + and a third, whose dress proclaimed him a bailiff down on his +luck.</p> + +<p>"You are Monsieur Wenceslas, Count Steinbock?" said this +man.</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"My name is Grasset, sir, successor to Louchard, sheriff's<br> + officer----"</p> + +<p>"What then?"</p> + +<p>"You are under arrest, sir. You must come with us to +prison--to<br> + Clichy.--Please to get dressed.--We have done the civil, as you +see; I<br> + have brought no police, and there is a hackney cab below."</p> + +<p>"You are safely nabbed, you see," said one of the bailiffs; +"and we<br> + look to you to be liberal."</p> + +<p>Steinbock dressed and went downstairs, a man holding each arm; +when he<br> + was in the cab, the driver started without orders, as knowing +where he<br> + was to go, and within half an hour the unhappy foreigner found +himself<br> + safely under bolt and bar without even a remonstrance, so +utterly<br> + amazed was he.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock he was sent for to the prison-office, where he +found<br> + Lisbeth, who, in tears, gave him some money to feed himself +adequately<br> + and to pay for a room large enough to work in.</p> + +<p>"My dear boy," said she, "never say a word of your arrest to +anybody,<br> + do not write to a living soul; it would ruin you for life; we +must<br> + hide this blot on your character. I will soon have you out. I +will<br> + collect the money--be quite easy. Write down what you want for +your<br> + work. You shall soon be free, or I will die for it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall owe you my life a second time!" cried he, "for I +should<br> + lose more than my life if I were thought a bad fellow."</p> + +<p>Lisbeth went off in great glee; she hoped, by keeping her +artist under<br> + lock and key, to put a stop to his marriage by announcing that +he was<br> + a married man, pardoned by the efforts of his wife, and gone off +to<br> + Russia.</p> + +<p>To carry out this plan, at about three o'clock she went to +the<br> + Baroness, though it was not the day when she was due to dine +with her;<br> + but she wished to enjoy the anguish which Hortense must endure +at the<br> + hour when Wenceslas was in the habit of making his +appearance.</p> + +<p>"Have you come to dinner?" asked the Baroness, concealing +her<br> + disappointment.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes."</p> + +<p>"That's well," replied Hortense. "I will go and tell them to +be<br> + punctual, for you do not like to be kept waiting."</p> + +<p>Hortense nodded reassuringly to her mother, for she intended +to tell<br> + the man-servant to send away Monsieur Steinbock if he should +call; the<br> + man, however, happened to be out, so Hortense was obliged to +give her<br> + orders to the maid, and the girl went upstairs to fetch her +needlework<br> + and sit in the ante-room.</p> + +<p>"And about my lover?" said Cousin Betty to Hortense, when the +girl<br> + came back. "You never ask about him now?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure, what is he doing?" said Hortense. "He has become +famous.<br> + You ought to be very happy," she added in an undertone to +Lisbeth.<br> + "Everybody is talking of Monsieur Wenceslas Steinbock."</p> + +<p>"A great deal too much," replied she in her clear tones. +"Monsieur is<br> + departing.--If it were only a matter of charming him so far as +to defy<br> + the attractions of Paris, I know my power; but they say that in +order<br> + to secure the services of such an artist, the Emperor Nichols +has<br> + pardoned him----"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" said the Baroness.</p> + +<p>"When did you hear that?" asked Hortense, who felt as if her +heart had<br> + the cramp.</p> + +<p>"Well," said the villainous Lisbeth, "a person to whom he is +bound by<br> + the most sacred ties--his wife--wrote yesterday to tell him so. +He<br> + wants to be off. Oh, he will be a great fool to give up France +to go<br> + to Russia!--"</p> + +<p>Hortense looked at her mother, but her head sank on one side; +the<br> + Baroness was only just in time to support her daughter, who +dropped<br> + fainting, and as white as her lace kerchief.</p> + +<p>"Lisbeth! you have killed my child!" cried the Baroness. "You +were<br> + born to be our curse!"</p> + +<p>"Bless me! what fault of mine is this, Adeline?" replied +Lisbeth, as<br> + she rose with a menacing aspect, of which the Baroness, in her +alarm,<br> + took no notice.</p> + +<p>"I was wrong," said Adeline, supporting the girl. "Ring."</p> + +<p>At this instant the door opened, the women both looked round, +and saw<br> + Wenceslas Steinbock, who had been admitted by the cook in the +maid's<br> + absence.</p> + +<p>"Hortense!" cried the artist, with one spring to the group of +women.<br> + And he kissed his betrothed before her mother's eyes, on the +forehead,<br> + and so reverently, that the Baroness could not be angry. It was +a<br> + better restorative than any smelling salts. Hortense opened her +eyes,<br> + saw Wenceslas, and her color came back. In a few minutes she had +quite<br> + recovered.</p> + +<p>"So this was your secret?" said Lisbeth, smiling at Wenceslas, +and<br> + affecting to guess the facts from her two cousins' +confusion.</p> + +<p>"But how did you steal away my lover?" said she, leading +Hortense into<br> + the garden.</p> + +<p>Hortense artlessly told the romance of her love. Her father +and<br> + mother, she said, being convinced that Lisbeth would never +marry, had<br> + authorized the Count's visits. Only Hortense, like a full-blown +Agnes,<br> + attributed to chance her purchase of the group and the +introduction of<br> + the artist, who, by her account, had insisted on knowing the +name of<br> + his first purchaser.</p> + +<p>Presently Steinbock came out to join the cousins, and thanked +the old<br> + maid effusively for his prompt release. Lisbeth replied +Jesuitically<br> + that the creditor having given very vague promises, she had not +hoped<br> + to be able to get him out before the morrow, and that the person +who<br> + had lent her the money, ashamed, perhaps, of such mean conduct, +had<br> + been beforehand with her. The old maid appeared to be +perfectly<br> + content, and congratulated Wenceslas on his happiness.</p> + +<p>"You bad boy!" said she, before Hortense and her mother, "if +you had<br> + only told me the evening before last that you loved my +cousin<br> + Hortense, and that she loved you, you would have spared me many +tears.<br> + I thought that you were deserting your old friend, your +governess;<br> + while, on the contrary, you are to become my cousin; henceforth, +you<br> + will be connected with me, remotely, it is true, but by ties +that<br> + amply justify the feelings I have for you." And she kissed +Wenceslas<br> + on the forehead.</p> + +<p>Hortense threw herself into Lisbeth's arms and melted into +tears.</p> + +<p>"I owe my happiness to you," said she, "and I will never +forget it."</p> + +<p>"Cousin Betty," said the Baroness, embracing Lisbeth in her +excitement<br> + at seeing matters so happily settled, "the Baron and I owe you a +debt<br> + of gratitude, and we will pay it. Come and talk things over with +me,"<br> + she added, leading her away.</p> + +<p>So Lisbeth, to all appearances, was playing the part of a good +angel<br> + to the whole family; she was adored by Crevel and Hulot, by +Adeline<br> + and Hortense.</p> + +<p>"We wish you to give up working," said the Baroness. "If you +earn<br> + forty sous a day, Sundays excepted, that makes six hundred +francs a<br> + year. Well, then, how much have you saved?"</p> + +<p>"Four thousand five hundred francs."</p> + +<p>"Poor Betty!" said her cousin.</p> + +<p>She raised her eyes to heaven, so deeply was she moved at the +thought<br> + of all the labor and privation such a sum must represent +accumulated<br> + during thirty years.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, misunderstanding the meaning of the exclamation, took +it as<br> + the ironical pity of the successful woman, and her hatred +was<br> + strengthened by a large infusion of venom at the very moment +when her<br> + cousin had cast off her last shred of distrust of the tyrant of +her<br> + childhood.</p> + +<p>"We will add ten thousand five hundred francs to that sum," +said<br> + Adeline, "and put it in trust so that you shall draw the +interest for<br> + life with reversion to Hortense. Thus, you will have six +hundred<br> + francs a year."</p> + +<p>Lisbeth feigned the utmost satisfaction. When she went in, +her<br> + handkerchief to her eyes, wiping away tears of joy, Hortense +told her<br> + of all the favors being showered on Wenceslas, beloved of the +family.</p> + +<p>So when the Baron came home, he found his family all present; +for the<br> + Baroness had formally accepted Wenceslas by the title of Son, +and the<br> + wedding was fixed, if her husband should approve, for a day +a<br> + fortnight hence. The moment he came into the drawing-room, Hulot +was<br> + rushed at by his wife and daughter, who ran to meet him, Adeline +to<br> + speak to him privately, and Hortense to kiss him.</p> + +<p>"You have gone too far in pledging me to this, madame," said +the Baron<br> + sternly. "You are not married yet," he added with a look at +Steinbock,<br> + who turned pale.</p> + +<p>"He has heard of my imprisonment," said the luckless artist +to<br> + himself.</p> + +<p>"Come, children," said he, leading his daughter and the young +man into<br> + the garden; they all sat down on the moss-eaten seat in the +summer-<br> + house.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Comte, do you love my daughter as well as I loved +her<br> + mother?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"More, monsieur," said the sculptor.</p> + +<p>"Her mother was a peasant's daughter, and had not a farthing +of her<br> + own."</p> + +<p>"Only give me Mademoiselle Hortense just as she is, without +a<br> + trousseau even----"</p> + +<p>"So I should think!" said the Baron, smiling. "Hortense is +the<br> + daughter of the Baron Hulot d'Ervy, Councillor of State, high up +in<br> + the War Office, Grand Commander of the Legion of Honor, and +the<br> + brother to Count Hulot, whose glory is immortal, and who will +ere long<br> + be Marshal of France! And--she has a marriage portion.</p> + +<p>"It is true," said the impassioned artist. "I must seem +very<br> + ambitious. But if my dear Hortense were a laborer's daughter, I +would<br> + marry her----"</p> + +<p>"That is just what I wanted to know," replied the Baron. "Run +away,<br> + Hortense, and leave me to talk business with Monsieur le +Comte.--He<br> + really loves you, you see!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, papa, I was sure you were only in jest," said the happy +girl.</p> + +<p>"My dear Steinbock," said the Baron, with elaborate grace of +diction<br> + and the most perfect manners, as soon as he and the artist were +alone,<br> + "I promised my son a fortune of two hundred thousand francs, of +which<br> + the poor boy has never had a sou; and he never will get any of +it. My<br> + daughter's fortune will also be two hundred thousand francs, for +which<br> + you will give a receipt----"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Monsieur le Baron."</p> + +<p>"You go too fast," said Hulot. "Have the goodness to hear me +out. I<br> + cannot expect from a son-in-law such devotion as I look for from +my<br> + son. My son knew exactly all I could and would do for his +future<br> + promotion: he will be a Minister, and will easily make good his +two<br> + hundred thousand francs. But with you, young man, matters +are<br> + different. I shall give you a bond for sixty thousand francs in +State<br> + funds at five per cent, in your wife's name. This income will +be<br> + diminished by a small charge in the form of an annuity to +Lisbeth; but<br> + she will not live long; she is consumptive, I know. Tell no one; +it is<br> + a secret; let the poor soul die in peace.--My daughter will have +a<br> + trousseau worth twenty thousand francs; her mother will give her +six<br> + thousand francs worth of diamonds.</p> + +<p><br> + "Monsieur, you overpower me!" said Steinbock, quite +bewildered.</p> + +<p>"As to the remaining hundred and twenty thousand +francs----"</p> + +<p>"Say no more, monsieur," said Wenceslas. "I ask only for my +beloved<br> + Hortense----"</p> + +<p>"Will you listen to me, effervescent youth!--As to the +remaining<br> + hundred and twenty thousand francs, I have not got them; but you +will<br> + have them--"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"You will get them from the Government, in payment for +commissions<br> + which I will secure for you, I pledge you my word of honor. You +are to<br> + have a studio, you see, at the Government depot. Exhibit a few +fine<br> + statues, and I will get you received at the Institute. The +highest<br> + personages have a regard for my brother and for me, and I hope +to<br> + succeed in securing for you a commission for sculpture at +Versailles<br> + up to a quarter of the whole sum. You will have orders from the +City<br> + of Paris and from the Chamber of Peers; in short, my dear +fellow, you<br> + will have so many that you will be obliged to get assistants. In +that<br> + way I shall pay off my debt to you. You must say whether this +way of<br> + giving a portion will suit you; whether you are equal to +it."</p> + +<p>"I am equal to making a fortune for my wife single-handed if +all else<br> + failed!" cried the artist-nobleman.</p> + +<p>"That is what I admire!" cried the Baron. "High-minded youth +that<br> + fears nothing. Come," he added, clasping hands with the young +sculptor<br> + to conclude the bargain, "you have my consent. We will sign +the<br> + contract on Sunday next, and the wedding shall be on the +following<br> + Saturday, my wife's fete-day."</p> + +<p>"It is alright," said the Baroness to her daughter, who stood +glued to<br> + the window. "Your suitor and your father are embracing each +other."</p> + +<p>On going home in the evening, Wenceslas found the solution of +the<br> + mystery of his release. The porter handed him a thick sealed +packet,<br> + containing the schedule of his debts, with a signed receipt +affixed at<br> + the bottom of the writ, and accompanied by this letter:--</p> + +<p>"MY DEAR WENCESLAS,--I went to fetch you at ten o'clock +this<br> + morning to introduce you to a Royal Highness who wishes to +see<br> + you. There I learned that the duns had had you conveyed to a<br> + certain little domain--chief town, <i>Clichy Castle.</i></p> + +<p>"So off I went to Leon de Lora, and told him, for a joke, that +you<br> + could not leave your country quarters for lack of four +thousand<br> + francs, and that you would spoil your future prospects if you +did<br> + not make your bow to your royal patron. Happily, Bridau was +there<br> + --a man of genius, who has known what it is to be poor, and +has<br> + heard your story. My boy, between them they have found the +money,<br> + and I went off to pay the Turk who committed treason against<br> + genius by putting you in quod. As I had to be at the Tuileries +at<br> + noon, I could not wait to see you sniffing the outer air. I +know<br> + you to be a gentleman, and I answered for you to my two +friends--<br> + but look them up to-morrow.</p> + +<p>"Leon and Bridau do not want your cash; they will ask you to +do<br> + them each a group--and they are right. At least, so thinks the +man<br> + who wishes he could sign himself your rival, but is only +your<br> + faithful ally,</p> + +<p>"STIDMANN.</p> + +<p>"P. S.--I told the Prince you were away, and would not return +till<br> + to-morrow, so he said, 'Very good--to-morrow.' "</p> + +<p><br> + Count Wenceslas went to bed in sheets of purple, without a +rose-leaf<br> + to wrinkle them, that Favor can make for us--Favor, the +halting<br> + divinity who moves more slowly for men of genius than either +Justice<br> + or Fortune, because Jove has not chosen to bandage her eyes. +Hence,<br> + lightly deceived by the display of impostors, and attracted by +their<br> + frippery and trumpets, she spends the time in seeing them and +the<br> + money in paying them which she ought to devote to seeking out +men of<br> + merit in the nooks where they hide.</p> + +<p>It will now be necessary to explain how Monsieur le Baron +Hulot had<br> + contrived to count up his expenditure on Hortense's wedding +portion,<br> + and at the same time to defray the frightful cost of the +charming<br> + rooms where Madame Marneffe was to make her home. His financial +scheme<br> + bore that stamp of talent which leads prodigals and men in love +into<br> + the quagmires where so many disasters await them. Nothing +can<br> + demonstrate more completely the strange capacity communicated by +vice,<br> + to which we owe the strokes of skill which ambitious or +voluptuous men<br> + can occasionally achieve--or, in short, any of the Devil's +pupils.</p> + +<p>On the day before, old Johann Fischer, unable to pay thirty +thousand<br> + francs drawn for on him by his nephew, had found himself under +the<br> + necessity of stopping payment unless the Baron could remit the +sum.</p> + +<p>This ancient worthy, with the white hairs of seventy years, +had such<br> + blind confidence in Hulot--who, to the old Bonapartist, was +an<br> + emanation from the Napoleonic sun--that he was calmly pacing +his<br> + anteroom with the bank clerk, in the little ground-floor +apartment<br> + that he rented for eight hundred francs a year as the +headquarters of<br> + his extensive dealings in corn and forage.</p> + +<p>"Marguerite is gone to fetch the money from close by," said +he.</p> + +<p>The official, in his gray uniform braided with silver, was +so<br> + convinced of the old Alsatian's honesty, that he was prepared to +leave<br> + the thirty thousand francs' worth of bills in his hands; but the +old<br> + man would not let him go, observing that the clock had not yet +struck<br> + eight. A cab drew up, the old man rushed into the street, and +held out<br> + his hand to the Baron with sublime confidence--Hulot handed him +out<br> + thirty thousand-franc notes.</p> + +<p>"Go on three doors further, and I will tell you why," said +Fischer.</p> + +<p>"Here, young man," he said, returning to count out the money +to the<br> + bank emissary, whom he then saw to the door.</p> + +<p>When the clerk was out of sight, Fischer called back the +cab<br> + containing his august nephew, Napoleon's right hand, and said, +as he<br> + led him into the house:</p> + +<p>"You do not want them to know at the Bank of France that you +paid me<br> + the thirty thousand francs, after endorsing the bills?--It was +bad<br> + enough to see them signed by such a man as you!--"</p> + +<p>"Come to the bottom of your little garden, Father Fischer," +said the<br> + important man. "You are hearty?" he went on, sitting down under +a vine<br> + arbor and scanning the old man from head to foot, as a dealer in +human<br> + flesh scans a substitute for the conscription.</p> + +<p>"Ay, hearty enough for a tontine," said the lean little old +man; his<br> + sinews were wiry, and his eye bright.</p> + +<p>"Does heat disagree with you?"</p> + +<p>"Quite the contrary."</p> + +<p>"What do you say to Africa?"</p> + +<p>"A very nice country!--The French went there with the little +Corporal"<br> + (Napoleon).</p> + +<p>"To get us all out of the present scrape, you must go to +Algiers,"<br> + said the Baron.</p> + +<p>"And how about my business?"</p> + +<p>"An official in the War Office, who has to retire, and has not +enough<br> + to live on with his pension, will buy your business."</p> + +<p>"And what am I to do in Algiers?"</p> + +<p>"Supply the Commissariat with victuals, corn, and forage; I +have your<br> + commission ready filled in and signed. You can collect supplies +in the<br> + country at seventy per cent below the prices at which you can +credit<br> + us."</p> + +<p>"How shall we get them?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, by raids, by taxes in kind, and the Khaliphat.--The +country is<br> + little known, though we settled there eight years ago; +Algeria<br> + produces vast quantities of corn and forage. When this produce +belongs<br> + to Arabs, we take it from them under various pretences; when +it<br> + belongs to us, the Arabs try to get it back again. There is a +great<br> + deal of fighting over the corn, and no one ever knows exactly +how much<br> + each party has stolen from the other. There is not time in the +open<br> + field to measure the corn as we do in the Paris market, or the +hay as<br> + it is sold in the Rue d'Enfer. The Arab chiefs, like our +Spahis,<br> + prefer hard cash, and sell the plunder at a very low price. +The<br> + Commissariat needs a fixed quantity and must have it. It winks +at<br> + exorbitant prices calculated on the difficulty of procuring +food, and<br> + the dangers to which every form of transport is exposed. That +is<br> + Algiers from the army contractor's point of view.</p> + +<p>"It is a muddle tempered by the ink-bottle, like every +incipient<br> + government. We shall not see our way through it for another ten +years<br> + --we who have to do the governing; but private enterprise has +sharp<br> + eyes.--So I am sending you there to make a fortune; I give you +the<br> + job, as Napoleon put an impoverished Marshal at the head of a +kingdom<br> + where smuggling might be secretly encouraged.</p> + +<p>"I am ruined, my dear Fischer; I must have a hundred thousand +francs<br> + within a year."</p> + +<p>"I see no harm in getting it out of the Bedouins," said the +Alsatian<br> + calmly. "It was always done under the Empire----"</p> + +<p>"The man who wants to buy your business will be here this +morning, and<br> + pay you ten thousand francs down," the Baron went on. "That will +be<br> + enough, I suppose, to take you to Africa?"</p> + +<p>The old man nodded assent.</p> + +<p>"As to capital out there, be quite easy. I will draw the +remainder of<br> + the money due if I find it necessary."</p> + +<p>"All I have is yours--my very blood," said old Fischer.</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not be uneasy," said Hulot, fancying that his uncle +saw more<br> + clearly than was the fact. "As to our excise dealings, your +character<br> + will not be impugned. Everything depends on the authority at +your<br> + back; now I myself appointed the authorities out there; I am +sure of<br> + them. This, Uncle Fischer, is a dead secret between us. I know +you<br> + well, and I have spoken out without concealment or +circumlocution."</p> + +<p>"It shall be done," said the old man. "And it will go +on----?"</p> + +<p>"For two years, You will have made a hundred thousand francs +of your<br> + own to live happy on in the Vosges."</p> + +<p>"I will do as you wish; my honor is yours," said the little +old man<br> + quietly.</p> + +<p>"That is the sort of man I like.--However, you must not go +till you<br> + have seen your grand-niece happily married. She is to be a +Countess."</p> + +<p>But even taxes and raids and the money paid by the War Office +clerk<br> + for Fischer's business could not forthwith provide sixty +thousand<br> + francs to give Hortense, to say nothing of her trousseau, which +was to<br> + cost about five thousand, and the forty thousand spent--or to be +spent<br> + --on Madame Marneffe.</p> + +<p>Where, then had the Baron found the thirty thousand francs he +had just<br> + produced? This was the history.</p> + +<p>A few days previously Hulot had insured his life for the sum +of a<br> + hundred and fifty thousand francs, for three years, in two +separate<br> + companies. Armed with the policies, of which he paid the +premium, he<br> + had spoken as follows to the Baron de Nucingen, a peer of the +Chamber,<br> + in whose carriage he found himself after a sitting, driving +home, in<br> + fact, to dine with him:--</p> + +<p>"Baron, I want seventy thousand francs, and I apply to you. +You must<br> + find some one to lend his name, to whom I will make over the +right to<br> + draw my pay for three years; it amounts to twenty-five thousand +francs<br> + a year--that is, seventy-five thousand francs.--You will say, +'But you<br> + may die' "--the banker signified his assent--"Here, then, is a +policy<br> + of insurance for a hundred and fifty thousand francs, which I +will<br> + deposit with you till you have drawn up the eighty thousand +francs,"<br> + said Hulot, producing the document form his pocket.</p> + +<p>"But if you should lose your place?" said the millionaire +Baron,<br> + laughing.</p> + +<p>The other Baron--not a millionaire--looked grave.</p> + +<p>"Be quite easy; I only raised the question to show you that I +was not<br> + devoid of merit in handing you the sum. Are you so short of +cash? for<br> + the Bank will take your signature."</p> + +<p>"My daughter is to be married," said Baron Hulot, "and I have +no<br> + fortune--like every one else who remains in office in these +thankless<br> + times, when five hundred ordinary men seated on benches will +never<br> + reward the men who devote themselves to the service as +handsomely as<br> + the Emperor did."</p> + +<p>"Well, well; but you had Josepha on your hands!" replied +Nucingen,<br> + "and that accounts for everything. Between ourselves, the +Duc<br> + d'Herouville has done you a very good turn by removing that +leech from<br> + sucking your purse dry. 'I have known what that is, and can pity +your<br> + case,' " he quoted. "Take a friend's advice: Shut up shop, or +you will<br> + be done for."</p> + +<p>This dirty business was carried out in the name of one +Vauvinet, a<br> + small money-lender; one of those jobbers who stand forward to +screen<br> + great banking houses, like the little fish that is said to +attend the<br> + shark. This stock-jobber's apprentice was so anxious to gain +the<br> + patronage of Monsieur le Baron Hulot, that he promised the great +man<br> + to negotiate bills of exchange for thirty thousand francs at +eighty<br> + days, and pledged himself to renew them four times, and never +pass<br> + them out of his hands.</p> + +<p>Fischer's successor was to pay forty thousand francs for the +house and<br> + the business, with the promise that he should supply forage to +a<br> + department close to Paris.</p> + +<p>This was the desperate maze of affairs into which a man who +had<br> + hitherto been absolutely honest was led by his passions--one of +the<br> + best administrative officials under Napoleon--peculation to pay +the<br> + money-lenders, and borrowing of the money-lenders to gratify +his<br> + passions and provide for his daughter. All the efforts of +this<br> + elaborate prodigality were directed at making a display before +Madame<br> + Marneffe, and to playing Jupiter to this middle-class Danae. A +man<br> + could not expend more activity, intelligence, and presence of +mind in<br> + the honest acquisition of a fortune than the Baron displayed +in<br> + shoving his head into a wasp's nest: He did all the business of +his<br> + department, he hurried on the upholsterers, he talked to the +workmen,<br> + he kept a sharp lookout on the smallest details of the house in +the<br> + Rue Vanneau. Wholly devoted to Madame Marneffe, he +nevertheless<br> + attended the sittings of the Chambers; he was everywhere at +once, and<br> + neither his family nor anybody else discovered where his +thoughts<br> + were.</p> + +<p>Adeline, quite amazed to hear that her uncle was rescued, and +to see a<br> + handsome sum figure in the marriage-contract, was not altogether +easy,<br> + in spite of her joy at seeing her daughter married under +such<br> + creditable circumstances. But, on the day before the wedding, +fixed by<br> + the Baron to coincide with Madame Marneffe's removal to her +new<br> + apartment, Hector allayed his wife's astonishment by this +ministerial<br> + communication:--</p> + +<p>"Now, Adeline, our girl is married; all our anxieties on the +subject<br> + are at an end. The time is come for us to retire from the world: +I<br> + shall not remain in office more than three years longer--only +the time<br> + necessary to secure my pension. Why, henceforth, should we be at +any<br> + unnecessary expense? Our apartment costs us six thousand francs +a year<br> + in rent, we have four servants, we eat thirty thousand francs' +worth<br> + of food in a year. If you want me to pay off my bills--for I +have<br> + pledged my salary for the sums I needed to give Hortense her +little<br> + money, and pay off your uncle----"</p> + +<p>"You did very right!" said she, interrupting her husband, and +kissing<br> + his hands.</p> + +<p>This explanation relieved Adeline of all her fears.</p> + +<p>"I shall have to ask some little sacrifices of you," he went +on,<br> + disengaging his hands and kissing his wife's brow. "I have found +in<br> + the Rue Plumet a very good flat on the first floor, +handsome,<br> + splendidly paneled, at only fifteen hundred francs a year, where +you<br> + would only need one woman to wait on you, and I could be quite +content<br> + with a boy."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear."</p> + +<p>"If we keep house in a quiet way, keeping up a proper +appearance of<br> + course, we should not spend more than six thousand francs a +year,<br> + excepting my private account, which I will provide for."</p> + +<p>The generous-hearted woman threw her arms round her husband's +neck in<br> + her joy.</p> + +<p>"How happy I shall be, beginning again to show you how truly I +love<br> + you!" she exclaimed. "And what a capital manager you are!"</p> + +<p>"We will have the children to dine with us once a week. I, as +you<br> + know, rarely dine at home. You can very well dine twice a week +with<br> + Victorin and twice a week with Hortense. And, as I believe, I +may<br> + succeed in making matters up completely between Crevel and us; +we can<br> + dine once a week with him. These five dinners and our own at +home will<br> + fill up the week all but one day, supposing that we may +occasionally<br> + be invited to dine elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"I shall save a great deal for you," said Adeline.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" he cried, "you are the pearl of women!"</p> + +<p>"My kind, divine Hector, I shall bless you with my latest +breath,"<br> + said she, "for you have done well for my dear Hortense."</p> + +<p>This was the beginning of the end of the beautiful Madame +Hulot's<br> + home; and, it may be added, of her being totally neglected, as +Hulot<br> + had solemnly promised Madame Marneffe.</p> + +<p>Crevel, the important and burly, being invited as a matter of +course<br> + to the party given for the signing of the marriage-contract, +behaved<br> + as though the scene with which this drama opened had never +taken<br> + place, as though he had no grievance against the Baron. +Celestin<br> + Crevel was quite amiable; he was perhaps rather too much the<br> + ex-perfumer, but as a Major he was beginning to acquire +majestic<br> + dignity. He talked of dancing at the wedding.</p> + +<p>"Fair lady," said he politely to the Baroness, "people like us +know<br> + how to forget. Do not banish me from your home; honor me, pray, +by<br> + gracing my house with your presence now and then to meet +your<br> + children. Be quite easy; I will never say anything of what lies +buried<br> + at the bottom of my heart. I behaved, indeed, like an idiot, for +I<br> + should lose too much by cutting myself off from seeing you."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, an honest woman has no ears for such speeches as +those you<br> + refer to. If you keep your word, you need not doubt that it will +give<br> + me pleasure to see the end of a coolness which must always be +painful<br> + in a family."</p> + +<p>"Well, you sulky old fellow," said Hulot, dragging Crevel out +into the<br> + garden, "you avoid me everywhere, even in my own house. Are +two<br> + admirers of the fair sex to quarrel for ever over a petticoat? +Come;<br> + this is really too plebeian!"</p> + +<p>"I, monsieur, am not such a fine man as you are, and my +small<br> + attractions hinder me from repairing my losses so easily as +you<br> + can----"</p> + +<p>"Sarcastic!" said the Baron.</p> + +<p>"Irony is allowable from the vanquished to the conquerer."</p> + +<p>The conversation, begun in this strain, ended in a +complete<br> + reconciliation; still Crevel maintained his right to take his +revenge.</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe particularly wished to be invited to +Mademoiselle<br> + Hulot's wedding. To enable him to receive his future mistress in +his<br> + drawing-room, the great official was obliged to invite all the +clerks<br> + of his division down to the deputy head-clerks inclusive. Thus a +grand<br> + ball was a necessity. The Baroness, as a prudent housewife, +calculated<br> + that an evening party would cost less than a dinner, and allow +of a<br> + larger number of invitations; so Hortense's wedding was much +talked<br> + about.</p> + +<p><br> + Marshal Prince Wissembourg and the Baron de Nucingen signed in +behalf<br> + of the bride, the Comtes de Rastignac and Popinot in behalf +of<br> + Steinbock. Then, as the highest nobility among the Polish +emigrants<br> + had been civil to Count Steinbock since he had become famous, +the<br> + artist thought himself bound to invite them. The State Council, +and<br> + the War Office to which the Baron belonged, and the army, +anxious to<br> + do honor to the Comte de Forzheim, were all represented by +their<br> + magnates. There were nearly two hundred indispensable +invitations. How<br> + natural, then, that little Madame Marneffe was bent on figuring +in all<br> + her glory amid such an assembly. The Baroness had, a month +since, sold<br> + her diamonds to set up her daughter's house, while keeping the +finest<br> + for the trousseau. The sale realized fifteen thousand francs, of +which<br> + five thousand were sunk in Hortense's clothes. And what was +ten<br> + thousand francs for the furniture of the young folks' +apartment,<br> + considering the demands of modern luxury? However, young +Monsieur and<br> + Madame Hulot, old Crevel, and the Comte de Forzheim made very +handsome<br> + presents, for the old soldier had set aside a sum for the +purchase of<br> + plate. Thanks to these contributions, even an exacting Parisian +would<br> + have been pleased with the rooms the young couple had taken in +the Rue<br> + Saint-Dominique, near the Invalides. Everything seemed in +harmony with<br> + their love, pure, honest, and sincere.</p> + +<p>At last the great day dawned--for it was to be a great day not +only<br> + for Wenceslas and Hortense, but for old Hulot too. Madame +Marneffe was<br> + to give a house-warming in her new apartment the day after +becoming<br> + Hulot's mistress <i>en titre</i>, and after the marriage of the +lovers.</p> + +<p>Who but has once in his life been a guest at a wedding-ball? +Every<br> + reader can refer to his reminiscences, and will probably smile +as he<br> + calls up the images of all that company in their Sunday-best +faces as<br> + well as their finest frippery.</p> + +<p>If any social event can prove the influence of environment, is +it not<br> + this? In fact, the Sunday-best mood of some reacts so +effectually on<br> + the rest that the men who are most accustomed to wearing full +dress<br> + look just like those to whom the party is a high festival, +unique in<br> + their life. And think too of the serious old men to whom such +things<br> + are so completely a matter of indifference, that they are +wearing<br> + their everyday black coats; the long-married men, whose faces +betray<br> + their sad experience of the life the young pair are but just +entering<br> + on; and the lighter elements, present as carbonic-acid gas is +in<br> + champagne; and the envious girls, the women absorbed in +wondering if<br> + their dress is a success, the poor relations whose parsimonious +"get-<br> + up" contrasts with that of the officials in uniform; and the +greedy<br> + ones, thinking only of the supper; and the gamblers, thinking +only of<br> + cards.</p> + +<p>There are some of every sort, rich and poor, envious and +envied,<br> + philosophers and dreamers, all grouped like the plants in a +flower-bed<br> + round the rare, choice blossom, the bride. A wedding-ball is +an<br> + epitome of the world.</p> + +<p>At the liveliest moment of the evening Crevel led the Baron +aside, and<br> + said in a whisper, with the most natural manner possible:</p> + +<p>"By Jove! that's a pretty woman--the little lady in pink who +has<br> + opened a racking fire on you from her eyes."</p> + +<p>"Which?"</p> + +<p>"The wife of that clerk you are promoting, heaven knows +how!--Madame<br> + Marneffe."</p> + +<p>"What do you know about it?"</p> + +<p>"Listen, Hulot; I will try to forgive you the ill you have +done me if<br> + only you will introduce me to her--I will take you to +Heloise.<br> + Everybody is asking who is that charming creature. Are you sure +that<br> + it will strike no one how and why her husband's appointment got +itself<br> + signed?--You happy rascal, she is worth a whole office.--I would +serve<br> + in her office only too gladly.--Come, cinna, let us be +friends."</p> + +<p>"Better friends than ever," said the Baron to the perfumer, +"and I<br> + promise you I will be a good fellow. Within a month you shall +dine<br> + with that little angel.--For it is an angel this time, old boy. +And I<br> + advise you, like me, to have done with the devils."</p> + +<p>Cousin Betty, who had moved to the Rue Vanneau, into a nice +little<br> + apartment on the third floor, left the ball at ten o'clock, but +came<br> + back to see with her own eyes the two bonds bearing twelve +hundred<br> + francs interest; one of them was the property of the +Countess<br> + Steinbock, the other was in the name of Madame Hulot.</p> + +<p>It is thus intelligible that Monsieur Crevel should have +spoken to<br> + Hulot about Madame Marneffe, as knowing what was a secret to the +rest<br> + of the world; for, as Monsieur Marneffe was away, no one but +Lisbeth<br> + Fischer, besides the Baron and Valerie, was initiated into +the<br> + mystery.</p> + +<p>The Baron had made a blunder in giving Madame Marneffe a dress +far too<br> + magnificent for the wife of a subordinate official; other women +were<br> + jealous alike of her beauty and of her gown. There was much +whispering<br> + behind fans, for the poverty of the Marneffes was known to every +one<br> + in the office; the husband had been petitioning for help at the +very<br> + moment when the Baron had been so smitten with madame. Also, +Hector<br> + could not conceal his exultation at seeing Valerie's success; +and she,<br> + severely proper, very lady-like, and greatly envied, was the +object of<br> + that strict examination which women so greatly fear when they +appear<br> + for the first time in a new circle of society.</p> + +<p>After seeing his wife into a carriage with his daughter and +his son-<br> + in-law, Hulot managed to escape unperceived, leaving his son +and<br> + Celestine to do the honors of the house. He got into Madame +Marneffe's<br> + carriage to see her home, but he found her silent and pensive, +almost<br> + melancholy.</p> + +<p>"My happiness makes you very sad, Valerie," said he, putting +his arm<br> + round her and drawing her to him.</p> + +<p>"Can you wonder, my dear," said she, "that a hapless woman +should be a<br> + little depressed at the thought of her first fall from virtue, +even<br> + when her husband's atrocities have set her free? Do you suppose +that I<br> + have no soul, no beliefs, no religion? Your glee this evening +has been<br> + really too barefaced; you have paraded me odiously. Really, +a<br> + schoolboy would have been less of a coxcomb. And the ladies +have<br> + dissected me with their side-glances and their satirical +remarks.<br> + Every woman has some care for her reputation, and you have +wrecked<br> + mine.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am yours and no mistake! And I have not an excuse left +but that<br> + of being faithful to you.--Monster that you are!" she added, +laughing,<br> + and allowing him to kiss her, "you knew very well what you were +doing!<br> + Madame Coquet, our chief clerk's wife, came to sit down by me, +and<br> + admired my lace. 'English point!' said she. 'Was it very +expensive,<br> + madame?'--'I do not know. This lace was my mother's. I am not +rich<br> + enough to buy the like,' said I."</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe, in short, had so bewitched the old beau, that +he<br> + really believed she was sinning for the first time for his sake, +and<br> + that he had inspired such a passion as had led her to this +breach of<br> + duty. She told him that the wretch Marneffe had neglected her +after<br> + they had been three days married, and for the most odious +reasons.<br> + Since then she had lived as innocently as a girl; marriage had +seemed<br> + to her so horrible. This was the cause of her present +melancholy.</p> + +<p>"If love should prove to be like marriage----" said she in +tears.</p> + +<p>These insinuating lies, with which almost every woman in +Valerie's<br> + predicament is ready, gave the Baron distant visions of the +roses of<br> + the seventh heaven. And so Valerie coquetted with her lover, +while the<br> + artist and Hortense were impatiently awaiting the moment when +the<br> + Baroness should have given the girl her last kiss and +blessing.</p> + +<p>At seven in the morning the Baron, perfectly happy--for his +Valerie<br> + was at once the most guileless of girls and the most consummate +of<br> + demons--went back to release his son and Celestine from their +duties.<br> + All the dancers, for the most part strangers, had taken +possession of<br> + the territory, as they do at every wedding-ball, and were +keeping up<br> + the endless figures of the cotillions, while the gamblers were +still<br> + crowding round the <i>bouillotte</i> tables, and old Crevel had +won six<br> + thousand francs.</p> + +<p>The morning papers, carried round the town, contained this +paragraph<br> + in the Paris article:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"The marriage was celebrated this morning, at the Church of +Saint-<br> + Thomas d'Aquin, between Monsieur le Comte Steinbock and<br> + Mademoiselle Hortense Hulot, daughter of Baron Hulot d'Ervy,<br> + Councillor of State, and a Director at the War Office; niece +of<br> + the famous General Comte de Forzheim. The ceremony attracted +a<br> + large gathering. There were present some of the most +distinguished<br> + artists of the day: Leon de Lora, Joseph Bridau, Stidmann, +and<br> + Bixiou; the magnates of the War Office, of the Council of +State,<br> + and many members of the two Chambers; also the most +distinguished<br> + of the Polish exiles living in Paris: Counts Paz, Laginski, +and<br> + others.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Comte Wenceslas Steinbock is grandnephew to +the<br> + famous general who served under Charles XII., King of Sweden. +The<br> + young Count, having taken part in the Polish rebellion, found +a<br> + refuge in France, where his well-earned fame as a sculptor +has<br> + procured him a patent of naturalization."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>And so, in spite of the Baron's cruel lack of money, nothing +was<br> + lacking that public opinion could require, not even the +trumpeting of<br> + the newspapers over his daughter's marriage, which was +solemnized in<br> + the same way, in every particular, as his son's had been to<br> + Mademoiselle Crevel. This display moderated the reports current +as to<br> + the Baron's financial position, while the fortune assigned to +his<br> + daughter explained the need for having borrowed money.</p> + +<p><br> + Here ends what is, in a way, the introduction to this story. It +is to<br> + the drama that follows that the premise is to a syllogism, what +the<br> + prologue is to a classical tragedy.</p> + +<p>In Paris, when a woman determines to make a business, a trade, +of her<br> + beauty, it does not follow that she will make a fortune. +Lovely<br> + creatures may be found there, and full of wit, who are in +wretched<br> + circumstances, ending in misery a life begun in pleasure. And +this is<br> + why. It is not enough merely to accept the shameful life of +a<br> + courtesan with a view to earning its profits, and at the same +time to<br> + bear the simple garb of a respectable middle-class wife. Vice +does not<br> + triumph so easily; it resembles genius in so far that they both +need a<br> + concurrence of favorable conditions to develop the coalition +of<br> + fortune and gifts. Eliminate the strange prologue of the +Revolution,<br> + and the Emperor would never have existed; he would have been no +more<br> + than a second edition of Fabert. Venal beauty, if it finds +no<br> + amateurs, no celebrity, no cross of dishonor earned by +squandering<br> + men's fortunes, is Correggio in a hay-loft, is genius starving +in a<br> + garret. Lais, in Paris, must first and foremost find a rich man +mad<br> + enough to pay her price. She must keep up a very elegant style, +for<br> + this is her shop-sign; she must be sufficiently well bred to +flatter<br> + the vanity of her lovers; she must have the brilliant wit of a +Sophie<br> + Arnould, which diverts the apathy of rich men; finally, she +must<br> + arouse the passions of libertines by appearing to be mistress to +one<br> + man only who is envied by the rest.</p> + +<p>These conditions, which a woman of that class calls being in +luck, are<br> + difficult to combine in Paris, although it is a city of +millionaires,<br> + of idlers, of used-up and capricious men.</p> + +<p>Providence has, no doubt, vouchsafed protection to clerks and +middle-<br> + class citizens, for whom obstacles of this kind are at least +double in<br> + the sphere in which they move. At the same time, there are +enough<br> + Madame Marneffes in Paris to allow of our taking Valerie to +figure as<br> + a type in this picture of manners. Some of these women yield to +the<br> + double pressure of a genuine passion and of hard necessity, +like<br> + Madame Colleville, who was for long attached to one of the +famous<br> + orators of the left, Keller the banker. Others are spurred by +vanity,<br> + like Madame de la Baudraye, who remained almost respectable in +spite<br> + of her elopement with Lousteau. Some, again, are led astray by +the<br> + love of fine clothes, and some by the impossibility of keeping a +house<br> + going on obviously too narrow means. The stinginess of the +State--or<br> + of Parliament--leads to many disasters and to much +corruption.</p> + +<p>At the present moment the laboring classes are the fashionable +object<br> + of compassion; they are being murdered--it is said--by the<br> + manufacturing capitalist; but the Government is a hundred times +harder<br> + than the meanest tradesman, it carries its economy in the +article of<br> + salaries to absolute folly. If you work harder, the merchant +will pay<br> + you more in proportion; but what does the State do for its crowd +of<br> + obscure and devoted toilers?</p> + +<p>In a married woman it is an inexcusable crime when she wanders +from<br> + the path of honor; still, there are degrees even in such a case. +Some<br> + women, far from being depraved, conceal their fall and remain to +all<br> + appearances quite respectable, like those two just referred to, +while<br> + others add to their fault the disgrace of speculation. Thus +Madame<br> + Marneffe is, as it were, the type of those ambitious married<br> + courtesans who from the first accept depravity with all its<br> + consequences, and determine to make a fortune while taking +their<br> + pleasure, perfectly unscrupulous as to the means. But almost +always a<br> + woman like Madame Marneffe has a husband who is her confederate +and<br> + accomplice. These Machiavellis in petticoats are the most +dangerous of<br> + the sisterhood; of every evil class of Parisian woman, they are +the<br> + worst.</p> + +<p>A mere courtesan--a Josepha, a Malaga, a Madame Schontz, a +Jenny<br> + Cadine--carries in her frank dishonor a warning signal as +conspicuous<br> + as the red lamp of a house of ill-fame or the flaring lights of +a<br> + gambling hell. A man knows that they light him to his ruin.</p> + +<p>But mealy-mouthed propriety, the semblance of virtue, the +hypocritical<br> + ways of a married woman who never allows anything to be seen but +the<br> + vulgar needs of the household, and affects to refuse every kind +of<br> + extravagance, leads to silent ruin, dumb disaster, which is all +the<br> + more startling because, though condoned, it remains unaccounted +for.<br> + It is the ignoble bill of daily expenses and not gay dissipation +that<br> + devours the largest fortune. The father of a family ruins +himself<br> + ingloriously, and the great consolation of gratified vanity is +wanting<br> + in his misery.</p> + +<p>This little sermon will go like a javelin to the heart of many +a home.<br> + Madame Marneffes are to be seen in every sphere of social life, +even<br> + at Court; for Valerie is a melancholy fact, modeled from the +life in<br> + the smallest details. And, alas! the portrait will not cure any +man of<br> + the folly of loving these sweetly-smiling angels, with pensive +looks<br> + and candid faces, whose heart is a cash-box.</p> + +<p>About three years after Hortense's marriage, in 1841, Baron +Hulot<br> + d'Ervy was supposed to have sown his wild oats, to have "put up +his<br> + horses," to quote the expression used by Louis XV.'s head +surgeon, and<br> + yet Madame Marneffe was costing him twice as much as Josepha had +ever<br> + cost him. Still, Valerie, though always nicely dressed, affected +the<br> + simplicity of a subordinate official's wife; she kept her luxury +for<br> + her dressing-gowns, her home wear. She thus sacrificed her +Parisian<br> + vanity to her dear Hector. At the theatre, however, she +always<br> + appeared in a pretty bonnet and a dress of extreme elegance; and +the<br> + Baron took her in a carriage to a private box.</p> + +<p>Her rooms, the whole of the second floor of a modern house in +the Rue<br> + Vanneau, between a fore-court and a garden, was redolent of<br> + respectability. All its luxury was in good chintz hangings +and<br> + handsome convenient furniture.</p> + +<p>Her bedroom, indeed, was the exception, and rich with such +profusion<br> + as Jenny Cadine or Madame Schontz might have displayed. There +were<br> + lace curtains, cashmere hangings, brocade portieres, a set of +chimney<br> + ornaments modeled by Stidmann, a glass cabinet filled with +dainty<br> + nicknacks. Hulot could not bear to see his Valerie in a bower +of<br> + inferior magnificence to the dunghill of gold and pearls owned +by a<br> + Josepha. The drawing-room was furnished with red damask, and +the<br> + dining-room had carved oak panels. But the Baron, carried away +by his<br> + wish to have everything in keeping, had at the end of six +months,<br> + added solid luxury to mere fashion, and had given her +handsome<br> + portable property, as, for instance, a service of plate that was +to<br> + cost more than twenty-four thousand francs.</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe's house had in a couple of years achieved a +reputation<br> + for being a very pleasant one. Gambling went on there. Valerie +herself<br> + was soon spoken of as an agreeable and witty woman. To account +for her<br> + change of style, a rumor was set going of an immense legacy +bequeathed<br> + to her by her "natural father," Marshal Montcornet, and left in +trust.</p> + +<p>With an eye to the future, Valerie had added religious to +social<br> + hypocrisy. Punctual at the Sunday services, she enjoyed all the +honors<br> + due to the pious. She carried the bag for the offertory, she was +a<br> + member of a charitable association, presented bread for the +sacrament,<br> + and did some good among the poor, all at Hector's expense. +Thus<br> + everything about the house was extremely seemly. And a great +many<br> + persons maintained that her friendship with the Baron was +entirely<br> + innocent, supporting the view by the gentleman's mature age, +and<br> + ascribing to him a Platonic liking for Madame Marneffe's +pleasant wit,<br> + charming manners, and conversation--such a liking as that of the +late<br> + lamented Louis XVIII. for a well-turned note.</p> + +<p>The Baron always withdrew with the other company at about +midnight,<br> + and came back a quarter of an hour later.</p> + +<p>The secret of this secrecy was as follows. The lodge-keepers +of the<br> + house were a Monsieur and Madame Olivier, who, under the +Baron's<br> + patronage, had been promoted from their humble and not very +lucrative<br> + post in the Rue du Doyenne to the highly-paid and handsome one +in the<br> + Rue Vanneau. Now, Madame Olivier, formerly a needlewoman in +the<br> + household of Charles X., who had fallen in the world with +the<br> + legitimate branch, had three children. The eldest, an +under-clerk in a<br> + notary's office, was object of his parents' adoration. This +Benjamin,<br> + for six years in danger of being drawn for the army, was on the +point<br> + of being interrupted in his legal career, when Madame +Marneffe<br> + contrived to have him declared exempt for one of those +little<br> + malformations which the Examining Board can always discern +when<br> + requested in a whisper by some power in the ministry. So +Olivier,<br> + formerly a huntsman to the King, and his wife would have +crucified the<br> + Lord again for the Baron or for Madame Marneffe.</p> + +<p>What could the world have to say? It knew nothing of the +former<br> + episode of the Brazilian, Monsieur Montes de Montejanos--it +could say<br> + nothing. Besides, the world is very indulgent to the mistress of +a<br> + house where amusement is to be found.</p> + +<p>And then to all her charms Valerie added the highly-prized +advantage<br> + of being an occult power. Claude Vignon, now secretary to +Marshal the<br> + Prince de Wissembourg, and dreaming of promotion to the Council +of<br> + State as a Master of Appeals, was constantly seen in her rooms, +to<br> + which came also some Deputies--good fellows and gamblers. +Madame<br> + Marneffe had got her circle together with prudent deliberation; +only<br> + men whose opinions and habits agreed foregathered there, men +whose<br> + interest it was to hold together and to proclaim the many merits +of<br> + the lady of the house. Scandal is the true Holy Alliance in +Paris.<br> + Take that as an axiom. Interests invariably fall asunder in the +end;<br> + vicious natures can always agree.</p> + +<p>Within three months of settling in the Rue Vanneau, Madame +Marneffe<br> + had entertained Monsieur Crevel, who by that time was Mayor of +his<br> + <i>arrondissement</i> and Officer of the Legion of Honor. Crevel +had<br> + hesitated; he would have to give up the famous uniform of the +National<br> + Guard in which he strutted at the Tuileries, believing himself +quite<br> + as much a soldier as the Emperor himself; but ambition, urged +by<br> + Madame Marneffe, had proved stronger than vanity. Then Monsieur +le<br> + Maire had considered his connection with Mademoiselle +Heloise<br> + Brisetout as quite incompatible with his political position.</p> + +<p>Indeed, long before his accession to the civic chair of the +Mayoralty,<br> + his gallant intimacies had been wrapped in the deepest mystery. +But,<br> + as the reader may have guessed, Crevel had soon purchased the +right of<br> + taking his revenge, as often as circumstances allowed, for +having been<br> + bereft of Josepha, at the cost of a bond bearing six thousand +francs<br> + of interest in the name of Valerie Fortin, wife of Sieur +Marneffe, for<br> + her sole and separate use. Valerie, inheriting perhaps from her +mother<br> + the special acumen of the kept woman, read the character of +her<br> + grotesque adorer at a glance. The phrase "I never had a lady for +a<br> + mistress," spoken by Crevel to Lisbeth, and repeated by Lisbeth +to her<br> + dear Valerie, had been handsomely discounted in the bargain by +which<br> + she got her six thousand francs a year in five per cents. And +since<br> + then she had never allowed her prestige to grow less in the eyes +of<br> + Cesar Birotteau's erewhile bagman.</p> + +<p>Crevel himself had married for money the daughter of a miller +of la<br> + Brie, an only child indeed, whose inheritance constituted +three-<br> + quarters of his fortune; for when retail-dealers grow rich, it +is<br> + generally not so much by trade as through some alliance between +the<br> + shop and rural thrift. A large proportion of the farmers, +corn-<br> + factors, dairy-keepers, and market-gardeners in the neighborhood +of<br> + Paris, dream of the glories of the desk for their daughters, and +look<br> + upon a shopkeeper, a jeweler, or a money-changer as a son-in-law +after<br> + their own heart, in preference to a notary or an attorney, +whose<br> + superior social position is a ground of suspicion; they are +afraid of<br> + being scorned in the future by these citizen bigwigs.</p> + +<p>Madame Crevel, ugly, vulgar, and silly, had given her husband +no<br> + pleasures but those of paternity; she died young. Her +libertine<br> + husband, fettered at the beginning of his commercial career by +the<br> + necessity for working, and held in thrall by want of money, had +led<br> + the life of Tantalus. Thrown in--as he phrased it--with the +most<br> + elegant women in Paris, he let them out of the shop with +servile<br> + homage, while admiring their grace, their way of wearing the +fashions,<br> + and all the nameless charms of what is called breeding. To rise +to the<br> + level of one of these fairies of the drawing-room was a desire +formed<br> + in his youth, but buried in the depths of his heart. Thus to win +the<br> + favors of Madame Marneffe was to him not merely the realization +of his<br> + chimera, but, as has been shown, a point of pride, of vanity, of +self-<br> + satisfaction. His ambition grew with success; his brain was +turned<br> + with elation; and when the mind is captivated, the heart feels +more<br> + keenly, every gratification is doubled.</p> + +<p>Also, it must be said that Madame Marneffe offered to Crevel +a<br> + refinement of pleasure of which he had no idea; neither Josepha +nor<br> + Heloise had loved him; and Madame Marneffe thought it necessary +to<br> + deceive him thoroughly, for this man, she saw, would prove +an<br> + inexhaustible till. The deceptions of a venal passion are +more<br> + delightful than the real thing. True love is mixed up with +birdlike<br> + squabbles, in which the disputants wound each other to the +quick; but<br> + a quarrel without animus is, on the contrary, a piece of +flattery to<br> + the dupe's conceit.</p> + +<p>The rare interviews granted to Crevel kept his passion at +white heat.<br> + He was constantly blocked by Valerie's virtuous severity; she +acted<br> + remorse, and wondered what her father must be thinking of her in +the<br> + paradise of the brave. Again and again he had to contend with a +sort<br> + of coldness, which the cunning slut made him believe he had +overcome<br> + by seeming to surrender to the man's crazy passion; and then, as +if<br> + ashamed, she entrenched herself once more in her pride of<br> + respectability and airs of virtue, just like an Englishwoman, +neither<br> + more nor less; and she always crushed her Crevel under the +weight of<br> + her dignity--for Crevel had, in the first instance, swallowed +her<br> + pretensions to virtue.</p> + +<p>In short, Valerie had special veins of affections which made +her<br> + equally indispensable to Crevel and to the Baron. Before the +world she<br> + displayed the attractive combination of modest and pensive +innocence,<br> + of irreproachable propriety, with a bright humor enhanced by +the<br> + suppleness, the grace and softness of the Creole; but in a +<i>tete-a-<br> +</i> <i>tete</i> she would outdo any courtesan; she was +audacious, amusing, and<br> + full of original inventiveness. Such a contrast is irresistible +to a<br> + man of the Crevel type; he is flattered by believing himself +sole<br> + author of the comedy, thinking it is performed for his benefit +alone,<br> + and he laughs at the exquisite hypocrisy while admiring the +hypocrite.</p> + +<p><br> + Valerie had taken entire possession of Baron Hulot; she had +persuaded<br> + him to grow old by one of those subtle touches of flattery +which<br> + reveal the diabolical wit of women like her. In all +evergreen<br> + constitutions a moment arrives when the truth suddenly comes +out, as<br> + in a besieged town which puts a good face on affairs as long +as<br> + possible. Valerie, foreseeing the approaching collapse of the +old beau<br> + of the Empire, determined to forestall it.</p> + +<p>"Why give yourself so much bother, my dear old veteran?" said +she one<br> + day, six months after their doubly adulterous union. "Do you +want to<br> + be flirting? To be unfaithful to me? I assure you, I should like +you<br> + better without your make-up. Oblige me by giving up all your<br> + artificial charms. Do you suppose that it is for two sous' worth +of<br> + polish on your boots that I love you? For your india-rubber +belt, your<br> + strait-waistcoat, and your false hair? And then, the older you +look,<br> + the less need I fear seeing my Hulot carried off by a +rival."</p> + +<p>And Hulot, trusting to Madame Marneffe's heavenly friendship +as much<br> + as to her love, intending, too, to end his days with her, had +taken<br> + this confidential hint, and ceased to dye his whiskers and hair. +After<br> + this touching declaration from his Valerie, handsome Hector made +his<br> + appearance one morning perfectly white. Madame Marneffe could +assure<br> + him that she had a hundred times detected the white line of the +growth<br> + of the hair.</p> + +<p>"And white hair suits your face to perfection," said she; "it +softens<br> + it. You look a thousand times better, quite charming."</p> + +<p>The Baron, once started on this path of reform, gave up his +leather<br> + waistcoat and stays; he threw off all his bracing. His stomach +fell<br> + and increased in size. The oak became a tower, and the heaviness +of<br> + his movements was all the more alarming because the Baron +grew<br> + immensely older by playing the part of Louis XII. His eyebrows +were<br> + still black, and left a ghostly reminiscence of Handsome Hulot, +as<br> + sometimes on the wall of some feudal building a faint trace +of<br> + sculpture remains to show what the castle was in the days of +its<br> + glory. This discordant detail made his eyes, still bright +and<br> + youthful, all the more remarkable in his tanned face, because it +had<br> + so long been ruddy with the florid hues of a Rubens; and now a +certain<br> + discoloration and the deep tension of the wrinkles betrayed +the<br> + efforts of a passion at odds with natural decay. Hulot was now +one of<br> + those stalwart ruins in which virile force asserts itself by +tufts of<br> + hair in the ears and nostrils and on the fingers, as moss grows +on the<br> + almost eternal monuments of the Roman Empire.</p> + +<p>How had Valerie contrived to keep Crevel and Hulot side by +side, each<br> + tied to an apron-string, when the vindictive Mayor only longed +to<br> + triumph openly over Hulot? Without immediately giving an answer +to<br> + this question, which the course of the story will supply, it may +be<br> + said that Lisbeth and Valerie had contrived a powerful piece +of<br> + machinery which tended to this result. Marneffe, as he saw his +wife<br> + improved in beauty by the setting in which she was enthroned, +like the<br> + sun at the centre of the sidereal system, appeared, in the eyes +of the<br> + world, to have fallen in love with her again himself; he was +quite<br> + crazy about her. Now, though his jealousy made him somewhat of +a<br> + marplot, it gave enhanced value to Valerie's favors. +Marneffe<br> + meanwhile showed a blind confidence in his chief, which +degenerated<br> + into ridiculous complaisance. The only person whom he really +would not<br> + stand was Crevel.</p> + +<p>Marneffe, wrecked by the debauchery of great cities, described +by<br> + Roman authors, though modern decency has no name for it, was +as<br> + hideous as an anatomical figure in wax. But this disease on +feet,<br> + clothed in good broadcloth, encased his lathlike legs in +elegant<br> + trousers. The hollow chest was scented with fine linen, and +musk<br> + disguised the odors of rotten humanity. This hideous specimen +of<br> + decaying vice, trotting in red heels--for Valerie dressed the +man as<br> + beseemed his income, his cross, and his appointment--horrified +Crevel,<br> + who could not meet the colorless eyes of the Government +clerk.<br> + Marneffe was an incubus to the Mayor. And the mean rascal, aware +of<br> + the strange power conferred on him by Lisbeth and his wife, was +amused<br> + by it; he played on it as on an instrument; and cards being the +last<br> + resource of a mind as completely played out as the body, he +plucked<br> + Crevel again and again, the Mayor thinking himself bound to<br> + subserviency to the worthy official whom <i>he was +cheating.</i></p> + +<p>Seeing Crevel a mere child in the hands of that hideous and +atrocious<br> + mummy, of whose utter vileness the Mayor knew nothing; and +seeing him,<br> + yet more, an object of deep contempt to Valerie, who made game +of<br> + Crevel as of some mountebank, the Baron apparently thought him +so<br> + impossible as a rival that he constantly invited him to +dinner.</p> + +<p>Valerie, protected by two lovers on guard, and by a jealous +husband,<br> + attracted every eye, and excited every desire in the circle she +shone<br> + upon. And thus, while keeping up appearances, she had, in the +course<br> + of three years, achieved the most difficult conditions of the +success<br> + a courtesan most cares for and most rarely attains, even with +the help<br> + of audacity and the glitter of an existence in the light of the +sun.<br> + Valerie's beauty, formerly buried in the mud of the Rue du +Doyenne,<br> + now, like a well-cut diamond exquisitely set by Chanor, was +worth more<br> + than its real value--it could break hearts. Claude Vignon +adored<br> + Valerie in secret.</p> + +<p>This retrospective explanation, quite necessary after the +lapse of<br> + three years, shows Valerie's balance-sheet. Now for that of +her<br> + partner, Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth Fischer filled the place in the Marneffe household of +a<br> + relation who combines the functions of a lady companion and +a<br> + housekeeper; but she suffered from none of the humiliations +which, for<br> + the most part, weigh upon the women who are so unhappy as to +be<br> + obliged to fill these ambiguous situations. Lisbeth and +Valerie<br> + offered the touching spectacle of one of those friendships +between<br> + women, so cordial and so improbable, that men, always too +keen-tongued<br> + in Paris, forthwith slander them. The contrast between Lisbeth's +dry<br> + masculine nature and Valerie's creole prettiness encouraged +calumny.<br> + And Madame Marneffe had unconsciously given weight to the +scandal by<br> + the care she took of her friend, with matrimonial views, which +were,<br> + as will be seen, to complete Lisbeth's revenge.</p> + +<p>An immense change had taken place in Cousin Betty; and +Valerie, who<br> + wanted to smarten her, had turned it to the best account. The +strange<br> + woman had submitted to stays, and laced tightly, she used +bandoline to<br> + keep her hair smooth, wore her gowns as the dressmaker sent them +home,<br> + neat little boots, and gray silk stockings, all of which were +included<br> + in Valerie's bills, and paid for by the gentleman in possession. +Thus<br> + furbished up, and wearing the yellow cashmere shawl, Lisbeth +would<br> + have been unrecognizable by any one who had not seen her for +three<br> + years.</p> + +<p>This other diamond--a black diamond, the rarest of all--cut by +a<br> + skilled hand, and set as best became her, was appreciated at her +full<br> + value by certain ambitious clerks. Any one seeing her for the +first<br> + time might have shuddered involuntarily at the look of poetic +wildness<br> + which the clever Valerie had succeeded in bringing out by the +arts of<br> + dress in this Bleeding Nun, framing the ascetic olive face in +thick<br> + bands of hair as black as the fiery eyes, and making the most of +the<br> + rigid, slim figure. Lisbeth, like a Virgin by Cranach or Van +Eyck, or<br> + a Byzantine Madonna stepped out of its frame, had all the +stiffness,<br> + the precision of those mysterious figures, the more modern +cousins of<br> + Isis and her sister goddesses sheathed in marble folds by +Egyptian<br> + sculptors. It was granite, basalt, porphyry, with life and +movement.</p> + +<p>Saved from want for the rest of her life, Lisbeth was most +amiable;<br> + wherever she dined she brought merriment. And the Baron paid the +rent<br> + of her little apartment, furnished, as we know, with the +leavings of<br> + her friend Valerie's former boudoir and bedroom.</p> + +<p>"I began," she would say, "as a hungry nanny goat, and I am +ending as<br> + a <i>lionne</i>."</p> + +<p>She still worked for Monsieur Rivet at the more elaborate +kinds of<br> + gold-trimming, merely, as she said, not to lose her time. At the +same<br> + time, she was, as we shall see, very full of business; but it +is<br> + inherent in the nature of country-folks never to give up +bread-<br> + winning; in this they are like the Jews.</p> + +<p>Every morning, very early, Cousin Betty went off to market +with the<br> + cook. It was part of Lisbeth's scheme that the house-book, which +was<br> + ruining Baron Hulot, was to enrich her dear Valerie--as it did +indeed.</p> + +<p>Is there a housewife who, since 1838, has not suffered from +the evil<br> + effects of Socialist doctrines diffused among the lower classes +by<br> + incendiary writers? In every household the plague of servants +is<br> + nowadays the worst of financial afflictions. With very few +exceptions,<br> + who ought to be rewarded with the Montyon prize, the cook, male +or<br> + female, is a domestic robber, a thief taking wages, and +perfectly<br> + barefaced, with the Government for a fence, developing the +tendency to<br> + dishonesty, which is almost authorized in the cook by the +time-honored<br> + jest as to the "handle of the basket." The women who formerly +picked<br> + up their forty sous to buy a lottery ticket now take fifty +francs to<br> + put into the savings bank. And the smug Puritans who amuse +themselves<br> + in France with philanthropic experiments fancy that they are +making<br> + the common people moral!</p> + +<p>Between the market and the master's table the servants have +their<br> + secret toll, and the municipality of Paris is less sharp in +collecting<br> + the city-dues than the servants are in taking theirs on every +single<br> + thing. To say nothing of fifty per cent charged on every form of +food,<br> + they demand large New Year's premiums from the tradesmen. The +best<br> + class of dealers tremble before this occult power, and subsidize +it<br> + without a word--coachmakers, jewelers, tailors, and all. If +any<br> + attempt is made to interfere with them, the servants reply +with<br> + impudent retorts, or revenge themselves by the costly blunders +of<br> + assumed clumsiness; and in these days they inquire into their +master's<br> + character as, formerly, the master inquired into theirs. This +mischief<br> + is now really at its height, and the law-courts are beginning to +take<br> + cognizance of it; but in vain, for it cannot be remedied but by +a law<br> + which shall compel domestic servants, like laborers, to have a +pass-<br> + book as a guarantee of conduct. Then the evil will vanish as if +by<br> + magic. If every servant were obliged to show his pass-book, and +if<br> + masters were required to state in it the cause of his dismissal, +this<br> + would certainly prove a powerful check to the evil.</p> + +<p>The men who are giving their attentions to the politics of the +day<br> + know not to what lengths the depravity of the lower classes has +gone.<br> + Statistics are silent as to the startling number of working men +of<br> + twenty who marry cooks of between forty and fifty enriched by +robbery.<br> + We shudder to think of the result of such unions from the three +points<br> + of view of increasing crime, degeneracy of the race, and +miserable<br> + households.</p> + +<p>As to the mere financial mischief that results from +domestic<br> + peculation, that too is immense from a political point of view. +Life<br> + being made to cost double, any superfluity becomes impossible in +most<br> + households. Now superfluity means half the trade of the world, +as it<br> + is half the elegance of life. Books and flowers are to many +persons as<br> + necessary as bread.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, well aware of this dreadful scourge of Parisian +households,<br> + determined to manage Valerie's, promising her every assistance +in the<br> + terrible scene when the two women had sworn to be like sisters. +So she<br> + had brought from the depths of the Vosges a humble relation on +her<br> + mother's side, a very pious and honest soul, who had been cook +to the<br> + Bishop of Nancy. Fearing, however, her inexperience of Paris +ways, and<br> + yet more the evil counsel which wrecks such fragile virtue, at +first<br> + Lisbeth always went to market with Mathurine, and tried to teach +her<br> + what to buy. To know the real prices of things and command +the<br> + salesman's respect; to purchase unnecessary delicacies, such as +fish,<br> + only when they were cheap; to be well informed as to the price +current<br> + of groceries and provisions, so as to buy when prices are low +in<br> + anticipation of a rise,--all this housekeeping skill is in +Paris<br> + essential to domestic economy. As Mathurine got good wages and +many<br> + presents, she liked the house well enough to be glad to drive +good<br> + bargains. And by this time Lisbeth had made her quite a match +for<br> + herself, sufficiently experienced and trustworthy to be sent to +market<br> + alone, unless Valerie was giving a dinner--which, in fact, was +not<br> + unfrequently the case. And this was how it came about.</p> + +<p>The Baron had at first observed the strictest decorum; but his +passion<br> + for Madame Marneffe had ere long become so vehement, so greedy, +that<br> + he would never quit her if he could help it. At first he dined +there<br> + four times a week; then he thought it delightful to dine with +her<br> + every day. Six months after his daughter's marriage he was +paying her<br> + two thousand francs a month for his board. Madame Marneffe +invited any<br> + one her dear Baron wished to entertain. The dinner was always +arranged<br> + for six; he could bring in three unexpected guests. Lisbeth's +economy<br> + enabled her to solve the extraordinary problem of keeping up the +table<br> + in the best style for a thousand francs a month, giving the +other<br> + thousand to Madame Marneffe. Valerie's dress being chiefly paid +for by<br> + Crevel and the Baron, the two women saved another thousand +francs a<br> + month on this.</p> + +<p>And so this pure and innocent being had already accumulated a +hundred<br> + and fifty thousand francs in savings. She had capitalized her +income<br> + and monthly bonus, and swelled the amount by enormous interest, +due to<br> + Crevel's liberality in allowing his "little Duchess" to invest +her<br> + money in partnership with him in his financial operations. +Crevel had<br> + taught Valerie the slang and the procedure of the money market, +and,<br> + like every Parisian woman, she had soon outstripped her +master.<br> + Lisbeth, who never spent a sou of her twelve hundred francs, +whose<br> + rent and dress were given to her, and who never put her hand in +her<br> + pocket, had likewise a small capital of five or six thousand +francs,<br> + of which Crevel took fatherly care.</p> + +<p>At the same time, two such lovers were a heavy burthen on +Valerie. On<br> + the day when this drama reopens, Valerie, spurred by one of +those<br> + incidents which have the effect in life that the ringing of a +bell has<br> + in inducing a swarm of bees to settle, went up to Lisbeth's +rooms to<br> + give vent to one of those comforting lamentations--a sort of +cigarette<br> + blown off from the tongue--by which women alleviate the minor +miseries<br> + of life.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lisbeth, my love, two hours of Crevel this morning! It +is<br> + crushing! How I wish I could send you in my place!"</p> + +<p>"That, unluckily, is impossible," said Lisbeth, smiling. "I +shall die<br> + a maid."</p> + +<p>"Two old men lovers! Really, I am ashamed sometimes! If my +poor mother<br> + could see me."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaking me for Crevel!" said Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, my little Betty, do you not despise me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! if I had but been pretty, what adventures I would have +had!"<br> + cried Lisbeth. "That is your justification."</p> + +<p>"But you would have acted only at the dictates of your heart," +said<br> + Madame Marneffe, with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"Pooh! Marneffe is a dead man they have forgotten to bury," +replied<br> + Lisbeth. "The Baron is as good as your husband; Crevel is your +adorer;<br> + it seems to me that you are quite in order--like every other +married<br> + woman."</p> + +<p>"No, it is not that, dear, adorable thing; that is not where +the shoe<br> + pinches; you do not choose to understand."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do," said Lisbeth. "The unexpressed factor is part of +my<br> + revenge; what can I do? I am working it out."</p> + +<p>"I love Wenceslas so that I am positively growing thin, and I +can<br> + never see him," said Valerie, throwing up her arms. "Hulot asks +him to<br> + dinner, and my artist declines. He does not know that I idolize +him,<br> + the wretch! What is his wife after all? Fine flesh! Yes, she +is<br> + handsome, but I--I know myself--I am worse!"</p> + +<p>"Be quite easy, my child, he will come," said Lisbeth, in the +tone of<br> + a nurse to an impatient child. "He shall."</p> + +<p>"But when?"</p> + +<p>"This week perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Give me a kiss."</p> + +<p>As may be seen, these two women were but one. Everything +Valerie did,<br> + even her most reckless actions, her pleasures, her little sulks, +were<br> + decided on after serious deliberation between them.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, strangely excited by this harlot existence, advised +Valerie<br> + on every step, and pursued her course of revenge with pitiless +logic.<br> + She really adored Valerie; she had taken her to be her child, +her<br> + friend, her love; she found her docile, as Creoles are, yielding +from<br> + voluptuous indolence; she chattered with her morning after +morning<br> + with more pleasure than with Wenceslas; they could laugh +together over<br> + the mischief they plotted, and over the folly of men, and count +up the<br> + swelling interest on their respective savings.</p> + +<p><br> + Indeed in this new enterprise and new affection, Lisbeth had +found<br> + food for her activity that was far more satisfying than her +insane<br> + passion for Wenceslas. The joys of gratified hatred are the +fiercest<br> + and strongest the heart can know. Love is the gold, hatred the +iron of<br> + the mine of feeling that lies buried in us. And then, Valerie +was, to<br> + Lisbeth, Beauty in all its glory--the beauty she worshiped, as +we<br> + worship what we have not, beauty far more plastic to her hand +than<br> + that of Wenceslas, who had always been cold to her and +distant.</p> + +<p>At the end of nearly three years, Lisbeth was beginning to +perceive<br> + the progress of the underground mine on which she was expending +her<br> + life and concentrating her mind. Lisbeth planned, Madame +Marneffe<br> + acted. Madame Marneffe was the axe, Lisbeth was the hand the +wielded<br> + it, and that hand was rapidly demolishing the family which was +every<br> + day more odious to her; for we can hate more and more, just as, +when<br> + we love, we love better every day.</p> + +<p>Love and hatred are feelings that feed on themselves; but of +the two,<br> + hatred has the longer vitality. Love is restricted within limits +of<br> + power; it derives its energies from life and from lavishness. +Hatred<br> + is like death, like avarice; it is, so to speak, an active<br> + abstraction, above beings and things.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, embarked on the existence that was natural to her, +expended<br> + in it all her faculties; governing, like the Jesuits, by +occult<br> + influences. The regeneration of her person was equally complete; +her<br> + face was radiant. Lisbeth dreamed of becoming Madame la +Marechale<br> + Hulot.</p> + +<p>This little scene, in which the two friends had bluntly +uttered their<br> + ideas without any circumlocution in expressing them, took +place<br> + immediately on Lisbeth's return from market, whither she had +been to<br> + procure the materials for an elegant dinner. Marneffe, who hoped +to<br> + get Coquet's place, was to entertain him and the virtuous +Madame<br> + Coquet, and Valerie hoped to persuade Hulot, that very evening, +to<br> + consider the head-clerk's resignation.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth dressed to go to the Baroness, with whom she was to +dine.</p> + +<p>"You will come back in time to make tea for us, my Betty?" +said<br> + Valerie.</p> + +<p>"I hope so."</p> + +<p>"You hope so--why? Have you come to sleeping with Adeline to +drink her<br> + tears while she is asleep?"</p> + +<p>"If only I could!" said Lisbeth, laughing. "I would not +refuse. She is<br> + expiating her happiness--and I am glad, for I remember our young +days.<br> + It is my turn now. She will be in the mire, and I shall be +Comtesse de<br> + Forzheim!"</p> + +<p>Lisbeth set out for the Rue Plumet, where she now went as to +the<br> + theatre--to indulge her emotions.</p> + +<p>The residence Hulot had found for his wife consisted of a +large, bare<br> + entrance-room, a drawing-room, and a bed and dressing-room. +The<br> + dining-room was next the drawing-room on one side. Two servants' +rooms<br> + and a kitchen on the third floor completed the accommodation, +which<br> + was not unworthy of a Councillor of State, high up in the War +Office.<br> + The house, the court-yard, and the stairs were extremely +handsome.</p> + +<p>The Baroness, who had to furnish her drawing-room, bed-room, +and<br> + dining-room with the relics of her splendor, had brought away +the best<br> + of the remains from the house in the Rue de l'Universite. +Indeed, the<br> + poor woman was attached to these mute witnesses of her happier +life;<br> + to her they had an almost consoling eloquence. In memory she saw +her<br> + flowers, as in the carpets she could trace patterns hardly +visible now<br> + to other eyes.</p> + +<p>On going into the spacious anteroom, where twelve chairs, a +barometer,<br> + a large stove, and long, white cotton curtains, bordered with +red,<br> + suggested the dreadful waiting-room of a Government office, +the<br> + visitor felt oppressed, conscious at once of the isolation in +which<br> + the mistress lived. Grief, like pleasure, infects the +atmosphere. A<br> + first glance into any home is enough to tell you whether love +or<br> + despair reigns there.</p> + +<p>Adeline would be found sitting in an immense bedroom with +beautiful<br> + furniture by Jacob Desmalters, of mahogany finished in the +Empire<br> + style with ormolu, which looks even less inviting than the +brass-work<br> + of Louis XVI.! It gave one a shiver to see this lonely woman +sitting<br> + on a Roman chair, a work-table with sphinxes before her, +colorless,<br> + affecting false cheerfulness, but preserving her imperial air, +as she<br> + had preserved the blue velvet gown she always wore in the house. +Her<br> + proud spirit sustained her strength and preserved her +beauty.</p> + +<p>The Baroness, by the end of her first year of banishment to +this<br> + apartment, had gauged every depth of misfortune.</p> + +<p>"Still, even here my Hector has made my life much handsomer +than it<br> + should be for a mere peasant," said she to herself. "He chooses +that<br> + it should be so; his will be done! I am Baroness Hulot, the +sister-in-<br> + law of a Marshal of France. I have done nothing wrong; my two +children<br> + are settled in life; I can wait for death, wrapped in the +spotless<br> + veil of an immaculate wife and the crape of departed +happiness."</p> + +<p>A portrait of Hulot, in the uniform of a Commissary General of +the<br> + Imperial Guard, painted in 1810 by Robert Lefebvre, hung above +the<br> + work-table, and when visitors were announced, Adeline threw into +a<br> + drawer an <i>Imitation of Jesus Christ</i>, her habitual study. +This<br> + blameless Magdalen thus heard the Voice of the Spirit in her +desert.</p> + +<p>"Mariette, my child," said Lisbeth to the woman who opened the +door,<br> + "how is my dear Adeline to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, she looks pretty well, mademoiselle; but between you and +me, if<br> + she goes on in this way, she will kill herself," said Mariette +in a<br> + whisper. "You really ought to persuade her to live better. +Now,<br> + yesterday madame told me to give her two sous' worth of milk and +a<br> + roll for one sou; to get her a herring for dinner and a bit of +cold<br> + veal; she had a pound cooked to last her the week--of course, +for the<br> + days when she dines at home and alone. She will not spend more +than<br> + ten sous a day for her food. It is unreasonable. If I were to +say<br> + anything about it to Monsieur le Marechal, he might quarrel +with<br> + Monsieur le Baron and leave him nothing, whereas you, who are so +kind<br> + and clever, can manage things----"</p> + +<p>"But why do you not apply to my cousin the Baron?" said +Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear mademoiselle, he has not been here for three weeks +or more;<br> + in fact, not since we last had the pleasure of seeing you! +Besides,<br> + madame has forbidden me, under threat of dismissal, ever to ask +the<br> + master for money. But as for grief!--oh, poor lady, she has been +very<br> + unhappy. It is the first time that monsieur has neglected her +for so<br> + long. Every time the bell rang she rushed to the window--but for +the<br> + last five days she has sat still in her chair. She reads. +Whenever she<br> + goes out to see Madame la Comtesse, she says, 'Mariette, if +monsieur<br> + comes in,' says she, 'tell him I am at home, and send the porter +to<br> + fetch me; he shall be well paid for his trouble.' "</p> + +<p>"Poor soul!" said Lisbeth; "it goes to my heart. I speak of +her to the<br> + Baron every day. What can I do? 'Yes,' says he, 'Betty, you are +right;<br> + I am a wretch. My wife is an angel, and I am a monster! I will +go<br> + to-morrow----' And he stays with Madame Marneffe. That woman +is<br> + ruining him, and he worships her; he lives only in her sight.--I +do<br> + what I can; if I were not there, and if I had not Mathurine to +depend<br> + upon, he would spend twice as much as he does; and as he has +hardly<br> + any money in the world, he would have blown his brains out by +this<br> + time. And, I tell you, Mariette, Adeline would die of her +husband's<br> + death, I am perfectly certain. At any rate, I pull to make both +ends<br> + meet, and prevent my cousin from throwing too much money into +the<br> + fire."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is what madame says, poor soul! She knows how much +she owes<br> + you," replied Mariette. "She said she had judged you unjustly +for many<br> + years----"</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said Lisbeth. "And did she say anything else?"</p> + +<p>"No, mademoiselle. If you wish to please her, talk to her +about<br> + Monsieur le Baron; she envies you your happiness in seeing him +every<br> + day."</p> + +<p>"Is she alone?"</p> + +<p>"I beg pardon, no; the Marshal is with her. He comes every +day, and<br> + she always tells him she saw monsieur in the morning, but that +he<br> + comes in very late at night."</p> + +<p>"And is there a good dinner to-day?"</p> + +<p>Mariette hesitated; she could not meet Lisbeth's eye. The +drawing-room<br> + door opened, and Marshal Hulot rushed out in such haste that he +bowed<br> + to Lisbeth without looking at her, and dropped a paper. Lisbeth +picked<br> + it up and ran after him downstairs, for it was vain to hail a +deaf<br> + man; but she managed not to overtake the Marshal, and as she +came up<br> + again she furtively read the following lines written in +pencil:--</p> + +<p>"MY DEAR BROTHER,--My husband has given me the money for +my<br> + quarter's expenses; but my daughter Hortense was in such need +of<br> + it, that I lent her the whole sum, which was scarcely enough +to<br> + set her straight. Could you lend me a few hundred francs? For +I<br> + cannot ask Hector for more; if he were to blame me, I could +not<br> + bear it."</p> + +<p>"My word!" thought Lisbeth, "she must be in extremities to +bend her<br> + pride to such a degree!"</p> + +<p>Lisbeth went in. She saw tears in Adeline's eyes, and threw +her arms<br> + round her neck.</p> + +<p>"Adeline, my dearest, I know all," cried Cousin Betty. "Here, +the<br> + Marshal dropped this paper--he was in such a state of mind, +and<br> + running like a greyhound.--Has that dreadful Hector given you no +money<br> + since----?"</p> + +<p>"He gives it me quite regularly," replied the Baroness, "but +Hortense<br> + needed it, and--"</p> + +<p>"And you had not enough to pay for dinner to-night," said +Lisbeth,<br> + interrupting her. "Now I understand why Mariette looked so +confused<br> + when I said something about the soup. You really are +childish,<br> + Adeline; come, take my savings."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, my kind cousin," said Adeline, wiping away a tear. +"This<br> + little difficulty is only temporary, and I have provided for +the<br> + future. My expenses henceforth will be no more than two thousand +four<br> + hundred francs a year, rent inclusive, and I shall have the +money.--<br> + Above all, Betty, not a word to Hector. Is he well?"</p> + +<p>"As strong as the Pont Neuf, and as gay as a lark; he thinks +of<br> + nothing but his charmer Valerie."</p> + +<p>Madame Hulot looked out at a tall silver-fir in front of the +window,<br> + and Lisbeth could not see her cousin's eyes to read their +expression.</p> + +<p>"Did you mention that it was the day when we all dine together +here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. But, dear me! Madame Marneffe is giving a grand dinner; +she<br> + hopes to get Monsieur Coquet to resign, and that is of the +first<br> + importance.--Now, Adeline, listen to me. You know that I am +fiercely<br> + proud as to my independence. Your husband, my dear, will +certainly<br> + bring you to ruin. I fancied I could be of use to you all by +living<br> + near this woman, but she is a creature of unfathomable +depravity, and<br> + she will make your husband promise things which will bring you +all to<br> + disgrace." Adeline writhed like a person stabbed to the heart. +"My<br> + dear Adeline, I am sure of what I say. I feel it is my duty +to<br> + enlighten you.--Well, let us think of the future. The Marshal is +an<br> + old man, but he will last a long time yet--he draws good pay; +when he<br> + dies his widow would have a pension of six thousand francs. On +such an<br> + income I would undertake to maintain you all. Use your influence +over<br> + the good man to get him to marry me. It is not for the sake of +being<br> + Madame la Marechale; I value such nonsense at no more than I +value<br> + Madame Marneffe's conscience; but you will all have bread. I see +that<br> + Hortense must be wanting it, since you give her yours."</p> + +<p>The Marshal now came in; he had made such haste, that he was +mopping<br> + his forehead with his bandana.</p> + +<p>"I have given Mariette two thousand francs," he whispered to +his<br> + sister-in-law.</p> + +<p>Adeline colored to the roots of her hair. Two tears hung on +the<br> + fringes of the still long lashes, and she silently pressed the +old<br> + man's hand; his beaming face expressed the glee of a favored +lover.</p> + +<p>"I intended to spend the money in a present for you, Adeline," +said<br> + he. "Instead of repaying me, you must choose for yourself the +thing<br> + you would like best."</p> + +<p>He took Lisbeth's hand, which she held out to him, and so +bewildered<br> + was he by his satisfaction, that he kissed it.</p> + +<p>"That looks promising," said Adeline to Lisbeth, smiling so +far as she<br> + was able to smile.</p> + +<p>The younger Hulot and his wife now came in.</p> + +<p>"Is my brother coming to dinner?" asked the Marshal +sharply.</p> + +<p>Adeline took up a pencil and wrote these words on a scrap of +paper:</p> + +<p>"I expect him; he promised this morning that he would be here; +but if<br> + he should not come, it would be because the Marshal kept him. He +is<br> + overwhelmed with business."</p> + +<p>And she handed him the paper. She had invented this way of +conversing<br> + with Marshal Hulot, and kept a little collection of paper scraps +and a<br> + pencil at hand on the work-table.</p> + +<p>"I know," said the Marshal, "he is worked very hard over the +business<br> + in Algiers."</p> + +<p>At this moment, Hortense and Wenceslas arrived, and the +Baroness, as<br> + she saw all her family about her, gave the Marshal a +significant<br> + glance understood by none but Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>Happiness had greatly improved the artist, who was adored by +his wife<br> + and flattered by the world. His face had become almost round, +and his<br> + graceful figure did justice to the advantages which blood gives +to men<br> + of birth. His early fame, his important position, the +delusive<br> + eulogies that the world sheds on artists as lightly as we say, +"How<br> + d'ye do?" or discuss the weather, gave him that high sense of +merit<br> + which degenerates into sheer fatuity when talent wanes. The +Cross of<br> + the Legion of Honor was the crowning stamp of the great man +he<br> + believed himself to be.</p> + +<p>After three years of married life, Hortense was to her husband +what a<br> + dog is to its master; she watched his every movement with a look +that<br> + seemed a constant inquiry, her eyes were always on him, like +those of<br> + a miser on his treasure; her admiring abnegation was quite +pathetic.<br> + In her might be seen her mother's spirit and teaching. Her +beauty, as<br> + great as ever, was poetically touched by the gentle shadow +of<br> + concealed melancholy.</p> + +<p>On seeing Hortense come in, it struck Lisbeth that some +long-<br> + suppressed complaint was about to break through the thin veil +of<br> + reticence. Lisbeth, from the first days of the honeymoon, had +been<br> + sure that this couple had too small an income for so great a +passion.</p> + +<p>Hortense, as she embraced her mother, exchanged with her a +few<br> + whispered phrases, heart to heart, of which the mystery was +betrayed<br> + to Lisbeth by certain shakes of the head.</p> + +<p>"Adeline, like me, must work for her living," thought Cousin +Betty.<br> + "She shall be made to tell me what she will do! Those pretty +fingers<br> + will know at last, like mine, what it is to work because they +must."</p> + +<p>At six o'clock the family party went in to dinner. A place was +laid<br> + for Hector.</p> + +<p>"Leave it so," said the Baroness to Mariette, "monsieur +sometimes<br> + comes in late."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my father will certainly come," said Victorin to his +mother. "He<br> + promised me he would when we parted at the Chamber."</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, like a spider in the middle of its net, gloated over +all<br> + these countenances. Having known Victorin and Hortense from +their<br> + birth, their faces were to her like panes of glass, through +which she<br> + could read their young souls. Now, from certain stolen looks +directed<br> + by Victorin on his mother, she saw that some disaster was +hanging over<br> + Adeline which Victorin hesitated to reveal. The famous young +lawyer<br> + had some covert anxiety. His deep reverence for his mother was +evident<br> + in the regret with which he gazed at her.</p> + +<p>Hortense was evidently absorbed in her own woes; for a +fortnight past,<br> + as Lisbeth knew, she had been suffering the first uneasiness +which<br> + want of money brings to honest souls, and to young wives on whom +life<br> + has hitherto smiled, and who conceal their alarms. Also Lisbeth +had<br> + immediately guessed that her mother had given her no money. +Adeline's<br> + delicacy had brought her so low as to use the fallacious excuses +that<br> + necessity suggests to borrowers.</p> + +<p>Hortense's absence of mind, with her brother's and the +Baroness' deep<br> + dejection, made the dinner a melancholy meal, especially with +the<br> + added chill of the Marshal's utter deafness. Three persons gave +a<br> + little life to the scene: Lisbeth, Celestine, and Wenceslas.<br> + Hortense's affection had developed the artist's natural +liveliness as<br> + a Pole, the somewhat swaggering vivacity and noisy high spirits +that<br> + characterize these Frenchmen of the North. His frame of mind and +the<br> + expression of his face showed plainly that he believed in +himself, and<br> + that poor Hortense, faithful to her mother's training, kept +all<br> + domestic difficulties to herself.</p> + +<p>"You must be content, at any rate," said Lisbeth to her young +cousin,<br> + as they rose from table, "since your mother has helped you with +her<br> + money."</p> + +<p>"Mamma!" replied Hortense in astonishment. "Oh, poor mamma! It +is for<br> + me that she would like to make money. You do not know, Lisbeth, +but I<br> + have a horrible suspicion that she works for it in secret."</p> + +<p>They were crossing the large, dark drawing-room where there +were no<br> + candles, all following Mariette, who was carrying the lamp +into<br> + Adeline's bedroom. At this instant Victorin just touched Lisbeth +and<br> + Hortense on the arm. The two women, understanding the hint, +left<br> + Wenceslas, Celestine, the Marshal, and the Baroness to go on +together,<br> + and remained standing in a window-bay.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Victorin?" said Lisbeth. "Some disaster caused by +your<br> + father, I dare wager."</p> + +<p>"Yes, alas!" replied Victorin. "A money-lender named Vauvinet +has<br> + bills of my father's to the amount of sixty thousand francs, and +wants<br> + to prosecute. I tried to speak of the matter to my father at +the<br> + Chamber, but he would not understand me; he almost avoided me. +Had we<br> + better tell my mother?"</p> + +<p>"No, no," said Lisbeth, "she has too many troubles; it would +be a<br> + death-blow; you must spare her. You have no idea how low she +has<br> + fallen. But for your uncle, you would have found no dinner here +this<br> + evening."</p> + +<p>"Dear Heaven! Victorin, what wretches we are!" said Hortense +to her<br> + brother. "We ought to have guessed what Lisbeth has told us. My +dinner<br> + is choking me!"</p> + +<p>Hortense could say no more; she covered her mouth with her<br> + handkerchief to smother a sob, and melted into tears.</p> + +<p>"I told the fellow Vauvinet to call on me to-morrow," +replied<br> + Victorin, "but will he be satisfied by my guarantee on a +mortgage? I<br> + doubt it. Those men insist on ready money to sweat others on +usurious<br> + terms."</p> + +<p>"Let us sell out of the funds!" said Lisbeth to Hortense.</p> + +<p>"What good would that do?" replied Victorin. "It would bring +fifteen<br> + or sixteen thousand francs, and we want sixty thousand."</p> + +<p>"Dear cousin!" cried Hortense, embracing Lisbeth with the +enthusiasm<br> + of guilelessness.</p> + +<p>"No, Lisbeth, keep your little fortune," said Victorin, +pressing the<br> + old maid's hand. "I shall see to-morrow what this man would be +up to.<br> + With my wife's consent, I can at least hinder or postpone +the<br> + prosecution--for it would really be frightful to see my father's +honor<br> + impugned. What would the War Minister say? My father's salary, +which<br> + he pledged for three years, will not be released before the +month of<br> + December, so we cannot offer that as a guarantee. This Vauvinet +has<br> + renewed the bills eleven times; so you may imagine what my +father must<br> + pay in interest. We must close this pit."</p> + +<p><br> + "If only Madame Marneffe would throw him over!" said +Hortense<br> + bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed Victorin. "He would take up some +one else;<br> + and with her, at any rate, the worst outlay is over."</p> + +<p>What a change in children formerly so respectful, and kept so +long by<br> + their mother in blind worship of their father! They knew him now +for<br> + what he was.</p> + +<p>"But for me," said Lisbeth, "your father's ruin would be more +complete<br> + than it is."</p> + +<p>"Come in to mamma," said Hortense; "she is very sharp, and +will<br> + suspect something; as our kind Lisbeth says, let us keep +everything<br> + from her--let us be cheerful."</p> + +<p>"Victorin," said Lisbeth, "you have no notion of what your +father will<br> + be brought to by his passion for women. Try to secure some +future<br> + resource by getting the Marshal to marry me. Say something about +it<br> + this evening; I will leave early on purpose."</p> + +<p>Victorin went into the bedroom.</p> + +<p>"And you, poor little thing!" said Lisbeth in an undertone +to<br> + Hortense, "what can you do?"</p> + +<p>"Come to dinner with us to-morrow, and we will talk it over," +answered<br> + Hortense. "I do not know which way to turn; you know how hard +life is,<br> + and you will advise me."</p> + +<p>While the whole family with one consent tried to persuade the +Marshal<br> + to marry, and while Lisbeth was making her way home to the +Rue<br> + Vanneau, one of those incidents occurred which, in such women +as<br> + Madame Marneffe, are a stimulus to vice by compelling them to +exert<br> + their energy and every resource of depravity. One fact, at any +rate,<br> + must however be acknowledged: life in Paris is too full for +vicious<br> + persons to do wrong instinctively and unprovoked; vice is only +a<br> + weapon of defence against aggressors--that is all.</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe's drawing-room was full of her faithful +admirers, and<br> + she had just started the whist-tables, when the footman, a +pensioned<br> + soldier recruited by the Baron, announced:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Baron Montes de Montejanos."</p> + +<p>Valerie's heart jumped, but she hurried to the door, +exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"My cousin!" and as she met the Brazilian, she whispered:</p> + +<p>"You are my relation--or all is at an end between us!--And so +you were<br> + not wrecked, Henri?" she went on audibly, as she led him to the +fire.<br> + "I heard you were lost, and have mourned for you these three +years."</p> + +<p>"How are you, my good fellow?" said Marneffe, offering his +hand to the<br> + stranger, whose get-up was indeed that of a Brazilian and a<br> + millionaire.</p> + +<p>Monsieur le Baron Henri Montes de Montejanos, to whom the +climate of<br> + the equator had given the color and stature we expect to see +in<br> + Othello on the stage, had an alarming look of gloom, but it was +a<br> + merely pictorial illusion; for, sweet and affectionate by +nature, he<br> + was predestined to be the victim that a strong man often is to a +weak<br> + woman. The scorn expressed in his countenance, the muscular +strength<br> + of his stalwart frame, all his physical powers were shown only +to his<br> + fellow-men; a form of flattery which women appreciate, nay, +which so<br> + intoxicates them, that every man with his mistress on his arm +assumes<br> + a matador swagger that provokes a smile. Very well set up, in +a<br> + closely fitting blue coat with solid gold buttons, in black +trousers,<br> + spotless patent evening boots, and gloves of a fashionable hue, +the<br> + only Brazilian touch in the Baron's costume was a large diamond, +worth<br> + about a hundred thousand francs, which blazed like a star on +a<br> + handsome blue silk cravat, tucked into a white waistcoat in such +a way<br> + as to show corners of a fabulously fine shirt front.</p> + +<p>His brow, bossy like that of a satyr, a sign of tenacity in +his<br> + passions, was crowned by thick jet-black hair like a virgin +forest,<br> + and under it flashed a pair of hazel eyes, so wild looking as +to<br> + suggest that before his birth his mother must have been scared +by a<br> + jaguar.</p> + +<p>This fine specimen of the Portuguese race in Brazil took his +stand<br> + with his back to the fire, in an attitude that showed +familiarity with<br> + Paris manners; holding his hat in one hand, his elbow resting on +the<br> + velvet-covered shelf, he bent over Madame Marneffe, talking to +her in<br> + an undertone, and troubling himself very little about the +dreadful<br> + people who, in his opinion, were so very much in the way.</p> + +<p>This fashion of taking the stage, with the Brazilian's +attitude and<br> + expression, gave, alike to Crevel and to the baron, an identical +shock<br> + of curiosity and anxiety. Both were struck by the same +impression and<br> + the same surmise. And the manoeuvre suggested in each by their +very<br> + genuine passion was so comical in its simultaneous results, that +it<br> + made everybody smile who was sharp enough to read its meaning. +Crevel,<br> + a tradesman and shopkeeper to the backbone, though a mayor of +Paris,<br> + unluckily, was a little slower to move than his rival partner, +and<br> + this enabled the Baron to read at a glance Crevel's involuntary +self-<br> + betrayal. This was a fresh arrow to rankle in the very amorous +old<br> + man's heart, and he resolved to have an explanation from +Valerie.</p> + +<p>"This evening," said Crevel to himself too, as he sorted his +hand, "I<br> + must know where I stand."</p> + +<p>"You have a heart!" cried Marneffe. "You have just +revoked."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon," said Crevel, trying to withdraw his +card.--"This<br> + Baron seems to me very much in the way," he went on, thinking +to<br> + himself. "If Valerie carries on with my Baron, well and good--it +is a<br> + means to my revenge, and I can get rid of him if I choose; but +as for<br> + this cousin!--He is one Baron too many; I do not mean to be made +a<br> + fool of. I will know how they are related."</p> + +<p>That evening, by one of those strokes of luck which come to +pretty<br> + women, Valerie was charmingly dressed. Her white bosom gleamed +under a<br> + lace tucker of rusty white, which showed off the satin texture +of her<br> + beautiful shoulders--for Parisian women, Heaven knows how, have +some<br> + way of preserving their fine flesh and remaining slender. She +wore a<br> + black velvet gown that looked as if it might at any moment slip +off<br> + her shoulders, and her hair was dressed with lace and +drooping<br> + flowers. Her arms, not fat but dimpled, were graced by deep +ruffles to<br> + her sleeves. She was like a luscious fruit coquettishly served +in a<br> + handsome dish, and making the knife-blade long to be cutting +it.</p> + +<p>"Valerie," the Brazilian was saying in her ear, "I have come +back<br> + faithful to you. My uncle is dead; I am twice as rich as I was +when I<br> + went away. I mean to live and die in Paris, for you and with +you."</p> + +<p>"Lower, Henri, I implore you----"</p> + +<p>"Pooh! I mean to speak to you this evening, even if I should +have to<br> + pitch all these creatures out of window, especially as I have +lost two<br> + days in looking for you. I shall stay till the last.--I can, +I<br> + suppose?"</p> + +<p>Valerie smiled at her adopted cousin, and said:</p> + +<p>"Remember that you are the son of my mother's sister, who +married your<br> + father during Junot's campaign in Portugal."</p> + +<p>"What, I, Montes de Montejanos, great grandson of a conquerer +of<br> + Brazil! Tell a lie?"</p> + +<p>"Hush, lower, or we shall never meet again."</p> + +<p>"Pray, why?"</p> + +<p>"Marneffe, like all dying wretches, who always take up some +last whim,<br> + has a revived passion for me----"</p> + +<p>"That cur?" said the Brazilian, who knew his Marneffe; "I will +settle<br> + him!"</p> + +<p>"What violence!"</p> + +<p>"And where did you get all this splendor?" the Brazilian went +on, just<br> + struck by the magnificence of the apartment.</p> + +<p>She began to laugh.</p> + +<p>"Henri! what bad taste!" said she.</p> + +<p>She had felt two burning flashes of jealousy which had moved +her so<br> + far as to make her look at the two souls in purgatory. Crevel, +playing<br> + against Baron Hulot and Monsieur Coquet, had Marneffe for his +partner.<br> + The game was even, because Crevel and the Baron were equally +absent-<br> + minded, and made blunder after blunder. Thus, in one instant, +the old<br> + men both confessed the passion which Valerie had persuaded them +to<br> + keep secret for the past three years; but she too had failed to +hide<br> + the joy in her eyes at seeing the man who had first taught her +heart<br> + to beat, the object of her first love. The rights of such +happy<br> + mortals survive as long as the woman lives over whom they +have<br> + acquired them.</p> + +<p>With these three passions at her side--one supported by the +insolence<br> + of wealth, the second by the claims of possession, and the third +by<br> + youth, strength, fortune, and priority--Madame Marneffe +preserved her<br> + coolness and presence of mind, like General Bonaparte when, at +the<br> + siege of Mantua, he had to fight two armies, and at the same +time<br> + maintain the blockade.</p> + +<p>Jealousy, distorting Hulot's face, made him look as terrible +as the<br> + late Marshal Montcornet leading a cavalry charge against a +Russian<br> + square. Being such a handsome man, he had never known any ground +for<br> + jealousy, any more than Murat knew what it was to be afraid. He +had<br> + always felt sure that he should triumph. His rebuff by Josepha, +the<br> + first he had ever met, he ascribed to her love of money; "he +was<br> + conquered by millions, and not by a changeling," he would say +when<br> + speaking of the Duc d'Herouville. And now, in one instant, the +poison<br> + and delirium that the mad passion sheds in a flood had rushed to +his<br> + heart. He kept turning from the whist-table towards the +fireplace with<br> + an action <i>a la</i> Mirabeau; and as he laid down his cards to +cast a<br> + challenging glance at the Brazilian and Valerie, the rest of +the<br> + company felt the sort of alarm mingled with curiosity that is +caused<br> + by evident violence ready to break out at any moment. The sham +cousin<br> + stared at Hulot as he might have looked at some big China +mandarin.</p> + +<p>This state of things could not last; it was bound to end in +some<br> + tremendous outbreak. Marneffe was as much afraid of Hulot as +Crevel<br> + was of Marneffe, for he was anxious not to die a mere clerk. +Men<br> + marked for death believe in life as galley-slaves believe in +liberty;<br> + this man was bent on being a first-class clerk at any cost. +Thoroughly<br> + frightened by the pantomime of the Baron and Crevel, he rose, +said a<br> + few words in his wife's ear, and then, to the surprise of all, +Valerie<br> + went into the adjoining bedroom with the Brazilian and her +husband.</p> + +<p>"Did Madame Marneffe ever speak to you of this cousin of +hers?" said<br> + Crevel to Hulot.</p> + +<p>"Never!" replied the Baron, getting up. "That is enough for +this<br> + evening," said he. "I have lost two louis--there they are."</p> + +<p>He threw the two gold pieces on the table, and seated himself +on the<br> + sofa with a look which everybody else took as a hint to go. +Monsieur<br> + and Madame Coquet, after exchanging a few words, left the room, +and<br> + Claude Vignon, in despair, followed their example. These two<br> + departures were a hint to less intelligent persons, who now +found that<br> + they were not wanted. The Baron and Crevel were left together, +and<br> + spoke never a word. Hulot, at last, ignoring Crevel, went on +tiptoe to<br> + listen at the bedroom door; but he bounded back with a +prodigious<br> + jump, for Marneffe opened the door and appeared with a calm +face,<br> + astonished to find only the two men.</p> + +<p>"And the tea?" said he.</p> + +<p>"Where is Valerie?" replied the Baron in a rage.</p> + +<p>"My wife," said Marneffe. "She is gone upstairs to speak +to<br> + mademoiselle your cousin. She will come down directly."</p> + +<p>"And why has she deserted us for that stupid creature?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Marneffe, "Mademoiselle Lisbeth came back from +dining<br> + with the Baroness with an attack of indigestion and Mathurine +asked<br> + Valerie for some tea for her, so my wife went up to see what was +the<br> + matter."</p> + +<p>"And <i>her</i> cousin?"</p> + +<p>"He is gone."</p> + +<p>"Do you really believe that?" said the Baron.</p> + +<p>"I have seen him to his carriage," replied Marneffe, with a +hideous<br> + smirk.</p> + +<p>The wheels of a departing carriage were audible in the street. +The<br> + Baron, counting Marneffe for nothing, went upstairs to Lisbeth. +An<br> + idea flashed through him such as the heart sends to the brain +when it<br> + is on fire with jealousy. Marneffe's baseness was so well known +to<br> + him, that he could imagine the most degrading connivance +between<br> + husband and wife.</p> + +<p>"What has become of all the ladies and gentlemen?" said +Marneffe,<br> + finding himself alone with Crevel.</p> + +<p>"When the sun goes to bed, the cocks and hens follow suit," +said<br> + Crevel. "Madame Marneffe disappeared, and her adorers departed. +Will<br> + you play a game of piquet?" added Crevel, who meant to +remain.</p> + +<p>He too believed that the Brazilian was in the house.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Marneffe agreed. The Mayor was a match for the Baron. +Simply<br> + by playing cards with the husband he could stay on indefinitely; +and<br> + Marneffe, since the suppression of the public tables, was +quite<br> + satisfied with the more limited opportunities of private +play.</p> + +<p>Baron Hulot went quickly up to Lisbeth's apartment, but the +door was<br> + locked, and the usual inquiries through the door took up time +enough<br> + to enable the two light-handed and cunning women to arrange the +scene<br> + of an attack of indigestion with the accessories of tea. Lisbeth +was<br> + in such pain that Valerie was very much alarmed, and +consequently<br> + hardly paid any heed to the Baron's furious entrance. +Indisposition is<br> + one of the screens most often placed by women to ward off a +quarrel.<br> + Hulot peeped about, here and there, but could see no spot in +Cousin<br> + Betty's room where a Brazilian might lie hidden.</p> + +<p><br> + "Your indigestion does honor to my wife's dinner, Lisbeth," said +he,<br> + scrutinizing her, for Lisbeth was perfectly well, trying to +imitate<br> + the hiccough of spasmodic indigestion as she drank her tea.</p> + +<p>"How lucky it is that dear Betty should be living under my +roof!" said<br> + Madame Marneffe. "But for me, the poor thing would have +died."</p> + +<p>"You look as if you only half believed it," added Lisbeth, +turning to<br> + the Baron, "and that would be a shame----"</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked the Baron. "Do you know the purpose of my +visit?"</p> + +<p>And he leered at the door of a dressing-closet from which the +key had<br> + been withdrawn.</p> + +<p>"Are you talking Greek?" said Madame Marneffe, with an +appealing look<br> + of misprized tenderness and devotedness.</p> + +<p>"But it is all through you, my dear cousin; yes, it is your +doing that<br> + I am in such a state," said Lisbeth vehemently.</p> + +<p>This speech diverted the Baron's attention; he looked at the +old maid<br> + with the greatest astonishment.</p> + +<p>"You know that I am devoted to you," said Lisbeth. "I am here, +that<br> + says everything. I am wearing out the last shreds of my strength +in<br> + watching over your interests, since they are one with our +dear<br> + Valerie's. Her house costs one-tenth of what any other does that +is<br> + kept on the same scale. But for me, Cousin, instead of two +thousand<br> + francs a month, you would be obliged to spend three or four +thousand."</p> + +<p>"I know all that," replied the Baron out of patience; "you are +our<br> + protectress in many ways," he added, turning to Madame Marneffe +and<br> + putting his arm round her neck.--"Is not she, my pretty +sweet?"</p> + +<p>"On my honor," exclaimed Valerie, "I believe you are gone +mad!"</p> + +<p>"Well, you cannot doubt my attachment," said Lisbeth. "But I +am also<br> + very fond of my cousin Adeline, and I found her in tears. She +has not<br> + seen you for a month. Now that is really too bad; you leave my +poor<br> + Adeline without a sou. Your daughter Hortense almost died of it +when<br> + she was told that it is thanks to your brother that we had any +dinner<br> + at all. There was not even bread in your house this day.</p> + +<p>"Adeline is heroically resolved to keep her sufferings to +herself. She<br> + said to me, 'I will do as you have done!' The speech went to my +heart;<br> + and after dinner, as I thought of what my cousin had been in +1811, and<br> + of what she is in 1841--thirty years after--I had a violent<br> + indigestion.--I fancied I should get over it; but when I got +home, I<br> + thought I was dying--"</p> + +<p>"You see, Valerie, to what my adoration of you has brought me! +To<br> + crime--domestic crime!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I was wise never to marry!" cried Lisbeth, with savage +joy. "You<br> + are a kind, good man; Adeline is a perfect angel;--and this is +the<br> + reward of her blind devotion."</p> + +<p>"An elderly angel!" said Madame Marneffe softly, as she looked +half<br> + tenderly, half mockingly, at her Hector, who was gazing at her +as an<br> + examining judge gazes at the accused.</p> + +<p>"My poor wife!" said Hulot. "For more than nine months I have +given<br> + her no money, though I find it for you, Valerie; but at what a +cost!<br> + No one else will ever love you so, and what torments you inflict +on me<br> + in return!"</p> + +<p>"Torments?" she echoed. "Then what do you call happiness?"</p> + +<p>"I do not yet know on what terms you have been with this +so-called<br> + cousin whom you never mentioned to me," said the Baron, paying +no heed<br> + to Valerie's interjection. "But when he came in I felt as if +a<br> + penknife had been stuck into my heart. Blinded I may be, but I +am not<br> + blind. I could read his eyes, and yours. In short, from under +that<br> + ape's eyelids there flashed sparks that he flung at you--and +your<br> + eyes!--Oh! you have never looked at me so, never! As to this +mystery,<br> + Valerie, it shall all be cleared up. You are the only woman who +ever<br> + made me know the meaning of jealousy, so you need not be +surprised by<br> + what I say.--But another mystery which has rent its cloud, and +it<br> + seems to me infamous----"</p> + +<p>"Go on, go on," said Valerie.</p> + +<p>"It is that Crevel, that square lump of flesh and stupidity, +is in<br> + love with you, and that you accept his attentions with so good a +grace<br> + that the idiot flaunts his passion before everybody."</p> + +<p>"Only three! Can you discover no more?" asked Madame +Marneffe.</p> + +<p>"There may be more!" retorted the Baron.</p> + +<p>"If Monsieur Crevel is in love with me, he is in his rights as +a man<br> + after all; if I favored his passion, that would indeed be the +act of a<br> + coquette, or of a woman who would leave much to be desired on +your<br> + part.--Well, love me as you find me, or let me alone. If you +restore<br> + me to freedom, neither you nor Monsieur Crevel will ever enter +my<br> + doors again. But I will take up with my cousin, just to keep my +hand<br> + in, in those charming habits you suppose me to +indulge.--Good-bye,<br> + Monsieur le Baron Hulot."</p> + +<p>She rose, but the Baron took her by the arm and made her sit +down<br> + again. The old man could not do without Valerie. She had become +more<br> + imperatively indispensable to him than the necessaries of life; +he<br> + preferred remaining in uncertainty to having any proof of +Valerie's<br> + infidelity.</p> + +<p>"My dearest Valerie," said he, "do you not see how miserable I +am? I<br> + only ask you to justify yourself. Give me sufficient +reasons--"</p> + +<p>"Well, go downstairs and wait for me; for I suppose you do not +wish to<br> + look on at the various ceremonies required by your cousin's +state."</p> + +<p>Hulot slowly turned away</p> + +<p>"You old profligate," cried Lisbeth, "you have not even asked +me how<br> + your children are? What are you going to do for Adeline? I, at +any<br> + rate, will take her my savings to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"You owe your wife white bread to eat at least," said Madame +Marneffe,<br> + smiling.</p> + +<p>The Baron, without taking offence at Lisbeth's tone, as +despotic as<br> + Josepha's, got out of the room, only too glad to escape so +importunate<br> + a question.</p> + +<p>The door bolted once more, the Brazilian came out of the +dressing-<br> + closet, where he had been waiting, and he appeared with his eyes +full<br> + of tears, in a really pitiable condition. Montes had heard +everything.</p> + +<p>"Henri, you must have ceased to love me, I know it!" said +Madame<br> + Marneffe, hiding her face in her handkerchief and bursting into +tears.</p> + +<p>It was the outcry of real affection. The cry of a woman's +despair is<br> + so convincing that it wins the forgiveness that lurks at the +bottom of<br> + every lover's heart--when she is young and pretty, and wears a +gown so<br> + low that she could slip out at the top and stand in the garb of +Eve.</p> + +<p>"But why, if you love me, do you not leave everything for my +sake?"<br> + asked the Brazilian.</p> + +<p>This South American born, being logical, as men are who have +lived the<br> + life of nature, at once resumed the conversation at the point +where it<br> + had been broken off, putting his arm round Valerie's waist.</p> + +<p>"Why?" she repeated, gazing up at Henri, whom she subjugated +at once<br> + by a look charged with passion, "why, my dear boy, I am married; +we<br> + are in Paris, not in the savannah, the pampas, the backwoods +of<br> + America.--My dear Henri, my first and only love, listen to me. +That<br> + husband of mine, a second clerk in the War Office, is bent on +being a<br> + head-clerk and officer of the Legion of Honor; can I help his +being<br> + ambitious? Now for the very reason that made him leave us our +liberty<br> + --nearly four years ago, do you remember, you bad boy?--he +now<br> + abandons me to Monsieur Hulot. I cannot get rid of that +dreadful<br> + official, who snorts like a grampus, who has fins in his +nostrils, who<br> + is sixty-three years old, and who had grown ten years older by +dint of<br> + trying to be young; who is so odious to me that the very day +when<br> + Marneffe is promoted, and gets his Cross of the Legion of +Honor----"</p> + +<p>"How much more will your husband get then?"</p> + +<p>"A thousand crowns."</p> + +<p>"I will pay him as much in an annuity," said Baron Montes. "We +will<br> + leave Paris and go----"</p> + +<p>"Where?" said Valerie, with one of the pretty sneers by which +a woman<br> + makes fun of a man she is sure of. "Paris is the only place +where we<br> + can live happy. I care too much for your love to risk seeing it +die<br> + out in a <i>tete-a-tete</i> in the wilderness. Listen, Henri, +you are the<br> + only man I care for in the whole world. Write that down clearly +in<br> + your tiger's brain."</p> + +<p>For women, when they have made a sheep of a man, always tell +him that<br> + he is a lion with a will of iron.</p> + +<p>"Now, attend to me. Monsieur Marneffe has not five years to +live; he<br> + is rotten to the marrow of his bones. He spends seven months of +the<br> + twelve in swallowing drugs and decoctions; he lives wrapped +in<br> + flannel; in short, as the doctor says, he lives under the +scythe, and<br> + may be cut off at any moment. An illness that would not harm +another<br> + man would be fatal to him; his blood is corrupt, his life +undermined<br> + at the root. For five years I have never allowed him to kiss +me--he is<br> + poisonous! Some day, and the day is not far off, I shall be a +widow.<br> + Well, then, I--who have already had an offer from a man with +sixty<br> + thousand francs a year, I who am as completely mistress of that +man as<br> + I am of this lump of sugar--I swear to you that if you were as +poor as<br> + Hulot and as foul as Marneffe, if you beat me even, still you +are the<br> + only man I will have for a husband, the only man I love, or +whose name<br> + I will ever bear. And I am ready to give any pledge of my love +that<br> + you may require."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, to-night----"</p> + +<p>"But you, son of the South, my splendid jaguar, come expressly +for me<br> + from the virgin forest of Brazil," said she, taking his hand +and<br> + kissing and fondling it, "I have some consideration for the +poor<br> + creature you mean to make your wife.--Shall I be your wife, +Henri?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Brazilian, overpowered by this unbridled +volubility of<br> + passion. And he knelt at her feet.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, Henri," said Valerie, taking his two hands and +looking<br> + straight into his eyes, "swear to me now, in the presence of +Lisbeth,<br> + my best and only friend, my sister--that you will make me your +wife at<br> + the end of my year's widowhood."</p> + +<p>"I swear it."</p> + +<p>"That is not enough. Swear by your mother's ashes and +eternal<br> + salvation, swear by the Virgin Mary and by all your hopes as +a<br> + Catholic!"</p> + +<p>Valerie knew that the Brazilian would keep that oath even if +she<br> + should have fallen into the foulest social slough.</p> + +<p>The Baron solemnly swore it, his nose almost touching +Valerie's white<br> + bosom, and his eyes spellbound. He was drunk, drunk as a man is +when<br> + he sees the woman he loves once more, after a sea voyage of a +hundred<br> + and twenty days.</p> + +<p>"Good. Now be quite easy. And in Madame Marneffe respect the +future<br> + Baroness de Montejanos. You are not to spend a sou upon me; I +forbid<br> + it.--Stay here in the outer room; sleep on the sofa. I myself +will<br> + come and tell you when you may move.--We will breakfast +to-morrow<br> + morning, and you can be leaving at about one o'clock as if you +had<br> + come to call at noon. There is nothing to fear; the gate-keepers +love<br> + me as much as if they were my father and mother.--Now I must go +down<br> + and make tea."</p> + +<p>She beckoned to Lisbeth, who followed her out on to the +landing. There<br> + Valerie whispered in the old maid's ear:</p> + +<p>"My darkie has come back too soon. I shall die if I cannot +avenge you<br> + on Hortense!"</p> + +<p>"Make your mind easy, my pretty little devil!" said Lisbeth, +kissing<br> + her forehead. "Love and Revenge on the same track will never +lose the<br> + game. Hortense expects me to-morrow; she is in beggary. For a +thousand<br> + francs you may have a thousand kisses from Wenceslas."</p> + +<p>On leaving Valerie, Hulot had gone down to the porter's lodge +and made<br> + a sudden invasion there.</p> + +<p>"Madame Olivier?"</p> + +<p>On hearing the imperious tone of this address, and seeing the +action<br> + by which the Baron emphasized it, Madame Olivier came out into +the<br> + courtyard as far as the Baron led her.</p> + +<p>"You know that if any one can help your son to a connection by +and by,<br> + it is I; it is owing to me that he is already third clerk in +a<br> + notary's office, and is finishing his studies."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Monsieur le Baron; and indeed, sir, you may depend on +our<br> + gratitude. Not a day passes that I do not pray to God for +Monsieur le<br> + Baron's happiness."</p> + +<p>"Not so many words, my good woman," said Hulot, "but +deeds----"</p> + +<p>"What can I do, sir?" asked Madame Olivier.</p> + +<p>"A man came here to-night in a carriage. Do you know him?"</p> + +<p>Madame Olivier had recognized Montes well enough. How could +she have<br> + forgotten him? In the Rue du Doyenne the Brazilian had always +slipped<br> + a five-franc piece into her hand as he went out in the morning, +rather<br> + too early. If the Baron had applied to Monsieur Olivier, he +would<br> + perhaps have learned all he wanted to know. But Olivier was in +bed. In<br> + the lower orders the woman is not merely the superior of the +man--she<br> + almost always has the upper hand. Madame Olivier had long since +made<br> + up her mind as to which side to take in case of a collision +between<br> + her two benefactors; she regarded Madame Marneffe as the +stronger<br> + power.</p> + +<p>"Do I know him?" she repeated. "No, indeed, no. I never saw +him<br> + before!"</p> + +<p>"What! Did Madame Marneffe's cousin never go to see her when +she was<br> + living in the Rue du Doyenne?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! Was it her cousin?" cried Madame Olivier. "I dare say he +did<br> + come, but I did not know him again. Next time, sir, I will look +at<br> + him----"</p> + +<p>"He will be coming out," said Hulot, hastily interrupting +Madame<br> + Olivier.</p> + +<p>"He has left," said Madame Olivier, understanding the +situation. "The<br> + carriage is gone."</p> + +<p>"Did you see him go?"</p> + +<p>"As plainly as I see you. He told his servant to drive to +the<br> + Embassy."</p> + +<p>This audacious statement wrung a sigh of relief from the +Baron; he<br> + took Madame Olivier's hand and squeezed it.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, my good Madame Olivier. But that is not +all.--Monsieur<br> + Crevel?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Crevel? What can you mean, sir? I do not +understand," said<br> + Madame Olivier.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me. He is Madame Marneffe's lover----"</p> + +<p>"Impossible, Monsieur le Baron; impossible," said she, +clasping her<br> + hands.</p> + +<p>"He is Madame Marneffe's lover," the Baron repeated very +positively.<br> + "How do they manage it? I don't know; but I mean to know, and +you are<br> + to find out. If you can put me on the tracks of this intrigue, +your<br> + son is a notary."</p> + +<p>"Don't you fret yourself so, Monsieur le Baron," said Madame +Olivier.<br> + "Madame cares for you, and for no one but you; her maid knows +that for<br> + true, and we say, between her and me, that you are the luckiest +man in<br> + this world--for you know what madame is.--Just perfection!</p> + +<p>"She gets up at ten every morning; then she breakfasts. Well +and good.<br> + After that she takes an hour or so to dress; that carries her on +till<br> + two; then she goes for a walk in the Tuileries in the sight of +all<br> + men, and she is always in by four to be ready for you. She lives +like<br> + clockwork. She keeps no secrets from her maid, and Reine keeps +nothing<br> + from me, you may be sure. Reine can't if she would--along of my +son,<br> + for she is very sweet upon him. So, you see, if madame had +any<br> + intimacy with Monsieur Crevel, we should be bound to know +it."</p> + +<p>The Baron went upstairs again with a beaming countenance, +convinced<br> + that he was the only man in the world to that shameless slut, +as<br> + treacherous, but as lovely and as engaging as a siren.</p> + +<p>Crevel and Marneffe had begun a second rubber at piquet. +Crevel was<br> + losing, as a man must who is not giving his thoughts to his +game.<br> + Marneffe, who knew the cause of the Mayor's absence of mind, +took<br> + unscrupulous advantage of it; he looked at the cards in reverse, +and<br> + discarded accordingly; thus, knowing his adversary's hand, he +played<br> + to beat him. The stake being a franc a point, he had already +robbed<br> + the Mayor of thirty francs when Hulot came in.</p> + +<p>"Hey day!" said he, amazed to find no company. "Are you alone? +Where<br> + is everybody gone?"</p> + +<p>"Your pleasant temper put them all to flight," said +Crevel.</p> + +<p>"No, it was my wife's cousin," replied Marneffe. "The ladies +and<br> + gentlemen supposed that Valerie and Henri might have something +to say<br> + to each other after three years' separation, and they very +discreetly<br> + retired.--If I had been in the room, I would have kept them; but +then,<br> + as it happens, it would have been a mistake, for Lisbeth, who +always<br> + comes down to make tea at half-past ten, was taken ill, and that +upset<br> + everything--"</p> + +<p>"Then is Lisbeth really unwell?" asked Crevel in a fury.</p> + +<p>"So I was told," replied Marneffe, with the heartless +indifference of<br> + a man to whom women have ceased to exist.</p> + +<p>The Mayor looked at the clock; and, calculating the time, the +Baron<br> + seemed to have spent forty minutes in Lisbeth's rooms. +Hector's<br> + jubilant expression seriously incriminated Valerie, Lisbeth, +and<br> + himself.</p> + +<p>"I have just seen her; she is in great pain, poor soul!" said +the<br> + Baron.</p> + +<p>"Then the sufferings of others must afford you much joy, my +friend,"<br> + retorted Crevel with acrimony, "for you have come down with a +face<br> + that is positively beaming. Is Lisbeth likely to die? For +your<br> + daughter, they say, is her heiress. You are not like the same +man. You<br> + left this room looking like the Moor of Venice, and you come +back with<br> + the air of Saint-Preux!--I wish I could see Madame Marneffe's +face at<br> + this minute----"</p> + +<p>"And pray, what do you mean by that?" said Marneffe to Crevel, +packing<br> + his cards and laying them down in front of him.</p> + +<p>A light kindled in the eyes of this man, decrepit at the age +of forty-<br> + seven; a faint color flushed his flaccid cold cheeks, his +ill-<br> + furnished mouth was half open, and on his blackened lips a sort +of<br> + foam gathered, thick, and as white as chalk. This fury in such +a<br> + helpless wretch, whose life hung on a thread, and who in a duel +would<br> + risk nothing while Crevel had everything to lose, frightened +the<br> + Mayor.</p> + +<p>"I said," repeated Crevel, "that I should like to see +Madame<br> + Marneffe's face. And with all the more reason since yours, at +this<br> + moment, is most unpleasant. On my honor, you are horribly ugly, +my<br> + dear Marneffe----"</p> + +<p>"Do you know that you are very uncivil?"</p> + +<p>"A man who has won thirty francs of me in forty-five minutes +cannot<br> + look handsome in my eyes."</p> + +<p>"Ah, if you had but seen me seventeen years ago!" replied the +clerk.</p> + +<p>"You were so good-looking?" asked Crevel.</p> + +<p>"That was my ruin; now, if I had been like you--I might be a +mayor and<br> + a peer."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Crevel, with a smile, "you have been too much in +the wars;<br> + and of the two forms of metal that may be earned by worshiping +the god<br> + of trade, you have taken the worse--the dross!" [This dialogue +is<br> + garnished with puns for which it is difficult to find any +English<br> + equivalent.] And Crevel roared with laughter. Though Marneffe +could<br> + take offence if his honor were in peril, he always took these +rough<br> + pleasantries in good part; they were the small coin of +conversation<br> + between him and Crevel.</p> + +<p>"The daughters of Eve cost me dear, no doubt; but, by the +powers!<br> + 'Short and sweet' is my motto."</p> + +<p>" 'Long and happy' is more to my mind," returned Crevel.</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe now came in; she saw that her husband was at +cards<br> + with Crevel, and only the Baron in the room besides; a mere +glance at<br> + the municipal dignitary showed her the frame of mind he was in, +and<br> + her line of conduct was at once decided on.</p> + +<p>"Marneffe, my dear boy," said she, leaning on her husband's +shoulder,<br> + and passing her pretty fingers through his dingy gray hair, +but<br> + without succeeding in covering his bald head with it, "it is +very late<br> + for you; you ought to be in bed. To-morrow, you know, you must +dose<br> + yourself by the doctor's orders. Reine will give you your herb +tea at<br> + seven. If you wish to live, give up your game."</p> + +<p>"We will pay it out up to five points," said Marneffe to +Crevel.</p> + +<p>"Very good--I have scored two," replied the Mayor.</p> + +<p>"How long will it take you?"</p> + +<p>"Ten minutes," said Marneffe.</p> + +<p>"It is eleven o'clock," replied Valerie. "Really, Monsieur +Crevel, one<br> + might fancy you meant to kill my husband. Make haste, at any +rate."</p> + +<p>This double-barreled speech made Crevel and Hulot smile, and +even<br> + Marneffe himself. Valerie sat down to talk to Hector.</p> + +<p>"You must leave, my dearest," said she in Hulot's ear. "Walk +up and<br> + down the Rue Vanneau, and come in again when you see Crevel go +out."</p> + +<p>"I would rather leave this room and go into your room through +the<br> + dressing-room door. You could tell Reine to let me in."</p> + +<p>"Reine is upstairs attending to Lisbeth."</p> + +<p>"Well, suppose then I go up to Lisbeth's rooms?"</p> + +<p>Danger hemmed in Valerie on every side; she foresaw a +discussion with<br> + Crevel, and could not allow Hulot to be in her room, where he +could<br> + hear all that went on.--And the Brazilian was upstairs with +Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"Really, you men, when you have a notion in your head, you +would burn<br> + a house down to get into it!" exclaimed she. "Lisbeth is not in +a fit<br> + state to admit you.--Are you afraid of catching cold in the +street? Be<br> + off there--or good-night."</p> + +<p>"Good evening, gentlemen," said the Baron to the other +two.</p> + +<p>Hulot, when piqued in his old man's vanity, was bent on +proving that<br> + he could play the young man by waiting for the happy hour in the +open<br> + air, and he went away.</p> + +<p>Marneffe bid his wife good-night, taking her hands with a +semblance of<br> + devotion. Valerie pressed her husband's hand with a +significant<br> + glance, conveying:</p> + +<p>"Get rid of Crevel."</p> + +<p>"Good-night, Crevel," said Marneffe. "I hope you will not stay +long<br> + with Valerie. Yes! I am jealous--a little late in the day, but +it has<br> + me hard and fast. I shall come back to see if you are gone."</p> + +<p>"We have a little business to discuss, but I shall not stay +long,"<br> + said Crevel.</p> + +<p>"Speak low.--What is it?" said Valerie, raising her voice, and +looking<br> + at him with a mingled expression of haughtiness and scorn.</p> + +<p>Crevel, as he met this arrogant stare, though he was doing +Valerie<br> + important services, and had hoped to plume himself on the fact, +was at<br> + once reduced to submission.</p> + +<p>"That Brazilian----" he began, but, overpowered by Valerie's +fixed<br> + look of contempt, he broke off.</p> + +<p>"What of him?" said she.</p> + +<p>"That cousin--"</p> + +<p>"Is no cousin of mine," said she. "He is my cousin to the +world and to<br> + Monsieur Marneffe. And if he were my lover, it would be no +concern of<br> + yours. A tradesman who pays a woman to be revenged on another +man, is,<br> + in my opinion, beneath the man who pays her for love of her. You +did<br> + not care for me; all you saw in me was Monsieur Hulot's +mistress. You<br> + bought me as a man buys a pistol to kill his adversary. I +wanted<br> + bread--I accepted the bargain."</p> + +<p>"But you have not carried it out," said Crevel, the tradesman +once<br> + more.</p> + +<p>"You want Baron Hulot to be told that you have robbed him of +his<br> + mistress, to pay him out for having robbed you of Josepha? +Nothing can<br> + more clearly prove your baseness. You say you love a woman, you +treat<br> + her like a duchess, and then you want to degrade her? Well, my +good<br> + fellow, and you are right. This woman is no match for Josepha. +That<br> + young person has the courage of her disgrace, while I--I am +a<br> + hypocrite, and deserve to be publicly whipped.--Alas! Josepha +is<br> + protected by her cleverness and her wealth. I have nothing to +shelter<br> + me but my reputation; I am still the worthy and blameless wife +of a<br> + plain citizen; if you create a scandal, what is to become of me? +If I<br> + were rich, then indeed; but my income is fifteen thousand francs +a<br> + year at most, I suppose."</p> + +<p><br> + "Much more than that," said Crevel. "I have doubled your savings +in<br> + these last two months by investing in <i>Orleans</i>."</p> + +<p>"Well, a position in Paris begins with fifty thousand. And +you<br> + certainly will not make up to me for the position I should +surrender.<br> + --What was my aim? I want to see Marneffe a first-class clerk; +he will<br> + then draw a salary of six thousand francs. He has been +twenty-seven<br> + years in his office; within three years I shall have a right to +a<br> + pension of fifteen hundred francs when he dies. You, to whom I +have<br> + been entirely kind, to whom I have given your fill of +happiness--you<br> + cannot wait!--And that is what men call love!" she +exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Though I began with an ulterior purpose," said Crevel, "I +have become<br> + your poodle. You trample on my heart, you crush me, you stultify +me,<br> + and I love you as I have never loved in my life. Valerie, I love +you<br> + as much as I love my Celestine. I am capable of anything for +your<br> + sake.--Listen, instead of coming twice a week to the Rue du +Dauphin,<br> + come three times."</p> + +<p>"Is that all! You are quite young again, my dear boy!"</p> + +<p>"Only let me pack off Hulot, humiliate him, rid you of him," +said<br> + Crevel, not heeding her impertinence! "Have nothing to say to +the<br> + Brazilian, be mine alone; you shall not repent of it. To begin +with, I<br> + will give you eight thousand francs a year, secured by bond, but +only<br> + as an annuity; I will not give you the capital till the end of +five<br> + years' constancy--"</p> + +<p>"Always a bargain! A tradesman can never learn to give. You +want to<br> + stop for refreshments on the road of love--in the form of +Government<br> + bonds! Bah! Shopman, pomatum seller! you put a price on +everything!--<br> + Hector told me that the Duc d'Herouville gave Josepha a bond +for<br> + thirty thousand francs a year in a packet of sugar almonds! And +I am<br> + worth six of Josepha.</p> + +<p>"Oh! to be loved!" she went on, twisting her ringlets round +her<br> + fingers, and looking at herself in the glass. "Henri loves me. +He<br> + would smash you like a fly if I winked at him! Hulot loves me; +he<br> + leaves his wife in beggary! As for you, go my good man, be the +worthy<br> + father of a family. You have three hundred thousand francs over +and<br> + above your fortune, only to amuse yourself, a hoard, in fact, +and you<br> + think of nothing but increasing it--"</p> + +<p>"For you, Valerie, since I offer you half," said he, falling +on his<br> + knees.</p> + +<p>"What, still here!" cried Marneffe, hideous in his +dressing-gown.<br> + "What are you about?"</p> + +<p>"He is begging my pardon, my dear, for an insulting proposal +he has<br> + dared to make me. Unable to obtain my consent, my gentleman +proposed<br> + to pay me----"</p> + +<p>Crevel only longed to vanish into the cellar, through a trap, +as is<br> + done on the stage.</p> + +<p>"Get up, Crevel," said Marneffe, laughing, "you are +ridiculous. I can<br> + see by Valerie's manner that my honor is in no danger."</p> + +<p>"Go to bed and sleep in peace," said Madame Marneffe.</p> + +<p>"Isn't she clever?" thought Crevel. "She has saved me. She +is<br> + adorable!"</p> + +<p>As Marneffe disappeared, the Mayor took Valerie's hands and +kissed<br> + them, leaving on them the traces of tears.</p> + +<p>"It shall all stand in your name," he said.</p> + +<p>"That is true love," she whispered in his ear. "Well, love for +love.<br> + Hulot is below, in the street. The poor old thing is waiting to +return<br> + when I place a candle in one of the windows of my bedroom. I +give you<br> + leave to tell him that you are the man I love; he will refuse +to<br> + believe you; take him to the Rue du Dauphin, give him every +proof,<br> + crush him; I allow it--I order it! I am tired of that old seal; +he<br> + bores me to death. Keep your man all night in the Rue du +Dauphin,<br> + grill him over a slow fire, be revenged for the loss of Josepha. +Hulot<br> + may die of it perhaps, but we shall save his wife and children +from<br> + utter ruin. Madame Hulot is working for her bread--"</p> + +<p>"Oh! poor woman! On my word, it is quite shocking!" exclaimed +Crevel,<br> + his natural feeling coming to the top.</p> + +<p>"If you love me, Celestin," said she in Crevel's ear, which +she<br> + touched with her lips, "keep him there, or I am done for. +Marneffe is<br> + suspicious. Hector has a key of the outer gate, and will +certainly<br> + come back."</p> + +<p>Crevel clasped Madame Marneffe to his heart, and went away in +the<br> + seventh heaven of delight. Valerie fondly escorted him to the +landing,<br> + and then followed him, like a woman magnetized, down the stairs +to the<br> + very bottom.</p> + +<p>"My Valerie, go back, do not compromise yourself before the +porters.--<br> + Go back; my life, my treasure, all is yours.--Go in, my +duchess!"</p> + +<p>"Madame Olivier," Valerie called gently when the gate was +closed.</p> + +<p>"Why, madame! You here?" said the woman in bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"Bolt the gates at top and bottom, and let no one in."</p> + +<p>"Very good, madame."</p> + +<p>Having barred the gate, Madame Olivier told of the bribe that +the War<br> + Office chief had tried to offer her.</p> + +<p>"You behaved like an angel, my dear Olivier; we shall talk of +that<br> + to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Valerie flew like an arrow to the third floor, tapped three +times at<br> + Lisbeth's door, and then went down to her room, where she +gave<br> + instructions to Mademoiselle Reine, for a woman must make the +most of<br> + the opportunity when a Montes arrives from Brazil.</p> + +<p>"By Heaven! only a woman of the world is capable of such +love," said<br> + Crevel to himself. "How she came down those stairs, lighting +them up<br> + with her eyes, following me! Never did Josepha--Josepha! she is +cag-<br> + mag!" cried the ex-bagman. "What have I said? +<i>Cag-mag</i>--why, I might<br> + have let the word slip out at the Tuileries! I can never do any +good<br> + unless Valerie educates me--and I was so bent on being a +gentleman.--<br> + What a woman she is! She upsets me like a fit of the colic when +she<br> + looks at me coldly. What grace! What wit! Never did Josepha move +me<br> + so. And what perfection when you come to know her!--Ha, there is +my<br> + man!"</p> + +<p>He perceived in the gloom of the Rue de Babylone the tall, +somewhat<br> + stooping figure of Hulot, stealing along close to a boarding, +and he<br> + went straight up to him.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Baron, for it is past midnight, my dear fellow. +What<br> + the devil are your doing here? You are airing yourself under +a<br> + pleasant drizzle. That is not wholesome at our time of life. +Will you<br> + let me give you a little piece of advice? Let each of us go +home; for,<br> + between you and me, you will not see the candle in the +window."</p> + +<p>The last words made the Baron suddenly aware that he was +sixty-three,<br> + and that his cloak was wet.</p> + +<p>"Who on earth told you--?" he began.</p> + +<p>"Valerie, of course, <i>our</i> Valerie, who means henceforth +to be <i>my</i><br> + Valerie. We are even now, Baron; we will play off the tie when +you<br> + please. You have nothing to complain of; you know, I always +stipulated<br> + for the right of taking my revenge; it took you three months to +rob me<br> + of Josepha; I took Valerie from you in--We will say no more +about<br> + that. Now I mean to have her all to myself. But we can be very +good<br> + friends, all the same."</p> + +<p>"Crevel, no jesting," said Hulot, in a voice choked by rage. +"It is a<br> + matter of life and death."</p> + +<p>"Bless me, is that how you take it!--Baron, do you not +remember what<br> + you said to me the day of Hortense's marriage: 'Can two old +gaffers<br> + like us quarrel over a petticoat? It is too low, too common. We +are<br> + <i>Regence</i>, we agreed, Pompadour, eighteenth century, quite +the<br> + Marechal Richelieu, Louis XV., nay, and I may say, +<i>Liaisons</i><br> + <i>dangereuses</i>!"</p> + +<p>Crevel might have gone on with his string of literary +allusions; the<br> + Baron heard him as a deaf man listens when he is but half deaf. +But,<br> + seeing in the gaslight the ghastly pallor of his face, the +triumphant<br> + Mayor stopped short. This was, indeed, a thunderbolt after +Madame<br> + Olivier's asservations and Valerie's parting glance.</p> + +<p>"Good God! And there are so many other women in Paris!" he +said at<br> + last.</p> + +<p>"That is what I said to you when you took Josepha," said +Crevel.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Crevel, it is impossible. Give me some +proof.--Have you a<br> + key, as I have, to let yourself in?"</p> + +<p>And having reached the house, the Baron put the key into the +lock; but<br> + the gate was immovable; he tried in vain to open it.</p> + +<p>"Do not make a noise in the streets at night," said Crevel +coolly. "I<br> + tell you, Baron, I have far better proof than you can show."</p> + +<p>"Proofs! give me proof!" cried the Baron, almost crazy +with<br> + exasperation.</p> + +<p>"Come, and you shall have them," said Crevel.</p> + +<p>And in obedience to Valerie's instructions, he led the Baron +away<br> + towards the quay, down the Rue Hillerin-Bertin. The unhappy +Baron<br> + walked on, as a merchant walks on the day before he stops +payment; he<br> + was lost in conjectures as to the reasons of the depravity +buried in<br> + the depths of Valerie's heart, and still believed himself the +victim<br> + of some practical joke. As they crossed the Pont Royal, life +seemed to<br> + him so blank, so utterly a void, and so out of joint from +his<br> + financial difficulties, that he was within an ace of yielding to +the<br> + evil prompting that bid him fling Crevel into the river and +throw<br> + himself in after.</p> + +<p>On reaching the Rue du Dauphin, which had not yet been +widened, Crevel<br> + stopped before a door in a wall. It opened into a long corridor +paved<br> + with black-and-white marble, and serving as an entrance-hall, at +the<br> + end of which there was a flight of stairs and a doorkeeper's +lodge,<br> + lighted from an inner courtyard, as is often the case in Paris. +This<br> + courtyard, which was shared with another house, was oddly +divided into<br> + two unequal portions. Crevel's little house, for he owned it, +had<br> + additional rooms with a glass skylight, built out on to the +adjoining<br> + plot, under conditions that it should have no story added above +the<br> + ground floor, so that the structure was entirely hidden by the +lodge<br> + and the projecting mass of the staircase.</p> + +<p>This back building had long served as a store-room, backshop, +and<br> + kitchen to one of the shops facing the street. Crevel had cut +off<br> + these three rooms from the rest of the ground floor, and Grindot +had<br> + transformed them into an inexpensive private residence. There +were two<br> + ways in--from the front, through the shop of a furniture-dealer, +to<br> + whom Crevel let it at a low price, and only from month to month, +so as<br> + to be able to get rid of him in case of his telling tales, and +also<br> + through a door in the wall of the passage, so ingeniously hidden +as to<br> + be almost invisible. The little apartment, comprising a +dining-room,<br> + drawing-room, and bedroom, all lighted from above, and standing +partly<br> + on Crevel's ground and partly on his neighbor's, was very +difficult to<br> + find. With the exception of the second-hand furniture-dealer, +the<br> + tenants knew nothing of the existence of this little +paradise.</p> + +<p>The doorkeeper, paid to keep Crevel's secrets, was a capital +cook. So<br> + Monsieur le Maire could go in and out of his inexpensive retreat +at<br> + any hour of the night without any fear of being spied upon. By +day, a<br> + lady, dressed as Paris women dress to go shopping, and having a +key,<br> + ran no risk in coming to Crevel's lodgings; she would stop to +look at<br> + the cheapened goods, ask the price, go into the shop, and come +out<br> + again, without exciting the smallest suspicion if any one +should<br> + happen to meet her.</p> + +<p>As soon as Crevel had lighted the candles in the sitting-room, +the<br> + Baron was surprised at the elegance and refinement it displayed. +The<br> + perfumer had given the architect a free hand, and Grindot had +done<br> + himself credit by fittings in the Pompadour style, which had in +fact<br> + cost sixty thousand francs.</p> + +<p>"What I want," said Crevel to Grindot, "is that a duchess, if +I<br> + brought one there, should be surprised at it."</p> + +<p>He wanted to have a perfect Parisian Eden for his Eve, his +"real<br> + lady," his Valerie, his duchess.</p> + +<p>"There are two beds," said Crevel to Hulot, showing him a sofa +that<br> + could be made wide enough by pulling out a drawer. "This is one, +the<br> + other is in the bedroom. We can both spend the night here."</p> + +<p>"Proof!" was all the Baron could say.</p> + +<p>Crevel took a flat candlestick and led Hulot into the +adjoining room,<br> + where he saw, on a sofa, a superb dressing-gown belonging to +Valerie,<br> + which he had seen her wear in the Rue Vanneau, to display it +before<br> + wearing it in Crevel's little apartment. The Mayor pressed the +spring<br> + of a little writing-table of inlaid work, known as a +<i>bonheur-du-</i><br> + <i>jour</i>, and took out of it a letter that he handed to the +Baron.</p> + +<p>"Read that," said he.</p> + +<p>The Councillor read these words written in pencil:</p> + +<p>"I have waited in vain, you old wretch! A woman of my quality +does<br> + not expect to be kept waiting by a retired perfumer. There was +no<br> + dinner ordered--no cigarettes. I will make you pay for +this!"</p> + +<p>"Well, is that her writing?"</p> + +<p>"Good God!" gasped Hulot, sitting down in dismay. "I see all +the<br> + things she uses--her caps, her slippers. Why, how long +since--?"</p> + +<p>Crevel nodded that he understood, and took a packet of bills +out of<br> + the little inlaid cabinet.</p> + +<p>"You can see, old man. I paid the decorators in December, +1838. In<br> + October, two months before, this charming little place was +first<br> + used."</p> + +<p>Hulot bent his head.</p> + +<p>"How the devil do you manage it? I know how she spends every +hour of<br> + her day."</p> + +<p>"How about her walk in the Tuileries?" said Crevel, rubbing +his hands<br> + in triumph.</p> + +<p>"What then?" said Hulot, mystified.</p> + +<p>"Your lady love comes to the Tuileries, she is supposed to be +airing<br> + herself from one till four. But, hop, skip, and jump, and she is +here.<br> + You know your Moliere? Well, Baron, there is nothing imaginary +in your<br> + title."</p> + +<p>Hulot, left without a shred of doubt, sat sunk in ominous +silence.<br> + Catastrophes lead intelligent and strong-minded men to be<br> + philosophical. The Baron, morally, was at this moment like a +man<br> + trying to find his way by night through a forest. This +gloomy<br> + taciturnity and the change in that dejected countenance made +Crevel<br> + very uneasy, for he did not wish the death of his colleague.</p> + +<p>"As I said, old fellow, we are now even; let us play for the +odd. Will<br> + you play off the tie by hook and by crook? Come!"</p> + +<p>"Why," said Hulot, talking to himself--"why is it that out of +ten<br> + pretty women at least seven are false?"</p> + +<p>But the Baron was too much upset to answer his own question. +Beauty is<br> + the greatest of human gifts for power. Every power that has +no<br> + counterpoise, no autocratic control, leads to abuses and +folly.<br> + Despotism is the madness of power; in women the despot is +caprice.</p> + +<p>"You have nothing to complain of, my good friend; you have a +beautiful<br> + wife, and she is virtuous."</p> + +<p>"I deserve my fate," said Hulot. "I have undervalued my wife +and made<br> + her miserable, and she is an angel! Oh, my poor Adeline! you +are<br> + avenged! She suffers in solitude and silence, and she is worthy +of my<br> + love; I ought--for she is still charming, fair and girlish +even--But<br> + was there ever a woman known more base, more ignoble, more +villainous<br> + than this Valerie?"</p> + +<p>"She is a good-for-nothing slut," said Crevel, "a hussy that +deserves<br> + whipping on the Place du Chatelet. But, my dear Canillac, though +we<br> + are such blades, so Marechal de Richelieu, Louis XV., +Pompadour,<br> + Madame du Barry, gay dogs, and everything that is most +eighteenth<br> + century, there is no longer a lieutenant of police."</p> + +<p>"How can we make them love us?" Hulot wondered to himself +without<br> + heeding Crevel.</p> + +<p>"It is sheer folly in us to expect to be loved, my dear +fellow," said<br> + Crevel. "We can only be endured; for Madame Marneffe is a +hundred<br> + times more profligate than Josepha."</p> + +<p>"And avaricious! she costs me a hundred and ninety-two +thousand francs<br> + a year!" cried Hulot.</p> + +<p>"And how many centimes!" sneered Crevel, with the insolence of +a<br> + financier who scorns so small a sum.</p> + +<p>"You do not love her, that is very evident," said the Baron +dolefully.</p> + +<p>"I have had enough of her," replied Crevel, "for she has had +more than<br> + three hundred thousand francs of mine!"</p> + +<p>"Where is it? Where does it all go?" said the Baron, clasping +his head<br> + in his hands.</p> + +<p>"If we had come to an agreement, like the simple young men who +combine<br> + to maintain a twopenny baggage, she would have cost us +less."</p> + +<p>"That is an idea"! replied the Baron. "But she would still be +cheating<br> + us; for, my burly friend, what do you say to this +Brazilian?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, old sly fox, you are right, we are swindled +like--like<br> + shareholders!" said Crevel. "All such women are an unlimited<br> + liability, and we the sleeping partners."</p> + +<p>"Then it was she who told you about the candle in the +window?"</p> + +<p>"My good man," replied Crevel, striking an attitude, "she has +fooled<br> + us both. Valerie is a--She told me to keep you here.--Now I see +it<br> + all. She has got her Brazilian!--Oh, I have done with her, for +if you<br> + hold her hands, she would find a way to cheat you with her +feet!<br> + There! she is a minx, a jade!"</p> + +<p>"She is lower than a prostitute," said the Baron. "Josepha and +Jenny<br> + Cadine were in their rights when they were false to us; they +make a<br> + trade of their charms."</p> + +<p>"But she, who affects the saint--the prude!" said Crevel. "I +tell you<br> + what, Hulot, do you go back to your wife; your money matters are +not<br> + looking well; I have heard talk of certain notes of hand given +to a<br> + low usurer whose special line of business is lending to these +sluts, a<br> + man named Vauvinet. For my part, I am cured of your 'real +ladies.'<br> + And, after all, at our time of life what do we want of these +swindling<br> + hussies, who, to be honest, cannot help playing us false? You +have<br> + white hair and false teeth; I am of the shape of Silenus. I +shall go<br> + in for saving. Money never deceives one. Though the Treasury is +indeed<br> + open to all the world twice a year, it pays you interest, and +this<br> + woman swallows it. With you, my worthy friend, as Gubetta, as +my<br> + partner in the concern, I might have resigned myself to a +shady<br> + bargain--no, a philosophical calm. But with a Brazilian who +has<br> + possibly smuggled in some doubtful colonial produce----"</p> + +<p><br> + "Woman is an inexplicable creature!" said Hulot.</p> + +<p>"I can explain her," said Crevel. "We are old; the Brazilian +is young<br> + and handsome."</p> + +<p>"Yes; that, I own, is true," said Hulot; "we are older than we +were.<br> + But, my dear fellow, how is one to do without these pretty +creatures--<br> + seeing them undress, twist up their hair, smile cunningly +through<br> + their fingers as they screw up their curl-papers, put on all +their<br> + airs and graces, tell all their lies, declare that we don't love +them<br> + when we are worried with business; and they cheer us in spite +of<br> + everything."</p> + +<p>"Yes, by the Power! It is the only pleasure in life!" cried +Crevel.<br> + "When a saucy little mug smiles at you and says, 'My old dear, +you<br> + don't know how nice you are! I am not like other women, I +suppose, who<br> + go crazy over mere boys with goats' beards, smelling of smoke, +and as<br> + coarse as serving-men! For in their youth they are so +insolent!--They<br> + come in and they bid you good-morning, and out they go.--I, whom +you<br> + think such a flirt, I prefer a man of fifty to these brats. A +man who<br> + will stick by me, who is devoted, who knows a woman is not to +be<br> + picked up every day, and appreciates us.--That is what I love +you for,<br> + you old monster!'--and they fill up these avowals with little +pettings<br> + and prettinesses and--Faugh! they are as false as the bills on +the<br> + Hotel de Ville."</p> + +<p>"A lie is sometimes better than the truth," said Hulot, +remembering<br> + sundry bewitching scenes called up by Crevel, who mimicked +Valerie.<br> + "They are obliged to act upon their lies, to sew spangles on +their<br> + stage frocks--"</p> + +<p>"And they are ours, after all, the lying jades!" said Crevel +coarsely.</p> + +<p>"Valerie is a witch," said the Baron. "She can turn an old man +into a<br> + young one."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" said Crevel, "she is an eel that wriggles through +your<br> + hands; but the prettiest eel, as white and sweet as sugar, as +amusing<br> + as Arnal--and ingenious!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, she is full of fun," said Hulot, who had now quite +forgotten his<br> + wife.</p> + +<p>The colleagues went to bed the best friends in the world, +reminding<br> + each other of Valerie's perfections, the tones of her voice, +her<br> + kittenish way, her movements, her fun, her sallies of wit, and +of<br> + affections; for she was an artist in love, and had charming +impulses,<br> + as tenors may sing a scena better one day than another. And they +fell<br> + asleep, cradled in tempting and diabolical visions lighted by +the<br> + fires of hell.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock next morning Hulot went off to the War Office, +Crevel<br> + had business out of town; they left the house together, and +Crevel<br> + held out his hand to the Baron, saying:</p> + +<p>"To show that there is no ill-feeling. For we, neither of us, +will<br> + have anything more to say to Madame Marneffe?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is the end of everything," replied Hulot with a sort +of<br> + horror.</p> + +<p>By half-past ten Crevel was mounting the stairs, four at a +time, up to<br> + Madame Marneffe's apartment. He found the infamous wretch, +the<br> + adorable enchantress, in the most becoming morning wrapper, +enjoying<br> + an elegant little breakfast in the society of the Baron Montes +de<br> + Montejanos and Lisbeth. Though the sight of the Brazilian gave +him a<br> + shock, Crevel begged Madame Marneffe to grant him two minutes' +speech<br> + with her. Valerie led Crevel into the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>"Valerie, my angel," said the amorous Mayor, "Monsieur +Marneffe cannot<br> + have long to live. If you will be faithful to me, when he dies +we will<br> + be married. Think it over. I have rid you of Hulot.--So just +consider<br> + whether this Brazilian is to compare with a Mayor of Paris, a +man who,<br> + for your sake, will make his way to the highest dignities, and +who can<br> + already offer you eighty-odd thousand francs a year."</p> + +<p>"I will think it over," said she. "You will see me in the Rue +du<br> + Dauphin at two o'clock, and we can discuss the matter. But be a +good<br> + boy--and do not forget the bond you promised to transfer to +me."</p> + +<p>She returned to the dining-room, followed by Crevel, who +flattered<br> + himself that he had hit on a plan for keeping Valerie to +himself; but<br> + there he found Baron Hulot, who, during this short colloquy, had +also<br> + arrived with the same end in view. He, like Crevel, begged for a +brief<br> + interview. Madame Marneffe again rose to go to the drawing-room, +with<br> + a smile at the Brazilian that seemed to say, "What fools they +are!<br> + Cannot they see you?"</p> + +<p>"Valerie," said the official, "my child, that cousin of yours +is an<br> + American cousin--"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is enough!" she cried, interrupting the Baron. +"Marneffe<br> + never has been, and never will be, never can be my husband! The +first,<br> + the only man I ever loved, has come back quite unexpectedly. It +is no<br> + fault of mine! But look at Henri and look at yourself. Then +ask<br> + yourself whether a woman, and a woman in love, can hesitate for +a<br> + moment. My dear fellow, I am not a kept mistress. From this day +forth<br> + I refuse to play the part of Susannah between the two Elders. If +you<br> + really care for me, you and Crevel, you will be our friends; but +all<br> + else is at an end, for I am six-and-twenty, and henceforth I +mean to<br> + be a saint, an admirable and worthy wife--as yours is."</p> + +<p>"Is that what you have to say?" answered Hulot. "Is this the +way you<br> + receive me when I come like a Pope with my hands full of +Indulgences?<br> + --Well, your husband will never be a first-class clerk, nor +be<br> + promoted in the Legion of Honor."</p> + +<p>"That remains to be seen," said Madame Marneffe, with a +meaning look<br> + at Hulot.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, no temper," said Hulot in despair. "I will call +this<br> + evening, and we will come to an understanding."</p> + +<p>"In Lisbeth's rooms then."</p> + +<p>"Very good--at Lisbeth's," said the old dotard.</p> + +<p>Hulot and Crevel went downstairs together without speaking a +word till<br> + they were in the street; but outside on the sidewalk they looked +at<br> + each other with a dreary laugh.</p> + +<p>"We are a couple of old fools," said Crevel.</p> + +<p>"I have got rid of them," said Madame Marneffe to Lisbeth, as +she sat<br> + down once more. "I never loved and I never shall love any man +but my<br> + Jaguar," she added, smiling at Henri Montes. "Lisbeth, my dear, +you<br> + don't know. Henri has forgiven me the infamy to which I was +reduced by<br> + poverty."</p> + +<p>"It was my own fault," said the Brazilian. "I ought to have +sent you a<br> + hundred thousand francs."</p> + +<p>"Poor boy!" said Valerie; "I might have worked for my living, +but my<br> + fingers were not made for that--ask Lisbeth."</p> + +<p>The Brazilian went away the happiest man in Paris.</p> + +<p>At noon Valerie and Lisbeth were chatting in the splendid +bedroom<br> + where this dangerous woman was giving to her dress those +finishing<br> + touches which a lady alone can give. The doors were bolted, +the<br> + curtains drawn over them, and Valerie related in every detail +all the<br> + events of the evening, the night, the morning.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of it all, my darling?" she said to Lisbeth +in<br> + conclusion. "Which shall I be when the time comes--Madame +Crevel, or<br> + Madame Montes?"</p> + +<p>"Crevel will not last more than ten years, such a profligate +as he<br> + is," replied Lisbeth. "Montes is young. Crevel will leave you +about<br> + thirty thousand francs a year. Let Montes wait; he will be +happy<br> + enough as Benjamin. And so, by the time you are +three-and-thirty, if<br> + you take care of your looks, you may marry your Brazilian and +make a<br> + fine show with sixty thousand francs a year of your +own--especially<br> + under the wing of a Marechale."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but Montes is a Brazilian; he will never make his +mark,"<br> + observed Valerie.</p> + +<p>"We live in the day of railways," said Lisbeth, "when +foreigners rise<br> + to high positions in France."</p> + +<p>"We shall see," replied Valerie, "when Marneffe is dead. He +has not<br> + much longer to suffer."</p> + +<p>"These attacks that return so often are a sort of physical +remorse,"<br> + said Lisbeth. "Well, I am off to see Hortense."</p> + +<p>"Yes--go, my angel!" replied Valerie. "And bring me my +artist.--Three<br> + years, and I have not gained an inch of ground! It is a disgrace +to<br> + both of us!--Wenceslas and Henri--these are my two passions--one +for<br> + love, the other for fancy."</p> + +<p>"You are lovely this morning," said Lisbeth, putting her arm +round<br> + Valerie's waist and kissing her forehead. "I enjoy all your +pleasures,<br> + your good fortune, your dresses--I never really lived till the +day<br> + when we became sisters."</p> + +<p>"Wait a moment, my tiger-cat!" cried Valerie, laughing; "your +shawl is<br> + crooked. You cannot put a shawl on yet in spite of my lessons +for<br> + three years--and you want to be Madame la Marechale Hulot!"</p> + +<p>Shod in prunella boots, over gray silk stockings, in a gown +of<br> + handsome corded silk, her hair in smooth bands under a very +pretty<br> + black velvet bonnet, lined with yellow satin, Lisbeth made her +way to<br> + the Rue Saint-Dominique by the Boulevard des Invalides, +wondering<br> + whether sheer dejection would at last break down Hortense's +brave<br> + spirit, and whether Sarmatian instability, taken at a moment +when,<br> + with such a character, everything is possible, would be too much +for<br> + Steinbock's constancy.</p> + +<p>Hortense and Wenceslas had the ground floor of a house +situated at the<br> + corner of the Rue Saint-Dominique and the Esplanade des +Invalides.<br> + These rooms, once in harmony with the honeymoon, now had that +half-<br> + new, half-faded look that may be called the autumnal aspect +of<br> + furniture. Newly married folks are as lavish and wasteful, +without<br> + knowing it or intending it, of everything about them as they are +of<br> + their affection. Thinking only of themselves, they reck little +of the<br> + future, which, at a later time, weighs on the mother of a +family.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth found Hortense just as she had finished dressing a +baby<br> + Wenceslas, who had been carried into the garden.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Betty," said Hortense, opening the door herself +to her<br> + cousin. The cook was gone out, and the house-servant, who was +also the<br> + nurse, was doing some washing.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, dear child," replied Lisbeth, kissing her. +"Is<br> + Wenceslas in the studio?" she added in a whisper.</p> + +<p>"No; he is in the drawing-room talking to Stidmann and +Chanor."</p> + +<p>"Can we be alone?" asked Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"Come into my room."</p> + +<p>In this room, the hangings of pink-flowered chintz with green +leaves<br> + on a white ground, constantly exposed to the sun, were much +faded, as<br> + was the carpet. The muslin curtains had not been washed for many +a<br> + day. The smell of tobacco hung about the room; for Wenceslas, +now an<br> + artist of repute, and born a fine gentleman, left his cigar-ash +on the<br> + arms of the chairs and the prettiest pieces of furniture, as a +man<br> + does to whom love allows everything--a man rich enough to scorn +vulgar<br> + carefulness.</p> + +<p>"Now, then, let us talk over your affairs," said Lisbeth, +seeing her<br> + pretty cousin silent in the armchair into which she had dropped. +"But<br> + what ails you? You look rather pale, my dear."</p> + +<p>"Two articles have just come out in which my poor Wenceslas is +pulled<br> + to pieces; I have read them, but I have hidden them from him, +for they<br> + would completely depress him. The marble statue of Marshal +Montcornet<br> + is pronounced utterly bad. The bas-reliefs are allowed to pass +muster,<br> + simply to allow of the most perfidious praise of his talent as +a<br> + decorative artist, and to give the greater emphasis to the +statement<br> + that serious art is quite out of his reach! Stidmann, whom I +besought<br> + to tell me the truth, broke my heart by confessing that his +own<br> + opinion agreed with that of every other artist, of the critics, +and<br> + the public. He said to me in the garden before breakfast, +'If<br> + Wenceslas cannot exhibit a masterpiece next season, he must give +up<br> + heroic sculpture and be content to execute idyllic subjects, +small<br> + figures, pieces of jewelry, and high-class goldsmiths' work!' +This<br> + verdict is dreadful to me, for Wenceslas, I know, will never +accept<br> + it; he feels he has so many fine ideas."</p> + +<p>"Ideas will not pay the tradesman's bills," remarked Lisbeth. +"I was<br> + always telling him so--nothing but money. Money is only to be +had for<br> + work done--things that ordinary folks like well enough to buy +them.<br> + When an artist has to live and keep a family, he had far better +have a<br> + design for a candlestick on his counter, or for a fender or a +table,<br> + than for groups or statues. Everybody must have such things, +while he<br> + may wait months for the admirer of the group--and for his +money---"</p> + +<p>"You are right, my good Lisbeth. Tell him all that; I have not +the<br> + courage.--Besides, as he was saying to Stidmann, if he goes back +to<br> + ornamental work and small sculpture, he must give up all hope of +the<br> + Institute and grand works of art, and we should not get the +three<br> + hundred thousand francs' worth of work promised at Versailles +and by<br> + the City of Paris and the Ministers. That is what we are robbed +of by<br> + those dreadful articles, written by rivals who want to step into +our<br> + shoes."</p> + +<p>"And that is not what you dreamed of, poor little puss!" said +Lisbeth,<br> + kissing Hortense on the brow. "You expected to find a gentleman, +a<br> + leader of Art, the chief of all living sculptors.--But that is +poetry,<br> + you see, a dream requiring fifty thousand francs a year, and you +have<br> + only two thousand four hundred--so long as I live. After my +death<br> + three thousand."</p> + +<p>A few tears rose to Hortense's eyes, and Lisbeth drank them +with her<br> + eyes as a cat laps milk.</p> + +<p>This is the story of their honeymoon--the tale will perhaps +not be<br> + lost on some artists.</p> + +<p>Intellectual work, labor in the upper regions of mental +effort, is one<br> + of the grandest achievements of man. That which deserves real +glory in<br> + Art--for by Art we must understand every creation of the +mind--is<br> + courage above all things--a sort of courage of which the vulgar +have<br> + no conception, and which has never perhaps been described till +now.</p> + +<p>Driven by the dreadful stress of poverty, goaded by Lisbeth, +and kept<br> + by her in blinders, as a horse is, to hinder it from seeing to +the<br> + right and left of its road, lashed on by that hard woman, +the<br> + personification of Necessity, a sort of deputy Fate, Wenceslas, +a born<br> + poet and dreamer, had gone on from conception to execution, +and<br> + overleaped, without sounding it, the gulf that divides these +two<br> + hemispheres of Art. To muse, to dream, to conceive of fine +works, is a<br> + delightful occupation. It is like smoking a magic cigar or +leading the<br> + life of a courtesan who follows her own fancy. The work then +floats in<br> + all the grace of infancy, in the mad joy of conception, with +the<br> + fragrant beauty of a flower, and the aromatic juices of a +fruit<br> + enjoyed in anticipation.</p> + +<p><br> + The man who can sketch his purpose beforehand in words is +regarded as<br> + a wonder, and every artist and writer possesses that faculty. +But<br> + gestation, fruition, the laborious rearing of the offspring, +putting<br> + it to bed every night full fed with milk, embracing it anew +every<br> + morning with the inexhaustible affection of a mother's heart, +licking<br> + it clean, dressing it a hundred times in the richest garb only +to be<br> + instantly destroyed; then never to be cast down at the +convulsions of<br> + this headlong life till the living masterpiece is perfected +which in<br> + sculpture speaks to every eye, in literature to every intellect, +in<br> + painting to every memory, in music to every heart!--This is the +task<br> + of execution. The hand must be ready at every instant to come +forward<br> + and obey the brain. But the brain has no more a creative power +at<br> + command than love has a perennial spring.</p> + +<p>The habit of creativeness, the indefatigable love of +motherhood which<br> + makes a mother--that miracle of nature which Raphael so +perfectly<br> + understood--the maternity of the brain, in short, which is +so<br> + difficult to develop, is lost with prodigious ease. Inspiration +is the<br> + opportunity of genius. She does not indeed dance on the razor's +edge,<br> + she is in the air and flies away with the suspicious swiftness +of a<br> + crow; she wears no scarf by which the poet can clutch her; her +hair is<br> + a flame; she vanishes like the lovely rose and white flamingo, +the<br> + sportsman's despair. And work, again, is a weariful struggle, +alike<br> + dreaded and delighted in by these lofty and powerful natures who +are<br> + often broken by it. A great poet of our day has said in speaking +of<br> + this overwhelming labor, "I sit down to it in despair, but I +leave it<br> + with regret." Be it known to all who are ignorant! If the artist +does<br> + not throw himself into his work as Curtius sprang into the gulf, +as a<br> + soldier leads a forlorn hope without a moment's thought, and if +when<br> + he is in the crater he does not dig on as a miner does when the +earth<br> + has fallen in on him; if he contemplates the difficulties before +him<br> + instead of conquering them one by one, like the lovers in fairy +tales,<br> + who to win their princesses overcome ever new enchantments, the +work<br> + remains incomplete; it perishes in the studio where +creativeness<br> + becomes impossible, and the artist looks on at the suicide of +his own<br> + talent.</p> + +<p>Rossini, a brother genius to Raphael, is a striking instance +in his<br> + poverty-stricken youth, compared with his latter years of +opulence.<br> + This is the reason why the same prize, the same triumph, the +same bays<br> + are awarded to great poets and to great generals.</p> + +<p>Wenceslas, by nature a dreamer, had expended so much energy +in<br> + production, in study, and in work under Lisbeth's despotic rule, +that<br> + love and happiness resulted in reaction. His real character<br> + reappeared, the weakness, recklessness, and indolence of the +Sarmatian<br> + returned to nestle in the comfortable corners of his soul, +whence the<br> + schoolmaster's rod had routed them.</p> + +<p>For the first few months the artist adored his wife. Hortense +and<br> + Wenceslas abandoned themselves to the happy childishness of +a<br> + legitimate and unbounded passion. Hortense was the first to +release<br> + her husband from his labors, proud to triumph over her rival, +his Art.<br> + And, indeed, a woman's caresses scare away the Muse, and break +down<br> + the sturdy, brutal resolution of the worker.</p> + +<p>Six or seven months slipped by, and the artist's fingers had +forgotten<br> + the use of the modeling tool. When the need for work began to be +felt,<br> + when the Prince de Wissembourg, president of the committee +of<br> + subscribers, asked to see the statue, Wenceslas spoke the +inevitable<br> + byword of the idler, "I am just going to work on it," and he +lulled<br> + his dear Hortense with fallacious promises and the magnificent +schemes<br> + of the artist as he smokes. Hortense loved her poet more than +ever;<br> + she dreamed of a sublime statue of Marshal Montcornet. +Montcornet<br> + would be the embodied ideal of bravery, the type of the +cavalry<br> + officer, of courage <i>a la Murat</i>. Yes, yes; at the mere +sight of that<br> + statue all the Emperor's victories were to seem a foregone +conclusion.<br> + And then such workmanship! The pencil was accommodating and +answered<br> + to the word.</p> + +<p>By way of a statue the result was a delightful little +Wenceslas.</p> + +<p>When the progress of affairs required that he should go to the +studio<br> + at le Gros-Caillou to mould the clay and set up the life-size +model,<br> + Steinbock found one day that the Prince's clock required his +presence<br> + in the workshop of Florent and Chanor, where the figures were +being<br> + finished; or, again, the light was gray and dull; to-day he +had<br> + business to do, to-morrow they had a family dinner, to say +nothing of<br> + indispositions of mind and body, and the days when he stayed at +home<br> + to toy with his adored wife.</p> + +<p>Marshal the Prince de Wissembourg was obliged to be angry to +get the<br> + clay model finished; he declared that he must put the work into +other<br> + hands. It was only by dint of endless complaints and much +strong<br> + language that the committee of subscribers succeeded in seeing +the<br> + plaster-cast. Day after day Steinbock came home, evidently +tired,<br> + complaining of this "hodman's work" and his own physical +weakness.<br> + During that first year the household felt no pinch; the +Countess<br> + Steinbock, desperately in love with her husband cursed the +War<br> + Minister. She went to see him; she told him that great works of +art<br> + were not to be manufactured like cannon; and that the +State--like<br> + Louis XIV., Francis I., and Leo X.--ought to be at the beck and +call<br> + of genius. Poor Hortense, believing she held a Phidias in her +embrace,<br> + had the sort of motherly cowardice for her Wenceslas that is in +every<br> + wife who carries her love to the pitch of idolatry.</p> + +<p>"Do not be hurried," said she to her husband, "our whole +future life<br> + is bound up with that statue. Take your time and produce a<br> + masterpiece."</p> + +<p>She would go to the studio, and then the enraptured Steinbock +wasted<br> + five hours out of seven in describing the statue instead of +working at<br> + it. He thus spent eighteen months in finishing the design, which +to<br> + him was all-important.</p> + +<p>When the plaster was cast and the model complete, poor +Hortense, who<br> + had looked on at her husband's toil, seeing his health really +suffer<br> + from the exertions which exhaust a sculptor's frame and arms and +hands<br> + --Hortense thought the result admirable. Her father, who knew +nothing<br> + of sculpture, and her mother, no less ignorant, lauded it as +a<br> + triumph; the War Minister came with them to see it, and, +overruled by<br> + them, expressed approval of the figure, standing as it did +alone, in a<br> + favorable light, thrown up against a green baize background.</p> + +<p>Alas! at the exhibition of 1841, the disapprobation of the +public soon<br> + took the form of abuse and mockery in the mouths of those who +were<br> + indignant with the idol too hastily set up for worship. Stidmann +tried<br> + to advise his friend, but was accused of jealousy. Every article +in a<br> + newspaper was to Hortense an outcry of envy. Stidmann, the best +of<br> + good fellows, got articles written, in which adverse criticism +was<br> + contravened, and it was pointed out that sculptors altered their +works<br> + in translating the plaster into marble, and that the marble +would be<br> + the test.</p> + +<p>"In reproducing the plaster sketch in marble," wrote Claude +Vignon, "a<br> + masterpiece may be ruined, or a bad design made beautiful. The +plaster<br> + is the manuscript, the marble is the book."</p> + +<p>So in two years and a half Wenceslas had produced a statue and +a son.<br> + The child was a picture of beauty; the statue was execrable.</p> + +<p>The clock for the Prince and the price of the statue paid off +the<br> + young couple's debts. Steinbock had acquired fashionable habits; +he<br> + went to the play, to the opera; he talked admirably about art; +and in<br> + the eyes of the world he maintained his reputation as a great +artist<br> + by his powers of conversation and criticism. There are many +clever men<br> + in Paris who spend their lives in talking themselves out, and +are<br> + content with a sort of drawing-room celebrity. Steinbock, +emulating<br> + these emasculated but charming men, grew every day more averse +to hard<br> + work. As soon as he began a thing, he was conscious of all +its<br> + difficulties, and the discouragement that came over him +enervated his<br> + will. Inspiration, the frenzy of intellectual procreation, +flew<br> + swiftly away at the sight of this effete lover.</p> + +<p>Sculpture--like dramatic art--is at once the most difficult +and the<br> + easiest of all arts. You have but to copy a model, and the task +is<br> + done; but to give it a soul, to make it typical by creating a +man or a<br> + woman--this is the sin of Prometheus. Such triumphs in the +annals of<br> + sculpture may be counted, as we may count the few poets among +men.<br> + Michael Angelo, Michel Columb, Jean Goujon, Phidias, +Praxiteles,<br> + Polycletes, Puget, Canova, Albert Durer, are the brothers of +Milton,<br> + Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Tasso, Homer, and Moliere. And such +an<br> + achievement is so stupendous that a single statue is enough to +make a<br> + man immortal, as Figaro, Lovelace, and Manon Lescaut have +immortalized<br> + Beaumarchais, Richardson, and the Abbe Prevost.</p> + +<p>Superficial thinkers--and there are many in the artist +world--have<br> + asserted that sculpture lives only by the nude, that it died +with the<br> + Greeks, and that modern vesture makes it impossible. But, in the +first<br> + place, the Ancients have left sublime statues entirely +clothed--the<br> + <i>Polyhymnia</i>, the <i>Julia</i>, and others, and we have not +found one-tenth<br> + of all their works; and then, let any lover of art go to +Florence and<br> + see Michael Angelo's <i>Penseroso</i>, or to the Cathedral of +Mainz, and<br> + behold the <i>Virgin</i> by Albert Durer, who has created a +living woman<br> + out of ebony, under her threefold drapery, with the most +flowing, the<br> + softest hair that ever a waiting-maid combed through; let all +the<br> + ignorant flock thither, and they will acknowledge that genius +can give<br> + mind to drapery, to armor, to a robe, and fill it with a body, +just as<br> + a man leaves the stamp of his individuality and habits of life +on the<br> + clothes he wears.</p> + +<p>Sculpture is the perpetual realization of the fact which once, +and<br> + never again, was, in painting called Raphael!</p> + +<p>The solution of this hard problem is to be found only in +constant<br> + persevering toil; for, merely to overcome the material +difficulties to<br> + such an extent, the hand must be so practised, so dexterous +and<br> + obedient, that the sculptor may be free to struggle soul to soul +with<br> + the elusive moral element that he has to transfigure as he +embodies<br> + it. If Paganini, who uttered his soul through the strings of +his<br> + violin, spent three days without practising, he lost what he +called<br> + the <i>stops</i> of his instrument, meaning the sympathy between +the wooden<br> + frame, the strings, the bow, and himself; if he had lost +this<br> + alliance, he would have been no more than an ordinary +player.</p> + +<p>Perpetual work is the law of art, as it is the law of life, +for art is<br> + idealized creation. Hence great artists and perfect poets wait +neither<br> + for commission nor for purchasers. They are constantly +creating--<br> + to-day, to-morrow, always. The result is the habit of work, +the<br> + unfailing apprehension of the difficulties which keep them in +close<br> + intercourse with the Muse and her productive forces. Canova +lived in<br> + his studio, as Voltaire lived in his study; and so must Homer +and<br> + Phidias have lived.</p> + +<p>While Lisbeth kept Wenceslas Steinbock in thraldom in his +garret, he<br> + was on the thorny road trodden by all these great men, which +leads to<br> + the Alpine heights of glory. Then happiness, in the person +of<br> + Hortense, had reduced the poet to idleness--the normal condition +of<br> + all artists, since to them idleness is fully occupied. Their joy +is<br> + such as that of the pasha of a seraglio; they revel with ideas, +they<br> + get drunk at the founts of intellect. Great artists, such as<br> + Steinbock, wrapped in reverie, are rightly spoken of as +dreamers.<br> + They, like opium-eaters, all sink into poverty, whereas if they +had<br> + been kept up to the mark by the stern demands of life, they +might have<br> + been great men.</p> + +<p><br> + At the same time, these half-artists are delightful; men like +them and<br> + cram them with praise; they even seem superior to the true +artists,<br> + who are taxed with conceit, unsociableness, contempt of the laws +of<br> + society. This is why: Great men are the slaves of their work. +Their<br> + indifference to outer things, their devotion to their work, +make<br> + simpletons regard them as egotists, and they are expected to +wear the<br> + same garb as the dandy who fulfils the trivial evolutions +called<br> + social duties. These men want the lions of the Atlas to be +combed and<br> + scented like a lady's poodle.</p> + +<p>These artists, who are too rarely matched to meet their +fellows, fall<br> + into habits of solitary exclusiveness; they are inexplicable to +the<br> + majority, which, as we know, consists mostly of fools--of the +envious,<br> + the ignorant, and the superficial.</p> + +<p>Now you may imagine what part a wife should play in the life +of these<br> + glorious and exceptional beings. She ought to be what, for five +years,<br> + Lisbeth had been, but with the added offering of love, humble +and<br> + patient love, always ready and always smiling.</p> + +<p>Hortense, enlightened by her anxieties as a mother, and driven +by dire<br> + necessity, had discovered too late the mistakes she had been<br> + involuntarily led into by her excessive love. Still, the +worthy<br> + daughter of her mother, her heart ached at the thought of +worrying<br> + Wenceslas; she loved her dear poet too much to become his +torturer;<br> + and she could foresee the hour when beggary awaited her, her +child,<br> + and her husband.</p> + +<p>"Come, come, my child," said Lisbeth, seeing the tears in her +cousin's<br> + lovely eyes, "you must not despair. A glassful of tears will not +buy a<br> + plate of soup. How much do you want?"</p> + +<p>"Well, five or six thousand francs."</p> + +<p>"I have but three thousand at the most," said Lisbeth. "And +what is<br> + Wenceslas doing now?"</p> + +<p>"He has had an offer to work in partnership with Stidmann at a +table<br> + service for the Duc d'Herouville for six thousand francs. +Then<br> + Monsieur Chanor will advance four thousand to repay Monsieur de +Lora<br> + and Bridau--a debt of honor."</p> + +<p>"What, you have had the money for the statue and the +bas-reliefs for<br> + Marshal Montcornet's monument, and you have not paid them +yet?"</p> + +<p>"For the last three years," said Hortense, "we have spent +twelve<br> + thousand francs a year, and I have but a hundred louis a year of +my<br> + own. The Marshal's monument, when all the expenses were paid, +brought<br> + us no more than sixteen thousand francs. Really and truly, +if<br> + Wenceslas gets no work, I do not know what is to become of us. +Oh, if<br> + only I could learn to make statues, I would handle the clay!" +she<br> + cried, holding up her fine arms.</p> + +<p>The woman, it was plain, fulfilled the promise of the girl; +there was<br> + a flash in her eye; impetuous blood, strong with iron, flowed in +her<br> + veins; she felt that she was wasting her energy in carrying +her<br> + infant.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my poor little thing! a sensible girl should not marry an +artist<br> + till his fortune is made--not while it is still to make."</p> + +<p>At this moment they heard voices; Stidmann and Wenceslas were +seeing<br> + Chanor to the door; then Wenceslas and Stidmann came in +again.</p> + +<p>Stidmann, an artist in vogue in the world of journalists, +famous<br> + actresses, and courtesans of the better class, was a young man +of<br> + fashion whom Valerie much wished to see in her rooms; indeed, he +had<br> + already been introduced to her by Claude Vignon. Stidmann had +lately<br> + broken off an intimacy with Madame Schontz, who had married +some<br> + months since and gone to live in the country. Valerie and +Lisbeth,<br> + hearing of this upheaval from Claude Vignon, thought it well to +get<br> + Steinbock's friend to visit in the Rue Vanneau.</p> + +<p>Stidmann, out of good feeling, went rarely to the Steinbocks'; +and as<br> + it happened that Lisbeth was not present when he was introduced +by<br> + Claude Vignon, she now saw him for the first time. As she +watched this<br> + noted artist, she caught certain glances from his eyes at +Hortense,<br> + which suggested to her the possibility of offering him to the +Countess<br> + Steinbock as a consolation if Wenceslas should be false to her. +In<br> + point of fact, Stidmann was reflecting that if Steinbock were +not his<br> + friend, Hortense, the young and superbly beautiful countess, +would be<br> + an adorable mistress; it was this very notion, controlled by +honor,<br> + that kept him away from the house. Lisbeth was quick to mark +the<br> + significant awkwardness that troubles a man in the presence of a +woman<br> + with whom he will not allow himself to flirt.</p> + +<p>"Very good-looking--that young man," said she in a whisper +to<br> + Hortense.</p> + +<p>"Oh, do you think so?" she replied. "I never noticed him."</p> + +<p>"Stidmann, my good fellow," said Wenceslas, in an undertone to +his<br> + friend, "we are on no ceremony, you and I--we have some business +to<br> + settle with this old girl."</p> + +<p>Stidmann bowed to the ladies and went away.</p> + +<p>"It is settled," said Wenceslas, when he came in from taking +leave of<br> + Stidmann. "But there are six months' work to be done, and we +must live<br> + meanwhile."</p> + +<p>"There are my diamonds," cried the young Countess, with the +impetuous<br> + heroism of a loving woman.</p> + +<p>A tear rose in Wenceslas' eye.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am going to work," said he, sitting down by his wife +and<br> + drawing her on to his knee. "I will do odd jobs--a wedding +chest,<br> + bronze groups----"</p> + +<p>"But, my children," said Lisbeth; "for, as you know, you will +be my<br> + heirs, and I shall leave you a very comfortable sum, believe +me,<br> + especially if you help me to marry the Marshal; nay, if we +succeed in<br> + that quickly, I will take you all to board with me--you and +Adeline.<br> + We should live very happily together.--But for the moment, +listen to<br> + the voice of my long experience. Do not fly to the +Mont-de-Piete; it<br> + is the ruin of the borrower. I have always found that when +the<br> + interest was due, those who had pledged their things had +nothing<br> + wherewith to pay up, and then all is lost. I can get you a loan +at<br> + five per cent on your note of hand."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we are saved!" said Hortense.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, child, Wenceslas had better come with me to see +the<br> + lender, who will oblige him at my request. It is Madame +Marneffe. If<br> + you flatter her a little--for she is as vain as a +<i>parvenue</i>--she will<br> + get you out of the scrape in the most obliging way. Come +yourself and<br> + see her, my dear Hortense."</p> + +<p>Hortense looked at her husband with the expression a man +condemned to<br> + death must wear on his way to the scaffold.</p> + +<p>"Claude Vignon took Stidmann there," said Wenceslas. "He says +it is a<br> + very pleasant house."</p> + +<p>Hortense's head fell. What she felt can only be expressed in +one word;<br> + it was not pain; it was illness.</p> + +<p>"But, my dear Hortense, you must learn something of life!" +exclaimed<br> + Lisbeth, understanding the eloquence of her cousin's looks.<br> + "Otherwise, like your mother, you will find yourself abandoned +in a<br> + deserted room, where you will weep like Calypso on the departure +of<br> + Ulysses, and at an age when there is no hope of Telemachus--" +she<br> + added, repeating a jest of Madame Marneffe's. "We have to regard +the<br> + people in the world as tools which we can make use of or let +alone,<br> + according as they can serve our turn. Make use of Madame +Marneffe now,<br> + my dears, and let her alone by and by. Are you afraid lest +Wenceslas,<br> + who worships you, should fall in love with a woman four or five +years<br> + older than himself, as yellow as a bundle of field peas, +and----?"</p> + +<p>"I would far rather pawn my diamonds," said Hortense. "Oh, +never go<br> + there, Wenceslas!--It is hell!"</p> + +<p>"Hortense is right," said Steinbock, kissing his wife.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, my dearest," said Hortense, delighted. "My husband +is an<br> + angel, you see, Lisbeth. He does not gamble, he goes nowhere +without<br> + me; if he only could stick to work--oh, I should be too happy. +Why<br> + take us on show to my father's mistress, a woman who is ruining +him<br> + and is the cause of troubles that are killing my heroic +mother?"</p> + +<p>"My child, that is not where the cause of your father's ruin +lies. It<br> + was his singer who ruined him, and then your marriage!" replied +her<br> + cousin. "Bless me! why, Madame Marneffe is of the greatest use +to him.<br> + However, I must tell no tales."</p> + +<p>"You have a good word for everybody, dear Betty--"</p> + +<p>Hortense was called into the garden by hearing the child cry; +Lisbeth<br> + was left alone with Wenceslas.</p> + +<p>"You have an angel for your wife, Wenceslas!" said she. "Love +her as<br> + you ought; never give her cause for grief."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed, I love her so well that I do not tell her all," +replied<br> + Wenceslas; "but to you, Lisbeth, I may confess the truth.--If I +took<br> + my wife's diamonds to the Monte-de-Piete, we should be no +further<br> + forward."</p> + +<p>"Then borrow of Madame Marneffe," said Lisbeth. "Persuade +Hortense,<br> + Wenceslas, to let you go there, or else, bless me! go there +without<br> + telling her."</p> + +<p>"That is what I was thinking of," replied Wenceslas, "when I +refused<br> + for fear of grieving Hortense."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me; I care too much for you both not to warn you of +your<br> + danger. If you go there, hold your heart tight in both hands, +for the<br> + woman is a witch. All who see her adore her; she is so wicked, +so<br> + inviting! She fascinates men like a masterpiece. Borrow her +money, but<br> + do not leave your soul in pledge. I should never be happy again +if you<br> + were false to Hortense--here she is! not another word! I will +settle<br> + the matter."</p> + +<p>"Kiss Lisbeth, my darling," said Wenceslas to his wife. "She +will help<br> + us out of our difficulties by lending us her savings."</p> + +<p>And he gave Lisbeth a look which she understood.</p> + +<p>"Then, I hope you mean to work, my dear treasure," said +Hortense.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," said the artist. "I will begin to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow is our ruin!" said his wife, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Now, my dear child! say yourself whether some hindrance has +not come<br> + in the way every day; some obstacle or business?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, very true, my love."</p> + +<p>"Here!" cried Steinbock, striking his brow, "here I have +swarms of<br> + ideas! I mean to astonish all my enemies. I am going to design +a<br> + service in the German style of the sixteenth century; the +romantic<br> + style: foliage twined with insects, sleeping children, newly +invented<br> + monsters, chimeras--real chimeras, such as we dream of!--I see +it all!<br> + It will be undercut, light, and yet crowded. Chanor was quite +amazed.<br> + --And I wanted some encouragement, for the last article on<br> + Montcornet's monument had been crushing."</p> + +<p>At a moment in the course of the day when Lisbeth and +Wenceslas were<br> + left together, the artist agreed to go on the morrow to see +Madame<br> + Marneffe--he either would win his wife's consent, or he would +go<br> + without telling her.</p> + +<p>Valerie, informed the same evening of this success, insisted +that<br> + Hulot should go to invite Stidmann, Claude Vignon, and Steinbock +to<br> + dinner; for she was beginning to tyrannize over him as women of +that<br> + type tyrannize over old men, who trot round town, and go to +make<br> + interest with every one who is necessary to the interests or +the<br> + vanity of their task-mistress.</p> + +<p>Next evening Valerie armed herself for conquest by making such +a<br> + toilet as a Frenchwoman can devise when she wishes to make the +most of<br> + herself. She studied her appearance in this great work as a man +going<br> + out to fight a duel practises his feints and lunges. Not a +speck, not<br> + a wrinkle was to be seen. Valerie was at her whitest, her +softest, her<br> + sweetest. And certain little "patches" attracted the eye.</p> + +<p>It is commonly supposed that the patch of the eighteenth +century is<br> + out of date or out of fashion; that is a mistake. In these days +women,<br> + more ingenious perhaps than of yore, invite a glance through +the<br> + opera-glass by other audacious devices. One is the first to hit +on a<br> + rosette in her hair with a diamond in the centre, and she +attracts<br> + every eye for a whole evening; another revives the hair-net, or +sticks<br> + a dagger through the twist to suggest a garter; this one wears +velvet<br> + bands round her wrists, that one appears in lace lippets. +These<br> + valiant efforts, an Austerlitz of vanity or of love, then set +the<br> + fashion for lower spheres by the time the inventive creatress +has<br> + originated something new. This evening, which Valerie meant to +be a<br> + success for her, she had placed three patches. She had washed +her hair<br> + with some lye, which changed its hue for a few days from a gold +color<br> + to a duller shade. Madame Steinbock's was almost red, and she +would be<br> + in every point unlike her. This new effect gave her a piquant +and<br> + strange appearance, which puzzled her followers so much, that +Montes<br> + asked her:</p> + +<p>"What have you done to yourself this evening?"--Then she put +on a<br> + rather wide black velvet neck-ribbon, which showed off the +whiteness<br> + of her skin. One patch took the place of the <i>assassine</i> of +our<br> + grandmothers. And Valerie pinned the sweetest rosebud into her +bodice,<br> + just in the middle above the stay-busk, and in the daintiest +little<br> + hollow! It was enough to make every man under thirty drop his +eyelids.</p> + +<p>"I am as sweet as a sugar-plum," said she to herself, going +through<br> + her attitudes before the glass, exactly as a dancer practises +her<br> + curtesies.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth had been to market, and the dinner was to be one of +those<br> + superfine meals which Mathurine had been wont to cook for her +Bishop<br> + when he entertained the prelate of the adjoining diocese.</p> + +<p>Stidmann, Claude Vignon, and Count Steinbock arrived almost +together,<br> + just at six. An ordinary, or, if you will, a natural woman would +have<br> + hastened at the announcement of a name so eagerly longed for; +but<br> + Valerie, though ready since five o'clock, remained in her +room,<br> + leaving her three guests together, certain that she was the +subject of<br> + their conversation or of their secret thoughts. She herself +had<br> + arranged the drawing-room, laying out the pretty trifles +produced in<br> + Paris and nowhere else, which reveal the woman and announce +her<br> + presence: albums bound in enamel or embroidered with beads, +saucers<br> + full of pretty rings, marvels of Sevres or Dresden mounted +exquisitely<br> + by Florent and Chanor, statues, books, all the frivolities which +cost<br> + insane sums, and which passion orders of the makers in its +first<br> + delirium--or to patch up its last quarrel.</p> + +<p>Besides, Valerie was in the state of intoxication that comes +of<br> + triumph. She had promised to marry Crevel if Marneffe should +die; and<br> + the amorous Crevel had transferred to the name of Valerie Fortin +bonds<br> + bearing ten thousand francs a year, the sum-total of what he had +made<br> + in railway speculations during the past three years, the returns +on<br> + the capital of a hundred thousand crowns which he had at first +offered<br> + to the Baronne Hulot. So Valerie now had an income of +thirty-two<br> + thousand francs.</p> + +<p>Crevel had just committed himself to a promise of far +greater<br> + magnitude than this gift of his surplus. In the paroxysm of +rapture<br> + which <i>his Duchess</i> had given him from two to four--he gave +this fine<br> + title to Madame <i>de</i> Marneffe to complete the illusion--for +Valerie<br> + had surpassed herself in the Rue du Dauphin that afternoon, he +had<br> + thought well to encourage her in her promised fidelity by giving +her<br> + the prospect of a certain little mansion, built in the Rue +Barbette by<br> + an imprudent contractor, who now wanted to sell it. Valerie +could<br> + already see herself in this delightful residence, with a +fore-court<br> + and a garden, and keeping a carriage!</p> + +<p><br> + "What respectable life can ever procure so much in so short a +time, or<br> + so easily?" said she to Lisbeth as she finished dressing. +Lisbeth was<br> + to dine with Valerie that evening, to tell Steinbock those +things<br> + about the lady which nobody can say about herself.</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe, radiant with satisfaction, came into the +drawing-room<br> + with modest grace, followed by Lisbeth dressed in black and +yellow to<br> + set her off.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening, Claude," said she, giving her hand to the +famous old<br> + critic.</p> + +<p>Claude Vignon, like many another, had become a political +personage--a<br> + word describing an ambitious man at the first stage of his +career. The<br> + <i>political personage</i> of 1840 represents, in some degree, +the <i>Abbe</i><br> + of the eighteenth century. No drawing-room circle is complete +without<br> + one.</p> + +<p>"My dear, this is my cousin, Count Steinbock," said +Lisbeth,<br> + introducing Wenceslas, whom Valerie seemed to have +overlooked.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, I recognized Monsieur le Comte," replied Valerie with +a<br> + gracious bow to the artist. "I often saw you in the Rue du +Doyenne,<br> + and I had the pleasure of being present at your wedding.--It +would be<br> + difficult, my dear," said she to Lisbeth, "to forget your +adopted son<br> + after once seeing him.--It is most kind of you, Monsieur +Stidmann,"<br> + she went on, "to have accepted my invitation at such short +notice; but<br> + necessity knows no law. I knew you to be the friend of both +these<br> + gentlemen. Nothing is more dreary, more sulky, than a dinner +where all<br> + the guests are strangers, so it was for their sake that I hailed +you<br> + in--but you will come another time for mine, I hope?--Say that +you<br> + will."</p> + +<p>And for a few minutes she moved about the room with Stidmann, +wholly<br> + occupied with him.</p> + +<p>Crevel and Hulot were announced separately, and then a deputy +named<br> + Beauvisage.</p> + +<p>This individual, a provincial Crevel, one of the men created +to make<br> + up the crowd in the world, voted under the banner of Giraud, a +State<br> + Councillor, and Victorin Hulot. These two politicians were +trying to<br> + form a nucleus of progressives in the loose array of the +Conservative<br> + Party. Giraud himself occasionally spent the evening at +Madame<br> + Marneffe's, and she flattered herself that she should also +capture<br> + Victorin Hulot; but the puritanical lawyer had hitherto found +excuses<br> + for refusing to accompany his father and father-in-law. It +seemed to<br> + him criminal to be seen in the house of the woman who cost his +mother<br> + so many tears. Victorin Hulot was to the puritans of political +life<br> + what a pious woman is among bigots.</p> + +<p>Beauvisage, formerly a stocking manufacturer at Arcis, was +anxious to<br> + <i>pick up the Paris style</i>. This man, one of the outer +stones of the<br> + Chamber, was forming himself under the auspices of this +delicious and<br> + fascinating Madame Marneffe. Introduced here by Crevel, he +had<br> + accepted him, at her instigation, as his model and master. +He<br> + consulted him on every point, took the address of his tailor, +imitated<br> + him, and tried to strike the same attitudes. In short, Crevel +was his<br> + Great Man.</p> + +<p>Valerie, surrounded by these bigwigs and the three artists, +and<br> + supported by Lisbeth, struck Wenceslas as a really superior +woman, all<br> + the more so because Claude Vignon spoke of her like a man in +love.</p> + +<p>"She is Madame de Maintenon in Ninon's petticoats!" said the +veteran<br> + critic. "You may please her in an evening if you have the wit; +but as<br> + for making her love you--that would be a triumph to crown a +man's<br> + ambition and fill up his life."</p> + +<p>Valerie, while seeming cold and heedless of her former +neighbor,<br> + piqued his vanity, quite unconsciously indeed, for she knew +nothing of<br> + the Polish character. There is in the Slav a childish element, +as<br> + there is in all these primitively wild nations which have +overflowed<br> + into civilization rather than that they have become civilized. +The<br> + race has spread like an inundation, and has covered a large +portion of<br> + the globe. It inhabits deserts whose extent is so vast that it +expands<br> + at its ease; there is no jostling there, as there is in Europe, +and<br> + civilization is impossible without the constant friction of +minds and<br> + interests. The Ukraine, Russia, the plains by the Danube, in +short,<br> + the Slav nations, are a connecting link between Europe and +Asia,<br> + between civilization and barbarism. Thus the Pole, the +wealthiest<br> + member of the Slav family, has in his character all the +childishness<br> + and inconsistency of a beardless race. He has courage, spirit, +and<br> + strength; but, cursed with instability, that courage, strength, +and<br> + energy have neither method nor guidance; for the Pole displays +a<br> + variability resembling that of the winds which blow across that +vast<br> + plain broken with swamps; and though he has the impetuosity of +the<br> + snow squalls that wrench and sweep away buildings, like those +aerial<br> + avalanches he is lost in the first pool and melts into water. +Man<br> + always assimilates something from the surroundings in which he +lives.<br> + Perpetually at strife with the Turk, the Pole has imbibed a +taste for<br> + Oriental splendor; he often sacrifices what is needful for the +sake of<br> + display. The men dress themselves out like women, yet the +climate has<br> + given them the tough constitution of Arabs.</p> + +<p>The Pole, sublime in suffering, has tired his oppressors' arms +by<br> + sheer endurance of beating; and, in the nineteenth century, +has<br> + reproduced the spectacle presented by the early Christians. +Infuse<br> + only ten per cent of English cautiousness into the frank and +open<br> + Polish nature, and the magnanimous white eagle would at this day +be<br> + supreme wherever the two-headed eagle has sneaked in. A +little<br> + Machiavelism would have hindered Poland from helping to save +Austria,<br> + who has taken a share of it; from borrowing from Prussia, the +usurer<br> + who had undermined it; and from breaking up as soon as a +division was<br> + first made.</p> + +<p>At the christening of Poland, no doubt, the Fairy +Carabosse,<br> + overlooked by the genii who endowed that attractive people with +the<br> + most brilliant gifts, came in to say:</p> + +<p>"Keep all the gifts that my sisters have bestowed on you; but +you<br> + shall never know what you wish for!"</p> + +<p>If, in its heroic duel with Russia, Poland had won the day, +the Poles<br> + would now be fighting among themselves, as they formerly fought +in<br> + their Diets to hinder each other from being chosen King. When +that<br> + nation, composed entirely of hot-headed dare-devils, has good +sense<br> + enough to seek a Louis XI. among her own offspring, to accept +his<br> + despotism and a dynasty, she will be saved.</p> + +<p>What Poland has been politically, almost every Pole is in +private<br> + life, especially under the stress of disaster. Thus +Wenceslas<br> + Steinbock, after worshiping his wife for three years and knowing +that<br> + he was a god to her, was so much nettled at finding himself +barely<br> + noticed by Madame Marneffe, that he made it a point of honor +to<br> + attract her attention. He compared Valerie with his wife and +gave her<br> + the palm. Hortense was beautiful flesh, as Valerie had said +to<br> + Lisbeth; but Madame Marneffe had spirit in her very shape, and +the<br> + savor of vice.</p> + +<p>Such devotion as Hortense's is a feeling which a husband takes +as his<br> + due; the sense of the immense preciousness of such perfect love +soon<br> + wears off, as a debtor, in the course of time, begins to fancy +that<br> + the borrowed money is his own. This noble loyalty becomes the +daily<br> + bread of the soul, and an infidelity is as tempting as a dainty. +The<br> + woman who is scornful, and yet more the woman who is reputed<br> + dangerous, excites curiosity, as spices add flavor to good +food.<br> + Indeed, the disdain so cleverly acted by Valerie was a novelty +to<br> + Wenceslas, after three years of too easy enjoyment. Hortense was +a<br> + wife; Valerie a mistress.</p> + +<p>Many men desire to have two editions of the same work, though +it is in<br> + fact a proof of inferiority when a man cannot make his mistress +of his<br> + wife. Variety in this particular is a sign of weakness. +Constancy will<br> + always be the real genius of love, the evidence of immense +power--the<br> + power that makes the poet! A man ought to find every woman in +his<br> + wife, as the squalid poets of the seventeenth century made +their<br> + Manons figure as Iris and Chloe.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Lisbeth to the Pole, as she beheld him +fascinated, "what<br> + do you think of Valerie?"</p> + +<p>"She is too charming," replied Wenceslas.</p> + +<p>"You would not listen to me," said Betty. "Oh! my little +Wenceslas, if<br> + you and I had never parted, you would have been that siren's +lover;<br> + you might have married her when she was a widow, and you would +have<br> + had her forty thousand francs a year----"</p> + +<p>"Really?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," replied Lisbeth. "Now, take care of yourself; I +warned<br> + you of the danger; do not singe your wings in the candle!--Come, +give<br> + me your arm, dinner is served."</p> + +<p>No language could be so thoroughly demoralizing as this; for +if you<br> + show a Pole a precipice, he is bound to leap it. As a nation +they have<br> + the very spirit of cavalry; they fancy they can ride down +every<br> + obstacle and come out victorious. The spur applied by Lisbeth +to<br> + Steinbock's vanity was intensified by the appearance of the +dining-<br> + room, bright with handsome silver plate; the dinner was served +with<br> + every refinement and extravagance of Parisian luxury.</p> + +<p>"I should have done better to take Celimene," thought he to +himself.</p> + +<p>All through the dinner Hulot was charming; pleased to see his +son-in-<br> + law at that table, and yet more happy in the prospect of a<br> + reconciliation with Valerie, whose fidelity he proposed to +secure by<br> + the promise of Coquet's head-clerkship. Stidmann responded to +the<br> + Baron's amiability by shafts of Parisian banter and an artist's +high<br> + spirits. Steinbock would not allow himself to be eclipsed by +his<br> + friend; he too was witty, said amusing things, made his mark, +and was<br> + pleased with himself; Madame Marneffe smiled at him several +times to<br> + show that she quite understood him.</p> + +<p>The good meal and heady wines completed the work; Wenceslas +was deep<br> + in what must be called the slough of dissipation. Excited by +just a<br> + glass too much, he stretched himself on a settee after dinner, +sunk in<br> + physical and mental ecstasy, which Madame Marneffe wrought to +the<br> + highest pitch by coming to sit down by him--airy, scented, +pretty<br> + enough to damn an angel. She bent over Wenceslas and almost +touched<br> + his ear as she whispered to him:</p> + +<p>"We cannot talk over business matters this evening, unless you +will<br> + remain till the last. Between us--you, Lisbeth, and me--we can +settle<br> + everything to suit you."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Madame, you are an angel!" replied Wenceslas, also in a +murmur.<br> + "I was a pretty fool not to listen to Lisbeth--"</p> + +<p>"What did she say?"</p> + +<p>"She declared, in the Rue du Doyenne, that you loved me!"</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe looked at him, seemed covered with confusion, +and<br> + hastily left her seat. A young and pretty woman never rouses the +hope<br> + of immediate success with impunity. This retreat, the impulse of +a<br> + virtuous woman who is crushing a passion in the depths of her +heart,<br> + was a thousand times more effective than the most reckless +avowal.<br> + Desire was so thoroughly aroused in Wenceslas that he doubled +his<br> + attentions to Valerie. A woman seen by all is a woman wished +for.<br> + Hence the terrible power of actresses. Madame Marneffe, knowing +that<br> + she was watched, behaved like an admired actress. She was +quite<br> + charming, and her success was immense.</p> + +<p>"I no longer wonder at my father-in-law's follies," said +Steinbock to<br> + Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"If you say such things, Wenceslas, I shall to my dying day +repent of<br> + having got you the loan of these ten thousand francs. Are you, +like<br> + all these men," and she indicated the guests, "madly in love +with that<br> + creature? Remember, you would be your father-in-law's rival. And +think<br> + of the misery you would bring on Hortense."</p> + +<p>"That is true," said Wenceslas. "Hortense is an angel; I +should be a<br> + wretch."</p> + +<p>"And one is enough in the family!" said Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"Artists ought never to marry!" exclaimed Steinbock.</p> + +<p>"Ah! that is what I always told you in the Rue du Doyenne. +Your<br> + groups, your statues, your great works, ought to be your +children."</p> + +<p>"What are you talking about?" Valerie asked, joining +Lisbeth.--"Give<br> + us tea, Cousin."</p> + +<p>Steinbock, with Polish vainglory, wanted to appear familiar +with this<br> + drawing-room fairy. After defying Stidmann, Vignon, and Crevel +with a<br> + look, he took Valerie's hand and forced her to sit down by him +on the<br> + settee.</p> + +<p>"You are rather too lordly, Count Steinbock," said she, +resisting a<br> + little. But she laughed as she dropped on to the seat, not +without<br> + arranging the rosebud pinned into her bodice.</p> + +<p>"Alas! if I were really lordly," said he, "I should not be +here to<br> + borrow money."</p> + +<p>"Poor boy! I remember how you worked all night in the Rue du +Doyenne.<br> + You really were rather a spooney; you married as a starving +man<br> + snatches a loaf. You knew nothing of Paris, and you see where +you are<br> + landed. But you turned a deaf ear to Lisbeth's devotion, as you +did to<br> + the love of a woman who knows her Paris by heart."</p> + +<p>"Say no more!" cried Steinbock; "I am done for!"</p> + +<p>"You shall have your ten thousand francs, my dear Wenceslas; +but on<br> + one condition," she went on, playing with his handsome +curls.</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"I will take no interest----"</p> + +<p>"Madame!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you need not be indignant; you shall make it good by +giving me a<br> + bronze group. You began the story of Samson; finish it.--Do a +Delilah<br> + cutting off the Jewish Hercules' hair. And you, who, if you +will<br> + listen to me, will be a great artist, must enter into the +subject.<br> + What you have to show is the power of woman. Samson is a +secondary<br> + consideration. He is the corpse of dead strength. It is +Delilah--<br> + passion--that ruins everything. How far more beautiful is +that<br> + <i>replica</i>--That is what you call it, I think--" She +skilfully<br> + interpolated, as Claude Vignon and Stidmann came up to them on +hearing<br> + her talk of sculpture--"how far more beautiful than the Greek +myth is<br> + that <i>replica</i> of Hercules at Omphale's feet.--Did Greece +copy Judaea,<br> + or did Judaea borrow the symbolism from Greece?"</p> + +<p>"There, madame, you raise an important question--that of the +date of<br> + the various writings in the Bible. The great and immortal +Spinoza--<br> + most foolishly ranked as an atheist, whereas he gave +mathematical<br> + proof of the existence of God--asserts that the Book of Genesis +and<br> + all the political history of the Bible are of the time of Moses, +and<br> + he demonstrates the interpolated passages by philological +evidence.<br> + And he was thrice stabbed as he went into the synagogue."</p> + +<p>"I had no idea I was so learned," said Valerie, annoyed at +this<br> + interruption to her <i>tete-a-tete.</i></p> + +<p>"Women know everything by instinct," replied Claude +Vignon.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, you promise me?" she said to Steinbock, taking +his hand<br> + with the timidity of a girl in love.</p> + +<p>"You are indeed a happy man, my dear fellow," cried Stidmann, +"if<br> + madame asks a favor of you!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Claude Vignon.</p> + +<p>"A small bronze group," replied Steinbock, "Delilah cutting +off<br> + Samson's hair."</p> + +<p>"It is difficult," remarked Vignon. "A bed----"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, it is exceedingly easy," replied Valerie, +smiling.</p> + +<p>"Ah ha! teach us sculpture!" said Stidmann.</p> + +<p>"You should take madame for your subject," replied Vignon, +with a keen<br> + glance at Valerie.</p> + +<p>"Well," she went on, "this is my notion of the composition. +Samson on<br> + waking finds he has no hair, like many a dandy with a false +top-knot.<br> + The hero is sitting on the bed, so you need only show the foot +of it,<br> + covered with hangings and drapery. There he is, like Marius +among the<br> + ruins of Carthage, his arms folded, his head shaven--Napoleon +at<br> + Saint-Helena--what you will! Delilah is on her knees, a good +deal like<br> + Canova's Magdalen. When a hussy has ruined her man, she adores +him. As<br> + I see it, the Jewess was afraid of Samson in his strength and +terrors,<br> + but she must have loved him when she saw him a child again. So +Delilah<br> + is bewailing her sin, she would like to give her lover his hair +again.<br> + She hardly dares to look at him; but she does look, with a +smile, for<br> + she reads forgiveness in Samson's weakness. Such a group as +this, and<br> + one of the ferocious Judith, would epitomize woman. Virtue cuts +off<br> + your head; vice only cuts off your hair. Take care of your +wigs,<br> + gentlemen!"</p> + +<p>And she left the artists quite overpowered, to sing her +praises in<br> + concert with the critic.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible to be more bewitching!" cried Stidmann.</p> + +<p>"Oh! she is the most intelligent and desirable woman I have +ever met,"<br> + said Claude Vignon. "Such a combination of beauty and cleverness +is so<br> + rare."</p> + +<p>"And if you who had the honor of being intimate with Camille +Maupin<br> + can pronounce such a verdict," replied Stidmann, "what are we +to<br> + think?"</p> + +<p>"If you will make your Delilah a portrait of Valerie, my dear +Count,"<br> + said Crevel, who had risen for a moment from the card-table, and +who<br> + had heard what had been said, "I will give you a thousand crowns +for<br> + an example--yes, by the Powers! I will shell out to the tune of +a<br> + thousand crowns!"</p> + +<p>"Shell out! What does that mean?" asked Beauvisage of Claude +Vignon.</p> + +<p>"Madame must do me the honor to sit for it then," said +Steinbock to<br> + Crevel. "Ask her--"</p> + +<p>At this moment Valerie herself brought Steinbock a cup of tea. +This<br> + was more than a compliment, it was a favor. There is a +complete<br> + language in the manner in which a woman does this little +civility; but<br> + women are fully aware of the fact, and it is a curious thing to +study<br> + their movements, their manner, their look, tone, and accent when +they<br> + perform this apparently simple act of politeness.--From the +question,<br> + "Do you take tea?"--"Will you have some tea?"--"A cup of tea?" +coldly<br> + asked, and followed by instructions to the nymph of the urn to +bring<br> + it, to the eloquent poem of the odalisque coming from the +tea-table,<br> + cup in hand, towards the pasha of her heart, presenting it<br> + submissively, offering it in an insinuating voice, with a look +full of<br> + intoxicating promises, a physiologist could deduce the whole +scale of<br> + feminine emotion, from aversion or indifference to Phaedra's<br> + declaration to Hippolytus. Women can make it, at will, +contemptuous to<br> + the verge of insult, or humble to the expression of Oriental<br> + servility.</p> + +<p><br> + And Valerie was more than woman; she was the serpent made woman; +she<br> + crowned her diabolical work by going up to Steinbock, a cup of +tea in<br> + her hand.</p> + +<p>"I will drink as many cups of tea as you will give me," said +the<br> + artist, murmuring in her ear as he rose, and touching her +fingers with<br> + his, "to have them given to me thus!"</p> + +<p>"What were you saying about sitting?" said she, without +betraying that<br> + this declaration, so frantically desired, had gone straight to +her<br> + heart.</p> + +<p>"Old Crevel promises me a thousand crowns for a copy of your +group."</p> + +<p>"He! a thousand crowns for a bronze group?"</p> + +<p>"Yes--if you will sit for Delilah," said Steinbock.</p> + +<p>"He will not be there to see, I hope!" replied she. "The group +would<br> + be worth more than all his fortune, for Delilah's costume is +rather<br> + un-dressy."</p> + +<p>Just as Crevel loved to strike an attitude, every woman has +a<br> + victorious gesture, a studied movement, which she knows must +win<br> + admiration. You may see in a drawing-room how one spends all her +time<br> + looking down at her tucker or pulling up the shoulder-piece of +her<br> + gown, how another makes play with the brightness of her eyes +by<br> + glancing up at the cornice. Madame Marneffe's triumph, however, +was<br> + not face to face like that of other women. She turned sharply +round to<br> + return to Lisbeth at the tea-table. This ballet-dancer's +pirouette,<br> + whisking her skirts, by which she had overthrown Hulot, now +fascinated<br> + Steinbock.</p> + +<p>"Your vengeance is secure," said Valerie to Lisbeth in a +whisper.<br> + "Hortense will cry out all her tears, and curse the day when +she<br> + robbed you of Wenceslas."</p> + +<p>"Till I am Madame la Marechale I shall not think myself +successful,"<br> + replied the cousin; "but they are all beginning to wish for +it.--This<br> + morning I went to Victorin's--I forgot to tell you.--The young +Hulots<br> + have bought up their father's notes of hand given to Vauvinet, +and<br> + to-morrow they will endorse a bill for seventy-two thousand +francs at<br> + five per cent, payable in three years, and secured by a mortgage +on<br> + their house. So the young people are in straits for three years; +they<br> + can raise no more money on that property. Victorin is +dreadfully<br> + distressed; he understands his father. And Crevel is capable +of<br> + refusing to see them; he will be so angry at this piece of +self-<br> + sacrifice."</p> + +<p>"The Baron cannot have a sou now," said Valerie, and she +smiled at<br> + Hulot.</p> + +<p>"I don't see where he can get it. But he will draw his salary +again in<br> + September."</p> + +<p>"And he has his policy of insurance; he has renewed it. Come, +it is<br> + high time he should get Marneffe promoted. I will drive it home +this<br> + evening."</p> + +<p>"My dear cousin," said Lisbeth to Wenceslas, "go home, I beg. +You are<br> + quite ridiculous. Your eyes are fixed on Valerie in a way that +is<br> + enough to compromise her, and her husband is insanely jealous. +Do not<br> + tread in your father-in-law's footsteps. Go home; I am sure +Hortense<br> + is sitting up for you."</p> + +<p>"Madame Marneffe told me to stay till the last to settle my +little<br> + business with you and her," replied Wenceslas.</p> + +<p>"No, no," said Lisbeth; "I will bring you the ten thousand +francs, for<br> + her husband has his eye on you. It would be rash to remain. +To-morrow<br> + at eleven o'clock bring your note of hand; at that hour that +mandarin<br> + Marneffe is at his office, Valerie is free.--Have you really +asked her<br> + to sit for your group?--Come up to my rooms first.--Ah! I was +sure of<br> + it," she added, as she caught the look which Steinbock flashed +at<br> + Valerie, "I knew you were a profligate in the bud! Well, Valerie +is<br> + lovely--but try not to bring trouble on Hortense."</p> + +<p>Nothing annoys a married man so much as finding his wife +perpetually<br> + interposing between himself and his wishes, however +transient.</p> + +<p>Wenceslas got home at about one in the morning; Hortense had +expected<br> + him ever since half-past nine. From half-past nine till ten she +had<br> + listened to the passing carriages, telling herself that never +before<br> + had her husband come in so late from dining with Florent and +Chanor.<br> + She sat sewing by the child's cot, for she had begun to save +a<br> + needlewoman's pay for the day by doing the mending +herself.--From ten<br> + till half-past, a suspicion crossed her mind; she sat +wondering:</p> + +<p>"Is he really gone to dinner, as he told me, with Chanor and +Florent?<br> + He put on his best cravat and his handsomest pin when he +dressed. He<br> + took as long over his toilet as a woman when she wants to make +the<br> + best of herself.--I am crazy! He loves me!--And here he is!"</p> + +<p>But instead of stopping, the cab she heard went past.</p> + +<p>From eleven till midnight Hortense was a victim to terrible +alarms;<br> + the quarter where they lived was now deserted.</p> + +<p>"If he has set out on foot, some accident may have happened," +thought<br> + she. "A man may be killed by tumbling over a curbstone or +failing to<br> + see a gap. Artists are so heedless! Or if he should have been +stopped<br> + by robbers!--It is the first time he has ever left me alone here +for<br> + six hours and a half!--But why should I worry myself? He cares +for no<br> + one but me."</p> + +<p>Men ought to be faithful to the wives who love them, were it +only on<br> + account of the perpetual miracles wrought by true love in the +sublime<br> + regions of the spiritual world. The woman who loves is, in +relation to<br> + the man she loves, in the position of a somnambulist to whom +the<br> + magnetizer should give the painful power, when she ceases to be +the<br> + mirror of the world, of being conscious as a woman of what she +has<br> + seen as a somnambulist. Passion raises the nervous tension of a +woman<br> + to the ecstatic pitch at which presentiment is as acute as the +insight<br> + of a clairvoyant. A wife knows she is betrayed; she will not +let<br> + herself say so, she doubts still--she loves so much! She gives +the lie<br> + to the outcry of her own Pythian power. This paroxysm of love +deserves<br> + a special form of worship.</p> + +<p>In noble souls, admiration of this divine phenomenon will +always be a<br> + safeguard to protect them from infidelity. How should a man +not<br> + worship a beautiful and intellectual creature whose soul can +soar to<br> + such manifestations?</p> + +<p>By one in the morning Hortense was in a state of such intense +anguish,<br> + that she flew to the door as she recognized her husband's ring +at the<br> + bell, and clasped him in her arms like a mother.</p> + +<p>"At last--here you are!" cried she, finding her voice again. +"My<br> + dearest, henceforth where you go I go, for I cannot again endure +the<br> + torture of such waiting.--I pictured you stumbling over a +curbstone,<br> + with a fractured skull! Killed by thieves!--No, a second time I +know I<br> + should go mad.--Have you enjoyed yourself so much?--And without +me!--<br> + Bad boy!"</p> + +<p>"What can I say, my darling? There was Bixiou, who drew +fresh<br> + caricatures for us; Leon de Lora, as witty as ever; Claude +Vignon, to<br> + whom I owe the only consolatory article that has come out about +the<br> + Montcornet statue. There were--"</p> + +<p>"Were there no ladies?" Hortense eagerly inquired.</p> + +<p>"Worthy Madame Florent--"</p> + +<p>"You said the Rocher de Cancale.--Were you at the +Florents'?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, at their house; I made a mistake."</p> + +<p>"You did not take a coach to come home?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"And you have walked from the Rue des Tournelles?"</p> + +<p>"Stidmann and Bixiou came back with me along the boulevards as +far as<br> + the Madeleine, talking all the way."</p> + +<p>"It is dry then on the boulevards and the Place de la Concorde +and the<br> + Rue de Bourgogne? You are not muddy at all!" said Hortense, +looking at<br> + her husband's patent leather boots.</p> + +<p>It had been raining, but between the Rue Vanneau and the Rue +Saint-<br> + Dominique Wenceslas had not got his boots soiled.</p> + +<p>"Here--here are five thousand francs Chanor has been so +generous as to<br> + lend me," said Wenceslas, to cut short this lawyer-like +examination.</p> + +<p>He had made a division of the ten thousand-franc notes, half +for<br> + Hortense and half for himself, for he had five thousand francs' +worth<br> + of debts of which Hortense knew nothing. He owed money to his +foreman<br> + and his workmen.</p> + +<p>"Now your anxieties are relieved," said he, kissing his wife. +"I am<br> + going to work to-morrow morning. So I am going to bed this +minute to<br> + get up early, by your leave, my pet."</p> + +<p>The suspicion that had dawned in Hortense's mind vanished; she +was<br> + miles away from the truth. Madame Marneffe! She had never +thought of<br> + her. Her fear for her Wenceslas was that he should fall in with +street<br> + prostitutes. The names of Bixiou and Leon de Lora, two artists +noted<br> + for their wild dissipations, had alarmed her.</p> + +<p>Next morning she saw Wenceslas go out at nine o'clock, and was +quite<br> + reassured.</p> + +<p>"Now he is at work again," said she to herself, as she +proceeded to<br> + dress her boy. "I see he is quite in the vein! Well, well, if +we<br> + cannot have the glory of Michael Angelo, we may have that of +Benvenuto<br> + Cellini!"</p> + +<p>Lulled by her own hopes, Hortense believed in a happy future; +and she<br> + was chattering to her son of twenty months in the language +of<br> + onomatopoeia that amuses babes when, at about eleven o'clock, +the<br> + cook, who had not seen Wenceslas go out, showed in Stidmann.</p> + +<p>"I beg pardon, madame," said he. "Is Wenceslas gone out +already?"</p> + +<p>"He is at the studio."</p> + +<p>"I came to talk over the work with him."</p> + +<p>"I will send for him," said Hortense, offering Stidmann a +chair.</p> + +<p>Thanking Heaven for this piece of luck, Hortense was glad to +detain<br> + Stidmann to ask some questions about the evening before. +Stidmann<br> + bowed in acknowledgment of her kindness. The Countess Steinbock +rang;<br> + the cook appeared, and was desired to go at once and fetch her +master<br> + from the studio.</p> + +<p>"You had an amusing dinner last night?" said Hortense. +"Wenceslas did<br> + not come in till past one in the morning."</p> + +<p>"Amusing? not exactly," replied the artist, who had intended +to<br> + fascinate Madame Marneffe. "Society is not very amusing unless +one is<br> + interested in it. That little Madame Marneffe is clever, but a +great<br> + flirt."</p> + +<p>"And what did Wenceslas think of her?" asked poor Hortense, +trying to<br> + keep calm. "He said nothing about her to me."</p> + +<p>"I will only say one thing," said Stidmann, "and that is, that +I think<br> + her a very dangerous woman."</p> + +<p>Hortense turned as pale as a woman after childbirth.</p> + +<p>"So--it was at--at Madame Marneffe's that you dined--and +not--not with<br> + Chanor?" said she, "yesterday--and Wenceslas--and he----"</p> + +<p>Stidmann, without knowing what mischief he had done, saw that +he had<br> + blundered.</p> + +<p>The Countess did not finish her sentence; she simply fainted +away. The<br> + artist rang, and the maid came in. When Louise tried to get +her<br> + mistress into her bedroom, a serious nervous attack came on, +with<br> + violent hysterics. Stidmann, like any man who by an +involuntary<br> + indiscretion has overthrown the structure built on a husband's +lie to<br> + his wife, could not conceive that his words should produce such +an<br> + effect; he supposed that the Countess was in such delicate +health that<br> + the slightest contradiction was mischievous.</p> + +<p>The cook presently returned to say, unfortunately in loud +tones, that<br> + her master was not in the studio. In the midst of her +anguish,<br> + Hortense heard, and the hysterical fit came on again.</p> + +<p>"Go and fetch madame's mother," said Louise to the cook. +"Quick--run!"</p> + +<p>"If I knew where to find Steinbock, I would go and fetch +him!"<br> + exclaimed Stidmann in despair.</p> + +<p>"He is with that woman!" cried the unhappy wife. "He was not +dressed<br> + to go to his work!"</p> + +<p>Stidmann hurried off to Madame Marneffe's, struck by the truth +of this<br> + conclusion, due to the second-sight of passion.</p> + +<p>At that moment Valerie was posed as Delilah. Stidmann, too +sharp to<br> + ask for Madame Marneffe, walked straight in past the lodge, and +ran<br> + quickly up to the second floor, arguing thus: "If I ask for +Madame<br> + Marneffe, she will be out. If I inquire point-blank for +Steinbock, I<br> + shall be laughed at to my face.--Take the bull by the +horns!"</p> + +<p>Reine appeared in answer to his ring.</p> + +<p>"Tell Monsieur le Comte Steinbock to come at once, his wife +is<br> + dying--"</p> + +<p>Reine, quite a match for Stidmann, looked at him with blank +surprise.</p> + +<p>"But, sir--I don't know--did you suppose----"</p> + +<p>"I tell you that my friend Monsieur Steinbock is here; his +wife is<br> + very ill. It is quite serious enough for you to disturb your<br> + mistress." And Stidmann turned on his heel.</p> + +<p>"He is there, sure enough!" said he to himself.</p> + +<p>And in point of fact, after waiting a few minutes in the Rue +Vanneau,<br> + he saw Wenceslas come out, and beckoned to him to come quickly. +After<br> + telling him of the tragedy enacted in the Rue +Saint-Dominique,<br> + Stidmann scolded Steinbock for not having warned him to keep +the<br> + secret of yesterday's dinner.</p> + +<p>"I am done for," said Wenceslas, "but you are forgiven. I had +totally<br> + forgotten that you were to call this morning, and I blundered in +not<br> + telling you that we were to have dined with Florent.--What can I +say?<br> + That Valerie has turned my head; but, my dear fellow, for her +glory is<br> + well lost, misfortune well won! She really is!--Good +Heavens!--But I<br> + am in a dreadful fix. Advise me. What can I say? How can I +excuse<br> + myself?"</p> + +<p>"I! advise you! I don't know," replied Stidmann. "But your +wife loves<br> + you, I imagine? Well, then, she will believe anything. Tell her +that<br> + you were on your way to me when I was on my way to you; that, at +any<br> + rate, will set this morning's business right. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, called down by Reine, ran after Wenceslas and caught +him up<br> + at the corner of the Rue Hillerin-Bertin; she was afraid of his +Polish<br> + artlessness. Not wishing to be involved in the matter, she said +a few<br> + words to Wenceslas, who in his joy hugged her then and there. +She had<br> + no doubt pushed out a plank to enable the artist to cross this +awkward<br> + place in his conjugal affairs.</p> + +<p>At the sight of her mother, who had flown to her aid, Hortense +burst<br> + into floods of tears. This happily changed the character of +the<br> + hysterical attack.</p> + +<p>"Treachery, dear mamma!" cried she. "Wenceslas, after giving +me his<br> + word of honor that he would not go near Madame Marneffe, dined +with<br> + her last night, and did not come in till a quarter-past one in +the<br> + morning.--If you only knew! The day before we had had a +discussion,<br> + not a quarrel, and I had appealed to him so touchingly. I told +him I<br> + was jealous, that I should die if he were unfaithful; that I +was<br> + easily suspicious, but that he ought to have some consideration +for my<br> + weaknesses, as they came of my love for him; that I had my +father's<br> + blood in my veins as well as yours; that at the first moment of +such<br> + discovery I should be mad, and capable of mad deeds--of +avenging<br> + myself--of dishonoring us all, him, his child, and myself; that +I<br> + might even kill him first and myself after--and so on.</p> + +<p><br> + "And yet he went there; he is there!--That woman is bent on +breaking<br> + all our hearts! Only yesterday my brother and Celestine pledged +their<br> + all to pay off seventy thousand francs on notes of hand signed +for<br> + that good-for-nothing creature.--Yes, mamma, my father would +have been<br> + arrested and put into prison. Cannot that dreadful woman be +content<br> + with having my father, and with all your tears? Why take my +Wenceslas?<br> + --I will go to see her and stab her!"</p> + +<p>Madame Hulot, struck to the heart by the dreadful secrets +Hortense was<br> + unwittingly letting out, controlled her grief by one of the +heroic<br> + efforts which a magnanimous mother can make, and drew her +daughter's<br> + head on to her bosom to cover it with kisses.</p> + +<p>"Wait for Wenceslas, my child; all will be explained. The evil +cannot<br> + be so great as you picture it!--I, too, have been deceived, my +dear<br> + Hortense; you think me handsome, I have lived blameless; and yet +I<br> + have been utterly forsaken for three-and-twenty years--for a +Jenny<br> + Cadine, a Josepha, a Madame Marneffe!-- Did you know that?"</p> + +<p>"You, mamma, you! You have endured this for twenty----"</p> + +<p>She broke off, staggered by her own thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Do as I have done, my child," said her mother. "Be gentle and +kind,<br> + and your conscience will be at peace. On his death-bed a man may +say,<br> + 'My wife has never cost me a pang!' And God, who hears that +dying<br> + breath, credits it to us. If I had abandoned myself to fury like +you,<br> + what would have happened? Your father would have been +embittered,<br> + perhaps he would have left me altogether, and he would not have +been<br> + withheld by any fear of paining me. Our ruin, utter as it now +is,<br> + would have been complete ten years sooner, and we should have +shown<br> + the world the spectacle of a husband and wife living quite +apart--a<br> + scandal of the most horrible, heart-breaking kind, for it is +the<br> + destruction of the family. Neither your brother nor you could +have<br> + married.</p> + +<p>"I sacrificed myself, and that so bravely, that, till this +last<br> + connection of your father's, the world has believed me happy. +My<br> + serviceable and indeed courageous falsehood has, till now, +screened<br> + Hector; he is still respected; but this old man's passion is +taking<br> + him too far, that I see. His own folly, I fear, will break +through the<br> + veil I have kept between the world and our home. However, I have +held<br> + that curtain steady for twenty-three years, and have wept behind +it--<br> + motherless, I, without a friend to trust, with no help but in +religion<br> + --I have for twenty-three years secured the family +honor----"</p> + +<p>Hortense listened with a fixed gaze. The calm tone of +resignation and<br> + of such crowning sorrow soothed the smart of her first wound; +the<br> + tears rose again and flowed in torrents. In a frenzy of +filial<br> + affection, overcome by her mother's noble heroism, she fell on +her<br> + knees before Adeline, took up the hem of her dress and kissed +it, as<br> + pious Catholics kiss the holy relics of a martyr.</p> + +<p>"Nay, get up, Hortense," said the Baroness. "Such homage from +my<br> + daughter wipes out many sad memories. Come to my heart, and weep +for<br> + no sorrows but your own. It is the despair of my dear little +girl,<br> + whose joy was my only joy, that broke the solemn seal which +nothing<br> + ought to have removed from my lips. Indeed, I meant to have +taken my<br> + woes to the tomb, as a shroud the more. It was to soothe your +anguish<br> + that I spoke.--God will forgive me!</p> + +<p>"Oh! if my life were to be your life, what would I not do? +Men, the<br> + world, Fate, Nature, God Himself, I believe, make us pay for +love with<br> + the most cruel grief. I must pay for ten years of happiness +and<br> + twenty-four years of despair, of ceaseless sorrow, of +bitterness--"</p> + +<p>"But you had ten years, dear mamma, and I have had but three!" +said<br> + the self-absorbed girl.</p> + +<p>"Nothing is lost yet," said Adeline. "Only wait till Wenceslas +comes."</p> + +<p>"Mother," said she, "he lied, he deceived me. He said, 'I will +not<br> + go,' and he went. And that over his child's cradle."</p> + +<p>"For pleasure, my child, men will commit the most cowardly, +the most<br> + infamous actions--even crimes; it lies in their nature, it would +seem.<br> + We wives are set apart for sacrifice. I believed my troubles +were<br> + ended, and they are beginning again, for I never thought to +suffer<br> + doubly by suffering with my child. Courage--and silence!--My +Hortense,<br> + swear that you will never discuss your griefs with anybody but +me,<br> + never let them be suspected by any third person. Oh! be as proud +as<br> + your mother has been."</p> + +<p>Hortense started; she had heard her husband's step.</p> + +<p>"So it would seem," said Wenceslas, as he came in, "that +Stidmann has<br> + been here while I went to see him."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said Hortense, with the angry irony of an offended +woman who<br> + uses words to stab.</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said Wenceslas, affecting surprise. "We have just +met."</p> + +<p>"And yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"Well, yesterday I deceived you, my darling love; and your +mother<br> + shall judge between us."</p> + +<p>This candor unlocked his wife's heart. All really lofty women +like the<br> + truth better than lies. They cannot bear to see their idol +smirched;<br> + they want to be proud of the despotism they bow to.</p> + +<p>There is a strain of this feeling in the devotion of the +Russians to<br> + their Czar.</p> + +<p>"Now, listen, dear mother," Wenceslas went on. "I so truly +love my<br> + sweet and kind Hortense, that I concealed from her the extent of +our<br> + poverty. What could I do? She was still nursing the boy, and +such<br> + troubles would have done her harm; you know what the risk is for +a<br> + woman. Her beauty, youth, and health are imperiled. Did I do +wrong?--<br> + She believes that we owe five thousand francs; but I owe five +thousand<br> + more. The day before yesterday we were in the depths! No one on +earth<br> + will lend to us artists. Our talents are not less untrustworthy +than<br> + our whims. I knocked in vain at every door. Lisbeth, indeed, +offered<br> + us her savings."</p> + +<p>"Poor soul!" said Hortense.</p> + +<p>"Poor soul!" said the Baroness.</p> + +<p>"But what are Lisbeth's two thousand francs? Everything to +her,<br> + nothing to us.--Then, as you know, Hortense, she spoke to us of +Madame<br> + Marneffe, who, as she owes so much to the Baron, out of a sense +of<br> + honor, will take no interest. Hortense wanted to send her +diamonds to<br> + the Mont-de-Piete; they would have brought in a few thousand +francs,<br> + but we needed ten thousand. Those ten thousand francs were to be +had<br> + free of interest for a year!--I said to myself, 'Hortense will +be none<br> + the wiser; I will go and get them.'</p> + +<p>"Then the woman asked me to dinner through my father-in-law, +giving me<br> + to understand that Lisbeth had spoken of the matter, and I +should have<br> + the money. Between Hortense's despair on one hand, and the +dinner on<br> + the other, I could not hesitate.--That is all.</p> + +<p>"What! could Hortense, at four-and-twenty, lovely, pure, and +virtuous,<br> + and all my pride and glory, imagine that, when I have never left +her<br> + since we married, I could now prefer--what?--a tawny, painted, +ruddled<br> + creature?" said he, using the vulgar exaggeration of the studio +to<br> + convince his wife by the vehemence that women like.</p> + +<p>"Oh! if only your father had ever spoken so----!" cried the +Baroness.</p> + +<p>Hortense threw her arms round her husband's neck.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is what I should have done," said her mother. +"Wenceslas,<br> + my dear fellow, your wife was near dying of it," she went on +very<br> + seriously. "You see how well she loves you. And, alas--she is +yours!"</p> + +<p>She sighed deeply.</p> + +<p>"He may make a martyr of her, or a happy woman," thought she +to<br> + herself, as every mother thinks when she sees her daughter +married.--<br> + "It seems to me," she said aloud, "that I am miserable enough to +hope<br> + to see my children happy."</p> + +<p>"Be quite easy, dear mamma," said Wenceslas, only too glad to +see this<br> + critical moment end happily. "In two months I shall have repaid +that<br> + dreadful woman. How could I help it," he went on, repeating +this<br> + essentially Polish excuse with a Pole's grace; "there are times +when a<br> + man would borrow of the Devil.--And, after all, the money +belongs to<br> + the family. When once she had invited me, should I have got the +money<br> + at all if I had responded to her civility with a rude +refusal?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, what mischief papa is bringing on us!" cried +Hortense.</p> + +<p>The Baroness laid her finger on her daughter's lips, aggrieved +by this<br> + complaint, the first blame she had ever uttered of a father +so<br> + heroically screened by her mother's magnanimous silence.</p> + +<p>"Now, good-bye, my children," said Madame Hulot. "The storm is +over.<br> + But do not quarrel any more."</p> + +<p>When Wenceslas and his wife returned to their room after +letting out<br> + the Baroness, Hortense said to her husband:</p> + +<p>"Tell me all about last evening."</p> + +<p>And she watched his face all through the narrative, +interrupting him<br> + by the questions that crowd on a wife's mind in such +circumstances.<br> + The story made Hortense reflect; she had a glimpse of the +infernal<br> + dissipation which an artist must find in such vicious +company.</p> + +<p>"Be honest, my Wenceslas; Stidmann was there, Claude +Vignon,<br> + Vernisset.--Who else? In short, it was good fun?"</p> + +<p>"I, I was thinking of nothing but our ten thousand francs, and +I was<br> + saying to myself, 'My Hortense will be freed from anxiety.' +"</p> + +<p>This catechism bored the Livonian excessively; he seized a +gayer<br> + moment to say:</p> + +<p>"And you, my dearest, what would you have done if your artist +had<br> + proved guilty?"</p> + +<p>"I," said she, with an air of prompt decision, "I should have +taken up<br> + Stidmann--not that I love him, of course!"</p> + +<p>"Hortense!" cried Steinbock, starting to his feet with a +sudden and<br> + theatrical emphasis. "You would not have had the chance--I would +have<br> + killed you!"</p> + +<p>Hortense threw herself into his arms, clasping him closely +enough to<br> + stifle him, and covered him with kisses, saying:</p> + +<p>"Ah, you do love me! I fear nothing!--But no more Marneffe. +Never go<br> + plunging into such horrible bogs."</p> + +<p>"I swear to you, my dear Hortense, that I will go there no +more,<br> + excepting to redeem my note of hand."</p> + +<p>She pouted at this, but only as a loving woman sulks to get +something<br> + for it. Wenceslas, tired out with such a morning's work, went +off to<br> + his studio to make a clay sketch of the <i>Samson and +Delilah</i>, for<br> + which he had the drawings in his pocket.</p> + +<p>Hortense, penitent for her little temper, and fancying that +her<br> + husband was annoyed with her, went to the studio just as the +sculptor<br> + had finished handling the clay with the impetuosity that spurs +an<br> + artist when the mood is on him. On seeing his wife, Wenceslas +hastily<br> + threw the wet wrapper over the group, and putting both arms +round her,<br> + he said:</p> + +<p>"We were not really angry, were we, my pretty puss?"</p> + +<p>Hortense had caught sight of the group, had seen the linen +thrown over<br> + it, and had said nothing; but as she was leaving, she took off +the<br> + rag, looked at the model, and asked:</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"A group for which I had just had an idea."</p> + +<p>"And why did you hide it?"</p> + +<p>"I did not mean you to see it till it was finished."</p> + +<p>"The woman is very pretty," said Hortense.</p> + +<p>And a thousand suspicions cropped up in her mind, as, in +India, tall,<br> + rank plants spring up in a night-time.</p> + +<p>By the end of three weeks, Madame Marneffe was intensely +irritated by<br> + Hortense. Women of that stamp have a pride of their own; they +insist<br> + that men shall kiss the devil's hoof; they have no forgiveness +for the<br> + virtue that does not quail before their dominion, or that even +holds<br> + its own against them. Now, in all that time Wenceslas had not +paid one<br> + visit in the Rue Vanneau, not even that which politeness +required to a<br> + woman who had sat for Delilah.</p> + +<p>Whenever Lisbeth called on the Steinbocks, there had been +nobody at<br> + home. Monsieur and madame lived in the studio. Lisbeth, +following the<br> + turtle doves to their nest at le Gros-Caillou, found Wenceslas +hard at<br> + work, and was informed by the cook that madame never left +monsieur's<br> + side. Wenceslas was a slave to the autocracy of love. So now +Valerie,<br> + on her own account, took part with Lisbeth in her hatred of +Hortense.</p> + +<p>Women cling to a lover that another woman is fighting for, +just as<br> + much as men do to women round whom many coxcombs are buzzing. +Thus any<br> + reflections <i>a propos</i> to Madame Marneffe are equally +applicable to<br> + any lady-killing rake; he is, in fact, a sort of male +courtesan.<br> + Valerie's last fancy was a madness; above all, she was bent on +getting<br> + her group; she was even thinking of going one morning to the +studio to<br> + see Wenceslas, when a serious incident arose of the kind which, +to a<br> + woman of that class, may be called the spoil of war.</p> + +<p>This is how Valerie announced this wholly personal event.</p> + +<p>She was breakfasting with Lisbeth and her husband.</p> + +<p>"I say, Marneffe, what would you say to being a second time a +father?"</p> + +<p>"You don't mean it--a baby?--Oh, let me kiss you!"</p> + +<p>He rose and went round the table; his wife held up her head so +that he<br> + could just kiss her hair.</p> + +<p>"If that is so," he went on, "I am head-clerk and officer of +the<br> + Legion of Honor at once. But you must understand, my dear, +Stanislas<br> + is not to be the sufferer, poor little man."</p> + +<p>"Poor little man?" Lisbeth put in. "You have not set your eyes +on him<br> + these seven months. I am supposed to be his mother at the +school; I am<br> + the only person in the house who takes any trouble about +him."</p> + +<p>"A brat that costs us a hundred crowns a quarter!" said +Valerie. "And<br> + he, at any rate, is your own child, Marneffe. You ought to pay +for his<br> + schooling out of your salary.--The newcomer, far from reminding +us of<br> + butcher's bills, will rescue us from want."</p> + +<p>"Valerie," replied Marneffe, assuming an attitude like Crevel, +"I hope<br> + that Monsieur le Baron Hulot will take proper charge of his son, +and<br> + not lay the burden on a poor clerk. I intend to keep him well up +to<br> + the mark. So take the necessary steps, madame! Get him to write +you<br> + letters in which he alludes to his satisfaction, for he is +rather<br> + backward in coming forward in regard to my appointment."</p> + +<p>And Marneffe went away to the office, where his chief's +precious<br> + leniency allowed him to come in at about eleven o'clock. And, +indeed,<br> + he did little enough, for his incapacity was notorious, and +he<br> + detested work.</p> + +<p>No sooner were they alone than Lisbeth and Valerie looked at +each<br> + other for a moment like Augurs, and both together burst into a +loud<br> + fit of laughter.</p> + +<p>"I say, Valerie--is it the fact?" said Lisbeth, "or merely a +farce?"</p> + +<p>"It is a physical fact!" replied Valerie. "Now, I am sick and +tired of<br> + Hortense; and it occurred to me in the night that I might fire +this<br> + infant, like a bomb, into the Steinbock household."</p> + +<p>Valerie went back to her room, followed by Lisbeth, to whom +she showed<br> + the following letter:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"WENCESLAS MY DEAR,--I still believe in your love, though it +is<br> + nearly three weeks since I saw you. Is this scorn? Delilah +can<br> + scarcely believe that. Does it not rather result from the +tyranny<br> + of a woman whom, as you told me, you can no longer love?<br> + Wenceslas, you are too great an artist to submit to such +dominion.<br> + Home is the grave of glory.--Consider now, are you the +Wenceslas<br> + of the Rue du Doyenne? You missed fire with my father's +statue;<br> + but in you the lover is greater than the artist, and you have +had<br> + better luck with his daughter. You are a father, my beloved<br> + Wenceslas.</p> + +<p>"If you do not come to me in the state I am in, your friends +would<br> + think very badly of you. But I love you so madly, that I feel +I<br> + should never have the strength to curse you. May I sign myself +as<br> + ever,</p> + +<p>"YOUR VALERIE."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><br> + "What do you say to my scheme for sending this note to the +studio at a<br> + time when our dear Hortense is there by herself?" asked Valerie. +"Last<br> + evening I heard from Stidmann that Wenceslas is to pick him up +at<br> + eleven this morning to go on business to Chanor's; so that +gawk<br> + Hortense will be there alone."</p> + +<p><br> + "But after such a trick as that," replied Lisbeth, "I cannot +continue<br> + to be your friend in the eyes of the world; I shall have to +break with<br> + you, to be supposed never to visit you, or even to speak to +you."</p> + +<p>"Evidently," said Valerie; "but--"</p> + +<p>"Oh! be quite easy," interrupted Lisbeth; "we shall often meet +when I<br> + am Madame la Marechale. They are all set upon it now. Only the +Baron<br> + is in ignorance of the plan, but you can talk him over."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Valerie, "but it is quite likely that the Baron +and I may<br> + be on distant terms before long."</p> + +<p>"Madame Olivier is the only person who can make Hortense +demand to see<br> + the letter," said Lisbeth. "And you must send her to the Rue +Saint-<br> + Dominique before she goes on to the studio."</p> + +<p>"Our beauty will be at home, no doubt," said Valerie, ringing +for<br> + Reine to call up Madame Olivier.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes after the despatch of this fateful letter, Baron +Hulot<br> + arrived. Madame Marneffe threw her arms round the old man's neck +with<br> + kittenish impetuosity.</p> + +<p>"Hector, you are a father!" she said in his ear. "That is what +comes<br> + of quarreling and making friends again----"</p> + +<p>Perceiving a look of surprise, which the Baron did not at +once<br> + conceal, Valerie assumed a reserve which brought the old man +to<br> + despair. She made him wring the proofs from her one by one. +When<br> + conviction, led on by vanity, had at last entered his mind, +she<br> + enlarged on Monsieur Marneffe's wrath.</p> + +<p>"My dear old veteran," said she, "you can hardly avoid getting +your<br> + responsible editor, our representative partner if you like, +appointed<br> + head-clerk and officer of the Legion of Honor, for you really +have<br> + done for the poor man, he adores his Stanislas, the little +monstrosity<br> + who is so like him, that to me he is insufferable. Unless you +prefer<br> + to settle twelve hundred francs a year on Stanislas--the capital +to be<br> + his, and the life-interest payable to me, of course--"</p> + +<p>"But if I am to settle securities, I would rather it should be +on my<br> + own son, and not on the monstrosity," said the Baron.</p> + +<p>This rash speech, in which the words "my own son" came out as +full as<br> + a river in flood, was, by the end of the hour, ratified as a +formal<br> + promise to settle twelve hundred francs a year on the future +boy. And<br> + this promise became, on Valerie's tongue and in her countenance, +what<br> + a drum is in the hands of a child; for three weeks she played on +it<br> + incessantly.</p> + +<p>At the moment when Baron Hulot was leaving the Rue Vanneau, as +happy<br> + as a man who after a year of married life still desires an +heir,<br> + Madame Olivier had yielded to Hortense, and given up the note +she was<br> + instructed to give only into the Count's own hands. The young +wife<br> + paid twenty francs for that letter. The wretch who commits +suicide<br> + must pay for the opium, the pistol, the charcoal.</p> + +<p>Hortense read and re-read the note; she saw nothing but this +sheet of<br> + white paper streaked with black lines; the universe held for +her<br> + nothing but that paper; everything was dark around her. The +glare of<br> + the conflagration that was consuming the edifice of her +happiness<br> + lighted up the page, for blackest night enfolded her. The shouts +of<br> + her little Wenceslas at play fell on her ear, as if he had been +in the<br> + depths of a valley and she on a high mountain. Thus insulted at +four-<br> + and-twenty, in all the splendor of her beauty, enhanced by pure +and<br> + devoted love--it was not a stab, it was death. The first shock +had<br> + been merely on the nerves, the physical frame had struggled in +the<br> + grip of jealousy; but now certainty had seized her soul, her +body was<br> + unconscious.</p> + +<p>For about ten minutes Hortense sat under the incubus of +this<br> + oppression. Then a vision of her mother appeared before her, +and<br> + revulsion ensued; she was calm and cool, and mistress of her +reason.</p> + +<p>She rang.</p> + +<p>"Get Louise to help you, child," said she to the cook. "As +quickly as<br> + you can, pack up everything that belongs to me and everything +wanted<br> + for the little boy. I give you an hour. When all is ready, fetch +a<br> + hackney coach from the stand, and call me.</p> + +<p>"Make no remarks! I am leaving the house, and shall take +Louise with<br> + me. You must stay here with monsieur; take good care of +him----"</p> + +<p>She went into her room, and wrote the following letter:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"MONSIEUR LE COMTE,--</p> + +<p>"The letter I enclose will sufficiently account for the<br> + determination I have come to.</p> + +<p>"When you read this, I shall have left your house and have +found<br> + refuge with my mother, taking our child with me.</p> + +<p>"Do not imagine that I shall retrace my steps. Do not imagine +that<br> + I am acting with the rash haste of youth, without reflection, +with<br> + the anger of offended affection; you will be greatly +mistaken.</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking very deeply during the last fortnight +of<br> + life, of love, of our marriage, of our duties to each other. +I<br> + have known the perfect devotion of my mother; she has told me +all<br> + her sorrows! She has been heroical--every day for +twenty-three<br> + years. But I have not the strength to imitate her, not because +I<br> + love you less than she loves my father, but for reasons of +spirit<br> + and nature. Our home would be a hell; I might lose my head so +far<br> + as to disgrace you--disgrace myself and our child.</p> + +<p>"I refuse to be a Madame Marneffe; once launched on such a +course,<br> + a woman of my temper might not, perhaps, be able to stop. I +am,<br> + unfortunately for myself, a Hulot, not a Fischer.</p> + +<p>"Alone, and absent from the scene of your dissipations, I am +sure<br> + of myself, especially with my child to occupy me, and by the +side<br> + of a strong and noble mother, whose life cannot fail to +influence<br> + the vehement impetuousness of my feelings. There, I can be a +good<br> + mother, bring our boy up well, and live. Under your roof the +wife<br> + would oust the mother; and constant contention would sour my<br> + temper.</p> + +<p>"I can accept a death-blow, but I will not endure for +twenty-five<br> + years, like my mother. If, at the end of three years of +perfect,<br> + unwavering love, you can be unfaithful to me with your +father-in-<br> + law's mistress, what rivals may I expect to have in later +years?<br> + Indeed, monsieur, you have begun your career of profligacy +much<br> + earlier than my father did, the life of dissipation, which is +a<br> + disgrace to the father of a family, which undermines the +respect<br> + of his children, and which ends in shame and despair.</p> + +<p>"I am not unforgiving. Unrelenting feelings do not beseem +erring<br> + creatures living under the eye of God. If you win fame and +fortune<br> + by sustained work, if you have nothing to do with courtesans +and<br> + ignoble, defiling ways, you will find me still a wife worthy +of<br> + you.</p> + +<p>"I believe you to be too much a gentleman, Monsieur le Comte, +to<br> + have recourse to the law. You will respect my wishes, and leave +me<br> + under my mother's roof. Above all, never let me see you there. +I<br> + have left all the money lent to you by that odious woman.--<br> + Farewell.</p> + +<p>"HORTENSE HULOT."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><br> + This letter was written in anguish. Hortense abandoned herself +to the<br> + tears, the outcries of murdered love. She laid down her pen and +took<br> + it up again, to express as simply as possible all that +passion<br> + commonly proclaims in this sort of testamentary letter. Her +heart went<br> + forth in exclamations, wailing and weeping; but reason dictated +the<br> + words.</p> + +<p><br> + Informed by Louise that all was ready, the young wife slowly +went<br> + round the little garden, through the bedroom and drawing-room, +looking<br> + at everything for the last time. Then she earnestly enjoined the +cook<br> + to take the greatest care for her master's comfort, promising +to<br> + reward her handsomely if she would be honest. At last she got +into the<br> + hackney coach to drive to her mother's house, her heart quite +broken,<br> + crying so much as to distress the maid, and covering little +Wenceslas<br> + with kisses, which betrayed her still unfailing love for his +father.</p> + +<p>The Baroness knew already from Lisbeth that the father-in-law +was<br> + largely to blame for the son-in-law's fault; nor was she +surprised to<br> + see her daughter, whose conduct she approved, and she consented +to<br> + give her shelter. Adeline, perceiving that her own gentleness +and<br> + patience had never checked Hector, for whom her respect was +indeed<br> + fast diminishing, thought her daughter very right to adopt +another<br> + course.</p> + +<p>In three weeks the poor mother had suffered two wounds of +which the<br> + pain was greater than any ill-fortune she had hitherto endured. +The<br> + Baron had placed Victorin and his wife in great difficulties; +and<br> + then, by Lisbeth's account, he was the cause of his +son-in-law's<br> + misconduct, and had corrupted Wenceslas. The dignity of the +father of<br> + the family, so long upheld by her really foolish self-sacrifice, +was<br> + now overthrown. Though they did not regret the money the young +Hulots<br> + were full alike of doubts and uneasiness as regarded the Baron. +This<br> + sentiment, which was evidence enough, distressed the Baroness; +she<br> + foresaw a break-up of the family tie.</p> + +<p>Hortense was accommodated in the dining-room, arranged as a +bedroom<br> + with the help of the Marshal's money, and the anteroom became +the<br> + dining-room, as it is in many apartments.</p> + +<p>When Wenceslas returned home and had read the two letters, he +felt a<br> + kind of gladness mingled with regret. Kept so constantly under +his<br> + wife's eye, so to speak, he had inwardly rebelled against this +fresh<br> + thraldom, <i>a la</i> Lisbeth. Full fed with love for three +years past, he<br> + too had been reflecting during the last fortnight; and he found +a<br> + family heavy on his hands. He had just been congratulated by +Stidmann<br> + on the passion he had inspired in Valerie; for Stidmann, with +an<br> + under-thought that was not unnatural, saw that he might flatter +the<br> + husband's vanity in the hope of consoling the victim. And +Wenceslas<br> + was glad to be able to return to Madame Marneffe.</p> + +<p>Still, he remembered the pure and unsullied happiness he had +known,<br> + the perfections of his wife, her judgment, her innocent and +guileless<br> + affection,--and he regretted her acutely. He thought of going at +once<br> + to his mother-in-law's to crave forgiveness; but, in fact, like +Hulot<br> + and Crevel, he went to Madame Marneffe, to whom he carried his +wife's<br> + letter to show her what a disaster she had caused, and to +discount his<br> + misfortune, so to speak, by claiming in return the pleasures +his<br> + mistress could give him.</p> + +<p>He found Crevel with Valerie. The mayor, puffed up with pride, +marched<br> + up and down the room, agitated by a storm of feelings. He put +himself<br> + into position as if he were about to speak, but he dared not. +His<br> + countenance was beaming, and he went now and again to the +window,<br> + where he drummed on the pane with his fingers. He kept looking +at<br> + Valerie with a glance of tender pathos. Happily for him, +Lisbeth<br> + presently came in.</p> + +<p>"Cousin Betty," he said in her ear, "have you heard the news? +I am a<br> + father! It seems to me I love my poor Celestine the less.--Oh! +what a<br> + thing it is to have a child by the woman one idolizes! It is +the<br> + fatherhood of the heart added to that of the flesh! I +say--tell<br> + Valerie that I will work for that child--it shall be rich. She +tells<br> + me she has some reason for believing that it will be a boy! If +it is a<br> + boy, I shall insist on his being called Crevel. I will consult +my<br> + notary about it."</p> + +<p>"I know how much she loves you," said Lisbeth. "But for her +sake in<br> + the future, and for your own, control yourself. Do not rub your +hands<br> + every five minutes."</p> + +<p>While Lisbeth was speaking aside on this wise to Crevel, +Valerie had<br> + asked Wenceslas to give her back her letter, and she was saying +things<br> + that dispelled all his griefs.</p> + +<p>"So now you are free, my dear," said she. "Ought any great +artist to<br> + marry? You live only by fancy and freedom! There, I shall love +you so<br> + much, beloved poet, that you shall never regret your wife. At +the same<br> + time, if, like so many people, you want to keep up appearances, +I<br> + undertake to bring Hortense back to you in a very short +time."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if only that were possible!"</p> + +<p>"I am certain of it," said Valerie, nettled. "Your poor +father-in-law<br> + is a man who is in every way utterly done for; who wants to +appear as<br> + though he could be loved, out of conceit, and to make the +world<br> + believe that he has a mistress; and he is so excessively vain on +this<br> + point, that I can do what I please with him. The Baroness is +still so<br> + devoted to her old Hector--I always feel as if I were talking of +the<br> + <i>Iliad</i>--that these two old folks will contrive to patch up +matters<br> + between you and Hortense. Only, if you want to avoid storms at +home<br> + for the future, do not leave me for three weeks without coming +to see<br> + your mistress--I was dying of it. My dear boy, some +consideration is<br> + due from a gentleman to a woman he has so deeply +compromised,<br> + especially when, as in my case, she has to be very careful of +her<br> + reputation.</p> + +<p>"Stay to dinner, my darling--and remember that I must treat +you with<br> + all the more apparent coldness because you are guilty of this +too<br> + obvious mishap."</p> + +<p>Baron Montes was presently announced; Valerie rose and hurried +forward<br> + to meet him; she spoke a few sentences in his ear, enjoining on +him<br> + the same reserve as she had impressed on Wenceslas; the +Brazilian<br> + assumed a diplomatic reticence suitable to the great news which +filled<br> + him with delight, for he, at any rate was sure of his +paternity.</p> + +<p>Thanks to these tactics, based on the vanity of the man in the +lover<br> + stage of his existence, Valerie sat down to table with four men, +all<br> + pleased and eager to please, all charmed, and each believing +himself<br> + adored; called by Marneffe, who included himself, in speaking +to<br> + Lisbeth, the five Fathers of the Church.</p> + +<p>Baron Hulot alone at first showed an anxious countenance, and +this was<br> + why. Just as he was leaving the office, the head of the staff +of<br> + clerks had come to his private room--a General with whom he had +served<br> + for thirty years--and Hulot had spoken to him as to +appointing<br> + Marneffe to Coquet's place, Coquet having consented to +retire.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow," said he, "I would not ask this favor of the +Prince<br> + without our having agreed on the matter, and knowing that +you<br> + approved."</p> + +<p>"My good friend," replied the other, "you must allow me to +observe<br> + that, for your own sake, you should not insist on this +nomination. I<br> + have already told you my opinion. There would be a scandal in +the<br> + office, where there is a great deal too much talk already about +you<br> + and Madame Marneffe. This, of course, is between ourselves. I +have no<br> + wish to touch you on a sensitive spot, or disoblige you in any +way,<br> + and I will prove it. If you are determined to get Monsieur +Coquet's<br> + place, and he will really be a loss in the War Office, for he +has been<br> + here since 1809, I will go into the country for a fortnight, so +as to<br> + leave the field open between you and the Marshal, who loves you +as a<br> + son. Then I shall take neither part, and shall have nothing on +my<br> + conscience as an administrator."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much," said Hulot. "I will reflect on what you +have<br> + said."</p> + +<p>"In allowing myself to say so much, my dear friend, it is +because your<br> + personal interest is far more deeply implicated than any concern +or<br> + vanity of mine. In the first place, the matter lies entirely +with the<br> + Marshal. And then, my good fellow, we are blamed for so many +things,<br> + that one more or less! We are not at the maiden stage in our<br> + experience of fault-finding. Under the Restoration, men were put +in<br> + simply to give them places, without any regard for the +office.--We are<br> + old friends----"</p> + +<p>"Yes," the Baron put in; "and it is in order not to impair our +old and<br> + valued friendship that I--"</p> + +<p>"Well, well," said the departmental manager, seeing Hulot's +face<br> + clouded with embarrassment, "I will take myself off, old +fellow.--But<br> + I warn you! you have enemies--that is to say, men who covet +your<br> + splendid appointment, and you have but one anchor out. Now if, +like<br> + me, you were a Deputy, you would have nothing to fear; so mind +what<br> + you are about."</p> + +<p>This speech, in the most friendly spirit, made a deep +impression on<br> + the Councillor of State.</p> + +<p>"But, after all, Roger, what is it that is wrong? Do not make +any<br> + mysteries with me."</p> + +<p>The individual addressed as Roger looked at Hulot, took his +hand, and<br> + pressed it.</p> + +<p>"We are such old friends, that I am bound to give you warning. +If you<br> + want to keep your place, you must make a bed for yourself, and +instead<br> + of asking the Marshal to give Coquet's place to Marneffe, in +your<br> + place I would beg him to use his influence to reserve a seat for +me on<br> + the General Council of State; there you may die in peace, and, +like<br> + the beaver, abandon all else to the pursuers."</p> + +<p>"What, do you think the Marshal would forget--"</p> + +<p>"The Marshal has already taken your part so warmly at a +General<br> + Meeting of the Ministers, that you will not now be turned out; +but it<br> + was seriously discussed! So give them no excuse. I can say no +more. At<br> + this moment you may make your own terms; you may sit on the +Council of<br> + State and be made a Peer of the Chamber. If you delay too long, +if you<br> + give any one a hold against you, I can answer for nothing.--Now, +am I<br> + to go?"</p> + +<p>"Wait a little. I will see the Marshal," replied Hulot, "and I +will<br> + send my brother to see which way the wind blows at +headquarters."</p> + +<p>The humor in which the Baron came back to Madame Marneffe's +may be<br> + imagined; he had almost forgotten his fatherhood, for Roger had +taken<br> + the part of a true and kind friend in explaining the position. +At the<br> + same time Valerie's influence was so great that, by the middle +of<br> + dinner, the Baron was tuned up to the pitch, and was all the +more<br> + cheerful for having unwonted anxieties to conceal; but the +hapless man<br> + was not yet aware that in the course of that evening he would +find<br> + himself in a cleft stick, between his happiness and the danger +pointed<br> + out by his friend--compelled, in short, to choose between +Madame<br> + Marneffe and his official position.</p> + +<p>At eleven o'clock, when the evening was at its gayest, for the +room<br> + was full of company, Valerie drew Hector into a corner of her +sofa.</p> + +<p>"My dear old boy," said she, "your daughter is so annoyed at +knowing<br> + that Wenceslas comes here, that she has left him 'planted.' +Hortense<br> + is wrong-headed. Ask Wenceslas to show you the letter the little +fool<br> + has written to him.</p> + +<p>"This division of two lovers, of which I am reputed to be the +cause,<br> + may do me the greatest harm, for this is how virtuous women +undermine<br> + each other. It is disgraceful to pose as a victim in order to +cast the<br> + blame on a woman whose only crime is that she keeps a pleasant +house.<br> + If you love me, you will clear my character by reconciling the +sweet<br> + turtle-doves.</p> + +<p>"I do not in the least care about your son-in-law's visits; +you<br> + brought him here--take him away again! If you have any authority +in<br> + your family, it seems to me that you may very well insist on +your<br> + wife's patching up this squabble. Tell the worthy old lady from +me,<br> + that if I am unjustly charged with having caused a young couple +to<br> + quarrel, with upsetting the unity of a family, and annexing both +the<br> + father and the son-in-law, I will deserve my reputation by +annoying<br> + them in my own way! Why, here is Lisbeth talking of throwing me +over!<br> + She prefers to stick to her family, and I cannot blame her for +it. She<br> + will throw me over, says she, unless the young people make +friends<br> + again. A pretty state of things! Our expenses here will be +trebled!"</p> + +<p><br> + "Oh, as for that!" said the Baron, on hearing of his daughter's +strong<br> + measures, "I will have no nonsense of that kind."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Valerie. "And now for the next thing.--What +about<br> + Coquet's place?"</p> + +<p>"That," said Hector, looking away, "is more difficult, not to +say<br> + impossible."</p> + +<p>"Impossible, my dear Hector?" said Madame Marneffe in the +Baron's ear.<br> + "But you do not know to what lengths Marneffe will go. I am +completely<br> + in his power; he is immoral for his own gratification, like most +men,<br> + but he is excessively vindictive, like all weak and impotent +natures.<br> + In the position to which you have reduced me, I am in his power. +I am<br> + bound to be on terms with him for a few days, and he is quite +capable<br> + of refusing to leave my room any more."</p> + +<p>Hulot started with horror.</p> + +<p>"He would leave me alone on condition of being head-clerk. It +is<br> + abominable--but logical."</p> + +<p>"Valerie, do you love me?"</p> + +<p>"In the state in which I am, my dear, the question is the +meanest<br> + insult."</p> + +<p>"Well, then--if I were to attempt, merely to attempt, to ask +the<br> + Prince for a place for Marneffe, I should be done for, and +Marneffe<br> + would be turned out."</p> + +<p>"I thought that you and the Prince were such intimate +friends."</p> + +<p>"We are, and he has amply proved it; but, my child, there is +authority<br> + above the Marshal's--for instance, the whole Council of +Ministers.<br> + With time and a little tacking, we shall get there. But, to +succeed, I<br> + must wait till the moment when some service is required of me. +Then I<br> + can say one good turn deserves another--"</p> + +<p>"If I tell Marneffe this tale, my poor Hector, he will play us +some<br> + mean trick. You must tell him yourself that he has to wait. I +will not<br> + undertake to do so. Oh! I know what my fate would be. He knows +how to<br> + punish me! He will henceforth share my room----</p> + +<p>"Do not forget to settle the twelve hundred francs a year on +the<br> + little one!"</p> + +<p>Hulot, seeing his pleasures in danger, took Monsieur Marneffe +aside,<br> + and for the first time derogated from the haughty tone he had +always<br> + assumed towards him, so greatly was he horrified by the thought +of<br> + that half-dead creature in his pretty young wife's bedroom.</p> + +<p>"Marneffe, my dear fellow," said he, "I have been talking of +you<br> + to-day. But you cannot be promoted to the first class just yet. +We<br> + must have time."</p> + +<p>"I will be, Monsieur le Baron," said Marneffe shortly.</p> + +<p>"But, my dear fellow--"</p> + +<p>"I <i>will</i> be, Monsieur le Baron," Marneffe coldly +repeated, looking<br> + alternately at the Baron and at Valerie. "You have placed my +wife in a<br> + position that necessitates her making up her differences with +me, and<br> + I mean to keep her; for, <i>my dear fellow</i>, she is a +charming<br> + creature," he added, with crushing irony. "I am master +here--more than<br> + you are at the War Office."</p> + +<p>The Baron felt one of those pangs of fury which have the +effect, in<br> + the heart, of a fit of raging toothache, and he could hardly +conceal<br> + the tears in his eyes.</p> + +<p>During this little scene, Valerie had been explaining +Marneffe's<br> + imaginary determination to Montes, and thus had rid herself of +him for<br> + a time.</p> + +<p>Of her four adherents, Crevel alone was exempted from the +rule--<br> + Crevel, the master of the little "bijou" apartment; and he +displayed<br> + on his countenance an air of really insolent beatitude,<br> + notwithstanding the wordless reproofs administered by Valerie +in<br> + frowns and meaning grimaces. His triumphant paternity beamed in +every<br> + feature.</p> + +<p>When Valerie was whispering a word of correction in his ear, +he<br> + snatched her hand, and put in:</p> + +<p>"To-morrow, my Duchess, you shall have your own little house! +The<br> + papers are to be signed to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"And the furniture?" said she, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"I have a thousand shares in the Versailles <i>rive gauche</i> +railway. I<br> + bought them at twenty-five, and they will go up to three hundred +in<br> + consequence of the amalgamation of the two lines, which is a +secret<br> + told to me. You shall have furniture fit for a queen. But then +you<br> + will be mine alone henceforth?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, burly Maire," said this middle-class Madame de Merteuil. +"But<br> + behave yourself; respect the future Madame Crevel."</p> + +<p>"My dear cousin," Lisbeth was saying to the Baron, "I shall go +to see<br> + Adeline early to-morrow; for, as you must see, I cannot, with +any<br> + decency, remain here. I will go and keep house for your brother +the<br> + Marshal."</p> + +<p>"I am going home this evening," said Hulot.</p> + +<p>"Very well, you will see me at breakfast to-morrow," said +Lisbeth,<br> + smiling.</p> + +<p>She understood that her presence would be necessary at the +family<br> + scene that would take place on the morrow. And the very first +thing in<br> + the morning she went to see Victorin and to tell him that +Hortense and<br> + Wenceslas had parted.</p> + +<p>When the Baron went home at half-past ten, Mariette and +Louise, who<br> + had had a hard day, were locking up the apartment. Hulot had not +to<br> + ring.</p> + +<p>Very much put out at this compulsory virtue, the husband went +straight<br> + to his wife's room, and through the half-open door he saw her +kneeling<br> + before her Crucifix, absorbed in prayer, in one of those +attitudes<br> + which make the fortune of the painter or the sculptor who is so +happy<br> + to invent and then to express them. Adeline, carried away by +her<br> + enthusiasm, was praying aloud:</p> + +<p>"O God, have mercy and enlighten him!"</p> + +<p>The Baroness was praying for her Hector.</p> + +<p>At this sight, so unlike what he had just left, and on hearing +this<br> + petition founded on the events of the day, the Baron heaved a +sigh of<br> + deep emotion. Adeline looked round, her face drowned in tears. +She was<br> + so convinced that her prayer had been heard, that, with one +spring,<br> + she threw her arms round Hector with the impetuosity of +happy<br> + affection. Adeline had given up all a wife's instincts; sorrow +had<br> + effaced even the memory of them. No feeling survived in her but +those<br> + of motherhood, of the family honor, and the pure attachment of +a<br> + Christian wife for a husband who has gone astray--the +saintly<br> + tenderness which survives all else in a woman's soul.</p> + +<p>"Hector!" she said, "are you come back to us? Has God taken +pity on<br> + our family?"</p> + +<p>"Dear Adeline," replied the Baron, coming in and seating his +wife by<br> + his side on a couch, "you are the saintliest creature I ever +knew; I<br> + have long known myself to be unworthy of you."</p> + +<p>"You would have very little to do, my dear," said she, holding +Hulot's<br> + hand and trembling so violently that it was as though she had a +palsy,<br> + "very little to set things in order--"</p> + +<p>She dared not proceed; she felt that every word would be a +reproof,<br> + and she did not wish to mar the happiness with which this +meeting was<br> + inundating her soul.</p> + +<p>"It is Hortense who has brought me here," said Hulot. "That +child may<br> + do us far more harm by her hasty proceeding than my absurd +passion for<br> + Valerie has ever done. But we will discuss all this to-morrow +morning.<br> + Hortense is asleep, Mariette tells me; we will not disturb +her."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Madame Hulot, suddenly plunged into the depths of +grief.</p> + +<p>She understood that the Baron's return was prompted not so +much by the<br> + wish to see his family as by some ulterior interest.</p> + +<p>"Leave her in peace till to-morrow," said the mother. "The +poor child<br> + is in a deplorable condition; she has been crying all day."</p> + +<p>At nine the next morning, the Baron, awaiting his daughter, +whom he<br> + had sent for, was pacing the large, deserted drawing-room, +trying to<br> + find arguments by which to conquer the most difficult form +of<br> + obstinacy there is to deal with--that of a young wife, offended +and<br> + implacable, as blameless youth ever is, in its ignorance of +the<br> + disgraceful compromises of the world, of its passions and +interests.</p> + +<p>"Here I am, papa," said Hortense in a tremulous voice, and +looking<br> + pale from her miseries.</p> + +<p>Hulot, sitting down, took his daughter round the waist, and +drew her<br> + down to sit on his knee.</p> + +<p>"Well, my child," said he, kissing her forehead, "so there +are<br> + troubles at home, and you have been hasty and headstrong? That +is not<br> + like a well-bred child. My Hortense ought not to have taken such +a<br> + decisive step as that of leaving her house and deserting her +husband<br> + on her own account, and without consulting her parents. If my +darling<br> + girl had come to see her kind and admirable mother, she would +not have<br> + given me this cruel pain I feel!--You do not know the world; it +is<br> + malignantly spiteful. People will perhaps say that your husband +sent<br> + you back to your parents. Children brought up as you were, on +your<br> + mother's lap, remain artless; maidenly passion like yours +for<br> + Wenceslas, unfortunately, makes no allowances; it acts on +every<br> + impulse. The little heart is moved, the head follows suit. You +would<br> + burn down Paris to be revenged, with no thought of the courts +of<br> + justice!</p> + +<p>"When your old father tells you that you have outraged the<br> + proprieties, you may take his word for it.--I say nothing of the +cruel<br> + pain you have given me. It is bitter, I assure you, for you +throw all<br> + the blame on a woman of whose heart you know nothing, and +whose<br> + hostility may become disastrous. And you, alas! so full of +guileless<br> + innocence and purity, can have no suspicions; but you may be +vilified<br> + and slandered.--Besides, my darling pet, you have taken a +foolish jest<br> + too seriously. I can assure you, on my honor, that your husband +is<br> + blameless. Madame Marneffe--"</p> + +<p>So far the Baron, artistically diplomatic, had formulated +his<br> + remonstrances very judiciously. He had, as may be observed, +worked up<br> + to the mention of this name with superior skill; and yet +Hortense, as<br> + she heard it, winced as if stung to the quick.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me; I have had great experience, and I have seen +much," he<br> + went on, stopping his daughter's attempt to speak. "That lady is +very<br> + cold to your husband. Yes, you have been made the victim of +a<br> + practical joke, and I will prove it to you. Yesterday Wenceslas +was<br> + dining with her--"</p> + +<p>"Dining with her!" cried the young wife, starting to her feet, +and<br> + looking at her father with horror in every feature. "Yesterday! +After<br> + having had my letter! Oh, great God!--Why did I not take the +veil<br> + rather than marry? But now my life is not my own! I have the +child!"<br> + and she sobbed.</p> + +<p>Her weeping went to Madame Hulot's heart. She came out of her +room and<br> + ran to her daughter, taking her in her arms, and asking her +those<br> + questions, stupid with grief, which first rose to her lips.</p> + +<p>"Now we have tears," said the Baron to himself, "and all was +going so<br> + well! What is to be done with women who cry?"</p> + +<p>"My child," said the Baroness, "listen to your father! He +loves us all<br> + --come, come--"</p> + +<p>"Come, Hortense, my dear little girl, cry no more, you make +yourself<br> + too ugly!" said the Baron, "Now, be a little reasonable. Go +sensibly<br> + home, and I promise you that Wenceslas shall never set foot in +that<br> + woman's house. I ask you to make the sacrifice, if it is a +sacrifice<br> + to forgive the husband you love so small a fault. I ask you--for +the<br> + sake of my gray hairs, and of the love you owe your mother. You +do not<br> + want to blight my later years with bitterness and regret?"</p> + +<p>Hortense fell at her father's feet like a crazed thing, with +the<br> + vehemence of despair; her hair, loosely pinned up, fell about +her, and<br> + she held out her hands with an expression that painted her +misery.</p> + +<p>"Father," she said, "ask my life! Take it if you will, but at +least<br> + take it pure and spotless, and I will yield it up gladly. Do not +ask<br> + me to die in dishonor and crime. I am not at all like my +husband; I<br> + cannot swallow an outrage. If I went back under my husband's +roof, I<br> + should be capable of smothering him in a fit of jealousy--or of +doing<br> + worse! Do no exact from me a thing that is beyond my powers. Do +not<br> + have to mourn for me still living, for the least that can befall +me is<br> + to go mad. I feel madness close upon me!</p> + +<p><br> + "Yesterday, yesterday, he could dine with that woman, after +having<br> + read my letter?--Are other men made so? My life I give you, but +do not<br> + let my death be ignominious!--His fault?--A small one! When he +has a<br> + child by that woman!"</p> + +<p>"A child!" cried Hulot, starting back a step or two. "Come. +This is<br> + really some fooling."</p> + +<p>At this juncture Victorin and Lisbeth arrived, and stood +dumfounded at<br> + the scene. The daughter was prostrate at her father's feet. +The<br> + Baroness, speechless between her maternal feelings and her +conjugal<br> + duty, showed a harassed face bathed in tears.</p> + +<p>"Lisbeth," said the Baron, seizing his cousin by the hand and +pointing<br> + to Hortense, "you can help me here. My poor child's brain is +turned;<br> + she believes that her Wenceslas is Madame Marneffe's lover, +while all<br> + that Valerie wanted was to have a group by him."</p> + +<p>"<i>Delilah</i>!" cried the young wife. "The only thing he has +done since<br> + our marriage. The man would not work for me or for his son, and +he has<br> + worked with frenzy for that good-for-nothing creature.--Oh, +father,<br> + kill me outright, for every word stabs like a knife!"</p> + +<p>Lisbeth turned to the Baroness and Victorin, pointing with a +pitying<br> + shrug to the Baron, who could not see her.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me," said she to him. "I had no idea--when you +asked me to<br> + go to lodge over Madame Marneffe and keep house for her--I had +no idea<br> + of what she was; but many things may be learned in three years. +That<br> + creature is a prostitute, and one whose depravity can only be +compared<br> + with that of her infamous and horrible husband. You are the +dupe, my<br> + lord pot-boiler, of those people; you will be led further by +them than<br> + you dream of! I speak plainly, for you are at the bottom of a +pit."</p> + +<p>The Baroness and her daughter, hearing Lisbeth speak in this +style,<br> + cast adoring looks at her, such as the devout cast at a Madonna +for<br> + having saved their life.</p> + +<p>"That horrible woman was bent on destroying your son-in-law's +home. To<br> + what end?--I know not. My brain is not equal to seeing clearly +into<br> + these dark intrigues--perverse, ignoble, infamous! Your +Madame<br> + Marneffe does not love your son-in-law, but she will have him at +her<br> + feet out of revenge. I have just spoken to the wretched woman as +she<br> + deserves. She is a shameless courtesan; I have told her that I +am<br> + leaving her house, that I would not have my honor smirched in +that<br> + muck-heap.--I owe myself to my family before all else.</p> + +<p>"I knew that Hortense had left her husband, so here I am. +Your<br> + Valerie, whom you believe to be a saint, is the cause of +this<br> + miserable separation; can I remain with such a woman? Our poor +little<br> + Hortense," said she, touching the Baron's arm, with peculiar +meaning,<br> + "is perhaps the dupe of a wish of such women as these, who, to +possess<br> + a toy, would sacrifice a family.</p> + +<p>"I do not think Wenceslas guilty; but I think him weak, and I +cannot<br> + promise that he will not yield to her refinements of +temptation.--My<br> + mind is made up. The woman is fatal to you; she will bring you +all to<br> + utter ruin. I will not even seem to be concerned in the +destruction of<br> + my own family, after living there for three years solely to +hinder it.</p> + +<p>"You are cheated, Baron; say very positively that you will +have<br> + nothing to say to the promotion of that dreadful Marneffe, and +you<br> + will see then! There is a fine rod in pickle for you in that +case."</p> + +<p>Lisbeth lifted up Hortense and kissed her +enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>"My dear Hortense, stand firm," she whispered.</p> + +<p>The Baroness embraced Lisbeth with the vehemence of a woman +who sees<br> + herself avenged. The whole family stood in perfect silence round +the<br> + father, who had wit enough to know what that silence implied. A +storm<br> + of fury swept across his brow and face with evident signs; the +veins<br> + swelled, his eyes were bloodshot, his flesh showed patches of +color.<br> + Adeline fell on her knees before him and seized his hands.</p> + +<p>"My dear, forgive, my dear!"</p> + +<p>"You loathe me!" cried the Baron--the cry of his +conscience.</p> + +<p>For we all know the secret of our own wrong-doing. We almost +always<br> + ascribe to our victims the hateful feelings which must fill them +with<br> + the hope of revenge; and in spite of every effort of hypocrisy, +our<br> + tongue or our face makes confession under the rack of some +unexpected<br> + anguish, as the criminal of old confessed under the hands of +the<br> + torturer.</p> + +<p>"Our children," he went on, to retract the avowal, "turn at +last to be<br> + our enemies--"</p> + +<p>"Father!" Victorin began.</p> + +<p>"You dare to interrupt your father!" said the Baron in a voice +of<br> + thunder, glaring at his son.</p> + +<p>"Father, listen to me," Victorin went on in a clear, firm +voice, the<br> + voice of a puritanical deputy. "I know the respect I owe you too +well<br> + ever to fail in it, and you will always find me the most +respectful<br> + and submissive of sons."</p> + +<p>Those who are in the habit of attending the sittings of the +Chamber<br> + will recognize the tactics of parliamentary warfare in these +fine-<br> + drawn phrases, used to calm the factions while gaining time.</p> + +<p>"We are far from being your enemies," his son went on. "I +have<br> + quarreled with my father-in-law, Monsieur Crevel, for having +rescued<br> + your notes of hand for sixty thousand francs from Vauvinet, and +that<br> + money is, beyond doubt, in Madame Marneffe's pocket.--I am not +finding<br> + fault with you, father," said he, in reply to an impatient +gesture of<br> + the Baron's; "I simply wish to add my protest to my cousin +Lisbeth's,<br> + and to point out to you that though my devotion to you as a +father is<br> + blind and unlimited, my dear father, our pecuniary +resources,<br> + unfortunately, are very limited."</p> + +<p>"Money!" cried the excitable old man, dropping on to a chair, +quite<br> + crushed by this argument. "From my son!--You shall be repaid +your<br> + money, sir," said he, rising, and he went to the door.</p> + +<p>"Hector!"</p> + +<p>At this cry the Baron turned round, suddenly showing his wife +a face<br> + bathed in tears; she threw her arms round him with the strength +of<br> + despair.</p> + +<p>"Do not leave us thus--do not go away in anger. I have not +said a word<br> + --not I!"</p> + +<p>At this heart-wrung speech the children fell at their father's +feet.</p> + +<p>"We all love you," said Hortense.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, as rigid as a statue, watched the group with a +superior smile<br> + on her lips. Just then Marshal Hulot's voice was heard in +the<br> + anteroom. The family all felt the importance of secrecy, and the +scene<br> + suddenly changed. The young people rose, and every one tried to +hide<br> + all traces of emotion.</p> + +<p>A discussion was going on at the door between Mariette and a +soldier,<br> + who was so persistent that the cook came in.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, a regimental quartermaster, who says he is just +come from<br> + Algiers, insists on seeing you."</p> + +<p>"Tell him to wait."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," said Mariette to her master in an undertone, "he +told me<br> + to tell you privately that it has to do with your uncle +there."</p> + +<p>The Baron started; he believed that the funds had been sent at +last<br> + which he had been asking for these two months, to pay up his +bills; he<br> + left the family-party, and hurried out to the anteroom.</p> + +<p>"You are Monsieur de Paron Hulot?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Your own self?"</p> + +<p>"My own self."</p> + +<p>The man, who had been fumbling meanwhile in the lining of his +cap,<br> + drew out a letter, of which the Baron hastily broke the seal, +and read<br> + as follows:--</p> + +<p>"DEAR NEPHEW,--Far from being able to send you the hundred<br> + thousand francs you ask of me, my present position is not +tenable<br> + unless you can take some decisive steps to save me. We are +saddled<br> + with a public prosecutor who talks goody, and rhodomontades<br> + nonsense about the management. It is impossible to get the +black-<br> + chokered pump to hold his tongue. If the War Minister allows<br> + civilians to feed out of his hand, I am done for. I can trust +the<br> + bearer; try to get him promoted; he has done us good service. +Do<br> + not abandon me to the crows!"</p> + +<p>This letter was a thunderbolt; the Baron could read in it +the<br> + intestine warfare between civil and military authorities, which +to<br> + this day hampers the Government, and he was required to invent +on the<br> + spot some palliative for the difficulty that stared him in the +face.<br> + He desired the soldier to come back next day, dismissing him +with<br> + splendid promises of promotion, and he returned to the +drawing-room.<br> + "Good-day and good-bye, brother," said he to the +Marshal.--"Good-bye,<br> + children.--Good-bye, my dear Adeline.--And what are you going to +do,<br> + Lisbeth?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I?--I am going to keep house for the Marshal, for I must end +my days<br> + doing what I can for one or another of you."</p> + +<p>"Do not leave Valerie till I have seen you again," said Hulot +in his<br> + cousin's ear.--"Good-bye, Hortense, refractory little puss; try +to be<br> + reasonable. I have important business to be attended to at once; +we<br> + will discuss your reconciliation another time. Now, think it +over, my<br> + child," said he as he kissed her.</p> + +<p>And he went away, so evidently uneasy, that his wife and +children felt<br> + the gravest apprehensions.</p> + +<p>"Lisbeth," said the Baroness, "I must find out what is wrong +with<br> + Hector; I never saw him in such a state. Stay a day or two +longer with<br> + that woman; he tells her everything, and we can then learn what +has so<br> + suddenly upset him. Be quite easy; we will arrange your marriage +to<br> + the Marshal, for it is really necessary."</p> + +<p>"I shall never forget the courage you have shown this +morning," said<br> + Hortense, embracing Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"You have avenged our poor mother," said Victorin.</p> + +<p>The Marshal looked on with curiosity at all the display of +affection<br> + lavished on Lisbeth, who went off to report the scene to +Valerie.</p> + +<p>This sketch will enable guileless souls to understand what +various<br> + mischief Madame Marneffes may do in a family, and the means by +which<br> + they reach poor virtuous wives apparently so far out of their +ken. And<br> + then, if we only transfer, in fancy, such doings to the upper +class of<br> + society about a throne, and if we consider what kings' +mistresses must<br> + have cost them, we may estimate the debt owed by a nation to +a<br> + sovereign who sets the example of a decent and domestic +life.</p> + +<p>In Paris each ministry is a little town by itself, whence +women are<br> + banished; but there is just as much detraction and scandal as +though<br> + the feminine population were admitted there. At the end of +three<br> + years, Monsieur Marneffe's position was perfectly clear and open +to<br> + the day, and in every room one and another asked, "Is Marneffe +to be,<br> + or not to be, Coquet's successor?" Exactly as the question might +have<br> + been put to the Chamber, "Will the estimates pass or not pass?" +The<br> + smallest initiative on the part of the board of Management +was<br> + commented on; everything in Baron Hulot's department was +carefully<br> + noted. The astute State Councillor had enlisted on his side the +victim<br> + of Marneffe's promotion, a hard-working clerk, telling him that +if he<br> + could fill Marneffe's place, he would certainly succeed to it; +he had<br> + told him that the man was dying. So this clerk was scheming +for<br> + Marneffe's advancement.</p> + +<p>When Hulot went through his anteroom, full of visitors, he +saw<br> + Marneffe's colorless face in a corner, and sent for him before +any one<br> + else.</p> + +<p>"What do you want of me, my dear fellow?" said the Baron, +disguising<br> + his anxiety.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Directeur, I am the laughing-stock of the office, +for it<br> + has become known that the chief of the clerks has left this +morning<br> + for a holiday, on the ground of his health. He is to be away a +month.<br> + Now, we all know what waiting for a month means. You deliver me +over<br> + to the mockery of my enemies, and it is bad enough to be drummed +upon<br> + one side; drumming on both at once, monsieur, is apt to burst +the<br> + drum."</p> + +<p>"My dear Marneffe, it takes long patience to gain an end. You +cannot<br> + be made head-clerk in less than two months, if ever. Just when I +must,<br> + as far as possible, secure my own position, is not the time to +be<br> + applying for your promotion, which would raise a scandal."</p> + +<p>"If you are broke, I shall never get it," said Marneffe +coolly. "And<br> + if you get me the place, it will make no difference in the +end."</p> + +<p>"Then I am to sacrifice myself for you?" said the Baron.</p> + +<p>"If you do not, I shall be much mistaken in you."</p> + +<p>"You are too exclusively Marneffe, Monsieur Marneffe," said +Hulot,<br> + rising and showing the clerk the door.</p> + +<p>"I have the honor to wish you good-morning, Monsieur le +Baron," said<br> + Marneffe humbly.</p> + +<p>"What an infamous rascal!" thought the Baron. "This is +uncommonly like<br> + a summons to pay within twenty-four hours on pain of +distraint."</p> + +<p>Two hours later, just when the Baron had been instructing +Claude<br> + Vignon, whom he was sending to the Ministry of Justice to +obtain<br> + information as to the judicial authorities under whose +jurisdiction<br> + Johann Fischer might fall, Reine opened the door of his private +room<br> + and gave him a note, saying she would wait for the answer.</p> + +<p>"Valerie is mad!" said the Baron to himself. "To send Reine! +It is<br> + enough to compromise us all, and it certainly compromises +that<br> + dreadful Marneffe's chances of promotion!"</p> + +<p>But he dismissed the minister's private secretary, and read +as<br> + follows:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"Oh, my dear friend, what a scene I have had to endure! Though +you<br> + have made me happy for three years, I have paid dearly for it! +He<br> + came in from the office in a rage that made me quake. I knew +he<br> + was ugly; I have seen him a monster! His four real teeth<br> + chattered, and he threatened me with his odious presence +without<br> + respite if I should continue to receive you. My poor, dear +old<br> + boy, our door is closed against you henceforth. You see my +tears;<br> + they are dropping on the paper and soaking it; can you read what +I<br> + write, dear Hector? Oh, to think of never seeing you, of +giving<br> + you up when I bear in me some of your life, as I flatter myself +I<br> + have your heart--it is enough to kill me. Think of our +little<br> + Hector!</p> + +<p>"Do not forsake me, but do not disgrace yourself for +Marneffe's<br> + sake; do not yield to his threats.</p> + +<p>"I love you as I have never loved! I remember all the +sacrifices<br> + you have made for your Valerie; she is not, and never will +be,<br> + ungrateful; you are, and will ever be, my only husband. Think +no<br> + more of the twelve hundred francs a year I asked you to settle +on<br> + the dear little Hector who is to come some months hence; I +will<br> + not cost you anything more. And besides, my money will always +be<br> + yours.</p> + +<p><br> + "Oh, if you only loved me as I love you, my Hector, you +would<br> + retire on your pension; we should both take leave of our +family,<br> + our worries, our surroundings, so full of hatred, and we should +go<br> + to live with Lisbeth in some pretty country place--in Brittany, +or<br> + wherever you like. There we should see nobody, and we should +be<br> + happy away from the world. Your pension and the little property +I<br> + can call my own would be enough for us. You say you are +jealous;<br> + well, you would then have your Valerie entirely devoted to +her<br> + Hector, and you would never have to talk in a loud voice, as +you<br> + did the other day. I shall have but one child--ours--you may +be<br> + sure, my dearly loved old veteran.</p> + +<p>"You cannot conceive of my fury, for you cannot know how +he<br> + treated me, and the foul words he vomited on your Valerie. +Such<br> + words would disgrace my paper; a woman such as I +am--Montcornet's<br> + daughter--ought never to have heard one of them in her life. +I<br> + only wish you had been there, that I might have punished him +with<br> + the sight of the mad passion I felt for you. My father would +have<br> + killed the wretch; I can only do as women do--love you +devotedly!<br> + Indeed, my love, in the state of exasperation in which I am, +I<br> + cannot possibly give up seeing you. I must positively see you, +in<br> + secret, every day! That is what we are, we women. Your +resentment<br> + is mine. If you love me, I implore you, do not let him be<br> + promoted; leave him to die a second-class clerk.</p> + +<p>"At this moment I have lost my head; I still seem to hear +him<br> + abusing me. Betty, who had meant to leave me, has pity on me, +and<br> + will stay for a few days.</p> + +<p>"My dear kind love, I do not know yet what is to be done. I +see<br> + nothing for it but flight. I always delight in the country--<br> + Brittany, Languedoc, what you will, so long as I am free to +love<br> + you. Poor dear, how I pity you! Forced now to go back to your +old<br> + Adeline, to that lachrymal urn--for, as he no doubt told you, +the<br> + monster means to watch me night and day; he spoke of a +detective!<br> + Do not come here, he is capable of anything I know, since he +could<br> + make use of me for the basest purposes of speculation. I only +wish<br> + I could return you all the things I have received from your<br> + generosity.</p> + +<p>"Ah! my kind Hector, I may have flirted, and have seemed to +you to<br> + be fickle, but you did not know your Valerie; she liked to +tease<br> + you, but she loves you better than any one in the world.</p> + +<p>"He cannot prevent your coming to see your cousin; I will +arrange<br> + with her that we have speech with each other. My dear old +boy,<br> + write me just a line, pray, to comfort me in the absence of +your<br> + dear self. (Oh, I would give one of my hands to have you by me +on<br> + our sofa!) A letter will work like a charm; write me +something<br> + full of your noble soul; I will return your note to you, for +I<br> + must be cautious; I should not know where to hide it, he pokes +his<br> + nose in everywhere. In short, comfort your Valerie, your +little<br> + wife, the mother of your child.--To think of my having to write +to<br> + you, when I used to see you every day. As I say to Lisbeth, 'I +did<br> + not know how happy I was.' A thousand kisses, dear boy. Be true +to<br> + your</p> + +<p>"VALERIE."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><br> + "And tears!" said Hulot to himself as he finished this letter, +"tears<br> + which have blotted out her name.--How is she?" said he to +Reine.</p> + +<p>"Madame is in bed; she has dreadful spasms," replied Reine. +"She had a<br> + fit of hysterics that twisted her like a withy round a faggot. +It came<br> + on after writing. It comes of crying so much. She heard +monsieur's<br> + voice on the stairs."</p> + +<p><br> + The Baron in his distress wrote the following note on office +paper<br> + with a printed heading:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"Be quite easy, my angel, he will die a second-class +clerk!--Your<br> + idea is admirable; we will go and live far from Paris, where +we<br> + shall be happy with our little Hector; I will retire on my<br> + pension, and I shall be sure to find some good appointment on +a<br> + railway.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my sweet friend, I feel so much the younger for your +letter!<br> + I shall begin life again and make a fortune, you will see, for +our<br> + dear little one. As I read your letter, a thousand times +more<br> + ardent than those of the <i>Nouvelle Heloise</i>, it worked a +miracle!<br> + I had not believed it possible that I could love you more. +This<br> + evening, at Lisbeth's you will see</p> + +<p>"YOUR HECTOR, FOR LIFE."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><br> + Reine carried off this reply, the first letter the Baron had +written<br> + to his "sweet friend." Such emotions to some extent +counterbalanced<br> + the disasters growling in the distance; but the Baron, at this +moment<br> + believing he could certainly avert the blows aimed at his +uncle,<br> + Johann Fischer, thought only of the deficit.</p> + +<p><br> + One of the characteristics of the Bonapartist temperament is a +firm<br> + belief in the power of the sword, and confidence in the +superiority of<br> + the military over civilians. Hulot laughed to scorn the +Public<br> + Prosecutor in Algiers, where the War Office is supreme. Man is +always<br> + what he has once been. How can the officers of the Imperial +Guard<br> + forget that time was when the mayors of the largest towns in +the<br> + Empire and the Emperor's prefects, Emperors themselves on a +minute<br> + scale, would come out to meet the Imperial Guard, to pay +their<br> + respects on the borders of the Departments through which it +passed,<br> + and to do it, in short, the homage due to sovereigns?</p> + +<p>At half-past four the baron went straight to Madame +Marneffe's; his<br> + heart beat as high as a young man's as he went upstairs, for he +was<br> + asking himself this question, "Shall I see her? or shall I +not?"</p> + +<p>How was he now to remember the scene of the morning when his +weeping<br> + children had knelt at his feet? Valerie's note, enshrined for +ever in<br> + a thin pocket-book over his heart, proved to him that she loved +him<br> + more than the most charming of young men.</p> + +<p>Having rung, the unhappy visitor heard within the shuffling +slippers<br> + and vexatious scraping cough of the detestable master. Marneffe +opened<br> + the door, but only to put himself into an attitude and point to +the<br> + stairs, exactly as Hulot had shown him the door of his private +room.</p> + +<p>"You are too exclusively Hulot, Monsieur Hulot!" said he.</p> + +<p>The Baron tried to pass him, Marneffe took a pistol out of his +pocket<br> + and cocked it.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Baron," said he, "when a man is as vile as I +am--for you<br> + think me very vile, don't you?--he would be the meanest +galley-slave<br> + if he did not get the full benefit of his betrayed honor.--You +are for<br> + war; it will be hot work and no quarter. Come here no more, and +do not<br> + attempt to get past me. I have given the police notice of my +position<br> + with regard to you."</p> + +<p>And taking advantage of Hulot's amazement, he pushed him out +and shut<br> + the door.</p> + +<p>"What a low scoundrel!" said Hulot to himself, as he went +upstairs to<br> + Lisbeth. "I understand her letter now. Valerie and I will go +away from<br> + Paris. Valerie is wholly mine for the remainder of my days; she +will<br> + close my eyes."</p> + +<p>Lisbeth was out. Madame Olivier told the Baron that she had +gone to<br> + his wife's house, thinking that she would find him there.</p> + +<p>"Poor thing! I should never have expected her to be so sharp +as she<br> + was this morning," thought Hulot, recalling Lisbeth's behavior +as he<br> + made his way from the Rue Vanneau to the Rue Plumet.</p> + +<p>As he turned the corner of the Rue Vanneau and the Rue de +Babylone, he<br> + looked back at the Eden whence Hymen had expelled him with the +sword<br> + of the law. Valerie, at her window, was watching his departure; +as he<br> + glanced up, she waved her handkerchief, but the rascally +Marneffe hit<br> + his wife's cap and dragged her violently away from the window. A +tear<br> + rose to the great official's eye.</p> + +<p>"Oh! to be so well loved! To see a woman so ill used, and to +be so<br> + nearly seventy years old!" thought he.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth had come to give the family the good news. Adeline +and<br> + Hortense had already heard that the Baron, not choosing to +compromise<br> + himself in the eyes of the whole office by appointing Marneffe +to the<br> + first class, would be turned from the door by the +Hulot-hating<br> + husband. Adeline, very happy, had ordered a dinner that her +Hector was<br> + to like better than any of Valerie's; and Lisbeth, in her +devotion,<br> + was helping Mariette to achieve this difficult result. Cousin +Betty<br> + was the idol of the hour. Mother and daughter kissed her hands, +and<br> + had told her with touching delight that the Marshal consented to +have<br> + her as his housekeeper.</p> + +<p>"And from that, my dear, there is but one step to becoming his +wife!"<br> + said Adeline.</p> + +<p>"In fact, he did not say no when Victorin mentioned it," added +the<br> + Countess.</p> + +<p>The Baron was welcomed home with such charming proofs of +affection, so<br> + pathetically overflowing with love, that he was fain to conceal +his<br> + troubles.</p> + +<p>Marshal Hulot came to dinner. After dinner, Hector did not go +out.<br> + Victorin and his wife joined them, and they made up a +rubber.</p> + +<p>"It is a long time, Hector, said the Marshal gravely, "since +you gave<br> + us the treat of such an evening."</p> + +<p>This speech from the old soldier, who spoiled his brother +though he<br> + thus implicitly blamed him, made a deep impression. It showed +how wide<br> + and deep were the wounds in a heart where all the woes he had +divined<br> + had found an echo. At eight o'clock the Baron insisted on +seeing<br> + Lisbeth home, promising to return.</p> + +<p>"Do you know, Lisbeth, he ill-treats her!" said he in the +street. "Oh,<br> + I never loved her so well!"</p> + +<p>"I never imagined that Valerie loved you so well," replied +Lisbeth.<br> + "She is frivolous and a coquette, she loves to have attentions +paid<br> + her, and to have the comedy of love-making performed for her, as +she<br> + says; but you are her only real attachment."</p> + +<p>"What message did she send me?"</p> + +<p>"Why, this," said Lisbeth. "She has, as you know, been on +intimate<br> + terms with Crevel. You must owe her no grudge, for that, in +fact, is<br> + what has raised her above utter poverty for the rest of her +life; but<br> + she detests him, and matters are nearly at an end.--Well, she +has kept<br> + the key of some rooms--"</p> + +<p>"Rue du Dauphin!" cried the thrice-blest Baron. "If it were +for that<br> + alone, I would overlook Crevel.--I have been there; I know."</p> + +<p>"Here, then, is the key," said Lisbeth. "Have another made +from it in<br> + the course of to-morrow--two if you can."</p> + +<p>"And then," said Hulot eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Well, I will dine at your house again to-morrow; you must +give me<br> + back Valerie's key, for old Crevel might ask her to return it to +him,<br> + and you can meet her there the day after; then you can decide +what<br> + your facts are to be. You will be quite safe, as there are two +ways<br> + out. If by chance Crevel, who is <i>Regence</i> in his habits, +as he is<br> + fond of saying, should come in by the side street, you could go +out<br> + through the shop, or <i>vice versa.</i></p> + +<p>"You owe all this to me, you old villain; now what will you do +for<br> + me?"</p> + +<p>"Whatever you want."</p> + +<p>"Then you will not oppose my marrying your brother?"</p> + +<p>"You! the Marechale Hulot, the Comtesse de Frozheim?" cried +Hector,<br> + startled.</p> + +<p>"Well, Adeline is a Baroness!" retorted Betty in a vicious +and<br> + formidable tone. "Listen to me, you old libertine. You know +how<br> + matters stand; your family may find itself starving in the +gutter--"</p> + +<p>"That is what I dread," said Hulot in dismay.</p> + +<p>"And if your brother were to die, who would maintain your wife +and<br> + daughter? The widow of a Marshal gets at least six thousand +francs<br> + pension, doesn't she? Well, then, I wish to marry to secure +bread for<br> + your wife and daughter--old dotard!"</p> + +<p>"I had not seen it in that light!" said the Baron. "I will +talk to my<br> + brother--for we are sure of you.--Tell my angel that my life is +hers."</p> + +<p>And the Baron, having seen Lisbeth go into the house in the +Rue<br> + Vanneau, went back to his whist and stayed at home. The Baroness +was<br> + at the height of happiness; her husband seemed to be returning +to<br> + domestic habits; for about a fortnight he went to his office at +nine<br> + every morning, he came in to dinner at six, and spent the +evening with<br> + his family. He twice took Adeline and Hortense to the play. The +mother<br> + and daughter paid for three thanksgiving masses, and prayed to +God to<br> + suffer them to keep the husband and father He had restored to +them.</p> + +<p>One evening Victorin Hulot, seeing his father retire for the +night,<br> + said to his mother:</p> + +<p>"Well, we are at any rate so far happy that my father has come +back to<br> + us. My wife and I shall never regret our capital if only this +lasts--"</p> + +<p>"Your father is nearly seventy," said the Baroness. "He still +thinks<br> + of Madame Marneffe, that I can see; but he will forget her in +time. A<br> + passion for women is not like gambling, or speculation, or +avarice;<br> + there is an end to it."</p> + +<p>But Adeline, still beautiful in spite of her fifty years and +her<br> + sorrows, in this was mistaken. Profligates, men whom Nature has +gifted<br> + with the precious power of loving beyond the limits ordinarily +set to<br> + love, rarely are as old as their age.</p> + +<p>During this relapse into virtue Baron Hulot had been three +times to<br> + the Rue du Dauphin, and had certainly not been the man of +seventy. His<br> + rekindled passion made him young again, and he would have +sacrificed<br> + his honor to Valerie, his family, his all, without a regret. +But<br> + Valerie, now completely altered, never mentioned money, not even +the<br> + twelve hundred francs a year to be settled on their son; on +the<br> + contrary, she offered him money, she loved Hulot as a woman of +six-<br> + and-thirty loves a handsome law-student--a poor, poetical, +ardent boy.<br> + And the hapless wife fancied she had reconquered her dear +Hector!</p> + +<p>The fourth meeting between this couple had been agreed upon at +the end<br> + of the third, exactly as formerly in Italian theatres the play +was<br> + announced for the next night. The hour fixed was nine in the +morning.<br> + On the next day when the happiness was due for which the amorous +old<br> + man had resigned himself to domestic rules, at about eight in +the<br> + morning, Reine came and asked to see the Baron. Hulot, fearing +some<br> + catastrophe, went out to speak with Reine, who would not come +into the<br> + anteroom. The faithful waiting-maid gave him the following +note:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"DEAR OLD MAN,--Do not go to the Rue du Dauphin. Our incubus +is<br> + ill, and I must nurse him; but be there this evening at +nine.<br> + Crevel is at Corbeil with Monsieur Lebas; so I am sure he +will<br> + bring no princess to his little palace. I have made +arrangements<br> + here to be free for the night and get back before Marneffe +is<br> + awake. Answer me as to all this, for perhaps your long elegy of +a<br> + wife no longer allows you your liberty as she did. I am told +she<br> + is still so handsome that you might play me false, you are such +a<br> + gay dog! Burn this note; I am suspicious of every one."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Hulot wrote this scrap in reply:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"MY LOVE,--As I have told you, my wife has not for +five-and-twenty<br> + years interfered with my pleasures. For you I would give up +a<br> + hundred Adelines.--I will be in the Crevel sanctum at nine +this<br> + evening awaiting my divinity. Oh that your clerk might soon +die!<br> + We should part no more. And this is the dearest wish of</p> + +<p>"YOUR HECTOR."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><br> + That evening the Baron told his wife that he had business with +the<br> + Minister at Saint-Cloud, that he would come home at about four +or five<br> + in the morning; and he went to the Rue du Dauphin. It was +towards the<br> + end of the month of June.</p> + +<p><br> + Few men have in the course of their life known really the +dreadful<br> + sensation of going to their death; those who have returned from +the<br> + foot of the scaffold may be easily counted. But some have had a +vivid<br> + experience of it in dreams; they have gone through it all, to +the<br> + sensation of the knife at their throat, at the moment when +waking and<br> + daylight come to release them.--Well, the sensation to which +the<br> + Councillor of State was a victim at five in the morning in +Crevel's<br> + handsome and elegant bed, was immeasurably worse than that of +feeling<br> + himself bound to the fatal block in the presence of ten +thousand<br> + spectators looking at you with twenty thousand sparks of +fire.</p> + +<p>Valerie was asleep in a graceful attitude. She was lovely, as +a woman<br> + is who is lovely enough to look so even in sleep. It is art +invading<br> + nature; in short, a living picture.</p> + +<p>In his horizontal position the Baron's eyes were but three +feet above<br> + the floor. His gaze, wandering idly, as that of a man who is +just<br> + awake and collecting his ideas, fell on a door painted with +flowers by<br> + Jan, an artist disdainful of fame. The Baron did not indeed see +twenty<br> + thousand flaming eyes, like the man condemned to death; he saw +but<br> + one, of which the shaft was really more piercing than the +thousands on<br> + the Public Square.</p> + +<p>Now this sensation, far rarer in the midst of enjoyment even +than that<br> + of a man condemned to death, was one for which many a +splenetic<br> + Englishman would certainly pay a high price. The Baron lay +there,<br> + horizontal still, and literally bathed in cold sweat. He tried +to<br> + doubt the fact; but this murderous eye had a voice. A sound +of<br> + whispering was heard through the door.</p> + +<p>"So long as it is nobody but Crevel playing a trick on me!" +said the<br> + Baron to himself, only too certain of an intruder in the +temple.</p> + +<p>The door was opened. The Majesty of the French Law, which in +all<br> + documents follows next to the King, became visible in the person +of a<br> + worthy little police-officer supported by a tall Justice of the +Peace,<br> + both shown in by Monsieur Marneffe. The police functionary, +rooted in<br> + shoes of which the straps were tied together with flapping bows, +ended<br> + at top in a yellow skull almost bare of hair, and a face +betraying him<br> + as a wide-awake, cheerful, and cunning dog, from whom Paris life +had<br> + no secrets. His eyes, though garnished with spectacles, pierced +the<br> + glasses with a keen mocking glance. The Justice of the Peace, +a<br> + retired attorney, and an old admirer of the fair sex, envied +the<br> + delinquent.</p> + +<p>"Pray excuse the strong measures required by our office, +Monsieur le<br> + Baron!" said the constable; "we are acting for the plaintiff. +The<br> + Justice of the Peace is here to authorize the visitation of +the<br> + premises.--I know who you are, and who the lady is who is +accused."</p> + +<p>Valerie opened her astonished eyes, gave such a shriek as +actresses<br> + use to depict madness on the stage, writhed in convulsions on +the bed,<br> + like a witch of the Middle Ages in her sulphur-colored frock on +a bed<br> + of faggots.</p> + +<p>"Death, and I am ready! my dear Hector--but a police +court?--Oh!<br> + never."</p> + +<p>With one bound she passed the three spectators and crouched +under the<br> + little writing-table, hiding her face in her hands.</p> + +<p>"Ruin! Death!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," said Marneffe to Hulot, "if Madame Marneffe goes +mad, you<br> + are worse than a profligate; you will be a murderer."</p> + +<p>What can a man do, what can he say, when he is discovered in a +bed<br> + which is not his, even on the score of hiring, with a woman who +is no<br> + more his than the bed is?--Well, this:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur the Justice of the Peace, Monsieur the Police +Officer," said<br> + the Baron with some dignity, "be good enough to take proper care +of<br> + that unhappy woman, whose reason seems to me to be in +danger.--You can<br> + harangue me afterwards. The doors are locked, no doubt; you need +not<br> + fear that she will get away, or I either, seeing the costume we +wear."</p> + +<p>The two functionaries bowed to the magnate's injunctions.</p> + +<p>"You, come here, miserable cur!" said Hulot in a low voice +to<br> + Marneffe, taking him by the arm and drawing him closer. "It is +not I,<br> + but you, who will be the murderer! You want to be head-clerk of +your<br> + room and officer of the Legion of Honor?"</p> + +<p>"That in the first place, Chief!" replied Marneffe, with a +bow.</p> + +<p>"You shall be all that, only soothe your wife and dismiss +these<br> + fellows."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay!" said Marneffe knowingly. "These gentlemen must +draw up<br> + their report as eyewitnesses to the fact; without that, the +chief<br> + evidence in my case, where should I be? The higher official +ranks are<br> + chokeful of rascalities. You have done me out of my wife, and +you have<br> + not promoted me, Monsieur le Baron; I give you only two days to +get<br> + out of the scrape. Here are some letters--"</p> + +<p>"Some letters!" interrupted Hulot.</p> + +<p>"Yes; letters which prove that you are the father of the child +my wife<br> + expects to give birth to.--You understand? And you ought to +settle on<br> + my son a sum equal to what he will lose through this bastard. +But I<br> + will be reasonable; this does not distress me, I have no mania +for<br> + paternity myself. A hundred louis a year will satisfy me. By +to-morrow<br> + I must be Monsieur Coquet's successor and see my name on the +list for<br> + promotion in the Legion of Honor at the July fetes, or +else--the<br> + documentary evidence and my charge against you will be laid +before the<br> + Bench. I am not so hard to deal with after all, you see."</p> + +<p>"Bless me, and such a pretty woman!" said the Justice of the +Peace to<br> + the police constable. "What a loss to the world if she should go +mad!"</p> + +<p>"She is not mad," said the constable sententiously. The police +is<br> + always the incarnation of scepticism.--"Monsieur le Baron Hulot +has<br> + been caught by a trick," he added, loud enough for Valerie to +hear<br> + him.</p> + +<p>Valerie shot a flash from her eye which would have killed him +on the<br> + spot if looks could effect the vengeance they express. The +police-<br> + officer smiled; he had laid a snare, and the woman had fallen +into it.<br> + Marneffe desired his wife to go into the other room and clothe +herself<br> + decently, for he and the Baron had come to an agreement on all +points,<br> + and Hulot fetched his dressing-gown and came out again.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said he to the two officials, "I need not impress +on you<br> + to be secret."</p> + +<p>The functionaries bowed.</p> + +<p>The police-officer rapped twice on the door; his clerk came +in, sat<br> + down at the "bonheur-du-jour," and wrote what the constable +dictated<br> + to him in an undertone. Valerie still wept vehemently. When she +was<br> + dressed, Hulot went into the other room and put on his +clothes.<br> + Meanwhile the report was written.</p> + +<p>Marneffe then wanted to take his wife home; but Hulot, +believing that<br> + he saw her for the last time, begged the favor of being allowed +to<br> + speak with her.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur, your wife has cost me dear enough for me to be +allowed to<br> + say good-bye to her--in the presence of you all, of course."</p> + +<p>Valerie went up to Hulot, and he whispered in her ear:</p> + +<p>"There is nothing left for us but to fly, but how can we +correspond?<br> + We have been betrayed--"</p> + +<p>"Through Reine," she answered. "But my dear friend, after this +scandal<br> + we can never meet again. I am disgraced. Besides, you will +hear<br> + dreadful things about me--you will believe them--"</p> + +<p>The Baron made a gesture of denial.</p> + +<p>"You will believe them, and I can thank God for that, for then +perhaps<br> + you will not regret me."</p> + +<p>"He will <i>not</i> die a second-class clerk!" said Marneffe +to Hulot, as<br> + he led his wife away, saying roughly, "Come, madame; if I am +foolish<br> + to you, I do not choose to be a fool to others."</p> + +<p>Valerie left the house, Crevel's Eden, with a last glance at +the<br> + Baron, so cunning that he thought she adored him. The Justice of +the<br> + Peace gave Madame Marneffe his arm to the hackney coach with +a<br> + flourish of gallantry. The Baron, who was required to witness +the<br> + report, remained quite bewildered, alone with the +police-officer. When<br> + the Baron had signed, the officer looked at him keenly, over +his<br> + glasses.</p> + +<p>"You are very sweet on the little lady, Monsieur le +Baron?"</p> + +<p>"To my sorrow, as you see."</p> + +<p>"Suppose that she does not care for you?" the man went on, +"that she<br> + is deceiving you?"</p> + +<p>"I have long known that, monsieur--here, in this very spot, +Monsieur<br> + Crevel and I told each other----"</p> + +<p>"Oh! Then you knew that you were in Monsieur le Maire's +private<br> + snuggery?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly."</p> + +<p>The constable lightly touched his hat with a respectful +gesture.</p> + +<p>"You are very much in love," said he. "I say no more. I +respect an<br> + inveterate passion, as a doctor respects an inveterate +complaint.--I<br> + saw Monsieur de Nucingen, the banker, attacked in the same +way--"</p> + +<p>"He is a friend of mine," said the Baron. "Many a time have I +supped<br> + with his handsome Esther. She was worth the two million francs +she<br> + cost him."</p> + +<p>"And more," said the officer. "That caprice of the old Baron's +cost<br> + four persons their lives. Oh! such passions as these are like +the<br> + cholera!"</p> + +<p>"What had you to say to me?" asked the Baron, who took this +indirect<br> + warning very ill.</p> + +<p>"Oh! why should I deprive you of your illusions?" replied the +officer.<br> + "Men rarely have any left at your age!"</p> + +<p>"Rid me of them!" cried the Councillor.</p> + +<p>"You will curse the physician later," replied the officer, +smiling.</p> + +<p>"I beg of you, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, that woman was in collusion with her +husband."</p> + +<p>"Oh!----"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, and so it is in two cases out of every ten. Oh! we +know it<br> + well."</p> + +<p>"What proof have you of such a conspiracy?"</p> + +<p>"In the first place, the husband!" said the other, with the +calm<br> + acumen of a surgeon practised in unbinding wounds. "Mean +speculation<br> + is stamped in every line of that villainous face. But you, no +doubt,<br> + set great store by a certain letter written by that woman with +regard<br> + to the child?"</p> + +<p>"So much so, that I always have it about me," replied Hulot, +feeling<br> + in his breast-pocket for the little pocketbook which he always +kept<br> + there.</p> + +<p>"Leave your pocketbook where it is," said the man, as crushing +as a<br> + thunder-clap. "Here is the letter.--I now know all I want to +know.<br> + Madame Marneffe, of course, was aware of what that +pocketbook<br> + contained?"</p> + +<p>"She alone in the world."</p> + +<p>"So I supposed.--Now for the proof you asked for of her +collusion with<br> + her husband."</p> + +<p>"Let us hear!" said the Baron, still incredulous.</p> + +<p>"When we came in here, Monsieur le Baron, that wretched +creature<br> + Marneffe led the way, and he took up this letter, which his +wife, no<br> + doubt, had placed on this writing-table," and he pointed to +the<br> + <i>bonheur-du-jour</i>. "That evidently was the spot agreed upon +by the<br> + couple, in case she should succeed in stealing the letter while +you<br> + were asleep; for this letter, as written to you by the lady, +is,<br> + combined with those you wrote to her, decisive evidence in a +police-<br> + court."</p> + +<p><br> + He showed Hulot the note that Reine had delivered to him in +his<br> + private room at the office.</p> + +<p>"It is one of the documents in the case," said the +police-agent;<br> + "return it to me, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur," replied Hulot with bitter expression, "that +woman is<br> + profligacy itself in fixed ratios. I am certain at this moment +that<br> + she has three lovers."</p> + +<p>"That is perfectly evident," said the officer. "Oh, they are +not all<br> + on the streets! When a woman follows that trade in a carriage +and a<br> + drawing-room, and her own house, it is not a case for francs +and<br> + centimes, Monsieur le Baron. Mademoiselle Esther, of whom you +spoke,<br> + and who poisoned herself, made away with millions.--If you will +take<br> + my advice, you will get out of it, monsieur. This last little +game<br> + will have cost you dear. That scoundrel of a husband has the law +on<br> + his side. And indeed, but for me, that little woman would have +caught<br> + you again!"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, monsieur," said the Baron, trying to maintain his +dignity.</p> + +<p>"Now we will lock up; the farce is played out, and you can +send your<br> + key to Monsieur the Mayor."</p> + +<p>Hulot went home in a state of dejection bordering on +helplessness, and<br> + sunk in the gloomiest thoughts. He woke his noble and saintly +wife,<br> + and poured into her heart the history of the past three years, +sobbing<br> + like a child deprived of a toy. This confession from an old man +young<br> + in feeling, this frightful and heart-rending narrative, while +it<br> + filled Adeline with pity, also gave her the greatest joy; she +thanked<br> + Heaven for this last catastrophe, for in fancy she saw the +husband<br> + settled at last in the bosom of his family.</p> + +<p>"Lisbeth was right," said Madame Hulot gently and without any +useless<br> + recrimination, "she told us how it would be."</p> + +<p>"Yes. If only I had listened to her, instead of flying into a +rage,<br> + that day when I wanted poor Hortense to go home rather than +compromise<br> + the reputation of that--Oh! my dear Adeline, we must save +Wenceslas.<br> + He is up to his chin in that mire!"</p> + +<p>"My poor old man, the respectable middle-classes have turned +out no<br> + better than the actresses," said Adeline, with a smile.</p> + +<p>The Baroness was alarmed at the change in her Hector; when she +saw him<br> + so unhappy, ailing, crushed under his weight of woes, she was +all<br> + heart, all pity, all love; she would have shed her blood to make +Hulot<br> + happy.</p> + +<p>"Stay with us, my dear Hector. Tell me what is it that such +women do<br> + to attract you so powerfully. I too will try. Why have you not +taught<br> + me to be what you want? Am I deficient in intelligence? Men +still<br> + think me handsome enough to court my favor."</p> + +<p>Many a married woman, attached to her duty and to her husband, +may<br> + here pause to ask herself why strong and affectionate men, so +tender-<br> + hearted to the Madame Marneffes, do not take their wives for +the<br> + object of their fancies and passions, especially wives like +the<br> + Baronne Adeline Hulot.</p> + +<p>This is, indeed, one of the most recondite mysteries of human +nature.<br> + Love, which is debauch of reason, the strong and austere joy of +a<br> + lofty soul, and pleasure, the vulgar counterfeit sold in the +market-<br> + place, are two aspects of the same thing. The woman who can +satisfy<br> + both these devouring appetites is as rare in her sex as a +great<br> + general, a great writer, a great artist, a great inventor in a +nation.<br> + A man of superior intellect or an idiot--a Hulot or a +Crevel--equally<br> + crave for the ideal and for enjoyment; all alike go in search of +the<br> + mysterious compound, so rare that at last it is usually found to +be a<br> + work in two volumes. This craving is a depraved impulse due +to<br> + society.</p> + +<p>Marriage, no doubt, must be accepted as a tie; it is life, +with its<br> + duties and its stern sacrifices on both parts equally. +Libertines, who<br> + seek for hidden treasure, are as guilty as other evil-doers who +are<br> + more hardly dealt with than they. These reflections are not a +mere<br> + veneer of moralizing; they show the reason of many +unexplained<br> + misfortunes. But, indeed, this drama points its own moral--or +morals,<br> + for they are of many kinds.</p> + +<p>The Baron presently went to call on the Marshal Prince de +Wissembourg,<br> + whose powerful patronage was now his only chance. Having dwelt +under<br> + his protection for five-and-thirty years, he was a visitor at +all<br> + hours, and would be admitted to his rooms as soon as he was +up.</p> + +<p>"Ah! How are you, my dear Hector?" said the great and worthy +leader.<br> + "What is the matter? You look anxious. And yet the session is +ended.<br> + One more over! I speak of that now as I used to speak of a +campaign.<br> + And indeed I believe the newspapers nowadays speak of the +sessions as<br> + parliamentary campaigns."</p> + +<p>"We have been in difficulties, I must confess, Marshal; but +the times<br> + are hard!" said Hulot. "It cannot be helped; the world was made +so.<br> + Every phase has its own drawbacks. The worst misfortunes in the +year<br> + 1841 is that neither the King nor the ministers are free to act +as<br> + Napoleon was."</p> + +<p>The Marshal gave Hulot one of those eagle flashes which in its +pride,<br> + clearness, and perspicacity showed that, in spite of years, that +lofty<br> + soul was still upright and vigorous.</p> + +<p>"You want me to so something for you?" said he, in a hearty +tone.</p> + +<p>"I find myself under the necessity of applying to you for +the<br> + promotion of one of my second clerks to the head of a room--as +a<br> + personal favor to myself--and his advancement to be officer of +the<br> + Legion of Honor."</p> + +<p>"What is his name?" said the Marshal, with a look like a +lightning<br> + flash.</p> + +<p>"Marneffe."</p> + +<p>"He has a pretty wife; I saw her on the occasion of your +daughter's<br> + marriage.--If Roger--but Roger is away!--Hector, my boy, this +is<br> + concerned with your pleasures. What, you still indulge--? Well, +you<br> + are a credit to the old Guard. That is what comes of having been +in<br> + the Commissariat; you have reserves!--But have nothing to do +with this<br> + little job, my dear boy; it is too strong of the petticoat to be +good<br> + business."</p> + +<p>"No, Marshal; it is bad business, for the police courts have a +finger<br> + in it. Would you like to see me go there?"</p> + +<p>"The devil!" said the Prince uneasily. "Go on!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I am in the predicament of a trapped fox. You have +always been<br> + so kind to me, that you will, I am sure, condescend to help me +out of<br> + the shameful position in which I am placed."</p> + +<p>Hulot related his misadventures, as wittily and as lightly as +he<br> + could.</p> + +<p>"And you, Prince, will you allow my brother to die of grief, a +man you<br> + love so well; or leave one of your staff in the War Office, +a<br> + Councillor of State, to live in disgrace. This Marneffe is a +wretched<br> + creature; he can be shelved in two or three years."</p> + +<p>"How you talk of two or three years, my dear fellow!" said +the<br> + Marshal.</p> + +<p>"But, Prince, the Imperial Guard is immortal."</p> + +<p>"I am the last of the first batch of Marshals," said the +Prince.<br> + "Listen, Hector. You do not know the extent of my attachment to +you;<br> + you shall see. On the day when I retire from office, we will +go<br> + together. But you are not a Deputy, my friend. Many men want +your<br> + place; but for me, you would be out of it by this time. Yes, I +have<br> + fought many a pitched battle to keep you in it.--Well, I grant +you<br> + your two requests; it would be too bad to see you riding the bar +at<br> + your age and in the position you hold. But you stretch your +credit a<br> + little too far. If this appointment gives rise to discussion, we +shall<br> + not be held blameless. I can laugh at such things; but you will +find<br> + it a thorn under your feet. And the next session will see +your<br> + dismissal. Your place is held out as a bait to five or six +influential<br> + men, and you have been enabled to keep it solely by the force of +my<br> + arguments. I tell you, on the day when you retire, there will be +five<br> + malcontents to one happy man; whereas, by keeping you hanging on +by a<br> + thread for two or three years, we shall secure all six votes. +There<br> + was a great laugh at the Council meeting; the Veteran of the +Old<br> + Guard, as they say, was becoming desperately wide awake in<br> + parliamentary tactics! I am frank with you.--And you are growing +gray;<br> + you are a happy man to be able to get into such difficulties as +these!<br> + How long is it since I--Lieutenant Cottin--had a mistress?"</p> + +<p>He rang the bell.</p> + +<p>"That police report must be destroyed," he added.</p> + +<p>"Monseigneur, you are as a father to me! I dared not mention +my<br> + anxiety on that point."</p> + +<p>"I still wish I had Roger here," cried the Prince, as +Mitouflet, his<br> + groom of the chambers, came in. "I was just going to send for +him!--<br> + You may go, Mitouflet.--Go you, my dear old fellow, go and have +the<br> + nomination made out; I will sign it. At the same time, that +low<br> + schemer will not long enjoy the fruit of his crimes. He will +be<br> + sharply watched, and drummed out of the regiment for the +smallest<br> + fault.--You are saved this time, my dear Hector; take care for +the<br> + future. Do not exhaust your friends' patience. You shall have +the<br> + nomination this morning, and your man shall get his promotion in +the<br> + Legion of Honor.--How old are you now?"</p> + +<p>"Within three months of seventy."</p> + +<p>"What a scapegrace!" said the Prince, laughing. "It is you who +deserve<br> + a promotion, but, by thunder! we are not under Louis XV.!"</p> + +<p>Such is the sense of comradeship that binds the glorious +survivors of<br> + the Napoleonic phalanx, that they always feel as if they were in +camp<br> + together, and bound to stand together through thick and +thin.</p> + +<p>"One more favor such as this," Hulot reflected as he crossed +the<br> + courtyard, "and I am done for!"</p> + +<p>The luckless official went to Baron de Nucingen, to whom he +now owed a<br> + mere trifle, and succeeded in borrowing forty thousand francs, +on his<br> + salary pledged for two years more; the banker stipulated that in +the<br> + event of Hulot's retirement on his pension, the whole of it +should be<br> + devoted to the repayment of the sum borrowed till the capital +and<br> + interest were all cleared off.</p> + +<p>This new bargain, like the first, was made in the name of +Vauvinet, to<br> + whom the Baron signed notes of hand to the amount of twelve +thousand<br> + francs.</p> + +<p>On the following day, the fateful police report, the husband's +charge,<br> + the letters--all the papers--were destroyed. The scandalous +promotion<br> + of Monsieur Marneffe, hardly heeded in the midst of the July +fetes,<br> + was not commented on in any newspaper.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, to all appearance at war with Madame Marneffe, had +taken up<br> + her abode with Marshal Hulot. Ten days after these events, the +banns<br> + of marriage were published between the old maid and the +distinguished<br> + old officer, to whom, to win his consent, Adeline had related +the<br> + financial disaster that had befallen her Hector, begging him +never to<br> + mention it to the Baron, who was, as she said, much saddened, +quite<br> + depressed and crushed.</p> + +<p>"Alas! he is as old as his years," she added.</p> + +<p>So Lisbeth had triumphed. She was achieving the object of +her<br> + ambition, she would see the success of her scheme, and her +hatred<br> + gratified. She delighted in the anticipated joy of reigning +supreme<br> + over the family who had so long looked down upon her. Yes, she +would<br> + patronize her patrons, she would be the rescuing angel who would +dole<br> + out a livelihood to the ruined family; she addressed herself +as<br> + "Madame la Comtesse" and "Madame la Marechale," courtesying in +front<br> + of a glass. Adeline and Hortense should end their days in +struggling<br> + with poverty, while she, a visitor at the Tuileries, would lord +it in<br> + the fashionable world.</p> + +<p>A terrible disaster overthrew the old maid from the social +heights<br> + where she so proudly enthroned herself.</p> + +<p>On the very day when the banns were first published, the +Baron<br> + received a second message from Africa. Another Alsatian +arrived,<br> + handed him a letter, after assuring himself that he spoke to +Baron<br> + Hulot, and after giving the Baron the address of his lodgings, +bowed<br> + himself out, leaving the great man stricken by the opening lines +of<br> + this letter:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"DEAR NEPHEW,--You will receive this letter, by my +calculations,<br> + on the 7th of August. Supposing it takes you three days to send +us<br> + the help we need, and that it is a fortnight on the way here, +that<br> + brings us to the 1st of September.</p> + +<p>"If you can act decisively within that time, you will have +saved<br> + the honor and the life of yours sincerely, Johann Fischer.</p> + +<p>"This is what I am required to demand by the clerk you have +made<br> + my accomplice; for I am amenable, it would seem, to the law, +at<br> + the Assizes, or before a council of war. Of course, you +understand<br> + that Johann Fischer will never be brought to the bar of any<br> + tribunal; he will go of his own act to appear at that of +God.</p> +</blockquote> + +<blockquote> +<p><br> + "Your clerk seems to me a bad lot, quite capable of getting +you<br> + into hot water; but he is as clever as any rogue. He says the +line<br> + for you to take is to call out louder than any one, and to +send<br> + out an inspector, a special commissioner, to discover who is<br> + really guilty, rake up abuses, and make a fuss, in short; but +if<br> + we stir up the struggle, who will stand between us and the +law?</p> + +<p>"If your commissioner arrives here by the 1st of September, +and<br> + you have given him your orders, sending by him two hundred<br> + thousand francs to place in our storehouses the supplies we<br> + profess to have secured in remote country places, we shall +be<br> + absolutely solvent and regarded as blameless. You can trust +the<br> + soldier who is the bearer of this letter with a draft in my +name<br> + on a house in Algiers. He is a trustworthy fellow, a relation +of<br> + mine, incapable of trying to find out what he is the bearer of. +I<br> + have taken measures to guarantee the fellow's safe return. If +you<br> + can do nothing, I am ready and willing to die for the man to +whom<br> + we owe our Adeline's happiness!"</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The anguish and raptures of passion and the catastrophe which +had<br> + checked his career of profligacy had prevented Baron Hulot's +ever<br> + thinking of poor Johann Fischer, though his first letter had +given<br> + warning of the danger now become so pressing. The Baron went out +of<br> + the dining-room in such agitation that he literally dropped on +to a<br> + sofa in the drawing-room. He was stunned, sunk in the dull +numbness of<br> + a heavy fall. He stared at a flower on the carpet, quite +unconscious<br> + that he still held in his hand Johann's fatal letter.</p> + +<p><br> + Adeline, in her room, heard her husband throw himself on the +sofa,<br> + like a lifeless mass; the noise was so peculiar that she fancied +he<br> + had an apoplectic attack. She looked through the door at the +mirror,<br> + in such dread as stops the breath and hinders motion, and she +saw her<br> + Hector in the attitude of a man crushed. The Baroness stole in +on<br> + tiptoe; Hector heard nothing; she went close up to him, saw +the<br> + letter, took it, read it, trembling in every limb. She went +through<br> + one of those violent nervous shocks that leave their traces for +ever<br> + on the sufferer. Within a few days she became subject to a +constant<br> + trembling, for after the first instant the need for action gave +her<br> + such strength as can only be drawn from the very wellspring of +the<br> + vital powers.</p> + +<p>"Hector, come into my room," said she, in a voice that was no +more<br> + than a breath. "Do not let your daughter see you in this state! +Come,<br> + my dear, come!"</p> + +<p>"Two hundred thousand francs? Where can I find them? I can get +Claude<br> + Vignon sent out there as commissioner. He is a clever, +intelligent<br> + fellow.--That is a matter of a couple of days.--But two +hundred<br> + thousand francs! My son has not so much; his house is loaded +with<br> + mortgages for three hundred thousand. My brother has saved +thirty<br> + thousand francs at most. Nucingen would simply laugh at +me!--Vauvinet?<br> + --he was not very ready to lend me the ten thousand francs I +wanted to<br> + make up the sum for that villain Marneffe's boy. No, it is all +up with<br> + me; I must throw myself at the Prince's feet, confess how +matters<br> + stand, hear myself told that I am a low scoundrel, and take +his<br> + broadside so as to go decently to the bottom."</p> + +<p>"But, Hector, this is not merely ruin, it is disgrace," said +Adeline.<br> + "My poor uncle will kill himself. Only kill us--yourself and me; +you<br> + have a right to do that, but do not be a murderer! Come, take +courage;<br> + there must be some way out of it."</p> + +<p>"Not one," said Hulot. "No one in the Government could find +two<br> + hundred thousand francs, not if it were to save an +Administration!--<br> + Oh, Napoleon! where art thou?"</p> + +<p>"My uncle! poor man! Hector, he must not be allowed to kill +himself in<br> + disgrace."</p> + +<p>"There is one more chance," said he, "but a very remote +one.--Yes,<br> + Crevel is at daggers drawn with his daughter.--He has plenty of +money,<br> + he alone could--"</p> + +<p>"Listen, Hector it will be better for your wife to perish than +to<br> + leave our uncle to perish--and your brother--the honor of the +family!"<br> + cried the Baroness, struck by a flash of light. "Yes, I can save +you<br> + all.--Good God! what a degrading thought! How could it have +occurred<br> + to me?"</p> + +<p>She clasped her hands, dropped on her knees, and put up a +prayer. On<br> + rising, she saw such a crazy expression of joy on her husband's +face,<br> + that the diabolical suggestion returned, and then Adeline sank +into a<br> + sort of idiotic melancholy.</p> + +<p>"Go, my dear, at once to the War Office," said she, rousing +herself<br> + from this torpor; "try to send out a commission; it must be +done. Get<br> + round the Marshal. And on your return, at five o'clock, you will +find<br> + --perhaps--yes! you shall find two hundred thousand francs. +Your<br> + family, your honor as a man, as a State official, a Councillor +of<br> + State, your honesty--your son--all shall be saved;--but your +Adeline<br> + will be lost, and you will see her no more. Hector, my dear," +said<br> + she, kneeling before him, clasping and kissing his hand, "give +me your<br> + blessing! Say farewell."</p> + +<p>It was so heart-rending that Hulot put his arms round his +wife, raised<br> + her and kissed her, saying:</p> + +<p>"I do not understand."</p> + +<p>"If you did," said she, "I should die of shame, or I should +not have<br> + the strength to carry out this last sacrifice."</p> + +<p>"Breakfast is served," said Mariette.</p> + +<p>Hortense came in to wish her parents good-morning. They had to +go to<br> + breakfast and assume a false face.</p> + +<p>"Begin without me; I will join you," said the Baroness.</p> + +<p>She sat down to her desk and wrote as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"MY DEAR MONSIEUR CREVEL,--I have to ask a service of you; I +shall<br> + expect you this morning, and I count on your gallantry, which +is<br> + well known to me, to save me from having too long to wait for +you.<br> + --Your faithful servant,</p> + +<p>"ADELINE HULOT."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><br> + "Louise," said she to her daughter's maid, who waited on her, +"take<br> + this note down to the porter and desire him to carry it at once +to<br> + this address and wait for an answer."</p> + +<p><br> + The Baron, who was reading the news, held out a Republican paper +to<br> + his wife, pointing to an article, and saying:</p> + +<p>"Is there time?"</p> + +<p>This was the paragraph, one of the terrible "notes" with which +the<br> + papers spice their political bread and butter:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"A correspondent in Algiers writes that such abuses have +been<br> + discovered in the commissariate transactions of the province +of<br> + Oran, that the Law is making inquiries. The peculation is +self-<br> + evident, and the guilty persons are known. If severe measures +are<br> + not taken, we shall continue to lose more men through the<br> + extortion that limits their rations than by Arab steel or +the<br> + fierce heat of the climate. We await further information +before<br> + enlarging on this deplorable business. We need no longer wonder +at<br> + the terror caused by the establishment of the Press in Africa, +as<br> + was contemplated by the Charter of 1830."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>"I will dress and go to the Minister," said the Baron, as they +rose<br> + from table. "Time is precious; a man's life hangs on every +minute."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, there is no hope for me!" cried Hortense. And +unable to<br> + check her tears, she handed to her mother a number of the +<i>Revue des<br> + Beaux Arts.</i></p> + +<p><br> + Madame Hulot's eye fell on a print of the group of "Delilah" by +Count<br> + Steinbock, under which were the words, "The property of +Madame<br> + Marneffe."</p> + +<p>The very first lines of the article, signed V., showed the +talent and<br> + friendliness of Claude Vignon.</p> + +<p>"Poor child!" said the Baroness.</p> + +<p>Alarmed by her mother's tone of indifference, Hortense looked +up, saw<br> + the expression of a sorrow before which her own paled, and rose +to<br> + kiss her mother, saying:</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, mamma? What is happening? Can we be more +wretched<br> + than we are already?"</p> + +<p>"My child, it seems to me that in what I am going through +to-day my<br> + past dreadful sorrows are as nothing. When shall I have ceased +to<br> + suffer?"</p> + +<p>"In heaven, mother," said Hortense solemnly.</p> + +<p>"Come, my angel, help me to dress.--No, no; I will not have +you help<br> + me in this! Send me Louise."</p> + +<p>Adeline, in her room, went to study herself in the glass. She +looked<br> + at herself closely and sadly, wondering to herself:</p> + +<p>"Am I still handsome? Can I still be desirable? Am I not +wrinkled?"</p> + +<p>She lifted up her fine golden hair, uncovering her temples; +they were<br> + as fresh as a girl's. She went further; she uncovered her +shoulders,<br> + and was satisfied; nay, she had a little feeling of pride. The +beauty<br> + of really handsome shoulders is one of the last charms a woman +loses,<br> + especially if she has lived chastely.</p> + +<p>Adeline chose her dress carefully, but the pious and blameless +woman<br> + is decent to the end, in spite of her little coquettish graces. +Of<br> + what use were brand-new gray silk stockings and high heeled +satin<br> + shoes when she was absolutely ignorant of the art of displaying +a<br> + pretty foot at a critical moment, by obtruding it an inch or +two<br> + beyond a half-lifted skirt, opening horizons to desire? She put +on,<br> + indeed, her prettiest flowered muslin dress, with a low body and +short<br> + sleeves; but horrified at so much bareness, she covered her fine +arms<br> + with clear gauze sleeves and hid her shoulders under an +embroidered<br> + cape. Her curls, <i>a l'Anglaise</i>, struck her as too +fly-away; she<br> + subdued their airy lightness by putting on a very pretty cap; +but,<br> + with or without the cap, would she have known how to twist the +golden<br> + ringlets so as to show off her taper fingers to admiration?</p> + +<p>As to rouge--the consciousness of guilt, the preparations for +a<br> + deliberate fall, threw this saintly woman into a state of high +fever,<br> + which, for the time, revived the brilliant coloring of youth. +Her eyes<br> + were bright, her cheeks glowed. Instead of assuming a seductive +air,<br> + she saw in herself a look of barefaced audacity which shocked +her.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, at Adeline's request, had told her all the +circumstances of<br> + Wenceslas' infidelity; and the Baroness had learned to her +utter<br> + amazement, that in one evening in one moment, Madame Marneffe +had made<br> + herself the mistress of the bewitched artist.</p> + +<p>"How do these women do it?" the Baroness had asked +Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>There is no curiosity so great as that of virtuous women on +such<br> + subjects; they would like to know the arts of vice and +remain<br> + immaculate.</p> + +<p>"Why, they are seductive; it is their business," said Cousin +Betty.<br> + "Valerie that evening, my dear, was, I declare, enough to bring +an<br> + angel to perdition."</p> + +<p>"But tell me how she set to work."</p> + +<p>"There is no principle, only practice in that walk of life," +said<br> + Lisbeth ironically.</p> + +<p>The Baroness, recalling this conversation, would have liked to +consult<br> + Cousin Betty; but there was no time for that. Poor Adeline, +incapable<br> + of imagining a patch, of pinning a rosebud in the very middle of +her<br> + bosom, of devising the tricks of the toilet intended to +resuscitate<br> + the ardors of exhausted nature, was merely well dressed. A woman +is<br> + not a courtesan for the wishing!</p> + +<p>"Woman is soup for man," as Moliere says by the mouth of the +judicious<br> + Gros-Rene. This comparison suggests a sort of culinary art in +love.<br> + Then the virtuous wife would be a Homeric meal, flesh laid on +hot<br> + cinders. The courtesan, on the contrary, is a dish by Careme, +with its<br> + condiments, spices, and elegant arrangement. The Baroness could +not--<br> + did not know how to serve up her fair bosom in a lordly dish of +lace,<br> + after the manner of Madame Marneffe. She knew nothing of the +secrets<br> + of certain attitudes. This high-souled woman might have turned +round<br> + and round a hundred times, and she would have betrayed nothing +to the<br> + keen glance of a profligate.</p> + +<p>To be a good woman and a prude to all the world, and a +courtesan to<br> + her husband, is the gift of a woman of genius, and they are few. +This<br> + is the secret of long fidelity, inexplicable to the women who +are not<br> + blessed with the double and splendid faculty. Imagine Madame +Marneffe<br> + virtuous, and you have the Marchesa di Pescara. But such lofty +and<br> + illustrious women, beautiful as Diane de Poitiers, but virtuous, +may<br> + be easily counted.</p> + +<p>So the scene with which this serious and terrible drama of +Paris<br> + manners opened was about to be repeated, with this singular +difference<br> + --that the calamities prophesied then by the captain of the +municipal<br> + Militia had reversed the parts. Madame Hulot was awaiting Crevel +with<br> + the same intentions as had brought him to her, smiling down at +the<br> + Paris crowd from his <i>milord</i>, three years ago. And, +strangest thing<br> + of all, the Baroness was true to herself and to her love, +while<br> + preparing to yield to the grossest infidelity, such as the storm +of<br> + passion even does not justify in the eyes of some judges.</p> + +<p>"What can I do to become a Madame Marneffe?" she asked herself +as she<br> + heard the door-bell.</p> + +<p>She restrained her tears, fever gave brilliancy to her face, +and she<br> + meant to be quite the courtesan, poor, noble soul.</p> + +<p>"What the devil can that worthy Baronne Hulot want of me?" +Crevel<br> + wondered as he mounted the stairs. "She is going to discuss my +quarrel<br> + with Celestine and Victorin, no doubt; but I will not give +way!"</p> + +<p>As he went into the drawing-room, shown in by Louise, he said +to<br> + himself as he noted the bareness of the place (Crevel's +word):</p> + +<p>"Poor woman! She lives here like some fine picture stowed in a +loft by<br> + a man who knows nothing of painting."</p> + +<p>Crevel, seeing Comte Popinot, the Minister of Commerce, buy +pictures<br> + and statues, wanted also to figure as a Maecenas of Paris, whose +love<br> + of Art consists in making good investments.</p> + +<p>Adeline smiled graciously at Crevel, pointing to a chair +facing her.</p> + +<p>"Here I am, fair lady, at your command," said Crevel.</p> + +<p>Monsieur the Mayor, a political personage, now wore black +broadcloth.<br> + His face, at the top of this solemn suit, shone like a full +moon<br> + rising above a mass of dark clouds. His shirt, buttoned with +three<br> + large pearls worth five hundred francs apiece, gave a great idea +of<br> + his thoracic capacity, and he was apt to say, "In me you see +the<br> + coming athlete of the tribune!" His enormous vulgar hands were +encased<br> + in yellow gloves even in the morning; his patent leather boots +spoke<br> + of the chocolate-colored coupe with one horse in which he +drove.</p> + +<p>In the course of three years ambition had altered Crevel's<br> + pretensions. Like all great artists, he had come to his second +manner.<br> + In the great world, when he went to the Prince de Wissembourg's, +to<br> + the Prefecture, to Comte Popinot's, and the like, he held his +hat in<br> + his hand in an airy manner taught him by Valerie, and he +inserted the<br> + thumb of the other hand in the armhole of his waistcoat with a +knowing<br> + air, and a simpering face and expression. This new grace of +attitude<br> + was due to the satirical inventiveness of Valerie, who, under +pretence<br> + of rejuvenating her mayor, had given him an added touch of +the<br> + ridiculous.</p> + +<p>"I begged you to come, my dear kind Monsieur Crevel," said +the<br> + Baroness in a husky voice, "on a matter of the greatest +importance--"</p> + +<p>"I can guess what it is, madame," said Crevel, with a knowing +air,<br> + "but what you would ask is impossible.--Oh, I am not a brutal +father,<br> + a man--to use Napoleon's words--set hard and fast on sheer +avarice.<br> + Listen to me, fair lady. If my children were ruining themselves +for<br> + their own benefit, I would help them out of the scrape; but as +for<br> + backing your husband, madame? It is like trying to fill the vat +of the<br> + Danaides! Their house is mortgaged for three hundred thousand +francs<br> + for an incorrigible father! Why, they have nothing left, +poor<br> + wretches! And they have no fun for their money. All they have to +live<br> + upon is what Victorin may make in Court. He must wag his tongue +more,<br> + must monsieur your son! And he was to have been a Minister, +that<br> + learned youth! Our hope and pride. A pretty pilot, who runs +aground<br> + like a land-lubber; for if he had borrowed to enable him to get +on, if<br> + he had run into debt for feasting Deputies, winning votes, +and<br> + increasing his influence, I should be the first to say, 'Here is +my<br> + purse--dip your hand in, my friend!' But when it comes of paying +for<br> + papa's folly--folly I warned you of!--Ah! his father has +deprived him<br> + of every chance of power.--It is I who shall be Minister!"</p> + +<p>"Alas, my dear Crevel, it has nothing to do with the children, +poor<br> + devoted souls!--If your heart is closed to Victorin and +Celestine, I<br> + shall love them so much that perhaps I may soften the bitterness +of<br> + their souls caused by your anger. You are punishing your +children for<br> + a good action!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, for a good action badly done! That is half a crime," +said<br> + Crevel, much pleased with his epigram.</p> + +<p>"Doing good, my dear Crevel, does not mean sparing money out +of a<br> + purse that is bursting with it; it means enduring privations to +be<br> + generous, suffering for liberality! It is being prepared for<br> + ingratitude! Heaven does not see the charity that costs us +nothing--"</p> + +<p>"Saints, madame, may if they please go to the workhouse; they +know<br> + that it is for them the door of heaven. For my part, I am +worldly-<br> + minded; I fear God, but yet more I fear the hell of poverty. To +be<br> + destitute is the last depth of misfortune in society as now<br> + constituted. I am a man of my time; I respect money."</p> + +<p>"And you are right," said Adeline, "from the worldly point of +view."</p> + +<p>She was a thousand miles from her point, and she felt herself +on a<br> + gridiron, like Saint Laurence, as she thought of her uncle, for +she<br> + could see him blowing his brains out.</p> + +<p>She looked down; then she raised her eyes to gaze at Crevel +with<br> + angelic sweetness--not with the inviting suggestiveness which +was part<br> + of Valerie's wit. Three years ago she could have bewitched +Crevel by<br> + that beautiful look.</p> + +<p>"I have known the time," said she, "when you were more +generous--you<br> + used to talk of three hundred thousand francs like a grand<br> + gentleman--"</p> + +<p>Crevel looked at Madame Hulot; he beheld her like a lily in +the last<br> + of its bloom, vague sensations rose within him, but he felt +such<br> + respect for this saintly creature that he spurned all suspicions +and<br> + buried them in the most profligate corner of his heart.</p> + +<p>"I, madame, am still the same; but a retired merchant, if he +is a<br> + grand gentleman, plays, and must play, the part with method +and<br> + economy; he carries his ideas of order into everything. He opens +an<br> + account for his little amusements, and devotes certain profits +to that<br> + head of expenditure; but as to touching his capital! it would +be<br> + folly. My children will have their fortune intact, mine and my +wife's;<br> + but I do not suppose that they wish their father to be dull, a +monk<br> + and a mummy! My life is a very jolly one; I float gaily down +the<br> + stream. I fulfil all the duties imposed on me by law, by my<br> + affections, and by family ties, just as I always used to be +punctual<br> + in paying my bills when they fell due. If only my children +conduct<br> + themselves in their domestic life as I do, I shall be satisfied; +and<br> + for the present, so long as my follies--for I have committed +follies--<br> + are no loss to any one but the gulls--excuse me, you do not +perhaps<br> + understand the slang word--they will have nothing to blame me +for, and<br> + will find a tidy little sum still left when I die. Your +children<br> + cannot say as much of their father, who is ruining his son and +my<br> + daughter by his pranks--"</p> + +<p><br> + The Baroness was getting further from her object as he went +on.</p> + +<p>"You are very unkind about my husband, my dear Crevel--and +yet, if you<br> + had found his wife obliging, you would have been his best +friend----"</p> + +<p>She shot a burning glance at Crevel; but, like Dubois, who +gave the<br> + Regent three kicks, she affected too much, and the rakish +perfumer's<br> + thoughts jumped at such profligate suggestions, that he said +to<br> + himself, "Does she want to turn the tables on Hulot?--Does she +think<br> + me more attractive as a Mayor than as a National Guardsman? +Women are<br> + strange creatures!"</p> + +<p>And he assumed the position of his second manner, looking at +the<br> + Baroness with his <i>Regency</i> leer.</p> + +<p>"I could almost fancy," she went on, "that you want to visit +on him<br> + your resentment against the virtue that resisted you--in a woman +whom<br> + you loved well enough--to--to buy her," she added in a low +voice.</p> + +<p>"In a divine woman," Crevel replied, with a meaning smile at +the<br> + Baroness, who looked down while tears rose to her eyes. "For you +have<br> + swallowed not a few bitter pills!--in these three years--hey, +my<br> + beauty?"</p> + +<p>"Do not talk of my troubles, dear Crevel; they are too much +for the<br> + endurance of a mere human being. Ah! if you still love me, you +may<br> + drag me out of the pit in which I lie. Yes, I am in hell +torment! The<br> + regicides who were racked and nipped and torn into quarters by +four<br> + horses were on roses compared with me, for their bodies only +were<br> + dismembered, and my heart is torn in quarters----"</p> + +<p>Crevel's thumb moved from his armhole, he placed his hand on +the work-<br> + table, he abandoned his attitude, he smiled! The smile was so +vacuous<br> + that it misled the Baroness; she took it for an expression +of<br> + kindness.</p> + +<p>"You see a woman, not indeed in despair, but with her honor at +the<br> + point of death, and prepared for everything, my dear friend, to +hinder<br> + a crime."</p> + +<p>Fearing that Hortense might come in, she bolted the door; then +with<br> + equal impetuosity she fell at Crevel's feet, took his hand and +kissed<br> + it.</p> + +<p>"Be my deliverer!" she cried.</p> + +<p>She thought there was some generous fibre in this mercantile +soul, and<br> + full of sudden hope that she might get the two hundred thousand +francs<br> + without degrading herself:</p> + +<p>"Buy a soul--you were once ready to buy virtue!" she went on, +with a<br> + frenzied gaze. "Trust to my honesty as a woman, to my honor, of +which<br> + you know the worth! Be my friend! Save a whole family from +ruin,<br> + shame, despair; keep it from falling into a bog where the +quicksands<br> + are mingled with blood! Oh! ask for no explanations," she +exclaimed,<br> + at a movement on Crevel's part, who was about to speak. "Above +all, do<br> + not say to me, 'I told you so!' like a friend who is glad at +a<br> + misfortune. Come now, yield to her whom you used to love, to the +woman<br> + whose humiliation at your feet is perhaps the crowning moment of +her<br> + glory; ask nothing of her, expect what you will from her +gratitude!--<br> + No, no. Give me nothing, but lend--lend to me whom you used to +call<br> + Adeline----"</p> + +<p>At this point her tears flowed so fast, Adeline was sobbing +so<br> + passionately, that Crevel's gloves were wet. The words, "I need +two<br> + hundred thousand francs," were scarcely articulate in the +torrent of<br> + weeping, as stones, however large, are invisible in Alpine +cataracts<br> + swollen by the melting of the snows.</p> + +<p>This is the inexperience of virtue. Vice asks for nothing, as +we have<br> + seen in Madame Marneffe; it gets everything offered to it. Women +of<br> + that stamp are never exacting till they have made themselves<br> + indispensable, or when a man has to be worked as a quarry is +worked<br> + where the lime is rather scarce--going to ruin, as the +quarry-men say.</p> + +<p>On hearing these words, "Two hundred thousand francs," +Crevel<br> + understood all. He cheerfully raised the Baroness, saying +insolently:</p> + +<p>"Come, come, bear up, mother," which Adeline, in her +distraction,<br> + failed to hear. The scene was changing its character. Crevel +was<br> + becoming "master of the situation," to use his own words. The +vastness<br> + of the sum startled Crevel so greatly that his emotion at seeing +this<br> + handsome woman in tears at his feet was forgotten. Besides, +however<br> + angelical and saintly a woman may be, when she is crying +bitterly her<br> + beauty disappears. A Madame Marneffe, as has been seen, whimpers +now<br> + and then, a tear trickles down her cheek; but as to melting into +tears<br> + and making her eyes and nose red!--never would she commit such +a<br> + blunder.</p> + +<p>"Come, child, compose yourself.--Deuce take it!" Crevel went +on,<br> + taking Madame Hulot's hands in his own and patting them. "Why do +you<br> + apply to me for two hundred thousand francs? What do you want +with<br> + them? Whom are they for?"</p> + +<p>"Do not," said she, "insist on any explanations. Give me the +money!--<br> + You will save three lives and the honor of our children."</p> + +<p>"And do you suppose, my good mother, that in all Paris you +will find a<br> + man who at a word from a half-crazy woman will go off <i>hic et +nunc</i>,<br> + and bring out of some drawer, Heaven knows where, two hundred +thousand<br> + francs that have been lying simmering there till she is pleased +to<br> + scoop them up? Is that all you know of life and of business, +my<br> + beauty? Your folks are in a bad way; you may send them the +last<br> + sacraments; for no one in Paris but her Divine Highness Madame +la<br> + Banque, or the great Nucingen, or some miserable miser who is in +love<br> + with gold as we other folks are with a woman, could produce such +a<br> + miracle! The civil list, civil as it may be, would beg you to +call<br> + again tomorrow. Every one invests his money, and turns it over +to the<br> + best of his powers.</p> + +<p>"You are quite mistaken, my angel, if you suppose that King +Louis-<br> + Philippe rules us; he himself knows better than that. He knows +as well<br> + as we do that supreme above the Charter reigns the holy, +venerated,<br> + substantial, delightful, obliging, beautiful, noble, +ever-youthful,<br> + and all-powerful five-franc piece! But money, my beauty, insists +on<br> + interest, and is always engaged in seeking it! 'God of the Jews, +thou<br> + art supreme!' says Racine. The perennial parable of the golden +calf,<br> + you see!--In the days of Moses there was stock-jobbing in the +desert!</p> + +<p>"We have reverted to Biblical traditions; the Golden Calf was +the<br> + first State ledger," he went on. "You, my Adeline, have not +gone<br> + beyond the Rue Plumet. The Egyptians had lent enormous sums to +the<br> + Hebrews, and what they ran after was not God's people, but +their<br> + capital."</p> + +<p>He looked at the Baroness with an expression which said, "How +clever I<br> + am!"</p> + +<p>"You know nothing of the devotion of every city man to his +sacred<br> + hoard!" he went on, after a pause. "Excuse me. Listen to me. Get +this<br> + well into your head.--You want two hundred thousand francs? No +one can<br> + produce the sum without selling some security. Now consider! To +have<br> + two hundred thousand francs in hard cash it would be needful to +sell<br> + about seven hundred thousand francs' worth of stock at three per +cent.<br> + Well; and then you would only get the money on the third day. +That is<br> + the quickest way. To persuade a man to part with a fortune--for +two<br> + hundred thousand francs is the whole fortune of many a man--he +ought<br> + at least to know where it is all going to, and for what +purpose--"</p> + +<p>"It is going, my dear kind Crevel, to save the lives of two +men, one<br> + of whom will die of grief and the other will kill himself! And +to save<br> + me too from going mad! Am I not a little mad already?"</p> + +<p>"Not so mad!" said he, taking Madame Hulot round the knees; +"old<br> + Crevel has his price, since you thought of applying to him, my +angel."</p> + +<p>"They submit to have a man's arms round their knees, it would +seem!"<br> + thought the saintly woman, covering her face with her hands.</p> + +<p>"Once you offered me a fortune!" said she, turning red.</p> + +<p>"Ay, mother! but that was three years ago!" replied Crevel. +"Well, you<br> + are handsomer now than ever I saw you!" he went on, taking +the<br> + Baroness' arm and pressing it to his heart. "You have a good +memory,<br> + my dear, by Jove!--And now you see how wrong you were to be +so<br> + prudish, for those three hundred thousand francs that you +refused so<br> + magnanimously are in another woman's pocket. I loved you then, I +love<br> + you still; but just look back these three years.</p> + +<p>"When I said to you, 'You shall be mine,' what object had I in +view? I<br> + meant to be revenged on that rascal Hulot. But your husband, +my<br> + beauty, found himself a mistress--a jewel of a woman, a pearl, +a<br> + cunning hussy then aged three-and-twenty, for she is +six-and-twenty<br> + now. It struck me as more amusing, more complete, more Louis +XV., more<br> + Marechal de Richelieu, more first-class altogether, to filch +away that<br> + charmer, who, in point of fact, never cared for Hulot, and who +for<br> + these three years has been madly in love with your humble +servant."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, Crevel, from whose hands the Baroness had +released her<br> + own, had resumed his favorite attitude; both thumbs were stuck +into<br> + his armholes, and he was patting his ribs with his fingers, like +two<br> + flapping wings, fancying that he was thus making himself +very<br> + attractive and charming. It was as much as to say, "And this is +the<br> + man you would have nothing to say to!"</p> + +<p>"There you are my dear; I had my revenge, and your husband +knows it. I<br> + proved to him clearly that he was basketed--just where he was +before,<br> + as we say. Madame Marneffe is my mistress, and when her +precious<br> + Marneffe kicks the bucket, she will be my wife."</p> + +<p>Madame Hulot stared at Crevel with a fixed and almost dazed +look.</p> + +<p>"Hector knew it?" she said.</p> + +<p>"And went back to her," replied Crevel. "And I allowed it, +because<br> + Valerie wished to be the wife of a head-clerk; but she promised +me<br> + that she would manage things so that our Baron should be so<br> + effectually bowled over that he can never interfere any more. +And my<br> + little duchess--for that woman is a born duchess, on my +soul!--kept<br> + her word. She restores you your Hector, madame, virtuous in<br> + perpetuity, as she says--she is so witty! He has had a good +lesson, I<br> + can tell you! The Baron has had some hard knocks; he will help +no more<br> + actresses or fine ladies; he is radically cured; cleaned out +like a<br> + beer-glass.</p> + +<p>"If you had listened to Crevel in the first instance, instead +of<br> + scorning him and turning him out of the house, you might have +had four<br> + hundred thousand francs, for my revenge has cost me all of +that.--But<br> + I shall get my change back, I hope, when Marneffe dies--I +have<br> + invested in a wife, you see; that is the secret of my +extravagance. I<br> + have solved the problem of playing the lord on easy terms."</p> + +<p>"Would you give your daughter such a mother-in-law? cried +Madame<br> + Hulot.</p> + +<p>"You do not know Valerie, madame," replied Crevel gravely, +striking<br> + the attitude of his first manner. "She is a woman with good +blood in<br> + her veins, a lady, and a woman who enjoys the highest +consideration.<br> + Why, only yesterday the vicar of the parish was dining with her. +She<br> + is pious, and we have presented a splendid monstrance to the +church.</p> + +<p>"Oh! she is clever, she is witty, she is delightful, well +informed--<br> + she has everything in her favor. For my part, my dear Adeline, I +owe<br> + everything to that charming woman; she has opened my mind, +polished my<br> + speech, as you may have noticed; she corrects my impetuosity, +and<br> + gives me words and ideas. I never say anything now that I ought +not. I<br> + have greatly improved; you must have noticed it. And then she +has<br> + encouraged my ambition. I shall be a Deputy; and I shall make +no<br> + blunders, for I shall consult my Egeria. Every great politician, +from<br> + Numa to our present Prime Minister, has had his Sibyl of the +fountain.<br> + A score of deputies visit Valerie; she is acquiring +considerable<br> + influence; and now that she is about to be established in a +charming<br> + house, with a carriage, she will be one of the occult rulers of +Paris.</p> + +<p>"A fine locomotive! That is what such a woman is. Oh, I have +blessed<br> + you many a time for your stern virtue."</p> + +<p>"It is enough to make one doubt the goodness of God!" cried +Adeline,<br> + whose indignation had dried her tears. "But, no! Divine justice +must<br> + be hanging over her head."</p> + +<p>"You know nothing of the world, my beauty," said the great +politician,<br> + deeply offended. "The world, my Adeline, loves success! Say, +now, has<br> + it come to seek out your sublime virtue, priced at two +hundred<br> + thousand francs?"</p> + +<p>The words made Madame Hulot shudder; the nervous trembling +attacked<br> + her once more. She saw that the ex-perfumer was taking a mean +revenge<br> + on her as he had on Hulot; she felt sick with disgust, and a +spasm<br> + rose to her throat, hindering speech.</p> + +<p>"Money!" she said at last. "Always money!"</p> + +<p>"You touched me deeply," said Crevel, reminded by these words +of the<br> + woman's humiliation, "when I beheld you there, weeping at my +feet!--<br> + You perhaps will not believe me, but if I had my pocket-book +about me,<br> + it would have been yours.--Come, do you really want such a +sum?"</p> + +<p>As she heard this question, big with two hundred thousand +francs,<br> + Adeline forgot the odious insults heaped on her by this +cheap-jack<br> + fine gentleman, before the tempting picture of success described +by<br> + Machiavelli-Crevel, who only wanted to find out her secrets and +laugh<br> + over them with Valerie.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I will do anything, everything," cried the unhappy +woman.<br> + "Monsieur, I will sell myself--I will be a Valerie, if I +must."</p> + +<p>"You will find that difficult," replied Crevel. "Valerie is +a<br> + masterpiece in her way. My good mother, twenty-five years of +virtue<br> + are always repellent, like a badly treated disease. And your +virtue<br> + has grown very mouldy, my dear child. But you shall see how much +I<br> + love you. I will manage to get you your two hundred thousand +francs."</p> + +<p>Adeline, incapable of uttering a word, seized his hand and +laid it on<br> + her heart; a tear of joy trembled in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh! don't be in a hurry; there will be some hard pulling. I +am a<br> + jolly good fellow, a good soul with no prejudices, and I will +put<br> + things plainly to you. You want to do as Valerie does--very +good. But<br> + that is not all; you must have a gull, a stockholder, a +Hulot.--Well,<br> + I know a retired tradesman--in fact, a hosier. He is heavy, +dull, has<br> + not an idea, I am licking him into shape, but I don't know when +he<br> + will do me credit. My man is a deputy, stupid and conceited; +the<br> + tyranny of a turbaned wife, in the depths of the country, +has<br> + preserved him in a state of utter virginity as to the luxury +and<br> + pleasures of Paris life. But Beauvisage--his name is +Beauvisage--is a<br> + millionaire, and, like me, my dear, three years ago, he will +give a<br> + hundred thousand crowns to be the lover of a real lady.--Yes, +you<br> + see," he went on, misunderstanding a gesture on Adeline's part, +"he is<br> + jealous of me, you understand; jealous of my happiness with +Madame<br> + Marneffe, and he is a fellow quite capable of selling an estate +to<br> + purchase a--"</p> + +<p><br> + "Enough, Monsieur Crevel!" said Madame Hulot, no longer +controlling<br> + her disgust, and showing all her shame in her face. "I am +punished<br> + beyond my deserts. My conscience, so sternly repressed by the +iron<br> + hand of necessity, tells me, at this final insult, that such<br> + sacrifices are impossible.--My pride is gone; I do not say now, +as I<br> + did the first time, 'Go!' after receiving this mortal thrust. I +have<br> + lost the right to do so. I have flung myself before you like +a<br> + prostitute.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she went on, in reply to a negative on Crevel's part, +"I have<br> + fouled my life, till now so pure, by a degrading thought; and I +am<br> + inexcusable!--I know it!--I deserve every insult you can offer +me!<br> + God's will be done! If, indeed, He desires the death of two +creatures<br> + worthy to appear before Him, they must die! I shall mourn them, +and<br> + pray for them! If it is His will that my family should be +humbled to<br> + the dust, we must bow to His avenging sword, nay, and kiss it, +since<br> + we are Christians.--I know how to expiate this disgrace, which +will be<br> + the torment of all my remaining days.</p> + +<p>"I who speak to you, monsieur, am not Madame Hulot, but a +wretched,<br> + humble sinner, a Christian whose heart henceforth will know but +one<br> + feeling, and that is repentance, all my time given up to prayer +and<br> + charity. With such a sin on my soul, I am the last of women, the +first<br> + only of penitents.--You have been the means of bringing me to a +right<br> + mind; I can hear the Voice of God speaking within me, and I can +thank<br> + you!"</p> + +<p>She was shaking with the nervous trembling which from that +hour never<br> + left her. Her low, sweet tones were quite unlike the fevered +accents<br> + of the woman who was ready for dishonor to save her family. The +blood<br> + faded from her cheeks, her face was colorless, and her eyes were +dry.</p> + +<p>"And I played my part very badly, did I not?" she went on, +looking at<br> + Crevel with the sweetness that martyrs must have shown in their +eyes<br> + as they looked up at the Proconsul. "True love, the sacred love +of a<br> + devoted woman, gives other pleasures, no doubt, than those that +are<br> + bought in the open market!--But why so many words?" said she, +suddenly<br> + bethinking herself, and advancing a step further in the way +to<br> + perfection. "They sound like irony, but I am not ironical! +Forgive me.<br> + Besides, monsieur, I did not want to hurt any one but +myself--"</p> + +<p>The dignity of virtue and its holy flame had expelled the +transient<br> + impurity of the woman who, splendid in her own peculiar beauty, +looked<br> + taller in Crevel's eyes. Adeline had, at this moment, the +majesty of<br> + the figures of Religion clinging to the Cross, as painted by the +old<br> + Venetians; but she expressed, too, the immensity of her love and +the<br> + grandeur of the Catholic Church, to which she flew like a +wounded<br> + dove.</p> + +<p>Crevel was dazzled, astounded.</p> + +<p>"Madame, I am your slave, without conditions," said he, in +an<br> + inspiration of generosity. "We will look into this +matter--and--<br> + whatever you want--the impossible even--I will do. I will pledge +my<br> + securities at the Bank, and in two hours you shall have the +money."</p> + +<p>"Good God! a miracle!" said poor Adeline, falling on her +knees.</p> + +<p>She prayed to Heaven with such fervor as touched Crevel +deeply; Madame<br> + Hulot saw that he had tears in his eyes when, having ended her +prayer,<br> + she rose to her feet.</p> + +<p>"Be a friend to me, monsieur," said she. "Your heart is better +than<br> + your words and conduct. God gave you your soul; your passions +and the<br> + world have given you your ideas. Oh, I will love you truly," +she<br> + exclaimed, with an angelic tenderness in strange contrast with +her<br> + attempts at coquettish trickery.</p> + +<p>"But cease to tremble so," said Crevel.</p> + +<p>"Am I trembling?" said the Baroness, unconscious of the +infirmity that<br> + had so suddenly come upon her.</p> + +<p>"Yes; why, look," said Crevel, taking Adeline by the arm and +showing<br> + her that she was shaking with nervousness. "Come, madame," he +added<br> + respectfully, "compose yourself; I am going to the Bank at +once."</p> + +<p>"And come back quickly! Remember," she added, betraying all +her<br> + secrets, "that the first point is to prevent the suicide of our +poor<br> + Uncle Fischer involved by my husband--for I trust you now, and I +am<br> + telling you everything. Oh, if we should not be on time, I know +my<br> + brother-in-law, the Marshal, and he has such a delicate soul, +that he<br> + would die of it in a few days."</p> + +<p>"I am off, then," said Crevel, kissing the Baroness' hand. +"But what<br> + has that unhappy Hulot done?"</p> + +<p>"He has swindled the Government."</p> + +<p>"Good Heavens! I fly, madame; I understand, I admire you!"</p> + +<p>Crevel bent one knee, kissed Madame Hulot's skirt, and +vanished,<br> + saying, "You will see me soon."</p> + +<p>Unluckily, on his way from the Rue Plumet to his own house, to +fetch<br> + the securities, Crevel went along the Rue Vanneau, and he could +not<br> + resist going in to see his little Duchess. His face still bore +an<br> + agitated expression.</p> + +<p>He went straight into Valerie's room, who was having her hair +dressed.<br> + She looked at Crevel in her glass, and, like every woman of that +sort,<br> + was annoyed, before she knew anything about it, to see that he +was<br> + moved by some strong feeling of which she was not the cause.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, my dear?" said she. "Is that a face to +bring in<br> + to your little Duchess? I will not be your Duchess any more, +monsieur,<br> + no more than I will be your 'little duck,' you old monster."</p> + +<p>Crevel replied by a melancholy smile and a glance at the +maid.</p> + +<p>"Reine, child, that will do for to-day; I can finish my hair +myself.<br> + Give me my Chinese wrapper; my gentleman seems to me out of +sorts."</p> + +<p>Reine, whose face was pitted like a colander, and who seemed +to have<br> + been made on purpose to wait on Valerie, smiled meaningly in +reply,<br> + and brought the dressing-gown. Valerie took off her +combing-wrapper;<br> + she was in her shift, and she wriggled into the dressing-gown +like a<br> + snake into a clump of grass.</p> + +<p>"Madame is not at home?"</p> + +<p>"What a question!" said Valerie.--"Come, tell me, my big puss, +have<br> + <i>Rives Gauches</i> gone down?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"They have raised the price of the house?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"You fancy that you are not the father of our little +Crevel?"</p> + +<p>"What nonsense!" replied he, sure of his paternity.</p> + +<p>"On my honor, I give it up!" said Madame Marneffe. "If I am +expected<br> + to extract my friend's woes as you pull the cork out of a bottle +of<br> + Bordeaux, I let it alone.--Go away, you bore me."</p> + +<p>"It is nothing," said Crevel. "I must find two hundred +thousand francs<br> + in two hours."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you can easily get them.--I have not spent the fifty +thousand<br> + francs we got out of Hulot for that report, and I can ask Henri +for<br> + fifty thousand--"</p> + +<p>"Henri--it is always Henri!" exclaimed Crevel.</p> + +<p>"And do you suppose, you great baby of a Machiavelli, that I +will cast<br> + off Henri? Would France disarm her fleet?--Henri! why, he is a +dagger<br> + in a sheath hanging on a nail. That boy serves as a +weather-glass to<br> + show me if you love me--and you don't love me this morning."</p> + +<p>"I don't love you, Valerie?" cried Crevel. "I love you as much +as a<br> + million."</p> + +<p>"That is not nearly enough!" cried she, jumping on to Crevel's +knee,<br> + and throwing both arms round his neck as if it were a peg to +hang on<br> + by. "I want to be loved as much as ten millions, as much as all +the<br> + gold in the world, and more to that. Henri would never wait a +minute<br> + before telling me all he had on his mind. What is it, my great +pet?<br> + Have it out. Make a clean breast of it to your own little +duck!"</p> + +<p>And she swept her hair over Crevel's face, while she jestingly +pulled<br> + his nose.</p> + +<p>"Can a man with a nose like that," she went on, "have any +secrets from<br> + his <i>Vava--lele--ririe</i>?"</p> + +<p>And at the <i>Vava</i> she tweaked his nose to the right; at +<i>lele</i> it went<br> + to the left; at <i>ririe</i> she nipped it straight again.</p> + +<p>"Well, I have just seen--" Crevel stopped and looked at +Madame<br> + Marneffe.</p> + +<p>"Valerie, my treasure, promise me on your honor--ours, you +know?--not<br> + to repeat a single word of what I tell you."</p> + +<p>"Of course, Mayor, we know all about that. One hand +up--so--and one<br> + foot--so!" And she put herself in an attitude which, to use +Rabelais'<br> + phrase, stripped Crevel bare from his brain to his heels, so +quaint<br> + and delicious was the nudity revealed through the light film of +lawn.</p> + +<p>"I have just seen virtue in despair."</p> + +<p>"Can despair possess virtue?" said she, nodding gravely and +crossing<br> + her arms like Napoleon.</p> + +<p>"It is poor Madame Hulot. She wants two hundred thousand +francs, or<br> + else Marshal Hulot and old Johann Fischer will blow their brains +out;<br> + and as you, my little Duchess, are partly at the bottom of +the<br> + mischief, I am going to patch matters up. She is a saintly +creature, I<br> + know her well; she will repay you every penny."</p> + +<p>At the name of Hulot, at the words two hundred thousand +francs, a<br> + gleam from Valerie's eyes flashed from between her long eyelids +like<br> + the flame of a cannon through the smoke.</p> + +<p>"What did the old thing do to move you to compassion? Did she +show you<br> + --what?--her--her religion?"</p> + +<p>"Do not make game of her, sweetheart; she is a very saintly, a +very<br> + noble and pious woman, worthy of all respect."</p> + +<p>"Am I not worthy of respect then, heh?" answered Valerie, with +a<br> + threatening gaze at Crevel.</p> + +<p>"I never said so," replied he, understanding that the praise +of virtue<br> + might not be gratifying to Madame Marneffe.</p> + +<p>"I am pious too," Valerie went on, taking her seat in an +armchair;<br> + "but I do not make a trade of my religion. I go to church in +secret."</p> + +<p>She sat in silence, and paid no further heed to Crevel. He, +extremely<br> + ill at ease, came to stand in front of the chair into which +Valerie<br> + had thrown herself, and saw her lost in the reflections he had +been so<br> + foolish as to suggest.</p> + +<p>"Valerie, my little Angel!"</p> + +<p>Utter silence. A highly problematical tear was furtively +dashed away.</p> + +<p>"One word, my little duck?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"What are you thinking of, my darling?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Monsieur Crevel, I was thinking of the day of my first +communion!<br> + How pretty I was! How pure, how saintly!--immaculate!--Oh! if +any one<br> + had come to my mother and said, 'Your daughter will be a hussy, +and<br> + unfaithful to her husband; one day a police-officer will find +her in a<br> + disreputable house; she will sell herself to a Crevel to cheat a +Hulot<br> + --two horrible old men--' Poof! horrible--she would have died +before<br> + the end of the sentence, she was so fond of me, poor +dear!--"</p> + +<p>"Nay, be calm."</p> + +<p>"You cannot think how well a woman must love a man before she +can<br> + silence the remorse that gnaws at the heart of an adulterous +wife. I<br> + am quite sorry that Reine is not here; she would have told you +that<br> + she found me this morning praying with tears in my eyes. I, +Monsieur<br> + Crevel, for my part, do not make a mockery of religion. Have you +ever<br> + heard me say a word I ought not on such a subject?"</p> + +<p>Crevel shook his head in negation.</p> + +<p>"I will never allow it to be mentioned in my presence. I can +make fun<br> + of anything under the sun: Kings, politics, finance, everything +that<br> + is sacred in the eyes of the world--judges, matrimony, and +love--old<br> + men and maidens. But the Church and God!--There I draw the +line.--I<br> + know I am wicked; I am sacrificing my future life to you. And +you have<br> + no conception of the immensity of my love."</p> + +<p>Crevel clasped his hands.</p> + +<p>"No, unless you could see into my heart, and fathom the depth +of my<br> + conviction so as to know the extent of my sacrifice! I feel in +me the<br> + making of a Magdalen.--And see how respectfully I treat the +priests;<br> + think of the gifts I make to the Church! My mother brought me up +in<br> + the Catholic Faith, and I know what is meant by God! It is to +sinners<br> + like us that His voice is most awful."</p> + +<p>Valerie wiped away two tears that trickled down her cheeks. +Crevel was<br> + in dismay. Madame Marneffe stood up in her excitement.</p> + +<p>"Be calm, my darling--you alarm me!"</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe fell on her knees.</p> + +<p>"Dear Heaven! I am not bad all through!" she cried, clasping +her<br> + hands. "Vouchsafe to rescue Thy wandering lamb, strike her, +crush her,<br> + snatch her from foul and adulterous hands, and how gladly she +will<br> + nestle on Thy shoulder! How willingly she will return to the +fold!"</p> + +<p>She got up and looked at Crevel; her colorless eyes frightened +him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Crevel, and, do you know? I, too, am frightened +sometimes. The<br> + justice of God is exerted in this nether world as well as in the +next.<br> + What mercy can I expect at God's hands? His vengeance overtakes +the<br> + guilty in many ways; it assumes every aspect of disaster. That +is what<br> + my mother told me on her death-bed, speaking of her own old +age.--But<br> + if I should lose you, she added, hugging Crevel with a sort of +savage<br> + frenzy--"oh! I should die!"</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe released Crevel, knelt down again at the +armchair,<br> + folded her hands--and in what a bewitching attitude!--and +with<br> + incredible fervor poured out the following prayer:--</p> + +<p>"And thou, Saint Valerie, my patron saint, why dost thou so +rarely<br> + visit the pillow of her who was intrusted to thy care? Oh, come +this<br> + evening, as thou didst this morning, to inspire me with holy +thoughts,<br> + and I will quit the path of sin; like the Magdalen, I will give +up<br> + deluding joys and the false glitter of the world, even the man I +love<br> + so well--"</p> + +<p>"My precious duck!"</p> + +<p>"No more of the 'precious duck,' monsieur!" said she, turning +round<br> + like a virtuous wife, her eyes full of tears, but dignified, +cold, and<br> + indifferent.</p> + +<p>"Leave me," she went on, pushing him from her. "What is my +duty? To<br> + belong wholly to my husband.--He is a dying man, and what am I +doing?<br> + Deceiving him on the edge of the grave. He believes your child +to be<br> + his. I will tell him the truth, and begin by securing his +pardon<br> + before I ask for God's.--We must part. Good-bye, Monsieur +Crevel," and<br> + she stood up to offer him an icy cold hand. "Good-bye, my +friend; we<br> + shall meet no more till we meet in a better world.--You have to +thank<br> + me for some enjoyment, criminal indeed; now I want--oh yes, I +shall<br> + have your esteem."</p> + +<p><br> + Crevel was weeping bitter tears.</p> + +<p>"You great pumpkin!" she exclaimed, with an infernal peal of +laughter.<br> + "That is how your pious women go about it to drag from you a +plum of<br> + two hundred thousand francs. And you, who talk of the Marechal +de<br> + Richelieu, the prototype of Lovelace, you could be taken in by +such a<br> + stale trick as that! I could get hundreds of thousands of francs +out<br> + of you any day, if I chose, you old ninny!--Keep your money! If +you<br> + have more than you know what to do with, it is mine. If you give +two<br> + sous to that 'respectable' woman, who is pious forsooth, because +she<br> + is fifty-six years of age, we shall never meet again, and you +may take<br> + her for your mistress! You could come back to me next day +bruised all<br> + over from her bony caresses and sodden with her tears, and sick +of her<br> + little barmaid's caps and her whimpering, which must turn her +favors<br> + into showers--"</p> + +<p>"In point of fact," said Crevel, "two hundred thousand francs +is a<br> + round sum of money."</p> + +<p>"They have fine appetites, have the goody sort! By the poker! +they<br> + sell their sermons dearer than we sell the rarest and realest +thing on<br> + earth--pleasure.--And they can spin a yarn! There, I know them. +I have<br> + seen plenty in my mother's house. They think everything is +allowable<br> + for the Church and for--Really, my dear love, you ought to be +ashamed<br> + of yourself--for you are not so open-handed! You have not given +me two<br> + hundred thousand francs all told!"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes," said Crevel, "your little house will cost as much as +that."</p> + +<p>"Then you have four hundred thousand francs?" said she +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then, sir, you meant to lend that old horror the two hundred +thousand<br> + francs due for my hotel? What a crime, what high treason!"</p> + +<p>"Only listen to me."</p> + +<p>"If you were giving the money to some idiotic philanthropic +scheme,<br> + you would be regarded as a coming man," she went on, with +increasing<br> + eagerness, "and I should be the first to advise it; for you are +too<br> + simple to write a big political book that might make you famous; +as<br> + for style, you have not enough to butter a pamphlet; but you +might do<br> + as other men do who are in your predicament, and who get a halo +of<br> + glory about their name by putting it at the top of some social, +or<br> + moral, or general, or national enterprise. Benevolence is out of +date,<br> + quite vulgar. Providing for old offenders, and making them +more<br> + comfortable than the poor devils who are honest, is played out. +What I<br> + should like to see is some invention of your own with an +endowment of<br> + two hundred thousand francs--something difficult and really +useful.<br> + Then you would be talked about as a man of mark, a Montyon, and +I<br> + should be very proud of you!</p> + +<p>"But as to throwing two hundred thousand francs into a +holy-water<br> + shell, or lending them to a bigot--cast off by her husband, and +who<br> + knows why? there is always some reason: does any one cast me +off, I<br> + ask you?--is a piece of idiocy which in our days could only come +into<br> + the head of a retired perfumer. It reeks of the counter. You +would not<br> + dare look at yourself in the glass two days after.</p> + +<p>"Go and pay the money in where it will be safe--run, fly; I +will not<br> + admit you again without the receipt in your hand. Go, as fast +and soon<br> + as you can!"</p> + +<p>She pushed Crevel out of the room by the shoulders, seeing +avarice<br> + blossoming in his face once more. When she heard the outer door +shut,<br> + she exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Then Lisbeth is revenged over and over again! What a pity +that she is<br> + at her old Marshal's now! We would have had a good laugh! So +that old<br> + woman wants to take the bread out of my mouth. I will startle +her a<br> + little!"</p> + +<p>Marshal Hulot, being obliged to live in a style suited to the +highest<br> + military rank, had taken a handsome house in the Rue du +Mont-Parnasse,<br> + where there are three or four princely residences. Though he +rented<br> + the whole house, he inhabited only the ground floor. When +Lisbeth went<br> + to keep house for him, she at once wished to let the first +floor,<br> + which, as she said, would pay the whole rent, so that the Count +would<br> + live almost rent-free; but the old soldier would not hear of +it.</p> + +<p>For some months past the Marshal had had many sad thoughts. He +had<br> + guessed how miserably poor his sister-in-law was, and suspected +her<br> + griefs without understanding their cause. The old man, so +cheerful in<br> + his deafness, became taciturn; he could not help thinking that +his<br> + house would one day be a refuge for the Baroness and her +daughter; and<br> + it was for them that he kept the first floor. The smallness of +his<br> + fortune was so well known at headquarters, that the War +Minister, the<br> + Prince de Wissembourg, begged his old comrade to accept a sum of +money<br> + for his household expenses. This sum the Marshal spent in +furnishing<br> + the ground floor, which was in every way suitable; for, as he +said, he<br> + would not accept the Marshal's baton to walk the streets +with.</p> + +<p>The house had belonged to a senator under the Empire, and the +ground<br> + floor drawing-rooms had been very magnificently fitted with +carved<br> + wood, white-and-gold, still in very good preservation. The +Marshal had<br> + found some good old furniture in the same style; in the +coach-house he<br> + had a carriage with two batons in saltire on the panels; and +when he<br> + was expected to appear in full fig, at the Minister's, at +the<br> + Tuileries, for some ceremony or high festival, he hired horses +for the<br> + job.</p> + +<p>His servant for more than thirty years was an old soldier of +sixty,<br> + whose sister was the cook, so he had saved ten thousand francs, +adding<br> + it by degrees to a little hoard he intended for Hortense. Every +day<br> + the old man walked along the boulevard, from the Rue du +Mont-Parnasse<br> + to the Rue Plumet; and every pensioner as he passed stood at<br> + attention, without fail, to salute him: then the Marshal +rewarded the<br> + veteran with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Who is the man you always stand at attention to salute?" said +a young<br> + workman one day to an old captain and pensioner.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you, boy," replied the officer.</p> + +<p>The "boy" stood resigned, as a man does to listen to an old +gossip.</p> + +<p>"In 1809," said the captain, "we were covering the flank of +the main<br> + army, marching on Vienna under the Emperor's command. We came to +a<br> + bridge defended by three batteries of cannon, one above another, +on a<br> + sort of cliff; three redoubts like three shelves, and commanding +the<br> + bridge. We were under Marshal Massena. That man whom you see +there was<br> + Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, and I was one of them. Our +columns<br> + held one bank of the river, the batteries were on the other. +Three<br> + times they tried for the bridge, and three times they were +driven<br> + back. 'Go and find Hulot!' said the Marshal; 'nobody but he and +his<br> + men can bolt that morsel.' So we came. The General, who was +just<br> + retiring from the bridge, stopped Hulot under fire, to tell him +how to<br> + do it, and he was in the way. 'I don't want advice, but room to +pass,'<br> + said our General coolly, marching across at the head of his men. +And<br> + then, rattle, thirty guns raking us at once."</p> + +<p>"By Heaven!" cried the workman, "that accounts for some of +these<br> + crutches!"</p> + +<p>"And if you, like me, my boy, had heard those words so quietly +spoken,<br> + you would bow before that man down to the ground! It is not so +famous<br> + as Arcole, but perhaps it was finer. We followed Hulot at the +double,<br> + right up to those batteries. All honor to those we left there!" +and<br> + the old man lifted his hat. "The Austrians were amazed at the +dash of<br> + it.--The Emperor made the man you saw a Count; he honored us all +by<br> + honoring our leader; and the King of to-day was very right to +make him<br> + a Marshal."</p> + +<p>"Hurrah for the Marshal!" cried the workman.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you may shout--shout away! The Marshal is as deaf as a +post from<br> + the roar of cannon."</p> + +<p>This anecdote may give some idea of the respect with which +the<br> + <i>Invalides</i> regarded Marshal Hulot, whose Republican +proclivities<br> + secured him the popular sympathy of the whole quarter of the +town.</p> + +<p>Sorrow taking hold on a spirit so calm and strict and noble, +was a<br> + heart-breaking spectacle. The Baroness could only tell lies, +with a<br> + woman's ingenuity, to conceal the whole dreadful truth from +her<br> + brother-in-law.</p> + +<p>In the course of this miserable morning, the Marshal, who, +like all<br> + old men, slept but little, had extracted from Lisbeth full +particulars<br> + as to his brother's situation, promising to marry her as the +reward of<br> + her revelations. Any one can imagine with what glee the old +maid<br> + allowed the secrets to be dragged from her which she had been +dying to<br> + tell ever since she had come into the house; for by this means +she<br> + made her marriage more certain.</p> + +<p>"Your brother is incorrigible!" Lisbeth shouted into the +Marshal's<br> + best ear.</p> + +<p>Her strong, clear tones enabled her to talk to him, but she +wore out<br> + her lungs, so anxious was she to prove to her future husband +that to<br> + her he would never be deaf.</p> + +<p>"He has had three mistresses," said the old man, "and his wife +was an<br> + Adeline! Poor Adeline!"</p> + +<p>"If you will take my advice," shrieked Lisbeth, "you will use +your<br> + influence with the Prince de Wissembourg to secure her some +suitable<br> + appointment. She will need it, for the Baron's pay is pledged +for<br> + three years."</p> + +<p>"I will go to the War Office," said he, "and see the Prince, +to find<br> + out what he thinks of my brother, and ask for his interest to +help my<br> + sister. Think of some place that is fit for her."</p> + +<p>"The charitable ladies of Paris, in concert with the +Archbishop, have<br> + formed various beneficent associations; they employ +superintendents,<br> + very decently paid, whose business it is to seek out cases of +real<br> + want. Such an occupation would exactly suit dear Adeline; it +would be<br> + work after her own heart."</p> + +<p>"Send to order the horses," said the Marshal. "I will go and +dress. I<br> + will drive to Neuilly if necessary."</p> + +<p>"How fond he is of her! She will always cross my path wherever +I<br> + turn!" said Lisbeth to herself.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth was already supreme in the house, but not with the +Marshal's<br> + cognizance. She had struck terror into the three servants--for +she had<br> + allowed herself a housemaid, and she exerted her old-maidish +energy in<br> + taking stock of everything, examining everything, and arranging +in<br> + every respect for the comfort of her dear Marshal. Lisbeth, +quite as<br> + Republican as he could be, pleased him by her democratic +opinions, and<br> + she flattered him with amazing dexterity; for the last fortnight +the<br> + old man, whose house was better kept, and who was cared for as a +child<br> + by its mother, had begun to regard Lisbeth as a part of what he +had<br> + dreamed of.</p> + +<p>"My dear Marshal," she shouted, following him out on to the +steps,<br> + "pull up the windows, do not sit in a draught, to oblige +me!"</p> + +<p>The Marshal, who had never been so cosseted in his life, went +off<br> + smiling at Lisbeth, though his heart was aching.</p> + +<p>At the same hour Baron Hulot was quitting the War Office to +call on<br> + his chief, Marshal the Prince de Wissembourg, who had sent for +him.<br> + Though there was nothing extraordinary in one of the Generals on +the<br> + Board being sent for, Hulot's conscience was so uneasy that he +fancied<br> + he saw a cold and sinister expression in Mitouflet's face.</p> + +<p>"Mitouflet, how is the Prince?" he asked, locking the door of +his<br> + private room and following the messenger who led the way.</p> + +<p>"He must have a crow to pluck with you, Monsieur le Baron," +replied<br> + the man, "for his face is set at stormy."</p> + +<p>Hulot turned pale, and said no more; he crossed the anteroom +and<br> + reception rooms, and, with a violently beating heart, found +himself at<br> + the door of the Prince's private study.</p> + +<p>The chief, at this time seventy years old, with perfectly +white hair,<br> + and the tanned complexion of a soldier of that age, +commanded<br> + attention by a brow so vast that imagination saw in it a field +of<br> + battle. Under this dome, crowned with snow, sparkled a pair of +eyes,<br> + of the Napoleon blue, usually sad-looking and full of bitter +thoughts<br> + and regrets, their fire overshadowed by the penthouse of the +strongly<br> + projecting brow. This man, Bernadotte's rival, had hoped to find +his<br> + seat on a throne. But those eyes could flash formidable +lightnings<br> + when they expressed strong feelings.</p> + +<p>Then, his voice, always somewhat hollow, rang with strident +tones.<br> + When he was angry, the Prince was a soldier once more; he spoke +the<br> + language of Lieutenant Cottin; he spared nothing--nobody. Hulot +d'Ervy<br> + found the old lion, his hair shaggy like a mane, standing by +the<br> + fireplace, his brows knit, his back against the mantel-shelf, +and his<br> + eyes apparently fixed on vacancy.</p> + +<p>"Here! At your orders, Prince!" said Hulot, affecting a +graceful ease<br> + of manner.</p> + +<p>The Marshal looked hard at the Baron, without saying a word, +during<br> + the time it took him to come from the door to within a few steps +of<br> + where the chief stood. This leaden stare was like the eye of +God;<br> + Hulot could not meet it; he looked down in confusion.</p> + +<p>"He knows everything!" said he to himself.</p> + +<p>"Does your conscience tell you nothing?" asked the Marshal, in +his<br> + deep, hollow tones.</p> + +<p>"It tells me, sir, that I have been wrong, no doubt, in +ordering<br> + <i>razzias</i> in Algeria without referring the matter to you. +At my age,<br> + and with my tastes, after forty-five years of service, I have +no<br> + fortune.--You know the principles of the four hundred elect<br> + representatives of France. Those gentlemen are envious of +every<br> + distinction; they have pared down even the Ministers' pay--that +says<br> + everything! Ask them for money for an old servant!--What can +you<br> + expect of men who pay a whole class so badly as they pay the<br> + Government legal officials?--who give thirty sous a day to +the<br> + laborers on the works at Toulon, when it is a physical +impossibility<br> + to live there and keep a family on less than forty sous?--who +never<br> + think of the atrocity of giving salaries of six hundred francs, +up to<br> + a thousand or twelve hundred perhaps, to clerks living in Paris; +and<br> + who want to secure our places for themselves as soon as the pay +rises<br> + to forty thousand?--who, finally, refuse to restore to the Crown +a<br> + piece of Crown property confiscated from the Crown in +1830--property<br> + acquired, too, by Louis XVI. out of his privy purse!--If you had +no<br> + private fortune, Prince, you would be left high and dry, like +my<br> + brother, with your pay and not another sou, and no thought of +your<br> + having saved the army, and me with it, in the boggy plains of +Poland."</p> + +<p>"You have robbed the State! You have made yourself liable to +be<br> + brought before the bench at Assizes," said the Marshal, "like +that<br> + clerk of the Treasury! And you take this, monsieur, with such +levity."</p> + +<p>"But there is a great difference, monseigneur!" cried the +baron. "Have<br> + I dipped my hands into a cash box intrusted to my care?"</p> + +<p>"When a man of your rank commits such an infamous crime," said +the<br> + Marshal, "he is doubly guilty if he does it clumsily. You +have<br> + compromised the honor of our official administration, which +hitherto<br> + has been the purest in Europe!--And all for two hundred +thousand<br> + francs and a hussy!" said the Marshal, in a terrible voice. "You +are a<br> + Councillor of State--and a private soldier who sells +anything<br> + belonging to his regiment is punished with death! Here is a +story told<br> + to me one day by Colonel Pourin of the Second Lancers. At +Saverne, one<br> + of his men fell in love with a little Alsatian girl who had a +fancy<br> + for a shawl. The jade teased this poor devil of a lancer so<br> + effectually, that though he could show twenty years' service, +and was<br> + about to be promoted to be quartermaster--the pride of the +regiment--<br> + to buy this shawl he sold some of his company's kit.--Do you +know what<br> + this lancer did, Baron d'Ervy? He swallowed some window-glass +after<br> + pounding it down, and died in eleven hours, of an illness, +in<br> + hospital.--Try, if you please, to die of apoplexy, that we may +not see<br> + you dishonored."</p> + +<p>Hulot looked with haggard eyes at the old warrior; and the +Prince,<br> + reading the look which betrayed the coward, felt a flush rise to +his<br> + cheeks; his eyes flamed.</p> + +<p>"Will you, sir, abandon me?" Hulot stammered.</p> + +<p>Marshal Hulot, hearing that only his brother was with the +Minister,<br> + ventured at this juncture to come in, and, like all deaf people, +went<br> + straight up to the Prince.</p> + +<p>"Oh," cried the hero of Poland, "I know what you are here for, +my old<br> + friend! But we can do nothing."</p> + +<p>"Do nothing!" echoed Marshal Hulot, who had heard only the +last word.</p> + +<p>"Nothing; you have come to intercede for your brother. But do +you know<br> + what your brother is?"</p> + +<p>"My brother?" asked the deaf man.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he is a damned infernal blackguard, and unworthy of +you."</p> + +<p>The Marshal in his rage shot from his eyes those fulminating +fires<br> + which, like Napoleon's, broke a man's will and judgment.</p> + +<p>"You lie, Cottin!" said Marshal Hulot, turning white. "Throw +down your<br> + baton as I throw mine! I am ready."</p> + +<p>The Prince went up to his old comrade, looked him in the face, +and<br> + shouted in his ear as he grasped his hand:</p> + +<p>"Are you a man?"</p> + +<p>"You will see that I am."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, pull yourself together! You must face the +worst<br> + misfortune that can befall you."</p> + +<p>The Prince turned round, took some papers from the table, and +placed<br> + them in the Marshal's hands, saying, "Read that."</p> + +<p>The Comte de Forzheim read the following letter, which lay<br> + uppermost:--</p> + +<p>"To his Excellency the President of the Council.</p> + +<p><i>"Private and Confidential.</i></p> + +<p>"ALGIERS.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"MY DEAR PRINCE,--We have a very ugly business on our hands, +as<br> + you will see by the accompanying documents.</p> + +<p>"The story, briefly told, is this: Baron Hulot d'Ervy sent out +to<br> + the province of Oran an uncle of his as a broker in grain +and<br> + forage, and gave him an accomplice in the person of a +storekeeper.<br> + This storekeeper, to curry favor, has made a confession, and<br> + finally made his escape. The Public Prosecutor took the matter +up<br> + very thoroughly, seeing, as he supposed, that only two +inferior<br> + agents were implicated; but Johann Fischer, uncle to your Chief +of<br> + the Commissariat Department, finding that he was to be brought +up<br> + at the Assizes, stabbed himself in prison with a nail.</p> + +<p>"That would have been the end of the matter if this worthy +and<br> + honest man, deceived, it would seem, by his agent and by his<br> + nephew, had not thought proper to write to Baron Hulot. This<br> + letter, seized as a document, so greatly surprised the +Public<br> + Prosecutor, that he came to see me. Now, the arrest and +public<br> + trial of a Councillor of State would be such a terrible +thing--of<br> + a man high in office too, who has a good record for loyal +service<br> + --for after the Beresina, it was he who saved us all by<br> + reorganizing the administration--that I desired to have all +the<br> + papers sent to me.</p> + +<p>"Is the matter to take its course? Now that the principal +agent is<br> + dead, will it not be better to smother up the affair and +sentence<br> + the storekeeper in default?</p> + +<p>"The Public Prosecutor has consented to my forwarding the<br> + documents for your perusal; the Baron Hulot d'Ervy, being +resident<br> + in Paris, the proceedings will lie with your Supreme Court. +We<br> + have hit on this rather shabby way of ridding ourselves of +the<br> + difficulty for the moment.</p> + +<p>"Only, my dear Marshal, decide quickly. This miserable +business is<br> + too much talked about already, and it will do as much harm to +us<br> + as to you all if the name of the principal culprit--known at<br> + present only to the Public Prosecutor, the examining judge, +and<br> + myself--should happen to leak out."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>At this point the letter fell from Marshal Hulot's hands; he +looked at<br> + his brother; he saw that there was no need to examine the +evidence.<br> + But he looked for Johann Fischer's letter, and after reading it +at a<br> + glance, held it out to Hector:--</p> + +<p><br> + "FROM THE PRISON AT ORAN.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"DEAR NEPHEW,--When you read this letter, I shall have ceased +to<br> + live.</p> + +<p>"Be quite easy, no proof can be found to incriminate you. When +I<br> + am dead and your Jesuit of a Chardin fled, the trial must<br> + collapse. The face of our Adeline, made so happy by you, +makes<br> + death easy to me. Now you need not send the two hundred +thousand<br> + francs. Good-bye.</p> + +<p>"This letter will be delivered by a prisoner for a short term +whom<br> + I can trust, I believe.</p> + +<p>"JOHANN FISCHER."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><br> + "I beg your pardon," said Marshal Hulot to the Prince de +Wissembourg<br> + with pathetic pride.</p> + +<p>"Come, come, say <i>tu</i>, not the formal <i>vous</i>," +replied the Minister,<br> + clasping his old friend's hand. "The poor lancer killed no one +but<br> + himself," he added, with a thunderous look at Hulot d'Ervy.</p> + +<p><br> + "How much have you had?" said the Comte de Forzheim to his +brother.</p> + +<p>"Two hundred thousand francs."</p> + +<p>"My dear friend," said the Count, addressing the Minister, +"you shall<br> + have the two hundred thousand francs within forty-eight hours. +It<br> + shall never be said that a man bearing the name of Hulot has +wronged<br> + the public treasury of a single sou."</p> + +<p>"What nonsense!" said the Prince. "I know where the money is, +and I<br> + can get it back.--Send in your resignation and ask for your +pension!"<br> + he went on, sending a double sheet of foolscap flying across to +where<br> + the Councillor of State had sat down by the table, for his legs +gave<br> + way under him. "To bring you to trial would disgrace us all. I +have<br> + already obtained from the superior Board their sanction to this +line<br> + of action. Since you can accept life with dishonor--in my +opinion the<br> + last degradation--you will get the pension you have earned. Only +take<br> + care to be forgotten."</p> + +<p>The Minister rang.</p> + +<p>"Is Marneffe, the head-clerk, out there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monseigneur."</p> + +<p>"Show him in!"</p> + +<p>"You," said the Minister as Marneffe came in, "you and your +wife have<br> + wittingly and intentionally ruined the Baron d'Ervy whom you +see."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Ministre, I beg your pardon. We are very poor. I +have<br> + nothing to live on but my pay, and I have two children, and the +one<br> + that is coming will have been brought into the family by +Monsieur le<br> + Baron."</p> + +<p>"What a villain he looks!" said the Prince, pointing to +Marneffe and<br> + addressing Marshal Hulot.--"No more of Sganarelle speeches," he +went<br> + on; "you will disgorge two hundred thousand francs, or be packed +off<br> + to Algiers."</p> + +<p>"But, Monsieur le Ministre, you do not know my wife. She has +spent it<br> + all. Monsieur le Baron asked six persons to dinner every +evening.--<br> + Fifty thousand francs a year are spent in my house."</p> + +<p>"Leave the room!" said the Minister, in the formidable tones +that had<br> + given the word to charge in battle. "You will have notice of +your<br> + transfer within two hours. Go!"</p> + +<p>"I prefer to send in my resignation," said Marneffe +insolently. "For<br> + it is too much to be what I am already, and thrashed into the +bargain.<br> + That would not satisfy me at all."</p> + +<p>And he left the room.</p> + +<p>"What an impudent scoundrel!" said the Prince.</p> + +<p>Marshal Hulot, who had stood up throughout this scene, as pale +as a<br> + corpse, studying his brother out of the corner of his eye, went +up to<br> + the Prince, and took his hand, repeating:</p> + +<p>"In forty-eight hours the pecuniary mischief shall be +repaired; but<br> + honor!--Good-bye, Marshal. It is the last shot that kills. Yes, +I<br> + shall die of it!" he said in his ear.</p> + +<p>"What the devil brought you here this morning?" said the +Prince, much<br> + moved.</p> + +<p>"I came to see what can be done for his wife," replied the +Count,<br> + pointing to his brother. "She is wanting bread--especially +now!"</p> + +<p>"He has his pension."</p> + +<p>"It is pledged!"</p> + +<p>"The Devil must possess such a man," said the Prince, with a +shrug.<br> + "What philtre do those baggages give you to rob you of your +wits?" he<br> + went on to Hulot d'Ervy. "How could you--you, who know the +precise<br> + details with which in French offices everything is written down +at<br> + full length, consuming reams of paper to certify to the receipt +or<br> + outlay of a few centimes--you, who have so often complained that +a<br> + hundred signatures are needed for a mere trifle, to discharge +a<br> + soldier, to buy a curry-comb--how could you hope to conceal a +theft<br> + for any length of time? To say nothing of the newspapers, and +the<br> + envious, and the people who would like to steal!--those women +must rob<br> + you of your common-sense! Do they cover your eyes with +walnut-shells?<br> + or are you yourself made of different stuff from us?--You ought +to<br> + have left the office as soon as you found that you were no +longer a<br> + man, but a temperament. If you have complicated your crime with +such<br> + gross folly, you will end--I will not say where----"</p> + +<p>"Promise me, Cottin, that you will do what you can for her," +said the<br> + Marshal, who heard nothing, and was still thinking of his +sister-in-<br> + law.</p> + +<p>"Depend on me,!" said the Minister.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, and good-bye then!--Come, monsieur," he said to +his<br> + brother.</p> + +<p>The Prince looked with apparent calmness at the two brothers, +so<br> + different in their demeanor, conduct, and character--the brave +man and<br> + the coward, the ascetic and the profligate, the honest man and +the<br> + peculator--and he said to himself:</p> + +<p>"That mean creature will not have courage to die! And my poor +Hulot,<br> + such an honest fellow! has death in his knapsack, I know!"</p> + +<p>He sat down again in his big chair and went on reading the +despatches<br> + from Africa with a look characteristic at once of the coolness +of a<br> + leader and of the pity roused by the sight of a battle-field! +For in<br> + reality no one is so humane as a soldier, stern as he may seem +in the<br> + icy determination acquired by the habit of fighting, and so +absolutely<br> + essential in the battle-field.</p> + +<p>Next morning some of the newspapers contained, under various +headings,<br> + the following paragraphs:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"Monsieur le Baron Hulot d'Ervy has applied for his +retiring<br> + pension. The unsatisfactory state of the Algerian exchequer, +which<br> + has come out in consequence of the death and disappearance of +two<br> + employes, has had some share in this distinguished +official's<br> + decision. On hearing of the delinquencies of the agents whom +he<br> + had unfortunately trusted, Monsieur le Baron Hulot had a +paralytic<br> + stroke in the War Minister's private room.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Hulot d'Ervy, brother to the Marshal Comte de +Forzheim,<br> + has been forty-five years in the service. His determination +has<br> + been vainly opposed, and is greatly regretted by all who +know<br> + Monsieur Hulot, whose private virtues are as conspicuous as +his<br> + administrative capacity. No one can have forgotten the +devoted<br> + conduct of the Commissary General of the Imperial Guard at +Warsaw,<br> + or the marvelous promptitude with which he organized supplies +for<br> + the various sections of the army so suddenly required by +Napoleon<br> + in 1815.</p> + +<p>"One more of the heroes of the Empire is retiring from the +stage.<br> + Monsieur le Baron Hulot has never ceased, since 1830, to be one +of<br> + the guiding lights of the State Council and of the War +Office."</p> + +<p>"ALGIERS.--The case known as the forage supply case, to which +some<br> + of our contemporaries have given absurd prominence, has been<br> + closed by the death of the chief culprit. Johann Wisch has<br> + committed suicide in his cell; his accomplice, who had +absconded,<br> + will be sentenced in default.</p> + +<p>"Wisch, formerly an army contractor, was an honest man and +highly<br> + respected, who could not survive the idea of having been the +dupe<br> + of Chardin, the storekeeper who has disappeared."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>And in the <i>Paris News</i> the following paragraph +appeared:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><br> + "Monsieur le Marechal the Minister of War, to prevent the<br> + recurrence of such scandals for the future, has arranged for +a<br> + regular Commissariat office in Africa. A head-clerk in the +War<br> + Office, Monsieur Marneffe, is spoken of as likely to be +appointed<br> + to the post of director."</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>"The office vacated by Baron Hulot is the object of much +ambition.<br> + The appointment is promised, it is said, to Monsieur le +Comte<br> + Martial de la Roche-Hugon, Deputy, brother-in-law to Monsieur +le<br> + Comte de Rastignac. Monsieur Massol, Master of Appeals, will +fill<br> + his seat on the Council of State, and Monsieur Claude Vignon<br> + becomes Master of Appeals."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Of all kinds of false gossip, the most dangerous for the +Opposition<br> + newspapers is the official bogus paragraph. However keen +journalists<br> + may be, they are sometimes the voluntary or involuntary dupes of +the<br> + cleverness of those who have risen from the ranks of the Press, +like<br> + Claude Vignon, to the higher realms of power. The newspaper can +only<br> + be circumvented by the journalist. It may be said, as a parody +on a<br> + line by Voltaire:</p> + +<p><br> + "The Paris news is never what the foolish folk believe."</p> + +<p>Marshal Hulot drove home with his brother, who took the front +seat,<br> + respectfully leaving the whole of the back of the carriage to +his<br> + senior. The two men spoke not a word. Hector was helpless. The +Marshal<br> + was lost in thought, like a man who is collecting all his +strength,<br> + and bracing himself to bear a crushing weight. On arriving at +his own<br> + house, still without speaking, but by an imperious gesture, +he<br> + beckoned his brother into his study. The Count had received from +the<br> + Emperor Napoleon a splendid pair of pistols from the +Versailles<br> + factory; he took the box, with its inscription. "<i>Given by the +Emperor<br> + Napoleon to General Hulot</i>," out of his desk, and placing it +on the<br> + top, he showed it to his brother, saying, "There is your +remedy."</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, peeping through the chink of the door, flew down to +the<br> + carriage and ordered the coachman to go as fast as he could +gallop to<br> + the Rue Plumet. Within about twenty minutes she had brought +back<br> + Adeline, whom she had told of the Marshal's threat to his +brother.</p> + +<p>The Marshal, without looking at Hector, rang the bell for +his<br> + factotum, the old soldier who had served him for thirty +years.</p> + +<p>"Beau-Pied," said he, "fetch my notary, and Count Steinbock, +and my<br> + niece Hortense, and the stockbroker to the Treasury. It is now +half-<br> + past ten; they must all be here by twelve. Take hackney +cabs--and go<br> + faster than <i>that</i>!" he added, a republican allusion which +in past<br> + days had been often on his lips. And he put on the scowl that +had<br> + brought his soldiers to attention when he was beating the broom +on the<br> + heaths of Brittany in 1799. (See <i>Les Chouans.</i>)</p> + +<p>"You shall be obeyed, Marechal," said Beau-Pied, with a +military<br> + salute.</p> + +<p>Still paying no heed to his brother, the old man came back +into his<br> + study, took a key out of his desk, and opened a little malachite +box<br> + mounted in steel, the gift of the Emperor Alexander.</p> + +<p>By Napoleon's orders he had gone to restore to the Russian +Emperor the<br> + private property seized at the battle of Dresden, in exchange +for<br> + which Napoleon hoped to get back Vandamme. The Czar rewarded +General<br> + Hulot very handsomely, giving him this casket, and saying that +he<br> + hoped one day to show the same courtesy to the Emperor of the +French;<br> + but he kept Vandamme. The Imperial arms of Russia were displayed +in<br> + gold on the lid of the box, which was inlaid with gold.</p> + +<p>The Marshal counted the bank-notes it contained; he had a +hundred and<br> + fifty-two thousand francs. He saw this with satisfaction. At the +same<br> + moment Madame Hulot came into the room in a state to touch the +heart<br> + of the sternest judge. She flew into Hector's arms, looking<br> + alternately with a crazy eye at the Marshal and at the case +of<br> + pistols.</p> + +<p>"What have you to say against your brother? What has my +husband done<br> + to you?" said she, in such a voice that the Marshal heard +her.</p> + +<p>"He has disgraced us all!" replied the Republican veteran, who +spoke<br> + with a vehemence that reopened one of his old wounds. "He has +robbed<br> + the Government! He has cast odium on my name, he makes me wish I +were<br> + dead--he has killed me!--I have only strength enough left to +make<br> + restitution!</p> + +<p>"I have been abased before the Conde of the Republic, the man +I esteem<br> + above all others, and to whom I unjustifiably gave the lie--the +Prince<br> + of Wissembourg!--Is that nothing? That is the score his country +has<br> + against him!"</p> + +<p>He wiped away a tear.</p> + +<p>"Now, as to his family," he went on. "He is robbing you of the +bread I<br> + had saved for you, the fruit of thirty years' economy, of +the<br> + privations of an old soldier! Here is what was intended for +you," and<br> + he held up the bank-notes. "He has killed his Uncle Fischer, a +noble<br> + and worthy son of Alsace who could not--as he can--endure the +thought<br> + of a stain on his peasant's honor.</p> + +<p>"To crown all, God, in His adorable clemency, had allowed him +to<br> + choose an angel among women; he has had the unspeakable +happiness of<br> + having an Adeline for his wife! And he has deceived her, he has +soaked<br> + her in sorrows, he has neglected her for prostitutes, for +street-<br> + hussies, for ballet-girls, actresses--Cadine, Josepha, +Marneffe!--And<br> + that is the brother I treated as a son and made my pride!</p> + +<p>"Go, wretched man; if you can accept the life of degradation +you have<br> + made for yourself, leave my house! I have not the heart to curse +a<br> + brother I have loved so well--I am as foolish about him as you +are,<br> + Adeline--but never let me see him again. I forbid his attending +my<br> + funeral or following me to the grave. Let him show the decency +of a<br> + criminal if he can feel no remorse."</p> + +<p>The Marshal, as pale as death, fell back on the settee, +exhausted by<br> + his solemn speech. And, for the first time in his life perhaps, +tears<br> + gathered in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.</p> + +<p>"My poor uncle!" cried Lisbeth, putting a handkerchief to her +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Brother!" said Adeline, kneeling down by the Marshal, "live +for my<br> + sake. Help me in the task of reconciling Hector to the world +and<br> + making him redeem the past."</p> + +<p>"He!" cried the Marshal. "If he lives, he is not at the end of +his<br> + crimes. A man who has misprized an Adeline, who has smothered in +his<br> + own soul the feelings of a true Republican which I tried to +instill<br> + into him, the love of his country, of his family, and of the +poor--<br> + that man is a monster, a swine!--Take him away if you still care +for<br> + him, for a voice within me cries to me to load my pistols and +blow his<br> + brains out. By killing him I should save you all, and I should +save<br> + him too from himself."</p> + +<p>The old man started to his feet with such a terrifying gesture +that<br> + poor Adeline exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Hector--come!"</p> + +<p>She seized her husband's arm, dragged him away, and out of the +house;<br> + but the Baron was so broken down, that she was obliged to call a +coach<br> + to take him to the Rue Plumet, where he went to bed. The man +remained<br> + there for several days in a sort of half-dissolution, refusing +all<br> + nourishment without a word. By floods of tears, Adeline +persuaded him<br> + to swallow a little broth; she nursed him, sitting by his bed, +and<br> + feeling only, of all the emotions that once had filled her +heart, the<br> + deepest pity for him.</p> + +<p>At half-past twelve, Lisbeth showed into her dear Marshal's +room--for<br> + she would not leave him, so much was she alarmed at the evident +change<br> + in him--Count Steinbock and the notary.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Comte," said the Marshal, "I would beg you to be +so good<br> + as to put your signature to a document authorizing my niece, +your<br> + wife, to sell a bond for certain funds of which she at present +holds<br> + only the reversion.--You, Mademoiselle Fischer, will agree to +this<br> + sale, thus losing your life interest in the securities."</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear Count," said Lisbeth without hesitation.</p> + +<p>"Good, my dear," said the old soldier. "I hope I may live to +reward<br> + you. But I did not doubt you; you are a true Republican, a +daughter of<br> + the people." He took the old maid's hand and kissed it.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Hannequin," he went on, speaking to the notary, +"draw up the<br> + necessary document in the form of a power of attorney, and let +me have<br> + it within two hours, so that I may sell the stock on the +Bourse<br> + to-day. My niece, the Countess, holds the security; she will be +here<br> + to sign the power of attorney when you bring it, and so will<br> + mademoiselle. Monsieur le Comte will be good enough to go with +you and<br> + sign it at your office."</p> + +<p>The artist, at a nod from Lisbeth, bowed respectfully to the +Marshal<br> + and went away.</p> + +<p>Next morning, at ten o'clock, the Comte de Forzheim sent in +to<br> + announce himself to the Prince, and was at once admitted.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear Hulot," said the Prince, holding out the +newspapers to<br> + his old friend, "we have saved appearances, you see.--Read."</p> + +<p>Marshal Hulot laid the papers on his comrade's table, and held +out to<br> + him the two hundred thousand francs.</p> + +<p>"Here is the money of which my brother robbed the State," said +he.</p> + +<p>"What madness!" cried the Minister. "It is impossible," he +said into<br> + the speaking-trumpet handed to him by the Marshal, "to manage +this<br> + restitution. We should be obliged to declare your brother's +dishonest<br> + dealings, and we have done everything to hide them."</p> + +<p>"Do what you like with the money; but the family shall not owe +one sou<br> + of its fortune to a robbery on the funds of the State," said +the<br> + Count.</p> + +<p>"I will take the King's commands in the matter. We will +discuss it no<br> + further," replied the Prince, perceiving that it would be +impossible<br> + to conquer the old man's sublime obstinacy on the point.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Cottin," said the old soldier, taking the Prince's +hand. "I<br> + feel as if my soul were frozen--"</p> + +<p>Then, after going a step towards the door, he turned round, +looked at<br> + the Prince, and seeing that he was deeply moved, he opened his +arms to<br> + clasp him in them; the two old soldiers embraced each other.</p> + +<p>"I feel as if I were taking leave of the whole of the old army +in<br> + you," said the Count.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, my good old comrade!" said the Minister.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is good-bye; for I am going where all our brave men +are for<br> + whom we have mourned--"</p> + +<p>Just then Claude Vignon was shown in. The two relics of the +Napoleonic<br> + phalanx bowed gravely to each other, effacing every trace of +emotion.</p> + +<p>"You have, I hope, been satisfied by the papers," said the +Master of<br> + Appeals-elect. "I contrived to let the Opposition papers believe +that<br> + they were letting out our secrets."</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately, it is all in vain," replied the Minister, +watching<br> + Hulot as he left the room. "I have just gone through a +leave-taking<br> + that has been a great grief to me. For, indeed, Marshal Hulot +has not<br> + three days to live; I saw that plainly enough yesterday. That +man, one<br> + of those honest souls that are above proof, a soldier respected +by the<br> + bullets in spite of his valor, received his death-blow--there, +in that<br> + armchair--and dealt by my hand, in a letter!--Ring and order +my<br> + carriage. I must go to Neuilly," said he, putting the two +hundred<br> + thousand francs into his official portfolio.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding Lisbeth's nursing, Marshal Hulot three days +later was<br> + a dead man. Such men are the glory of the party they support. +To<br> + Republicans, the Marshal was the ideal of patriotism; and they +all<br> + attended his funeral, which was followed by an immense crowd. +The<br> + army, the State officials, the Court, and the populace all came +to do<br> + homage to this lofty virtue, this spotless honesty, this +immaculate<br> + glory. Such a last tribute of the people is not a thing to be +had for<br> + the asking.</p> + +<p>This funeral was distinguished by one of those tributes of +delicate<br> + feeling, of good taste, and sincere respect which from time to +time<br> + remind us of the virtues and dignity of the old French +nobility.<br> + Following the Marshal's bier came the old Marquis de Montauran, +the<br> + brother of him who, in the great rising of the Chouans in 1799, +had<br> + been the foe, the luckless foe, of Hulot. That Marquis, killed +by the<br> + balls of the "Blues," had confided the interests of his young +brother<br> + to the Republican soldier. (See <i>Les Chouans</i>.) Hulot had +so<br> + faithfully acted on the noble Royalist's verbal will, that +he<br> + succeeded in saving the young man's estates, though he himself +was at<br> + the time an emigre. And so the homage of the old French nobility +was<br> + not wanting to the leader who, nine years since, had conquered +MADAME.</p> + +<p>This death, happening just four days before the banns were +cried for<br> + the last time, came upon Lisbeth like the thunderbolt that burns +the<br> + garnered harvest with the barn. The peasant of Lorraine, as +often<br> + happens, had succeeded too well. The Marshal had died of the +blows<br> + dealt to the family by herself and Madame Marneffe.</p> + +<p>The old maid's vindictiveness, which success seemed to have +somewhat<br> + mollified, was aggravated by this disappointment of her hopes. +Lisbeth<br> + went, crying with rage, to Madame Marneffe; for she was +homeless, the<br> + Marshal having agreed that his lease was at any time to +terminate with<br> + his life. Crevel, to console Valerie's friend, took charge of +her<br> + savings, added to them considerably, and invested the capital in +five<br> + per cents, giving her the life interest, and putting the +securities<br> + into Celestine's name. Thanks to this stroke of business, +Lisbeth had<br> + an income of about two thousand francs.</p> + +<p><br> + When the Marshal's property was examined and valued, a note was +found,<br> + addressed to his sister-in-law, to his niece Hortense, and to +his<br> + nephew Victorin, desiring that they would pay among them an +annuity of<br> + twelve hundred francs to Mademoiselle Lisbeth Fischer, who was +to have<br> + been his wife.</p> + +<p>Adeline, seeing her husband between life and death, succeeded +for some<br> + days in hiding from him the fact of his brother's death; but +Lisbeth<br> + came, in mourning, and the terrible truth was told him eleven +days<br> + after the funeral.</p> + +<p>The crushing blow revived the sick man's energies. He got up, +found<br> + his family collected in the drawing-room, all in black, and +suddenly<br> + silent as he came in. In a fortnight, Hulot, as lean as a +spectre,<br> + looked to his family the mere shadow of himself.</p> + +<p>"I must decide on something," said he in a husky voice, as he +seated<br> + himself in an easy-chair, and looked round at the party, of +whom<br> + Crevel and Steinbock were absent.</p> + +<p>"We cannot stay here, the rent is too high," Hortense was +saying just<br> + as her father came in.</p> + +<p>"As to a home," said Victorin, breaking the painful silence, +"I can<br> + offer my mother----"</p> + +<p>As he heard these words, which excluded him, the Baron raised +his<br> + head, which was sunk on his breast as though he were studying +the<br> + pattern of the carpet, though he did not even see it, and he +gave the<br> + young lawyer an appealing look. The rights of a father are +so<br> + indefeasibly sacred, even when he is a villain and devoid of +honor,<br> + that Victorin paused.</p> + +<p>"To your mother," the Baron repeated. "You are right, my +son."</p> + +<p>"The rooms over ours in our wing," said Celestine, finishing +her<br> + husband's sentence.</p> + +<p>"I am in your way, my dears?" said the Baron, with the +mildness of a<br> + man who has judged himself. "But do not be uneasy as to the +future;<br> + you will have no further cause for complaint of your father; you +will<br> + not see him till the time when you need no longer blush for +him."</p> + +<p>He went up to Hortense and kissed her brow. He opened his arms +to his<br> + son, who rushed into his embrace, guessing his father's purpose. +The<br> + Baron signed to Lisbeth, who came to him, and he kissed her +forehead.<br> + Then he went to his room, whither Adeline followed him in an +agony of<br> + dread.</p> + +<p>"My brother was quite right, Adeline," he said, holding her +hand. "I<br> + am unworthy of my home life. I dared not bless my children, who +have<br> + behaved so nobly, but in my heart; tell them that I could only +venture<br> + to kiss them; for the blessing of a bad man, a father who has +been an<br> + assassin and the scourge of his family instead of its protector +and<br> + its glory, might bring evil on them; but assure them that I +shall<br> + bless them every day.--As to you, God alone, for He is Almighty, +can<br> + ever reward you according to your merits!--I can only ask +your<br> + forgiveness!" and he knelt at her feet, taking her hands and +wetting<br> + them with his tears.</p> + +<p>"Hector, Hector! Your sins have been great, but Divine Mercy +is<br> + infinite, and you may repair all by staying with me.--Rise up +in<br> + Christian charity, my dear--I am your wife, and not your judge. +I am<br> + your possession; do what you will with me; take me wherever you +go, I<br> + feel strong enough comfort you, to make life endurable to you, +by the<br> + strength of my love, my care, and respect.--Our children are +settled<br> + in life; they need me no more. Let me try to be an amusement to +you,<br> + an occupation. Let me share the pain of your banishment and of +your<br> + poverty, and help to mitigate it. I could always be of some use, +if it<br> + were only to save the expense of a servant."</p> + +<p>"Can you forgive, my dearly-beloved Adeline?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, only get up, my dear!"</p> + +<p>"Well, with that forgiveness I can live," said he, rising to +his feet.<br> + "I came back into this room that my children should not see +their<br> + father's humiliation. Oh! the sight constantly before their eyes +of a<br> + father so guilty as I am is a terrible thing; it must +undermine<br> + parental influence and break every family tie. So I cannot +remain<br> + among you, and I must go to spare you the odious spectacle of a +father<br> + bereft of dignity. Do not oppose my departure Adeline. It would +only<br> + be to load with your own hand the pistol to blow my brains out. +Above<br> + all, do not seek me in my hiding-place; you would deprive me of +the<br> + only strong motive remaining in me, that of remorse."</p> + +<p>Hector's decisiveness silenced his dejected wife. Adeline, +lofty in<br> + the midst of all this ruin, had derived her courage from her +perfect<br> + union with her husband; for she had dreamed of having him for +her own,<br> + of the beautiful task of comforting him, of leading him back to +family<br> + life, and reconciling him to himself.</p> + +<p>"But, Hector, would you leave me to die of despair, anxiety, +and<br> + alarms!" said she, seeing herself bereft of the mainspring of +her<br> + strength.</p> + +<p>"I will come back to you, dear angel--sent from Heaven +expressly for<br> + me, I believe. I will come back, if not rich, at least with +enough to<br> + live in ease.--Listen, my sweet Adeline, I cannot stay here for +many<br> + reasons. In the first place, my pension of six thousand francs +is<br> + pledged for four years, so I have nothing. That is not all. I +shall be<br> + committed to prison within a few days in consequence of the +bills held<br> + by Vauvinet. So I must keep out of the way until my son, to whom +I<br> + will give full instructions, shall have bought in the bills. +My<br> + disappearance will facilitate that. As soon as my pension is my +own,<br> + and Vauvinet is paid off, I will return to you.--You would be +sure to<br> + let out the secret of my hiding-place. Be calm; do not cry, +Adeline--<br> + it is only for a month--"</p> + +<p>"Where will you go? What will you do? What will become of you? +Who<br> + will take care of you now that you are no longer young? Let me +go with<br> + you--we will go abroad--" said she.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, we will see," he replied.</p> + +<p>The Baron rang and ordered Mariette to collect all his things +and pack<br> + them quickly and secretly. Then, after embracing his wife with +a<br> + warmth of affection to which she was unaccustomed, he begged her +to<br> + leave him alone for a few minutes while he wrote his +instructions for<br> + Victorin, promising that he would not leave the house till dark, +or<br> + without her.</p> + +<p>As soon as the Baroness was in the drawing-room, the cunning +old man<br> + stole out through the dressing-closet to the anteroom, and went +away,<br> + giving Mariette a slip of paper, on which was written, "Address +my<br> + trunks to go by railway to Corbeil--to Monsieur Hector, +cloak-room,<br> + Corbeil."</p> + +<p>The Baron jumped into a hackney coach, and was rushing across +Paris by<br> + the time Mariette came to give the Baroness this note, and say +that<br> + her master had gone out. Adeline flew back into her room, +trembling<br> + more violently than ever; her children followed on hearing her +give a<br> + piercing cry. They found her in a dead faint; and they put her +to bed,<br> + for she was seized by a nervous fever which held her for a +month<br> + between life and death.</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" was the only thing she would say.</p> + +<p>Victorin sought for him in vain.</p> + +<p>And this is why. The Baron had driven to the Place du Palais +Royal.<br> + There this man, who had recovered all his wits to work out a +scheme<br> + which he had premeditated during the days he had spent crushed +with<br> + pain and grief, crossed the Palais Royal on foot, and took a +handsome<br> + carriage from a livery-stable in the Rue Joquelet. In obedience +to his<br> + orders, the coachman went to the Rue de la Ville l'Eveque, and +into<br> + the courtyard of Josepha's mansion, the gates opening at once at +the<br> + call of the driver of such a splendid vehicle. Josepha came +out,<br> + prompted by curiosity, for her man-servant had told her that +a<br> + helpless old gentleman, unable to get out of his carriage, +begged her<br> + to come to him for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Josepha!--it is I----"</p> + +<p>The singer recognized her Hulot only by his voice.</p> + +<p>"What? you, poor old man?--On my honor, you look like a +twenty-franc<br> + piece that the Jews have sweated and the money-changers +refuse."</p> + +<p>"Alas, yes," replied Hulot; "I am snatched from the jaws of +death! But<br> + you are as lovely as ever. Will you be kind?"</p> + +<p>"That depends," said she; "everything is relative."</p> + +<p>"Listen," said Hulot; "can you put me up for a few days in a +servant's<br> + room under the roof? I have nothing--not a farthing, not a hope; +no<br> + food, no pension, no wife, no children, no roof over my head; +without<br> + honor, without courage, without a friend; and worse than all +that,<br> + liable to imprisonment for not meeting a bill."</p> + +<p>"Poor old fellow! you are without most things.--Are you also +<i>sans</i><br> + <i>culotte</i>?"</p> + +<p>"You laugh at me! I am done for," cried the Baron. "And I +counted on<br> + you as Gourville did on Ninon."</p> + +<p>"And it was a 'real lady,' I am told who brought you to this," +said<br> + Josepha. "Those precious sluts know how to pluck a goose even +better<br> + than we do!--Why, you are like a corpse that the crows have done +with<br> + --I can see daylight through!"</p> + +<p>"Time is short, Josepha!"</p> + +<p>"Come in, old boy, I am alone, as it happens, and my people +don't know<br> + you. Send away your trap. Is it paid for?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Baron, getting out with the help of Josepha's +arm.</p> + +<p>"You may call yourself my father if you like," said the +singer, moved<br> + to pity.</p> + +<p>She made Hulot sit down in the splendid drawing-room where he +had last<br> + seen her.</p> + +<p>"And is it the fact, old man," she went on, "that you have +killed your<br> + brother and your uncle, ruined your family, mortgaged your +children's<br> + house over and over again, and robbed the Government till in +Africa,<br> + all for your princess?"</p> + +<p>Hulot sadly bent his head.</p> + +<p>"Well, I admire that!" cried Josepha, starting up in her +enthusiasm.<br> + "It is a general flare-up! It is Sardanapalus! Splendid, +thoroughly<br> + complete! I may be a hussy, but I have a soul! I tell you, I +like a<br> + spendthrift, like you, crazy over a woman, a thousand times +better<br> + than those torpid, heartless bankers, who are supposed to be so +good,<br> + and who ruin no end of families with their rails--gold for them, +and<br> + iron for their gulls! You have only ruined those who belong to +you,<br> + you have sold no one but yourself; and then you have excuses, +physical<br> + and moral."</p> + +<p>She struck a tragic attitude, and spouted:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>" 'Tis Venus whose grasp never parts from her prey.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>And there you are!" and she pirouetted on her toe.</p> + +<p>Vice, Hulot found, could forgive him; vice smiled on him from +the<br> + midst of unbridled luxury. Here, as before a jury, the magnitude +of a<br> + crime was an extenuating circumstance. "And is your lady pretty +at any<br> + rate?" asked Josepha, trying as a preliminary act of charity, +to<br> + divert Hulot's thoughts, for his depression grieved her.</p> + +<p><br> + "On my word, almost as pretty as you are," said the Baron +artfully.</p> + +<p>"And monstrously droll? So I have been told. What does she do, +I say?<br> + Is she better fun than I am?"</p> + +<p>"I don't want to talk about her," said Hulot.</p> + +<p>"And I hear she has come round my Crevel, and little +Steinbock, and a<br> + gorgeous Brazilian?"</p> + +<p>"Very likely."</p> + +<p>"And that she has got a house as good as this, that Crevel has +given<br> + her. The baggage! She is my provost-marshal, and finishes off +those I<br> + have spoiled. I tell you why I am so curious to know what she is +like,<br> + old boy; I just caught sight of her in the Bois, in an open +carriage--<br> + but a long way off. She is a most accomplished harpy, Carabine +says.<br> + She is trying to eat up Crevel, but he only lets her nibble. +Crevel is<br> + a knowing hand, good-natured but hard-headed, who will always +say Yes,<br> + and then go his own way. He is vain and passionate; but his cash +is<br> + cold. You can never get anything out of such fellows beyond a +thousand<br> + to three thousand francs a month; they jib at any serious +outlay, as a<br> + donkey does at a running stream.</p> + +<p>"Not like you, old boy. You are a man of passions; you would +sell your<br> + country for a woman. And, look here, I am ready to do anything +for<br> + you! You are my father; you started me in life; it is a sacred +duty.<br> + What do you want? Do you want a hundred thousand francs? I will +wear<br> + myself to a rag to gain them. As to giving you bed and +board--that is<br> + nothing. A place will be laid for you here every day; you can +have a<br> + good room on the second floor, and a hundred crowns a month +for<br> + pocket-money."</p> + +<p>The Baron, deeply touched by such a welcome, had a last qualm +of<br> + honor.</p> + +<p>"No, my dear child, no; I did not come here for you to keep +me," said<br> + he.</p> + +<p>"At your age it is something to be proud of," said she.</p> + +<p>"This is what I wish, my child. Your Duc d'Herouville has +immense<br> + estates in Normandy, and I want to be his steward, under the +name of<br> + Thoul. I have the capacity, and I am honest. A man may borrow of +the<br> + Government, and yet not steal from a cash-box----"</p> + +<p>"H'm, h'm," said Josepha. "Once drunk, drinks again."</p> + +<p>"In short, I only want to live out of sight for three +years--"</p> + +<p>"Well, it is soon done," said Josepha. "This evening, after +dinner, I<br> + have only to speak. The Duke would marry me if I wished it, but +I have<br> + his fortune, and I want something better--his esteem. He is a +Duke of<br> + the first water. He is high-minded, as noble and great as Louis +XIV.<br> + and Napoleon rolled into one, though he is a dwarf. Besides, I +have<br> + done for him what la Schontz did for Rochefide; by taking my +advice he<br> + has made two millions.</p> + +<p>"Now, listen to me, old popgun. I know you; you are always +after the<br> + women, and you would be dancing attendance on the Normandy +girls, who<br> + are splendid creatures, and getting your ribs cracked by their +lovers<br> + and fathers, and the Duke would have to get you out of the +scrape.<br> + Why, can't I see by the way you look at me that the <i>young</i> +man is not<br> + dead in you--as Fenelon put it.--No, this stewardship is not the +thing<br> + for you. A man cannot be off with his Paris and with us, old +boy, for<br> + the saying! You would die of weariness at Herouville."</p> + +<p>"What is to become of me?" said the Baron, "for I will only +stay here<br> + till I see my way."</p> + +<p>"Well, shall I find a pigeon-hole for you? Listen, you old +pirate.<br> + Women are what you want. They are consolation in all +circumstances.<br> + Attend now.--At the end of the Alley, Rue Saint-Maur-du-Temple, +there<br> + is a poor family I know of where there is a jewel of a little +girl,<br> + prettier than I was at sixteen.--Ah! there is a twinkle in your +eye<br> + already!--The child works sixteen hours a day at embroidering +costly<br> + pieces for the silk merchants, and earns sixteen sous a day--one +sou<br> + an hour!--and feeds like the Irish, on potatoes fried in +rats'<br> + dripping, with bread five times a week--and drinks canal water +out of<br> + the town pipes, because the Seine water costs too much; and she +cannot<br> + set up on her own account for lack of six or seven thousand +francs.<br> + Your wife and children bore you to death, don't they?--Besides, +one<br> + cannot submit to be nobody where one has been a little Almighty. +A<br> + father who has neither money nor honor can only be stuffed and +kept in<br> + a glass case."</p> + +<p>The Baron could not help smiling at these abominable +jests.</p> + +<p>"Well, now, Bijou is to come to-morrow morning to bring me +an<br> + embroidered wrapper, a gem! It has taken six months to make; no +one<br> + else will have any stuff like it! Bijou is very fond of me; I +give her<br> + tidbits and my old gowns. And I send orders for bread and meat +and<br> + wood to the family, who would break the shin-bones of the first +comer<br> + if I bid them.--I try to do a little good. Ah! I know what I +endured<br> + from hunger myself!--Bijou has confided to me all her little +sorrows.<br> + There is the making of a super at the Ambigu-Comique in that +child.<br> + Her dream is to wear fine dresses like mine; above all, to ride +in a<br> + carriage. I shall say to her, 'Look here, little one, would you +like<br> + to have a friend of--' How old are you?" she asked, +interrupting<br> + herself. "Seventy-two?"</p> + +<p>"I have given up counting."</p> + +<p>" 'Would you like an old gentleman of seventy-two?' I shall +say. 'Very<br> + clean and neat, and who does not take snuff, who is as sound as +a<br> + bell, and as good as a young man? He will marry you (in the +Thirteenth<br> + Arrondissement) and be very kind to you; he will place seven +thousand<br> + francs in your account, and furnish you a room all in mahogany, +and if<br> + you are good, he will sometimes take you to the play. He will +give you<br> + a hundred francs a month for pocket-money, and fifty francs +for<br> + housekeeping.'--I know Bijou; she is myself at fourteen. I +jumped for<br> + joy when that horrible Crevel made me his atrocious offers. +Well, and<br> + you, old man, will be disposed of for three years. She is a +good<br> + child, well behaved; for three or four years she will have +her<br> + illusions--not for longer."</p> + +<p>Hulot did not hesitate; he had made up his mind to refuse; but +to seem<br> + grateful to the kind-hearted singer, who was benevolent after +her<br> + lights, he affected to hesitate between vice and virtue.</p> + +<p>"Why, you are as cold as a paving-stone in winter!" she +exclaimed in<br> + amazement. "Come, now. You will make a whole family happy--a<br> + grandfather who runs all the errands, a mother who is being worn +out<br> + with work, and two sisters--one of them very plain--who make +thirty-<br> + two sous a day while putting their eyes out. It will make up for +the<br> + misery you have caused at home, and you will expiate your sin +while<br> + you are having as much fun as a minx at Mabille."</p> + +<p>Hulot, to put an end to this temptation, moved his fingers as +if he<br> + were counting out money.</p> + +<p>"Oh! be quite easy as to ways and means," replied Josepha. "My +Duke<br> + will lend you ten thousand francs; seven thousand to start +an<br> + embroidery shop in Bijou's name, and three thousand for +furnishing;<br> + and every three months you will find a cheque here for six +hundred and<br> + fifty francs. When you get your pension paid you, you can repay +the<br> + seventeen thousand francs. Meanwhile you will be as happy as a +cow in<br> + clover, and hidden in a hole where the police will never find +you. You<br> + must wear a loose serge coat, and you will look like a +comfortable<br> + householder. Call yourself Thoul, if that is your fancy. I will +tell<br> + Bijou that you are an uncle of mine come from Germany, having +failed<br> + in business, and you will be cosseted like a divinity.--There +now,<br> + Daddy!--And who knows! you may have no regrets. In case you +should be<br> + bored, keep one Sunday rig-out, and you can come and ask me for +a<br> + dinner and spend the evening here."</p> + +<p>"I!--and I meant to settle down and behave myself!--Look here, +borrow<br> + twenty thousand francs for me, and I will set out to make my +fortune<br> + in America, like my friend d'Aiglemont when Nucingen cleaned him +out."</p> + +<p>"You!" cried Josepha. "Nay, leave morals to work-a-day folks, +to raw<br> + recruits, to the <i>worrrthy</i> citizens who have nothing to +boast of but<br> + their virtue. You! You were born to be something better than +a<br> + nincompoop; you are as a man what I am as a woman--a spendthrift +of<br> + genius."</p> + +<p>"We will sleep on it and discuss it all to-morrow +morning."</p> + +<p>"You will dine with the Duke. My d'Herouville will receive you +as<br> + civilly as if you were the saviour of the State; and to-morrow +you can<br> + decide. Come, be jolly, old boy! Life is a garment; when it is +dirty,<br> + we must brush it; when it is ragged, it must be patched; but we +keep<br> + it on as long as we can."</p> + +<p>This philosophy of life, and her high spirits, postponed +Hulot's<br> + keenest pangs.</p> + +<p>At noon next day, after a capital breakfast, Hulot saw the +arrival of<br> + one of those living masterpieces which Paris alone of all the +cities<br> + in the world can produce, by means of the constant concubinage +of<br> + luxury and poverty, of vice and decent honesty, of suppressed +desire<br> + and renewed temptation, which makes the French capital the +daughter of<br> + Ninevah, of Babylon, and of Imperial Rome.</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle Olympe Bijou, a child of sixteen, had the +exquisite face<br> + which Raphael drew for his Virgins; eyes of pathetic innocence, +weary<br> + with overwork--black eyes, with long lashes, their moisture +parched<br> + with the heat of laborious nights, and darkened with fatigue; +a<br> + complexion like porcelain, almost too delicate; a mouth like a +partly<br> + opened pomegranate; a heaving bosom, a full figure, pretty +hands, the<br> + whitest teeth, and a mass of black hair; and the whole meagrely +set<br> + off by a cotton frock at seventy-five centimes the metre, +leather<br> + shoes without heels, and the cheapest gloves. The girl, all<br> + unconscious of her charms, had put on her best frock to wait on +the<br> + fine lady.</p> + +<p>The Baron, gripped again by the clutch of profligacy, felt all +his<br> + life concentrated in his eyes. He forgot everything on beholding +this<br> + delightful creature. He was like a sportsman in sight of the +game; if<br> + an emperor were present, he must take aim!</p> + +<p>"And warranted sound," said Josepha in his ear. "An honest +child, and<br> + wanting bread. This is Paris--I have been there!"</p> + +<p>"It is a bargain," replied the old man, getting up and rubbing +his<br> + hands.</p> + +<p>When Olympe Bijou was gone, Josepha looked mischievously at +the Baron.</p> + +<p>"If you want things to keep straight, Daddy," said she, "be as +firm as<br> + the Public Prosecutor on the bench. Keep a tight hand on her, be +a<br> + Bartholo! Ware Auguste, Hippolyte, Nestor, Victor--<i>or</i>, +that is gold,<br> + in every form. When once the child is fed and dressed, if she +gets the<br> + upper hand, she will drive you like a serf.--I will see to +settling<br> + you comfortably. The Duke does the handsome; he will lend--that +is,<br> + give--you ten thousand francs; and he deposits eight thousand +with his<br> + notary, who will pay you six hundred francs every quarter, for +I<br> + cannot trust you.--Now, am I nice?"</p> + +<p>"Adorable."</p> + +<p>Ten days after deserting his family, when they were gathered +round<br> + Adeline, who seemed to be dying, as she said again and again, in +a<br> + weak voice, "Where is he?" Hector, under the name of Thoul, +was<br> + established in the Rue Saint-Maur, at the head of a business +as<br> + embroiderer, under the name of Thoul and Bijou.</p> + +<p>Victorin Hulot, under the overwhelming disasters of his +family, had<br> + received the finishing touch which makes or mars the man. He +was<br> + perfection. In the great storms of life we act like the captain +of a<br> + ship who, under the stress of a hurricane, lightens the ship of +its<br> + heaviest cargo. The young lawyer lost his self-conscious pride, +his<br> + too evident assertiveness, his arrogance as an orator and +his<br> + political pretensions. He was as a man what his wife was as a +woman.<br> + He made up his mind to make the best of his Celestine--who +certainly<br> + did not realize his dreams--and was wise enough to estimate life +at<br> + its true value by contenting himself in all things with the +second<br> + best. He vowed to fulfil his duties, so much had he been shocked +by<br> + his father's example.</p> + +<p>These feelings were confirmed as he stood by his mother's bed +on the<br> + day when she was out of danger. Nor did this happiness come +single.<br> + Claude Vignon, who called every day from the Prince de +Wissembourg to<br> + inquire as to Madame Hulot's progress, desired the re-elected +deputy<br> + to go with him to see the Minister.</p> + +<p>"His Excellency," said he, "wants to talk over your family +affairs<br> + with you."</p> + +<p>The Prince had long known Victorin Hulot, and received him +with a<br> + friendliness that promised well.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow," said the old soldier, "I promised your +uncle, in<br> + this room, that I would take care of your mother. That saintly +woman,<br> + I am told, is getting well again; now is the time to pour oil +into<br> + your wounds. I have for you here two hundred thousand francs; I +will<br> + give them to you----"</p> + +<p>The lawyer's gesture was worthy of his uncle the Marshal.</p> + +<p>"Be quite easy," said the Prince, smiling; "it is money in +trust. My<br> + days are numbered; I shall not always be here; so take this sum, +and<br> + fill my place towards your family. You may use this money to pay +off<br> + the mortgage on your house. These two hundred thousand francs +are the<br> + property of your mother and your sister. If I gave the money to +Madame<br> + Hulot, I fear that, in her devotion to her husband, she would +be<br> + tempted to waste it. And the intention of those who restore it +to you<br> + is, that it should produce bread for Madame Hulot and her +daughter,<br> + the Countess Steinbock. You are a steady man, the worthy son of +your<br> + noble mother, the true nephew of my friend the Marshal; you +are<br> + appreciated here, you see--and elsewhere. So be the guardian +angel of<br> + your family, and take this as a legacy from your uncle and +me."</p> + +<p>"Monseigneur," said Hulot, taking the Minister's hand and +pressing it,<br> + "such men as you know that thanks in words mean nothing; +gratitude<br> + must be proven."</p> + +<p>"Prove yours--" said the old man.</p> + +<p>"In what way?"</p> + +<p>"By accepting what I have to offer you," said the Minister. +"We<br> + propose to appoint you to be attorney to the War Office, which +just<br> + now is involved in litigations in consequence of the plan +for<br> + fortifying Paris; consulting clerk also to the Prefecture of +Police;<br> + and a member of the Board of the Civil List. These three +appointments<br> + will secure you salaries amounting to eighteen thousand francs, +and<br> + will leave you politically free. You can vote in the Chamber +in<br> + obedience to your opinions and your conscience. Act in perfect +freedom<br> + on that score. It would be a bad thing for us if there were +no<br> + national opposition!</p> + +<p>"Also, a few lines from your uncle, written a day or two +before he<br> + breathed his last, suggested what I could do for your mother, +whom he<br> + loved very truly.--Mesdames Popinot, de Rastignac, de +Navarreins,<br> + d'Espard, de Grandlieu, de Carigliano, de Lenoncourt, and de la +Batie<br> + have made a place for your mother as a Lady Superintendent of +their<br> + charities. These ladies, presidents of various branches of +benevolent<br> + work, cannot do everything themselves; they need a lady of +character<br> + who can act for them by going to see the objects of their +beneficence,<br> + ascertaining that charity is not imposed upon, and whether the +help<br> + given really reaches those who applied for it, finding out that +the<br> + poor who are ashamed to beg, and so forth. Your mother will +fulfil an<br> + angelic function; she will be thrown in with none but priests +and<br> + these charitable ladies; she will be paid six thousand francs +and the<br> + cost of her hackney coaches.</p> + +<p>"You see, young man, that a pure and nobly virtuous man can +still<br> + assist his family, even from the grave. Such a name as your +uncle's<br> + is, and ought to be, a buckler against misfortune in a +well-organized<br> + scheme of society. Follow in his path; you have started in it, I +know;<br> + continue in it."</p> + +<p>"Such delicate kindness cannot surprise me in my mother's +friend,"<br> + said Victorin. "I will try to come up to all your hopes."</p> + +<p>"Go at once, and take comfort to your family.--By the way," +added the<br> + Prince, as he shook hands with Victorin, "your father has<br> + disappeared?"</p> + +<p>"Alas! yes."</p> + +<p>"So much the better. That unhappy man has shown his wit, in +which,<br> + indeed, he is not lacking."</p> + +<p>"There are bills of his to be met."</p> + +<p>"Well, you shall have six months' pay of your three +appointments in<br> + advance. This pre-payment will help you, perhaps, to get the +notes out<br> + of the hands of the money-lender. And I will see Nucingen, and +perhaps<br> + may succeed in releasing your father's pension, pledged to +him,<br> + without its costing you or our office a sou. The peer has not +killed<br> + the banker in Nucingen; he is insatiable; he wants some +concession.--I<br> + know not what----"</p> + +<p>So on his return to the Rue Plumet, Victorin could carry out +his plan<br> + of lodging his mother and sister under his roof.</p> + +<p>The young lawyer, already famous, had, for his sole fortune, +one of<br> + the handsomest houses in Paris, purchased in 1834 in preparation +for<br> + his marriage, situated on the boulevard between the Rue de la +Paix and<br> + the Rue Louis-le-Grand. A speculator had built two houses +between the<br> + boulevard and the street; and between these, with the gardens +and<br> + courtyards to the front and back, there remained still standing +a<br> + splendid wing, the remains of the magnificent mansion of the<br> + Verneuils. The younger Hulot had purchased this fine property, +on the<br> + strength of Mademoiselle Crevel's marriage-portion, for one +million<br> + francs, when it was put up to auction, paying five hundred +thousand<br> + down. He lived on the ground floor, expecting to pay the +remainder out<br> + of letting the rest; but though it is safe to speculate in +house-<br> + property in Paris, such investments are capricious or hang +fire,<br> + depending on unforeseen circumstances.</p> + +<p>As the Parisian lounger may have observed, the boulevard +between the<br> + Rue de la Paix and the Rue Louis-le-Grand prospered but slowly; +it<br> + took so long to furbish and beautify itself, that trade did not +set up<br> + its display there till 1840--the gold of the money-changers, +the<br> + fairy-work of fashion, and the luxurious splendor of +shop-fronts.</p> + +<p>In spite of two hundred thousand francs given by Crevel to +his<br> + daughter at the time when his vanity was flattered by this +marriage,<br> + before the Baron had robbed him of Josepha; in spite of the +two<br> + hundred thousand francs paid off by Victorin in the course of +seven<br> + years, the property was still burdened with a debt of five +hundred<br> + thousand francs, in consequence of Victorin's devotion to his +father.<br> + Happily, a rise in rents and the advantages of the situation had +at<br> + this time improved the value of the houses. The speculation +was<br> + justifying itself after eight years' patience, during which the +lawyer<br> + had strained every nerve to pay the interest and some trifling +amounts<br> + of the capital borrowed.</p> + +<p>The tradespeople were ready to offer good rents for the shops, +on<br> + condition of being granted leases for eighteen years. The +dwelling<br> + apartments rose in value by the shifting of the centre in Paris +life--<br> + henceforth transferred to the region between the Bourse and +the<br> + Madeleine, now the seat of the political power and financial +authority<br> + in Paris. The money paid to him by the Minister, added to a +year's<br> + rent in advance and the premiums paid by his tenants, would +finally<br> + reduce the outstanding debt to two hundred thousand francs. The +two<br> + houses, if entirely let, would bring in a hundred thousand +francs a<br> + year. Within two years more, during which the Hulots could live +on his<br> + salaries, added to by the Marshal's investments, Victorin would +be in<br> + a splendid position.</p> + +<p>This was manna from heaven. Victorin could give up the first +floor of<br> + his own house to his mother, and the second to Hortense, +excepting two<br> + rooms reserved for Lisbeth. With Cousin Betty as the +housekeeper, this<br> + compound household could bear all these charges, and yet keep up +a<br> + good appearance, as beseemed a pleader of note. The great stars +of the<br> + law-courts were rapidly disappearing; and Victorin Hulot, gifted +with<br> + a shrewd tongue and strict honesty, was listened to by the Bench +and<br> + Councillors; he studied his cases thoroughly, and advanced +nothing<br> + that he could not prove. He would not hold every brief that +offered;<br> + in fact, he was a credit to the bar.</p> + +<p>The Baroness' home in the Rue Plumet had become so odious to +her, that<br> + she allowed herself to be taken to the Rue Louis-le-Grand. Thus, +by<br> + her son's care, Adeline occupied a fine apartment; she was +spared all<br> + the daily worries of life; for Lisbeth consented to begin +again,<br> + working wonders of domestic economy, such as she had achieved +for<br> + Madame Marneffe, seeing here a way of exerting her silent +vengeance on<br> + those three noble lives, the object, each, of her hatred, which +was<br> + kept growing by the overthrow of all her hopes.</p> + +<p>Once a month she went to see Valerie, sent, indeed, by +Hortense, who<br> + wanted news of Wenceslas, and by Celestine, who was seriously +uneasy<br> + at the acknowledged and well-known connection between her father +and a<br> + woman to whom her mother-in-law and sister-in-law owed their +ruin and<br> + their sorrows. As may be supposed, Lisbeth took advantage of +this to<br> + see Valerie as often as possible.</p> + +<p>Thus, about twenty months passed by, during which the +Baroness<br> + recovered her health, though her palsied trembling never left +her. She<br> + made herself familiar with her duties, which afforded her a +noble<br> + distraction from her sorrow and constant food for the divine +goodness<br> + of her heart. She also regarded it as an opportunity for finding +her<br> + husband in the course of one of those expeditions which took her +into<br> + every part of Paris.</p> + +<p><br> + During this time, Vauvinet had been paid, and the pension of +six<br> + thousand francs was almost redeemed. Victorin could maintain +his<br> + mother as well as Hortense out of the ten thousand francs +interest on<br> + the money left by Marshal Hulot in trust for them. Adeline's +salary<br> + amounted to six thousand francs a year; and this, added to the +Baron's<br> + pension when it was freed, would presently secure an income of +twelve<br> + thousand francs a year to the mother and daughter.</p> + +<p>Thus, the poor woman would have been almost happy but for +her<br> + perpetual anxieties as to the Baron's fate; for she longed to +have him<br> + with her to share the improved fortunes that smiled on the +family; and<br> + but for the constant sight of her forsaken daughter; and but for +the<br> + terrible thrusts constantly and <i>unconsciously</i> dealt her +by Lisbeth,<br> + whose diabolical character had free course.</p> + +<p>A scene which took place at the beginning of the month of +March 1843<br> + will show the results of Lisbeth's latent and persistent hatred, +still<br> + seconded, as she always was, by Madame Marneffe.</p> + +<p>Two great events had occurred in the Marneffe household. In +the first<br> + place, Valerie had given birth to a still-born child, whose +little<br> + coffin had cost her two thousand francs a year. And then, as +to<br> + Marneffe himself, eleven months since, this is the report given +by<br> + Lisbeth to the Hulot family one day on her return from a visit +of<br> + discovery at the hotel Marneffe.</p> + +<p>"This morning," said she, "that dreadful Valerie sent for +Doctor<br> + Bianchon to ask whether the medical men who had condemned her +husband<br> + yesterday had made no mistake. Bianchon pronounced that to-night +at<br> + the latest that horrible creature will depart to the torments +that<br> + await him. Old Crevel and Madame Marneffe saw the doctor out; +and your<br> + father, my dear Celestine, gave him five gold pieces for his +good<br> + news.</p> + +<p>"When he came back into the drawing-room, Crevel cut capers +like a<br> + dancer; he embraced that woman, exclaiming, 'Then, at last, you +will<br> + be Madame Crevel!'--And to me, when she had gone back to her +husband's<br> + bedside, for he was at his last gasp, your noble father said to +me,<br> + 'With Valerie as my wife, I can become a peer of France! I shall +buy<br> + an estate I have my eye on--Presles, which Madame de Serizy +wants to<br> + sell. I shall be Crevel de Presles, member of the Common Council +of<br> + Seine-et-Oise, and Deputy. I shall have a son! I shall be +everything I<br> + have ever wished to be.'--'Heh!' said I, 'and what about +your<br> + daughter?'--'Bah!' says he, 'she is only a woman! And she is +quite too<br> + much of a Hulot. Valerie has a horror of them all.--My +son-in-law has<br> + never chosen to come to this house; why has he given himself +such airs<br> + as a Mentor, a Spartan, a Puritan, a philanthropist? Besides, I +have<br> + squared accounts with my daughter; she has had all her +mother's<br> + fortune, and two hundred thousand francs to that. So I am free +to act<br> + as I please.--I shall judge of my son-in-law and Celestine by +their<br> + conduct on my marriage; as they behave, so shall I. If they are +nice<br> + to their stepmother, I will receive them. I am a man, after +all!'--In<br> + short, all this rhodomontade! And an attitude like Napoleon on +the<br> + column."</p> + +<p>The ten months' widowhood insisted on by the law had now +elapsed some<br> + few days since. The estate of Presles was purchased. Victorin +and<br> + Celestine had that very morning sent Lisbeth to make inquiries +as to<br> + the marriage of the fascinating widow to the Mayor of Paris, now +a<br> + member of the Common Council of the Department of +Seine-et-Oise.</p> + +<p>Celestine and Hortense, in whom the ties of affection had been +drawn<br> + closer since they had lived under the same roof, were almost<br> + inseparable. The Baroness, carried away by a sense of honesty +which<br> + led her to exaggerate the duties of her place, devoted herself +to the<br> + work of charity of which she was the agent; she was out almost +every<br> + day from eleven till five. The sisters-in-law, united in their +cares<br> + for the children whom they kept together, sat at home and +worked. They<br> + had arrived at the intimacy which thinks aloud, and were a +touching<br> + picture of two sisters, one cheerful and the other sad. The less +happy<br> + of the two, handsome, lively, high-spirited, and clever, seemed +by her<br> + manner to defy her painful situation; while the melancholy +Celestine,<br> + sweet and calm, and as equable as reason itself, might have +been<br> + supposed to have some secret grief. It was this +contradiction,<br> + perhaps, that added to their warm friendship. Each supplied the +other<br> + with what she lacked.</p> + +<p>Seated in a little summer-house in the garden, which the +speculator's<br> + trowel had spared by some fancy of the builder's, who believed +that he<br> + was preserving these hundred feet square of earth for his +own<br> + pleasure, they were admiring the first green shoots of the +lilac-<br> + trees, a spring festival which can only be fully appreciated in +Paris<br> + when the inhabitants have lived for six months oblivious of +what<br> + vegetation means, among the cliffs of stone where the ocean +of<br> + humanity tosses to and fro.</p> + +<p>"Celestine," said Hortense to her sister-in-law, who had +complained<br> + that in such fine weather her husband should be kept at the +Chamber,<br> + "I think you do not fully appreciate your happiness. Victorin is +a<br> + perfect angel, and you sometimes torment him."</p> + +<p>"My dear, men like to be tormented! Certain ways of teasing +are a<br> + proof of affection. If your poor mother had only been--I will +not say<br> + exacting, but always prepared to be exacting, you would not have +had<br> + so much to grieve over."</p> + +<p>"Lisbeth is not come back. I shall have to sing the song +of<br> + <i>Malbrouck</i>," said Hortense. "I do long for some news of +Wenceslas!--<br> + What does he live on? He has not done a thing these two +years."</p> + +<p>"Victorin saw him, he told me, with that horrible woman not +long ago;<br> + and he fancied that she maintains him in idleness.--If you only +would,<br> + dear soul, you might bring your husband back to you yet."</p> + +<p>Hortense shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Believe me," Celestine went on, "the position will ere long +be<br> + intolerable. In the first instance, rage, despair, indignation, +gave<br> + you strength. The awful disasters that have come upon us +since--two<br> + deaths, ruin, and the disappearance of Baron Hulot--have +occupied your<br> + mind and heart; but now you live in peace and silence, you will +find<br> + it hard to bear the void in your life; and as you cannot, and +will<br> + never leave the path of virtue, you will have to be reconciled +to<br> + Wenceslas. Victorin, who loves you so much, is of that opinion. +There<br> + is something stronger than one's feelings even, and that is +Nature!"</p> + +<p>"But such a mean creature!" cried the proud Hortense. "He +cares for<br> + that woman because she feeds him.--And has she paid his debts, +do you<br> + suppose?--Good Heaven! I think of that man's position day and +night!<br> + He is the father of my child, and he is degrading himself."</p> + +<p>"But look at your mother, my dear," said Celestine.</p> + +<p>Celestine was one of those women who, when you have given them +reasons<br> + enough to convince a Breton peasant, still go back for the +hundredth<br> + time to their original argument. The character of her face, +somewhat<br> + flat, dull, and common, her light-brown hair in stiff, neat +bands, her<br> + very complexion spoke of a sensible woman, devoid of charm, but +also<br> + devoid of weakness.</p> + +<p>"The Baroness would willingly go to join her husband in his +disgrace,<br> + to comfort him and hide him in her heart from every eye," +Celestine<br> + went on. "Why, she has a room made ready upstairs for Monsieur +Hulot,<br> + as if she expected to find him and bring him home from one day +to the<br> + next."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, my mother is sublime!" replied Hortense. "She has +been so<br> + every minute of every day for six-and-twenty years; but I am not +like<br> + her, it is not my nature.--How can I help it? I am angry with +myself<br> + sometimes; but you do not know, Celestine, what it would be to +make<br> + terms with infamy."</p> + +<p>"There is my father!" said Celestine placidly. "He has +certainly<br> + started on the road that ruined yours. He is ten years younger +than<br> + the Baron, to be sure, and was only a tradesman; but how can it +end?<br> + This Madame Marneffe has made a slave of my father; he is her +dog; she<br> + is mistress of his fortune and his opinions, and nothing can +open his<br> + eyes. I tremble when I remember that their banns of marriage +are<br> + already published!--My husband means to make a last attempt; he +thinks<br> + it a duty to try to avenge society and the family, and bring +that<br> + woman to account for all her crimes. Alas! my dear Hortense, +such<br> + lofty souls as Victorin and hearts like ours come too late to +a<br> + comprehension of the world and its ways!--This is a secret, +dear, and<br> + I have told you because you are interested in it, but never by a +word<br> + or a look betray it to Lisbeth, or your mother, or anybody, +for--"</p> + +<p>"Here is Lisbeth!" said Hortense. "Well, cousin, and how is +the<br> + Inferno of the Rue Barbet going on?"</p> + +<p>"Badly for you, my children.--Your husband, my dear Hortense, +is more<br> + crazy about that woman than ever, and she, I must own, is madly +in<br> + love with him.--Your father, dear Celestine, is gloriously +blind.<br> + That, to be sure, is nothing; I have had occasion to see it once +a<br> + fortnight; really, I am lucky never to have had anything to do +with<br> + men, they are besotted creatures.--Five days hence you, dear +child,<br> + and Victorin will have lost your father's fortune."</p> + +<p>"Then the banns are cried?" said Celestine.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Lisbeth, "and I have just been arguing your case. +I<br> + pointed out to that monster, who is going the way of the other, +that<br> + if he would only get you out of the difficulties you are in by +paying<br> + off the mortgage on the house, you would show your gratitude +and<br> + receive your stepmother--"</p> + +<p>Hortense started in horror.</p> + +<p>"Victorin will see about that," said Celestine coldly.</p> + +<p>"But do you know what Monsieur le Maire's answer was?" said +Lisbeth.<br> + " 'I mean to leave them where they are. Horses can only be +broken in<br> + by lack of food, sleep, and sugar.'--Why, Baron Hulot was not so +bad<br> + as Monsieur Crevel.</p> + +<p>"So, my poor dears, you may say good-bye to the money. And +such a fine<br> + fortune! Your father paid three million francs for the Presles +estate,<br> + and he has thirty thousand francs a year in stocks! Oh!--he has +no<br> + secrets from me. He talks of buying the Hotel de Navarreins, in +the<br> + Rue du Bac. Madame Marneffe herself has forty thousand francs a +year.<br> + --Ah!--here is our guardian angel, here comes your mother!" +she<br> + exclaimed, hearing the rumble of wheels.</p> + +<p>And presently the Baroness came down the garden steps and +joined the<br> + party. At fifty-five, though crushed by so many troubles, +and<br> + constantly trembling as if shivering with ague, Adeline, whose +face<br> + was indeed pale and wrinkled, still had a fine figure, a +noble<br> + outline, and natural dignity. Those who saw her said, "She must +have<br> + been beautiful!" Worn with the grief of not knowing her +husband's<br> + fate, of being unable to share with him this oasis in the heart +of<br> + Paris, this peace and seclusion and the better fortune that +was<br> + dawning on the family, her beauty was the beauty of a ruin. As +each<br> + gleam of hope died out, each day of search proved vain, Adeline +sank<br> + into fits of deep melancholy that drove her children to +despair.</p> + +<p>The Baroness had gone out that morning with fresh hopes, and +was<br> + anxiously expected. An official, who was under obligations to +Hulot,<br> + to whom he owed his position and advancement, declared that he +had<br> + seen the Baron in a box at the Ambigu-Comique theatre with a +woman of<br> + extraordinary beauty. So Adeline had gone to call on the +Baron<br> + Verneuil. This important personage, while asserting that he +had<br> + positively seen his old patron, and that his behaviour to the +woman<br> + indicated an illicit establishment, told Madame Hulot that to +avoid<br> + meeting him the Baron had left long before the end of the +play.</p> + +<p>"He looked like a man at home with the damsel, but his dress +betrayed<br> + some lack of means," said he in conclusion.</p> + +<p>"Well?" said the three women as the Baroness came towards +them.</p> + +<p>"Well, Monsieur Hulot is in Paris; and to me," said Adeline, +"it is a<br> + gleam of happiness only to know that he is within reach of +us."</p> + +<p>"But he does not seem to have mended his ways," Lisbeth +remarked when<br> + Adeline had finished her report of her visit to Baron Verneuil. +"He<br> + has taken up some little work-girl. But where can he get the +money<br> + from? I could bet that he begs of his former +mistresses--Mademoiselle<br> + Jenny Cadine or Josepha."</p> + +<p>The Baroness trembled more severely than ever; every nerve +quivered;<br> + she wiped away the tears that rose to her eyes and looked +mournfully<br> + up to heaven.</p> + +<p>"I cannot think that a Grand Commander of the Legion of Honor +will<br> + have fallen so low," said she.</p> + +<p>"For his pleasure what would he not do?" said Lisbeth. "He +robbed the<br> + State, he will rob private persons, commit murder--who +knows?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lisbeth!" cried the Baroness, "keep such thoughts to +yourself."</p> + +<p>At this moment Louise came up to the family group, now +increased by<br> + the arrival of the two Hulot children and little Wenceslas to +see if<br> + their grandmother's pockets did not contain some sweetmeats.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Louise?" asked one and another.</p> + +<p>"A man who wants to see Mademoiselle Fischer."</p> + +<p>"Who is the man?" asked Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"He is in rags, mademoiselle, and covered with flue like a +mattress-<br> + picker; his nose is red, and he smells of brandy.--He is one of +those<br> + men who work half of the week at most."</p> + +<p>This uninviting picture had the effect of making Lisbeth hurry +into<br> + the courtyard of the house in the Rue Louis-le-Grand, where she +found<br> + a man smoking a pipe colored in a style that showed him an +artist in<br> + tobacco.</p> + +<p>"Why have you come here, Pere Chardin?" she asked. "It is +understood<br> + that you go, on the first Saturday in every month, to the gate +of the<br> + Hotel Marneffe, Rue Barbet-de-Jouy. I have just come back +after<br> + waiting there for five hours, and you did not come."</p> + +<p>"I did go there, good and charitable lady!" replied the +mattress-<br> + picker. "But there was a game at pool going on at the Cafe +des<br> + Savants, Rue du Cerf-Volant, and every man has his fancy. Now, +mine is<br> + billiards. If it wasn't for billiards, I might be eating off +silver<br> + plate. For, I tell you this," and he fumbled for a scrap of +paper in<br> + his ragged trousers pocket, "it is billiards that leads on to a +dram<br> + and plum-brandy.--It is ruinous, like all fine things, in the +things<br> + it leads to. I know your orders, but the old 'un is in such a +quandary<br> + that I came on to forbidden grounds.--If the hair was all hair, +we<br> + might sleep sound on it; but it is mixed. God is not for all, as +the<br> + saying goes. He has His favorites--well, He has the right. Now, +here<br> + is the writing of your estimable relative and my very good +friend--his<br> + political opinion."</p> + +<p>Chardin attempted to trace some zigzag lines in the air with +the<br> + forefinger of his right hand.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, not listening to him, read these few words:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"DEAR COUSIN,--Be my Providence; give me three hundred francs +this<br> + day.</p> + +<p>"HECTOR."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><br> + "What does he want so much money for?"</p> + +<p>"The lan'lord!" said Chardin, still trying to sketch +arabesques. "And<br> + then my son, you see, has come back from Algiers through Spain +and<br> + Bayonee, and, and--he has <i>found</i> nothing--against his +rule, for a<br> + sharp cove is my son, saving your presence. How can he help it, +he is<br> + in want of food; but he will repay all we lend him, for he is +going to<br> + get up a company. He has ideas, he has, that will carry +him--"</p> + +<p><br> + "To the police court," Lisbeth put in. "He murdered my uncle; I +shall<br> + not forget that."</p> + +<p>"He--why, he could not bleed a chicken, honorable lady."</p> + +<p>"Here are the three hundred francs," said Lisbeth, taking +fifteen gold<br> + pieces out of her purse. "Now, go, and never come here +again."</p> + +<p>She saw the father of the Oran storekeeper off the premises, +and<br> + pointed out the drunken old creature to the porter.</p> + +<p>"At any time when that man comes here, if by chance he should +come<br> + again, do not let him in. If he should ask whether Monsieur +Hulot<br> + junior or Madame la Baronne Hulot lives here, tell him you know +of no<br> + such persons."</p> + +<p>"Very good, mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>"Your place depends on it if you make any mistake, even +without<br> + intending it," said Lisbeth, in the woman's ear.--"Cousin," she +went<br> + on to Victorin, who just now came in, "a great misfortune is +hanging<br> + over your head."</p> + +<p>"What is that?" said Victorin.</p> + +<p>"Within a few days Madame Marneffe will be your wife's +stepmother."</p> + +<p>"That remains to be seen," replied Victorin.</p> + +<p>For six months past Lisbeth had very regularly paid a little +allowance<br> + to Baron Hulot, her former protector, whom she now protected; +she knew<br> + the secret of his dwelling-place, and relished Adeline's tears, +saying<br> + to her, as we have seen, when she saw her cheerful and hopeful, +"You<br> + may expect to find my poor cousin's name in the papers some day +under<br> + the heading 'Police Report.' "</p> + +<p>But in this, as on a former occasion, she let her vengeance +carry her<br> + too far. She had aroused the prudent suspicions of Victorin. He +had<br> + resolved to be rid of this Damocles' sword so constantly +flourished<br> + over them by Lisbeth, and of the female demon to whom his mother +and<br> + the family owed so many woes. The Prince de Wissembourg, knowing +all<br> + about Madame Marneffe's conduct, approved of the young lawyer's +secret<br> + project; he had promised him, as a President of the Council +can<br> + promise, the secret assistance of the police, to enlighten +Crevel and<br> + rescue a fine fortune from the clutches of the diabolical +courtesan,<br> + whom he could not forgive either for causing the death of +Marshal<br> + Hulot or for the Baron's utter ruin.</p> + +<p>The words spoken by Lisbeth, "He begs of his former +mistresses,"<br> + haunted the Baroness all night. Like sick men given over by +the<br> + physicians, who have recourse to quacks, like men who have +fallen into<br> + the lowest Dantesque circle of despair, or drowning creatures +who<br> + mistake a floating stick for a hawser, she ended by believing in +the<br> + baseness of which the mere idea had horrified her; and it +occurred to<br> + her that she might apply for help to one of those terrible +women.</p> + +<p>Next morning, without consulting her children or saying a word +to<br> + anybody, she went to see Mademoiselle Josepha Mirah, prima donna +of<br> + the Royal Academy of Music, to find or to lose the hope that +had<br> + gleamed before her like a will-o'-the-wisp. At midday, the +great<br> + singer's waiting-maid brought her in the card of the Baronne +Hulot,<br> + saying that this person was waiting at the door, having asked +whether<br> + Mademoiselle could receive her.</p> + +<p>"Are the rooms done?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>"And the flowers fresh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>"Just tell Jean to look round and see that everything is as it +should<br> + be before showing the lady in, and treat her with the +greatest<br> + respect. Go, and come back to dress me--I must look my very +best."</p> + +<p>She went to study herself in the long glass.</p> + +<p>"Now, to put our best foot foremost!" said she to herself. +"Vice under<br> + arms to meet virtue!--Poor woman, what can she want of me? I +cannot<br> + bear to see.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"The noble victim of outrageous fortune!"</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>And she sang through the famous aria as the maid came in +again.</p> + +<p><br> + "Madame," said the girl, "the lady has a nervous +trembling--"</p> + +<p>"Offer her some orange-water, some rum, some broth--"</p> + +<p>"I did, mademoiselle; but she declines everything, and says it +is an<br> + infirmity, a nervous complaint--"</p> + +<p>"Where is she?"</p> + +<p>"In the big drawing-room."</p> + +<p>"Well, make haste, child. Give me my smartest slippers, the +dressing-<br> + gown embroidered by Bijou, and no end of lace frills. Do my hair +in a<br> + way to astonish a woman.--This woman plays a part against mine; +and<br> + tell the lady--for she is a real, great lady, my girl, nay, +more, she<br> + is what you will never be, a woman whose prayers can rescue +souls from<br> + your purgatory--tell her I was in bed, as I was playing last +night,<br> + and that I am just getting up."</p> + +<p>The Baroness, shown into Josepha's handsome drawing-room, did +not note<br> + how long she was kept waiting there, though it was a long half +hour.<br> + This room, entirely redecorated even since Josepha had had the +house,<br> + was hung with silk in purple and gold color. The luxury which +fine<br> + gentlemen were wont to lavish on their <i>petites maisons</i>, +the scenes<br> + of their profligacy, of which the remains still bear witness to +the<br> + follies from which they were so aptly named, was displayed +to<br> + perfection, thanks to modern inventiveness, in the four rooms +opening<br> + into each other, where the warm temperature was maintained by a +system<br> + of hot-air pipes with invisible openings.</p> + +<p>The Baroness, quite bewildered, examined each work of art with +the<br> + greatest amazement. Here she found fortunes accounted for that +melt in<br> + the crucible under which pleasure and vanity feed the +devouring<br> + flames. This woman, who for twenty-six years had lived among the +dead<br> + relics of imperial magnificence, whose eyes were accustomed to +carpets<br> + patterned with faded flowers, rubbed gilding, silks as forlorn +as her<br> + heart, half understood the powerful fascinations of vice as +she<br> + studied its results. It was impossible not to wish to possess +these<br> + beautiful things, these admirable works of art, the creation of +the<br> + unknown talent which abounds in Paris in our day and +produces<br> + treasures for all Europe. Each thing had the novel charm of +unique<br> + perfection. The models being destroyed, every vase, every +figure,<br> + every piece of sculpture was the original. This is the crowning +grace<br> + of modern luxury. To own the thing which is not vulgarized by +the two<br> + thousand wealthy citizens whose notion of luxury is the lavish +display<br> + of the splendors that shops can supply, is the stamp of true +luxury--<br> + the luxury of the fine gentlemen of the day, the shooting stars +of the<br> + Paris firmament.</p> + +<p>As she examined the flower-stands, filled with the choicest +exotic<br> + plants, mounted in chased brass and inlaid in the style of +Boulle, the<br> + Baroness was scared by the idea of the wealth in this apartment. +And<br> + this impression naturally shed a glamour over the person round +whom<br> + all this profusion was heaped. Adeline imagined that Josepha +Mirah--<br> + whose portrait by Joseph Bridau was the glory of the adjoining +boudoir<br> + --must be a singer of genius, a Malibran, and she expected to +see a<br> + real star. She was sorry she had come. But she had been prompted +by a<br> + strong and so natural a feeling, by such purely +disinterested<br> + devotion, that she collected all her courage for the +interview.<br> + Besides, she was about to satisfy her urgent curiosity, to see +for<br> + herself what was the charm of this kind of women, that they +could<br> + extract so much gold from the miserly ore of Paris mud.</p> + +<p>The Baroness looked at herself to see if she were not a blot +on all<br> + this splendor; but she was well dressed in her velvet gown, with +a<br> + little cape trimmed with beautiful lace, and her velvet bonnet +of the<br> + same shade was becoming. Seeing herself still as imposing as +any<br> + queen, always a queen even in her fall, she reflected that the +dignity<br> + of sorrow was a match for the dignity of talent.</p> + +<p>At last, after much opening and shutting of doors, she saw +Josepha.<br> + The singer bore a strong resemblance to Allori's <i>Judith</i>, +which<br> + dwells in the memory of all who have ever seen it in the Pitti +palace,<br> + near the door of one of the great rooms. She had the same +haughty<br> + mien, the same fine features, black hair simply knotted, and a +yellow<br> + wrapper with little embroidered flowers, exactly like the +brocade worn<br> + by the immortal homicide conceived of by Bronzino's nephew.</p> + +<p>"Madame la Baronne, I am quite overwhelmed by the honor you do +me in<br> + coming here," said the singer, resolved to play her part as a +great<br> + lady with a grace.</p> + +<p>She pushed forward an easy-chair for the Baroness and seated +herself<br> + on a stool. She discerned the faded beauty of the woman before +her,<br> + and was filled with pity as she saw her shaken by the nervous +palsy<br> + that, on the least excitement, became convulsive. She could read +at a<br> + glance the saintly life described to her of old by Hulot and +Crevel;<br> + and she not only ceased to think of a contest with her, she +humiliated<br> + herself before a superiority she appreciated. The great artist +could<br> + admire what the courtesan laughed to scorn.</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle, despair brought me here. It reduces us to any +means--"</p> + +<p>A look in Josepha's face made the Baroness feel that she had +wounded<br> + the woman from whom she hoped for so much, and she looked at +her. Her<br> + beseeching eyes extinguished the flash in Josepha's; the +singer<br> + smiled. It was a wordless dialogue of pathetic eloquence.</p> + +<p>"It is now two years and a half since Monsieur Hulot left his +family,<br> + and I do not know where to find him, though I know that he lives +in<br> + Paris," said the Baroness with emotion. "A dream suggested to me +the<br> + idea--an absurd one perhaps--that you may have interested +yourself in<br> + Monsieur Hulot. If you could enable me to see him--oh! +mademoiselle, I<br> + would pray Heaven for you every day as long as I live in this +world--"</p> + +<p>Two large tears in the singer's eyes told what her reply would +be.</p> + +<p>"Madame," said she, "I have done you an injury without knowing +you;<br> + but, now that I have the happiness of seeing in you the most +perfect<br> + virtue on earth, believe me I am sensible of the extent of my +fault; I<br> + repent sincerely, and believe me, I will do all in my power to +remedy<br> + it!"</p> + +<p>She took Madame Hulot's hand and before the lady could do +anything to<br> + hinder her, she kissed it respectfully, even humbling herself to +bend<br> + one knee. Then she rose, as proud as when she stood on the stage +in<br> + the part of <i>Mathilde</i>, and rang the bell.</p> + +<p>"Go on horseback," said she to the man-servant, "and kill the +horse if<br> + you must, to find little Bijou, Rue Saint-Maur-du-Temple, and +bring<br> + her here. Put her into a coach and pay the coachman to come at +a<br> + gallop. Do not lose a moment--or you lose your place.</p> + +<p>"Madame," she went on, coming back to the Baroness, and +speaking to<br> + her in respectful tones, "you must forgive me. As soon as the +Duc<br> + d'Herouville became my protector, I dismissed the Baron, having +heard<br> + that he was ruining his family for me. What more could I do? In +an<br> + actress' career a protector is indispensable from the first day +of her<br> + appearance on the boards. Our salaries do not pay half our +expenses;<br> + we must have a temporary husband. I did not value Monsieur +Hulot, who<br> + took me away from a rich man, a conceited idiot. Old Crevel +would<br> + undoubtedly have married me--"</p> + +<p>"So he told me," said the Baroness, interrupting her.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, you see, madame, I might at this day have been an +honest<br> + woman, with only one legitimate husband!"</p> + +<p>"You have many excuses, mademoiselle," said Adeline, "and God +will<br> + take them into account. But, for my part, far from reproaching +you, I<br> + came, on the contrary, to make myself your debtor in +gratitude--"</p> + +<p>"Madame, for nearly three years I have provided for Monsieur +le<br> + Baron's necessities--"</p> + +<p>"You?" interrupted the Baroness, with tears in her eyes. "Oh, +what can<br> + I do for you? I can only pray--"</p> + +<p>"I and Monsieur le Duc d'Herouville," the singer said, "a +noble soul,<br> + a true gentleman--" and Josepha related the settling and +<i>marriage</i> of<br> + Monsieur Thoul.</p> + +<p>"And so, thanks to you, mademoiselle, the Baron has wanted +nothing?"</p> + +<p>"We have done our best to that end, madame."</p> + +<p>"And where is he now?"</p> + +<p>"About six months ago, Monsieur le Duc told me that the Baron, +known<br> + to the notary by the name of Thoul, had drawn all the eight +thousand<br> + francs that were to have been paid to him in fixed sums once +a<br> + quarter," replied Josepha. "We have heard no more of the +Baron,<br> + neither I nor Monsieur d'Herouville. Our lives are so full, we +artists<br> + are so busy, that I really have not time to run after old Thoul. +As it<br> + happens, for the last six months, Bijou, who works for +me--his--what<br> + shall I say--?"</p> + +<p>"His mistress," said Madame Hulot.</p> + +<p>"His mistress," repeated Josepha, "has not been here. +Mademoiselle<br> + Olympe Bijou is perhaps divorced. Divorce is common in the +thirteenth<br> + arrondissement."</p> + +<p>Josepha rose, and foraging among the rare plants in her +stands, made a<br> + charming bouquet for Madame Hulot, whose expectations, it may be +said,<br> + were by no means fulfilled. Like those worthy fold, who take men +of<br> + genius to be a sort of monsters, eating, drinking, walking, +and<br> + speaking unlike other people, the Baroness had hoped to see +Josepha<br> + the opera singer, the witch, the amorous and amusing courtesan; +she<br> + saw a calm and well-mannered woman, with the dignity of talent, +the<br> + simplicity of an actress who knows herself to be at night a +queen, and<br> + also, better than all, a woman of the town whose eyes, attitude, +and<br> + demeanor paid full and ungrudging homage to the virtuous wife, +the<br> + <i>Mater dolorosa</i> of the sacred hymn, and who was crowning +her sorrows<br> + with flowers, as the Madonna is crowned in Italy.</p> + +<p>"Madame," said the man-servant, reappearing at the end of half +an<br> + hour, "Madame Bijou is on her way, but you are not to expect +little<br> + Olympe. Your needle-woman, madame, is settled in life; she +is<br> + married--"</p> + +<p>"More or less?" said Josepha.</p> + +<p>"No, madame, really married. She is at the head of a very +fine<br> + business; she has married the owner of a large and fashionable +shop,<br> + on which they have spent millions of francs, on the Boulevard +des<br> + Italiens; and she has left the embroidery business to her sister +and<br> + mother. She is Madame Grenouville. The fat tradesman--"</p> + +<p>"A Crevel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame," said the man. "Well, he has settled thirty +thousand<br> + francs a year on Mademoiselle Bijou by the marriage articles. +And her<br> + elder sister, they say, is going to be married to a rich +butcher."</p> + +<p>"Your business looks rather hopeless, I am afraid," said +Josepha to<br> + the Baroness. "Monsieur le Baron is no longer where I lodged +him."</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later Madame Bijou was announced. Josepha very +prudently<br> + placed the Baroness in the boudoir, and drew the curtain over +the<br> + door.</p> + +<p>"You would scare her," said she to Madame Hulot. "She would +let<br> + nothing out if she suspected that you were interested in the<br> + information. Leave me to catechise her. Hide there, and you will +hear<br> + everything. It is a scene that is played quite as often in real +life<br> + as on the stage--"</p> + +<p>"Well, Mother Bijou," she said to an old woman dressed in +tartan<br> + stuff, and who looked like a porter's wife in her Sunday best, +"so you<br> + are all very happy? Your daughter is in luck."</p> + +<p>"Oh, happy? As for that!--My daughter gives us a hundred +francs a<br> + month, while she rides in a carriage and eats off silver +plate--she is<br> + a millionary, is my daughter! Olympe might have lifted me above +labor.<br> + To have to work at my age? Is that being good to me?"</p> + +<p>"She ought not to be ungrateful, for she owes her beauty to +you,"<br> + replied Josepha; "but why did she not come to see me? It was I +who<br> + placed her in ease by settling her with my uncle."</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame, with old Monsieur Thoul, but he is very old +and<br> + broken--"</p> + +<p>"But what have you done with him? Is he with you? She was very +foolish<br> + to leave him; he is worth millions now."</p> + +<p>"Heaven above us!" cried the mother. "What did I tell her when +she<br> + behaved so badly to him, and he as mild as milk, poor old +fellow? Oh!<br> + didn't she just give it him hot?--Olympe was perverted, +madame?"</p> + +<p>"But how?"</p> + +<p>"She got to know a <i>claqueur</i>, madame, saving your +presence, a man<br> + paid to clap, you know, the grand nephew of an old +mattress-picker of<br> + the Faubourg Saint-Marceau. This good-for-naught, as all your +good-<br> + looking fellows are, paid to make a piece go, is the cock of the +walk<br> + out on the Boulevard du Temple, where he works up the new plays, +and<br> + takes care that the actresses get a reception, as he calls it. +First,<br> + he has a good breakfast in the morning; then, before the play, +he<br> + dines, to be 'up to the mark,' as he says; in short, he is a +born<br> + lover of billiards and drams. 'But that is not following a +trade,' as<br> + I said to Olympe."</p> + +<p>"It is a trade men follow, unfortunately," said Josepha.</p> + +<p>"Well, the rascal turned Olympe's head, and he, madame, did +not keep<br> + good company--when I tell you he was very near being nabbed by +the<br> + police in a tavern where thieves meet. 'Wever, Monsieur +Braulard, the<br> + leader of the claque, got him out of that. He wears gold +earrings, and<br> + he lives by doing nothing, hanging on to women, who are fools +about<br> + these good-looking scamps. He spent all the money Monsieur Thoul +used<br> + to give the child.</p> + +<p>"Then the business was going to grief; what embroidery brought +in went<br> + out across the billiard table. 'Wever, the young fellow had a +pretty<br> + sister, madame, who, like her brother, lived by hook and by +crook, and<br> + no better than she should be neither, over in the students' +quarter."</p> + +<p>"One of the sluts at the Chaumiere," said Josepha.</p> + +<p>"So, madame," said the old woman. "So Idamore, his name is +Idamore,<br> + leastways that is what he calls himself, for his real name is +Chardin<br> + --Idamore fancied that your uncle had a deal more money than he +owned<br> + to, and he managed to send his sister Elodie--and that was a +stage<br> + name he gave her--to send her to be a workwoman at our place, +without<br> + my daughter's knowing who she was; and, gracious goodness! but +that<br> + girl turned the whole place topsy-turvy; she got all those poor +girls<br> + into mischief--impossible to whitewash them, saving your +presence----</p> + +<p>"And she was so sharp, she won over poor old Thoul, and took +him away,<br> + and we don't know where, and left us in a pretty fix, with a lot +of<br> + bills coming in. To this day as ever is we have not been able +to<br> + settle up; but my daughter, who knows all about such things, +keeps an<br> + eye on them as they fall due.--Then, when Idamore saw he had got +hold<br> + of the old man, through his sister, you understand, he threw +over my<br> + daughter, and now he has got hold of a little actress at the<br> + <i>Funambules</i>.--And that was how my daughter came to get +married, as<br> + you will see--"</p> + +<p><br> + "But you must know where the mattress-picker lives?" said +Josepha.</p> + +<p>"What! old Chardin? As if he lived anywhere at all!--He is +drunk by<br> + six in the morning; he makes a mattress once a month; he hangs +about<br> + the wineshops all day; he plays at pools--"</p> + +<p>"He plays at pools?" said Josepha.</p> + +<p>"You do not understand, madame, pools of billiards, I mean, +and he<br> + wins three or four a day, and then he drinks."</p> + +<p>"Water out of the pools, I suppose?" said Josepha. "But if +Idamore<br> + haunts the Boulevard, by inquiring through my friend Vraulard, +we<br> + could find him."</p> + +<p>"I don't know, madame; all this was six months ago. Idamore +was one of<br> + the sort who are bound to find their way into the police courts, +and<br> + from that to Melun--and the--who knows--?"</p> + +<p>"To the prison yard!" said Josepha.</p> + +<p>"Well, madame, you know everything," said the old woman, +smiling.<br> + "Well, if my girl had never known that scamp, she would now +be--Still,<br> + she was in luck, all the same, you will say, for Monsieur +Grenouville<br> + fell so much in love with her that he married her--"</p> + +<p>"And what brought that about?"</p> + +<p>"Olympe was desperate, madame. When she found herself left in +the<br> + lurch for that little actress--and she took a rod out of pickle +for<br> + her, I can tell you; my word, but she gave her a dressing!--and +when<br> + she had lost poor old Thoul, who worshiped her, she would have +nothing<br> + more to say to the men. 'Wever, Monsieur Grenouville, who had +been<br> + dealing largely with us--to the tune of two hundred embroidered +China-<br> + crape shawls every quarter--he wanted to console her; but +whether or<br> + no, she would not listen to anything without the mayor and the +priest.<br> + 'I mean to be respectable,' said she, 'or perish!' and she stuck +to<br> + it. Monsieur Grenouville consented to marry her, on condition of +her<br> + giving us all up, and we agreed--"</p> + +<p>"For a handsome consideration?" said Josepha, with her +usual<br> + perspicacity.</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame, ten thousand francs, and an allowance to my +father, who<br> + is past work."</p> + +<p>"I begged your daughter to make old Thoul happy, and she has +thrown me<br> + over. That is not fair. I will take no interest in any one for +the<br> + future! That is what comes of trying to do good! Benevolence +certainly<br> + does not answer as a speculation!--Olympe ought, at least, to +have<br> + given me notice of this jobbing. Now, if you find the old man +Thoul<br> + within a fortnight, I will give you a thousand francs."</p> + +<p>"It will be a hard task, my good lady; still, there are a good +many<br> + five-franc pieces in a thousand francs, and I will try to earn +your<br> + money."</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, then, Madame Bijou."</p> + +<p>On going into the boudoir, the singer found that Madame Hulot +had<br> + fainted; but in spite of having lost consciousness, her +nervous<br> + trembling kept her still perpetually shaking, as the pieces of a +snake<br> + that has been cut up still wriggle and move. Strong salts, cold +water,<br> + and all the ordinary remedies were applied to recall the +Baroness to<br> + her senses, or rather, to the apprehension of her sorrows.</p> + +<p>"Ah! mademoiselle, how far has he fallen!" cried she, +recognizing<br> + Josepha, and finding that she was alone with her.</p> + +<p>"Take heart, madame," replied the actress, who had seated +herself on a<br> + cushion at Adeline's feet, and was kissing her hands. "We shall +find<br> + him; and if he is in the mire, well, he must wash himself. +Believe me,<br> + with people of good breeding it is a matter of clothes.--Allow +me to<br> + make up for you the harm I have done you, for I see how much you +are<br> + attached to your husband, in spite of his misconduct--or you +should<br> + not have come here.--Well, you see, the poor man is so fond of +women.<br> + If you had had a little of our dash, you would have kept him +from<br> + running about the world; for you would have been what we can +never be<br> + --all the women man wants.</p> + +<p>"The State ought to subsidize a school of manners for honest +women!<br> + But governments are so prudish! Still, they are guided by men, +whom we<br> + privately guide. My word, I pity nations!</p> + +<p>"But the matter in question is how you can be helped, and not +to laugh<br> + at the world.--Well, madame, be easy, go home again, and do not +worry.<br> + I will bring your Hector back to you as he was as a man of +thirty."</p> + +<p>"Ah, mademoiselle, let us go to see that Madame Grenouville," +said the<br> + Baroness. "She surely knows something! Perhaps I may see the +Baron<br> + this very day, and be able to snatch him at once from poverty +and<br> + disgrace."</p> + +<p>"Madame, I will show you the deep gratitude I feel towards you +by not<br> + displaying the stage-singer Josepha, the Duc d'Herouville's +mistress,<br> + in the company of the noblest, saintliest image of virtue. I +respect<br> + you too much to be seen by your side. This is not acted +humility; it<br> + is sincere homage. You make me sorry, madame, that I cannot +tread in<br> + your footsteps, in spite of the thorns that tear your feet and +hands.<br> + --But it cannot be helped! I am one with art, as you are one +with<br> + virtue."</p> + +<p>"Poor child!" said the Baroness, moved amid her own sorrows by +a<br> + strange sense of compassionate sympathy; "I will pray to God for +you;<br> + for you are the victim of society, which must have theatres. +When you<br> + are old, repent--you will be heard if God vouchsafes to hear +the<br> + prayers of a--"</p> + +<p>"Of a martyr, madame," Josepha put in, and she respectfully +kissed the<br> + Baroness' skirt.</p> + +<p>But Adeline took the actress' hand, and drawing her towards +her,<br> + kissed her on the forehead. Coloring with pleasure Josepha saw +the<br> + Baroness into the hackney coach with the humblest +politeness.</p> + +<p>"It must be some visiting Lady of Charity," said the +man-servant to<br> + the maid, "for she does not do so much for any one, not even for +her<br> + dear friend Madame Jenny Cadine."</p> + +<p>"Wait a few days," said she, "and you will see him, madame, or +I<br> + renounce the God of my fathers--and that from a Jewess, you +know, is a<br> + promise of success."</p> + +<p>At the very time when Madame Hulot was calling on Josepha, +Victorin,<br> + in his study, was receiving an old woman of about seventy-five, +who,<br> + to gain admission to the lawyer, had used the terrible name of +the<br> + head of the detective force. The man in waiting announced:</p> + +<p>"Madame de Saint-Esteve."</p> + +<p>"I have assumed one of my business names," said she, taking a +seat.</p> + +<p>Victorin felt a sort of internal chill at the sight of this +dreadful<br> + old woman. Though handsomely dressed, she was terrible to look +upon,<br> + for her flat, colorless, strongly-marked face, furrowed with +wrinkles,<br> + expressed a sort of cold malignity. Marat, as a woman of that +age,<br> + might have been like this creature, a living embodiment of the +Reign<br> + of Terror.</p> + +<p>This sinister old woman's small, pale eyes twinkled with a +tiger's<br> + bloodthirsty greed. Her broad, flat nose, with nostrils expanded +into<br> + oval cavities, breathed the fires of hell, and resembled the +beak of<br> + some evil bird of prey. The spirit of intrigue lurked behind her +low,<br> + cruel brow. Long hairs had grown from her wrinkled chin, +betraying the<br> + masculine character of her schemes. Any one seeing that woman's +face<br> + would have said that artists had failed in their conceptions +of<br> + Mephistopheles.</p> + +<p>"My dear sir," she began, with a patronizing air, "I have long +since<br> + given up active business of any kind. What I have come to you to +do, I<br> + have undertaken, for the sake of my dear nephew, whom I love +more than<br> + I could love a son of my own.--Now, the Head of the Police--to +whom<br> + the President of the Council said a few words in his ear as +regards<br> + yourself, in talking to Monsieur Chapuzot--thinks as the police +ought<br> + not to appear in a matter of this description, you understand. +They<br> + gave my nephew a free hand, but my nephew will have nothing to +say to<br> + it, except as before the Council; he will not be seen in +it."</p> + +<p>"Then your nephew is--"</p> + +<p>"You have hit it, and I am rather proud of him," said she,<br> + interrupting the lawyer, "for he is my pupil, and he soon could +teach<br> + his teacher.--We have considered this case, and have come to our +own<br> + conclusions. Will you hand over thirty thousand francs to have +the<br> + whole thing taken off your hands? I will make a clean sweep of +all,<br> + and you need not pay till the job is done."</p> + +<p>"Do you know the persons concerned?"</p> + +<p>"No, my dear sir; I look for information from you. What we are +told<br> + is, that a certain old idiot has fallen into the clutches of a +widow.<br> + This widow, of nine-and-twenty, has played her cards so well, +that she<br> + has forty thousand francs a year, of which she has robbed two +fathers<br> + of families. She is now about to swallow down eighty thousand +francs a<br> + year by marrying an old boy of sixty-one. She will thus ruin +a<br> + respectable family, and hand over this vast fortune to the child +of<br> + some lover by getting rid at once of the old husband.--That is +the<br> + case as stated."</p> + +<p>"Quite correct," said Victorin. "My father-in-law, Monsieur +Crevel--"</p> + +<p>"Formerly a perfumer, a mayor--yes, I live in his district +under the<br> + name of Ma'ame Nourrisson," said the woman.</p> + +<p>"The other person is Madame Marneffe."</p> + +<p>"I do not know," said Madame de Saint-Esteve. "But within +three days I<br> + will be in a position to count her shifts."</p> + +<p>"Can you hinder the marriage?" asked Victorin.</p> + +<p>"How far have they got?"</p> + +<p>"To the second time of asking."</p> + +<p>"We must carry off the woman.--To-day is Sunday--there are but +three<br> + days, for they will be married on Wednesday, no doubt; it is<br> + impossible.--But she may be killed--"</p> + +<p>Victorin Hulot started with an honest man's horror at hearing +these<br> + five words uttered in cold blood.</p> + +<p>"Murder?" said he. "And how could you do it?"</p> + +<p>"For forty years, now, monsieur, we have played the part of +fate,"<br> + replied she, with terrible pride, "and do just what we will in +Paris.<br> + More than one family--even in the Faubourg Saint-Germain--has +told me<br> + all its secrets, I can tell you. I have made and spoiled many a +match,<br> + I have destroyed many a will and saved many a man's honor. I +have in<br> + there," and she tapped her forehead, "a store of secrets which +are<br> + worth thirty-six thousand francs a year to me; and you--you will +be<br> + one of my lambs, hoh! Could such a woman as I am be what I am if +she<br> + revealed her ways and means? I act.</p> + +<p>"Whatever I may do, sir, will be the result of an accident; +you need<br> + feel no remorse. You will be like a man cured by a clairvoyant; +by the<br> + end of a month, it seems all the work of Nature."</p> + +<p>Victorin broke out in a cold sweat. The sight of an +executioner would<br> + have shocked him less than this prolix and pretentious Sister of +the<br> + Hulks. As he looked at her purple-red gown, she seemed to him +dyed in<br> + blood.</p> + +<p>"Madame, I do not accept the help of your experience and skill +if<br> + success is to cost anybody's life, or the least criminal act is +to<br> + come of it."</p> + +<p>"You are a great baby, monsieur," replied the woman; "you wish +to<br> + remain blameless in your own eyes, while you want your enemy to +be<br> + overthrown."</p> + +<p>Victorin shook his head in denial.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she went on, "you want this Madame Marneffe to drop the +prey<br> + she has between her teeth. But how do you expect to make a tiger +drop<br> + his piece of beef? Can you do it by patting his back and saying, +'Poor<br> + Puss'? You are illogical. You want a battle fought, but you +object to<br> + blows.--Well, I grant you the innocence you are so careful over. +I<br> + have always found that there was material for hypocrisy in +honesty!<br> + One day, three months hence, a poor priest will come to beg of +you<br> + forty thousand francs for a pious work--a convent to be rebuilt +in the<br> + Levant--in the desert.--If you are satisfied with your lot, give +the<br> + good man the money. You will pay more than that into the +treasury. It<br> + will be a mere trifle in comparison with what you will get, I +can tell<br> + you."</p> + +<p>She rose, standing on the broad feet that seemed to overflow +her satin<br> + shoes; she smiled, bowed, and vanished.</p> + +<p>"The Devil has a sister," said Victorin, rising.</p> + +<p>He saw the hideous stranger to the door, a creature called up +from the<br> + dens of the police, as on the stage a monster comes up from the +third<br> + cellar at the touch of a fairy's wand in a +ballet-extravaganza.</p> + +<p>After finishing what he had to do at the Courts, Victorin went +to call<br> + on Monsieur Chapuzot, the head of one of the most important +branches<br> + of the Central Police, to make some inquiries about the +stranger.<br> + Finding Monsieur Chapuzot alone in his office, Victorin thanked +him<br> + for his help.</p> + +<p>"You sent me an old woman who might stand for the incarnation +of the<br> + criminal side of Paris."</p> + +<p>Monsieur Chapuzot laid his spectacles on his papers and looked +at the<br> + lawyer with astonishment.</p> + +<p>"I should not have taken the liberty of sending anybody to see +you<br> + without giving you notice beforehand, or a line of +introduction," said<br> + he.</p> + +<p>"Then it was Monsieur le Prefet--?"</p> + +<p>"I think not," said Chapuzot. "The last time that the Prince +de<br> + Wissembourg dined with the Minister of the Interior, he spoke to +the<br> + Prefet of the position in which you find yourself--a +deplorable<br> + position--and asked him if you could be helped in any friendly +way.<br> + The Prefet, who was interested by the regrets his Excellency +expressed<br> + as to this family affair, did me the honor to consult me about +it.</p> + +<p>"Ever since the present Prefet has held the reins of this +department--<br> + so useful and so vilified--he has made it a rule that family +matters<br> + are never to be interfered in. He is right in principle and +in<br> + morality; but in practice he is wrong. In the forty-five years +that I<br> + have served in the police, it did, from 1799 till 1815, great +services<br> + in family concerns. Since 1820 a constitutional government and +the<br> + press have completely altered the conditions of existence. So +my<br> + advice, indeed, was not to intervene in such a case, and the +Prefet<br> + did me the honor to agree with my remarks. The Head of the +detective<br> + branch has orders, in my presence, to take no steps; so if you +have<br> + had any one sent to you by him, he will be reprimanded. It might +cost<br> + him his place. 'The Police will do this or that,' is easily +said; the<br> + Police, the Police! But, my dear sir, the Marshal and the +Ministerial<br> + Council do not know what the Police is. The Police alone knows +the<br> + Police; but as for ours, only Fouche, Monsieur Lenoir, and +Monsieur de<br> + Sartines have had any notion of it.--Everything is changed now; +we are<br> + reduced and disarmed! I have seen many private disasters +develop,<br> + which I could have checked with five grains of despotic +power.--We<br> + shall be regretted by the very men who have crippled us when +they,<br> + like you, stand face to face with some moral monstrosities, +which<br> + ought to be swept away as we sweep away mud! In public affairs +the<br> + Police is expected to foresee everything, or when the safety of +the<br> + public is involved--but the family?--It is sacred! I would do +my<br> + utmost to discover and hinder a plot against the King's life, I +would<br> + see through the walls of a house; but as to laying a finger on +a<br> + household, or peeping into private interests--never, so long as +I sit<br> + in this office. I should be afraid."</p> + +<p><br> + "Of what?"</p> + +<p>"Of the Press, Monsieur le Depute, of the left centre."</p> + +<p>"What, then, can I do?" said Hulot, after a pause.</p> + +<p>"Well, you are the Family," said the official. "That settles +it; you<br> + can do what you please. But as to helping you, as to using the +Police<br> + as an instrument of private feelings, and interests, how is +it<br> + possible? There lies, you see, the secret of the +persecution,<br> + necessary, but pronounced illegal, by the Bench, which was +brought to<br> + bear against the predecessor of our present chief detective. +Bibi-<br> + Lupin undertook investigations for the benefit of private +persons.<br> + This might have led to great social dangers. With the means at +his<br> + command, the man would have been formidable, an underlying +fate--"</p> + +<p>"But in my place?" said Hulot.</p> + +<p>"Why, you ask my advice? You who sell it!" replied Monsieur +Chapuzot.<br> + "Come, come, my dear sir, you are making fun of me."</p> + +<p>Hulot bowed to the functionary, and went away without seeing +that<br> + gentleman's almost imperceptible shrug as he rose to open the +door.</p> + +<p>"And he wants to be a statesman!" said Chapuzot to himself as +he<br> + returned to his reports.</p> + +<p>Victorin went home, still full of perplexities which he could +confide<br> + to no one.</p> + +<p>At dinner the Baroness joyfully announced to her children that +within<br> + a month their father might be sharing their comforts, and end +his days<br> + in peace among his family.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I would gladly give my three thousand six hundred francs +a year<br> + to see the Baron here!" cried Lisbeth. "But, my dear Adeline, do +not<br> + dream beforehand of such happiness, I entreat you!"</p> + +<p>"Lisbeth is right," said Celestine. "My dear mother, wait till +the<br> + end."</p> + +<p>The Baroness, all feeling and all hope, related her visit to +Josepha,<br> + expressed her sense of the misery of such women in the midst of +good<br> + fortune, and mentioned Chardin the mattress-picker, the father +of the<br> + Oran storekeeper, thus showing that her hopes were not +groundless.</p> + +<p>By seven next morning Lisbeth had driven in a hackney coach to +the<br> + Quai de la Tournelle, and stopped the vehicle at the corner of +the Rue<br> + de Poissy.</p> + +<p>"Go to the Rue des Bernardins," said she to the driver, "No. +7, a<br> + house with an entry and no porter. Go up to the fourth floor, +ring at<br> + the door to the left, on which you will see 'Mademoiselle +Chardin--<br> + Lace and shawls mended.' She will answer the door. Ask for +the<br> + Chevalier. She will say he is out. Say in reply, 'Yes, I know, +but<br> + find him, for his <i>bonne</i> is out on the quay in a coach, +and wants to<br> + see him.' "</p> + +<p>Twenty minutes later, an old man, who looked about eighty, +with<br> + perfectly white hair, and a nose reddened by the cold, and a +pale,<br> + wrinkled face like an old woman's, came shuffling slowly along +in list<br> + slippers, a shiny alpaca overcoat hanging on his stooping +shoulders,<br> + no ribbon at his buttonhole, the sleeves of an under-vest +showing<br> + below his coat-cuffs, and his shirt-front unpleasantly dingy. +He<br> + approached timidly, looked at the coach, recognized Lisbeth, and +came<br> + to the window.</p> + +<p>"Why, my dear cousin, what a state you are in!"</p> + +<p>"Elodie keeps everything for herself," said Baron Hulot. +"Those<br> + Chardins are a blackguard crew."</p> + +<p>"Will you come home to us?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no!" cried the old man. "I would rather go to +America."</p> + +<p>"Adeline is on the scent."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if only some one would pay my debts!" said the Baron, +with a<br> + suspicious look, "for Samanon is after me."</p> + +<p>"We have not paid up the arrears yet; your son still owes a +hundred<br> + thousand francs."</p> + +<p>"Poor boy!"</p> + +<p>"And your pension will not be free before seven or eight +months.--If<br> + you will wait a minute, I have two thousand francs here."</p> + +<p>The Baron held out his hand with fearful avidity.</p> + +<p>"Give it me, Lisbeth, and may God reward you! Give it me; I +know where<br> + to go."</p> + +<p>"But you will tell me, old wretch?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. Then I can wait eight months, for I have discovered +a<br> + little angel, a good child, an innocent thing not old enough to +be<br> + depraved."</p> + +<p>"Do not forget the police-court," said Lisbeth, who flattered +herself<br> + that she would some day see Hulot there.</p> + +<p>"No.--It is in the Rue de Charonne," said the Baron, "a part +of the<br> + town where no fuss is made about anything. No one will ever find +me<br> + there. I am called Pere Thorec, Lisbeth, and I shall be taken +for a<br> + retired cabinet-maker; the girl is fond of me, and I will not +allow my<br> + back to be shorn any more."</p> + +<p>"No, that has been done," said Lisbeth, looking at his +coat.<br> + "Supposing I take you there."</p> + +<p>Baron Hulot got into the coach, deserting Mademoiselle Elodie +without<br> + taking leave of her, as he might have tossed aside a novel he +had<br> + finished.</p> + +<p>In half an hour, during which Baron Hulot talked to Lisbeth of +nothing<br> + but little Atala Judici--for he had fallen by degrees to those +base<br> + passions that ruin old men--she set him down with two thousand +francs<br> + in his pocket, in the Rue de Charonne, Faubourg Saint-Antoine, +at the<br> + door of a doubtful and sinister-looking house.</p> + +<p>"Good-day, cousin; so now you are to be called Thorec, I +suppose? Send<br> + none but commissionaires if you need me, and always take them +from<br> + different parts."</p> + +<p>"Trust me! Oh, I am really very lucky!" said the Baron, his +face<br> + beaming with the prospect of new and future happiness.</p> + +<p>"No one can find him there," said Lisbeth; and she paid the +coach at<br> + the Boulevard Beaumarchais, and returned to the Rue +Louis-le-Grand in<br> + the omnibus.</p> + +<p>On the following day Crevel was announced at the hour when all +the<br> + family were together in the drawing-room, just after +breakfast.<br> + Celestine flew to throw her arms round her father's neck, and +behaved<br> + as if she had seen him only the day before, though in fact he +had not<br> + called there for more than two years.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, father," said Victorin, offering his hand.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, children," said the pompous Crevel. "Madame la +Baronne,<br> + I throw myself at your feet! Good Heavens, how the children +grow! they<br> + are pushing us off the perch--'Grand-pa,' they say, 'we want our +turn<br> + in the sunshine.'--Madame la Comtesse, you are as lovely as +ever," he<br> + went on, addressing Hortense.--"Ah, ha! and here is the best of +good<br> + money: Cousin Betty, the Wise Virgin."</p> + +<p>"Why, you are really very comfortable here," said he, after +scattering<br> + these greetings with a cackle of loud laughter that hardly moved +the<br> + rubicund muscles of his broad face.</p> + +<p>He looked at his daughter with some contempt.</p> + +<p>"My dear Celestine, I will make you a present of all my +furniture out<br> + of the Rue des Saussayes; it will just do here. Your +drawing-room<br> + wants furnishing up.--Ha! there is that little rogue Wenceslas. +Well,<br> + and are we very good children, I wonder? You must have pretty +manners,<br> + you know."</p> + +<p>"To make up for those who have none," said Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"That sarcasm, my dear Lisbeth, has lost its sting. I am +going, my<br> + dear children, to put an end to the false position in which I +have so<br> + long been placed; I have come, like a good father, to announce +my<br> + approaching marriage without any circumlocution."</p> + +<p>"You have a perfect right to marry," said Victorin. "And for +my part,<br> + I give you back the promise you made me when you gave me the +hand of<br> + my dear Celestine--"</p> + +<p>"What promise?" said Crevel.</p> + +<p>"Not to marry," replied the lawyer. "You will do me the +justice to<br> + allow that I did not ask you to pledge yourself, that you gave +your<br> + word quite voluntarily and in spite of my desire, for I pointed +out to<br> + you at the time that you were unwise to bind yourself."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do remember, my dear fellow," said Crevel, ashamed of +himself.<br> + "But, on my honor, if you will but live with Madame Crevel, +my<br> + children, you will find no reason to repent.--Your good +feeling<br> + touches me, Victorin, and you will find that generosity to me is +not<br> + unrewarded.--Come, by the Poker! welcome your stepmother and +come to<br> + the wedding."</p> + +<p>"But you have not told us the lady's name, papa," said +Celestine.</p> + +<p>"Why, it is an open secret," replied Crevel. "Do not let us +play at<br> + guess who can! Lisbeth must have told you."</p> + +<p>"My dear Monsieur Crevel," replied Lisbeth, "there are certain +names<br> + we never utter here--"</p> + +<p>"Well, then, it is Madame Marneffe."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Crevel," said the lawyer very sternly, "neither my +wife nor<br> + I can be present at that marriage; not out of interest, for I +spoke in<br> + all sincerity just now. Yes, I am most happy to think that you +may<br> + find happiness in this union; but I act on considerations of +honor and<br> + good feeling which you must understand, and which I cannot speak +of<br> + here, as they reopen wounds still ready to bleed----"</p> + +<p>The Baroness telegraphed a signal to Hortense, who tucked her +little<br> + one under her arm, saying, "Come Wenceslas, and have your +bath!--Good-<br> + bye, Monsieur Crevel."</p> + +<p>The Baroness also bowed to Crevel without a word; and Crevel +could not<br> + help smiling at the child's astonishment when threatened with +this<br> + impromptu tubbing.</p> + +<p>"You, monsieur," said Victorin, when he found himself alone +with<br> + Lisbeth, his wife, and his father-in-law, "are about to marry a +woman<br> + loaded with the spoils of my father; it was she who, in cold +blood,<br> + brought him down to such depths; a woman who is the +son-in-law's<br> + mistress after ruining the father-in-law; who is the cause of +constant<br> + grief to my sister!--And you fancy that I shall seem to sanction +your<br> + madness by my presence? I deeply pity you, dear Monsieur Crevel; +you<br> + have no family feeling; you do not understand the unity of the +honor<br> + which binds the members of it together. There is no arguing +with<br> + passion--as I have too much reason to know. The slaves of +their<br> + passions are as deaf as they are blind. Your daughter Celestine +has<br> + too strong a sense of her duty to proffer a word of +reproach."</p> + +<p>"That would, indeed, be a pretty thing!" cried Crevel, trying +to cut<br> + short this harangue.</p> + +<p>"Celestine would not be my wife if she made the slightest<br> + remonstrance," the lawyer went on. "But I, at least, may try to +stop<br> + you before you step over the precipice, especially after giving +you<br> + ample proof of my disinterestedness. It is not your fortune, it +is you<br> + that I care about. Nay, to make it quite plain to you, I may +add, if<br> + it were only to set your mind at ease with regard to your +marriage<br> + contract, that I am now in a position which leaves me with +nothing to<br> + wish for--"</p> + +<p>"Thanks to me!" exclaimed Crevel, whose face was purple.</p> + +<p>"Thanks to Celestine's fortune," replied Victorin. "And if you +regret<br> + having given to your daughter as a present from yourself, a sum +which<br> + is not half what her mother left her, I can only say that we +are<br> + prepared to give it back."</p> + +<p>"And do you not know, my respected son-in-law," said Crevel, +striking<br> + an attitude, "that under the shelter of my name Madame Marneffe +is not<br> + called upon to answer for her conduct excepting as my wife--as +Madame<br> + Crevel?"</p> + +<p>"That is, no doubt, quite the correct thing," said the lawyer; +"very<br> + generous so far as the affections are concerned and the vagaries +of<br> + passion; but I know of no name, nor law, nor title that can +shelter<br> + the theft of three hundred thousand francs so meanly wrung from +my<br> + father!--I tell you plainly, my dear father-in-law, your future +wife<br> + is unworthy of you, she is false to you, and is madly in love +with my<br> + brother-in-law, Steinbock, whose debts she had paid."</p> + +<p>"It is I who paid them!"</p> + +<p>"Very good," said Hulot; "I am glad for Count Steinbock's +sake; he may<br> + some day repay the money. But he is loved, much loved, and +often--"</p> + +<p>"Loved!" cried Crevel, whose face showed his utter +bewilderment. "It<br> + is cowardly, and dirty, and mean, and cheap, to calumniate a +woman!--<br> + When a man says such things, monsieur, he must bring proof."</p> + +<p>"I will bring proof."</p> + +<p>"I shall expect it."</p> + +<p>"By the day after to-morrow, my dear Monsieur Crevel, I shall +be able<br> + to tell you the day, the hour, the very minute when I can expose +the<br> + horrible depravity of your future wife."</p> + +<p>"Very well; I shall be delighted," said Crevel, who had +recovered<br> + himself.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, my children, for the present; good-bye, +Lisbeth."</p> + +<p>"See him out, Lisbeth," said Celestine in an undertone.</p> + +<p>"And is this the way you take yourself off?" cried Lisbeth to +Crevel.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha!" said Crevel, "my son-in-law is too clever by half; +he is<br> + getting on. The Courts and the Chamber, judicial trickery +and<br> + political dodges, are making a man of him with a vengeance!--So +he<br> + knows I am to be married on Wednesday, and on a Sunday my +gentleman<br> + proposes to fix the hour, within three days, when he can prove +that my<br> + wife is unworthy of me. That is a good story!--Well, I am going +back<br> + to sign the contract. Come with me, Lisbeth--yes, come. They +will<br> + never know. I meant to have left Celestine forty thousand francs +a<br> + year; but Hulot has just behaved in a way to alienate my +affection for<br> + ever."</p> + +<p>"Give me ten minutes, Pere Crevel; wait for me in your +carriage at the<br> + gate. I will make some excuse for going out."</p> + +<p>"Very well--all right."</p> + +<p>"My dears," said Lisbeth, who found all the family reassembled +in the<br> + drawing-room, "I am going with Crevel: the marriage contract is +to be<br> + signed this afternoon, and I shall hear what he has settled. It +will<br> + probably be my last visit to that woman. Your father is furious; +he<br> + will disinherit you--"</p> + +<p>"His vanity will prevent that," said the son-in-law. "He was +bent on<br> + owning the estate of Presles, and he will keep it; I know him. +Even if<br> + he were to have children, Celestine would still have half of +what he<br> + might leave; the law forbids his giving away all his +fortune.--Still,<br> + these questions are nothing to me; I am only thinking of our +honor.--<br> + Go then, cousin," and he pressed Lisbeth's hand, "and listen +carefully<br> + to the contract."</p> + +<p>Twenty minutes after, Lisbeth and Crevel reached the house in +the Rue<br> + Barbet, where Madame Marneffe was awaiting, in mild impatience, +the<br> + result of a step taken by her commands. Valerie had in the end +fallen<br> + a prey to the absorbing love which, once in her life, masters +a<br> + woman's heart. Wenceslas was its object, and, a failure as an +artist,<br> + he became in Madame Marneffe's hands a lover so perfect that he +was to<br> + her what she had been to Baron Hulot.</p> + +<p>Valerie was holding a slipper in one hand, and Steinbock +clasped the<br> + other, while her head rested on his shoulder. The rambling<br> + conversation in which they had been engaged ever since Crevel +went out<br> + may be ticketed, like certain lengthy literary efforts of our +day,<br> + "<i>All rights reserved</i>," for it cannot be reproduced. This +masterpiece<br> + of personal poetry naturally brought a regret to the artist's +lips,<br> + and he said, not without some bitterness:</p> + +<p>"What a pity it is that I married; for if I had but waited, as +Lisbeth<br> + told me, I might now have married you."</p> + +<p>"Who but a Pole would wish to make a wife of a devoted +mistress?"<br> + cried Valerie. "To change love into duty, and pleasure into a +bore."</p> + +<p>"I know you to be so fickle," replied Steinbock. "Did I not +hear you<br> + talking to Lisbeth of that Brazilian, Baron Montes?"</p> + +<p>"Do you want to rid me of him?"</p> + +<p>"It would be the only way to hinder his seeing you," said the +ex-<br> + sculptor.</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you, my darling--for I tell you everything," said +Valerie<br> + --"I was saving him up for a husband.--The promises I have made +to<br> + that man!--Oh, long before I knew you," said she, in reply to +a<br> + movement from Wenceslas. "And those promises, of which he +avails<br> + himself to plague me, oblige me to get married almost secretly; +for if<br> + he should hear that I am marrying Crevel, he is the sort of man +that--<br> + that would kill me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, as to that!" said Steinbock, with a scornful expression, +which<br> + conveyed that such a danger was small indeed for a woman beloved +by a<br> + Pole.</p> + +<p>And in the matter of valor there is no brag or bravado in a +Pole, so<br> + thoroughly and seriously brave are they all.</p> + +<p>"And that idiot Crevel," she went on, "who wants to make a +great<br> + display and indulge his taste for inexpensive magnificence in +honor of<br> + the wedding, places me in difficulties from which I see no +escape."</p> + +<p>Could Valerie confess to this man, whom she adored, that since +the<br> + discomfiture of Baron Hulot, this Baron Henri Montes had +inherited the<br> + privilege of calling on her at all hours of the day or night; +and<br> + that, notwithstanding her cleverness, she was still puzzled to +find a<br> + cause of quarrel in which the Brazilian might seem to be solely +in the<br> + wrong? She knew the Baron's almost savage temper--not unlike +Lisbeth's<br> + --too well not to quake as she thought of this Othello of Rio +de<br> + Janeiro.</p> + +<p><br> + As the carriage drove up, Steinbock released Valerie, for his +arm was<br> + round her waist, and took up a newspaper, in which he was +found<br> + absorbed. Valerie was stitching with elaborate care at the +slippers<br> + she was working for Crevel.</p> + +<p>"How they slander her!" whispered Lisbeth to Crevel, pointing +to this<br> + picture as they opened the door. "Look at her hair--not in the +least<br> + tumbled. To hear Victorin, you might have expected to find two +turtle-<br> + doves in a nest."</p> + +<p>"My dear Lisbeth," cried Crevel, in his favorite position, +"you see<br> + that to turn Lucretia into Aspasia, you have only to inspire +a<br> + passion!"</p> + +<p>"And have I not always told you," said Lisbeth, "that women +like a<br> + burly profligate like you?"</p> + +<p>"And she would be most ungrateful, too," said Crevel; "for as +to the<br> + money I have spent here, Grindot and I alone can tell!"</p> + +<p>And he waved a hand at the staircase.</p> + +<p>In decorating this house, which Crevel regarded as his own, +Grindot<br> + had tried to compete with Cleretti, in whose hands the Duc<br> + d'Herouville had placed Josepha's villa. But Crevel, incapable +of<br> + understanding art, had, like all sordid souls, wanted to spend +a<br> + certain sum fixed beforehand. Grindot, fettered by a contract, +had<br> + found it impossible to embody his architectural dream.</p> + +<p>The difference between Josepha's house and that in the Rue +Barbet was<br> + just that between the individual stamp on things and commonness. +The<br> + objects you admired at Crevel's were to be bought in any shop. +These<br> + two types of luxury are divided by the river Million. A mirror, +if<br> + unique, is worth six thousand francs; a mirror designed by a<br> + manufacturer who turns them out by the dozen costs five hundred. +A<br> + genuine lustre by Boulle will sell at a public auction for +three<br> + thousand francs; the same thing reproduced by casting may be +made for<br> + a thousand or twelve hundred; one is archaeologically what a +picture<br> + by Raphael is in painting, the other is a copy. At what would +you<br> + value a copy of a Raphael? Thus Crevel's mansion was a +splendid<br> + example of the luxury of idiots, while Josepha's was a perfect +model<br> + of an artist's home.</p> + +<p>"War is declared," said Crevel, going up to Madame +Marneffe.</p> + +<p>She rang the bell.</p> + +<p>"Go and find Monsieur Berthier," said she to the man-servant, +"and do<br> + not return without him. If you had succeeded," said she, +embracing<br> + Crevel, "we would have postponed our happiness, my dear Daddy, +and<br> + have given a really splendid entertainment; but when a whole +family is<br> + set against a match, my dear, decency requires that the wedding +shall<br> + be a quiet one, especially when the lady is a widow."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, I intend to make a display of magnificence +<i>a la</i><br> + Louis XIV.," said Crevel, who of late had held the eighteenth +century<br> + rather cheap. "I have ordered new carriages; there is one for +monsieur<br> + and one for madame, two neat coupes; and a chaise, a +handsome<br> + traveling carriage with a splendid hammercloth, on springs +that<br> + tremble like Madame Hulot."</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho! <i>You intend</i>?--Then you have ceased to be my +lamb?--No, no,<br> + my friend, you will do what <i>I</i> intend. We will sign the +contract<br> + quietly--just ourselves--this afternoon. Then, on Wednesday, we +will<br> + be regularly married, really married, in mufti, as my poor +mother<br> + would have said. We will walk to church, plainly dressed, and +have<br> + only a low mass. Our witnesses are Stidmann, Steinbock, Vignon, +and<br> + Massol, all wide-awake men, who will be at the mairie by chance, +and<br> + who will so far sacrifice themselves as to attend mass.</p> + +<p>"Your colleague will perform the civil marriage, for once in a +way, as<br> + early as half-past nine. Mass is at ten; we shall be at home +to<br> + breakfast by half-past eleven.</p> + +<p>"I have promised our guests that we will sit at table till +the<br> + evening. There will be Bixiou, your old official chum du +Tillet,<br> + Lousteau, Vernisset, Leon de Lora, Vernou, all the wittiest men +in<br> + Paris, who will not know that we are married. We will play them +a<br> + little trick, we will get just a little tipsy, and Lisbeth must +join<br> + us. I want her to study matrimony; Bixiou shall make love to +her, and<br> + --and enlighten her darkness."</p> + +<p>For two hours Madame Marneffe went on talking nonsense, and +Crevel<br> + made this judicious reflection:</p> + +<p>"How can so light-hearted a creature be utterly depraved? +Feather-<br> + brained, yes! but wicked? Nonsense!"</p> + +<p>"Well, and what did the young people say about me?" said +Valerie to<br> + Crevel at a moment when he sat down by her on the sofa. "All +sorts of<br> + horrors?"</p> + +<p>"They will have it that you have a criminal passion for +Wenceslas--<br> + you, who are virtue itself."</p> + +<p>"I love him!--I should think so, my little Wenceslas!" cried +Valerie,<br> + calling the artist to her, taking his face in her hands, and +kissing<br> + his forehead. "A poor boy with no fortune, and no one to depend +on!<br> + Cast off by a carrotty giraffe! What do you expect, Crevel? +Wenceslas<br> + is my poet, and I love him as if he were my own child, and make +no<br> + secret of it. Bah! your virtuous women see evil everywhere and +in<br> + everything. Bless me, could they not sit by a man without doing +wrong?<br> + I am a spoilt child who has had all it ever wanted, and bonbons +no<br> + longer excite me.--Poor things! I am sorry for them!</p> + +<p>"And who slandered me so?"</p> + +<p>"Victorin," said Crevel.</p> + +<p>"Then why did you not stop his mouth, the odious legal macaw! +with the<br> + story of the two hundred thousand francs and his mamma?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the Baroness had fled," said Lisbeth.</p> + +<p>"They had better take care, Lisbeth," said Madame Marneffe, +with a<br> + frown. "Either they will receive me and do it handsomely, and +come to<br> + their stepmother's house--all the party!--or I will see them in +lower<br> + depths than the Baron has reached, and you may tell them I said +so!--<br> + At last I shall turn nasty. On my honor, I believe that evil is +the<br> + scythe with which to cut down the good."</p> + +<p>At three o'clock Monsieur Berthier, Cardot's successor, read +the<br> + marriage-contract, after a short conference with Crevel, for +some of<br> + the articles were made conditional on the action taken by +Monsieur and<br> + Madame Victorin Hulot.</p> + +<p>Crevel settled on his wife a fortune consisting, in the first +place,<br> + of forty thousand francs in dividends on specified +securities;<br> + secondly, of the house and all its contents; and thirdly, of +three<br> + million francs not invested. He also assigned to his wife +every<br> + benefit allowed by law; he left all the property free of duty; +and in<br> + the event of their dying without issue, each devised to the +survivor<br> + the whole of their property and real estate.</p> + +<p>By this arrangement the fortune left to Celestine and her +husband was<br> + reduced to two millions of francs in capital. If Crevel and his +second<br> + wife should have children, Celestine's share was limited to +five<br> + hundred thousand francs, as the life-interest in the rest was +to<br> + accrue to Valerie. This would be about the ninth part of his +whole<br> + real and personal estate.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth returned to dine in the Rue Louis-le-Grand, despair +written on<br> + her face. She explained and bewailed the terms of the +marriage-<br> + contract, but found Celestine and her husband insensible to +the<br> + disastrous news.</p> + +<p>"You have provoked your father, my children. Madame Marneffe +swears<br> + that you shall receive Monsieur Crevel's wife and go to her +house,"<br> + said she.</p> + +<p>"Never!" said Victorin.</p> + +<p>"Never!" said Celestine.</p> + +<p>"Never!" said Hortense.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth was possessed by the wish to crush the haughty +attitude<br> + assumed by all the Hulots.</p> + +<p>"She seems to have arms that she can turn against you," she +replied.<br> + "I do not know all about it, but I shall find out. She spoke +vaguely<br> + of some history of two hundred thousand francs in which Adeline +is<br> + implicated."</p> + +<p>The Baroness fell gently backward on the sofa she was sitting +on in a<br> + fit of hysterical sobbing.</p> + +<p>"Go there, go, my children!" she cried. "Receive the woman! +Monsieur<br> + Crevel is an infamous wretch. He deserves the worst +punishment<br> + imaginable.--Do as the woman desires you! She is a monster--she +knows<br> + all!"</p> + +<p>After gasping out these words with tears and sobs, Madame +Hulot<br> + collected her strength to go to her room, leaning on her +daughter and<br> + Celestine.</p> + +<p>"What is the meaning of all this?" cried Lisbeth, left alone +with<br> + Victorin.</p> + +<p>The lawyer stood rigid, in very natural dismay, and did not +hear her.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, my dear Victorin?"</p> + +<p>"I am horrified!" said he, and his face scowled darkly. "Woe +to<br> + anybody who hurts my mother! I have no scruples then. I would +crush<br> + that woman like a viper if I could!--What, does she attack my +mother's<br> + life, my mother's honor?"</p> + +<p>"She said, but do not repeat it, my dear Victorin--she said +you should<br> + all fall lower even than your father. And she scolded Crevel +roundly<br> + for not having shut your mouths with this secret that seems to +be such<br> + a terror to Adeline."</p> + +<p>A doctor was sent for, for the Baroness was evidently worse. +He gave<br> + her a draught containing a large dose of opium, and Adeline, +having<br> + swallowed it, fell into a deep sleep; but the whole family +were<br> + greatly alarmed.</p> + +<p>Early next morning Victorin went out, and on his way to the +Courts<br> + called at the Prefecture of the Police, where he begged Vautrin, +the<br> + head of the detective department, to send him Madame de +Saint-Esteve.</p> + +<p>"We are forbidden, monsieur, to meddle in your affairs; but +Madame de<br> + Saint-Esteve is in business, and will attend to your orders," +replied<br> + this famous police officer.</p> + +<p>On his return home, the unhappy lawyer was told that his +mother's<br> + reason was in danger. Doctor Bianchon, Doctor Larabit, and +Professor<br> + Angard had met in consultation, and were prepared to apply +heroic<br> + remedies to hinder the rush of blood to the head. At the moment +when<br> + Victorin was listening to Doctor Bianchon, who was giving him, +at some<br> + length, his reasons for hoping that the crisis might be got +over, the<br> + man-servant announced that a client, Madame de Saint-Esteve, +was<br> + waiting to see him. Victorin left Bianchon in the middle of a +sentence<br> + and flew downstairs like a madman.</p> + +<p><br> + "Is there any hereditary lunacy in the family?" said +Bianchon,<br> + addressing Larabit.</p> + +<p>The doctors departed, leaving a hospital attendant, instructed +by<br> + them, to watch Madame Hulot.</p> + +<p>"A whole life of virtue!----" was the only sentence the +sufferer had<br> + spoken since the attack.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth never left Adeline's bedside; she sat up all night, +and was<br> + much admired by the two younger women.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear Madame de Saint-Esteve," said Victorin, showing +the<br> + dreadful old woman into his study and carefully shutting the +doors,<br> + "how are we getting on?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha! my dear friend," said she, looking at Victorin with +cold<br> + irony. "So you have thought things over?"</p> + +<p>"Have you done anything?"</p> + +<p>"Will you pay fifty thousand francs?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Victorin, "for we must get on. Do you know that +by one<br> + single phrase that woman has endangered my mother's life and +reason?<br> + So, I say, get on."</p> + +<p>"We have got on!" replied the old woman.</p> + +<p>"Well?" cried Victorin, with a gulp.</p> + +<p>"Well, you do not cry off the expenses?"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary."</p> + +<p>"They run up to twenty-three thousand francs already."</p> + +<p>Victorin looked helplessly at the woman.</p> + +<p>"Well, could we hoodwink you, you, one of the shining lights +of the<br> + law?" said she. "For that sum we have secured a maid's +conscience and<br> + a picture by Raphael.--It is not dear."</p> + +<p>Hulot, still bewildered, sat with wide open eyes.</p> + +<p>"Well, then," his visitor went on, "we have purchased the +honesty of<br> + Mademoiselle Reine Tousard, a damsel from whom Madame Marneffe +has no<br> + secrets--"</p> + +<p>"I understand!"</p> + +<p>"But if you shy, say so."</p> + +<p>"I will play blindfold," he replied. "My mother has told me +that that<br> + couple deserve the worst torments--"</p> + +<p>"The rack is out of date," said the old woman.</p> + +<p>"You answer for the result?"</p> + +<p>"Leave it all to me," said the woman; "your vengeance is +simmering."</p> + +<p>She looked at the clock; it was six.</p> + +<p>"Your avenger is dressing; the fires are lighted at the +<i>Rocher de</i><br> + <i>Cancale</i>; the horses are pawing the ground; my irons are +getting hot.<br> + --Oh, I know your Madame Marneffe by heart!-- Everything is +ready. And<br> + there are some boluses in the rat-trap; I will tell you +to-morrow<br> + morning if the mouse is poisoned. I believe she will be; good +evening,<br> + my son."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, madame."</p> + +<p>"Do you know English?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, my son, thou shalt be King. That is to say, you shall +come into<br> + your inheritance," said the dreadful old witch, foreseen by<br> + Shakespeare, and who seemed to know her Shakespeare.</p> + +<p>She left Hulot amazed at the door of his study.</p> + +<p>"The consultation is for to-morrow!" said she, with the +gracious air<br> + of a regular client.</p> + +<p>She saw two persons coming, and wished to pass in their eyes +a<br> + pinchbeck countess.</p> + +<p>"What impudence!" thought Hulot, bowing to his pretended +client.</p> + +<p>Baron Montes de Montejanos was a <i>lion</i>, but a lion not +accounted for.<br> + Fashionable Paris, Paris of the turf and of the town, admired +the<br> + ineffable waistcoats of this foreign gentleman, his spotless +patent-<br> + leather boots, his incomparable sticks, his much-coveted horses, +and<br> + the negro servants who rode the horses and who were entirely +slaves<br> + and most consumedly thrashed.</p> + +<p>His fortune was well known; he had a credit account up to +seven<br> + hundred thousand francs in the great banking house of du Tillet; +but<br> + he was always seen alone. When he went to "first nights," he was +in a<br> + stall. He frequented no drawing-rooms. He had never given his +arm to a<br> + girl on the streets. His name would not be coupled with that of +any<br> + pretty woman of the world. To pass his time he played whist at +the<br> + Jockey-Club. The world was reduced to calumny, or, which it +thought<br> + funnier, to laughing at his peculiarities; he went by the name +of<br> + Combabus.</p> + +<p>Bixiou, Leon de Lora, Lousteau, Florine, Mademoiselle +Heloise<br> + Brisetout, and Nathan, supping one evening with the +notorious<br> + Carabine, with a large party of <i>lions</i> and +<i>lionesses</i>, had invented<br> + this name with an excessively burlesque explanation. Massol, as +being<br> + on the Council of State, and Claude Vignon, erewhile Professor +of<br> + Greek, had related to the ignorant damsels the famous +anecdote,<br> + preserved in Rollin's <i>Ancient History</i>, concerning +Combabus, that<br> + voluntary Abelard who was placed in charge of the wife of a King +of<br> + Assyria, Persia, Bactria, Mesopotamia, and other +geographical<br> + divisions peculiar to old Professor du Bocage, who continued the +work<br> + of d'Anville, the creator of the East of antiquity. This +nickname,<br> + which gave Carabine's guests laughter for a quarter of an hour, +gave<br> + rise to a series of over-free jests, to which the Academy could +not<br> + award the Montyon prize; but among which the name was taken up, +to<br> + rest thenceforth on the curly mane of the handsome Baron, called +by<br> + Josepha the splendid Brazilian--as one might say a splendid<br> + <i>Catoxantha</i>.</p> + +<p>Carabine, the loveliest of her tribe, whose delicate beauty +and<br> + amusing wit had snatched the sceptre of the Thirteenth +Arrondissement<br> + from the hands of Mademoiselle Turquet, better known by the name +of<br> + Malaga--Mademoiselle Seraphine Sinet (this was her real name) +was to<br> + du Tillet the banker what Josepha Mirah was to the Duc +d'Herouville.</p> + +<p>Now, on the morning of the very day when Madame de +Saint-Esteve had<br> + prophesied success to Victorin, Carabine had said to du Tillet +at<br> + about seven o'clock:</p> + +<p>"If you want to be very nice, you will give me a dinner at the +<i>Rocher</i><br> + <i>de Cancale</i> and bring Combabus. We want to know, once for +all, whether<br> + he has a mistress.--I bet that he has, and I should like to +win."</p> + +<p>"He is still at the Hotel des Princes; I will call," replied +du<br> + Tillet. "We will have some fun. Ask all the youngsters--the +youngster<br> + Bixiou, the youngster Lora, in short, all the clan."</p> + +<p>At half-past seven that evening, in the handsomest room of +the<br> + restaurant where all Europe has dined, a splendid silver service +was<br> + spread, made on purpose for entertainments where vanity pays the +bill<br> + in bank-notes. A flood of light fell in ripples on the chased +rims;<br> + waiters, whom a provincial might have taken for diplomatists but +for<br> + their age, stood solemnly, as knowing themselves to be +overpaid.</p> + +<p>Five guests had arrived, and were waiting for nine more. These +were<br> + first and foremost Bixiou, still flourishing in 1843, the salt +of<br> + every intellectual dish, always supplied with fresh wit--a +phenomenon<br> + as rare in Paris as virtue is; Leon de Lora, the greatest +living<br> + painter of landscape and the sea who has this great advantage +over all<br> + his rivals, that he has never fallen below his first successes. +The<br> + courtesans could never dispense with these two kings of ready +wit. No<br> + supper, no dinner, was possible without them.</p> + +<p>Seraphine Sinet, <i>dite</i> Carabine, as the mistress <i>en +titre</i> of the<br> + Amphitryon, was one of the first to arrive; and the brilliant +lighting<br> + showed off her shoulders, unrivaled in Paris, her throat, as +round as<br> + if turned in a lathe, without a crease, her saucy face, and +dress of<br> + satin brocade in two shades of blue, trimmed with Honiton lace +enough<br> + to have fed a whole village for a month.</p> + +<p>Pretty Jenny Cadine, not acting that evening, came in a dress +of<br> + incredible splendor; her portrait is too well known to need +any<br> + description. A party is always a Longchamps of evening dress for +these<br> + ladies, each anxious to win the prize for her millionaire by +thus<br> + announcing to her rivals:</p> + +<p>"This is the price I am worth!"</p> + +<p>A third woman, evidently at the initial stage of her career, +gazed,<br> + almost shamefaced, at the luxury of her two established and +wealthy<br> + companions. Simply dressed in white cashmere trimmed with blue, +her<br> + head had been dressed with real flowers by a coiffeur of the +old-<br> + fashioned school, whose awkward hands had unconsciously given +the<br> + charm of ineptitude to her fair hair. Still unaccustomed to +any<br> + finery, she showed the timidity--to use a hackneyed phrase--<br> + inseparable from a first appearance. She had come from Valognes +to<br> + find in Paris some use for her distracting youthfulness, her +innocence<br> + that might have stirred the senses of a dying man, and her +beauty,<br> + worthy to hold its own with any that Normandy has ever supplied +to the<br> + theatres of the capital. The lines of that unblemished face were +the<br> + ideal of angelic purity. Her milk-white skin reflected the light +like<br> + a mirror. The delicate pink in her cheeks might have been laid +on with<br> + a brush. She was called Cydalise, and, as will be seen, she was +an<br> + important pawn in the game played by Ma'ame Nourrisson to +defeat<br> + Madame Marneffe.</p> + +<p>"Your arm is not a match for your name, my child," said Jenny +Cadine,<br> + to whom Carabine had introduced this masterpiece of sixteen, +having<br> + brought her with her.</p> + +<p>And, in fact, Cydalise displayed to public admiration a fine +pair of<br> + arms, smooth and satiny, but red with healthy young blood.</p> + +<p>"What do you want for her?" said Jenny Cadine, in an undertone +to<br> + Carabine.</p> + +<p>"A fortune."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do with her?"</p> + +<p>"Well--Madame Combabus!"</p> + +<p>"And what are you to get for such a job?"</p> + +<p>"Guess."</p> + +<p>"A service of plate?"</p> + +<p>"I have three."</p> + +<p>"Diamonds?"</p> + +<p>"I am selling them."</p> + +<p>"A green monkey?"</p> + +<p>"No. A picture by Raphael."</p> + +<p>"What maggot is that in your brain?"</p> + +<p>"Josepha makes me sick with her pictures," said Carabine. "I +want some<br> + better than hers."</p> + +<p>Du Tillet came with the Brazilian, the hero of the feast; the +Duc<br> + d'Herouville followed with Josepha. The singer wore a plain +velvet<br> + gown, but she had on a necklace worth a hundred and twenty +thousand<br> + francs, pearls hardly distinguishable from her skin like +white<br> + camellia petals. She had stuck one scarlet camellia in her black +hair<br> + --a patch--the effect was dazzling, and she had amused herself +by<br> + putting eleven rows of pearls on each arm. As she shook hands +with<br> + Jenny Cadine, the actress said, "Lend me your mittens!"</p> + +<p>Josepha unclasped them one by one and handed them to her +friend on a<br> + plate.</p> + +<p>"There's style!" said Carabine. "Quite the Duchess! You have +robbed<br> + the ocean to dress the nymph, Monsieur le Duc," she added +turning to<br> + the little Duc d'Herouville.</p> + +<p>The actress took two of the bracelets; she clasped the other +twenty on<br> + the singer's beautiful arms, which she kissed.</p> + +<p>Lousteau, the literary cadger, la Palferine and Malaga, +Massol,<br> + Vauvinet, and Theodore Gaillard, a proprietor of one of the +most<br> + important political newspapers, completed the party. The Duc<br> + d'Herouville, polite to everybody, as a fine gentleman knows how +to<br> + be, greeted the Comte de la Palferine with the particular nod +which,<br> + while it does not imply either esteem or intimacy, conveys to +all the<br> + world, "We are of the same race, the same blood--equals!"--And +this<br> + greeting, the shibboleth of the aristocracy, was invented to be +the<br> + despair of the upper citizen class.</p> + +<p><br> + Carabine placed Combabus on her left, and the Duc d'Herouville +on her<br> + right. Cydalise was next to the Brazilian, and beyond her was +Bixiou.<br> + Malaga sat by the Duke.</p> + +<p>Oysters appeared at seven o'clock; at eight they were drinking +iced<br> + punch. Every one is familiar with the bill of fare of such a +banquet.<br> + By nine o'clock they were talking as people talk after +forty-two<br> + bottles of various wines, drunk by fourteen persons. Dessert was +on<br> + the table, the odious dessert of the month of April. Of all the +party,<br> + the only one affected by the heady atmosphere was Cydalise, who +was<br> + humming a tune. None of the party, with the exception of the +poor<br> + country girl, had lost their reason; the drinkers and the women +were<br> + the experienced <i>elite</i> of the society that sups. Their +wits were<br> + bright, their eyes glistened, but with no loss of intelligence, +though<br> + the talk drifted into satire, anecdote, and gossip. +Conversation,<br> + hitherto confined to the inevitable circle of racing, +horses,<br> + hammerings on the Bourse, the different occupations of the +<i>lions</i><br> + themselves, and the scandals of the town, showed a tendency to +break<br> + up into intimate <i>tete-a-tete,</i> the dialogues of two +hearts.</p> + +<p>And at this stage, at a signal from Carabine to Leon de Lora, +Bixiou,<br> + la Palferine, and du Tillet, love came under discussion.</p> + +<p>"A doctor in good society never talks of medicine, true nobles +never<br> + speak of their ancestors, men of genius do not discuss their +works,"<br> + said Josepha; "why should we talk business? If I got the opera +put off<br> + in order to dine here, it was assuredly not to work.--So let us +change<br> + the subject, dear children."</p> + +<p>"But we are speaking of real love, my beauty," said Malaga, +"of the<br> + love that makes a man fling all to the dogs--father, mother, +wife,<br> + children--and retire to Clichy."</p> + +<p>"Talk away, then, 'don't know yer,' " said the singer.</p> + +<p>The slang words, borrowed from the Street Arab, and spoken by +these<br> + women, may be a poem on their lips, helped by the expression of +the<br> + eyes and face.</p> + +<p>"What, do not I love you, Josepha?" said the Duke in a low +voice.</p> + +<p>"You, perhaps, may love me truly," said she in his ear, and +she<br> + smiled. "But I do not love you in the way they describe, with +such<br> + love as makes the world dark in the absence of the man beloved. +You<br> + are delightful to me, useful--but not indispensable; and if you +were<br> + to throw me over to-morrow, I could have three dukes for +one."</p> + +<p>"Is true love to be found in Paris?" asked Leon de Lora. "Men +have not<br> + even time to make a fortune; how can they give themselves over +to true<br> + love, which swamps a man as water melts sugar? A man must be<br> + enormously rich to indulge in it, for love annihilates +him--for<br> + instance, like our Brazilian friend over there. As I said long +ago,<br> + 'Extremes defeat--themselves.' A true lover is like an eunuch; +women<br> + have ceased to exist for him. He is mystical; he is like the +true<br> + Christian, an anchorite of the desert!--See our noble +Brazilian."</p> + +<p>Every one at table looked at Henri Montes de Montejanos, who +was shy<br> + at finding every eye centred on him.</p> + +<p>"He has been feeding there for an hour without discovering, +any more<br> + than an ox at pasture, that he is sitting next to--I will not +say, in<br> + such company, the loveliest--but the freshest woman in all +Paris."</p> + +<p>"Everything is fresh here, even the fish; it is what the house +is<br> + famous for," said Carabine.</p> + +<p>Baron Montes looked good-naturedly at the painter, and +said:</p> + +<p>"Very good! I drink to your very good health," and bowing to +Leon de<br> + Lora, he lifted his glass of port wine and drank it with much +dignity.</p> + +<p>"Are you then truly in love?" asked Malaga of her neighbor, +thus<br> + interpreting his toast.</p> + +<p>The Brazilian refilled his glass, bowed to Carabine, and drank +again.</p> + +<p>"To the lady's health then!" said the courtesan, in such a +droll tone<br> + that Lora, du Tillet, and Bixiou burst out laughing.</p> + +<p>The Brazilian sat like a bronze statue. This impassibility +provoked<br> + Carabine. She knew perfectly well that Montes was devoted to +Madame<br> + Marneffe, but she had not expected this dogged fidelity, +this<br> + obstinate silence of conviction.</p> + +<p>A woman is as often gauged by the attitude of her lover as a +man is<br> + judged from the tone of his mistress. The Baron was proud of +his<br> + attachment to Valerie, and of hers to him; his smile had, to +these<br> + experienced connoisseurs, a touch of irony; he was really grand +to<br> + look upon; wine had not flushed him; and his eyes, with their +peculiar<br> + lustre as of tarnished gold, kept the secrets of his soul. +Even<br> + Carabine said to herself:</p> + +<p>"What a woman she must be! How she has sealed up that +heart!"</p> + +<p>"He is a rock!" said Bixiou in an undertone, imagining that +the whole<br> + thing was a practical joke, and never suspecting the importance +to<br> + Carabine of reducing this fortress.</p> + +<p>While this conversation, apparently so frivolous, was going on +at<br> + Carabine's right, the discussion of love was continued on her +left<br> + between the Duc d'Herouville, Lousteau, Josepha, Jenny Cadine, +and<br> + Massol. They were wondering whether such rare phenomena were +the<br> + result of passion, obstinacy, or affection. Josepha, bored to +death by<br> + it all, tried to change the subject.</p> + +<p>"You are talking of what you know nothing about. Is there a +man among<br> + you who ever loved a woman--a woman beneath him--enough to +squander<br> + his fortune and his children's, to sacrifice his future and +blight his<br> + past, to risk going to the hulks for robbing the Government, to +kill<br> + an uncle and a brother, to let his eye be so effectually blinded +that<br> + he did not even perceive that it was done to hinder his seeing +the<br> + abyss into which, as a crowning jest, he was being driven? Du +Tillet<br> + has a cash-box under his left breast; Leon de Lora has his wit; +Bixiou<br> + would laugh at himself for a fool if he loved any one but +himself;<br> + Massol has a minister's portfolio in the place of a heart; +Lousteau<br> + can have nothing but viscera, since he could endure to be thrown +over<br> + by Madame de Baudraye; Monsieur le Duc is too rich to prove his +love<br> + by his ruin; Vauvinet is not in it--I do not regard a +bill-broker as<br> + one of the human race; and you have never loved, nor I, nor +Jenny<br> + Cadine, nor Malaga. For my part, I never but once even saw +the<br> + phenomenon I have described. It was," and she turned to Jenny +Cadine,<br> + "that poor Baron Hulot, whom I am going to advertise for like a +lost<br> + dog, for I want to find him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho!" said Carabine to herself, and looking keenly at +Josepha,<br> + "then Madame Nourrisson has two pictures by Raphael, since +Josepha is<br> + playing my hand!"</p> + +<p>"Poor fellow," said Vauvinet, "he was a great man! +Magnificent! And<br> + what a figure, what a style, the air of Francis I.! What a +volcano!<br> + and how full of ingenious ways of getting money! He must be +looking<br> + for it now, wherever he is, and I make no doubt he extracts it +even<br> + from the walls built of bones that you may see in the suburbs of +Paris<br> + near the city gates--"</p> + +<p>"And all that," said Bixiou, "for that little Madame Marneffe! +There<br> + is a precious hussy for you!"</p> + +<p>"She is just going to marry my friend Crevel," said du +Tillet.</p> + +<p>"And she is madly in love with my friend Steinbock," Leon de +Lora put<br> + in.</p> + +<p>These three phrases were like so many pistol-shots fired +point-blank<br> + at Montes. He turned white, and the shock was so painful that he +rose<br> + with difficulty.</p> + +<p>"You are a set of blackguards!" cried he. "You have no right +to speak<br> + the name of an honest woman in the same breath with those +fallen<br> + creatures--above all, not to make it a mark for your +slander!"</p> + +<p>He was interrupted by unanimous bravos and applause. Bixiou, +Leon de<br> + Lora, Vauvinet, du Tillet, and Massol set the example, and there +was a<br> + chorus.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah for the Emperor!" said Bixiou.</p> + +<p>"Crown him! crown him!" cried Vauvinet.</p> + +<p>"Three groans for such a good dog! Hurrah for Brazil!" cried +Lousteau.</p> + +<p>"So, my copper-colored Baron, it is our Valerie that you love; +and you<br> + are not disgusted?" said Leon de Lora.</p> + +<p>"His remark is not parliamentary, but it is grand!" observed +Massol.</p> + +<p>"But, my most delightful customer," said du Tillet, "you +were<br> + recommended to me; I am your banker; your innocence reflects on +my<br> + credit."</p> + +<p>"Yes, tell me, you are a reasonable creature----" said the +Brazilian<br> + to the banker.</p> + +<p>"Thanks on behalf of the company," said Bixiou with a bow.</p> + +<p>"Tell me the real facts," Montes went on, heedless of +Bixiou's<br> + interjection.</p> + +<p>"Well, then," replied du Tillet, "I have the honor to tell you +that I<br> + am asked to the Crevel wedding."</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha! Combabus holds a brief for Madame Marneffe!" said +Josepha,<br> + rising solemnly.</p> + +<p>She went round to Montes with a tragic look, patted him kindly +on the<br> + head, looked at him for a moment with comical admiration, and +nodded<br> + sagely.</p> + +<p>"Hulot was the first instance of love through fire and water," +said<br> + she; "this is the second. But it ought not to count, as it comes +from<br> + the Tropics."</p> + +<p>Montes had dropped into his chair again, when Josepha gently +touched<br> + his forehead, and looked at du Tillet as he said:</p> + +<p>"If I am the victim of a Paris jest, if you only wanted to get +at my<br> + secret----" and he sent a flashing look round the table, +embracing all<br> + the guests in a flaming glance that blazed with the sun of +Brazil,--"I<br> + beg of you as a favor to tell me so," he went on, in a tone of +almost<br> + childlike entreaty; "but do not vilify the woman I love."</p> + +<p>"Nay, indeed," said Carabine in a low voice; "but if, on the +contrary,<br> + you are shamefully betrayed, cheated, tricked by Valerie, if I +should<br> + give you the proof in an hour, in my own house, what then?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell you before all these Iagos," said the +Brazilian.</p> + +<p>Carabine understood him to say <i>magots</i> (baboons).</p> + +<p>"Well, well, say no more!" she replied, smiling. "Do not make +yourself<br> + a laughing-stock for all the wittiest men in Paris; come to my +house,<br> + we will talk it over."</p> + +<p>Montes was crushed. "Proofs," he stammered, "consider--"</p> + +<p>"Only too many," replied Carabine; "and if the mere suspicion +hits you<br> + so hard, I fear for your reason."</p> + +<p>"Is this creature obstinate, I ask you? He is worse than the +late<br> + lamented King of Holland!--I say, Lousteau, Bixiou, Massol, all +the<br> + crew of you, are you not invited to breakfast with Madame +Marneffe the<br> + day after to-morrow?" said Leon de Lora.</p> + +<p>"<i>Ya</i>," said du Tillet; "I have the honor of assuring +you, Baron, that<br> + if you had by any chance thought of marrying Madame Marneffe, +you are<br> + thrown out like a bill in Parliament, beaten by a blackball +called<br> + Crevel. My friend, my old comrade Crevel, has eighty thousand +francs a<br> + year; and you, I suppose, did not show such a good hand, for if +you<br> + had, you, I imagine, would have been preferred."</p> + +<p>Montes listened with a half-absent, half-smiling expression, +which<br> + struck them all with terror.</p> + +<p>At this moment the head-waiter came to whisper to Carabine +that a<br> + lady, a relation of hers, was in the drawing-room and wished to +speak<br> + to her.</p> + +<p>Carabine rose and went out to find Madame Nourrisson, decently +veiled<br> + with black lace.</p> + +<p>"Well, child, am I to go to your house? Has he taken the +hook?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother; and the pistol is so fully loaded, that my only +fear is<br> + that it will burst," said Carabine.</p> + +<p>About an hour later, Montes, Cydalise, and Carabine, returning +from<br> + the <i>Rocher de Cancale</i>, entered Carabine's little +sitting-room in the<br> + Rue Saint-Georges. Madame Nourrisson was sitting in an armchair +by the<br> + fire.</p> + +<p>"Here is my worthy old aunt," said Carabine.</p> + +<p>"Yes, child, I came in person to fetch my little allowance. +You would<br> + have forgotten me, though you are kind-hearted, and I have some +bills<br> + to pay to-morrow. Buying and selling clothes, I am always short +of<br> + cash. Who is this at your heels? The gentleman looks very much +put out<br> + about something."</p> + +<p><br> + The dreadful Madame Nourrisson, at this moment so completely +disguised<br> + as to look like a respectable old body, rose to embrace +Carabine, one<br> + of the hundred and odd courtesans she had launched on their +horrible<br> + career of vice.</p> + +<p>"He is an Othello who is not to be taken in, whom I have the +honor of<br> + introducing to you--Monsieur le Baron Montes de Montejanos."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I have heard him talked about, and know his name.--You +are<br> + nicknamed Combabus, because you love but one woman, and in +Paris, that<br> + is the same as loving no one at all. And is it by chance the +object of<br> + your affections who is fretting you? Madame Marneffe, Crevel's +woman?<br> + I tell you what, my dear sir, you may bless your stars instead +of<br> + cursing them. She is a good-for-nothing baggage, is that little +woman.<br> + I know her tricks!"</p> + +<p>"Get along," said Carabine, into whose hand Madame Nourrisson +had<br> + slipped a note while embracing her, "you do not know your +Brazilians.<br> + They are wrong-headed creatures that insist on being impaled +through<br> + the heart. The more jealous they are, the more jealous they want +to<br> + be. Monsieur talks of dealing death all round, but he will kill +nobody<br> + because he is in love.--However, I have brought him here to give +him<br> + the proofs of his discomfiture, which I have got from that +little<br> + Steinbock."</p> + +<p>Montes was drunk; he listened as if the women were talking +about<br> + somebody else.</p> + +<p>Carabine went to take off her velvet wrap, and read a +facsimile of a<br> + note, as follows:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"DEAR PUSS.--He dines with Popinot this evening, and will come +to<br> + fetch me from the Opera at eleven. I shall go out at about +half-<br> + past five and count on finding you at our paradise. Order +dinner<br> + to be sent in from the <i>Maison d'or</i>. Dress, so as to be +able to<br> + take me to the Opera. We shall have four hours to ourselves.<br> + Return this note to me; not that your Valerie doubts you--I +would<br> + give you my life, my fortune, and my honor, but I am afraid of +the<br> + tricks of chance."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>"Here, Baron, this is the note sent to Count Steinbock this +morning;<br> + read the address. The original document is burnt."</p> + +<p><br> + Montes turned the note over and over, recognized the writing, +and was<br> + struck by a rational idea, which is sufficient evidence of +the<br> + disorder of his brain.</p> + +<p>"And, pray," said he, looking at Carabine, "what object have +you in<br> + torturing my heart, for you must have paid very dear for the +privilege<br> + of having the note in your possession long enough to get it<br> + lithographed?"</p> + +<p>"Foolish man!" said Carabine, at a nod from Madame Nourrisson, +"don't<br> + you see that poor child Cydalise--a girl of sixteen, who has +been<br> + pining for you these three months, till she has lost her +appetite for<br> + food or drink, and who is heart-broken because you have never +even<br> + glanced at her?"</p> + +<p>Cydalise put her handkerchief to her eyes with an appearance +of<br> + emotion--"She is furious," Carabine went on, "though she looks +as if<br> + butter would not melt in her mouth, furious to see the man she +adores<br> + duped by a villainous hussy; she would kill Valerie--"</p> + +<p>"Oh, as for that," said the Brazilian, "that is my +business!"</p> + +<p>"What, killing?" said old Nourrisson. "No, my son, we don't do +that<br> + here nowadays."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Montes, "I am not a native of this country. I live +in a<br> + parish where I can laugh at your laws; and if you give me +proof--"</p> + +<p>"Well, that note. Is that nothing?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the Brazilian. "I do not believe in the writing. I +must see<br> + for myself."</p> + +<p>"See!" cried Carabine, taking the hint at once from a gesture +of her<br> + supposed aunt. "You shall see, my dear Tiger, all you wish to +see--on<br> + one condition."</p> + +<p>"And that is?"</p> + +<p>"Look at Cydalise."</p> + +<p>At a wink from Madame Nourrisson, Cydalise cast a tender look +at the<br> + Baron.</p> + +<p>"Will you be good to her? Will you make her a home?" asked +Carabine.<br> + "A girl of such beauty is well worth a house and a carriage! It +would<br> + be a monstrous shame to leave her to walk the streets. And +besides--<br> + she is in debt.--How much do you owe?" asked Carabine, +nipping<br> + Cydalise's arm.</p> + +<p>"She is worth all she can get," said the old woman. "The point +is that<br> + she can find a buyer."</p> + +<p>"Listen!" cried Montes, fully aware at last of this +masterpiece of<br> + womankind "you will show me Valerie--"</p> + +<p>"And Count Steinbock.--Certainly!" said Madame Nourrisson.</p> + +<p>For the past ten minutes the old woman had been watching +the<br> + Brazilian; she saw that he was an instrument tuned up to the +murderous<br> + pitch she needed; and, above all, so effectually blinded, that +he<br> + would never heed who had led him on to it, and she spoke:--</p> + +<p>"Cydalise, my Brazilian jewel, is my niece, so her concerns +are partly<br> + mine. All this catastrophe will be the work of a few minutes, +for a<br> + friend of mine lets the furnished room to Count Steinbock +where<br> + Valerie is at this moment taking coffee--a queer sort of coffee, +but<br> + she calls it her coffee. So let us understand each other, +Brazil!--I<br> + like Brazil, it is a hot country.--What is to become of my +niece?"</p> + +<p>"You old ostrich," said Montes, the plumes in the woman's +bonnet<br> + catching his eye, "you interrupted me.--If you show me--if I +see<br> + Valerie and that artist together--"</p> + +<p>"As you would wish to be--" said Carabine; "that is +understood."</p> + +<p>"Then I will take this girl and carry her away--"</p> + +<p>"Where?" asked Carabine.</p> + +<p>"To Brazil," replied the Baron. "I will make her my wife. My +uncle<br> + left me ten leagues square of entailed estate; that is how I +still<br> + have that house and home. I have a hundred negroes--nothing +but<br> + negroes and negresses and negro brats, all bought by my +uncle--"</p> + +<p>"Nephew to a nigger-driver," said Carabine, with a grimace. +"That<br> + needs some consideration.--Cydalise, child, are you fond of +the<br> + blacks?"</p> + +<p>"Pooh! Carabine, no nonsense," said the old woman. "The deuce +is in<br> + it! Monsieur and I are doing business."</p> + +<p>"If I take up another Frenchwoman, I mean to have her to +myself," the<br> + Brazilian went on. "I warn you, mademoiselle, I am king there, +and not<br> + a constitutional king. I am Czar; my subjects are mine by +purchase,<br> + and no one can escape from my kingdom, which is a hundred +leagues from<br> + any human settlement, hemmed in by savages on the interior, +and<br> + divided from the sea by a wilderness as wide as France."</p> + +<p>"I should prefer a garret here."</p> + +<p>"So thought I," said Montes, "since I sold all my land and +possessions<br> + at Rio to come back to Madame Marneffe."</p> + +<p>"A man does not make such a voyage for nothing," remarked +Madame<br> + Nourrisson. "You have a right to look for love for your own +sake,<br> + particularly being so good-looking.--Oh, he is very handsome!" +said<br> + she to Carabine.</p> + +<p>"Very handsome, handsomer than the <i>Postillon de +Longjumeau,</i>" replied<br> + the courtesan.</p> + +<p>Cydalise took the Brazilian's hand, but he released it as +politely as<br> + he could.</p> + +<p>"I came back for Madame Marneffe," the man went on where he +had left<br> + off, "but you do not know why I was three years thinking about +it."</p> + +<p>"No, savage!" said Carabine.</p> + +<p>"Well, she had so repeatedly told me that she longed to live +with me<br> + alone in a desert--"</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho! he is not a savage after all," cried Carabine, with a +shout<br> + of laughter. "He is of the highly-civilized tribe of Flats!"</p> + +<p>"She had told me this so often," Montes went on, regardless of +the<br> + courtesan's mockery, "that I had a lovely house fitted up in the +heart<br> + of that vast estate. I came back to France to fetch Valerie, and +the<br> + first evening I saw her--"</p> + +<p>"Saw her is very proper!" said Carabine. "I will remember +it."</p> + +<p>"She told me to wait till that wretched Marneffe was dead; and +I<br> + agreed, and forgave her for having admitted the attentions of +Hulot.<br> + Whether the devil had her in hand I don't know, but from that +instant<br> + that woman has humored my every whim, complied with all my +demands--<br> + never for one moment has she given me cause to suspect +her!--"</p> + +<p>"That is supremely clever!" said Carabine to Madame +Nourrisson, who<br> + nodded in sign of assent.</p> + +<p>"My faith in that woman," said Montes, and he shed a tear, +"was a<br> + match for my love. Just now, I was ready to fight everybody +at<br> + table--"</p> + +<p>"So I saw," said Carabine.</p> + +<p>"And if I am cheated, if she is going to be married, if she is +at this<br> + moment in Steinbock's arms, she deserves a thousand deaths! I +will<br> + kill her as I would smash a fly--"</p> + +<p>"And how about the gendarmes, my son?" said Madame Nourrisson, +with a<br> + smile that made your flesh creep.</p> + +<p>"And the police agents, and the judges, and the assizes, and +all the<br> + set-out?" added Carabine.</p> + +<p>"You are bragging, my dear fellow," said the old woman, who +wanted to<br> + know all the Brazilian's schemes of vengeance.</p> + +<p>"I will kill her," he calmly repeated. "You called me a +savage.--Do<br> + you imagine that I am fool enough to go, like a Frenchman, and +buy<br> + poison at the chemist's shop?--During the time while we were +driving<br> + her, I thought out my means of revenge, if you should prove to +be<br> + right as concerns Valerie. One of my negroes has the most deadly +of<br> + animal poisons, and incurable anywhere but in Brazil. I will<br> + administer it to Cydalise, who will give it to me; then by the +time<br> + when death is a certainty to Crevel and his wife, I shall be +beyond<br> + the Azores with your cousin, who will be cured, and I will marry +her.<br> + We have our own little tricks, we savages!--Cydalise," said +he,<br> + looking at the country girl, "is the animal I need.--How much +does she<br> + owe?"</p> + +<p>"A hundred thousand francs," said Cydalise.</p> + +<p>"She says little--but to the purpose," said Carabine, in a low +tone to<br> + Madame Nourrisson.</p> + +<p>"I am going mad!" cried the Brazilian, in a husky voice, +dropping on<br> + to a sofa. "I shall die of this! But I must see, for it is +impossible!<br> + --A lithographed note! What is to assure me that it is not a +forgery?<br> + --Baron Hulot was in love with Valerie?" said he, recalling +Josepha's<br> + harangue. "Nay; the proof that he did not love is that she is +still<br> + alive--I will not leave her living for anybody else, if she is +not<br> + wholly mine."</p> + +<p>Montes was terrible to behold. He bellowed, he stormed; he +broke<br> + everything he touched; rosewood was as brittle as glass.</p> + +<p>"How he destroys things!" said Carabine, looking at the old +woman. "My<br> + good boy," said she, giving the Brazilian a little slap, "Roland +the<br> + Furious is very fine in a poem; but in a drawing-room he is +prosaic<br> + and expensive."</p> + +<p>"My son," said old Nourrisson, rising to stand in front of +the<br> + crestfallen Baron, "I am of your way of thinking. When you love +in<br> + that way, and are joined 'till death does you part,' life must +answer<br> + for love. The one who first goes, carries everything away; it is +a<br> + general wreck. You command my esteem, my admiration, my +consent,<br> + especially for your inoculation, which will make me a Friend of +the<br> + Negro.--But you love her! You will hark back?"</p> + +<p>"I?--If she is so infamous, I--"</p> + +<p>"Well, come now, you are talking too much, it strikes me. A +man who<br> + means to be avenged, and who says he has the ways and means of +a<br> + savage, doesn't do that.--If you want to see your 'object' in +her<br> + paradise, you must take Cydalise and walk straight in with her +on your<br> + arm, as if the servant had made a mistake. But no scandal! If +you mean<br> + to be revenged, you must eat the leek, seem to be in despair, +and<br> + allow her to bully you.--Do you see?" said Madame Nourrisson, +finding<br> + the Brazilian quite amazed by so subtle a scheme.</p> + +<p>"All right, old ostrich," he replied. "Come along: I +understand."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, little one!" said the old woman to Carabine.</p> + +<p>She signed to Cydalise to go on with Montes, and remained a +minute<br> + with Carabine.</p> + +<p>"Now, child, I have but one fear, and that is that he will +strangle<br> + her! I should be in a very tight place; we must do everything +gently.<br> + I believe you have won your picture by Raphael; but they tell me +it is<br> + only a Mignard. Never mind, it is much prettier; all the +Raphaels are<br> + gone black, I am told, whereas this one is as bright as a +Girodet."</p> + +<p>"All I want is to crow over Josepha; and it is all the same to +me<br> + whether I have a Mignard or a Raphael!--That thief had on such +pearls<br> + this evening!--you would sell your soul for them."</p> + +<p>Cydalise, Montes, and Madame Nourrisson got into a hackney +coach that<br> + was waiting at the door. Madame Nourrisson whispered to the +driver the<br> + address of a house in the same block as the Italian Opera House, +which<br> + they could have reached in five or six minutes from the Rue +Saint-<br> + Georges; but Madame Nourrisson desired the man to drive along +the Rue<br> + le Peletier, and to go very slowly, so as to be able to examine +the<br> + carriages in waiting.</p> + +<p>"Brazilian," said the old woman, "look out for your angel's +carriage<br> + and servants."</p> + +<p>The Baron pointed out Valerie's carriage as they passed +it.</p> + +<p>"She has told them to come for her at ten o'clock, and she is +gone in<br> + a cab to the house where she visits Count Steinbock. She has +dined<br> + there, and will come to the Opera in half an hour.--It is +well<br> + contrived!" said Madame Nourrisson. "Thus you see how she has +kept you<br> + so long in the dark."</p> + +<p>The Brazilian made no reply. He had become the tiger, and +had<br> + recovered the imperturbable cool ferocity that had been so +striking at<br> + dinner. He was as calm as a bankrupt the day after he has +stopped<br> + payment.</p> + +<p>At the door of the house stood a hackney coach with two +horses, of the<br> + kind known as a <i>Compagnie Generale</i>, from the Company that +runs them.</p> + +<p>"Stay here in the box," said the old woman to Montes. "This is +not an<br> + open house like a tavern. I will send for you."</p> + +<p>The paradise of Madame Marneffe and Wenceslas was not at all +like that<br> + of Crevel--who, finding it useless now, had just sold his to the +Comte<br> + Maxime de Trailles. This paradise, the paradise of all +comers,<br> + consisted of a room on the fourth floor opening to the landing, +in a<br> + house close to the Italian Opera. On each floor of this house +there<br> + was a room which had originally served as the kitchen to the<br> + apartments on that floor. But the house having become a sort of +inn,<br> + let out for clandestine love affairs at an exorbitant price, +the<br> + owner, the real Madame Nourrisson, an old-clothes buyer in the +Rue<br> + Nueve Saint-Marc, had wisely appreciated the great value of +these<br> + kitchens, and had turned them into a sort of dining-rooms. Each +of<br> + these rooms, built between thick party-walls and with windows to +the<br> + street, was entirely shut in by very thick double doors on +the<br> + landing. Thus the most important secrets could be discussed over +a<br> + dinner, with no risk of being overheard. For greater security, +the<br> + windows had shutters inside and out. These rooms, in consequence +of<br> + this peculiarity, were let for twelve hundred francs a month. +The<br> + whole house, full of such paradises and mysteries was rented by +Madame<br> + Nourrisson the First for twenty-eight thousand francs of clear +profit,<br> + after paying her housekeeper, Madame Nourrisson the Second, for +she<br> + did not manage it herself.</p> + +<p><br> + The paradise let to Count Steinbock had been hung with chintz; +the<br> + cold, hard floor, of common tiles reddened with encaustic, was +not<br> + felt through a soft thick carpet. The furniture consisted of +two<br> + pretty chairs and a bed in an alcove, just now half hidden by a +table<br> + loaded with the remains of an elegant dinner, while two bottles +with<br> + long necks and an empty champagne-bottle in ice strewed the +field of<br> + bacchus cultivated by Venus.</p> + +<p>There were also--the property, no doubt, of Valerie--a low +easy-chair<br> + and a man's smoking-chair, and a pretty toilet chest of drawers +in<br> + rosewood, the mirror handsomely framed <i>a la</i> Pompadour. A +lamp<br> + hanging from the ceiling gave a subdued light, increased by +wax<br> + candles on the table and on the chimney-shelf.</p> + +<p>This sketch will suffice to give an idea, <i>urbi et orbi</i>, +of<br> + clandestine passion in the squalid style stamped on it in Paris +in<br> + 1840. How far, alas! from the adulterous love, symbolized by +Vulcan's<br> + nets, three thousand years ago.</p> + +<p>When Montes and Cydalise came upstairs, Valerie, standing +before the<br> + fire, where a log was blazing, was allowing Wenceslas to lace +her<br> + stays.</p> + +<p>This is a moment when a woman who is neither too fat nor too +thin, but<br> + like Valerie, elegant and slender, displays divine beauty. The +rosy<br> + skin, mostly soft, invites the sleepiest eye. The lines of her +figure,<br> + so little hidden, are so charmingly outlined by the white pleats +of<br> + the shift and the support of the stays, that she is +irresistible--like<br> + everything that must be parted from.</p> + +<p>With a happy face smiling at the glass, a foot impatiently +marking<br> + time, a hand put up to restore order among the tumbled curls, +and eyes<br> + expressive of gratitude; with the glow of satisfaction which, +like a<br> + sunset, warms the least details of the countenance--everything +makes<br> + such a moment a mine of memories.</p> + +<p>Any man who dares look back on the early errors of his life +may,<br> + perhaps, recall some such reminiscences, and understand, though +not<br> + excuse, the follies of Hulot and Crevel. Women are so well aware +of<br> + their power at such a moment, that they find in it what may be +called<br> + the aftermath of the meeting.</p> + +<p>"Come, come; after two years' practice, you do not yet know +how to<br> + lace a woman's stays! You are too much a Pole!--There, it is +ten<br> + o'clock, my Wenceslas!" said Valerie, laughing at him.</p> + +<p>At this very moment, a mischievous waiting-woman, by inserting +a<br> + knife, pushed up the hook of the double doors that formed the +whole<br> + security of Adam and Eve. She hastily pulled the door open--for +the<br> + servants of these dens have little time to waste--and discovered +one<br> + of the bewitching <i>tableaux de genre</i> which Gavarni has so +often shown<br> + at the Salon.</p> + +<p>"In here, madame," said the girl; and Cydalise went in, +followed by<br> + Montes.</p> + +<p>"But there is some one here.--Excuse me, madame," said the +country<br> + girl, in alarm.</p> + +<p>"What?--Why! it is Valerie!" cried Montes, violently slamming +the<br> + door.</p> + +<p>Madame Marneffe, too genuinely agitated to dissemble her +feelings,<br> + dropped on to the chair by the fireplace. Two tears rose to her +eyes,<br> + and at once dried away. She looked at Montes, saw the girl, and +burst<br> + into a cackle of forced laughter. The dignity of the insulted +woman<br> + redeemed the scantiness of her attire; she walked close up to +the<br> + Brazilian, and looked at him so defiantly that her eyes +glittered like<br> + knives.</p> + +<p>"So that," said she, standing face to face with the Baron, +and<br> + pointing to Cydalise--"that is the other side of your fidelity? +You,<br> + who have made me promises that might convert a disbeliever in +love!<br> + You, for whom I have done so much--have even committed +crimes!--You<br> + are right, monsieur, I am not to compare with a child of her age +and<br> + of such beauty!</p> + +<p>"I know what you are going to say," she went on, looking at +Wenceslas,<br> + whose undress was proof too clear to be denied. "This is my +concern.<br> + If I could love you after such gross treachery--for you have +spied<br> + upon me, you have paid for every step up these stairs, paid +the<br> + mistress of the house, and the servant, perhaps even Reine--a +noble<br> + deed!--If I had any remnant of affection for such a mean wretch, +I<br> + could give him reasons that would renew his passion!--But I +leave you,<br> + monsieur, to your doubts, which will become remorse.--Wenceslas, +my<br> + gown!"</p> + +<p>She took her dress and put it on, looked at herself in the +glass, and<br> + finished dressing without heeding the Baron, as calmly as if she +had<br> + been alone in the room.</p> + +<p>"Wenceslas, are you ready?--Go first."</p> + +<p>She had been watching Montes in the glass and out of the +corner of her<br> + eye, and fancied she could see in his pallor an indication of +the<br> + weakness which delivers a strong man over to a woman's +fascinations;<br> + she now took his hand, going so close to him that he could not +help<br> + inhaling the terrible perfumes which men love, and by which +they<br> + intoxicate themselves; then, feeling his pulses beat high, she +looked<br> + at him reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"You have my full permission to go and tell your history to +Monsieur<br> + Crevel; he will never believe you. I have a perfect right to +marry<br> + him, and he becomes my husband the day after to-morrow.--I shall +make<br> + him very happy.--Good-bye; try to forget me."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Valerie," cried Henri Montes, clasping her in his arms, +"that is<br> + impossible!--Come to Brazil!"</p> + +<p>Valerie looked in his face, and saw him her slave.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you still love me, Henri, two years hence I will be +your<br> + wife; but your expression at this moment strikes me as very<br> + suspicious."</p> + +<p>"I swear to you that they made me drink, that false friends +threw this<br> + girl on my hands, and that the whole thing is the outcome of +chance!"<br> + said Montes.</p> + +<p>"Then I am to forgive you?" she asked, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"But you will marry, all the same?" asked the Baron, in an +agony of<br> + jealousy.</p> + +<p>"Eighty thousand francs a year!" said she, with almost +comical<br> + enthusiasm. "And Crevel loves me so much that he will die of +it!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! I understand," said Montes.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, in a few days we will come to an understanding," +said<br> + she.</p> + +<p>And she departed triumphant.</p> + +<p>"I have no scruples," thought the Baron, standing transfixed +for a few<br> + minutes. "What! That woman believes she can make use of his +passion to<br> + be quit of that dolt, as she counted on Marneffe's decease!--I +shall<br> + be the instrument of divine wrath."</p> + +<p>Two days later those of du Tillet's guests who had demolished +Madame<br> + Marneffe tooth and nail, were seated round her table an hour +after she<br> + has shed her skin and changed her name for the illustrious name +of a<br> + Paris mayor. This verbal treason is one of the commonest forms +of<br> + Parisian levity.</p> + +<p>Valerie had had the satisfaction of seeing the Brazilian in +the<br> + church; for Crevel, now so entirely the husband, had invited him +out<br> + of bravado. And the Baron's presence at the breakfast astonished +no<br> + one. All these men of wit and of the world were familiar with +the<br> + meanness of passion, the compromises of pleasure.</p> + +<p>Steinbock's deep melancholy--for he was beginning to despise +the woman<br> + whom he had adored as an angel--was considered to be in +excellent<br> + taste. The Pole thus seemed to convey that all was at an end +between<br> + Valerie and himself. Lisbeth came to embrace her dear Madame +Crevel,<br> + and to excuse herself for not staying to the breakfast on the +score of<br> + Adeline's sad state of health.</p> + +<p>"Be quite easy," said she to Valerie, "they will call on you, +and you<br> + will call on them. Simply hearing the words <i>two hundred +thousand<br> + francs</i> has brought the Baroness to death's door. Oh, you +have them<br> + all hard and fast by that tale!--But you must tell it to +me."</p> + +<p>Within a month of her marriage, Valerie was at her tenth +quarrel with<br> + Steinbock; he insisted on explanations as to Henri Montes, +reminding<br> + her of the words spoken in their paradise; and, not content +with<br> + speaking to her in terms of scorn, he watched her so closely +that she<br> + never had a moment of liberty, so much was she fettered by +his<br> + jealousy on one side and Crevel's devotion on the other.</p> + +<p>Bereft now of Lisbeth, whose advice had always been so +valuable she<br> + flew into such a rage as to reproach Wenceslas for the money she +had<br> + lent him. This so effectually roused Steinbock's pride, that he +came<br> + no more to the Crevels' house. So Valerie had gained her point, +which<br> + was to be rid of him for a time, and enjoy some freedom. She +waited<br> + till Crevel should make a little journey into the country to see +Comte<br> + Popinot, with a view to arranging for her introduction to +the<br> + Countess, and was then able to make an appointment to meet the +Baron,<br> + whom she wanted to have at her command for a whole day to give +him<br> + those "reasons" which were to make him love her more than +ever.</p> + +<p>On the morning of that day, Reine, who estimated the magnitude +of her<br> + crime by that of the bribe she received, tried to warn her +mistress,<br> + in whom she naturally took more interest than in strangers. +Still, as<br> + she had been threatened with madness, and ending her days in +the<br> + Salpetriere in case of indiscretion, she was cautious.</p> + +<p>"Madame, you are so well off now," said she. "Why take on +again with<br> + that Brazilian?--I do not trust him at all."</p> + +<p>"You are very right, Reine, and I mean to be rid of him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, madame, I am glad to hear it; he frightens me, does that +big<br> + Moor! I believe him to be capable of anything."</p> + +<p>"Silly child! you have more reason to be afraid for him when +he is<br> + with me."</p> + +<p>At this moment Lisbeth came in.</p> + +<p>"My dear little pet Nanny, what an age since we met!" cried +Valerie.<br> + "I am so unhappy! Crevel bores me to death; and Wenceslas is +gone--we<br> + quarreled."</p> + +<p>"I know," said Lisbeth, "and that is what brings me here. +Victorin met<br> + him at about five in the afternoon going into an eating-house at +five-<br> + and-twenty sous, and he brought him home, hungry, by working on +his<br> + feelings, to the Rue Louis-le-Grand.--Hortense, seeing Wenceslas +lean<br> + and ill and badly dressed, held out her hand. This is how you +throw me<br> + over--"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Henri, madame," the man-servant announced in a low +voice to<br> + Valerie.</p> + +<p>"Leave me now, Lisbeth; I will explain it all to-morrow." But, +as will<br> + be seen, Valerie was ere long not in a state to explain anything +to<br> + anybody.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of May, Baron Hulot's pension was released +by<br> + Victorin's regular payment to Baron Nucingen. As everybody +knows,<br> + pensions are paid half-yearly, and only on the presentation of +a<br> + certificate that the recipient is alive: and as Hulot's +residence was<br> + unknown, the arrears unpaid on Vauvinet's demand remained to +his<br> + credit in the Treasury. Vauvinet now signed his renunciation of +any<br> + further claims, and it was still indispensable to find the +pensioner<br> + before the arrears could be drawn.</p> + +<p>Thanks to Bianchon's care, the Baroness had recovered her +health; and<br> + to this Josepha's good heart had contributed by a letter, of +which the<br> + orthography betrayed the collaboration of the Duc d'Herouville. +This<br> + was what the singer wrote to the Baroness, after twenty days +of<br> + anxious search:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"MADAME LA BARONNE,--Monsieur Hulot was living, two months +since,<br> + in the Rue des Bernardins, with Elodie Chardin, a lace-mender, +for<br> + whom he had left Mademoiselle Bijou; but he went away without +a<br> + word, leaving everything behind him, and no one knows where +he<br> + went. I am not without hope, however, and I have put a man on +this<br> + track who believes he has already seen him in the Boulevard<br> + Bourdon.</p> + +<p>"The poor Jewess means to keep the promise she made to the<br> + Christian. Will the angel pray for the devil? That must +sometimes<br> + happen in heaven.--I remain, with the deepest respect, always +your<br> + humble servant,</p> + +<p><br> + "JOSEPHA MIRAH."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The lawyer, Maitre Hulot d'Ervy, hearing no more of the +dreadful<br> + Madame Nourrisson, seeing his father-in-law married, having +brought<br> + back his brother-in-law to the family fold, suffering from +no<br> + importunity on the part of his new stepmother, and seeing his +mother's<br> + health improve daily, gave himself up to his political and +judicial<br> + duties, swept along by the tide of Paris life, in which the +hours<br> + count for days.</p> + +<p><br> + One night, towards the end of the session, having occasion to +write up<br> + a report to the Chamber of Deputies, he was obliged to sit at +work<br> + till late at night. He had gone into his study at nine o'clock, +and,<br> + while waiting till the man-servant should bring in the candles +with<br> + green shades, his thoughts turned to his father. He was +blaming<br> + himself for leaving the inquiry so much to the singer, and +had<br> + resolved to see Monsieur Chapuzot himself on the morrow, when he +saw<br> + in the twilight, outside the window, a handsome old head, bald +and<br> + yellow, with a fringe of white hair.</p> + +<p>"Would you please to give orders, sir, that a poor hermit is +to be<br> + admitted, just come from the Desert, and who is instructed to +beg for<br> + contributions towards rebuilding a holy house."</p> + +<p>This apparition, which suddenly reminded the lawyer of a +prophecy<br> + uttered by the terrible Nourrisson, gave him a shock.</p> + +<p>"Let in that old man," said he to the servant.</p> + +<p>"He will poison the place, sir," replied the man. "He has on a +brown<br> + gown which he has never changed since he left Syria, and he has +no<br> + shirt--"</p> + +<p>"Show him in," repeated the master.</p> + +<p>The old man came in. Victorin's keen eye examined this +so-called<br> + pilgrim hermit, and he saw a fine specimen of the Neapolitan +friars,<br> + whose frocks are akin to the rags of the <i>lazzaroni</i>, whose +sandals<br> + are tatters of leather, as the friars are tatters of humanity. +The<br> + get-up was so perfect that the lawyer, though still on his +guard, was<br> + vexed with himself for having believed it to be one of +Madame<br> + Nourrisson's tricks.</p> + +<p>"How much to you want of me?"</p> + +<p>"Whatever you feel that you ought to give me."</p> + +<p>Victorin took a five-franc piece from a little pile on his +table, and<br> + handed it to the stranger.</p> + +<p>"That is not much on account of fifty thousand francs," said +the<br> + pilgrim of the desert.</p> + +<p>This speech removed all Victorin's doubts.</p> + +<p>"And has Heaven kept its word?" he said, with a frown.</p> + +<p>"The question is an offence, my son," said the hermit. "If you +do not<br> + choose to pay till after the funeral, you are in your rights. I +will<br> + return in a week's time."</p> + +<p>"The funeral!" cried the lawyer, starting up.</p> + +<p>"The world moves on," said the old man, as he withdrew, "and +the dead<br> + move quickly in Paris!"</p> + +<p>When Hulot, who stood looking down, was about to reply, the +stalwart<br> + old man had vanished.</p> + +<p>"I don't understand one word of all this," said Victorin to +himself.<br> + "But at the end of the week I will ask him again about my +father, if<br> + we have not yet found him. Where does Madame Nourrisson--yes, +that was<br> + her name--pick up such actors?"</p> + +<p>On the following day, Doctor Bianchon allowed the Baroness to +go down<br> + into the garden, after examining Lisbeth, who had been obliged +to keep<br> + to her room for a month by a slight bronchial attack. The +learned<br> + doctor, who dared not pronounce a definite opinion on Lisbeth's +case<br> + till he had seen some decisive symptoms, went into the garden +with<br> + Adeline to observe the effect of the fresh air on her +nervous<br> + trembling after two months of seclusion. He was interested and +allured<br> + by the hope of curing this nervous complaint. On seeing the +great<br> + physician sitting with them and sparing them a few minutes, +the<br> + Baroness and her family conversed with him on general +subjects.</p> + +<p>"You life is a very full and a very sad one," said Madame +Hulot. "I<br> + know what it is to spend one's days in seeing poverty and +physical<br> + suffering."</p> + +<p>"I know, madame," replied the doctor, "all the scenes of which +charity<br> + compels you to be a spectator; but you will get used to it in +time, as<br> + we all do. It is the law of existence. The confessor, the +magistrate,<br> + the lawyer would find life unendurable if the spirit of the +State did<br> + not assert itself above the feelings of the individual. Could we +live<br> + at all but for that? Is not the soldier in time of war brought +face to<br> + face with spectacles even more dreadful than those we see? And +every<br> + soldier that has been under fire is kind-hearted. We medical men +have<br> + the pleasure now and again of a successful cure, as you have +that of<br> + saving a family from the horrors of hunger, depravity, or +misery, and<br> + of restoring it to social respectability. But what comfort can +the<br> + magistrate find, the police agent, or the attorney, who spend +their<br> + lives in investigating the basest schemes of self-interest, the +social<br> + monster whose only regret is when it fails, but on whom +repentance<br> + never dawns?</p> + +<p>"One-half of society spends its life in watching the other +half. A<br> + very old friend of mine is an attorney, now retired, who told me +that<br> + for fifteen years past notaries and lawyers have distrusted +their<br> + clients quite as much as their adversaries. Your son is a +pleader; has<br> + he never found himself compromised by the client for whom he +held a<br> + brief?"</p> + +<p>"Very often," said Victorin, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"And what is the cause of this deep-seated evil?" asked the +Baroness.</p> + +<p>"The decay of religion," said Bianchon, "and the pre-eminence +of<br> + finance, which is simply solidified selfishness. Money used not +to be<br> + everything; there were some kinds of superiority that ranked +above it<br> + --nobility, genius, service done to the State. But nowadays the +law<br> + takes wealth as the universal standard, and regards it as the +measure<br> + of public capacity. Certain magistrates are ineligible to the +Chamber;<br> + Jean-Jacques Rousseau would be ineligible! The perpetual +subdivision<br> + of estate compels every man to take care of himself from the age +of<br> + twenty.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, between the necessity for making a fortune and +the<br> + depravity of speculation there is no check or hindrance; for +the<br> + religious sense is wholly lacking in France, in spite of the +laudable<br> + endeavors of those who are working for a Catholic revival. And +this is<br> + the opinion of every man who, like me, studies society at the +core."</p> + +<p>"And you have few pleasures?" said Hortense.</p> + +<p>"The true physician, madame, is in love with his science," +replied the<br> + doctor. "He is sustained by that passion as much as by the sense +of<br> + his usefulness to society.</p> + +<p>"At this very time you see in me a sort of scientific rapture, +and<br> + many superficial judges would regard me as a man devoid of +feeling. I<br> + have to announce a discovery to-morrow to the College of +Medicine, for<br> + I am studying a disease that had disappeared--a mortal disease +for<br> + which no cure is known in temperate climates, though it is +curable in<br> + the West Indies--a malady known here in the Middle Ages. A noble +fight<br> + is that of the physician against such a disease. For the last +ten days<br> + I have thought of nothing but these cases--for there are two, +a<br> + husband and wife.--Are they not connections of yours? For you, +madame,<br> + are surely Monsieur Crevel's daughter?" said he, addressing +Celestine.</p> + +<p>"What, is my father your patient?" asked Celestine. "Living in +the Rue<br> + Barbet-de-Jouy?"</p> + +<p>"Precisely so," said Bianchon.</p> + +<p>"And the disease is inevitably fatal?" said Victorin in +dismay.</p> + +<p>"I will go to see him," said Celestine, rising.</p> + +<p>"I positively forbid it, madame," Bianchon quietly said. "The +disease<br> + is contagious."</p> + +<p>"But you go there, monsieur," replied the young woman. "Do you +think<br> + that a daughter's duty is less binding than a doctor's?"</p> + +<p>"Madame, a physician knows how to protect himself against +infection,<br> + and the rashness of your devotion proves to me that you would +probably<br> + be less prudent than I."</p> + +<p>Celestine, however, got up and went to her room, where she +dressed to<br> + go out.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," said Victorin to Bianchon, "have you any hope of +saving<br> + Monsieur and Madame Crevel?"</p> + +<p>"I hope, but I do not believe that I may," said Bianchon. "The +case is<br> + to me quite inexplicable. The disease is peculiar to negroes and +the<br> + American tribes, whose skin is differently constituted to that +of the<br> + white races. Now I can trace no connection with the +copper-colored<br> + tribes, with negroes or half-castes, in Monsieur or Madame +Crevel.</p> + +<p>"And though it is a very interesting disease to us, it is a +terrible<br> + thing for the sufferers. The poor woman, who is said to have +been very<br> + pretty, is punished for her sins, for she is now squalidly +hideous if<br> + she is still anything at all. She is losing her hair and teeth, +her<br> + skin is like a leper's, she is a horror to herself; her hands +are<br> + horrible, covered with greenish pustules, her nails are loose, +and the<br> + flesh is eaten away by the poisoned humors."</p> + +<p>"And the cause of such a disease?" asked the lawyer.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said the doctor, "the cause lies in a form of rapid +blood-<br> + poisoning; it degenerates with terrific rapidity. I hope to act +on the<br> + blood; I am having it analyzed; and I am now going home to +ascertain<br> + the result of the labors of my friend Professor Duval, the +famous<br> + chemist, with a view to trying one of those desperate measures +by<br> + which we sometimes attempt to defeat death."</p> + +<p>"The hand of God is there!" said Adeline, in a voice husky +with<br> + emotion. "Though that woman has brought sorrows on me which have +led<br> + me in moments of madness to invoke the vengeance of Heaven, I +hope--<br> + God knows I hope--you may succeed, doctor."</p> + +<p>Victorin felt dizzy. He looked at his mother, his sister, and +the<br> + physician by turns, quaking lest they should read his thoughts. +He<br> + felt himself a murderer.</p> + +<p>Hortense, for her part, thought God was just.</p> + +<p>Celestine came back to beg her husband to accompany her.</p> + +<p>"If you insist on going, madame, and you too, monsieur, keep +at least<br> + a foot between you and the bed of the sufferer, that is the +chief<br> + precaution. Neither you nor your wife must dream of kissing the +dying<br> + man. And, indeed, you ought to go with your wife, Monsieur +Hulot, to<br> + hinder her from disobeying my injunctions."</p> + +<p>Adeline and Hortense, when they were left alone, went to sit +with<br> + Lisbeth. Hortense had such a virulent hatred of Valerie that she +could<br> + not contain the expression of it.</p> + +<p>"Cousin Lisbeth," she exclaimed, "my mother and I are avenged! +that<br> + venomous snake is herself bitten--she is rotting in her +bed!"</p> + +<p>"Hortense, at this moment you are not a Christian. You ought +to pray<br> + to God to vouchsafe repentance to this wretched woman."</p> + +<p>"What are you talking about?" said Betty, rising from her +couch. "Are<br> + you speaking of Valerie?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Adeline; "she is past hope--dying of some +horrible<br> + disease of which the mere description makes one shudder----"</p> + +<p>Lisbeth's teeth chattered, a cold sweat broke out all over +her; the<br> + violence of the shock showed how passionate her attachment to +Valerie<br> + had been.</p> + +<p>"I must go there," said she.</p> + +<p>"But the doctor forbids your going out."</p> + +<p>"I do not care--I must go!--Poor Crevel! what a state he must +be in;<br> + for he loves that woman."</p> + +<p>"He is dying too," replied Countess Steinbock. "Ah! all our +enemies<br> + are in the devil's clutches--"</p> + +<p>"In God's hands, my child--"</p> + +<p>Lisbeth dressed in the famous yellow Indian shawl and her +black velvet<br> + bonnet, and put on her boots; in spite of her relations'<br> + remonstrances, she set out as if driven by some irresistible +power.</p> + +<p>She arrived in the Rue Barbet a few minutes after Monsieur and +Madame<br> + Hulot, and found seven physicians there, brought by Bianchon to +study<br> + this unique case; he had just joined them. The physicians, +assembled<br> + in the drawing-room, were discussing the disease; now one and +now<br> + another went into Valerie's room or Crevel's to take a note, +and<br> + returned with an opinion based on this rapid study.</p> + +<p><br> + These princes of science were divided in their opinions. One, +who<br> + stood alone in his views, considered it a case of poisoning, +of<br> + private revenge, and denied its identity with the disease known +in the<br> + Middle Ages. Three others regarded it as a specific +deterioration of<br> + the blood and the humors. The rest, agreeing with Bianchon, +maintained<br> + that the blood was poisoned by some hitherto unknown morbid +infection.<br> + Bianchon produced Professor Duval's analysis of the blood. +The<br> + remedies to be applied, though absolutely empirical and without +hope,<br> + depended on the verdict in this medical dilemma.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth stood as if petrified three yards away from the bed +where<br> + Valerie lay dying, as she saw a priest from Saint-Thomas +d'Aquin<br> + standing by her friend's pillow, and a sister of charity in<br> + attendance. Religion could find a soul to save in a mass of +rottenness<br> + which, of the five senses of man, had now only that of sight. +The<br> + sister of charity who alone had been found to nurse Valerie +stood<br> + apart. Thus the Catholic religion, that divine institution, +always<br> + actuated by the spirit of self-sacrifice, under its twofold +aspect of<br> + the Spirit and the Flesh, was tending this horrible and +atrocious<br> + creature, soothing her death-bed by its infinite benevolence +and<br> + inexhaustible stores of mercy.</p> + +<p>The servants, in horror, refused to go into the room of either +their<br> + master or mistress; they thought only of themselves, and judged +their<br> + betters as righteously stricken. The smell was so foul that in +spite<br> + of open windows and strong perfumes, no one could remain long +in<br> + Valerie's room. Religion alone kept guard there.</p> + +<p>How could a woman so clever as Valerie fail to ask herself to +what end<br> + these two representatives of the Church remained with her? The +dying<br> + woman had listened to the words of the priest. Repentance had +risen on<br> + her darkened soul as the devouring malady had consumed her +beauty. The<br> + fragile Valerie had been less able to resist the inroads of +the<br> + disease than Crevel; she would be the first to succumb, and, +indeed,<br> + had been the first attacked.</p> + +<p>"If I had not been ill myself, I would have come to nurse +you," said<br> + Lisbeth at last, after a glance at her friend's sunken eyes. "I +have<br> + kept my room this fortnight or three weeks; but when I heard of +your<br> + state from the doctor, I came at once."</p> + +<p>"Poor Lisbeth, you at least love me still, I see!" said +Valerie.<br> + "Listen. I have only a day or two left to think, for I cannot +say to<br> + live. You see, there is nothing left of me--I am a heap of mud! +They<br> + will not let me see myself in a glass.--Well, it is no more than +I<br> + deserve. Oh, if I might only win mercy, I would gladly undo all +the<br> + mischief I have done."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Lisbeth, "if you can talk like that, you are indeed +a dead<br> + woman."</p> + +<p>"Do not hinder this woman's repentance, leave her in her +Christian<br> + mind," said the priest.</p> + +<p>"There is nothing left!" said Lisbeth in consternation. "I +cannot<br> + recognize her eyes or her mouth! Not a feature of her is there! +And<br> + her wit has deserted her! Oh, it is awful!"</p> + +<p>"You don't know," said Valerie, "what death is; what it is to +be<br> + obliged to think of the morrow of your last day on earth, and of +what<br> + is to be found in the grave.--Worms for the body--and for the +soul,<br> + what?--Lisbeth, I know there is another life! And I am given +over to<br> + terrors which prevent my feeling the pangs of my decomposing +body.--I,<br> + who could laugh at a saint, and say to Crevel that the vengeance +of<br> + God took every form of disaster.-- Well, I was a true +prophet.--Do not<br> + trifle with sacred things, Lisbeth; if you love me, repent as I +do."</p> + +<p>"I!" said Lisbeth. "I see vengeance wherever I turn in nature; +insects<br> + even die to satisfy the craving for revenge when they are +attacked.<br> + And do not these gentlemen tell us"--and she looked at the +priest--<br> + "that God is revenged, and that His vengeance lasts through +all<br> + eternity?"</p> + +<p>The priest looked mildly at Lisbeth and said:</p> + +<p>"You, madame, are an atheist!"</p> + +<p>"But look what I have come to," said Valerie.</p> + +<p>"And where did you get this gangrene?" asked the old maid, +unmoved<br> + from her peasant incredulity.</p> + +<p>"I had a letter from Henri which leaves me in no doubt as to +my fate.<br> + He has murdered me. And--just when I meant to live honestly--to +die an<br> + object of disgust!</p> + +<p>"Lisbeth, give up all notions of revenge. Be kind to that +family to<br> + whom I have left by my will everything I can dispose of. Go, +child,<br> + though you are the only creature who, at this hour, does not +avoid me<br> + with horror--go, I beseech you, and leave me.--I have only time +to<br> + make my peace with God!"</p> + +<p>"She is wandering in her wits," said Lisbeth to herself, as +she left<br> + the room.</p> + +<p>The strongest affection known, that of a woman for a woman, +had not<br> + such heroic constancy as the Church. Lisbeth, stifled by the +miasma,<br> + went away. She found the physicians still in consultation. +But<br> + Bianchon's opinion carried the day, and the only question now +was how<br> + to try the remedies.</p> + +<p>"At any rate, we shall have a splendid <i>post-mortem</i>," +said one of his<br> + opponents, "and there will be two cases to enable us to make<br> + comparisons."</p> + +<p>Lisbeth went in again with Bianchon, who went up to the sick +woman<br> + without seeming aware of the malodorous atmosphere.</p> + +<p>"Madame," said he, "we intend to try a powerful remedy which +may save<br> + you--"</p> + +<p>"And if you save my life," said she, "shall I be as +good-looking as<br> + ever?"</p> + +<p>"Possibly," said the judicious physician.</p> + +<p>"I know your <i>possibly</i>," said Valerie. "I shall look +like a woman who<br> + has fallen into the fire! No, leave me to the Church. I can +please no<br> + one now but God. I will try to be reconciled to Him, and that +will be<br> + my last flirtation; yes, I must try to come round God!"</p> + +<p>"That is my poor Valerie's last jest; that is all herself!" +said<br> + Lisbeth in tears.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth thought it her duty to go into Crevel's room, where +she found<br> + Victorin and his wife sitting about a yard away from the +stricken<br> + man's bed.</p> + +<p>"Lisbeth," said he, "they will not tell me what state my wife +is in;<br> + you have just seen her--how is she?"</p> + +<p>"She is better; she says she is saved," replied Lisbeth, +allowing<br> + herself this play on the word to soothe Crevel's mind.</p> + +<p>"That is well," said the Mayor. "I feared lest I had been the +cause of<br> + her illness. A man is not a traveler in perfumery for nothing; I +had<br> + blamed myself.--If I should lose her, what would become of me? +On my<br> + honor, my children, I worship that woman."</p> + +<p>He sat up in bed and tried to assume his favorite +position.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Papa!" cried Celestine, "if only you could be well again, +I would<br> + make friends with my stepmother--I make a vow!"</p> + +<p>"Poor little Celestine!" said Crevel, "come and kiss me."</p> + +<p>Victorin held back his wife, who was rushing forward.</p> + +<p>"You do not know, perhaps," said the lawyer gently, "that your +disease<br> + is contagious, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"To be sure," replied Crevel. "And the doctors are quite proud +of<br> + having rediscovered in me some long lost plague of the Middle +Ages,<br> + which the Faculty has had cried like lost property--it is very +funny!"</p> + +<p>"Papa," said Celestine, "be brave, and you will get the better +of this<br> + disease."</p> + +<p>"Be quite easy, my children; Death thinks twice of it before +carrying<br> + off a Mayor of Paris," said he, with monstrous composure. "And +if,<br> + after all, my district is so unfortunate as to lose a man it has +twice<br> + honored with its suffrages--you see, what a flow of words I +have!--<br> + Well, I shall know how to pack up and go. I have been a +commercial<br> + traveler; I am experienced in such matters. Ah! my children, I +am a<br> + man of strong mind."</p> + +<p>"Papa, promise me to admit the Church--"</p> + +<p>"Never," replied Crevel. "What is to be said? I drank the milk +of<br> + Revolution; I have not Baron Holbach's wit, but I have his +strength of<br> + mind. I am more <i>Regence</i> than ever, more Musketeer, Abbe +Dubois, and<br> + Marechal de Richelieu! By the Holy Poker!--My wife, who is +wandering<br> + in her head, has just sent me a man in a gown--to me! the +admirer of<br> + Beranger, the friend of Lisette, the son of Voltaire and +Rousseau.--<br> + The doctor, to feel my pulse, as it were, and see if sickness +had<br> + subdued me--'You saw Monsieur l'Abbe?' said he.--Well, I +imitated the<br> + great Montesquieu. Yes, I looked at the doctor--see, like this," +and<br> + he turned to show three-quarters face, like his portrait, and +extended<br> + his hand authoritatively--"and I said:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"The slave was here,<br> + He showed his order, but he nothing gained.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>"His order</i> is a pretty jest, showing that even in death +Monsieur le<br> + President de Montesquieu preserved his elegant wit, for they had +sent<br> + him a Jesuit. I admire that passage--I cannot say of his life, +but of<br> + his death--the passage--another joke!--The passage from life to +death<br> + --the Passage Montesquieu!"</p> + +<p><br> + Victorin gazed sadly at his father-in-law, wondering whether +folly and<br> + vanity were not forces on a par with true greatness of soul. +The<br> + causes that act on the springs of the soul seem to be quite<br> + independent of the results. Can it be that the fortitude which +upholds<br> + a great criminal is the same as that which a Champcenetz so +proudly<br> + walks to the scaffold?</p> + +<p>By the end of the week Madame Crevel was buried, after +dreadful<br> + sufferings; and Crevel followed her within two days. Thus +the<br> + marriage-contract was annulled. Crevel was heir to Valerie.</p> + +<p>On the very day after the funeral, the friar called again on +the<br> + lawyer, who received him in perfect silence. The monk held out +his<br> + hand without a word, and without a word Victorin Hulot gave him +eighty<br> + thousand-franc notes, taken from a sum of money found in +Crevel's<br> + desk.</p> + +<p>Young Madame Hulot inherited the estate of Presles and thirty +thousand<br> + francs a year.</p> + +<p>Madame Crevel had bequeathed a sum of three hundred thousand +francs to<br> + Baron Hulot. Her scrofulous boy Stanislas was to inherit, at +his<br> + majority, the Hotel Crevel and eighty thousand francs a +year.</p> + +<p>Among the many noble associations founded in Paris by +Catholic<br> + charity, there is one, originated by Madame de la Chanterie, +for<br> + promoting civil and religious marriages between persons who +have<br> + formed a voluntary but illicit union. Legislators, who draw +large<br> + revenues from the registration fees, and the Bourgeois dynasty, +which<br> + benefits by the notary's profits, affect to overlook the fact +that<br> + three-fourths of the poorer class cannot afford fifteen francs +for the<br> + marriage-contract. The pleaders, a sufficiently vilified +body,<br> + gratuitously defend the cases of the indigent, while the +notaries have<br> + not as yet agreed to charge nothing for the marriage-contract of +the<br> + poor. As to the revenue collectors, the whole machinery of +Government<br> + would have to be dislocated to induce the authorities to relax +their<br> + demands. The registrar's office is deaf and dumb.</p> + +<p>Then the Church, too, receives a duty on marriages. In France +the<br> + Church depends largely on such revenues; even in the House of +God it<br> + traffics in chairs and kneeling stools in a way that offends<br> + foreigners; though it cannot have forgotten the anger of the +Saviour<br> + who drove the money-changers out of the Temple. If the Church is +so<br> + loath to relinquish its dues, it must be supposed that these +dues,<br> + known as Vestry dues, are one of its sources of maintenance, and +then<br> + the fault of the Church is the fault of the State.</p> + +<p>The co-operation of these conditions, at a time when charity +is too<br> + greatly concerned with the negroes and the petty offenders +discharged<br> + from prison to trouble itself about honest folks in +difficulties,<br> + results in the existence of a number of decent couples who have +never<br> + been legally married for lack of thirty francs, the lowest +figure for<br> + which the Notary, the Registrar, the Mayor and the Church will +unite<br> + two citizens of Paris. Madame de la Chanterie's fund, founded +to<br> + restore poor households to their religious and legal status, +hunts up<br> + such couples, and with all the more success because it helps +them in<br> + their poverty before attacking their unlawful union.</p> + +<p>As soon as Madame Hulot had recovered, she returned to her<br> + occupations. And then it was that the admirable Madame de la +Chanterie<br> + came to beg that Adeline would add the legalization of these +voluntary<br> + unions to the other good works of which she was the +instrument.</p> + +<p>One of the Baroness' first efforts in this cause was made in +the<br> + ominous-looking district, formerly known as la Petite +Pologne--Little<br> + Poland--bounded by the Rue du Rocher, Rue de la Pepiniere, and +Rue de<br> + Miromenil. There exists there a sort of offshoot of the +Faubourg<br> + Saint-Marceau. To give an idea of this part of the town, it is +enough<br> + to say that the landlords of some of the houses tenanted by +working<br> + men without work, by dangerous characters, and by the very +poor<br> + employed in unhealthy toil, dare not demand their rents, and can +find<br> + no bailiffs bold enough to evict insolvent lodgers. At the +present<br> + time speculating builders, who are fast changing the aspect of +this<br> + corner of Paris, and covering the waste ground lying between the +Rue<br> + d'Amsterdam and the Rue Faubourg-du-Roule, will no doubt alter +the<br> + character of the inhabitants; for the trowel is a more +civilizing<br> + agent than is generally supposed. By erecting substantial and +handsome<br> + houses, with porters at the doors, by bordering the streets +with<br> + footwalks and shops, speculation, while raising the rents, +disperses<br> + the squalid class, families bereft of furniture, and lodgers +that<br> + cannot pay. And so these districts are cleared of such +objectionable<br> + residents, and the dens vanish into which the police never +venture but<br> + under the sanction of the law.</p> + +<p>In June 1844, the purlieus of the Place de Laborde were still +far from<br> + inviting. The genteel pedestrian, who by chance should turn out +of the<br> + Rue de la Pepiniere into one of those dreadful side-streets, +would<br> + have been dismayed to see how vile a bohemia dwelt cheek by jowl +with<br> + the aristocracy. In such places as these, haunted by ignorant +poverty<br> + and misery driven to bay, flourish the last public +letter-writers who<br> + are to be found in Paris. Wherever you see the two words +"Ecrivain<br> + Public" written in a fine copy hand on a sheet of letter-paper +stuck<br> + to the window pane of some low entresol or mud-splashed +ground-floor<br> + room, you may safely conclude that the neighborhood is the +lurking<br> + place of many unlettered folks, and of much vice and crime, +the<br> + outcome of misery; for ignorance is the mother of all sorts of +crime.<br> + A crime is, in the first instance, a defect of reasoning +powers.</p> + +<p>While the Baroness had been ill, this quarter, to which she +was a<br> + minor Providence, had seen the advent of a public writer who +settled<br> + in the Passage du Soleil--Sun Alley--a spot of which the name is +one<br> + of the antitheses dear to the Parisian, for the passage is +especially<br> + dark. This writer, supposed to be a German, was named Vyder, and +he<br> + lived on matrimonial terms with a young creature of whom he was +so<br> + jealous that he never allowed her to go anywhere excepting to +some<br> + honest stove and flue-fitters, in the Rue Saint-Lazare, +Italians, as<br> + such fitters always are, but long since established in Paris. +These<br> + people had been saved from a bankruptcy, which would have +reduced them<br> + to misery, by the Baroness, acting in behalf of Madame de la<br> + Chanterie. In a few months comfort had taken the place of +poverty, and<br> + Religion had found a home in hearts which once had cursed Heaven +with<br> + the energy peculiar to Italian stove-fitters. So one of Madame +Hulot's<br> + first visits was to this family.</p> + +<p>She was pleased at the scene that presented itself to her eyes +at the<br> + back of the house where these worthy folks lived in the Rue +Saint-<br> + Lazare, not far from the Rue du Rocher. High above the stores +and<br> + workshops, now well filled, where toiled a swarm of apprentices +and<br> + workmen--all Italians from the valley of Domo d'Ossola--the +master's<br> + family occupied a set of rooms, which hard work had blessed +with<br> + abundance. The Baroness was hailed like the Virgin Mary in +person.</p> + +<p>After a quarter of an hour's questioning, Adeline, having to +wait for<br> + the father to inquire how his business was prospering, pursued +her<br> + saintly calling as a spy by asking whether they knew of any +families<br> + needing help.</p> + +<p>"Ah, dear lady, you who could save the damned from hell!" said +the<br> + Italian wife, "there is a girl quite near here to be saved +from<br> + perdition."</p> + +<p>"A girl well known to you?" asked the Baroness.</p> + +<p>"She is the granddaughter of a master my husband formerly +worked for,<br> + who came to France in 1798, after the Revolution, by name +Judici. Old<br> + Judici, in Napoleon's time, was one of the principal +stove-fitters in<br> + Paris; he died in 1819, leaving his son a fine fortune. But +the<br> + younger Judici wasted all his money on bad women; till, at last, +he<br> + married one who was sharper than the rest, and she had this +poor<br> + little girl, who is just turned fifteen."</p> + +<p>"And what is wrong with her?" asked Adeline, struck by the +resemblance<br> + between this Judici and her husband.</p> + +<p>"Well, madame, this child, named Atala, ran away from her +father, and<br> + came to live close by here with an old German of eighty at +least,<br> + named Vyder, who does odd jobs for people who cannot read and +write.<br> + Now, if this old sinner, who bought the child of her mother, +they say<br> + for fifteen hundred francs, would but marry her, as he certainly +has<br> + not long to live, and as he is said to have some few thousand +of<br> + francs a year--well, the poor thing, who is a sweet little +angel,<br> + would be out of mischief, and above want, which must be the ruin +of<br> + her."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much for the information. I may do some good, +but I<br> + must act with caution.--Who is the old man?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! madame, he is a good old fellow; he makes the child very +happy,<br> + and he has some sense too, for he left the part of town where +the<br> + Judicis live, as I believe, to snatch the child from her +mother's<br> + clutches. The mother was jealous of her, and I dare say she +thought<br> + she could make money out of her beauty and make a +<i>mademoiselle</i> of<br> + the girl.</p> + +<p>"Atala remembered us, and advised her gentleman to settle near +us; and<br> + as the good man sees how decent we are, he allows her to come +here.<br> + But get them married, madame, and you will do an action worthy +of you.<br> + Once married, the child will be independent and free from her +mother,<br> + who keeps an eye on her, and who, if she could make money by +her,<br> + would like to see her on the stage, or successful in the wicked +life<br> + she meant her to lead."</p> + +<p>"Why doesn't the old man marry her?"</p> + +<p>"There was no necessity for it, you see," said the Italian. +"And<br> + though old Vyder is not a bad old fellow, I fancy he is sharp +enough<br> + to wish to remain the master, while if he once got married--why, +the<br> + poor man is afraid of the stone that hangs round every old +man's<br> + neck."</p> + +<p>"Could you send for the girl to come here?" said Madame Hulot. +"I<br> + should see her quietly, and find out what could be done--"</p> + +<p>The stove-fitter's wife signed to her eldest girl, who ran +off. Ten<br> + minutes later she returned, leading by the hand a child of +fifteen and<br> + a half, a beauty of the Italian type. Mademoiselle Judici +inherited<br> + from her father that ivory skin which, rather yellow by day, is +by<br> + artificial light of lily-whiteness; eyes of Oriental beauty, +form, and<br> + brilliancy, close curling lashes like black feathers, hair of +ebony<br> + hue, and that native dignity of the Lombard race which makes +the<br> + foreigner, as he walks through Milan on a Sunday, fancy that +every<br> + porter's daughter is a princess.</p> + +<p>Atala, told by the stove-fitter's daughter that she was to +meet the<br> + great lady of whom she had heard so much, had hastily dressed in +a<br> + black silk gown, a smart little cape, and neat boots. A cap with +a<br> + cherry-colored bow added to the brilliant effect of her +coloring. The<br> + child stood in an attitude of artless curiosity, studying the +Baroness<br> + out of the corner of her eye, for her palsied trembling puzzled +her<br> + greatly.</p> + +<p>Adeline sighed deeply as she saw this jewel of womanhood in +the mire<br> + of prostitution, and determined to rescue her to virtue.</p> + +<p>"What is your name, my dear?"</p> + +<p>"Atala, madame."</p> + +<p>"And can you read and write?"</p> + +<p>"No, madame; but that does not matter, as monsieur can."</p> + +<p>"Did your parents ever take you to church? Have you been to +your first<br> + Communion? Do you know your Catechism?"</p> + +<p>"Madame, papa wanted to make me do something of the kind you +speak of,<br> + but mamma would not have it--"</p> + +<p>"Your mother?" exclaimed the Baroness. "Is she bad to you, +then?"</p> + +<p>"She was always beating me. I don't know why, but I was always +being<br> + quarreled over by my father and mother--"</p> + +<p>"Did you ever hear of God?" cried the Baroness.</p> + +<p>The girl looked up wide-eyed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, papa and mamma often said 'Good God,' and 'In God's +name,'<br> + and 'God's thunder,' " said she, with perfect simplicity.</p> + +<p>"Then you never saw a church? Did you never think of going +into one?"</p> + +<p>"A church?--Notre-Dame, the Pantheon?--I have seen them from +a<br> + distance, when papa took me into town; but that was not very +often.<br> + There are no churches like those in the Faubourg."</p> + +<p>"Which Faubourg did you live in?"</p> + +<p>"In the Faubourg."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but which?"</p> + +<p>"In the Rue de Charonne, madame."</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine never call +that<br> + notorious district other than <i>the</i> Faubourg. To them it is +the one<br> + and only Faubourg; and manufacturers generally understand the +words as<br> + meaning the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.</p> + +<p>"Did no one ever tell you what was right or wrong?"</p> + +<p>"Mamma used to beat me when I did not do what pleased +her."</p> + +<p>"But did you not know that it was very wicked to run away from +your<br> + father and mother to go to live with an old man?"</p> + +<p>Atala Judici gazed at the Baroness with a haughty stare, but +made no<br> + reply.</p> + +<p>"She is a perfect little savage," murmured Adeline.</p> + +<p>"There are a great many like her in the Faubourg, madame," +said the<br> + stove-fitter's wife.</p> + +<p>"But she knows nothing--not even what is wrong. Good +Heavens!--Why do<br> + you not answer me?" said Madame Hulot, putting out her hand to +take<br> + Atala's.</p> + +<p>Atala indignantly withdrew a step.</p> + +<p>"You are an old fool!" said she. "Why, my father and mother +had had<br> + nothing to eat for a week. My mother wanted me to do much worse +than<br> + that, I think, for my father thrashed her and called her a +thief!<br> + However, Monsieur Vyder paid all their debts, and gave them some +money<br> + --oh, a bagful! And he brought me away, and poor papa was +crying. But<br> + we had to part!--Was it wicked?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"And are you very fond of Monsieur Vyder?"</p> + +<p>"Fond of him?" said she. "I should think so! He tells me +beautiful<br> + stories, madame, every evening; and he has given me nice gowns, +and<br> + linen, and a shawl. Why, I am figged out like a princess, and I +never<br> + wear sabots now. And then, I have not known what it is to be +hungry<br> + these two months past. And I don't live on potatoes now. He +brings me<br> + bonbons and burnt almonds, and chocolate almonds.--Aren't they +good?--<br> + I do anything he pleases for a bag of chocolate.--Then my old +Daddy is<br> + very kind; he takes such care of me, and is so nice; I know now +what<br> + my mother ought to have been.--He is going to get an old woman +to help<br> + me, for he doesn't like me to dirty my hands with cooking. For +the<br> + past month, too, he has been making a little money, and he gives +me<br> + three francs every evening that I put into a money-box. Only he +will<br> + never let me out except to come here--and he calls me his +little<br> + kitten! Mamma never called me anything but bad names--and thief, +and<br> + vermin!"</p> + +<p><br> + "Well, then, my child, why should not Daddy Vyder be your +husband?"</p> + +<p>"But he is, madame," said the girl, looking at Adeline with +calm<br> + pride, without a blush, her brow smooth, her eyes steady. "He +told me<br> + that I was his little wife; but it is a horrid bore to be a +man's wife<br> + --if it were not for the burnt almonds!"</p> + +<p>"Good Heaven!" said the Baroness to herself, "what monster can +have<br> + had the heart to betray such perfect, such holy innocence? To +restore<br> + this child to the ways of virtue would surely atone for many +sins.--I<br> + knew what I was doing." thought she, remembering the scene +with<br> + Crevel. "But she--she knows nothing."</p> + +<p>"Do you know Monsieur Samanon?" asked Atala, with an +insinuating look.</p> + +<p>"No, my child; but why do you ask?"</p> + +<p>"Really and truly?" said the artless girl.</p> + +<p>"You have nothing to fear from this lady," said the Italian +woman.<br> + "She is an angel."</p> + +<p>"It is because my good old boy is afraid of being caught by +Samanon.<br> + He is hiding, and I wish he could be free--"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"On! then he would take me to Bobino, perhaps to the +Ambigu."</p> + +<p>"What a delightful creature!" said the Baroness, kissing the +girl.</p> + +<p>"Are you rich?" asked Atala, who was fingering the Baroness' +lace<br> + ruffles.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and No," replied Madame Hulot. "I am rich for dear +little girls<br> + like you when they are willing to be taught their duties as +Christians<br> + by a priest, and to walk in the right way."</p> + +<p>"What way is that?" said Atala; "I walk on my two feet."</p> + +<p>"The way of virtue."</p> + +<p>Atala looked at the Baroness with a crafty smile.</p> + +<p>"Look at madame," said the Baroness, pointing to the +stove-fitter's<br> + wife, "she has been quite happy because she was received into +the<br> + bosom of the Church. You married like the beasts that +perish."</p> + +<p>"I?" said Atala. "Why, if you will give me as much as Daddy +Vyder<br> + gives me, I shall be quite happy unmarried again. It is a +grind.--Do<br> + you know what it is to--?"</p> + +<p>"But when once you are united to a man as you are," the +Baroness put<br> + in, "virtue requires you to remain faithful to him."</p> + +<p>"Till he dies," said Atala, with a knowing flash. "I shall not +have to<br> + wait long. If you only knew how Daddy Vyder coughs and +blows.--Poof,<br> + poof," and she imitated the old man.</p> + +<p>"Virtue and morality require that the Church, representing +God, and<br> + the Mayor, representing the law, should consecrate your +marriage,"<br> + Madame Hulot went on. "Look at madame; she is legally +married--"</p> + +<p>"Will it make it more amusing?" asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"You will be happier," said the Baroness, "for no one could +then blame<br> + you. You would satisfy God! Ask her if she was married without +the<br> + sacrament of marriage!"</p> + +<p>Atala looked at the Italian.</p> + +<p>"How is she any better than I am?" she asked. "I am prettier +than she<br> + is."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but I am an honest woman," said the wife, "and you may +be called<br> + by a bad name."</p> + +<p>"How can you expect God to protect you if you trample every +law, human<br> + and divine, under foot?" said the Baroness. "Don't you know that +God<br> + has Paradise in store for those who obey the injunctions of +His<br> + Church?"</p> + +<p>"What is there in Paradise? Are there playhouses?"</p> + +<p>"Paradise!" said Adeline, "is every joy you can conceive of. +It is<br> + full of angels with white wings. You see God in all His glory, +you<br> + share His power, you are happy for every minute of +eternity!"</p> + +<p>Atala listened to the lady as she might have listened to +music; but<br> + Adeline, seeing that she was incapable of understanding her, +thought<br> + she had better take another line of action and speak to the old +man.</p> + +<p>"Go home, then, my child, and I will go to see Monsieur Vyder. +Is he a<br> + Frenchman?"</p> + +<p>"He is an Alsatian, madame. But he will be quite rich soon. If +you<br> + would pay what he owes to that vile Samanon, he would give you +back<br> + your money, for in a few months he will be getting six thousand +francs<br> + a year, he says, and we are to go to live in the country a long +way<br> + off, in the Vosges."</p> + +<p>At the word <i>Vosges</i> the Baroness sat lost in reverie. It +called up<br> + the vision of her native village. She was roused from her +melancholy<br> + meditation by the entrance of the stove-fitter, who came to +assure her<br> + of his prosperity.</p> + +<p>"In a year's time, madame, I can repay the money you lent us, +for it<br> + is God's money, the money of the poor and wretched. If ever I +make a<br> + fortune, come to me for what you want, and I will render through +you<br> + the help to others which you first brought us."</p> + +<p>"Just now," said Madame Hulot, "I do not need your money, but +I ask<br> + your assistance in a good work. I have just seen that little +Judici,<br> + who is living with an old man, and I mean to see them regularly +and<br> + legally married."</p> + +<p>"Ah! old Vyder; he is a very worthy old fellow, with plenty of +good<br> + sense. The poor old man has already made friends in the +neighborhood,<br> + though he has been here but two months. He keeps my accounts for +me.<br> + He is, I believe, a brave Colonel who served the Emperor well. +And how<br> + he adores Napoleon!--He has some orders, but he never wears +them. He<br> + is waiting till he is straight again, for he is in debt, poor +old boy!<br> + In fact, I believe he is hiding, threatened by the law--"</p> + +<p>"Tell him that I will pay his debts if he will marry the +child."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that will soon be settled.--Suppose you were to see him, +madame;<br> + it is not two steps away, in the Passage du Soleil."</p> + +<p>So the lady and the stove-fitter went out.</p> + +<p>"This way, madame," said the man, turning down the Rue de +la<br> + Pepiniere.</p> + +<p>The alley runs, in fact, from the bottom of this street +through to the<br> + Rue du Rocher. Halfway down this passage, recently opened +through,<br> + where the shops let at a very low rent, the Baroness saw on a +window,<br> + screened up to a height with a green, gauze curtain, which +excluded<br> + the prying eyes of the passer-by, the words:</p> + +<p><br> + "ECRIVAIN PUBLIC";</p> + +<p>and on the door the announcement:</p> + +<p>BUSINESS TRANSACTED.</p> + +<p><i>Petitions Drawn Up, Accounts Audited, Etc.</i></p> + +<p><i>With Secrecy and Dispatch.</i></p> + +<p><br> + The shop was like one of those little offices where travelers +by<br> + omnibus wait the vehicles to take them on to their destination. +A<br> + private staircase led up, no doubt, to the living-rooms on +the<br> + entresol which were let with the shop. Madame Hulot saw a +dirty<br> + writing-table of some light wood, some letter-boxes, and a +wretched<br> + second-hand chair. A cap with a peak and a greasy green shade +for the<br> + eyes suggested either precautions for disguise, or weak eyes, +which<br> + was not unlikely in an old man.</p> + +<p>"He is upstairs," said the stove-fitter. "I will go up and +tell him to<br> + come down."</p> + +<p>Adeline lowered her veil and took a seat. A heavy step made +the narrow<br> + stairs creak, and Adeline could not restrain a piercing cry when +she<br> + saw her husband, Baron Hulot, in a gray knitted jersey, old +gray<br> + flannel trousers, and slippers.</p> + +<p>"What is your business, madame?" said Hulot, with a +flourish.</p> + +<p>She rose, seized Hulot by the arm, and said in a voice hoarse +with<br> + emotion:</p> + +<p>"At last--I have found you!"</p> + +<p>"Adeline!" exclaimed the Baron in bewilderment, and he locked +the shop<br> + door. "Joseph, go out the back way," he added to the +stove-fitter.</p> + +<p>"My dear!" she said, forgetting everything in her excessive +joy, "you<br> + can come home to us all; we are rich. Your son draws a hundred +and<br> + sixty thousand francs a year! Your pension is released; there +are<br> + fifteen thousand francs of arrears you can get on showing that +you are<br> + alive. Valerie is dead, and left you three hundred thousand +francs.</p> + +<p>"Your name is quite forgotten by this time; you may reappear +in the<br> + world, and you will find a fortune awaiting you at your son's +house.<br> + Come; our happiness will be complete. For nearly three years I +have<br> + been seeking you, and I felt so sure of finding you that a room +is<br> + ready waiting for you. Oh! come away from this, come away from +the<br> + dreadful state I see you in!"</p> + +<p>"I am very willing," said the bewildered Baron, "but can I +take the<br> + girl?"</p> + +<p>"Hector, give her up! Do that much for your Adeline, who has +never<br> + before asked you to make the smallest sacrifice. I promise you I +will<br> + give the child a marriage portion; I will see that she marries +well,<br> + and has some education. Let it be said of one of the women who +have<br> + given you happiness that she too is happy; and do not relapse +into<br> + vice, into the mire."</p> + +<p>"So it was you," said the Baron, with a smile, "who wanted to +see me<br> + married?--Wait a few minutes," he added; "I will go upstairs +and<br> + dress; I have some decent clothes in a trunk."</p> + +<p>Adeline, left alone, and looking round the squalid shop, +melted into<br> + tears.</p> + +<p>"He has been living here, and we rolling in wealth!" said she +to<br> + herself. "Poor man, he has indeed been punished--he who was +elegance<br> + itself."</p> + +<p>The stove-fitter returned to make his bow to his benefactress, +and she<br> + desired him to fetch a coach. When he came back, she begged him +to<br> + give little Atala Judici a home, and to take her away at +once.</p> + +<p>"And tell her that if she will place herself under the +guidance of<br> + Monsieur the Cure of the Madeleine, on the day when she attends +her<br> + first Communion I will give her thirty thousand francs and find +her a<br> + good husband, some worthy young man."</p> + +<p>"My eldest son, then madame! He is two-and-twenty, and he +worships the<br> + child."</p> + +<p>The Baron now came down; there were tears in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"You are forcing me to desert the only creature who had ever +begun to<br> + love me at all as you do!" said he in a whisper to his wife. +"She is<br> + crying bitterly, and I cannot abandon her so--"</p> + +<p>"Be quite easy, Hector. She will find a home with honest +people, and I<br> + will answer for her conduct."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, I can go with you," said the Baron, escorting his +wife to<br> + the cab.</p> + +<p>Hector, the Baron d'Ervy once more, had put on a blue coat +and<br> + trousers, a white waistcoat, a black stock, and gloves. When +the<br> + Baroness had taken her seat in the vehicle, Atala slipped in +like an<br> + eel.</p> + +<p>"Oh, madame," she said, "let me go with you. I will be so +good, so<br> + obedient; I will do whatever you wish; but do not part me from +my<br> + Daddy Vyder, my kind Daddy who gives me such nice things. I +shall be<br> + beaten--"</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Atala," said the Baron, "this lady is my wife--we +must<br> + part--"</p> + +<p>"She! As old as that! and shaking like a leaf!" said the +child. "Look<br> + at her head!" and she laughingly mimicked the Baroness' +palsy.</p> + +<p>The stove-fitter, who had run after the girl, came to the +carriage<br> + door.</p> + +<p>"Take her away!" said Adeline. The man put his arms round +Atala and<br> + fairly carried her off.</p> + +<p>"Thanks for such a sacrifice, my dearest," said Adeline, +taking the<br> + Baron's hand and clutching it with delirious joy. "How much you +are<br> + altered! you must have suffered so much! What a surprise for +Hortense<br> + and for your son!"</p> + +<p>Adeline talked as lovers talk who meet after a long absence, +of a<br> + hundred things at once.</p> + +<p>In ten minutes the Baron and his wife reached the Rue +Louis-le-Grand,<br> + and there Adeline found this note awaiting her:--</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"MADAME LA BARONNE,--</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Baron Hulot d'Ervy lived for one month in the Rue +de<br> + Charonne under the name of Thorec, an anagram of Hector. He is +now<br> + in the Passage du Soleil by the name of Vyder. He says he is +an<br> + Alsatian, and does writing, and he lives with a girl named +Atala<br> + Judici. Be very cautious, madame, for search is on foot; the +Baron<br> + is wanted, on what score I know not.</p> + +<p>"The actress has kept her word, and remains, as ever,</p> + +<p>"Madame la Baronne, your humble servant,<br> + "J. M."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><br> + The Baron's return was hailed with such joy as reconciled him +to<br> + domestic life. He forgot little Atala Judici, for excesses +of<br> + profligacy had reduced him to the volatility of feeling that +is<br> + characteristic of childhood. But the happiness of the family +was<br> + dashed by the change that had come over him. He had been still +hale<br> + when he had gone away from his home; he had come back almost +a<br> + hundred, broken, bent, and his expression even debased.</p> + +<p><br> + A splendid dinner, improvised by Celestine, reminded the old man +of<br> + the singer's banquets; he was dazzled by the splendor of his +home.</p> + +<p>"A feast in honor of the return of the prodigal father?" said +he in a<br> + murmur to Adeline.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" said she, "all is forgotten."</p> + +<p>"And Lisbeth?" he asked, not seeing the old maid.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to say that she is in bed," replied Hortense. "She +can<br> + never get up, and we shall have the grief of losing her ere +long. She<br> + hopes to see you after dinner."</p> + +<p>At daybreak next morning Victorin Hulot was informed by the +porter's<br> + wife that soldiers of the municipal guard were posted all round +the<br> + premises; the police demanded Baron Hulot. The bailiff, who +had<br> + followed the woman, laid a summons in due form before the +lawyer, and<br> + asked him whether he meant to pay his father's debts. The claim +was<br> + for ten thousand francs at the suit of an usurer named Samanon, +who<br> + had probably lent the Baron two or three thousand at most. +Victorin<br> + desired the bailiff to dismiss his men, and paid.</p> + +<p>"But is it the last?" he anxiously wondered.</p> + +<p>Lisbeth, miserable already at seeing the family so prosperous, +could<br> + not survive this happy event. She grew so rapidly worse that +Bianchon<br> + gave her but a week to live, conquered at last in the long +struggle in<br> + which she had scored so many victories.</p> + +<p>She kept the secret of her hatred even through a painful death +from<br> + pulmonary consumption. And, indeed, she had the supreme +satisfaction<br> + of seeing Adeline, Hortense, Hulot, Victorin, Steinbock, +Celestine,<br> + and their children standing in tears round her bed and mourning +for<br> + her as the angel of the family.</p> + +<p>Baron Hulot, enjoying a course of solid food such as he had +not known<br> + for nearly three years, recovered flesh and strength, and was +almost<br> + himself again. This improvement was such a joy to Adeline that +her<br> + nervous trembling perceptibly diminished.</p> + +<p>"She will be happy after all," said Lisbeth to herself on the +day<br> + before she died, as she saw the veneration with which the +Baron<br> + regarded his wife, of whose sufferings he had heard from +Hortense and<br> + Victorin.</p> + +<p>And vindictiveness hastened Cousin Betty's end. The family +followed<br> + her, weeping, to the grave.</p> + +<p>The Baron and Baroness, having reached the age which looks for +perfect<br> + rest, gave up the handsome rooms on the first floor to the Count +and<br> + Countess Steinbock, and took those above. The Baron by his +son's<br> + exertions found an official position in the management of a +railroad,<br> + in 1845, with a salary of six thousand francs, which, added to +the six<br> + thousand of his pension and the money left to him by Madame +Crevel,<br> + secured him an income of twenty-four thousand francs. Hortense +having<br> + enjoyed her independent income during the three years of +separation<br> + from Wenceslas, Victorin now invested the two hundred thousand +francs<br> + he had in trust, in his sister's name and he allowed her +twelve<br> + thousand francs.</p> + +<p>Wenceslas, as the husband of a rich woman, was not unfaithful, +but he<br> + was an idler; he could not make up his mind to begin any work, +however<br> + trifling. Once more he became the artist <i>in partibus</i>; he +was popular<br> + in society, and consulted by amateurs; in short, he became a +critic,<br> + like all the feeble folk who fall below their promise.</p> + +<p>Thus each household, though living as one family, had its own +fortune.<br> + The Baroness, taught by bitter experience, left the management +of<br> + matters to her son, and the Baron was thus reduced to his +salary, in<br> + hope that the smallness of his income would prevent his +relapsing into<br> + mischief. And by some singular good fortune, on which neither +the<br> + mother nor the son had reckoned, Hulot seemed to have foresworn +the<br> + fair sex. His subdued behaviour, ascribed to the course of +nature, so<br> + completely reassured the family, that they enjoyed to the full +his<br> + recovered amiability and delightful qualities. He was +unfailingly<br> + attentive to his wife and children, escorted them to the +play,<br> + reappeared in society, and did the honors to his son's house +with<br> + exquisite grace. In short, this reclaimed prodigal was the joy +of his<br> + family.</p> + +<p>He was a most agreeable old man, a ruin, but full of wit, +having<br> + retained no more of his vice than made it an added social +grace.</p> + +<p>Of course, everybody was quite satisfied and easy. The young +people<br> + and the Baroness lauded the model father to the skies, +forgetting the<br> + death of the two uncles. Life cannot go on without much +forgetting!</p> + +<p>Madame Victorin, who managed this enormous household with +great skill,<br> + due, no doubt, to Lisbeth's training, had found it necessary to +have a<br> + man-cook. This again necessitated a kitchen-maid. Kitchen-maids +are in<br> + these days ambitious creatures, eager to detect the +<i>chef's</i> secrets,<br> + and to become cooks as soon as they have learnt to stir a +sauce.<br> + Consequently, the kitchen-maid is liable to frequent change.</p> + +<p>At the beginning of 1845 Celestine engaged as kitchen-maid a +sturdy<br> + Normandy peasant come from Isigny--short-waisted, with strong +red<br> + arms, a common face, as dull as an "occasional piece" at the +play, and<br> + hardly to be persuaded out of wearing the classical linen cap +peculiar<br> + to the women of Lower Normandy. This girl, as buxom as a +wet-nurse,<br> + looked as if she would burst the blue cotton check in which +she<br> + clothed her person. Her florid face might have been hewn out of +stone,<br> + so hard were its tawny outlines.</p> + +<p>Of course no attention was paid to the advent in the house of +this<br> + girl, whose name was Agathe--an ordinary, wide-awake specimen, +such as<br> + is daily imported from the provinces. Agathe had no attractions +for<br> + the cook, her tongue was too rough, for she had served in a +suburban<br> + inn, waiting on carters; and instead of making a conquest of her +chief<br> + and winning from him the secrets of the high art of the kitchen, +she<br> + was the object of his great contempt. The <i>chef's</i> +attentions were, in<br> + fact, devoted to Louise, the Countess Steinbock's maid. The +country<br> + girl, thinking herself ill-used, complained bitterly that she +was<br> + always sent out of the way on some pretext when the <i>chef</i> +was<br> + finishing a dish or putting the crowning touch to a sauce.</p> + +<p>"I am out of luck," said she, "and I shall go to another +place."</p> + +<p>And yet she stayed though she had twice given notice to +quit.</p> + +<p>One night, Adeline, roused by some unusual noise, did not see +Hector<br> + in the bed he occupied near hers; for they slept side by side in +two<br> + beds, as beseemed an old couple. She lay awake an hour, but he +did not<br> + return. Seized with a panic, fancying some tragic end had +overtaken<br> + him--an apoplectic attack, perhaps--she went upstairs to the +floor<br> + occupied by the servants, and then was attracted to the room +where<br> + Agathe slept, partly by seeing a light below the door, and +partly by<br> + the murmur of voices. She stood still in dismay on recognizing +the<br> + voice of her husband, who, a victim to Agathe's charms, to +vanquish<br> + this strapping wench's not disinterested resistance, went to +the<br> + length of saying:</p> + +<p>"My wife has not long to live, and if you like you may be a +Baroness."</p> + +<p>Adeline gave a cry, dropped her candlestick, and fled.</p> + +<p>Three days later the Baroness, who had received the last +sacraments,<br> + was dying, surrounded by her weeping family.</p> + +<p>Just before she died, she took her husband's hand and pressed +it,<br> + murmuring in his ear:</p> + +<p>"My dear, I had nothing left to give up to you but my life. In +a<br> + minute or two you will be free, and can make another Baronne +Hulot."</p> + +<p>And, rare sight, tears oozed from her dead eyes.</p> + +<p>This desperateness of vice had vanquished the patience of the +angel,<br> + who, on the brink of eternity, gave utterance to the only +reproach she<br> + had ever spoken in her life.</p> + +<p>The Baron left Paris three days after his wife's funeral. +Eleven<br> + months after Victorin heard indirectly of his father's marriage +to<br> + Mademoiselle Agathe Piquetard, solemnized at Isigny, on the +1st<br> + February 1846.</p> + +<p>"Parents may hinder their children's marriage, but children +cannot<br> + interfere with the insane acts of their parents in their +second<br> + childhood," said Maitre Hulot to Maitre Popinot, the second son +of the<br> + Minister of Commerce, who was discussing this marriage.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<h3>ADDENDUM</h3> + +<h4>The following personages appear in other stories of the Human +Comedy.</h4> + +<p>Beauvisage, Phileas<br> + The Member for Arcis</p> + +<p>Berthier (Parisian notary)<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Bianchon, Horace<br> + Father Goriot<br> + The Atheist's Mass<br> + Cesar Birotteau<br> + The Commission in Lunacy<br> + Lost Illusions<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + A Bachelor's Establishment<br> + The Secrets of a Princess<br> + The Government Clerks<br> + Pierrette<br> + A Study of Woman<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + Honorine<br> + The Seamy Side of History<br> + The Magic Skin<br> + A Second Home<br> + A Prince of Bohemia<br> + Letters of Two Brides<br> + The Muse of the Department<br> + The Imaginary Mistress<br> + The Middle Classes<br> + The Country Parson<br> + In addition, M. Bianchon narrated the following:<br> + Another Study of Woman<br> + La Grande Breteche</p> + +<p>Bixiou, Jean-Jacques<br> + The Purse<br> + A Bachelor's Establishment<br> + The Government Clerks<br> + Modeste Mignon<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + The Firm of Nucingen<br> + The Muse of the Department<br> + The Member for Arcis<br> + Beatrix<br> + A Man of Business<br> + Gaudissart II.<br> + The Unconscious Humorists<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Braulard<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Bridau, Joseph<br> + The Purse<br> + A Bachelor's Establishment<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + A Start in Life<br> + Modeste Mignon<br> + Another Study of Woman<br> + Pierre Grassou<br> + Letters of Two Brides<br> + The Member for Arcis</p> + +<p>Brisetout, Heloise<br> + Cousin Pons<br> + The Middle Classes</p> + +<p>Cadine, Jenny<br> + Beatrix<br> + The Unconscious Humorists<br> + The Member for Arcis</p> + +<p>Chanor<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Chocardelle, Mademoiselle<br> + Beatrix<br> + A Prince of Bohemia<br> + A Man of Business<br> + The Member for Arcis</p> + +<p>Colleville, Flavie Minoret, Madame<br> + The Government Clerks<br> + The Middle Classes</p> + +<p>Collin, Jacqueline<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Crevel, Celestin<br> + Cesar Birotteau<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Esgrignon, Victurnien, Comte (then Marquis d')<br> + Jealousies of a Country Town<br> + Letters of Two Brides<br> + A Man of Business<br> + The Secrets of a Princess</p> + +<p>Falcon, Jean<br> + The Chouans<br> + The Muse of the Department</p> + +<p>Graff, Wolfgang<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Grassou, Pierre<br> + Pierre Grassou<br> + A Bachelor's Establishment<br> + The Middle Classes<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Grindot<br> + Cesar Birotteau<br> + Lost Illusions<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + A Start in Life<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + Beatrix<br> + The Middle Classes</p> + +<p>Hannequin, Leopold<br> + Albert Savarus<br> + Beatrix<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Herouville, Duc d'<br> + The Hated Son<br> + Jealousies of a Country Town<br> + Modeste Mignon</p> + +<p>Hulot (Marshal)<br> + The Chouans<br> + The Muse of the Department</p> + +<p>Hulot, Victorin<br> + The Member for Arcis</p> + +<p>La Bastie la Briere, Madame Ernest de<br> + Modeste Mignon<br> + The Member for Arcis</p> + +<p>La Baudraye, Madame Polydore Milaud de<br> + The Muse of the Department<br> + A Prince of Bohemia</p> + +<p>La Chanterie, Baronne Henri le Chantre de<br> + The Seamy Side of History</p> + +<p>Laginski, Comte Adam Mitgislas<br> + Another Study of Woman<br> + The Imaginary Mistress</p> + +<p>La Palferine, Comte de<br> + A Prince of Bohemia<br> + A Man of Business<br> + Beatrix<br> + The Imaginary Mistress</p> + +<p>La Roche-Hugon, Martial de<br> + Domestic Peace<br> + The Peasantry<br> + A Daughter of Eve<br> + The Member for Arcis<br> + The Middle Classes</p> + +<p>Lebas, Joseph<br> + At the Sign of the Cat and Racket<br> + Cesar Birotteau</p> + +<p>Lebas, Madame Joseph (Virginie)<br> + At the Sign of the Cat and Racket<br> + Cesar Birotteau</p> + +<p>Lebas<br> + The Muse of the Department</p> + +<p>Lefebvre, Robert<br> + The Gondreville Mystery</p> + +<p>Lenoncourt-Givry, Duc de<br> + Letters of Two Brides<br> + The Member for Arcis</p> + +<p>Lora, Leon de<br> + The Unconscious Humorists<br> + A Bachelor's Establishment<br> + A Start in Life<br> + Pierre Grassou<br> + Honorine<br> + Beatrix</p> + +<p>Lousteau, Etienne<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + A Bachelor's Establishment<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + A Daughter of Eve<br> + Beatrix<br> + The Muse of the Department<br> + A Prince of Bohemia<br> + A Man of Business<br> + The Middle Classes<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Massol<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + The Magic Skin<br> + A Daughter of Eve<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Montauran, Marquis de (younger brother of Alphonse de)<br> + The Chouans<br> + The Seamy Side of History</p> + +<p>Montcornet, Marechal, Comte de<br> + Domestic Peace<br> + Lost Illusions<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + The Peasantry<br> + A Man of Business</p> + +<p>Navarreins, Duc de<br> + A Bachelor's Establishment<br> + Colonel Chabert<br> + The Muse of the Department<br> + The Thirteen<br> + Jealousies of a Country Town<br> + The Peasantry<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + The Country Parson<br> + The Magic Skin<br> + The Gondreville Mystery<br> + The Secrets of a Princess</p> + +<p>Nourrisson, Madame<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Nucingen, Baron Frederic de<br> + The Firm of Nucingen<br> + Father Goriot<br> + Pierrette<br> + Cesar Birotteau<br> + Lost Illusions<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + Another Study of Woman<br> + The Secrets of a Princess<br> + A Man of Business<br> + The Muse of the Department<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Paz, Thaddee<br> + The Imaginary Mistress</p> + +<p>Popinot, Anselme<br> + Cesar Birotteau<br> + Gaudissart the Great<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Popinot, Madame Anselme<br> + Cesar Birotteau<br> + A Prince of Bohemia<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Popinot, Vicomte<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Rastignac, Eugene de<br> + Father Goriot<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + The Ball at Sceaux<br> + The Commission in Lunacy<br> + A Study of Woman<br> + Another Study of Woman<br> + The Magic Skin<br> + The Secrets of a Princess<br> + A Daughter of Eve<br> + The Gondreville Mystery<br> + The Firm of Nucingen<br> + The Member for Arcis<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Rivet, Achille<br> + Cousin Pons</p> + +<p>Rochefide, Marquis Arthur de<br> + Beatrix</p> + +<p>Ronceret, Madame Fabien du<br> + Beatrix<br> + The Muse of the Department<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Samanon<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + The Government Clerks<br> + A Man of Business</p> + +<p>Sinet, Seraphine<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Steinbock, Count Wenceslas<br> + The Imaginary Mistress</p> + +<p>Stidmann<br> + Modeste Mignon<br> + Beatrix<br> + The Member for Arcis<br> + Cousin Pons<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Tillet, Ferdinand du<br> + Cesar Birotteau<br> + The Firm of Nucingen<br> + The Middle Classes<br> + A Bachelor's Establishment<br> + Pierrette<br> + Melmoth Reconciled<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + The Secrets of a Princess<br> + A Daughter of Eve<br> + The Member for Arcis<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Trailles, Comte Maxime de<br> + Cesar Birotteau<br> + Father Goriot<br> + Gobseck<br> + Ursule Mirouet<br> + A Man of Business<br> + The Member for Arcis<br> + The Secrets of a Princess<br> + The Member for Arcis<br> + Beatrix<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Turquet, Marguerite<br> + The Imaginary Mistress<br> + The Muse of the Department<br> + A Man of Business</p> + +<p>Vauvinet<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + +<p>Vernisset, Victor de<br> + The Seamy Side of History<br> + Beatrix</p> + +<p>Vernou, Felicien<br> + A Bachelor's Establishment<br> + Lost Illusions<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life<br> + A Daughter of Eve</p> + +<p>Vignon, Claude<br> + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris<br> + A Daughter of Eve<br> + Honorine<br> + Beatrix<br> + The Unconscious Humorists</p> + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cousin Betty, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COUSIN BETTY *** + +This file should be named cbtty10h.htm or cbtty10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, cbtty11h.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, cbtty10ha.txt + +Produced by Walter Debeuf + 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