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diff --git a/27537-h/27537-h.htm b/27537-h/27537-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..39994f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/27537-h/27537-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14309 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sentimental Education, Volume II, by Gustave Flaubert</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + font-size: 100%; +} + +hr { + width: 14%; + margin-top: 4em; + margin-bottom: 4em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + color: #BDBDBD; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 96%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: #C0C0C0; +} + +.minispace {margin-bottom: 1em;} + +.microspace {margin-bottom: .5em;} + +.nanospace {padding-bottom: .25em;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center;} + +.stext {font-size: 92%;} + +.image {text-align: center; margin: auto;} + +h2.chapter {font-size: 135%; padding-bottom: 0.15em;} + +h3.chapter2 {font-size: 130%; font-variant: small-caps; padding-bottom: 1em;} + +.sc {font-variant: small-caps;} + +table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 83%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: 0.8em; + text-decoration: none; +} + +.border { + border-style: dashed; + border-width: 2px; + padding: 2em; + background: #FFFFFF; + border-color: #000000; +} + +.border2 { + border-style: solid; + border-width: 2px; + padding: 2em; + background: #FFFFFF; + border-color: #000000; + margin-left: 27%; + margin-right: 27%; +} + +.tnote { + border-style: double; + border-width: 6px; + padding: 1em; + background: #FFFFFF; + text-align: center; + margin-left: 18%; + margin-right: 18%; + font-size: 95%; + border-color: #000000; +} + +.illodrop {float: left;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} +// --> +/* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Sentimental Education, Volume II, by Gustave +Flaubert</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Sentimental Education, Volume II</p> +<p> The History of a Young Man</p> +<p>Author: Gustave Flaubert</p> +<p>Release Date: December 15, 2008 [eBook #27537]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION, VOLUME II***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Thierry Alberto, Meredith Bach,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<div class="tnote"> +<h3>Transcriber's Note:</h3> +<br /> +Some inconsistencies of spelling and grammar have been corrected, +while others have been retained. +<br /> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="image" style="border-color: #000000; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; width: 480px; height: 656px; "> +<img src="images/ititle.jpg" width="480" height="656" alt="Title Page" title="" /></div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="microspace"> </div> +<div class="border2"> +<h2>THE COMPLETE WORKS<br /> +<small>OF</small><br /> +GUSTAVE FLAUBERT</h2> + +<h3><small>Embracing</small><br /> +ROMANCES, TRAVELS, COMEDIES,<br /> +SKETCHES AND<br /> +CORRESPONDENCE</h3> + +<h3><small>With a<br /> +Critical Introduction<br /> +by</small><br /> +FERDINAND BRUNETIERE<br /> +<small>of the French Academy<br /> +and a<br /> +Biographical Preface by<br /> +Robert Arnot, M.A.</small></h3> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="microspace"> </div> +<h3>PRINTED<br /> +ONLY FOR SUBSCRIBERS BY<br /> +M. WALTER DUNNE,<br /> +NEW YORK AND LONDON</h3> +</div> + + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<p><a name="ifrontis" id="ifrontis"></a></p> +<div class="image"><img src="images/ifrontis.jpg" width="380" height="600" alt="" title="" /></div> +<div class="image"><img src="images/ifrontiscap.jpg" width="588" height="626" alt="Ah! thanks! You are going to save me!" title="" /></div> + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="microspace"> </div> +<div class="border2"> +<h1>Sentimental Education</h1> +<div class="microspace"> </div> +<h4>OR,</h4> + +<h3><i>THE HISTORY OF A YOUNG MAN</i></h3> + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h2>GUSTAVE FLAUBERT</h2> + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<h3><i>VOLUME II.</i></h3> + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<h3>M. WALTER DUNNE<br /> +NEW YORK <small>AND</small> LONDON</h3> +</div> +<div class="microspace"> </div> + + + +<hr style="margin-bottom: 2em;" /> + +<div class="smcap">Copyright, 1904, by<br /> +M. WALTER DUNNE</div> +<hr style="width: 3%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" /> +<div class="center"><i>Entered at Stationers' Hall, London</i></div> + + + + +<hr style="margin-top: 2em;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<hr style="width: 4%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" /> + +<h3>SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION</h3> +<div class="center">(<i>Continued.</i>)</div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="microspace"> </div> + + +<div class='center'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="" width="40%"> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right' class="stext">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 4em;" class="stext">A DINNER AND A DUEL</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#chapter_xi">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' class="stext"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">LITTLE LOUISE GROWS UP</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#chapter_xii">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' class="stext"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">ROSANETTE AS A LOVELY TURK</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#chapter_xiii">62</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XIV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' class="stext"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">THE BARRICADE</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#chapter_xiv">110</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' class="stext"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">"HOW HAPPY COULD I BE WITH EITHER"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#chapter_xv">193</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XVI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' class="stext"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">UNPLEASANT NEWS FROM ROSANETTE</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#chapter_xvi">214</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XVII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' class="stext"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">A STRANGE BETROTHAL</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#chapter_xvii">242</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XVIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' class="stext"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">AN AUCTION</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#chapter_xviii">292</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XIX.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' class="stext"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">A BITTER-SWEET REUNION</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#chapter_xix">315</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER XX.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' class="stext"><span style="margin-left: 4em;">"WAIT TILL YOU COME TO FORTY YEAR"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#chapter_xx">323</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + + + +<hr /> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> +<hr style="width: 4%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" /> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="microspace"> </div> +<div class='center'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="" width="40%"> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right' class="stext">FACING</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right' class="stext">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>"AH! THANKS! YOU ARE GOING TO SAVE ME!"</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;"> (See page <a href="#saveme">107</a>)</span></td><td align='right'><i><a href="#ifrontis">Frontispiece</a></i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>"CAN I LIVE WITHOUT YOU?"</td><td align='right'><a href="#i058">58</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>WHEN A WOMAN SUDDENLY CAME IN</td><td align='right'><a href="#i315">315</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<hr /> +<h2>SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION</h2> + +<div class="center">[<i>CONTINUED</i>]</div> +<hr style="width: 4%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;" /> + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="chapter_xi" id="chapter_xi"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3 class="chapter2">A Dinner and a Duel.</h3> + + +<p><span class="illodrop"><img src="images/i_chxi.png" width="125" height="123" alt="F" style="margin-top: -2.5em" /></span>rederick passed the whole of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span> +next day in brooding over his anger +and humiliation. He reproached +himself for not having given a +slap in the face to Cisy. As for +the Maréchale, he swore not to +see her again. Others as good-looking could be +easily found; and, as money would be required in +order to possess these women, he would speculate on +the Bourse with the purchase-money of his farm. He +would get rich; he would crush the Maréchale and +everyone else with his luxury. When the evening +had come, he was surprised at not having thought of +Madame Arnoux.</p> + +<p>"So much the better. What's the good of it?"</p> + +<p>Two days after, at eight o'clock, Pellerin came to +pay him a visit. He began by expressing his admiration +of the furniture and talking in a wheedling +tone. Then, abruptly:</p> + +<p>"You were at the races on Sunday?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, alas!"</p> + +<p>Thereupon the painter decried the anatomy of +English horses, and praised the horses of Gericourt +and the horses of the Parthenon.</p> + +<p>"Rosanette was with you?"</p> + +<p>And he artfully proceeded to speak in flattering +terms about her.</p> + +<p>Frederick's freezing manner put him a little out of +countenance.</p> + +<p>He did not know how to bring about the question +of her portrait. His first idea had been to do a +portrait in the style of Titian. But gradually the +varied colouring of his model had bewitched him; he +had gone on boldly with the work, heaping up paste +on paste and light on light. Rosanette, in the beginning, +was enchanted. Her appointments with Delmar +had interrupted the sittings, and left Pellerin all +the time to get bedazzled. Then, as his admiration +began to subside, he asked himself whether the picture +might not be on a larger scale. He had gone +to have another look at the Titians, realised how the +great artist had filled in his portraits with such finish, +and saw wherein his own shortcomings lay; and +then he began to go over the outlines again in +the most simple fashion. After that, he sought, by +scraping them off, to lose there, to mingle there, all +the tones of the head and those of the background; +and the face had assumed consistency and the shades +vigour—the whole work had a look of greater firmness. +At length the Maréchale came back again. +She even indulged in some hostile criticisms. The +painter naturally persevered in his own course. After +getting into a violent passion at her silliness, he said +to himself that, after all, perhaps she was right.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +Then began the era of doubts, twinges of reflection +which brought about cramps in the stomach, insomnia, +feverishness and disgust with himself. He had the +courage to make some retouchings, but without +much heart, and with a feeling that his work was bad.</p> + +<p>He complained merely of having been refused a +place in the Salon; then he reproached Frederick for +not having come to see the Maréchale's portrait.</p> + +<p>"What do I care about the Maréchale?"</p> + +<p>Such an expression of unconcern emboldened the +artist.</p> + +<p>"Would you believe that this brute has no interest +in the thing any longer?"</p> + +<p>What he did not mention was that he had asked +her for a thousand crowns. Now the Maréchale did +not give herself much bother about ascertaining who +was going to pay, and, preferring to screw money +out of Arnoux for things of a more urgent character, +had not even spoken to him on the subject.</p> + +<p>"Well, and Arnoux?"</p> + +<p>She had thrown it over on him. The ex-picture-dealer +wished to have nothing to do with the portrait.</p> + +<p>"He maintains that it belongs to Rosanette."</p> + +<p>"In fact, it is hers."</p> + +<p>"How is that? 'Tis she that sent me to you," +was Pellerin's answer.</p> + +<p>If he had been thinking of the excellence of his +work, he would not have dreamed perhaps of making +capital out of it. But a sum—and a big sum—would +be an effective reply to the critics, and would +strengthen his own position. Finally, to get rid of +his importunities, Frederick courteously enquired his +terms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> + +<p>The extravagant figure named by Pellerin quite +took away his breath, and he replied:</p> + +<p>"Oh! no—no!"</p> + +<p>"You, however, are her lover—'tis you gave me +the order!"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, I was only an intermediate agent."</p> + +<p>"But I can't remain with this on my hands!"</p> + +<p>The artist lost his temper.</p> + +<p>"Ha! I didn't imagine you were so covetous!"</p> + +<p>"Nor I that you were so stingy! I wish you good +morning!"</p> + +<p>He had just gone out when Sénécal made his appearance.</p> + +<p>Frederick was moving about restlessly, in a state +of great agitation.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>Sénécal told his story.</p> + +<p>"On Saturday, at nine o'clock, Madame Arnoux +got a letter which summoned her back to Paris. As +there happened to be nobody in the place at the +time to go to Creil for a vehicle, she asked me to +go there myself. I refused, for this was no part of +my duties. She left, and came back on Sunday evening. +Yesterday morning, Arnoux came down to the +works. The girl from Bordeaux made a complaint to +him. I don't know what passed between them; but +he took off before everyone the fine I had imposed +on her. Some sharp words passed between us. In +short, he closed accounts with me, and here I am!"</p> + +<p>Then, with a pause between every word:</p> + +<p>"Furthermore, I am not sorry. I have done my +duty. No matter—you were the cause of it."</p> + +<p>"How?" exclaimed Frederick, alarmed lest Sénécal +might have guessed his secret.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sénécal had not, however, guessed anything about +it, for he replied:</p> + +<p>"That is to say, but for you I might have done +better."</p> + +<p>Frederick was seized with a kind of remorse.</p> + +<p>"In what way can I be of service to you now?"</p> + +<p>Sénécal wanted some employment, a situation.</p> + +<p>"That is an easy thing for you to manage. You +know many people of good position, Monsieur Dambreuse +amongst others; at least, so Deslauriers told +me."</p> + +<p>This allusion to Deslauriers was by no means +agreeable to his friend. He scarcely cared to call on +the Dambreuses again after his undesirable meeting +with them in the Champ de Mars.</p> + +<p>"I am not on sufficiently intimate terms with them +to recommend anyone."</p> + +<p>The democrat endured this refusal stoically, and +after a minute's silence:</p> + +<p>"All this, I am sure, is due to the girl from Bordeaux, +and to your Madame Arnoux."</p> + +<p>This "your" had the effect of wiping out of +Frederick's heart the slight modicum of regard he entertained +for Sénécal. Nevertheless, he stretched out +his hand towards the key of his escritoire through +delicacy.</p> + +<p>Sénécal anticipated him:</p> + +<p>"Thanks!"</p> + +<p>Then, forgetting his own troubles, he talked about +the affairs of the nation, the crosses of the Legion of +Honour wasted at the Royal Fête, the question of a +change of ministry, the Drouillard case and the Bénier +case—scandals of the day—declaimed against +the middle class, and predicted a revolution.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> + +<p>His eyes were attracted by a Japanese dagger +hanging on the wall. He took hold of it; then he +flung it on the sofa with an air of disgust.</p> + +<p>"Come, then! good-bye! I must go to Nôtre +Dame de Lorette."</p> + +<p>"Hold on! Why?"</p> + +<p>"The anniversary service for Godefroy Cavaignac +is taking place there to-day. He died at work—that +man! But all is not over. Who knows?"</p> + +<p>And Sénécal, with a show of fortitude, put out +his hand:</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we shall never see each other again! +good-bye!"</p> + +<p>This "good-bye," repeated several times, his +knitted brows as he gazed at the dagger, his resignation, +and the solemnity of his manner, above all, +plunged Frederick into a thoughtful mood, but very +soon he ceased to think about Sénécal.</p> + +<p>During the same week, his notary at Havre sent him +the sum realised by the sale of his farm—one hundred +and seventy-four thousand francs. He divided it +into two portions, invested the first half in the Funds, +and brought the second half to a stock-broker to take +his chance of making money by it on the Bourse.</p> + +<p>He dined at fashionable taverns, went to the theatres, +and was trying to amuse himself as best he +could, when Hussonnet addressed a letter to him announcing +in a gay fashion that the Maréchale had got +rid of Cisy the very day after the races. Frederick +was delighted at this intelligence, without taking the +trouble to ascertain what the Bohemian's motive was +in giving him the information.</p> + +<p>It so happened that he met Cisy, three days later. +That aristocratic young gentleman kept his counte<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>ance, +and even invited Frederick to dine on the following +Wednesday.</p> + +<p>On the morning of that day, the latter received a +notification from a process-server, in which M. Charles +Jean Baptiste Oudry apprised him that by the terms +of a legal judgment he had become the purchaser of +a property situated at Belleville, belonging to M. +Jacques Arnoux, and that he was ready to pay the +two hundred and twenty-three thousand for which it +had been sold. But, as it appeared by the same +decree that the amount of the mortgages with which +the estate was encumbered exceeded the purchase-money, +Frederick's claim would in consequence be +completely forfeited.</p> + +<p>The entire mischief arose from not having renewed +the registration of the mortgage within the proper +time. Arnoux had undertaken to attend to this matter +formally himself, and had then forgotten all about +it. Frederick got into a rage with him for this, and +when the young man's anger had passed off:</p> + +<p>"Well, afterwards——what?"</p> + +<p>"If this can save him, so much the better. It +won't kill me! Let us think no more about it!"</p> + +<p>But, while moving about his papers on the table, +he came across Hussonnet's letter, and noticed the +postscript, which had not at first attracted his attention. +The Bohemian wanted just five thousand francs +to give the journal a start.</p> + +<p>"Ah! this fellow is worrying me to death!"</p> + +<p>And he sent a curt answer, unceremoniously refusing +the application. After that, he dressed himself +to go to the Maison d'Or.</p> + +<p>Cisy introduced his guests, beginning with the most +respectable of them, a big, white-haired gentleman.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The Marquis Gilbert des Aulnays, my godfather. +Monsieur Anselme de Forchambeaux," he said next—(a +thin, fair-haired young man, already bald); then, +pointing towards a simple-mannered man of forty: +"Joseph Boffreu, my cousin; and here is my old tutor, +Monsieur Vezou"—a person who seemed a mixture of +a ploughman and a seminarist, with large whiskers +and a long frock-coat fastened at the end by a single +button, so that it fell over his chest like a shawl.</p> + +<p>Cisy was expecting some one else—the Baron de +Comaing, who "might perhaps come, but it was not +certain." He left the room every minute, and appeared +to be in a restless frame of mind. Finally, at +eight o'clock, they proceeded towards an apartment +splendidly lighted up and much more spacious than +the number of guests required. Cisy had selected it +for the special purpose of display.</p> + +<p>A vermilion épergne laden with flowers and fruit +occupied the centre of the table, which was covered +with silver dishes, after the old French fashion; glass +bowls full of salt meats and spices formed a border +all around it. Jars of iced red wine stood at regular +distances from each other. Five glasses of different +sizes were ranged before each plate, with things of +which the use could not be divined—a thousand +dinner utensils of an ingenious description. For the +first course alone, there was a sturgeon's jowl moistened +with champagne, a Yorkshire ham with tokay, +thrushes with sauce, roast quail, a béchamel vol-au-vent, +a stew of red-legged partridges, and at the two +ends of all this, fringes of potatoes which were +mingled with truffles. The apartment was illuminated +by a lustre and some girandoles, and it was +hung with red damask curtains.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + +<p>Four men-servants in black coats stood behind the +armchairs, which were upholstered in morocco. At +this sight the guests uttered an exclamation—the +tutor more emphatically than the rest.</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, our host has indulged in a foolishly +lavish display of luxury. It is too beautiful!"</p> + +<p>"Is that so?" said the Vicomte de Cisy; "Come +on, then!"</p> + +<p>And, as they were swallowing the first spoonful:</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear old friend Aulnays, have you +been to the Palais-Royal to see <i>Père et Portier</i>?"</p> + +<p>"You know well that I have no time to go!" +replied the Marquis.</p> + +<p>His mornings were taken up with a course of +arboriculture, his evenings were spent at the Agricultural +Club, and all his afternoons were occupied by a +study of the implements of husbandry in manufactories. +As he resided at Saintonge for three fourths of +the year, he took advantage of his visits to the capital +to get fresh information; and his large-brimmed +hat, which lay on a side-table, was crammed with +pamphlets.</p> + +<p>But Cisy, observing that M. de Forchambeaux refused +to take wine:</p> + +<p>"Go on, damn it, drink! You're not in good +form for your last bachelor's meal!"</p> + +<p>At this remark all bowed and congratulated him.</p> + +<p>"And the young lady," said the tutor, "is charming, +I'm sure?"</p> + +<p>"Faith, she is!" exclaimed Cisy. "No matter, he is +making a mistake; marriage is such a stupid thing!"</p> + +<p>"You talk in a thoughtless fashion, my friend!" +returned M. des Aulnays, while tears began to gather +in his eyes at the recollection of his own dead wife.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + +<p>And Forchambeaux repeated several times in succession:</p> + +<p>"It will be your own case—it will be your own +case!"</p> + +<p>Cisy protested. He preferred to enjoy himself—to +"live in the free-and-easy style of the Regency +days." He wanted to learn the shoe-trick, in order +to visit the thieves' taverns of the city, like Rodolphe +in the <i>Mysteries of Paris</i>; drew out of his pocket +a dirty clay pipe, abused the servants, and drank a +great quantity; then, in order to create a good impression +about himself, he disparaged all the dishes. +He even sent away the truffles; and the tutor, who +was exceedingly fond of them, said through servility;</p> + +<p>"These are not as good as your grandmother's +snow-white eggs."</p> + +<p>Then he began to chat with the person sitting +next to him, the agriculturist, who found many advantages +from his sojourn in the country, if it were +only to be able to bring up his daughters with simple +tastes. The tutor approved of his ideas and toadied +to him, supposing that this gentleman possessed influence +over his former pupil, whose man of business +he was anxious to become.</p> + +<p>Frederick had come there filled with hostility to +Cisy; but the young aristocrat's idiocy had disarmed +him. However, as the other's gestures, face, and entire +person brought back to his recollection the dinner +at the Café Anglais, he got more and more irritated; +and he lent his ears to the complimentary remarks +made in a low tone by Joseph, the cousin, a fine +young fellow without any money, who was a lover +of the chase and a University prizeman. Cisy, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +the sake of a laugh, called him a "catcher"<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> several +times; then suddenly:</p> + +<p>"Ha! here comes the Baron!"</p> + +<p>At that moment, there entered a jovial blade of +thirty, with somewhat rough-looking features and +active limbs, wearing his hat over his ear and displaying +a flower in his button-hole. He was the +Vicomte's ideal. The young aristocrat was delighted +at having him there; and stimulated by his presence, +he even attempted a pun; for he said, as they passed +a heath-cock:</p> + +<p>"There's the best of La Bruyère's characters!"<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> + +<p>After that, he put a heap of questions to M. de +Comaing about persons unknown to society; then, as +if an idea had suddenly seized him:</p> + +<p>"Tell me, pray! have you thought about me?"</p> + +<p>The other shrugged his shoulders:</p> + +<p>"You are not old enough, my little man. It is +impossible!"</p> + +<p>Cisy had begged of the Baron to get him admitted +into his club. But the other having, no doubt, taken +pity on his vanity:</p> + +<p>"Ha! I was forgetting! A thousand congratulations +on having won your bet, my dear fellow!"</p> + +<p>"What bet?"</p> + +<p>"The bet you made at the races to effect an entrance +the same evening into that lady's house."</p> + +<p>Frederick felt as if he had got a lash with a whip.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +He was speedily appeased by the look of utter confusion +in Cisy's face.</p> + +<p>In fact, the Maréchale, next morning, was filled +with regret when Arnoux, her first lover, her good +friend, had presented himself that very day. They +both gave the Vicomte to understand that he was +in the way, and kicked him out without much ceremony.</p> + +<p>He pretended not to have heard what was said.</p> + +<p>The Baron went on:</p> + +<p>"What has become of her, this fine Rose? Is +she as pretty as ever?" showing by his manner that +he had been on terms of intimacy with her.</p> + +<p>Frederick was chagrined by the discovery.</p> + +<p>"There's nothing to blush at," said the Baron, +pursuing the topic, "'tis a good thing!"</p> + +<p>Cisy smacked his tongue.</p> + +<p>"Whew! not so good!"</p> + +<p>"Ha!"</p> + +<p>"Oh dear, yes! In the first place, I found her +nothing extraordinary, and then, you pick up the +like of her as often as you please, for, in fact, she is +for sale!"</p> + +<p>"Not for everyone!" remarked Frederick, with +some bitterness.</p> + +<p>"He imagines that he is different from the +others," was Cisy's comment. "What a good joke!"</p> + +<p>And a laugh ran round the table.</p> + +<p>Frederick felt as if the palpitations of his heart +would suffocate him. He swallowed two glasses of +water one after the other.</p> + +<p>But the Baron had preserved a lively recollection +of Rosanette.</p> + +<p>"Is she still interested in a fellow named Arnoux?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I haven't the faintest idea," said Cisy, "I don't +know that gentleman!"</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, he suggested that he believed Arnoux +was a sort of swindler.</p> + +<p>"A moment!" exclaimed Frederick.</p> + +<p>"However, there is no doubt about it! Legal +proceedings have been taken against him."</p> + +<p>"That is not true!"</p> + +<p>Frederick began to defend Arnoux, vouched for +his honesty, ended by convincing himself of it, and +concocted figures and proofs. The Vicomte, full of +spite, and tipsy in addition, persisted in his assertions, +so that Frederick said to him gravely:</p> + +<p>"Is the object of this to give offence to me, Monsieur?"</p> + +<p>And he looked Cisy full in the face, with eyeballs +as red as his cigar.</p> + +<p>"Oh! not at all. I grant you that he possesses +something very nice—his wife."</p> + +<p>"Do you know her?"</p> + +<p>"Faith, I do! Sophie Arnoux; everyone knows her."</p> + +<p>"You mean to tell me that?"</p> + +<p>Cisy, who had staggered to his feet, hiccoughed:</p> + +<p>"Everyone—knows—her."</p> + +<p>"Hold your tongue. It is not with women of her +sort you keep company!"</p> + +<p>"I—flatter myself—it is."</p> + +<p>Frederick flung a plate at his face. It passed like +a flash of lightning over the table, knocked down +two bottles, demolished a fruit-dish, and breaking +into three pieces, by knocking against the épergne, +hit the Vicomte in the stomach.</p> + +<p>All the other guests arose to hold him back. He +struggled and shrieked, possessed by a kind of frenzy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> + +<p>M. des Aulnays kept repeating:</p> + +<p>"Come, be calm, my dear boy!"</p> + +<p>"Why, this is frightful!" shouted the tutor.</p> + +<p>Forchambeaux, livid as a plum, was trembling. +Joseph indulged in repeated outbursts of laughter. +The attendants sponged out the traces of the wine, +and gathered up the remains of the dinner from the +floor; and the Baron went and shut the window, for +the uproar, in spite of the noise of carriage-wheels, +could be heard on the boulevard.</p> + +<p>As all present at the moment the plate had been +flung had been talking at the same time, it was impossible +to discover the cause of the attack—whether +it was on account of Arnoux, Madame Arnoux, Rosanette, +or somebody else. One thing only they were +certain of, that Frederick had acted with indescribable +brutality. On his part, he refused positively to +testify the slightest regret for what he had done.</p> + +<p>M. des Aulnays tried to soften him. Cousin Joseph, +the tutor, and Forchambeaux himself joined in +the effort. The Baron, all this time, was cheering up +Cisy, who, yielding to nervous weakness, began to +shed tears.</p> + +<p>Frederick, on the contrary, was getting more and +more angry, and they would have remained there till +daybreak if the Baron had not said, in order to bring +matters to a close:</p> + +<p>"The Vicomte, Monsieur, will send his seconds +to call on you to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Your hour?"</p> + +<p>"Twelve, if it suits you."</p> + +<p>"Perfectly, Monsieur."</p> + +<p>Frederick, as soon as he was in the open air, +drew a deep breath. He had been keeping his feel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>ings +too long under restraint; he had satisfied them +at last. He felt, so to speak, the pride of virility, a +superabundance of energy within him which intoxicated +him. He required two seconds. The first person +he thought of for the purpose was Regimbart, +and he immediately directed his steps towards the +Rue Saint-Denis. The shop-front was closed, but +some light shone through a pane of glass over the +door. It opened and he went in, stooping very low +as he passed under the penthouse.</p> + +<p>A candle at the side of the bar lighted up the deserted +smoking-room. All the stools, with their feet +in the air, were piled on the table. The master and +mistress, with their waiter, were at supper in a corner +near the kitchen; and Regimbart, with his hat on +his head, was sharing their meal, and even disturbed +the waiter, who was compelled every moment to turn +aside a little. Frederick, having briefly explained the +matter to him, asked Regimbart to assist him. The +Citizen at first made no reply. He rolled his eyes +about, looked as if he were plunged in reflection, +took several strides around the room, and at last +said:</p> + +<p>"Yes, by all means!" and a homicidal smile +smoothed his brow when he learned that the adversary +was a nobleman.</p> + +<p>"Make your mind easy; we'll rout him with flying +colours! In the first place, with the sword——"</p> + +<p>"But perhaps," broke in Frederick, "I have not +the right."</p> + +<p>"I tell you 'tis necessary to take the sword," the +Citizen replied roughly. "Do you know how to +make passes?"</p> + +<p>"A little."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh! a little. This is the way with all of them; +and yet they have a mania for committing assaults. +What does the fencing-school teach? Listen to me: +keep a good distance off, always confining yourself +in circles, and parry—parry as you retire; that is +permitted. Tire him out. Then boldly make a lunge +on him! and, above all, no malice, no strokes of the +La Fougère kind.<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> No! a simple one-two, and some +disengagements. Look here! do you see? while you +turn your wrist as if opening a lock. Père Vauthier, +give me your cane. Ha! that will do."</p> + +<p>He grasped the rod which was used for lighting +the gas, rounded his left arm, bent his right, and began +to make some thrusts against the partition. He +stamped with his foot, got animated, and pretended +to be encountering difficulties, while he exclaimed: +"Are you there? Is that it? Are you there?" and +his enormous silhouette projected itself on the wall +with his hat apparently touching the ceiling. The +owner of the café shouted from time to time: +"Bravo! very good!" His wife, though a little unnerved, +was likewise filled with admiration; and +Théodore, who had been in the army, remained riveted +to the spot with amazement, the fact being, +however, that he regarded M. Regimbart with a +species of hero-worship.</p> + +<p>Next morning, at an early hour, Frederick hurried +to the establishment in which Dussardier was employed. +After having passed through a succession of +departments all full of clothing-materials, either adorn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>ing +shelves or lying on tables, while here and there +shawls were fixed on wooden racks shaped like toadstools, +he saw the young man, in a sort of railed +cage, surrounded by account-books, and standing in +front of a desk at which he was writing. The +honest fellow left his work.</p> + +<p>The seconds arrived before twelve o'clock.</p> + +<p>Frederick, as a matter of good taste, thought he +ought not to be present at the conference.</p> + +<p>The Baron and M. Joseph declared that they +would be satisfied with the simplest excuses. But +Regimbart's principle being never to yield, and his +contention being that Arnoux's honour should be +vindicated (Frederick had not spoken to him about +anything else), he asked that the Vicomte should apologise. +M. de Comaing was indignant at this presumption. +The Citizen would not abate an inch. +As all conciliation proved impracticable, there was +nothing for it but to fight.</p> + +<p>Other difficulties arose, for the choice of weapons +lay with Cisy, as the person to whom the insult had +been offered. But Regimbart maintained that by +sending the challenge he had constituted himself the +offending party. His seconds loudly protested that a +buffet was the most cruel of offences. The Citizen +carped at the words, pointing out that a buffet was +not a blow. Finally, they decided to refer the matter +to a military man; and the four seconds went off +to consult the officers in some of the barracks.</p> + +<p>They drew up at the barracks on the Quai d'Orsay. +M. de Comaing, having accosted two captains, explained +to them the question in dispute.</p> + +<p>The captains did not understand a word of what +he was saying, owing to the confusion caused by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +Citizen's incidental remarks. In short, they advised +the gentlemen who consulted them to draw up a +minute of the proceedings; after which they would +give their decision. Thereupon, they repaired to a +café; and they even, in order to do things with more +circumspection, referred to Cisy as H, and Frederick +as K.</p> + +<p>Then they returned to the barracks. The officers +had gone out. They reappeared, and declared that +the choice of arms manifestly belonged to H.</p> + +<p>They all returned to Cisy's abode. Regimbart and +Dussardier remained on the footpath outside.</p> + +<p>The Vicomte, when he was informed of the solution +of the case, was seized with such extreme agitation +that they had to repeat for him several times +the decision of the officers; and, when M. de Comaing +came to deal with Regimbart's contention, he +murmured "Nevertheless," not being very reluctant +himself to yield to it. Then he let himself sink into +an armchair, and declared that he would not fight.</p> + +<p>"Eh? What?" said the Baron. Then Cisy indulged +in a confused flood of mouthings. He wished +to fight with firearms—to discharge a single pistol +at close quarters.</p> + +<p>"Or else we will put arsenic into a glass, and +draw lots to see who must drink it. That's sometimes +done. I've read of it!"</p> + +<p>The Baron, naturally rather impatient, addressed +him in a harsh tone:</p> + +<p>"These gentlemen are waiting for your answer. +This is indecent, to put it shortly. What weapons +are you going to take? Come! is it the sword?"</p> + +<p>The Vicomte gave an affirmative reply by merely +nodding his head; and it was arranged that the meet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>ing +should take place next morning at seven o'clock +sharp at the Maillot gate.</p> + +<p>Dussardier, being compelled to go back to his +business, Regimbart went to inform Frederick about +the arrangement. He had been left all day without +any news, and his impatience was becoming intolerable.</p> + +<p>"So much the better!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>The Citizen was satisfied with his deportment.</p> + +<p>"Would you believe it? They wanted an apology +from us. It was nothing—a mere word! But I +knocked them off their beam-ends nicely. The right +thing to do, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly," said Frederick, thinking that it +would have been better to choose another second.</p> + +<p>Then, when he was alone, he repeated several +times in a very loud tone:</p> + +<p>"I am going to fight! Hold on, I am going to +fight! 'Tis funny!"</p> + +<p>And, as he walked up and down his room, while +passing in front of the mirror, he noticed that he +was pale.</p> + +<p>"Have I any reason to be afraid?"</p> + +<p>He was seized with a feeling of intolerable misery +at the prospect of exhibiting fear on the ground.</p> + +<p>"And yet, suppose I happen to be killed? My +father met his death the same way. Yes, I shall be +killed!"</p> + +<p>And, suddenly, his mother rose up before him in +a black dress; incoherent images floated before his +mind. His own cowardice exasperated him. A paroxysm +of courage, a thirst for human blood, took +possession of him. A battalion could not have made +him retreat. When this feverish excitement had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +cooled down, he was overjoyed to feel that his +nerves were perfectly steady. In order to divert his +thoughts, he went to the opera, where a ballet was +being performed. He listened to the music, looked +at the <i>danseuses</i> through his opera-glass, and drank +a glass of punch between the acts. But when he +got home again, the sight of his study, of his furniture, +in the midst of which he found himself for the last +time, made him feel ready to swoon.</p> + +<p>He went down to the garden. The stars were +shining; he gazed up at them. The idea of fighting +about a woman gave him a greater importance in his +own eyes, and surrounded him with a halo of nobility. +Then he went to bed in a tranquil frame of +mind.</p> + +<p>It was not so with Cisy. After the Baron's departure, +Joseph had tried to revive his drooping +spirits, and, as the Vicomte remained in the same +dull mood:</p> + +<p>"However, old boy, if you prefer to remain at +home, I'll go and say so."</p> + +<p>Cisy durst not answer "Certainly;" but he would +have liked his cousin to do him this service without +speaking about it.</p> + +<p>He wished that Frederick would die during the +night of an attack of apoplexy, or that a riot would +break out so that next morning there would be +enough of barricades to shut up all the approaches +to the Bois de Boulogne, or that some emergency +might prevent one of the seconds from being present; +for in the absence of seconds the duel would fall +through. He felt a longing to save himself by taking +an express train—no matter where. He regretted +that he did not understand medicine so as to be able<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +to take something which, without endangering his +life, would cause it to be believed that he was dead. +He finally wished to be ill in earnest.</p> + +<p>In order to get advice and assistance from someone, +he sent for M. des Aulnays. That worthy man +had gone back to Saintonge on receiving a letter informing +him of the illness of one of his daughters. +This appeared an ominous circumstance to Cisy. +Luckily, M. Vezou, his tutor, came to see him. +Then he unbosomed himself.</p> + +<p>"What am I to do? my God! what am I do?"</p> + +<p>"If I were in your place, Monsieur, I should +pay some strapping fellow from the market-place to +go and give him a drubbing."</p> + +<p>"He would still know who brought it about," replied +Cisy.</p> + +<p>And from time to time he uttered a groan; then:</p> + +<p>"But is a man bound to fight a duel?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis a relic of barbarism! What are you to do?"</p> + +<p>Out of complaisance the pedagogue invited himself +to dinner. His pupil did not eat anything, but, +after the meal, felt the necessity of taking a short +walk.</p> + +<p>As they were passing a church, he said:</p> + +<p>"Suppose we go in for a little while—to look?"</p> + +<p>M. Vezou asked nothing better, and even offered +him holy water.</p> + +<p>It was the month of May. The altar was covered +with flowers; voices were chanting; the organ was +resounding through the church. But he found it impossible +to pray, as the pomps of religion inspired +him merely with thoughts of funerals. He fancied +that he could hear the murmurs of the <i>De Profundis</i>.</p> + +<p>"Let us go away. I don't feel well."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>They spent the whole night playing cards. The +Vicomte made an effort to lose in order to exorcise +ill-luck, a thing which M. Vezou turned to his own +advantage. At last, at the first streak of dawn, Cisy, +who could stand it no longer, sank down on the +green cloth, and was soon plunged in sleep, which +was disturbed by unpleasant dreams.</p> + +<p>If courage, however, consists in wishing to get +the better of one's own weakness, the Vicomte was +courageous, for in the presence of his seconds, who +came to seek him, he stiffened himself up with all +the strength he could command, vanity making him +realise that to attempt to draw back now would destroy +him. M. de Comaing congratulated him on his +good appearance.</p> + +<p>But, on the way, the jolting of the cab and the +heat of the morning sun made him languish. His +energy gave way again. He could not even distinguish +any longer where they were. The Baron +amused himself by increasing his terror, talking about +the "corpse," and of the way they meant to get +back clandestinely to the city. Joseph gave the rejoinder; +both, considering the affair ridiculous, were +certain that it would be settled.</p> + +<p>Cisy kept his head on his breast; he lifted it up +slowly, and drew attention to the fact that they had +not taken a doctor with them.</p> + +<p>"'Tis needless," said the Baron.</p> + +<p>"Then there's no danger?"</p> + +<p>Joseph answered in a grave tone:</p> + +<p>"Let us hope so!"</p> + +<p>And nobody in the carriage made any further remark.</p> + +<p>At ten minutes past seven they arrived in front of +the Maillot gate. Frederick and his seconds were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +there, the entire group being dressed all in black. +Regimbart, instead of a cravat, wore a stiff horsehair +collar, like a trooper; and he carried a long violin-case +adapted for adventures of this kind. They exchanged +frigid bows. Then they all plunged into the Bois de +Boulogne, taking the Madrid road, in order to find a +suitable place.</p> + +<p>Regimbart said to Frederick, who was walking between +him and Dussardier:</p> + +<p>"Well, and this scare—what do we care about +it? If you want anything, don't annoy yourself about +it; I know what to do. Fear is natural to man!"</p> + +<p>Then, in a low tone:</p> + +<p>"Don't smoke any more; in this case it has a +weakening effect."</p> + +<p>Frederick threw away his cigar, which had only a +disturbing effect on his brain, and went on with a +firm step. The Vicomte advanced behind, leaning on +the arms of his two seconds. Occasional wayfarers +crossed their path. The sky was blue, and from +time to time they heard rabbits skipping about. At +the turn of a path, a woman in a Madras neckerchief +was chatting with a man in a blouse; and in the +large avenue under the chestnut-trees some grooms in +vests of linen-cloth were walking horses up and down.</p> + +<p>Cisy recalled the happy days when, mounted on +his own chestnut horse, and with his glass stuck in +his eye, he rode up to carriage-doors. These recollections +intensified his wretchedness. An intolerable +thirst parched his throat. The buzzing of flies +mingled with the throbbing of his arteries. His feet +sank into the sand. It seemed to him as if he had +been walking during a period which had neither beginning +nor end.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>The seconds, without stopping, examined with +keen glances each side of the path they were traversing. +They hesitated as to whether they would go to +the Catelan Cross or under the walls of the Bagatelle. +At last they took a turn to the right; and they drew +up in a kind of quincunx in the midst of the pine-trees.</p> + +<p>The spot was chosen in such a way that the level +ground was cut equally into two divisions. The two +places at which the principals in the duel were to +take their stand were marked out. Then Regimbart +opened his case. It was lined with red sheep's-leather, +and contained four charming swords hollowed +in the centre, with handles which were adorned with +filigree. A ray of light, passing through the leaves, +fell on them, and they appeared to Cisy to glitter +like silver vipers on a sea of blood.</p> + +<p>The Citizen showed that they were of equal length. +He took one himself, in order to separate the combatants +in case of necessity. M. de Comaing held +a walking-stick. There was an interval of silence. +They looked at each other. All the faces had in them +something fierce or cruel.</p> + +<p>Frederick had taken off his coat and his waistcoat. +Joseph aided Cisy to do the same. When his cravat +was removed a blessed medal could be seen on +his neck. This made Regimbart smile contemptuously.</p> + +<p>Then M. de Comaing (in order to allow Frederick +another moment for reflection) tried to raise some +quibbles. He demanded the right to put on a glove, +and to catch hold of his adversary's sword with the +left hand. Regimbart, who was in a hurry, made no +objection to this. At last the Baron, addressing Frederick:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Everything depends on you, Monsieur! There is +never any dishonour in acknowledging one's faults."</p> + +<p>Dussardier made a gesture of approval. The Citizen +gave vent to his indignation:</p> + +<p>"Do you think we came here as a mere sham, +damn it! Be on your guard, each of you!"</p> + +<p>The combatants were facing one another, with +their seconds by their sides.</p> + +<p>He uttered the single word:</p> + +<p>"Come!"</p> + +<p>Cisy became dreadfully pale. The end of his +blade was quivering like a horsewhip. His head fell +back, his hands dropped down helplessly, and he +sank unconscious on the ground. Joseph raised him +up and while holding a scent-bottle to his nose, gave +him a good shaking.</p> + +<p>The Vicomte reopened his eyes, then suddenly +grasped at his sword like a madman. Frederick had +held his in readiness, and now awaited him with +steady eye and uplifted hand.</p> + +<p>"Stop! stop!" cried a voice, which came from +the road simultaneously with the sound of a horse at +full gallop, and the hood of a cab broke the branches. +A man bending out his head waved a handkerchief, +still exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"Stop! stop!"</p> + +<p>M. de Comaing, believing that this meant the intervention +of the police, lifted up his walking-stick.</p> + +<p>"Make an end of it. The Vicomte is bleeding!"</p> + +<p>"I?" said Cisy.</p> + +<p>In fact, he had in his fall taken off the skin of his +left thumb.</p> + +<p>"But this was by falling," observed the Citizen.</p> + +<p>The Baron pretended not to understand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> + +<p>Arnoux had jumped out of the cab.</p> + +<p>"I have arrived too late? No! Thanks be to +God!"</p> + +<p>He threw his arms around Frederick, felt him, and +covered his face with kisses.</p> + +<p>"I am the cause of it. You wanted to defend your +old friend! That's right—that's right! Never shall I +forget it! How good you are! Ah! my own dear boy!"</p> + +<p>He gazed at Frederick and shed tears, while he +chuckled with delight. The Baron turned towards +Joseph:</p> + +<p>"I believe we are in the way at this little family +party. It is over, messieurs, is it not? Vicomte, put +your arm into a sling. Hold on! here is my silk +handkerchief."</p> + +<p>Then, with an imperious gesture: "Come! no +spite! This is as it should be!"</p> + +<p>The two adversaries shook hands in a very lukewarm +fashion. The Vicomte, M. de Comaing, and +Joseph disappeared in one direction, and Frederick left +with his friends in the opposite direction.</p> + +<p>As the Madrid Restaurant was not far off, Arnoux +proposed that they should go and drink a glass of +beer there.</p> + +<p>"We might even have breakfast."</p> + +<p>But, as Dussardier had no time to lose, they +confined themselves to taking some refreshment in +the garden.</p> + +<p>They all experienced that sense of satisfaction +which follows happy <i>dénouements</i>. The Citizen, +nevertheless, was annoyed at the duel having been +interrupted at the most critical stage.</p> + +<p>Arnoux had been apprised of it by a person named +Compain, a friend of Regimbart; and with an irre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>pressible +outburst of emotion he had rushed to the +spot to prevent it, under the impression, however, +that he was the occasion of it. He begged of Frederick +to furnish him with some details about it. Frederick, +touched by these proofs of affection, felt some scruples +at the idea of increasing his misapprehension of the +facts.</p> + +<p>"For mercy's sake, don't say any more about it!"</p> + +<p>Arnoux thought that this reserve showed great +delicacy. Then, with his habitual levity, he passed +on to some fresh subject.</p> + +<p>"What news, Citizen?"</p> + +<p>And they began talking about banking transactions, +and the number of bills that were falling due. In +order to be more undisturbed, they went to another +table, where they exchanged whispered confidences.</p> + +<p>Frederick could overhear the following words: +"You are going to back me up with your signature." +"Yes, but you, mind!" "I have negotiated +it at last for three hundred!" "A nice commission, +faith!"</p> + +<p>In short, it was clear that Arnoux was mixed up +in a great many shady transactions with the Citizen.</p> + +<p>Frederick thought of reminding him about the fifteen +thousand francs. But his last step forbade the utterance +of any reproachful words even of the mildest +description. Besides, he felt tired himself, and this +was not a convenient place for talking about such a +thing. He put it off till some future day.</p> + +<p>Arnoux, seated in the shade of an evergreen, was +smoking, with a look of joviality in his face. He +raised his eyes towards the doors of private rooms +looking out on the garden, and said he had often paid +visits to the house in former days.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Probably not by yourself?" returned the Citizen.</p> + +<p>"Faith, you're right there!"</p> + +<p>"What blackguardism you do carry on! you, a +married man!"</p> + +<p>"Well, and what about yourself?" retorted Arnoux; +and, with an indulgent smile: "I am even +sure that this rascal here has a room of his own +somewhere into which he takes his friends."</p> + +<p>The Citizen confessed that this was true by simply +shrugging his shoulders. Then these two gentlemen +entered into their respective tastes with regard to the +sex: Arnoux now preferred youth, work-girls; Regimbart +hated affected women, and went in for the genuine +article before anything else. The conclusion +which the earthenware-dealer laid down at the close of +this discussion was that women were not to be taken +seriously.</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, he is fond of his own wife," +thought Frederick, as he made his way home; and he +looked on Arnoux as a coarse-grained man. He had +a grudge against him on account of the duel, as if it +had been for the sake of this individual that he risked +his life a little while before.</p> + +<p>But he felt grateful to Dussardier for his devotedness. +Ere long the book-keeper came at his invitation +to pay him a visit every day.</p> + +<p>Frederick lent him books—Thiers, Dulaure, Barante, +and Lamartine's <i>Girondins</i>.</p> + +<p>The honest fellow listened to everything the other +said with a thoughtful air, and accepted his opinions +as those of a master.</p> + +<p>One evening he arrived looking quite scared.</p> + +<p>That morning, on the boulevard, a man who was +running so quickly that he had got out of breath, had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +jostled against him, and having recognised in him a +friend of Sénécal, had said to him:</p> + +<p>"He has just been taken! I am making my +escape!"</p> + +<p>There was no doubt about it. Dussardier had +spent the day making enquiries. Sénécal was in jail +charged with an attempted crime of a political nature.</p> + +<p>The son of an overseer, he was born at Lyons, +and having had as his teacher a former disciple of +Chalier, he had, on his arrival in Paris, obtained admission +into the "Society of Families." His ways +were known, and the police kept a watch on him. +He was one of those who fought in the outbreak of +May, 1839, and since then he had remained in the +shade; but, his self-importance increasing more and +more, he became a fanatical follower of Alibaud, mixing +up his own grievances against society with those +of the people against monarchy, and waking up every +morning in the hope of a revolution which in a fortnight +or a month would turn the world upside down. +At last, disgusted at the inactivity of his brethren, +enraged at the obstacles that retarded the realisation +of his dreams, and despairing of the country, he +entered in his capacity of chemist into the conspiracy +for the use of incendiary bombs; and he had been +caught carrying gunpowder, of which he was going +to make a trial at Montmartre—a supreme effort to +establish the Republic.</p> + +<p>Dussardier was no less attached to the Republican +idea, for, from his point of view, it meant enfranchisement +and universal happiness. One day—at the +age of fifteen—in the Rue Transnonain, in front of a +grocer's shop, he had seen soldiers' bayonets reddened +with blood and exhibiting human hairs pasted to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +butt-ends of their guns. Since that time, the Government +had filled him with feelings of rage as the +very incarnation of injustice. He frequently confused +the assassins with the gendarmes; and in his eyes a +police-spy was just as bad as a parricide. All the +evil scattered over the earth he ingenuously attributed +to Power; and he hated it with a deep-rooted, undying +hatred that held possession of his heart and made +his sensibility all the more acute. He had been dazzled +by Sénécal's declamations. It was of little consequence +whether he happened to be guilty or not, or +whether the attempt with which he was charged +could be characterised as an odious proceeding! Since +he was the victim of Authority, it was only right to +help him.</p> + +<p>"The Peers will condemn him, certainly! Then +he will be conveyed in a prison-van, like a convict, +and will be shut up in Mont Saint-Michel, where +the Government lets people die! Austen had gone +mad! Steuben had killed himself! In order to transfer +Barbès into a dungeon, they had dragged him by +the legs and by the hair. They trampled on his +body, and his head rebounded along the staircase at +every step they took. What abominable treatment! +The wretches!"</p> + +<p>He was choking with angry sobs, and he walked +about the apartment in a very excited frame of mind.</p> + +<p>"In the meantime, something must be done! +Come, for my part, I don't know what to do! Suppose +we tried to rescue him, eh? While they are +bringing him to the Luxembourg, we could throw +ourselves on the escort in the passage! A dozen +resolute men—that sometimes is enough to accomplish +it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was so much fire in his eyes that Frederick +was a little startled by his look. He recalled to mind +Sénécal's sufferings and his austere life. Without feeling +the same enthusiasm about him as Dussardier, he +experienced nevertheless that admiration which is inspired +by every man who sacrifices himself for an +idea. He said to himself that, if he had helped this +man, he would not be in his present position; and +the two friends anxiously sought to devise some contrivance +whereby they could set him free.</p> + +<p>It was impossible for them to get access to him.</p> + +<p>Frederick examined the newspapers to try to find +out what had become of him, and for three weeks +he was a constant visitor at the reading-rooms.</p> + +<p>One day several numbers of the <i>Flambard</i> fell into +his hands. The leading article was invariably devoted +to cutting up some distinguished man. After +that came some society gossip and some scandals. +Then there were some chaffing observations about +the Odéon Carpentras, pisciculture, and prisoners under +sentence of death, when there happened to be +any. The disappearance of a packet-boat furnished +materials for a whole year's jokes. In the third column +a picture-canvasser, under the form of anecdotes +or advice, gave some tailors' announcements, together +with accounts of evening parties, advertisements as to +auctions, and analysis of artistic productions, writing +in the same strain about a volume of verse and a pair +of boots. The only serious portion of it was the criticism +of the small theatres, in which fierce attacks were +made on two or three managers; and the interests of +art were invoked on the subjects of the decorations of +the Rope-dancers' Gymnasium and of the actress who +played the part of the heroine at the Délassements.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> + +<p>Frederick was passing over all these items when +his eyes alighted on an article entitled "A Lass between +three Lads." It was the story of his duel +related in a lively Gallic style. He had no difficulty +in recognising himself, for he was indicated by this +little joke, which frequently recurred: "A young man +from the College of Sens who has no sense." He +was even represented as a poor devil from the provinces, +an obscure booby trying to rub against persons of +high rank. As for the Vicomte, he was made to play +a fascinating part, first by having forced his way into +the supper-room, then by having carried off the lady, +and, finally, by having behaved all through like a perfect +gentleman.</p> + +<p>Frederick's courage was not denied exactly, but it +was pointed out that an intermediary—the <i>protector</i> +himself—had come on the scene just in the nick of +time. The entire article concluded with this phrase, +pregnant perhaps with sinister meaning:</p> + +<p>"What is the cause of their affection? A problem! +and, as Bazile says, who the deuce is it that is deceived +here?"</p> + +<p>This was, beyond all doubt, Hussonnet's revenge +against Frederick for having refused him five thousand +francs.</p> + +<p>What was he to do? If he demanded an explanation +from him, the Bohemian would protest that he +was innocent, and nothing would be gained by doing +this. The best course was to swallow the affront in +silence. Nobody, after all, read the <i>Flambard</i>.</p> + +<p>As he left the reading-room, he saw some people +standing in front of a picture-dealer's shop. They +were staring at the portrait of a woman, with this +fine traced underneath in black letters: "Mademoiselle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +Rosanette Bron, belonging to M. Frederick Moreau +of Nogent."</p> + +<p>It was indeed she—or, at least, like her—her full +face displayed, her bosom uncovered, with her hair +hanging loose, and with a purse of red velvet in her +hands, while behind her a peacock leaned his beak +over her shoulder, covering the wall with his immense +plumage in the shape of a fan.</p> + +<p>Pellerin had got up this exhibition in order to +compel Frederick to pay, persuaded that he was a +celebrity, and that all Paris, roused to take his part, +would be interested in this wretched piece of work.</p> + +<p>Was this a conspiracy? Had the painter and the +journalist prepared their attack on him at the same +time?</p> + +<p>His duel had not put a stop to anything. He had +become an object of ridicule, and everyone had been +laughing at him.</p> + +<p>Three days afterwards, at the end of June, the +Northern shares having had a rise of fifteen francs, as +he had bought two thousand of them within the past +month, he found that he had made thirty thousand +francs by them. This caress of fortune gave him renewed +self-confidence. He said to himself that he +wanted nobody's help, and that all his embarrassments +were the result of his timidity and indecision. +He ought to have begun his intrigue with the Maréchale +with brutal directness and refused Hussonnet +the very first day. He should not have compromised +himself with Pellerin. And, in order to show that he +was not a bit embarrassed, he presented himself at +one of Madame Dambreuse's ordinary evening parties.</p> + +<p>In the middle of the anteroom, Martinon, who had +arrived at the same time as he had, turned round:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What! so you are visiting here?" with a look +of surprise, and as if displeased at seeing him.</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>And, while asking himself what could be the cause +of such a display of hostility on Martinon's part, Frederick +made his way into the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>The light was dim, in spite of the lamps placed +in the corners, for the three windows, which were +wide open, made three large squares of black shadow +stand parallel with each other. Under the pictures, +flower-stands occupied, at a man's height, the spaces +on the walls, and a silver teapot with a samovar cast +their reflections in a mirror on the background. There +arose a murmur of hushed voices. Pumps could be +heard creaking on the carpet. He could distinguish a +number of black coats, then a round table lighted +up by a large shaded lamp, seven or eight ladies in +summer toilets, and at some little distance Madame +Dambreuse in a rocking armchair. Her dress of lilac +taffeta had slashed sleeves, from which fell muslin +puffs, the charming tint of the material harmonising +with the shade of her hair; and she sat slightly thrown +back with the tip of her foot on a cushion, with the +repose of an exquisitely delicate work of art, a flower +of high culture.</p> + +<p>M. Dambreuse and an old gentleman with a white +head were walking from one end of the drawing-room +to the other. Some of the guests chatted here +and there, sitting on the edges of little sofas, while +the others, standing up, formed a circle in the centre +of the apartment.</p> + +<p>They were talking about votes, amendments, +counter-amendments, M. Grandin's speech, and M. +Benoist's reply. The third party had decidedly gone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +too far. The Left Centre ought to have had a better +recollection of its origin. Serious attacks had been +made on the ministry. It must be reassuring, however, +to see that it had no successor. In short, the +situation was completely analogous to that of 1834.</p> + +<p>As these things bored Frederick, he drew near the +ladies. Martinon was beside them, standing up, with +his hat under his arm, showing himself in three-quarter +profile, and looking so neat that he resembled a +piece of Sèvres porcelain. He took up a copy of the +<i>Revue des Deux Mondes</i> which was lying on the +table between an <i>Imitation</i> and an <i>Almanach de +Gotha</i>, and spoke of a distinguished poet in a contemptuous +tone, said he was going to the "conferences +of Saint-Francis," complained of his larynx, +swallowed from time to time a pellet of gummatum, +and in the meantime kept talking about music, and +played the part of the elegant trifler. Mademoiselle +Cécile, M. Dambreuse's niece, who happened to be +embroidering a pair of ruffles, gazed at him with her +pale blue eyes; and Miss John, the governess, who +had a flat nose, laid aside her tapestry on his account. +Both of them appeared to be exclaiming internally:</p> + +<p>"How handsome he is!"</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse turned round towards him.</p> + +<p>"Please give me my fan which is on that pier-table +over there. You are taking the wrong one! 'tis +the other!"</p> + +<p>She arose, and when he came across to her, they +met in the middle of the drawing-room face to +face. She addressed a few sharp words to him, no +doubt of a reproachful character, judging by the +haughty expression of her face. Martinon tried to +smile; then he went to join the circle in which grave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +men were holding discussions. Madame Dambreuse +resumed her seat, and, bending over the arm of her +chair, said to Frederick:</p> + +<p>"I saw somebody the day before yesterday who +was speaking to me about you—Monsieur de Cisy. +You know him, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, slightly."</p> + +<p>Suddenly Madame Dambreuse uttered an exclamation:</p> + +<p>"Oh! Duchesse, what a pleasure to see you!"</p> + +<p>And she advanced towards the door to meet a +little old lady in a Carmelite taffeta gown and a cap +of guipure with long borders. The daughter of a +companion in exile of the Comte d'Artois, and +the widow of a marshal of the Empire; who had +been created a peer of France in 1830, she adhered +to the court of a former generation as well as to the +new court, and possessed sufficient influence to procure +many things. Those who stood talking stepped +aside, and then resumed their conversation.</p> + +<p>It had now turned on pauperism, of which, according +to these gentlemen, all the descriptions that +had been given were grossly exaggerated.</p> + +<p>"However," urged Martinon, "let us confess that +there is such a thing as want! But the remedy depends +neither on science nor on power. It is purely +an individual question. When the lower classes are +willing to get rid of their vices, they will free themselves +from their necessities. Let the people be more +moral, and they will be less poor!"</p> + +<p>According to M. Dambreuse, no good could be attained +without a superabundance of capital. Therefore, +the only practicable method was to intrust, "as +the Saint-Simonians, however, proposed (good heavens!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +there was some merit in their views—let us be just +to everybody)—to intrust, I say, the cause of progress +to those who can increase the public wealth." Imperceptibly +they began to touch on great industrial +undertakings—the railways, the coal-mines. And M. +Dambreuse, addressing Frederick, said to him in a low +whisper:</p> + +<p>"You have not called about that business of ours?"</p> + +<p>Frederick pleaded illness; but, feeling that this excuse +was too absurd:</p> + +<p>"Besides, I need my ready money."</p> + +<p>"Is it to buy a carriage?" asked Madame Dambreuse, +who was brushing past him with a cup of tea +in her hand, and for a minute she watched his face +with her head bent slightly over her shoulder.</p> + +<p>She believed that he was Rosanette's lover—the +allusion was obvious. It seemed even to Frederick +that all the ladies were staring at him from a distance +and whispering to one another.</p> + +<p>In order to get a better idea as to what they were +thinking about, he once more approached them. On +the opposite side of the table, Martinon, seated near +Mademoiselle Cécile, was turning over the leaves of +an album. It contained lithographs representing Spanish +costumes. He read the descriptive titles aloud: +"A Lady of Seville," "A Valencia Gardener," "An +Andalusian Picador"; and once, when he had reached +the bottom of the page, he continued all in one +breath:</p> + +<p>"Jacques Arnoux, publisher. One of your friends, +eh?"</p> + +<p>"That is true," said Frederick, hurt by the tone he +had assumed.</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse again interposed:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> + +<p>"In fact, you came here one morning—about a +house, I believe—a house belonging to his wife." +(This meant: "She is your mistress.")</p> + +<p>He reddened up to his ears; and M. Dambreuse, +who joined them at the same moment, made this additional +remark:</p> + +<p>"You appear even to be deeply interested in them."</p> + +<p>These last words had the effect of putting Frederick +out of countenance. His confusion, which, he +could not help feeling, was evident to them, was on +the point of confirming their suspicions, when M. +Dambreuse drew close to him, and, in a tone of great +seriousness, said:</p> + +<p>"I suppose you don't do business together?"</p> + +<p>He protested by repeated shakes of the head, without +realising the exact meaning of the capitalist, who +wished to give him advice.</p> + +<p>He felt a desire to leave. The fear of appearing +faint-hearted restrained him. A servant carried away +the teacups. Madame Dambreuse was talking to a +diplomatist in a blue coat. Two young girls, drawing +their foreheads close together, showed each +other their jewellery. The others, seated in a semicircle +on armchairs, kept gently moving their white +faces crowned with black or fair hair. Nobody, in +fact, minded them. Frederick turned on his heels; +and, by a succession of long zigzags, he had almost +reached the door, when, passing close to a bracket, +he remarked, on the top of it, between a china vase +and the wainscoting, a journal folded up in two. He +drew it out a little, and read these words—<i>The Flambard</i>.</p> + +<p>Who had brought it there? Cisy. Manifestly no +one else. What did it matter, however? They would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +believe—already, perhaps, everyone believed—in the +article. What was the cause of this rancour? He +wrapped himself up in ironical silence. He felt like +one lost in a desert. But suddenly he heard Martinon's +voice:</p> + +<p>"Talking of Arnoux, I saw in the newspapers, +amongst the names of those accused of preparing incendiary +bombs, that of one of his <i>employés</i>, Sénécal. +Is that our Sénécal?"</p> + +<p>"The very same!"</p> + +<p>Martinon repeated several times in a very loud +tone:</p> + +<p>"What? our Sénécal! our Sénécal!"</p> + +<p>Then questions were asked him about the conspiracy. +It was assumed that his connection with the +prosecutor's office ought to furnish him with some information +on the subject.</p> + +<p>He declared that he had none. However, he knew +very little about this individual, having seen him only +two or three times. He positively regarded him as a +very ill-conditioned fellow. Frederick exclaimed indignantly:</p> + +<p>"Not at all! he is a very honest fellow."</p> + +<p>"All the same, Monsieur," said a landowner, "no +conspirator can be an honest man."</p> + +<p>Most of the men assembled there had served at +least four governments; and they would have sold +France or the human race in order to preserve their +own incomes, to save themselves from any discomfort +or embarrassment, or even through sheer baseness, +through worship of force. They all maintained +that political crimes were inexcusable. It would be +more desirable to pardon those which were provoked +by want. And they did not fail to put forward the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +eternal illustration of the father of a family stealing +the eternal loaf of bread from the eternal baker.</p> + +<p>A gentleman occupying an administrative office +even went so far as to exclaim:</p> + +<p>"For my part, Monsieur, if I were told that my +brother were a conspirator I would denounce him!"</p> + +<p>Frederick invoked the right of resistance, and recalling +to mind some phrases that Deslauriers had +used in their conversations, he referred to Delosmes, +Blackstone, the English Bill of Rights, and Article 2 +of the Constitution of '91. It was even by virtue of +this law that the fall of Napoléon had been proclaimed. +It had been recognised in 1830, and inscribed +at the head of the Charter. Besides, when +the sovereign fails to fulfil the contract, justice requires +that he should be overthrown.</p> + +<p>"Why, this is abominable!" exclaimed a prefect's +wife.</p> + +<p>All the rest remained silent, filled with vague +terror, as if they had heard the noise of bullets. Madame +Dambreuse rocked herself in her chair, and +smiled as she listened to him.</p> + +<p>A manufacturer, who had formerly been a member +of the Carbonari, tried to show that the Orléans +family possessed good qualities. No doubt there were +some abuses.</p> + +<p>"Well, what then?"</p> + +<p>"But we should not talk about them, my dear +Monsieur! If you knew how all these clamourings of +the Opposition injure business!"</p> + +<p>"What do I care about business?" said Frederick.</p> + +<p>He was exasperated by the rottenness of these old +men; and, carried away by the recklessness which +sometimes takes possession of even the most timid,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +he attacked the financiers, the deputies, the government, +the king, took up the defence of the Arabs, +and gave vent to a great deal of abusive language. +A few of those around him encouraged him in a +spirit of irony:</p> + +<p>"Go on, pray! continue!" whilst others muttered: +"The deuce! what enthusiasm!" At last he thought +the right thing to do was to retire; and, as he was +going away, M. Dambreuse said to him, alluding to +the post of secretary:</p> + +<p>"No definite arrangement has been yet arrived at; +but make haste!"</p> + +<p>And Madame Dambreuse:</p> + +<p>"You'll call again soon, will you not?"</p> + +<p>Frederick considered their parting salutation a last +mockery. He had resolved never to come back to this +house, or to visit any of these people again. He imagined +that he had offended them, not realising what +vast funds of indifference society possesses. These +women especially excited his indignation. Not a single +one of them had backed him up even with a look +of sympathy. He felt angry with them for not having +been moved by his words. As for Madame Dambreuse, +he found in her something at the same time languid +and cold, which prevented him from defining her +character by a formula. Had she a lover? and, if so, +who was her lover? Was it the diplomatist or some +other? Perhaps it was Martinon? Impossible! Nevertheless, +he experienced a sort of jealousy against Martinon, +and an unaccountable ill-will against her.</p> + +<p>Dussardier, having called this evening as usual, +was awaiting him. Frederick's heart was swelling +with bitterness; he unburdened it, and his grievances, +though vague and hard to understand, saddened the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +honest shop-assistant. He even complained of his +isolation. Dussardier, after a little hesitation, suggested +that they ought to call on Deslauriers.</p> + +<p>Frederick, at the mention of the advocate's name, +was seized with a longing to see him once more. +He was now living in the midst of profound intellectual +solitude, and found Dussardier's company quite +insufficient. In reply to the latter's question, Frederick +told him to arrange matters any way he liked.</p> + +<p>Deslauriers had likewise, since their quarrel, felt +a void in his life. He yielded without much reluctance +to the cordial advances which were made to +him. The pair embraced each other, then began +chatting about matters of no consequence.</p> + +<p>Frederick's heart was touched by Deslauriers' display +of reserve, and in order to make him a sort of reparation, +he told the other next day how he had lost the +fifteen thousand francs without mentioning that these +fifteen thousand francs had been originally intended +for him. The advocate, nevertheless, had a shrewd +suspicion of the truth; and this misadventure, which +justified, in his own mind, his prejudices against Arnoux, +entirely disarmed his rancour; and he did not +again refer to the promise made by his friend on a +former occasion.</p> + +<p>Frederick, misled by his silence, thought he had +forgotten all about it. A few days afterwards, he +asked Deslauriers whether there was any way in +which he could get back his money.</p> + +<p>They might raise the point that the prior mortgage +was fraudulent, and might take proceedings +against the wife personally.</p> + +<p>"No! no! not against her!" exclaimed Frederick, +and, yielding to the ex-law-clerk's questions, he con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>fessed +the truth. Deslauriers was convinced that +Frederick had not told him the entire truth, no doubt +through a feeling of delicacy. He was hurt by this +want of confidence.</p> + +<p>They were, however, on the same intimate terms +as before, and they even found so much pleasure in +each other's society that Dussardier's presence was +an obstacle to their free intercourse. Under the pretence +that they had appointments, they managed +gradually to get rid of him.</p> + +<p>There are some men whose only mission amongst +their fellow-men is to serve as go-betweens; people +use them in the same way as if they were bridges, +by stepping over them and going on further.</p> + +<p>Frederick concealed nothing from his old friend. +He told him about the coal-mine speculation and M. +Dambreuse's proposal. The advocate grew thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"That's queer! For such a post a man with a +good knowledge of law would be required!"</p> + +<p>"But you could assist me," returned Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Yes!—hold on! faith, yes! certainly."</p> + +<p>During the same week Frederick showed Dussardier +a letter from his mother.</p> + +<p>Madame Moreau accused herself of having misjudged +M. Roque, who had given a satisfactory explanation +of his conduct. Then she spoke of his +means, and of the possibility, later, of a marriage +with Louise.</p> + +<p>"That would not be a bad match," said Deslauriers.</p> + +<p>Frederick said it was entirely out of the question. +Besides, Père Roque was an old trickster. That in +no way affected the matter, in the advocate's opinion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> + +<p>At the end of July, an unaccountable diminution in +value made the Northern shares fall. Frederick had +not sold his. He lost sixty thousand francs in one +day. His income was considerably reduced. He +would have to curtail his expenditure, or take up +some calling, or make a brilliant catch in the matrimonial +market.</p> + +<p>Then Deslauriers spoke to him about Mademoiselle +Roque. There was nothing to prevent him from going +to get some idea of things by seeing for himself. +Frederick was rather tired of city life. Provincial existence +and the maternal roof would be a sort of +recreation for him.</p> + +<p>The aspect of the streets of Nogent, as he passed +through them in the moonlight, brought back old +memories to his mind; and he experienced a kind of +pang, like persons who have just returned home after +a long period of travel.</p> + +<p>At his mother's house, all the country visitors had +assembled as in former days—MM. Gamblin, Heudras, +and Chambrion, the Lebrun family, "those young +ladies, the Augers," and, in addition, Père Roque, and, +sitting opposite to Madame Moreau at a card-table, +Mademoiselle Louise. She was now a woman. She +sprang to her feet with a cry of delight. They were +all in a flutter of excitement. She remained standing +motionless, and the paleness of her face was intensified +by the light issuing from four silver candlesticks.</p> + +<p>When she resumed play, her hand was trembling. +This emotion was exceedingly flattering to Frederick, +whose pride had been sorely wounded of late. He +said to himself: "You, at any rate, will love me!" +and, as if he were thus taking his revenge for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +humiliations he had endured in the capital, he began +to affect the Parisian lion, retailed all the theatrical +gossip, told anecdotes as to the doings of society, +which he had borrowed from the columns of the +cheap newspapers, and, in short, dazzled his fellow-townspeople.</p> + +<p>Next morning, Madame Moreau expatiated on +Louise's fine qualities; then she enumerated the woods +and farms of which she would be the owner. Père +Roque's wealth was considerable.</p> + +<p>He had acquired it while making investments for +M. Dambreuse; for he had lent money to persons who +were able to give good security in the shape of +mortgages, whereby he was enabled to demand additional +sums or commissions. The capital, owing to +his energetic vigilance, was in no danger of being +lost. Besides, Père Roque never had any hesitation +in making a seizure. Then he bought up the mortgaged +property at a low price, and M. Dambreuse, +having got back his money, found his affairs in very +good order.</p> + +<p>But this manipulation of business matters in a way +which was not strictly legal compromised him with +his agent. He could refuse Père Roque nothing, and +it was owing to the latter's solicitations that M. Dambreuse +had received Frederick so cordially.</p> + +<p>The truth was that in the depths of his soul Père +Roque cherished a deep-rooted ambition. He wished +his daughter to be a countess; and for the purpose of +gaining this object, without imperilling the happiness +of his child, he knew no other young man so well +adapted as Frederick.</p> + +<p>Through the influence of M. Dambreuse, he could +obtain the title of his maternal grandfather, Madame<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +Moreau being the daughter of a Comte de Fouvens, +and besides being connected with the oldest families +in Champagne, the Lavernades and the D'Etrignys. +As for the Moreaus, a Gothic inscription near the +mills of Villeneuve-l'Archevèque referred to one Jacob +Moreau, who had rebuilt them in 1596; and the tomb +of his own son, Pierre Moreau, first esquire of the +king under Louis XIV., was to be seen in the chapel +of Saint-Nicholas.</p> + +<p>So much family distinction fascinated M. Roque, +the son of an old servant. If the coronet of a count +did not come, he would console himself with something +else; for Frederick might get a deputyship when +M. Dambreuse had been raised to the peerage, and +might then be able to assist him in his commercial +pursuits, and to obtain for him supplies and grants. +He liked the young man personally. In short, he desired +to have Frederick for a son-in-law, because for +a long time past he had been smitten with this notion, +which only grew all the stronger day by day. +Now he went to religious services, and he had won +Madame Moreau over to his views, especially by +holding before her the prospect of a title.</p> + +<p>So it was that, eight days later, without any +formal engagement, Frederick was regarded as Mademoiselle +Roque's "intended," and Père Roque, who +was not troubled with many scruples, often left them +together.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="chapter_xii" id="chapter_xii"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">Little Louise Grows Up.</h3> + + + +<p><img src="images/i_chxii.png" width="123" height="123" alt="D" title="" class="illodrop" style="margin-top: -3.5em;" />eslauriers had carried away from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +Frederick's house the copy of the +deed of subrogation, with a power +of attorney in proper form, giving +him full authority to act; but, +when he had reascended his own +five flights of stairs and found himself alone in +the midst of his dismal room, in his armchair upholstered +in sheep-leather, the sight of the stamped +paper disgusted him.</p> + +<p>He was tired of these things, and of restaurants +at thirty-two sous, of travelling in omnibuses, of enduring +want and making futile efforts. He took up +the papers again; there were others near them. They +were prospectuses of the coal-mining company, with +a list of the mines and the particulars as to their contents, +Frederick having left all these matters in his +hands in order to have his opinion about them.</p> + +<p>An idea occurred to him—that of presenting himself +at M. Dambreuse's house and applying for the +post of secretary. This post, it was perfectly certain, +could not be obtained without purchasing a certain +number of shares. He recognised the folly of his +project, and said to himself:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh! no, that would be a wrong step."</p> + +<p>Then he ransacked his brains to think of the best +way in which he could set about recovering the fifteen +thousand francs. Such a sum was a mere trifle +to Frederick. But, if he had it, what a lever it +would be in his hands! And the ex-law-clerk was +indignant at the other being so well off.</p> + +<p>"He makes a pitiful use of it. He is a selfish +fellow. Ah! what do I care for his fifteen thousand +francs!"</p> + +<p>Why had he lent the money? For the sake of +Madame Arnoux's bright eyes. She was his mistress! +Deslauriers had no doubt about it. "There was +another way in which money was useful!"</p> + +<p>And he was assailed by malignant thoughts.</p> + +<p>Then he allowed his thoughts to dwell even on +Frederick's personal appearance. It had always exercised +over him an almost feminine charm; and he +soon came to admire it for a success which he realised +that he was himself incapable of achieving.</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, was not the will the main element +in every enterprise? and, since by its means we may +triumph over everything——"</p> + +<p>"Ha! that would be funny!"</p> + +<p>But he felt ashamed of such treachery, and the +next moment:</p> + +<p>"Pooh! I am afraid?"</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux—from having heard her spoken +about so often—had come to be depicted in his +imagination as something extraordinary. The persistency +of this passion had irritated him like a problem. +Her austerity, which seemed a little theatrical, now +annoyed him. Besides, the woman of the world—or, +rather, his own conception of her—dazzled the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +advocate as a symbol and the epitome of a thousand +pleasures. Poor though he was, he hankered after +luxury in its more glittering form.</p> + +<p>"After all, even though he should get angry, so +much the worse! He has behaved too badly to me +to call for any anxiety about him on my part! I +have no assurance that she is his mistress! He has +denied it. So then I am free to act as I please!"</p> + +<p>He could no longer abandon the desire of taking this +step. He wished to make a trial of his own strength, +so that one day, all of a sudden, he polished his boots +himself, bought white gloves, and set forth on his +way, substituting himself for Frederick, and almost +imagining that he was the other by a singular intellectual +evolution, in which there was, at the same time, +vengeance and sympathy, imitation and audacity.</p> + +<p>He announced himself as "Doctor Deslauriers."</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux was surprised, as she had not +sent for any physician.</p> + +<p>"Ha! a thousand apologies!—'tis a doctor of law! +I have come in Monsieur Moreau's interest."</p> + +<p>This name appeared to produce a disquieting effect +on her mind.</p> + +<p>"So much the better!" thought the ex-law-clerk.</p> + +<p>"Since she has a liking for him, she will like me, +too!" buoying up his courage with the accepted idea +that it is easier to supplant a lover than a husband.</p> + +<p>He referred to the fact that he had the pleasure of +meeting her on one occasion at the law-courts; he +even mentioned the date. This remarkable power of +memory astonished Madame Arnoux. He went on in +a tone of mild affectation:</p> + +<p>"You have already found your affairs a little embarrassing?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + +<p>She made no reply.</p> + +<p>"Then it must be true."</p> + +<p>He began to chat about one thing or another, +about her house, about the works; then, noticing +some medallions at the sides of the mirror:</p> + +<p>"Ha! family portraits, no doubt?"</p> + +<p>He remarked that of an old lady, Madame Arnoux's +mother.</p> + +<p>"She has the appearance of an excellent woman, +a southern type."</p> + +<p>And, on being met with the objection that she +was from Chartres:</p> + +<p>"Chartres! pretty town!"</p> + +<p>He praised its cathedral and public buildings, and +coming back to the portrait, traced resemblances between +it and Madame Arnoux, and cast flatteries at +her indirectly. She did not appear to be offended at +this. He took confidence, and said that he had known +Arnoux a long time.</p> + +<p>"He is a fine fellow, but one who compromises +himself. Take this mortgage, for example—one can't +imagine such a reckless act——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know," said she, shrugging her shoulders.</p> + +<p>This involuntary evidence of contempt induced Deslauriers +to continue. "That kaolin business of his +was near turning out very badly, a thing you may +not be aware of, and even his reputation——"</p> + +<p>A contraction of the brows made him pause.</p> + +<p>Then, falling back on generalities, he expressed +his pity for the "poor women whose husbands frittered +away their means."</p> + +<p>"But in this case, monsieur, the means belong to +him. As for me, I have nothing!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> + +<p>No matter, one never knows. A woman of experience +might be useful. He made offers of devotion, +exalted his own merits; and he looked into her +face through his shining spectacles.</p> + +<p>She was seized with a vague torpor; but suddenly +said:</p> + +<p>"Let us look into the matter, I beg of you."</p> + +<p>He exhibited the bundle of papers.</p> + +<p>"This is Frederick's letter of attorney. With such +a document in the hands of a process-server, who +would make out an order, nothing could be easier; +in twenty-four hours——" (She remained impassive; +he changed his manœuvre.)</p> + +<p>"As for me, however, I don't understand what +impels him to demand this sum, for, in fact, he +doesn't want it."</p> + +<p>"How is that? Monsieur Moreau has shown himself +so kind."</p> + +<p>"Oh! granted!"</p> + +<p>And Deslauriers began by eulogising him, then in +a mild fashion disparaged him, giving it out that he +was a forgetful individual, and over-fond of money.</p> + +<p>"I thought he was your friend, monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"That does not prevent me from seeing his defects. +Thus, he showed very little recognition of—how +shall I put it?—the sympathy——"</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux was turning over the leaves of a +large manuscript book.</p> + +<p>She interrupted him in order to get him to explain +a certain word.</p> + +<p>He bent over her shoulder, and his face came so +close to hers that he grazed her cheek. She blushed. +This heightened colour inflamed Deslauriers, he hungrily +kissed her head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What are you doing, Monsieur?" And, standing +up against the wall, she compelled him to remain +perfectly quiet under the glance of her large blue +eyes glowing with anger.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me! I love you!"</p> + +<p>She broke into a laugh, a shrill, discouraging +laugh. Deslauriers felt himself suffocating with anger. +He restrained his feelings, and, with the look of a +vanquished person imploring mercy:</p> + +<p>"Ha! you are wrong! As for me, I would not +go like him."</p> + +<p>"Of whom, pray, are you talking?"</p> + +<p>"Of Frederick."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Monsieur Moreau troubles me little. I told +you that!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! forgive me! forgive me!" Then, drawling +his words, in a sarcastic tone:</p> + +<p>"I even imagined that you were sufficiently interested +in him personally to learn with pleasure——"</p> + +<p>She became quite pale. The ex-law-clerk added:</p> + +<p>"He is going to be married."</p> + +<p>"He!"</p> + +<p>"In a month at latest, to Mademoiselle Roque, the +daughter of M. Dambreuse's agent. He has even +gone down to Nogent for no other purpose but that."</p> + +<p>She placed her hand over her heart, as if at the +shock of a great blow; but immediately she rang the +bell. Deslauriers did not wait to be ordered to leave. +When she turned round he had disappeared.</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux was gasping a little with the +strain of her emotions. She drew near the window +to get a breath of air.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the street, on the footpath, +a packer in his shirt-sleeves was nailing down a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +trunk. Hackney-coaches passed. She closed the +window-blinds and then came and sat down. As +the high houses in the vicinity intercepted the sun's +rays, the light of day stole coldly into the apartment. +Her children had gone out; there was not a stir +around her. It seemed as if she were utterly deserted.</p> + +<p>"He is going to be married! Is it possible?"</p> + +<p>And she was seized with a fit of nervous trembling.</p> + +<p>"Why is this? Does it mean that I love him?"</p> + +<p>Then all of a sudden:</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; I love him—I love him!"</p> + +<p>It seemed to her as if she were sinking into endless +depths. The clock struck three. She listened to +the vibrations of the sounds as they died away. And +she remained on the edge of the armchair, with her +eyeballs fixed and an unchanging smile on her face.</p> + +<p>The same afternoon, at the same moment, Frederick +and Mademoiselle Louise were walking in the +garden belonging to M. Roque at the end of the +island.</p> + +<p>Old Catherine was watching them, some distance +away. They were walking side by side and Frederick +said:</p> + +<p>"You remember when I brought you into the +country?"</p> + +<p>"How good you were to me!" she replied. +"You assisted me in making sand-pies, in filling my +watering-pot, and in rocking me in the swing!"</p> + +<p>"All your dolls, who had the names of queens +and marchionesses—what has become of them?"</p> + +<p>"Really, I don't know!"</p> + +<p>"And your pug Moricaud?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He's drowned, poor darling!"</p> + +<p>"And the <i>Don Quixote</i> of which we coloured the +engravings together?"</p> + +<p>"I have it still!"</p> + +<p>He recalled to her mind the day of her first communion, +and how pretty she had been at vespers, with +her white veil and her large wax-taper, whilst the +girls were all taking their places in a row around the +choir, and the bell was tinkling.</p> + +<p>These memories, no doubt, had little charm for +Mademoiselle Roque. She had not a word to say; +and, a minute later:</p> + +<p>"Naughty fellow! never to have written a line to +me, even once!"</p> + +<p>Frederick urged by way of excuse his numerous +occupations.</p> + +<p>"What, then, are you doing?"</p> + +<p>He was embarrassed by the question; then he +told her that he was studying politics.</p> + +<p>"Ha!"</p> + +<p>And without questioning him further:</p> + +<p>"That gives you occupation; while as for me——!"</p> + +<p>Then she spoke to him about the barrenness of +her existence, as there was nobody she could go to +see, and nothing to amuse her or distract her thoughts. +She wished to go on horseback.</p> + +<p>"The vicar maintains that this is improper for a +young lady! How stupid these proprieties are! Long +ago they allowed me to do whatever I pleased; now, +they won't let me do anything!"</p> + +<p>"Your father, however, is fond of you!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but——"</p> + +<p>She heaved a sigh, which meant: "That is not +enough to make me happy."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then there was silence. They heard only the +noise made by their boots in the sand, together with +the murmur of falling water; for the Seine, above +Nogent, is cut into two arms. That which turns the +mills discharges in this place the superabundance of +its waves in order to unite further down with the +natural course of the stream; and a person coming +from the bridge could see at the right, on the other +bank of the river, a grassy slope on which a white +house looked down. At the left, in the meadow, a +row of poplar-trees extended, and the horizon in +front was bounded by a curve of the river. It was +flat, like a mirror. Large insects hovered over the +noiseless water. Tufts of reeds and rushes bordered +it unevenly; all kinds of plants which happened to +spring up there bloomed out in buttercups, caused +yellow clusters to hang down, raised trees in distaff-shape +with amaranth-blossoms, and made green rockets +spring up at random. In an inlet of the river white +water-lilies displayed themselves; and a row of ancient +willows, in which wolf-traps were hidden, formed, +on that side of the island, the sole protection of the +garden.</p> + +<p>In the interior, on this side, four walls with a +slate coping enclosed the kitchen-garden, in which +the square patches, recently dug up, looked like +brown plates. The bell-glasses of the melons shone +in a row on the narrow hotbed. The artichokes, the +kidney-beans, the spinach, the carrots and the tomatoes +succeeded each other till one reached a background +where asparagus grew in such a fashion that +it resembled a little wood of feathers.</p> + +<p>All this piece of land had been under the Directory +what is called "a folly." The trees had, since<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +then, grown enormously. Clematis obstructed the +hornbeams, the walks were covered with moss, +brambles abounded on every side. Fragments of +statues let their plaster crumble in the grass. The +feet of anyone walking through the place got entangled +in iron-wire work. There now remained of the +pavilion only two apartments on the ground floor, +with some blue paper hanging in shreds. Before the +façade extended an arbour in the Italian style, in +which a vine-tree was supported on columns of brick +by a rail-work of sticks.</p> + +<p>Soon they arrived at this spot; and, as the light +fell through the irregular gaps on the green herbage, +Frederick, turning his head on one side to speak to +Louise, noticed the shadow of the leaves on her face.</p> + +<p>She had in her red hair, stuck in her chignon, a +needle, terminated by a glass bell in imitation of +emerald, and, in spite of her mourning, she wore (so +artless was her bad taste) straw slippers trimmed +with pink satin—a vulgar curiosity probably bought +at some fair.</p> + +<p>He remarked this, and ironically congratulated her.</p> + +<p>"Don't be laughing at me!" she replied.</p> + +<p>Then surveying him altogether, from his grey felt +hat to his silk stockings:</p> + +<p>"What an exquisite you are!"</p> + +<p>After this, she asked him to mention some works +which she could read. He gave her the names of +several; and she said:</p> + +<p>"Oh! how learned you are!"</p> + +<p>While yet very small, she had been smitten with +one of those childish passions which have, at the +same time, the purity of a religion and the violence +of a natural instinct. He had been her comrade, her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +brother, her master, had diverted her mind, made her +heart beat more quickly, and, without any desire for +such a result, had poured out into the very depths of +her being a latent and continuous intoxication. Then +he had parted with her at the moment of a tragic +crisis in her existence, when her mother had only just +died, and these two separations had been mingled together. +Absence had idealised him in her memory. +He had come back with a sort of halo round his head; +and she gave herself up ingenuously to the feelings +of bliss she experienced at seeing him once more.</p> + +<p>For the first time in his life Frederick felt himself +beloved; and this new pleasure, which did not transcend +the ordinary run of agreeable sensations, made +his breast swell with so much emotion that he spread +out his two arms while he flung back his head.</p> + +<p>A large cloud passed across the sky.</p> + +<p>"It is going towards Paris," said Louise. "You'd +like to follow it—wouldn't you?"</p> + +<p>"I! Why?"</p> + +<p>"Who knows?"</p> + +<p>And surveying him with a sharp look:</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you have there" (she searched her +mind for the appropriate phrase) "something to engage +your affections."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I have nothing to engage my affections +there."</p> + +<p>"Are you perfectly certain?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, Mademoiselle, perfectly certain!"</p> + +<p>In less than a year there had taken place in the +young girl an extraordinary transformation, which astonished +Frederick. After a minute's silence he added:</p> + +<p>"We ought to 'thee' and 'thou' each other, as +we used to do long ago—shall we do so?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because——"</p> + +<p>He persisted. She answered, with downcast face:</p> + +<p>"I dare not!"</p> + +<p>They had reached the end of the garden, which +was close to the shell-bank. Frederick, in a spirit of +boyish fun, began to send pebbles skimming over the +water. She bade him sit down. He obeyed; then, +looking at the waterfall:</p> + +<p>"'Tis like Niagara!" He began talking about distant +countries and long voyages. The idea of making +some herself exercised a fascination over her mind. +She would not have been afraid either of tempests or +of lions.</p> + +<p>Seated close beside each other, they collected in +front of them handfuls of sand, then, while they were +chatting, they let it slip through their fingers, and +the hot wind, which rose from the plains, carried +to them in puffs odours of lavender, together with +the smell of tar escaping from a boat behind the lock. +The sun's rays fell on the cascade. The greenish blocks +of stone in the little wall over which the water slipped +looked as if they were covered with a silver gauze +that was perpetually rolling itself out. A long strip +of foam gushed forth at the foot with a harmonious +murmur. Then it bubbled up, forming whirlpools +and a thousand opposing currents, which ended by +intermingling in a single limpid stream of water.</p> + +<p>Louise said in a musing tone that she envied the +existence of fishes:</p> + +<p>"It must be so delightful to tumble about down +there at your ease, and to feel yourself caressed on +every side."</p> +<div class="minispace"> </div> + + +<div class="image"><a name="i058" id="i058"><img src="images/i058.jpg" width="401" height="600" alt="" title="" /></a></div> +<div class="image"><img src="images/i058cap.jpg" width="531" height="656" alt="Can I live without you?" title="" /></div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> + + +<p>She shivered with sensuously enticing movements;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +but a voice exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Where are you?"</p> + +<p>"Your maid is calling you," said Frederick.</p> + +<p>"All right! all right!" Louise did not disturb +herself.</p> + +<p>"She will be angry," he suggested.</p> + +<p>"It is all the same to me! and besides——" Mademoiselle +Roque gave him to understand by a gesture +that the girl was entirely subject to her will.</p> + +<p>She arose, however, and then complained of a +headache. And, as they were passing in front of a +large cart-shed containing some faggots:</p> + +<p>"Suppose we sat down there, <i>under shelter</i>?"</p> + +<p>He pretended not to understand this dialectic expression, +and even teased her about her accent. +Gradually the corners of her mouth were compressed, +she bit her lips; she stepped aside in order to sulk.</p> + +<p>Frederick came over to her, swore he did not +mean to annoy her, and that he was very fond of her.</p> + +<p>"Is that true?" she exclaimed, looking at him +with a smile which lighted up her entire face, smeared +over a little with patches of bran.</p> + +<p>He could not resist the sentiment of gallantry +which was aroused in him by her fresh youthfulness, +and he replied:</p> + +<p>"Why should I tell you a lie? Have you any +doubt about it, eh?" and, as he spoke, he passed his +left hand round her waist.</p> + +<p>A cry, soft as the cooing of a dove, leaped up +from her throat. Her head fell back, she was going +to faint, when he held her up. And his virtuous +scruples were futile. At the sight of this maiden offering +herself to him he was seized with fear. He +assisted her to take a few steps slowly. He had +ceased to address her in soothing words, and no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +longer caring to talk of anything save the most trifling +subjects, he spoke to her about some of the principal +figures in the society of Nogent.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she repelled him, and in a bitter tone:</p> + +<p>"You would not have the courage to run away +with me!"</p> + +<p>He remained motionless, with a look of utter +amazement in his face. She burst into sobs, and hiding +her face in his breast:</p> + +<p>"Can I live without you?"</p> + +<p>He tried to calm her emotion. She laid her two +hands on his shoulders in order to get a better view +of his face, and fixing her green eyes on his with +an almost fierce tearfulness:</p> + +<p>"Will you be my husband?"</p> + +<p>"But," Frederick began, casting about in his inner +consciousness for a reply. "Of course, I ask for +nothing better."</p> + +<p>At that moment M. Roque's cap appeared behind +a lilac-tree.</p> + +<p>He brought his young friend on a trip through +the district in order to show off his property; and +when Frederick returned, after two days' absence, he +found three letters awaiting him at his mother's house.</p> + +<p>The first was a note from M. Dambreuse, containing +an invitation to dinner for the previous Tuesday. +What was the occasion of this politeness? So, +then, they had forgiven his prank.</p> + +<p>The second was from Rosanette. She thanked +him for having risked his life on her behalf. Frederick +did not at first understand what she meant; +finally, after a considerable amount of circumlocution,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +while appealing to his friendship, relying on his delicacy, +as she put it, and going on her knees to him +on account of the pressing necessity of the case, as +she wanted bread, she asked him for a loan of five +hundred francs. He at once made up his mind to +supply her with the amount.</p> + +<p>The third letter, which was from Deslauriers, +spoke of the letter of attorney, and was long and +obscure. The advocate had not yet taken any definite +action. He urged his friend not to disturb himself: +"'Tis useless for you to come back!" even laying +singular stress on this point.</p> + +<p>Frederick got lost in conjectures of every sort; and +he felt anxious to return to Paris. This assumption +of a right to control his conduct excited in him a +feeling of revolt.</p> + +<p>Moreover, he began to experience that nostalgia +of the boulevard; and then, his mother was pressing +him so much, M. Roque kept revolving about him so +constantly, and Mademoiselle Louise was so much attached +to him, that it was no longer possible for +him to avoid speedily declaring his intentions.</p> + +<p>He wanted to think, and he would be better able +to form a right estimate of things at a distance.</p> + +<p>In order to assign a motive for his journey, Frederick +invented a story; and he left home, telling +everyone, and himself believing, that he would soon +return.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="chapter_xiii" id="chapter_xiii"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">Rosanette as a Lovely Turk.</h3> + + +<p><img src="images/i_chxiii.png" width="125" height="122" alt="H" title="" class="illodrop" style="margin-top: -3em" />is return to Paris gave him no pleasure.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +It was an evening at the close +of August. The boulevards seemed +empty. The passers-by succeeded +each other with scowling faces. +Here and there a boiler of asphalt +was smoking; several houses had their blinds entirely +drawn. He made his way to his own residence +in the city. He found the hangings covered +with dust; and, while dining all alone, Frederick was +seized with a strange feeling of forlornness; then his +thoughts reverted to Mademoiselle Roque. The idea +of being married no longer appeared to him preposterous. +They might travel; they might go to +Italy, to the East. And he saw her standing on a +hillock, or gazing at a landscape, or else leaning on +his arm in a Florentine gallery while she stood to look +at the pictures. What a pleasure it would be to him +merely to watch this good little creature expanding +under the splendours of Art and Nature! When she +had got free from the commonplace atmosphere in +which she had lived, she would, in a little while, become +a charming companion. M. Roque's wealth,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +moreover, tempted him. And yet he shrank from +taking this step, regarding it as a weakness, a degradation.</p> + +<p>But he was firmly resolved (whatever he might +do) on changing his mode of life—that is to say, to +lose his heart no more in fruitless passions; and he +even hesitated about executing the commission with +which he had been intrusted by Louise. This was to +buy for her at Jacques Arnoux's establishment two +large-sized statues of many colours representing +negroes, like those which were at the Prefecture at +Troyes. She knew the manufacturer's number, and +would not have any other. Frederick was afraid that, +if he went back to their house, he might once again +fall a victim to his old passion.</p> + +<p>These reflections occupied his mind during the +entire evening; and he was just about to go to bed +when a woman presented herself.</p> + +<p>"'Tis I," said Mademoiselle Vatnaz, with a laugh. +"I have come in behalf of Rosanette."</p> + +<p>So, then, they were reconciled?</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, yes! I am not ill-natured, as you +are well aware. And besides, the poor girl—it would +take too long to tell you all about it."</p> + +<p>In short, the Maréchale wanted to see him; she +was waiting for an answer, her letter having travelled +from Paris to Nogent. Mademoiselle Vatnaz did not +know what was in it.</p> + +<p>Then Frederick asked her how the Maréchale was +going on.</p> + +<p>He was informed that she was now <i>with</i> a very +rich man, a Russian, Prince Tzernoukoff, who had +seen her at the races in the Champ de Mars last summer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He has three carriages, a saddle-horse, livery +servants, a groom got up in the English fashion, a +country-house, a box at the Italian opera, and a heap +of other things. There you are, my dear friend!"</p> + +<p>And the Vatnaz, as if she had profited by this +change of fortune, appeared gayer and happier. She +took off her gloves and examined the furniture and +the objects of virtù in the room. She mentioned their +exact prices like a second-hand dealer. He ought to +have consulted her in order to get them cheaper. +Then she congratulated him on his good taste:</p> + +<p>"Ha! this is pretty, exceedingly nice! There's nobody +like you for these ideas."</p> + +<p>The next moment, as her eyes fell on a door close +to the pillar of the alcove:</p> + +<p>"That's the way you let your friends out, eh?"</p> + +<p>And, in a familiar fashion, she laid her finger on +his chin. He trembled at the contact of her long +hands, at the same time thin and soft. Round her +wrists she wore an edging of lace, and on the body +of her green dress lace embroidery, like a hussar. +Her bonnet of black tulle, with borders hanging down, +concealed her forehead a little. Her eyes shone underneath; +an odour of patchouli escaped from her head-bands. +The carcel-lamp placed on a round table, +shining down on her like the footlights of a theatre, +made her jaw protrude.</p> + +<p>She said to him, in an unctuous tone, while +she drew forth from her purse three square slips of +paper:</p> + +<p>"You will take these from me?"</p> + +<p>They were three tickets for Delmar's benefit performance.</p> + +<p>"What! for him?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle Vatnaz, without giving a further explanation, +added that she adored him more than ever. +If she were to be believed, the comedian was now +definitely classed amongst "the leading celebrities of +the age." And it was not such or such a personage +that he represented, but the very genius of France, +the People. He had "the humanitarian spirit; he +understood the priesthood of Art." Frederick, in order +to put an end to these eulogies, gave her the money +for the three seats.</p> + +<p>"You need not say a word about this over the +way. How late it is, good heavens! I must leave +you. Ah! I was forgetting the address—'tis the Rue +Grange-Batelier, number 14."</p> + +<p>And, at the door:</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, beloved man!"</p> + +<p>"Beloved by whom?" asked Frederick. "What a +strange woman!"</p> + +<p>And he remembered that Dussardier had said to +him one day, when talking about her:</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's not much!" as if alluding to stories of +a by no means edifying character.</p> + +<p>Next morning he repaired to the Maréchale's abode. +She lived in a new house, the spring-roller blinds of +which projected into the street. At the head of each +flight of stairs there was a mirror against the wall; +before each window there was a flower-stand, and all +over the steps extended a carpet of oil-cloth; and when +one got inside the door, the coolness of the staircase +was refreshing.</p> + +<p>It was a man-servant who came to open the door, +a footman in a red waistcoat. On a bench in the +anteroom a woman and two men, tradespeople, no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +doubt, were waiting as if in a minister's vestibule. +At the left, the door of the dining-room, slightly ajar, +afforded a glimpse of empty bottles on the sideboards, +and napkins on the backs of chairs; and parallel with +it ran a corridor in which gold-coloured sticks supported +an espalier of roses. In the courtyard below, +two boys with bare arms were scrubbing a landau. +Their voices rose to Frederick's ears, mingled with +the intermittent sounds made by a currycomb knocking +against a stone.</p> + +<p>The man-servant returned. "Madame will receive +Monsieur," and he led Frederick through a second +anteroom, and then into a large drawing-room hung +with yellow brocatel with twisted fringes at the corners +which were joined at the ceiling, and which +seemed to be continued by flowerings of lustre resembling +cables. No doubt there had been an entertainment +there the night before. Some cigar-ashes +had been allowed to remain on the pier-tables.</p> + +<p>At last he found his way into a kind of boudoir +with stained-glass windows, through which the sun +shed a dim light. Trefoils of carved wood adorned +the upper portions of the doors. Behind a balustrade, +three purple mattresses formed a divan; and the stem +of a narghileh made of platinum lay on top of it. +Instead of a mirror, there was on the mantelpiece a +pyramid-shaped whatnot, displaying on its shelves an +entire collection of curiosities, old silver trumpets, Bohemian +horns, jewelled clasps, jade studs, enamels, +grotesque figures in china, and a little Byzantine virgin +with a vermilion ape; and all this was mingled +in a golden twilight with the bluish shade of the carpet, +the mother-of-pearl reflections of the foot-stools, +and the tawny hue of the walls covered with maroon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +leather. In the corners, on little pedestals, there were +bronze vases containing clusters of flowers, which +made the atmosphere heavy.</p> + +<p>Rosanette presented herself, attired in a pink satin +vest with white cashmere trousers, a necklace of piasters, +and a red cap encircled with a branch of jasmine.</p> + +<p>Frederick started back in surprise, then said he had +brought the thing she had been speaking about, and +he handed her the bank-note. She gazed at him in +astonishment; and, as he still kept the note in his +hand, without knowing where to put it:</p> + +<p>"Pray take it!"</p> + +<p>She seized it; then, as she flung it on the divan:</p> + +<p>"You are very kind."</p> + +<p>She wanted it to meet the rent of a piece of ground +at Bellevue, which she paid in this way every year. +Her unceremoniousness wounded Frederick's sensibility. +However, so much the better! this would +avenge him for the past.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," said she. "There—closer." And +in a grave tone: "In the first place, I have to thank +you, my dear friend, for having risked your life."</p> + +<p>"Oh! that's nothing!"</p> + +<p>"What! Why, 'tis a very noble act!"—and the +Maréchale exhibited an embarrassing sense of gratitude; +for it must have been impressed upon her mind that +the duel was entirely on account of Arnoux, as the +latter, who believed it himself, was not likely to have +resisted the temptation of telling her so.</p> + +<p>"She is laughing at me, perhaps," thought Frederick.</p> + +<p>He had nothing further to detain him, and, pleading +that he had an appointment, he rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh! no, stay!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + +<p>He resumed his seat, and presently complimented +her on her costume.</p> + +<p>She replied, with an air of dejection:</p> + +<p>"'Tis the Prince who likes me to dress in this +fashion! And one must smoke such machines as that, +too!" Rosanette added, pointing towards the narghileh. +"Suppose we try the taste of it? Have you +any objection?"</p> + +<p>She procured a light, and, finding it hard to set +fire to the tobacco, she began to stamp impatiently +with her foot. Then a feeling of languor took possession +of her; and she remained motionless on the +divan, with a cushion under her arm and her body +twisted a little on one side, one knee bent and the +other leg straight out.</p> + +<p>The long serpent of red morocco, which formed +rings on the floor, rolled itself over her arm. She +rested the amber mouthpiece on her lips, and gazed +at Frederick while she blinked her eyes in the midst +of the cloud of smoke that enveloped her. A gurgling +sound came from her throat as she inhaled the fumes, +and from time to time she murmured:</p> + +<p>"The poor darling! the poor pet!"</p> + +<p>He tried to find something of an agreeable nature +to talk about. The thought of Vatnaz recurred to his +memory.</p> + +<p>He remarked that she appeared to him very lady-like.</p> + +<p>"Yes, upon my word," replied the Maréchale. +"She is very lucky in having me, that same lady!"—without +adding another word, so much reserve was +there in their conversation.</p> + +<p>Each of them felt a sense of constraint, something +that formed a barrier to confidential relations between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +them. In fact, Rosanette's vanity had been flattered +by the duel, of which she believed herself to be the +occasion. Then, she was very much astonished that +he did not hasten to take advantage of his achievement; +and, in order to compel him to return to her, +she had invented this story that she wanted five hundred +francs. How was it that Frederick did not ask +for a little love from her in return? This was a piece +of refinement that filled her with amazement, and, with +a gush of emotion, she said to him:</p> + +<p>"Will you come with us to the sea-baths?"</p> + +<p>"What does 'us' mean?"</p> + +<p>"Myself and my bird. I'll make you pass for a +cousin of mine, as in the old comedies."</p> + +<p>"A thousand thanks!"</p> + +<p>"Well, then, you will take lodgings near ours."</p> + +<p>The idea of hiding himself from a rich man humiliated +him.</p> + +<p>"No! that is impossible."</p> + +<p>"Just as you please!"</p> + +<p>Rosanette turned away with tears in her eyes. +Frederick noticed this, and in order to testify the +interest which he took in her, he said that he was +delighted to see her at last in a comfortable position.</p> + +<p>She shrugged her shoulders. What, then, was +troubling her? Was it, perchance, that she was not +loved.</p> + +<p>"Oh! as for me, I have always people to love +me!"</p> + +<p>She added:</p> + +<p>"It remains to be seen in what way."</p> + +<p>Complaining that she was "suffocating with the +heat," the Maréchale unfastened her vest; and, without +any other garment round her body, save her silk<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +chemise, she leaned her head on his shoulder so as +to awaken his tenderness.</p> + +<p>A man of less introspective egoism would not +have bestowed a thought at such a moment on the +possibility of the Vicomte, M. de Comaing, or anyone +else appearing on the scene. But Frederick had +been too many times the dupe of these very glances +to compromise himself by a fresh humiliation.</p> + +<p>She wished to know all about his relationships +and his amusements. She even enquired about his +financial affairs, and offered to lend him money if he +wanted it. Frederick, unable to stand it any longer, +took up his hat.</p> + +<p>"I'm off, my pet! I hope you'll enjoy yourself +thoroughly down there. <i>Au revoir!</i>"</p> + +<p>She opened her eyes wide; then, in a dry tone:</p> + +<p>"<i>Au revoir!</i>"</p> + +<p>He made his way out through the yellow drawing-room, +and through the second anteroom. There was +on the table, between a vase full of visiting-cards and +an inkstand, a chased silver chest. It was Madame +Arnoux's. Then he experienced a feeling of tenderness, +and, at the same time, as it were, the scandal of +a profanation. He felt a longing to raise his hands +towards it, and to open it. He was afraid of being +seen, and went away.</p> + +<p>Frederick was virtuous. He did not go back to +the Arnouxs' house. He sent his man-servant to buy +the two negroes, having given him all the necessary +directions; and the case containing them set forth the +same evening for Nogent. Next morning, as he was +repairing to Deslauriers' lodgings, at the turn where +the Rue Vivienne opened out on the boulevard, Madame +Arnoux presented herself before him face to face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> + +<p>The first movement of each of them was to draw +back; then the same smile came to the lips of both, +and they advanced to meet each other. For a minute, +neither of them uttered a single word.</p> + +<p>The sunlight fell round her, and her oval face, +her long eyelashes, her black lace shawl, which +showed the outline of her shoulders, her gown of +shot silk, the bouquet of violets at the corner of her +bonnet; all seemed to him to possess extraordinary +magnificence. An infinite softness poured itself out of +her beautiful eyes; and in a faltering voice, uttering +at random the first words that came to his lips:</p> + +<p>"How is Arnoux?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I thank you!"</p> + +<p>"And your children?"</p> + +<p>"They are very well!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! ah! What fine weather we are getting, are +we not?"</p> + +<p>"Splendid, indeed!"</p> + +<p>"You're going out shopping?"</p> + +<p>And, with a slow inclination of the head:</p> + +<p>"Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>She put out her hand, without having spoken one +word of an affectionate description, and did not even +invite him to dinner at her house. No matter! He +would not have given this interview for the most +delightful of adventures; and he pondered over its +sweetness as he proceeded on his way.</p> + +<p>Deslauriers, surprised at seeing him, dissembled +his spite; for he cherished still through obstinacy some +hope with regard to Madame Arnoux; and he had +written to Frederick to prolong his stay in the country +in order to be free in his manœuvres.</p> + +<p>He informed Frederick, however, that he had pre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>sented +himself at her house in order to ascertain if +their contract stipulated for a community of property +between husband and wife: in that case, proceedings +might be taken against the wife; "and she put on a +queer face when I told her about your marriage."</p> + +<p>"Now, then! What an invention!"</p> + +<p>"It was necessary in order to show that you +wanted your own capital! A person who was indifferent +would not have been attacked with the species +of fainting fit that she had."</p> + +<p>"Really?" exclaimed Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Ha! my fine fellow, you are betraying yourself! +Come! be honest!"</p> + +<p>A feeling of nervous weakness stole over Madame +Arnoux's lover.</p> + +<p>"Why, no! I assure you! upon my word of honour!"</p> + +<p>These feeble denials ended by convincing Deslauriers. +He congratulated his friend, and asked him +for some details. Frederick gave him none, and even +resisted a secret yearning to concoct a few. As for +the mortgage, he told the other to do nothing about +it, but to wait. Deslauriers thought he was wrong +on this point, and remonstrated with him in rather a +churlish fashion.</p> + +<p>He was, besides, more gloomy, malignant, and +irascible than ever. In a year, if fortune did not +change, he would embark for America or blow out +his brains. Indeed, he appeared to be in such a rage +against everything, and so uncompromising in his +radicalism, that Frederick could not keep from saying +to him:</p> + +<p>"Here you are going on in the same way as +Sénécal!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + +<p>Deslauriers, at this remark, informed him that that +individual to whom he alluded had been discharged +from Sainte-Pelagie, the magisterial investigation having +failed to supply sufficient evidence, no doubt, to +justify his being sent for trial.</p> + +<p>Dussardier was so much overjoyed at the release +of Sénécal, that he wanted to invite his friends to +come and take punch with him, and begged of +Frederick to be one of the party, giving the latter, +at the same time, to understand that he would be +found in the company of Hussonnet, who had proved +himself a very good friend to Sénécal.</p> + +<p>In fact, the <i>Flambard</i> had just become associated +with a business establishment whose prospectus contained +the following references: "Vineyard Agency. +Office of Publicity. Debt Recovery and Intelligence +Office, etc." But the Bohemian was afraid that his +connection with trade might be prejudicial to his +literary reputation, and he had accordingly taken +the mathematician to keep the accounts. Although +the situation was a poor one, Sénécal would but for +it have died of starvation. Not wishing to mortify +the worthy shopman, Frederick accepted his invitation.</p> + +<p>Dussardier, three days beforehand, had himself +waxed the red floor of his garret, beaten the armchair, +and knocked off the dust from the chimney-piece, +on which might be seen under a globe an +alabaster timepiece between a stalactite and a cocoanut. +As his two chandeliers and his chamber candlestick +were not sufficient, he had borrowed two more +candlesticks from the doorkeeper; and these five lights +shone on the top of the chest of drawers, which was +covered with three napkins in order that it might be +fit to have placed on it in such a way as to look at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>tractive +some macaroons, biscuits, a fancy cake, and +a dozen bottles of beer. At the opposite side, close +to the wall, which was hung with yellow paper, +there was a little mahogany bookcase containing the +<i>Fables of Lachambeaudie</i>, the <i>Mysteries of Paris</i>, +and Norvins' <i>Napoléon</i>—and, in the middle of the +alcove, the face of Béranger was smiling in a rosewood +frame.</p> + +<p>The guests (in addition to Deslauriers and Sénécal) +were an apothecary who had just been admitted, but +who had not enough capital to start in business for +himself, a young man of his own house, a town-traveller +in wines, an architect, and a gentleman employed +in an insurance office. Regimbart had not +been able to come. Regret was expressed at his +absence.</p> + +<p>They welcomed Frederick with a great display of +sympathy, as they all knew through Dussardier what +he had said at M. Dambreuse's house. Sénécal contented +himself with putting out his hand in a dignified +manner.</p> + +<p>He remained standing near the chimney-piece. The +others seated, with their pipes in their mouths, listened +to him, while he held forth on universal suffrage, +from which he predicted as a result the triumph +of Democracy and the practical application of the +principles of the Gospel. However, the hour was at +hand. The banquets of the party of reform were becoming +more numerous in the provinces. Piedmont, +Naples, Tuscany——</p> + +<p>"'Tis true," said Deslauriers, interrupting him +abruptly. "This cannot last longer!"</p> + +<p>And he began to draw a picture of the situation. +We had sacrificed Holland to obtain from England the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +recognition of Louis Philippe; and this precious English +alliance was lost, owing to the Spanish marriages. +In Switzerland, M. Guizot, in tow with the Austrian, +maintained the treaties of 1815. Prussia, with her +Zollverein, was preparing embarrassments for us. The +Eastern question was still pending.</p> + +<p>"The fact that the Grand Duke Constantine sends +presents to M. d'Aumale is no reason for placing confidence +in Russia. As for home affairs, never have so +many blunders, such stupidity, been witnessed. The +Government no longer even keeps up its majority. +Everywhere, indeed, according to the well-known expression, +it is naught! naught! naught! And in the +teeth of such public scandals," continued the advocate, +with his arms akimbo, "they declare themselves satisfied!"</p> + +<p>The allusion to a notorious vote called forth applause. +Dussardier uncorked a bottle of beer; the +froth splashed on the curtains. He did not mind it. +He filled the pipes, cut the cake, offered each of +them a slice of it, and several times went downstairs +to see whether the punch was coming up; and ere +long they lashed themselves up into a state of excitement, +as they all felt equally exasperated against +Power. Their rage was of a violent character for no +other reason save that they hated injustice, and they +mixed up with legitimate grievances the most idiotic +complaints.</p> + +<p>The apothecary groaned over the pitiable condition +of our fleet. The insurance agent could not tolerate +Marshal Soult's two sentinels. Deslauriers denounced +the Jesuits, who had just installed themselves publicly +at Lille. Sénécal execrated M. Cousin much more +for eclecticism, by teaching that certitude can be de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>duced +from reason, developed selfishness and destroyed +solidarity. The traveller in wines, knowing very +little about these matters, remarked in a very loud +tone that he had forgotten many infamies:</p> + +<p>"The royal carriage on the Northern line must have +cost eighty thousand francs. Who'll pay the amount?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, who'll pay the amount?" repeated the +clerk, as angrily as if this amount had been drawn +out of his own pocket.</p> + +<p>Then followed recriminations against the lynxes of +the Bourse and the corruption of officials. According +to Sénécal they ought to go higher up, and lay the +blame, first of all, on the princes who had revived the +morals of the Regency period.</p> + +<p>"Have you not lately seen the Duc de Montpensier's +friends coming back from Vincennes, no doubt +in a state of intoxication, and disturbing with their +songs the workmen of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine?"</p> + +<p>"There was even a cry of 'Down with the +thieves!'" said the apothecary. "I was there, and I +joined in the cry!"</p> + +<p>"So much the better! The people are at last waking +up since the Teste-Cubières case."<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a></p> + +<p>"For my part, that case caused me some pain," +said Dussardier, "because it imputed dishonour to an +old soldier!"</p> + +<p>"Do you know," Sénécal went on, "what +they have discovered at the Duchesse de Praslin's +house——?"</p> + +<p>But here the door was sent flying open with a kick. +Hussonnet entered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hail, messeigneurs," said he, as he seated himself +on the bed.</p> + +<p>No allusion was made to his article, which he was +sorry, however, for having written, as the Maréchale +had sharply reprimanded him on account of it.</p> + +<p>He had just seen at the Théâtre de Dumas the +<i>Chevalier de Maison-Rouge</i>, and declared that it seemed +to him a stupid play.</p> + +<p>Such a criticism surprised the democrats, as this +drama, by its tendency, or rather by its scenery, flattered +their passions. They protested. Sénécal, in order +to bring this discussion to a close, asked whether the +play served the cause of Democracy.</p> + +<p>"Yes, perhaps; but it is written in a style——"</p> + +<p>"Well, then, 'tis a good play. What is style? +'Tis the idea!"</p> + +<p>And, without allowing Frederick to say a word:</p> + +<p>"Now, I was pointing out that in the Praslin +case——"</p> + +<p>Hussonnet interrupted him:</p> + +<p>"Ha! here's another worn-out trick! I'm disgusted +at it!"</p> + +<p>"And others as well as you," returned Deslauriers.</p> + +<p>"It has only got five papers taken. Listen while +I read this paragraph."</p> + +<p>And drawing his note-book out of his pocket, he +read:</p> + +<p>"'We have, since the establishment of the best +of republics, been subjected to twelve hundred and +twenty-nine press prosecutions, from which the results +to the writers have been imprisonment extending +over a period of three thousand one hundred and +forty-one years, and the light sum of seven million<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +one hundred and ten thousand five hundred francs by +way of fine.' That's charming, eh?"</p> + +<p>They all sneered bitterly.</p> + +<p>Frederick, incensed against the others, broke in:</p> + +<p>"<i>The Democratie Pacifique</i> has had proceedings +taken against it on account of its feuilleton, a novel +entitled <i>The Woman's Share</i>."</p> + +<p>"Come! that's good," said Hussonnet. "Suppose +they prevented us from having our share of the +women!"</p> + +<p>"But what is it that's not prohibited?" exclaimed +Deslauriers. "To smoke in the Luxembourg is prohibited; +to sing the Hymn to Pius IX. is prohibited!"</p> + +<p>"And the typographers' banquet has been interdicted," +a voice cried, with a thick articulation.</p> + +<p>It was that of an architect, who had sat concealed +in the shade of the alcove, and who had remained +silent up to that moment. He added that, the week +before, a man named Rouget had been convicted of +offering insults to the king.</p> + +<p>"That gurnet<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> is fried," said Hussonnet.</p> + +<p>This joke appeared so improper to Sénécal, that he +reproached Hussonnet for defending the Juggler of +the Hôtel de Ville, the friend of the traitor Dumouriez.</p> + +<p>"I? quite the contrary!"</p> + +<p>He considered Louis Philippe commonplace, one of +the National Guard types of men, all that savoured most +of the provision-shop and the cotton night-cap! And +laying his hand on his heart, the Bohemian gave utterance +to the rhetorical phrases:</p> + +<p>"It is always with a new pleasure.... Polish +nationality will not perish.... Our great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +works will be pursued.... Give me some money +for my little family...."</p> + +<p>They all laughed hugely, declaring that he was a +delightful fellow, full of wit. Their delight was redoubled +at the sight of the bowl of punch which was +brought in by the keeper of a café.</p> + +<p>The flames of the alcohol and those of the wax-candles +soon heated the apartment, and the light from +the garret, passing across the courtyard, illuminated +the side of an opposite roof with the flue of a chimney, +whose black outlines could be traced through +the darkness of night. They talked in very loud +tones all at the same time. They had taken off +their coats; they gave blows to the furniture; they +touched glasses.</p> + +<p>Hussonnet exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Send up some great ladies, in order that this +may be more Tour de Nesles, have more local colouring, +and be more Rembrandtesque, gadzooks!"</p> + +<p>And the apothecary, who kept stirring about the +punch indefinitely, began to sing with expanded chest:</p> + +<p> +"I've two big oxen in my stable,<br /> +Two big white oxen——"<br /> +</p> + +<p>Sénécal laid his hand on the apothecary's mouth; +he did not like disorderly conduct; and the lodgers +pressed their faces against the window-panes, surprised +at the unwonted uproar that was taking place in +Dussardier's room.</p> + +<p>The honest fellow was happy, and said that this +recalled to his mind their little parties on the Quai +Napoléon in days gone by; however, they missed +many who used to be present at these reunions, +"Pellerin, for instance."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We can do without him," observed Frederick.</p> + +<p>And Deslauriers enquired about Martinon.</p> + +<p>"What has become of that interesting gentleman?"</p> + +<p>Frederick, immediately giving vent to the ill-will +which he bore to Martinon, attacked his mental capacity, +his character, his false elegance, his entire +personality. He was a perfect specimen of an upstart +peasant! The new aristocracy, the mercantile class, +was not as good as the old—the nobility. He maintained +this, and the democrats expressed their approval, +as if he were a member of the one class, and +they were in the habit of visiting the other. They +were charmed with him. The apothecary compared +him to M. d'Alton Shée, who, though a peer of +France, defended the cause of the people.</p> + +<p>The time had come for taking their departure. +They all separated with great handshakings. Dussardier, +in a spirit of affectionate solicitude, saw Frederick +and Deslauriers home. As soon as they were +in the street, the advocate assumed a thoughtful air, +and, after a moment's silence:</p> + +<p>"You have a great grudge, then, against Pellerin?"</p> + +<p>Frederick did not hide his rancour.</p> + +<p>The painter, in the meantime, had withdrawn the +notorious picture from the show-window. A person +should not let himself be put out by trifles. What +was the good of making an enemy for himself?</p> + +<p>"He has given way to a burst of ill-temper, +excusable in a man who hasn't a sou. You, of +course, can't understand that!"</p> + +<p>And, when Deslauriers had gone up to his own +apartments, the shopman did not part with Frederick.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +He even urged his friend to buy the portrait. In fact, +Pellerin, abandoning the hope of being able to intimidate +him, had got round them so that they might use +their influence to obtain the thing for him.</p> + +<p>Deslauriers spoke about it again, and pressed him +on the point, urging that the artist's claims were +reasonable.</p> + +<p>"I am sure that for a sum of, perhaps, five hundred +francs——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, give it to him! Wait! here it is!" said +Frederick.</p> + +<p>The picture was brought the same evening. It appeared +to him a still more atrocious daub than when +he had seen it first. The half-tints and the shades +were darkened under the excessive retouchings, and +they seemed obscured when brought into relation with +the lights, which, having remained very brilliant here +and there, destroyed the harmony of the entire picture.</p> + +<p>Frederick revenged himself for having had to pay +for it by bitterly disparaging it. Deslauriers believed +in Frederick's statement on the point, and expressed +approval of his conduct, for he had always been ambitious +of constituting a phalanx of which he would +be the leader. Certain men take delight in making +their friends do things which are disagreeable to +them.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Frederick did not renew his visits to +the Dambreuses. He lacked the capital for the investment. +He would have to enter into endless explanations +on the subject; he hesitated about making up +his mind. Perhaps he was in the right. Nothing was +certain now, the coal-mining speculation any more +than other things. He would have to give up society<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +of that sort. The end of the matter was that Deslauriers +was dissuaded from having anything further +to do with the undertaking.</p> + +<p>From sheer force of hatred he had grown virtuous, +and again he preferred Frederick in a position of +mediocrity. In this way he remained his friend's +equal and in more intimate relationship with him.</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle Roque's commission had been very +badly executed. Her father wrote to him, supplying +him with the most precise directions, and concluded +his letter with this piece of foolery: "At the risk of +giving you <i>nigger on the brain</i>!"</p> + +<p>Frederick could not do otherwise than call upon the +Arnouxs', once more. He went to the warehouse, +where he could see nobody. The firm being in a tottering +condition, the clerks imitated the carelessness +of their master.</p> + +<p>He brushed against the shelves laden with earthenware, +which filled up the entire space in the centre +of the establishment; then, when he reached the lower +end, facing the counter, he walked with a more noisy +tread in order to make himself heard.</p> + +<p>The portières parted, and Madame Arnoux appeared.</p> + +<p>"What! you here! you!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she faltered, with some agitation. "I was +looking for——"</p> + +<p>He saw her handkerchief near the desk, and +guessed that she had come down to her husband's +warehouse to have an account given to her as to the +business, to clear up some matter that caused her +anxiety.</p> + +<p>"But perhaps there is something you want?" said +she.</p> + +<p>"A mere nothing, madame."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<p>"These shop-assistants are intolerable! they are always +out of the way."</p> + +<p>They ought not to be blamed. On the contrary, +he congratulated himself on the circumstance.</p> + +<p>She gazed at him in an ironical fashion.</p> + +<p>"Well, and this marriage?"</p> + +<p>"What marriage?"</p> + +<p>"Your own!"</p> + +<p>"Mine? I'll never marry as long as I live!"</p> + +<p>She made a gesture as if to contradict his words.</p> + +<p>"Though, indeed, such things must be, after all? +We take refuge in the commonplace, despairing of +ever realising the beautiful existence of which we have +dreamed."</p> + +<p>"All your dreams, however, are not so—candid!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"When you drive to races with women!"</p> + +<p>He cursed the Maréchale. Then something recurred +to his memory.</p> + +<p>"But it was you begged of me yourself to see her +at one time in the interest of Arnoux."</p> + +<p>She replied with a shake of her head:</p> + +<p>"And you take advantage of it to amuse yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Good God! let us forget all these foolish things!"</p> + +<p>"'Tis right, since you are going to be married."</p> + +<p>And she stifled a sigh, while she bit her lips.</p> + +<p>Then he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"But I tell you again I am not! Can you believe +that I, with my intellectual requirements, my habits, +am going to bury myself in the provinces in order to +play cards, look after masons, and walk about in +wooden shoes? What object, pray, could I have for +taking such a step? You've been told that she was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +rich, haven't you? Ah! what do I care about money? +Could I, after yearning long for that which is most +lovely, tender, enchanting, a sort of Paradise under a +human form, and having found this sweet ideal at last +when this vision hides every other from my view——"</p> + +<p>And taking her head between his two hands, he +began to kiss her on the eyelids, repeating:</p> + +<p>"No! no! no! never will I marry! never! never!"</p> + +<p>She submitted to these caresses, her mingled amazement +and delight having bereft her of the power of +motion.</p> + +<p>The door of the storeroom above the staircase fell +back, and she remained with outstretched arms, as if +to bid him keep silence. Steps drew near. Then +some one said from behind the door:</p> + +<p>"Is Madame there?"</p> + +<p>"Come in!"</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux had her elbow on the counter, +and was twisting about a pen between her fingers +quietly when the book-keeper threw aside the portière.</p> + +<p>Frederick started up, as if on the point of leaving.</p> + +<p>"Madame, I have the honour to salute you. The +set will be ready—will it not? I may count on +this?"</p> + +<p>She made no reply. But by thus silently becoming +his accomplice in the deception, she made his +face flush with the crimson glow of adultery.</p> + +<p>On the following day he paid her another visit. +She received him; and, in order to follow up the +advantage he had gained, Frederick immediately, without +any preamble, attempted to offer some justification +for the accidental meeting in the Champ de Mars. +It was the merest chance that led to his being in +that woman's company. While admitting that she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +was pretty—which really was not the case—how +could she for even a moment absorb his thoughts, +seeing that he loved another woman?</p> + +<p>"You know it well—I told you it was so!"</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux hung down her head.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry you said such a thing."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"The most ordinary proprieties now demand that +I should see you no more!"</p> + +<p>He protested that his love was of an innocent +character. The past ought to be a guaranty as to his +future conduct. He had of his own accord made it a +point of honour with himself not to disturb her existence, +not to deafen her with his complaints.</p> + +<p>"But yesterday my heart overflowed."</p> + +<p>"We ought not to let our thoughts dwell on that +moment, my friend!"</p> + +<p>And yet, where would be the harm in two wretched +beings mingling their griefs?</p> + +<p>"For, indeed, you are not happy any more than +I am! Oh! I know you. You have no one who responds +to your craving for affection, for devotion. I +will do anything you wish! I will not offend you! +I swear to you that I will not!"</p> + +<p>And he let himself fall on his knees, in spite of +himself, giving way beneath the weight of the feelings +that oppressed his heart.</p> + +<p>"Rise!" she said; "I desire you to do so!"</p> + +<p>And she declared in an imperious tone that if he +did not comply with her wish, she would never see +him again.</p> + +<p>"Ha! I defy you to do it!" returned Frederick. +"What is there for me to do in the world? Other +men strive for riches, celebrity, power! But I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +no profession; you are my exclusive occupation, my +whole wealth, the object, the centre of my existence +and of my thoughts. I can no more live without +you than without the air of heaven! Do you not feel +the aspiration of my soul ascending towards yours, +and that they must intermingle, and that I am dying +on your account?"</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux began to tremble in every limb.</p> + +<p>"Oh! leave me, I beg of you?"</p> + +<p>The look of utter confusion in her face made him +pause. Then he advanced a step. But she drew +back, with her two hands clasped.</p> + +<p>"Leave me in the name of Heaven, for mercy's +sake!"</p> + +<p>And Frederick loved her so much that he went +away.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards, he was filled with rage against +himself, declared in his own mind that he was an +idiot, and, after the lapse of twenty-four hours, returned.</p> + +<p>Madame was not there. He remained at the head +of the stairs, stupefied with anger and indignation. +Arnoux appeared, and informed Frederick that his +wife had, that very morning, gone out to take up her +residence at a little country-house of which he had +become tenant at Auteuil, as he had given up possession +of the house at Saint-Cloud.</p> + +<p>"This is another of her whims. No matter, as she +is settled at last; and myself, too, for that matter, so +much the better. Let us dine together this evening, +will you?"</p> + +<p>Frederick pleaded as an excuse some urgent business; +then he hurried away of his own accord to +Auteuil.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux allowed an exclamation of joy to +escape her lips. Then all his bitterness vanished.</p> + +<p>He did not say one word about his love. In order +to inspire her with confidence in him, he even exaggerated +his reserve; and on his asking whether he might +call again, she replied: "Why, of course!" putting out +her hand, which she withdrew the next moment.</p> + +<p>From that time forth, Frederick increased his +visits. He promised extra fares to the cabman who +drove him. But often he grew impatient at the slow +pace of the horse, and, alighting on the ground, he +would make a dash after an omnibus, and climb to +the top of it out of breath. Then with what disdain +he surveyed the faces of those around him, who were +not going to see her!</p> + +<p>He could distinguish her house at a distance, with +an enormous honeysuckle covering, on one side, the +planks of the roof. It was a kind of Swiss châlet, +painted red, with a balcony outside. In the garden +there were three old chestnut-trees, and on a rising +ground in the centre might be seen a parasol made +of thatch, held up by the trunk of a tree. Under the +slatework lining the walls, a big vine-tree, badly fastened, +hung from one place to another after the fashion +of a rotten cable. The gate-bell, which it was rather +hard to pull, was slow in ringing, and a long time +always elapsed before it was answered. On each occasion +he experienced a pang of suspense, a fear born +of irresolution.</p> + +<p>Then his ears would be greeted with the pattering +of the servant-maid's slippers over the gravel, or else +Madame Arnoux herself would make her appearance. +One day he came up behind her just as she was +stooping down in the act of gathering violets.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> + +<p>Her daughter's capricious disposition had made it +necessary to send the girl to a convent. Her little +son was at school every afternoon. Arnoux was now +in the habit of taking prolonged luncheons at the +Palais-Royal with Regimbart and their friend Compain. +They gave themselves no bother about anything +that occurred, no matter how disagreeable it +might be.</p> + +<p>It was clearly understood between Frederick and her +that they should not belong to each other. By this +convention they were preserved from danger, and they +found it easier to pour out their hearts to each other.</p> + +<p>She told him all about her early life at Chartres, +which she spent with her mother, her devotion when +she had reached her twelfth year, then her passion +for music, when she used to sing till nightfall in her +little room, from which the ramparts could be seen.</p> + +<p>He related to her how melancholy broodings had +haunted him at college, and how a woman's face +shone brightly in the cloudland of his imagination, so +that, when he first laid eyes upon her, he felt that +her features were quite familiar to him.</p> + +<p>These conversations, as a rule, covered only the +years during which they had been acquainted with +each other. He recalled to her recollection insignificant +details—the colour of her dress at a certain +period, a woman whom they had met on a certain +day, what she had said on another occasion; and she +replied, quite astonished:</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember!"</p> + +<p>Their tastes, their judgments, were the same. +Often one of them, when listening to the other, exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"That's the way with me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> + +<p>And the other replied:</p> + +<p>"And with me, too!"</p> + +<p>Then there were endless complaints about Providence:</p> + +<p>"Why was it not the will of Heaven? If we had +only met——!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! if I had been younger!" she sighed.</p> + +<p>"No, but if I had been a little older."</p> + +<p>And they pictured to themselves a life entirely +given up to love, sufficiently rich to fill up the vastest +solitudes, surpassing all other joys, defying all forms +of wretchedness, in which the hours would glide +away in a continual outpouring of their own emotions, +and which would be as bright and glorious as +the palpitating splendour of the stars.</p> + +<p>They were nearly always standing at the top of the +stairs exposed to the free air of heaven. The tops of +trees yellowed by the autumn raised their crests in front +of them at unequal heights up to the edge of the pale +sky; or else they walked on to the end of the avenue +into a summer-house whose only furniture was a couch +of grey canvas. Black specks stained the glass; the +walls exhaled a mouldy smell; and they remained +there chatting freely about all sorts of topics—anything +that happened to arise—in a spirit of hilarity. +Sometimes the rays of the sun, passing through the +Venetian blind, extended from the ceiling down to +the flagstones like the strings of a lyre. Particles of +dust whirled amid these luminous bars. She amused +herself by dividing them with her hand. Frederick +gently caught hold of her; and he gazed on the +twinings of her veins, the grain of her skin, and the +form of her fingers. Each of those fingers of hers +was for him more than a thing—almost a person.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> + +<p>She gave him her gloves, and, the week after, her +handkerchief. She called him "Frederick;" he called +her "Marie," adoring this name, which, as he said, +was expressly made to be uttered with a sigh of +ecstasy, and which seemed to contain clouds of incense +and scattered heaps of roses.</p> + +<p>They soon came to an understanding as to the +days on which he would call to see her; and, leaving +the house as if by mere chance, she walked +along the road to meet him.</p> + +<p>She made no effort whatever to excite his love, +lost in that listlessness which is characteristic of intense +happiness. During the whole season she wore +a brown silk dressing-gown with velvet borders of the +same colour, a large garment, which united the indolence +of her attitudes and her grave physiognomy. +Besides, she had just reached the autumnal period of +womanhood, in which reflection is combined with +tenderness, in which the beginning of maturity +colours the face with a more intense flame, when +strength of feeling mingles with experience of life, +and when, having completely expanded, the entire +being overflows with a richness in harmony with +its beauty. Never had she possessed more sweetness, +more leniency. Secure in the thought that +she would not err, she abandoned herself to a sentiment +which seemed to her won by her sorrows. +And, moreover, it was so innocent and fresh! What +an abyss lay between the coarseness of Arnoux and +the adoration of Frederick!</p> + +<p>He trembled at the thought that by an imprudent +word he might lose all that he had gained, saying to +himself that an opportunity might be found again, +but that a foolish step could never be repaired. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +wished that she should give herself rather than that +he should take her. The assurance of being loved +by her delighted him like a foretaste of possession, +and then the charm of her person troubled his heart +more than his senses. It was an indefinable feeling +of bliss, a sort of intoxication that made him lose +sight of the possibility of having his happiness completed. +Apart from her, he was consumed with +longing.</p> + +<p>Ere long the conversations were interrupted by +long spells of silence. Sometimes a species of sexual +shame made them blush in each other's presence. +All the precautions they took to hide their love only +unveiled it; the stronger it grew, the more constrained +they became in manner. The effect of this +dissimulation was to intensify their sensibility. They +experienced a sensation of delight at the odour of +moist leaves; they could not endure the east wind; +they got irritated without any apparent cause, and +had melancholy forebodings. The sound of a footstep, +the creaking of the wainscoting, filled them +with as much terror as if they had been guilty. +They felt as if they were being pushed towards the +edge of a chasm. They were surrounded by a tempestuous +atmosphere; and when complaints escaped +Frederick's lips, she made accusations against herself.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am doing wrong. I am acting as if I +were a coquette! Don't come any more!"</p> + +<p>Then he would repeat the same oaths, to which +on each occasion she listened with renewed pleasure.</p> + +<p>His return to Paris, and the fuss occasioned by +New Year's Day, interrupted their meetings to some +extent. When he returned, he had an air of greater +self-confidence. Every moment she went out to give<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +orders, and in spite of his entreaties she received +every visitor that called during the evening.</p> + +<p>After this, they engaged in conversations about +Léotade, M. Guizot, the Pope, the insurrection at Palermo, +and the banquet of the Twelfth Arrondissement, +which had caused some disquietude. Frederick eased +his mind by railing against Power, for he longed, +like Deslauriers, to turn the whole world upside down, +so soured had he now become. Madame Arnoux, on +her side, had become sad.</p> + +<p>Her husband, indulging in displays of wild folly, +was flirting with one of the girls in his pottery +works, the one who was known as "the girl from +Bordeaux." Madame Arnoux was herself informed +about it by Frederick. He wanted to make use of it +as an argument, "inasmuch as she was the victim of +deception."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I'm not much concerned about it," she +said.</p> + +<p>This admission on her part seemed to him to +strengthen the intimacy between them. Would Arnoux +be seized with mistrust with regard to them?</p> + +<p>"No! not now!"</p> + +<p>She told him that, one evening, he had left them +talking together, and had afterwards come back again +and listened behind the door, and as they both were +chatting at the time of matters that were of no consequence, +he had lived since then in a state of complete +security.</p> + +<p>"With good reason, too—is that not so?" said +Frederick bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, no doubt!"</p> + +<p>It would have been better for him not to have +given so risky an answer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p>One day she was not at home at the hour when +he usually called. To him there seemed to be a sort +of treason in this.</p> + +<p>He was next displeased at seeing the flowers +which he used to bring her always placed in a glass +of water.</p> + +<p>"Where, then, would you like me to put them?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! not there! However, they are not so cold +there as they would be near your heart!"</p> + +<p>Not long afterwards he reproached her for having +been at the Italian opera the night before without +having given him a previous intimation of her intention +to go there. Others had seen, admired, fallen in +love with her, perhaps; Frederick was fastening on +those suspicions of his merely in order to pick a +quarrel with her, to torment her; for he was beginning +to hate her, and the very least he might expect +was that she should share in his sufferings!</p> + +<p>One afternoon, towards the middle of February, he +surprised her in a state of great mental excitement. +Eugène had been complaining about his sore throat. +The doctor had told her, however, that it was a +trifling ailment—a bad cold, an attack of influenza. +Frederick was astonished at the child's stupefied look. +Nevertheless, he reassured the mother, and brought +forward the cases of several children of the same age +who had been attacked with similar ailments, and had +been speedily cured.</p> + +<p>"Really?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, assuredly!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! how good you are!"</p> + +<p>And she caught his hand. He clasped hers tightly +in his.</p> + +<p>"Oh! let it go!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What does it signify, when it is to one who +sympathises with you that you offer it? You place +every confidence in me when I speak of these things, +but you distrust me when I talk to you about my +love!"</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt you on that point, my poor friend!"</p> + +<p>"Why this distrust, as if I were a wretch capable +of abusing——"</p> + +<p>"Oh! no!—--"</p> + +<p>"If I had only a proof!—--"</p> + +<p>"What proof?"</p> + +<p>"The proof that a person might give to the first +comer—what you have granted to myself!"</p> + +<p>And he recalled to her recollection how, on one +occasion, they had gone out together, on a winter's +twilight, when there was a fog. This seemed now +a long time ago. What, then, was to prevent her +from showing herself on his arm before the whole +world without any fear on her part, and without any +mental reservation on his, not having anyone around +them who could importune them?</p> + +<p>"Be it so!" she said, with a promptness of decision +that at first astonished Frederick.</p> + +<p>But he replied, in a lively fashion:</p> + +<p>"Would you like me to wait at the corner of the +Rue Tronchet and the Rue de la Ferme?"</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, my friend!" faltered Madame Arnoux.</p> + +<p>Without giving her time to reflect, he added:</p> + +<p>"Next Tuesday, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Tuesday?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, between two and three o'clock."</p> + +<p>"I will be there!"</p> + +<p>And she turned aside her face with a movement<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +of shame. Frederick placed his lips on the nape of +her neck.</p> + +<p>"Oh! this is not right," she said. "You will +make me repent."</p> + +<p>He turned away, dreading the fickleness which is +customary with women. Then, on the threshold, he +murmured softly, as if it were a thing that was +thoroughly understood:</p> + +<p>"On Tuesday!"</p> + +<p>She lowered her beautiful eyes in a cautious and +resigned fashion.</p> + +<p>Frederick had a plan arranged in his mind.</p> + +<p>He hoped that, owing to the rain or the sun, he +might get her to stop under some doorway, and that, +once there, she would go into some house. The difficulty +was to find one that would suit.</p> + +<p>He made a search, and about the middle of the +Rue Tronchet he read, at a distance on a signboard, +"Furnished apartments."</p> + +<p>The waiter, divining his object, showed him immediately +above the ground-floor a room and a closet +with two exits. Frederick took it for a month, and +paid in advance. Then he went into three shops to +buy the rarest perfumery. He got a piece of imitation +guipure, which was to replace the horrible red +cotton foot-coverlets; he selected a pair of blue satin +slippers, only the fear of appearing coarse checked +the amount of his purchases. He came back with +them; and with more devotion than those who are +erecting processional altars, he altered the position of +the furniture, arranged the curtains himself, put +heather in the fireplace, and covered the chest of +drawers with violets. He would have liked to pave +the entire apartment with gold. "To-morrow is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +time," said he to himself. "Yes, to-morrow! I am +not dreaming!" and he felt his heart throbbing violently +under the delirious excitement begotten by his +anticipations. Then, when everything was ready, he +carried off the key in his pocket, as if the happiness +which slept there might have flown away along +with it.</p> + +<p>A letter from his mother was awaiting him when +he reached his abode:</p> + +<p>"Why such a long absence? Your conduct is +beginning to look ridiculous. I understand your hesitating +more or less at first with regard to this union. +However, think well upon it."</p> + +<p>And she put the matter before him with the utmost +clearness: an income of forty-five thousand +francs. However, "people were talking about it;" and +M. Roque was waiting for a definite answer. As for +the young girl, her position was truly most embarrassing.</p> + +<p>"She is deeply attached to you."</p> + +<p>Frederick threw aside the letter even before he +had finished reading it, and opened another epistle +which came from Deslauriers.</p> + +<p>"Dear Old Boy,—The <i>pear</i> is ripe. In accordance +with your promise, we may count on you. We +meet to-morrow at daybreak, in the Place du Panthéon. +Drop into the Café Soufflot. It is necessary +for me to have a chat with you before the manifestation +takes place."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I know them, with their manifestations! A +thousand thanks! I have a more agreeable appointment."</p> + +<p>And on the following morning, at eleven o'clock, +Frederick had left the house. He wanted to give one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +last glance at the preparations. Then, who could tell +but that, by some chance or other, she might be at +the place of meeting before him? As he emerged +from the Rue Tronchet, he heard a great clamour behind +the Madeleine. He pressed forward, and saw at +the far end of the square, to the left, a number of +men in blouses and well-dressed people.</p> + +<p>In fact, a manifesto published in the newspapers +had summoned to this spot all who had subscribed +to the banquet of the Reform Party. The Ministry +had, almost without a moment's delay, posted up a +proclamation prohibiting the meeting. The Parliamentary +Opposition had, on the previous evening, +disclaimed any connection with it; but the patriots, +who were unaware of this resolution on the part of +their leaders, had come to the meeting-place, followed +by a great crowd of spectators. A deputation from +the schools had made its way, a short time before, +to the house of Odillon Barrot. It was now at the +residence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs; and nobody +could tell whether the banquet would take +place, whether the Government would carry out its +threat, and whether the National Guards would make +their appearance. People were as much enraged +against the deputies as against Power. The crowd +was growing bigger and bigger, when suddenly the +strains of the "Marseillaise" rang through the air.</p> + +<p>It was the students' column which had just arrived +on the scene. They marched along at an ordinary +walking pace, in double file and in good order, with +angry faces, bare hands, and all exclaiming at intervals:</p> + +<p>"Long live Reform! Down with Guizot!"</p> + +<p>Frederick's friends were there, sure enough. They +would have noticed him and dragged him along with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +them. He quickly sought refuge in the Rue de l'Arcade.</p> + +<p>When the students had taken two turns round +the Madeleine, they went down in the direction of +the Place de la Concorde. It was full of people; and, +at a distance, the crowd pressed close together, had +the appearance of a field of dark ears of corn swaying +to and fro.</p> + +<p>At the same moment, some soldiers of the line +ranged themselves in battle-array at the left-hand side +of the church.</p> + +<p>The groups remained standing there, however. In +order to put an end to this, some police-officers in +civilian dress seized the most riotous of them in a +brutal fashion, and carried them off to the guard-house. +Frederick, in spite of his indignation, remained +silent; he might have been arrested along with the +others, and he would have missed Madame Arnoux.</p> + +<p>A little while afterwards the helmets of the Municipal +Guards appeared. They kept striking about +them with the flat side of their sabres. A horse fell +down. The people made a rush forward to save +him, and as soon as the rider was in the saddle, they +all ran away.</p> + +<p>Then there was a great silence. The thin rain, +which had moistened the asphalt, was no longer falling. +Clouds floated past, gently swept on by the +west wind.</p> + +<p>Frederick began running through the Rue Tronchet, +looking before him and behind him.</p> + +<p>At length it struck two o'clock.</p> + +<p>"Ha! now is the time!" said he to himself. "She +is leaving her house; she is approaching," and a +minute after, "she would have had time to be here."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> + +<p>Up to three he tried to keep quiet. "No, she is +not going to be late—a little patience!"</p> + +<p>And for want of something to do he examined the +most interesting shops that he passed—a bookseller's, +a saddler's and a mourning warehouse. Soon he +knew the names of the different books, the various +kinds of harness, and every sort of material. The +persons who looked after these establishments, from +seeing him continually going backwards and forwards, +were at first surprised, and then alarmed, and +they closed up their shop-fronts.</p> + +<p>No doubt she had met with some impediment, +and for that reason she must be enduring pain on account +of it. But what delight would be afforded in +a very short time! For she would come—that was +certain. "She has given me her promise!" In the +meantime an intolerable feeling of anxiety was gradually +seizing hold of him. Impelled by an absurd idea, +he returned to his hotel, as if he expected to find her +there. At the same moment, she might have reached +the street in which their meeting was to take place. +He rushed out. Was there no one? And he resumed +his tramp up and down the footpath.</p> + +<p>He stared at the gaps in the pavement, the mouths +of the gutters, the candelabra, and the numbers above +the doors. The most trifling objects became for him +companions, or rather, ironical spectators, and the +regular fronts of the houses seemed to him to have a +pitiless aspect. He was suffering from cold feet. He +felt as if he were about to succumb to the dejection +which was crushing him. The reverberation of his +footsteps vibrated through his brain.</p> + +<p>When he saw by his watch that it was four +o'clock, he experienced, as it were, a sense of vertigo,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +a feeling of dismay. He tried to repeat some verses +to himself, to enter on a calculation, no matter of +what sort, to invent some kind of story. Impossible! +He was beset by the image of Madame Arnoux; he +felt a longing to run in order to meet her. But what +road ought he to take so that they might not pass +each other?</p> + +<p>He went up to a messenger, put five francs into his +hand, and ordered him to go to the Rue de Paradis +to Jacques Arnoux's residence to enquire "if Madame +were at home." Then he took up his post at the +corner of the Rue de la Ferme and of the Rue Tronchet, +so as to be able to look down both of them at +the same time. On the boulevard, in the background +of the scene in front of him, confused masses of people +were gliding past. He could distinguish, every +now and then, the aigrette of a dragoon or a +woman's hat; and he strained his eyes in the effort +to recognise the wearer. A child in rags, exhibiting +a jack-in-the-box, asked him, with a smile, for alms.</p> + +<p>The man with the velvet vest reappeared. "The +porter had not seen her going out." What had kept +her in? If she were ill he would have been told +about it. Was it a visitor? Nothing was easier than +to say that she was not at home. He struck his +forehead.</p> + +<p>"Ah! I am stupid! Of course, 'tis this political +outbreak that prevented her from coming!"</p> + +<p>He was relieved by this apparently natural explanation. +Then, suddenly: "But her quarter of the +city is quiet." And a horrible doubt seized hold of +his mind: "Suppose she was not coming at all, and +merely gave me a promise in order to get rid of +me? No, no!" What had prevented her from com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>ing +was, no doubt, some extraordinary mischance, +one of those occurrences that baffled all one's anticipations. +In that case she would have written to him.</p> + +<p>And he sent the hotel errand-boy to his residence +in the Rue Rumfort to find out whether there happened +to be a letter waiting for him there.</p> + +<p>No letter had been brought. This absence of news +reassured him.</p> + +<p>He drew omens from the number of coins which +he took up in his hand out of his pocket by chance, +from the physiognomies of the passers-by, and from +the colour of different horses; and when the augury +was unfavourable, he forced himself to disbelieve in +it. In his sudden outbursts of rage against Madame +Arnoux, he abused her in muttering tones. Then +came fits of weakness that nearly made him swoon, +followed, all of a sudden, by fresh rebounds of hopefulness. +She would make her appearance presently! +She was there, behind his back! He turned round—there +was nobody there! Once he perceived, about +thirty paces away, a woman of the same height, with +a dress of the same kind. He came up to her—it +was not she. It struck five—half-past five—six. +The gas-lamps were lighted, Madame Arnoux had +not come.</p> + +<p>The night before, she had dreamed that she had +been, for some time, on the footpath in the Rue +Tronchet. She was waiting there for something the +nature of which she was not quite clear about, but +which, nevertheless, was of great importance; and, +without knowing why, she was afraid of being seen. +But a pestiferous little dog kept barking at her furiously +and biting at the hem of her dress. Every +time she shook him off he returned stubbornly to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +the attack, always barking more violently than before. +Madame Arnoux woke up. The dog's barking +continued. She strained her ears to listen. It came +from her son's room. She rushed to the spot in her +bare feet. It was the child himself who was coughing. +His hands were burning, his face flushed, and +his voice singularly hoarse. Every minute he found +it more difficult to breathe freely. She waited there +till daybreak, bent over the coverlet watching him.</p> + +<p>At eight o'clock the drum of the National Guard +gave warning to M. Arnoux that his comrades were +expecting his arrival. He dressed himself quickly +and went away, promising that he would immediately +be passing the house of their doctor, M. Colot.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock, when M. Colot did not make his +appearance, Madame Arnoux despatched her chambermaid +for him. The doctor was away in the country; +and the young man who was taking his place had +gone out on some business.</p> + +<p>Eugène kept his head on one side on the bolster +with contracted eyebrows and dilated nostrils. His +pale little face had become whiter than the sheets; +and there escaped from his larynx a wheezing caused +by his oppressed breathing, which became gradually +shorter, dryer, and more metallic. His cough resembled +the noise made by those barbarous mechanical +inventions by which toy-dogs are enabled to bark.</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux was seized with terror. She +rang the bell violently, calling out for help, and exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"A doctor! a doctor!"</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later came an elderly gentleman in a +white tie, and with grey whiskers well trimmed. +He put several questions as to the habits, the age,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +and the constitution of the young patient, and studied +the case with his head thrown back. He next wrote +out a prescription.</p> + +<p>The calm manner of this old man was intolerable. +He smelt of aromatics. She would have liked to +beat him. He said he would come back in the evening.</p> + +<p>The horrible coughing soon began again. Sometimes +the child arose suddenly. Convulsive movements +shook the muscles of his breast; and in his +efforts to breathe his stomach shrank in as if he +were suffocating after running too hard. Then he +sank down, with his head thrown back and his mouth +wide open. With infinite pains, Madame Arnoux +tried to make him swallow the contents of the phials, +hippo wine, and a potion containing trisulphate of +antimony. But he pushed away the spoon, groaning +in a feeble voice. He seemed to be blowing out his +words.</p> + +<p>From time to time she re-read the prescription. +The observations of the formulary frightened her. +Perhaps the apothecary had made some mistake. Her +powerlessness filled her with despair. M. Colot's pupil +arrived.</p> + +<p>He was a young man of modest demeanour, new +to medical work, and he made no attempt to disguise +his opinion about the case. He was at first undecided +as to what he should do, for fear of compromising +himself, and finally he ordered pieces of ice +to be applied to the sick child. It took a long time +to get ice. The bladder containing the ice burst. It +was necessary to change the little boy's shirt. This +disturbance brought on an attack of even a more +dreadful character than any of the previous ones.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<p>The child began tearing off the linen round his +neck, as if he wanted to remove the obstacle that +was choking him; and he scratched the walls and +seized the curtains of his bedstead, trying to get a +point of support to assist him in breathing.</p> + +<p>His face was now of a bluish hue, and his entire +body, steeped in a cold perspiration, appeared to be +growing lean. His haggard eyes were fixed with +terror on his mother. He threw his arms round her +neck, and hung there in a desperate fashion; and, repressing +her rising sobs, she gave utterance in a +broken voice to loving words:</p> + +<p>"Yes, my pet, my angel, my treasure!"</p> + +<p>Then came intervals of calm.</p> + +<p>She went to look for playthings—a punchinello, +a collection of images, and spread them out on the +bed in order to amuse him. She even made an attempt +to sing.</p> + +<p>She began to sing a little ballad which she used +to sing years before, when she was nursing him +wrapped up in swaddling-clothes in this same little +upholstered chair. But a shiver ran all over his frame, +just as when a wave is agitated by the wind. The +balls of his eyes protruded. She thought he was going +to die, and turned away her eyes to avoid seeing +him.</p> + +<p>The next moment she felt strength enough in her to +look at him. He was still living. The hours succeeded +each other—dull, mournful, interminable, +hopeless, and she no longer counted the minutes, +save by the progress of this mental anguish. The +shakings of his chest threw him forward as if to shatter +his body. Finally, he vomited something strange, +which was like a parchment tube. What was this?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +She fancied that he had evacuated one end of his +entrails. But he now began to breathe freely and +regularly. This appearance of well-being frightened +her more than anything else that had happened. She +was sitting like one petrified, her arms hanging by her +sides, her eyes fixed, when M. Colot suddenly made +his appearance. The child, in his opinion, was saved.</p> + +<p>She did not realise what he meant at first, and +made him repeat the words. Was not this one of +those consoling phrases which were customary with +medical men? The doctor went away with an air of +tranquillity. Then it seemed as if the cords that +pressed round her heart were loosened.</p> + +<p>"Saved! Is this possible?"</p> + +<p>Suddenly the thought of Frederick presented itself +to her mind in a clear and inexorable fashion. It was +a warning sent to her by Providence. But the Lord +in His mercy had not wished to complete her chastisement. +What expiation could she offer hereafter if +she were to persevere in this love-affair? No doubt +insults would be flung at her son's head on her +account; and Madame Arnoux saw him a young +man, wounded in a combat, carried off on a litter, +dying. At one spring she threw herself on the little +chair, and, letting her soul escape towards the heights +of heaven, she vowed to God that she would sacrifice, +as a holocaust, her first real passion, her only weakness +as a woman.</p> + +<p>Frederick had returned home. He remained in his +armchair, without even possessing enough of energy to +curse her. A sort of slumber fell upon him, and, in the +midst of his nightmare, he could hear the rain falling, +still under the impression that he was there outside +on the footpath.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> + +<p>Next morning, yielding to an incapacity to resist +the temptation which clung to him, he again sent a +messenger to Madame Arnoux's house.</p> + +<p>Whether the true explanation happened to be that +the fellow did not deliver his message, or that she +had too many things to say to explain herself in a +word or two, the same answer was brought back. +This insolence was too great! A feeling of angry +pride took possession of him. He swore in his own +mind that he would never again cherish even a desire; +and, like a group of leaves carried away by a hurricane, +his love disappeared. He experienced a sense +of relief, a feeling of stoical joy, then a need of violent +action; and he walked on at random through the +streets.</p> + +<p>Men from the faubourgs were marching past armed +with guns and old swords, some of them wearing red +caps, and all singing the "Marseillaise" or the "Girondins." +Here and there a National Guard was hurrying +to join his mayoral department. Drums could +be heard rolling in the distance. A conflict was going +on at Porte Saint-Martin. There was something +lively and warlike in the air. Frederick kept walking +on without stopping. The excitement of the great +city made him gay.</p> + +<p>On the Frascati hill he got a glimpse of the Maréchale's +windows: a wild idea occurred to him, a reaction +of youthfulness. He crossed the boulevard.</p> + +<p>The yard-gate was just being closed; and Delphine, +who was in the act of writing on it with a piece of +charcoal, "Arms given," said to him in an eager +tone:</p> + +<p>"Ah! Madame is in a nice state! She dismissed a +groom who insulted her this morning. She thinks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +there's going to be pillage everywhere. She is frightened +to death! and the more so as Monsieur has +gone!"</p> + +<p>"What Monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"The Prince!"</p> + +<p>Frederick entered the boudoir. The Maréchale appeared +in her petticoat, and her hair hanging down +her back in disorder.</p> + +<p><a name="saveme" id="saveme">"Ah! thanks! You are going to save me!</a> 'tis the +second time! You are one of those who never count +the cost!"</p> + +<p>"A thousand pardons!" said Frederick, catching +her round the waist with both hands.</p> + +<p>"How now? What are you doing?" stammered +the Maréchale, at the same time, surprised and cheered +up by his manner.</p> + +<p>He replied:</p> + +<p>"I am the fashion! I'm reformed!"</p> + +<p>She let herself fall back on the divan, and continued +laughing under his kisses.</p> + +<p>They spent the afternoon looking out through the +window at the people in the street. Then he brought +her to dine at the Trois Frères Provençaux. The +meal was a long and dainty one. They came back +on foot for want of a vehicle.</p> + +<p>At the announcement of a change of Ministry, +Paris had changed. Everyone was in a state of delight. +People kept promenading about the streets, and +every floor was illuminated with lamps, so that it +seemed as if it were broad daylight. The soldiers +made their way back to their barracks, worn out and +looking quite depressed. The people saluted them +with exclamations of "Long live the Line!"</p> + +<p>They went on without making any response.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +Among the National Guard, on the contrary, the +officers, flushed with enthusiasm, brandished their +sabres, vociferating:</p> + +<p>"Long live Reform!"</p> + +<p>And every time the two lovers heard this word +they laughed.</p> + +<p>Frederick told droll stories, and was quite gay.</p> + +<p>Making their way through the Rue Duphot, they +reached the boulevards. Venetian lanterns hanging +from the houses formed wreaths of flame. Underneath, +a confused swarm of people kept in constant +motion. In the midst of those moving shadows could +be seen, here and there, the steely glitter of bayonets. +There was a great uproar. The crowd was too compact, +and it was impossible to make one's way back +in a straight line. They were entering the Rue Caumartin, +when suddenly there burst forth behind them +a noise like the crackling made by an immense piece +of silk in the act of being torn across. It was the +discharge of musketry on the Boulevard des Capucines.</p> + +<p>"Ha! a few of the citizens are getting a crack," +said Frederick calmly; for there are situations in +which a man of the least cruel disposition is so much +detached from his fellow-men that he would see the +entire human race perishing without a single throb of +the heart.</p> + +<p>The Maréchale was clinging to his arm with her +teeth chattering. She declared that she would not be +able to walk twenty steps further. Then, by a refinement +of hatred, in order the better to offer an +outrage in his own soul to Madame Arnoux, he led +Rosanette to the hotel in the Rue Tronchet, and +brought her up to the room which he had got ready +for the other.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p> + +<p>The flowers were not withered. The guipure was +spread out on the bed. He drew forth from the cupboard +the little slippers. Rosanette considered this +forethought on his part a great proof of his delicacy +of sentiment. About one o'clock she was awakened +by distant rolling sounds, and she saw that he was +sobbing with his head buried in the pillow.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with you now, my own +darling?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis the excess of happiness," said Frederick. +"I have been too long yearning after you!"</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="chapter_xiv" id="chapter_xiv"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">The Barricade.</h3> + + +<p><img src="images/i_chxiv.png" width="123" height="125" alt="H" title="" class="illodrop" style="margin-top: -3.5em;" />e was abruptly roused from sleep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +by the noise of a discharge of +musketry; and, in spite of Rosanette's +entreaties, Frederick was +fully determined to go and see +what was happening. He hurried +down to the Champs-Elysées, from which shots were +being fired. At the corner of the Rue Saint-Honoré +some men in blouses ran past him, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"No! not that way! to the Palais-Royal!"</p> + +<p>Frederick followed them. The grating of the Convent +of the Assumption had been torn away. A little +further on he noticed three paving-stones in the middle +of the street, the beginning of a barricade, no +doubt; then fragments of bottles and bundles of iron-wire, +to obstruct the cavalry; and, at the same +moment, there rushed suddenly out of a lane a tall +young man of pale complexion, with his black hair +flowing over his shoulders, and with a sort of pea-coloured +swaddling-cloth thrown round him. In his +hand he held a long military musket, and he dashed +along on the tips of his slippers with the air of a somnambulist +and with the nimbleness of a tiger. At intervals +a detonation could be heard.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the evening of the day before, the spectacle of +the wagon containing five corpses picked up from +amongst those that were lying on the Boulevard des +Capucines had charged the disposition of the people; +and, while at the Tuileries the aides-de-camp succeeded +each other, and M. Molé, having set about +the composition of a new Cabinet, did not come +back, and M. Thiers was making efforts to constitute +another, and while the King was cavilling and hesitating, +and finally assigned the post of commander-in-chief +to Bugeaud in order to prevent him from +making use of it, the insurrection was organising +itself in a formidable manner, as if it were directed +by a single arm.</p> + +<p>Men endowed with a kind of frantic eloquence +were engaged in haranguing the populace at the street-corners, +others were in the churches ringing the tocsin +as loudly as ever they could. Lead was cast for +bullets, cartridges were rolled about. The trees on +the boulevards, the urinals, the benches, the gratings, +the gas-burners, everything was torn off and thrown +down. Paris, that morning, was covered with barricades. +The resistance which was offered was of short +duration, so that at eight o'clock the people, by voluntary +surrender or by force, had got possession of +five barracks, nearly all the municipal buildings, the +most favourable strategic points. Of its own accord, +without any effort, the Monarchy was melting away +in rapid dissolution, and now an attack was made on +the guard-house of the Château d'Eau, in order to +liberate fifty prisoners, who were not there.</p> + +<p>Frederick was forced to stop at the entrance to +the square. It was filled with groups of armed men. +The Rue Saint-Thomas and the Rue Fromanteau were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +occupied by companies of the Line. The Rue de +Valois was choked up by an enormous barricade. +The smoke which fluttered about at the top of it +partly opened. Men kept running overhead, making +violent gestures; they vanished from sight; then the +firing was again renewed. It was answered from the +guard-house without anyone being seen inside. Its +windows, protected by oaken window-shutters, were +pierced with loop-holes; and the monument with its +two storys, its two wings, its fountain on the first +floor and its little door in the centre, was beginning +to be speckled with white spots under the shock of +the bullets. The three steps in front of it remained +unoccupied.</p> + +<p>At Frederick's side a man in a Greek cap, with a +cartridge-box over his knitted vest, was holding a dispute +with a woman with a Madras neckerchief round +her shoulders. She said to him:</p> + +<p>"Come back now! Come back!"</p> + +<p>"Leave me alone!" replied the husband. "You +can easily mind the porter's lodge by yourself. I ask, +citizen, is this fair? I have on every occasion done +my duty—in 1830, in '32, in '34, and in '39! To-day +they're fighting again. I must fight! Go away!"</p> + +<p>And the porter's wife ended by yielding to his +remonstrances and to those of a National Guard near +them—a man of forty, whose simple face was adorned +with a circle of white beard. He loaded his gun and +fired while talking to Frederick, as cool in the midst +of the outbreak as a horticulturist in his garden. A +young lad with a packing-cloth thrown over him was +trying to coax this man to give him a few caps, so that +he might make use of a gun he had, a fine fowling-piece +which a "gentleman" had made him a present of.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Catch on behind my back," said the good man, +"and keep yourself from being seen, or you'll get +yourself killed!"</p> + +<p>The drums beat for the charge. Sharp cries, hurrahs +of triumph burst forth. A continual ebbing to +and fro made the multitude sway backward and forward. +Frederick, caught between two thick masses +of people, did not move an inch, all the time fascinated +and exceedingly amused by the scene around +him. The wounded who sank to the ground, the +dead lying at his feet, did not seem like persons +really wounded or really dead. The impression left +on his mind was that he was looking on at a show.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the surging throng, above the sea +of heads, could be seen an old man in a black coat, +mounted on a white horse with a velvet saddle. He +held in one hand a green bough, in the other a paper, +and he kept shaking them persistently; but at +length, giving up all hope of obtaining a hearing, he +withdrew from the scene.</p> + +<p>The soldiers of the Line had gone, and only the +municipal troops remained to defend the guard-house. +A wave of dauntless spirits dashed up the steps; they +were flung down; others came on to replace them, +and the gate resounded under blows from iron bars. +The municipal guards did not give way. But a +wagon, stuffed full of hay, and burning like a gigantic +torch, was dragged against the walls. Faggots were +speedily brought, then straw, and a barrel of spirits +of wine. The fire mounted up to the stones along +the wall; the building began to send forth smoke on +all sides like the crater of a volcano; and at its summit, +between the balustrades of the terrace, huge +flames escaped with a harsh noise. The first story of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +the Palais-Royal was occupied by National Guards. +Shots were fired through every window in the square; +the bullets whizzed, the water of the fountain, which +had burst, was mingled with the blood, forming little +pools on the ground. People slipped in the mud over +clothes, shakos, and weapons. Frederick felt something +soft under his foot. It was the hand of a sergeant +in a grey great-coat, lying on his face in the +stream that ran along the street. Fresh bands of people +were continually coming up, pushing on the combatants +at the guard-house. The firing became quicker. +The wine-shops were open; people went into them +from time to time to smoke a pipe and drink a glass +of beer, and then came back again to fight. A lost +dog began to howl. This made the people laugh.</p> + +<p>Frederick was shaken by the impact of a man +falling on his shoulder with a bullet through his back +and the death-rattle in his throat. At this shot, perhaps +directed against himself, he felt himself stirred +up to rage; and he was plunging forward when a +National Guard stopped him.</p> + +<p>"'Tis useless! the King has just gone! Ah! if you +don't believe me, go and see for yourself!"</p> + +<p>This assurance calmed Frederick. The Place du +Carrousel had a tranquil aspect. The Hôtel de Nantes +stood there as fixed as ever; and the houses in the +rear; the dome of the Louvre in front, the long gallery +of wood at the right, and the waste plot of +ground that ran unevenly as far as the sheds of the +stall-keepers were, so to speak, steeped in the grey hues +of the atmosphere, where indistinct murmurs seemed to +mingle with the fog; while, at the opposite side of the +square, a stiff light, falling through the parting of +the clouds on the façade of the Tuileries, cut out all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +its windows into white patches. Near the Arc de +Triomphe a dead horse lay on the ground. Behind +the gratings groups consisting of five or six persons +were chatting. The doors leading into the château +were open, and the servants at the thresholds allowed +the people to enter.</p> + +<p>Below stairs, in a kind of little parlour, bowls of +<i>café au lait</i> were handed round. A few of those +present sat down to the table and made merry; +others remained standing, and amongst the latter was +a hackney-coachman. He snatched up with both +hands a glass vessel full of powdered sugar, cast a +restless glance right and left, and then began to eat +voraciously, with his nose stuck into the mouth of +the vessel.</p> + +<p>At the bottom of the great staircase a man was +writing his name in a register.</p> + +<p>Frederick was able to recognise him by his back.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, Hussonnet!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, 'tis I," replied the Bohemian. "I am introducing +myself at court. This is a nice joke, isn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Suppose we go upstairs?"</p> + +<p>And they reached presently the Salle des Maréchaux. +The portraits of those illustrious generals, save that of +Bugeaud, which had been pierced through the stomach, +were all intact. They were represented leaning on +their sabres with a gun-carriage behind each of them, +and in formidable attitudes in contrast with the occasion. +A large timepiece proclaimed it was twenty +minutes past one.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the "Marseillaise" resounded. Hussonnet +and Frederick bent over the balusters. It was the +people. They rushed up the stairs, shaking with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +dizzying, wave-like motion bare heads, or helmets, or +red caps, or else bayonets or human shoulders with +such impetuosity that some people disappeared every +now and then in this swarming mass, which was +mounting up without a moment's pause, like a river +compressed by an equinoctial tide, with a continuous +roar under an irresistible impulse. When they got to +the top of the stairs, they were scattered, and their +chant died away. Nothing could any longer be heard +but the tramp of all the shoes intermingled with the +chopping sound of many voices. The crowd not +being in a mischievous mood, contented themselves +with looking about them. But, from time to time, +an elbow, by pressing too hard, broke through a +pane of glass, or else a vase or a statue rolled from +a bracket down on the floor. The wainscotings +cracked under the pressure of people against them. +Every face was flushed; the perspiration was rolling +down their features in large beads. Hussonnet made +this remark:</p> + +<p>"Heroes have not a good smell."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you are provoking," returned Frederick.</p> + +<p>And, pushed forward in spite of themselves, they +entered an apartment in which a dais of red velvet +rose as far as the ceiling. On the throne below sat +a representative of the proletariat in effigy with a +black beard, his shirt gaping open, a jolly air, and the +stupid look of a baboon. Others climbed up the platform +to sit in his place.</p> + +<p>"What a myth!" said Hussonnet. "There you see +the sovereign people!"</p> + +<p>The armchair was lifted up on the hands of a number +of persons and passed across the hall, swaying +from one side to the other.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + +<p>"By Jove, 'tis like a boat! The Ship of State is +tossing about in a stormy sea! Let it dance the cancan! +Let it dance the cancan!"</p> + +<p>They had drawn it towards a window, and in the +midst of hisses, they launched it out.</p> + +<p>"Poor old chap!" said Hussonnet, as he saw the +effigy falling into the garden, where it was speedily +picked up in order to be afterwards carried to the +Bastille and burned.</p> + +<p>Then a frantic joy burst forth, as if, instead of the +throne, a future of boundless happiness had appeared; +and the people, less through a spirit of vindictiveness +than to assert their right of possession, broke or tore +the glasses, the curtains, the lustres, the tapers, the +tables, the chairs, the stools, the entire furniture, including +the very albums and engravings, and the corbels +of the tapestry. Since they had triumphed, they +must needs amuse themselves! The common herd +ironically wrapped themselves up in laces and cashmeres. +Gold fringes were rolled round the sleeves of +blouses. Hats with ostriches' feathers adorned blacksmiths' +heads, and ribbons of the Legion of Honour +supplied waistbands for prostitutes. Each person +satisfied his or her caprice; some danced, others +drank. In the queen's apartment a woman gave a +gloss to her hair with pomatum. Behind a folding-screen +two lovers were playing cards. Hussonnet +pointed out to Frederick an individual who was +smoking a dirty pipe with his elbows resting on a +balcony; and the popular frenzy redoubled with a +continuous crash of broken porcelain and pieces of +crystal, which, as they rebounded, made sounds +resembling those produced by the plates of musical +glasses.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then their fury was overshadowed. A nauseous +curiosity made them rummage all the dressing-rooms, +all the recesses. Returned convicts thrust their arms +into the beds in which princesses had slept, and +rolled themselves on the top of them, to console +themselves for not being able to embrace their owners. +Others, with sinister faces, roamed about silently, +looking for something to steal, but too great a multitude +was there. Through the bays of the doors +could be seen in the suite of apartments only the +dark mass of people between the gilding of the walls +under a cloud of dust. Every breast was panting. +The heat became more and more suffocating; and +the two friends, afraid of being stifled, seized the opportunity +of making their way out.</p> + +<p>In the antechamber, standing on a heap of garments, +appeared a girl of the town as a statue of +Liberty, motionless, her grey eyes wide open—a +fearful sight.</p> + +<p>They had taken three steps outside the château +when a company of the National Guards, in great-coats, +advanced towards them, and, taking off their +foraging-caps, and, at the same time, uncovering their +skulls, which were slightly bald, bowed very low to +the people. At this testimony of respect, the ragged +victors bridled up. Hussonnet and Frederick were not +without experiencing a certain pleasure from it as +well as the rest.</p> + +<p>They were filled with ardour. They went back +to the Palais-Royal. In front of the Rue Fromanteau, +soldiers' corpses were heaped up on the straw. They +passed close to the dead without a single quiver of +emotion, feeling a certain pride in being able to keep +their countenance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Palais overflowed with people. In the inner +courtyard seven piles of wood were flaming. Pianos, +chests of drawers, and clocks were hurled out through +the windows. Fire-engines sent streams of water up +to the roofs. Some vagabonds tried to cut the hose +with their sabres. Frederick urged a pupil of the +Polytechnic School to interfere. The latter did not +understand him, and, moreover, appeared to be an +idiot. All around, in the two galleries, the populace, +having got possession of the cellars, gave themselves +up to a horrible carouse. Wine flowed in streams +and wetted people's feet; the mudlarks drank out of +the tail-ends of the bottles, and shouted as they staggered +along.</p> + +<p>"Come away out of this," said Hussonnet; "I am +disgusted with the people."</p> + +<p>All over the Orléans Gallery the wounded lay on +mattresses on the ground, with purple curtains folded +round them as coverlets; and the small shopkeepers' +wives and daughters from the quarter brought them +broth and linen.</p> + +<p>"No matter!" said Frederick; "for my part, I +consider the people sublime."</p> + +<p>The great vestibule was filled with a whirlwind of +furious individuals. Men tried to ascend to the +upper storys in order to put the finishing touches to +the work of wholesale destruction. National Guards, +on the steps, strove to keep them back. The most +intrepid was a chasseur, who had his head bare, his +hair bristling, and his straps in pieces. His shirt +caused a swelling between his trousers and his coat, +and he struggled desperately in the midst of the +others. Hussonnet, who had sharp sight, recognised +Arnoux from a distance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then they went into the Tuileries garden, so as +to be able to breathe more freely. They sat down +on a bench; and they remained for some minutes +with their eyes closed, so much stunned that they +had not the energy to say a word. The people who +were passing came up to them and informed them +that the Duchesse d'Orléans had been appointed Regent, +and that it was all over. They were experiencing +that species of comfort which follows rapid +<i>dénouements</i>, when at the windows of the attics in +the château appeared men-servants tearing their liveries +to pieces. They flung their torn clothes into +the garden, as a mark of renunciation. The people +hooted at them, and then they retired.</p> + +<p>The attention of Frederick and Hussonnet was distracted +by a tall fellow who was walking quickly between +the trees with a musket on his shoulder. A +cartridge-box was pressed against his pea-jacket; a +handkerchief was wound round his forehead under +his cap. He turned his head to one side. It was +Dussardier; and casting himself into their arms:</p> + +<p>"Ah! what good fortune, my poor old friends!" +without being able to say another word, so much +out of breath was he with fatigue.</p> + +<p>He had been on his legs for the last twenty-four +hours. He had been engaged at the barricades of the +Latin Quarter, had fought in the Rue Rabuteau, had +saved three dragoons' lives, had entered the Tuileries +with Colonel Dunoyer, and, after that, had repaired +to the Chamber, and then to the Hôtel de Ville.</p> + +<p>"I have come from it! all goes well! the people +are victorious! the workmen and the employers are +embracing one another. Ha! if you knew what I have +seen! what brave fellows! what a fine sight it was!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> + +<p>And without noticing that they had no arms:</p> + +<p>"I was quite certain of finding you there! This +has been a bit rough—no matter!"</p> + +<p>A drop of blood ran down his cheek, and in answer +to the questions put to him by the two others:</p> + +<p>"Oh! 'tis nothing! a slight scratch from a bayonet!"</p> + +<p>"However, you really ought to take care of yourself."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! I am substantial! What does this signify? +The Republic is proclaimed! We'll be happy +henceforth! Some journalists, who were talking just +now in front of me, said they were going to liberate +Poland and Italy! No more kings! You understand? +The entire land free! the entire land free!"</p> + +<p>And with one comprehensive glance at the horizon, +he spread out his arms in a triumphant attitude. +But a long file of men rushed over the terrace on the +water's edge.</p> + +<p>"Ah, deuce take it! I was forgetting. I must be +off. Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>He turned round to cry out to them while brandishing +his musket:</p> + +<p>"Long live the Republic!"</p> + +<p>From the chimneys of the château escaped enormous +whirlwinds of black smoke which bore sparks +along with them. The ringing of the bells sent out +over the city a wild and startling alarm. Right and +left, in every direction, the conquerors discharged +their weapons.</p> + +<p>Frederick, though he was not a warrior, felt the +Gallic blood leaping in his veins. The magnetism of +the public enthusiasm had seized hold of him. He +inhaled with a voluptuous delight the stormy atmos<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>phere +filled with the odour of gunpowder; and, in the +meantime, he quivered under the effluvium of an immense +love, a supreme and universal tenderness, as if +the heart of all humanity were throbbing in his breast.</p> + +<p>Hussonnet said with a yawn:</p> + +<p>"It would be time, perhaps, to go and instruct +the populace."</p> + +<p>Frederick followed him to his correspondence-office +in the Place de la Bourse; and he began to +compose for the Troyes newspaper an account of recent +events in a lyric style—a veritable tit-bit—to +which he attached his signature. Then they dined +together at a tavern. Hussonnet was pensive; the +eccentricities of the Revolution exceeded his own.</p> + +<p>After leaving the café, when they repaired to the +Hôtel de Ville to learn the news, the boyish impulses +which were natural to him had got the upper +hand once more. He scaled the barricades like a +chamois, and answered the sentinels with broad jokes +of a patriotic flavour.</p> + +<p>They heard the Provisional Government proclaimed +by torchlight. At last, Frederick got back to his +house at midnight, overcome with fatigue.</p> + +<p>"Well," said he to his man-servant, while the +latter was undressing him, "are you satisfied?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, no doubt, Monsieur; but I don't like to see +the people dancing to music."</p> + +<p>Next morning, when he awoke, Frederick thought +of Deslauriers. He hastened to his friend's lodgings. +He ascertained that the advocate had just left Paris, +having been appointed a provincial commissioner. At +the <i>soirée</i> given the night before, he had got into +contact with Ledru-Rollin, and laying siege to him in +the name of the Law Schools, had snatched from him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +a post, a mission. However, the doorkeeper explained, +he was going to write and give his address +in the following week.</p> + +<p>After this, Frederick went to see the Maréchale. +She gave him a chilling reception. She resented his +desertion of her. Her bitterness disappeared when he +had given her repeated assurances that peace was +restored.</p> + +<p>All was quiet now. There was no reason to be +afraid. He kissed her, and she declared herself in +favour of the Republic, as his lordship the Archbishop +of Paris had already done, and as the magistracy, the +Council of State, the Institute, the marshals of France, +Changarnier, M. de Falloux, all the Bonapartists, all +the Legitimists, and a considerable number of Orléanists +were about to do with a swiftness indicative of +marvellous zeal.</p> + +<p>The fall of the Monarchy had been so rapid that, +as soon as the first stupefaction that succeeded it had +passed away, there was amongst the middle class a +feeling of astonishment at the fact that they were +still alive. The summary execution of some thieves, +who were shot without a trial, was regarded as an +act of signal justice. For a month Lamartine's phrase +was repeated with reference to the red flag, "which +had only gone the round of the Champ de Mars, +while the tricoloured flag," etc.; and all ranged themselves +under its shade, each party seeing amongst the +three colours only its own, and firmly determined, as +soon as it would be the most powerful, to tear away +the two others.</p> + +<p>As business was suspended, anxiety and love of +gaping drove everyone into the open air. The careless +style of costume generally adopted attenuated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +differences of social position. Hatred masked itself; +expectations were openly indulged in; the multitude +seemed full of good-nature. The pride of having +gained their rights shone in the people's faces. They +displayed the gaiety of a carnival, the manners of a +bivouac. Nothing could be more amusing than the +aspect of Paris during the first days that followed the +Revolution.</p> + +<p>Frederick gave the Maréchale his arm, and they +strolled along through the streets together. She was +highly diverted by the display of rosettes in every +buttonhole, by the banners hung from every window, +and the bills of every colour that were posted +upon the walls, and threw some money here and +there into the collection-boxes for the wounded, +which were placed on chairs in the middle of the +pathway. Then she stopped before some caricatures +representing Louis Philippe as a pastry-cook, as a +mountebank, as a dog, or as a leech. But she was a +little frightened at the sight of Caussidière's men +with their sabres and scarfs. At other times it was +a tree of Liberty that was being planted. The clergy +vied with each other in blessing the Republic, +escorted by servants in gold lace; and the populace +thought this very fine. The most frequent spectacle +was that of deputations from no matter what, +going to demand something at the Hôtel de Ville, +for every trade, every industry, was looking to the +Government to put a complete end to its wretchedness. +Some of them, it is true, went to offer it advice +or to congratulate it, or merely to pay it a little +visit, and to see the machine performing its functions. +One day, about the middle of the month of +March, as they were passing the Pont d'Arcole,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +having to do some commission for Rosanette in the +Latin Quarter, Frederick saw approaching a column +of individuals with oddly-shaped hats and long +beards. At its head, beating a drum, walked a negro +who had formerly been an artist's model; and the +man who bore the banner, on which this inscription +floated in the wind, "Artist-Painters," was no other +than Pellerin.</p> + +<p>He made a sign to Frederick to wait for him, and +then reappeared five minutes afterwards, having some +time before him; for the Government was, at that moment, +receiving a deputation from the stone-cutters. +He was going with his colleagues to ask for the creation +of a Forum of Art, a kind of Exchange where +the interests of Æsthetics would be discussed. Sublime +masterpieces would be produced, inasmuch as +the workers would amalgamate their talents. Ere +long Paris would be covered with gigantic monuments. +He would decorate them. He had even begun +a figure of the Republic. One of his comrades +had come to take it, for they were closely pursued by +the deputation from the poulterers.</p> + +<p>"What stupidity!" growled a voice in the crowd. +"Always some humbug, nothing strong!"</p> + +<p>It was Regimbart. He did not salute Frederick, +but took advantage of the occasion to give vent to +his own bitterness.</p> + +<p>The Citizen spent his days wandering about the +streets, pulling his moustache, rolling his eyes about, +accepting and propagating any dismal news that was +communicated to him; and he had only two phrases: +"Take care! we're going to be run over!" or else, +"Why, confound it! they're juggling with the Republic!" +He was discontented with everything, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +especially with the fact that we had not taken back +our natural frontiers.</p> + +<p>The very name of Lamartine made him shrug his +shoulders. He did not consider Ledru-Rollin "sufficient +for the problem," referred to Dupont (of the +Eure) as an old numbskull, Albert as an idiot, Louis +Blanc as an Utopist, and Blanqui as an exceedingly +dangerous man; and when Frederick asked him what +would be the best thing to do, he replied, pressing +his arm till he nearly bruised it:</p> + +<p>"To take the Rhine, I tell you! to take the Rhine, +damn it!"</p> + +<p>Then he blamed the Reactionaries. They were +taking off the mask. The sack of the château of +Neuilly and Suresne, the fire at Batignolles, the troubles +at Lyons, all the excesses and all the grievances, +were just now being exaggerated by having superadded +to them Ledru-Rollin's circular, the forced currency +of bank-notes, the fall of the funds to sixty +francs, and, to crown all, as the supreme iniquity, a +final blow, a culminating horror, the duty of forty-five +centimes! And over and above all these things, +there was again Socialism! Although these theories, +as new as the game of goose, had been discussed +sufficiently for forty years to fill a number of libraries, +they terrified the wealthier citizens, as if they had +been a hailstorm of aërolites; and they expressed indignation +at them by virtue of that hatred which the +advent of every idea provokes, simply because it is +an idea—an odium from which it derives subsequently +its glory, and which causes its enemies to be +always beneath it, however lowly it may be.</p> + +<p>Then Property rose in their regard to the level of +Religion, and was confounded with God. The attacks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +made on it appeared to them a sacrilege; almost a species +of cannibalism. In spite of the most humane legislation +that ever existed, the spectre of '93 reappeared, +and the chopper of the guillotine vibrated in every +syllable of the word "Republic," which did not prevent +them from despising it for its weakness. France, +no longer feeling herself mistress of the situation, was +beginning to shriek with terror, like a blind man without +his stick or an infant that had lost its nurse.</p> + +<p>Of all Frenchmen, M. Dambreuse was the most +alarmed. The new condition of things threatened his +fortune, but, more than anything else, it deceived his +experience. A system so good! a king so wise! was +it possible? The ground was giving way beneath +their feet! Next morning he dismissed three of his +servants, sold his horses, bought a soft hat to go out +into the streets, thought even of letting his beard +grow; and he remained at home, prostrated, reading +over and over again newspapers most hostile to his +own ideas, and plunged into such a gloomy mood +that even the jokes about the pipe of Flocon<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> had +not the power to make him smile.</p> + +<p>As a supporter of the last reign, he was dreading +the vengeance of the people so far as concerned his +estates in Champagne when Frederick's lucubration +fell into his hands. Then it occurred to his mind +that his young friend was a very useful personage, +and that he might be able, if not to serve him, at +least to protect him, so that, one morning, M. Dambreuse +presented himself at Frederick's residence, accompanied +by Martinon.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> + +<p>This visit, he said, had no object save that of seeing +him for a little while, and having a chat with him. +In short, he rejoiced at the events that had happened, +and with his whole heart adopted "our sublime motto, +<i>Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity</i>," having always been +at bottom a Republican. If he voted under the other +<i>régime</i> with the Ministry, it was simply in order to +accelerate an inevitable downfall. He even inveighed +against M. Guizot, "who has got us into a nice +hobble, we must admit!" By way of retaliation, he +spoke in an enthusiastic fashion about Lamartine, who +had shown himself "magnificent, upon my word of +honour, when, with reference to the red flag——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know," said Frederick. After which he +declared that his sympathies were on the side of the +working-men.</p> + +<p>"For, in fact, more or less, we are all working-men!" +And he carried his impartiality so far as to +acknowledge that Proudhon had a certain amount of +logic in his views. "Oh, a great deal of logic, deuce +take it!"</p> + +<p>Then, with the disinterestedness of a superior +mind, he chatted about the exhibition of pictures, at +which he had seen Pellerin's work. He considered it +original and well-painted.</p> + +<p>Martinon backed up all he said with expressions +of approval; and likewise was of his opinion that it +was necessary to rally boldly to the side of the Republic. +And he talked about the husbandman, his +father, and assumed the part of the peasant, the man +of the people. They soon came to the question of +the elections for the National Assembly, and the candidates +in the arrondissement of La Fortelle. The Opposition +candidate had no chance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You should take his place!" said M. Dambreuse.</p> + +<p>Frederick protested.</p> + +<p>"But why not?" For he would obtain the suffrages +of the Extremists owing to his personal opinions, +and that of the Conservatives on account of his +family; "And perhaps also," added the banker, with +a smile, "thanks to my influence, in some measure."</p> + +<p>Frederick urged as an obstacle that he did not +know how to set about it.</p> + +<p>There was nothing easier if he only got himself +recommended to the patriots of the Aube by one of +the clubs of the capital. All he had to do was to +read out, not a profession of faith such as might be +seen every day, but a serious statement of principles.</p> + +<p>"Bring it to me; I know what goes down in the +locality; and you can, I say again, render great services +to the country—to us all—to myself."</p> + +<p>In such times people ought to aid each other, +and, if Frederick had need of anything, he or his +friends——</p> + +<p>"Oh, a thousand thanks, my dear Monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"You'll do as much for me in return, mind!"</p> + +<p>Decidedly, the banker was a decent man.</p> + +<p>Frederick could not refrain from pondering over +his advice; and soon he was dazzled by a kind of +dizziness.</p> + +<p>The great figures of the Convention passed before +his mental vision. It seemed to him that a splendid +dawn was about to rise. Rome, Vienna and Berlin +were in a state of insurrection, and the Austrians had +been driven out of Venice. All Europe was agitated. +Now was the time to make a plunge into the movement, +and perhaps to accelerate it; and then he was +fascinated by the costume which it was said the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +deputies would wear. Already he saw himself in a +waistcoat with lapels and a tricoloured sash; and this +itching, this hallucination, became so violent that he +opened his mind to Dambreuse.</p> + +<p>The honest fellow's enthusiasm had not abated.</p> + +<p>"Certainly—sure enough! Offer yourself!"</p> + +<p>Frederick, nevertheless, consulted Deslauriers.</p> + +<p>The idiotic opposition which trammelled the commissioner +in his province had augmented his Liberalism. +He at once replied, exhorting Frederick with +the utmost vehemence to come forward as a candidate. +However, as the latter was desirous of having +the approval of a great number of persons, he confided +the thing to Rosanette one day, when Mademoiselle +Vatnaz happened to be present.</p> + +<p>She was one of those Parisian spinsters who, every +evening when they have given their lessons or tried +to sell little sketches, or to dispose of poor manuscripts, +return to their own homes with mud on their +petticoats, make their own dinner, which they eat by +themselves, and then, with their soles resting on a +foot-warmer, by the light of a filthy lamp, dream of +a love, a family, a hearth, wealth—all that they lack. +So it was that, like many others, she had hailed in +the Revolution the advent of vengeance, and she delivered +herself up to a Socialistic propaganda of the +most unbridled description.</p> + +<p>The enfranchisement of the proletariat, according +to the Vatnaz, was only possible by the enfranchisement +of woman. She wished to have her own sex +admitted to every kind of employment, to have an +enquiry made into the paternity of children, a different +code, the abolition, or at least a more intelligent +regulation, of marriage. In that case every French<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>woman +would be bound to marry a Frenchman, or +to adopt an old man. Nurses and midwives should +be officials receiving salaries from the State.</p> + +<p>There should be a jury to examine the works of +women, special editors for women, a polytechnic +school for women, a National Guard for women, +everything for women! And, since the Government +ignored their rights, they ought to overcome force by +force. Ten thousand citizenesses with good guns +ought to make the Hôtel de Ville quake!</p> + +<p>Frederick's candidature appeared to her favourable +for carrying out her ideas. She encouraged him, +pointing out the glory that shone on the horizon. +Rosanette was delighted at the notion of having a +man who would make speeches at the Chamber.</p> + +<p>"And then, perhaps, they'll give you a good +place?"</p> + +<p>Frederick, a man prone to every kind of weakness, +was infected by the universal mania. He wrote an +address and went to show it to M. Dambreuse.</p> + +<p>At the sound made by the great door falling back, +a curtain gaped open a little behind a casement, and +a woman appeared at it He had not time to find +out who she was; but, in the anteroom, a picture arrested +his attention—Pellerin's picture—which lay +on a chair, no doubt provisionally.</p> + +<p>It represented the Republic, or Progress, or Civilisation, +under the form of Jesus Christ driving a locomotive, +which was passing through a virgin forest. +Frederick, after a minute's contemplation, exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"What a vile thing!"</p> + +<p>"Is it not—eh?" said M. Dambreuse, coming in +unexpectedly just at the moment when the other was +giving utterance to this opinion, and fancying that it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +had reference, not so much to the picture as to the +doctrine glorified by the work. Martinon presented +himself at the same time. They made their way into +the study, and Frederick was drawing a paper out of +his pocket, when Mademoiselle Cécile, entering suddenly, +said, articulating her words in an ingenuous +fashion:</p> + +<p>"Is my aunt here?"</p> + +<p>"You know well she is not," replied the banker. +"No matter! act as if you were at home, Mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>"Oh! thanks! I am going away!"</p> + +<p>Scarcely had she left when Martinon seemed to be +searching for his handkerchief.</p> + +<p>"I forgot to take it out of my great-coat—excuse +me!"</p> + +<p>"All right!" said M. Dambreuse.</p> + +<p>Evidently he was not deceived by this manœuvre, +and even seemed to regard it with favour. Why? +But Martinon soon reappeared, and Frederick began +reading his address.</p> + +<p>At the second page, which pointed towards the +preponderance of the financial interests as a disgraceful +fact, the banker made a grimace. Then, touching +on reforms, Frederick demanded free trade.</p> + +<p>"What? Allow me, now!"</p> + +<p>The other paid no attention, and went on. He +called for a tax on yearly incomes, a progressive tax, +a European federation, and the education of the +people, the encouragement of the fine arts on the liberal +scale.</p> + +<p>"When the country could provide men like Delacroix +or Hugo with incomes of a hundred thousand +francs, where would be the harm?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> + +<p>At the close of the address advice was given to +the upper classes.</p> + +<p>"Spare nothing, ye rich; but give! give!"</p> + +<p>He stopped, and remained standing. The two +who had been listening to him did not utter a word. +Martinon opened his eyes wide; M. Dambreuse was +quite pale. At last, concealing his emotion under a +bitter smile:</p> + +<p>"That address of yours is simply perfect!" And +he praised the style exceedingly in order to avoid +giving his opinion as to the matter of the address.</p> + +<p>This virulence on the part of an inoffensive young +man frightened him, especially as a sign of the times.</p> + +<p>Martinon tried to reassure him. The Conservative +party, in a little while, would certainly be able to +take its revenge. In several cities the commissioners +of the provisional government had been driven away; +the elections were not to occur till the twenty-third +of April; there was plenty of time. In short, it was +necessary for M. Dambreuse to present himself personally +in the Aube; and from that time forth, Martinon +no longer left his side, became his secretary, +and was as attentive to him as any son could be.</p> + +<p>Frederick arrived at Rosanette's house in a very +self-complacent mood. Delmar happened to be there, +and told him of his intention to stand as a candidate +at the Seine elections. In a placard addressed to the +people, in which he addressed them in the familiar +manner which one adopts towards an individual, the +actor boasted of being able to understand them, and +of having, in order to save them, got himself "crucified +for the sake of art," so that he was the incarnation, +the ideal of the popular spirit, believing that +he had, in fact, such enormous power over the masses<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +that he proposed by-and-by, when he occupied a +ministerial office, to quell any outbreak by himself +alone; and, with regard to the means he would employ, +he gave this answer: "Never fear! I'll show +them my head!"</p> + +<p>Frederick, in order to mortify him, gave him to +understand that he was himself a candidate. The +mummer, from the moment that his future colleague +aspired to represent the province, declared himself his +servant, and offered to be his guide to the various +clubs.</p> + +<p>They visited them, or nearly all, the red and the +blue, the furious and the tranquil, the puritanical and +the licentious, the mystical and the intemperate, those +that had voted for the death of kings, and those in +which the frauds in the grocery trade had been denounced; +and everywhere the tenants cursed the +landlords; the blouse was full of spite against broadcloth; +and the rich conspired against the poor. Many +wanted indemnities on the ground that they had formerly +been martyrs of the police; others appealed for +money in order to carry out certain inventions, or +else there were plans of phalansteria, projects for +cantonal bazaars, systems of public felicity; then, +here and there a flash of genius amid these clouds of +folly, sudden as splashes, the law formulated by an +oath, and flowers of eloquence on the lips of some +soldier-boy, with a shoulder-belt strapped over his +bare, shirtless chest. Sometimes, too, a gentleman +made his appearance—an aristocrat of humble demeanour, +talking in a plebeian strain, and with his +hands unwashed, so as to make them look hard. A +patriot recognised him; the most virtuous mobbed +him; and he went off with rage in his soul. On the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +pretext of good sense, it was desirable to be always +disparaging the advocates, and to make use as often +as possible of these expressions: "To carry his stone +to the building," "social problem," "workshop."</p> + +<p>Delmar did not miss the opportunities afforded +him for getting in a word; and when he no longer +found anything to say, his device was to plant himself +in some conspicuous position with one of his +arms akimbo and the other in his waistcoat, turning +himself round abruptly in profile, so as to give a +good view of his head. Then there were outbursts +of applause, which came from Mademoiselle Vatnaz +at the lower end of the hall.</p> + +<p>Frederick, in spite of the weakness of orators, did +not dare to try the experiment of speaking. All those +people seemed to him too unpolished or too hostile.</p> + +<p>But Dussardier made enquiries, and informed him +that there existed in the Rue Saint-Jacques a club +which bore the name of the "Club of Intellect." +Such a name gave good reason for hope. Besides, +he would bring some friends there.</p> + +<p>He brought those whom he had invited to take +punch with him—the bookkeeper, the traveller in +wines, and the architect; even Pellerin had offered to +come, and Hussonnet would probably form one of +the party, and on the footpath before the door stood +Regimbart, with two individuals, the first of whom +was his faithful Compain, a rather thick-set man +marked with small-pox and with bloodshot eyes; and +the second, an ape-like negro, exceedingly hairy, and +whom he knew only in the character of "a patriot +from Barcelona."</p> + +<p>They passed though a passage, and were then introduced +into a large room, no doubt used by a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +joiner, and with walls still fresh and smelling of plaster. +Four argand lamps were hanging parallel to +each other, and shed an unpleasant light. On a platform, +at the end of the room, there was a desk with +a bell; underneath it a table, representing the rostrum, +and on each side two others, somewhat lower, +for the secretaries. The audience that adorned the +benches consisted of old painters of daubs, ushers, +and literary men who could not get their works +published.</p> + +<p>In the midst of those lines of paletots with greasy +collars could be seen here and there a woman's cap +or a workman's linen smock. The bottom of the +apartment was even full of workmen, who had in all +likelihood come there to pass away an idle hour, and +who had been introduced by some speakers in order +that they might applaud.</p> + +<p>Frederick took care to place himself between Dussardier +and Regimbart, who was scarcely seated when +he leaned both hands on his walking-stick and his chin +on his hands and shut his eyes, whilst at the other +end of the room Delmar stood looking down at the +assembly. Sénécal appeared at the president's desk.</p> + +<p>The worthy bookkeeper thought Frederick would +be pleased at this unexpected discovery. It only annoyed +him.</p> + +<p>The meeting exhibited great respect for the president. +He was one who, on the twenty-fifth of February, +had desired an immediate organisation of labour. +On the following day, at the Prado, he had declared +himself in favour attacking the Hôtel de Ville; and, +as every person at that period took some model for +imitation, one copied Saint-Just, another Danton, another +Marat; as for him, he tried to be like Blanqui,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +who imitated Robespierre. His black gloves, and his +hair brushed back, gave him a rigid aspect exceedingly +becoming.</p> + +<p>He opened the proceedings with the declaration of +the Rights of Man and of the Citizen—a customary +act of faith. Then, a vigorous voice struck up Béranger's +"Souvenirs du Peuple."</p> + +<p>Other voices were raised:</p> + +<p>"No! no! not that!"</p> + +<p>"'La Casquette!'" the patriots at the bottom of +the apartment began to howl.</p> + +<p>And they sang in chorus the favourite lines of the +period:</p> + +<p> +"Doff your hat before my cap—<br /> +Kneel before the working-man!"<br /> +</p> + +<p>At a word from the president the audience became +silent.</p> + +<p>One of the secretaries proceeded to inspect the +letters.</p> + +<p>Some young men announced that they burned a +number of the <i>Assemblée Nationale</i> every evening in +front of the Panthéon, and they urged on all patriots +to follow their example.</p> + +<p>"Bravo! adopted!" responded the audience.</p> + +<p>The Citizen Jean Jacques Langreneux, a printer in +the Rue Dauphin, would like to have a monument +raised to the memory of the martyrs of Thermidor.</p> + +<p>Michel Evariste Népomucène, ex-professor, gave +expression to the wish that the European democracy +should adopt unity of language. A dead language +might be used for that purpose—as, for example, +improved Latin.</p> + +<p>"No; no Latin!" exclaimed the architect.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why?" said the college-usher.</p> + +<p>And these two gentlemen engaged in a discussion, +in which the others also took part, each putting in a +word of his own for effect; and the conversation on +this topic soon became so tedious that many went +away. But a little old man, who wore at the top of +his prodigiously high forehead a pair of green spectacles, +asked permission to speak in order to make +an important communication.</p> + +<p>It was a memorandum on the assessment of taxes. +The figures flowed on in a continuous stream, as if +they were never going to end. The impatience of +the audience found vent at first in murmurs, in whispered +talk. He allowed nothing to put him out. +Then they began hissing; they catcalled him. Sénécal +called the persons who were interrupting to order. +The orator went on like a machine. It was necessary +to catch him by the shoulder in order to stop him. +The old fellow looked as if he were waking out of a +dream, and, placidly lifting his spectacles, said:</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, citizens! pardon me! I am going—a +thousand excuses!"</p> + +<p>Frederick was disconcerted with the failure of the +old man's attempts to read this written statement. +He had his own address in his pocket, but an extemporaneous +speech would have been preferable.</p> + +<p>Finally the president announced that they were +about to pass on to the important matter, the electoral +question. They would not discuss the big Republican +lists. However, the "Club of Intellect" had +every right, like every other, to form one, "with all +respect for the pachas of the Hôtel de Ville," and the +citizens who solicited the popular mandate might set +forth their claims.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Go on, now!" said Dussardier.</p> + +<p>A man in a cassock, with woolly hair and a petulant +expression on his face, had already raised his +hand. He said, with a stutter, that his name was +Ducretot, priest and agriculturist, and that he was the +author of a work entitled "Manures." He was told +to send it to a horticultural club.</p> + +<p>Then a patriot in a blouse climbed up into the +rostrum. He was a plebeian, with broad shoulders, +a big face, very mild-looking, with long black hair. +He cast on the assembly an almost voluptuous glance, +flung back his head, and, finally, spreading out his +arms:</p> + +<p>"You have repelled Ducretot, O my brothers! and +you have done right; but it was not through irreligion, +for we are all religious."</p> + +<p>Many of those present listened open-mouthed, +with the air of catechumens and in ecstatic attitudes.</p> + +<p>"It is not either because he is a priest, for we, +too, are priests! The workman is a priest, just as +the founder of Socialism was—the Master of us all, +Jesus Christ!"</p> + +<p>The time had arrived to inaugurate the Kingdom +of God. The Gospel led directly to '89. After the +abolition of slavery, the abolition of the proletariat. +They had had the age of hate—the age of love was +about to begin.</p> + +<p>"Christianity is the keystone and the foundation +of the new edifice——"</p> + +<p>"You are making game of us?" exclaimed the +traveller in wines. "Who has given me such a +priest's cap?"</p> + +<p>This interruption gave great offence. Nearly all +the audience got on benches, and, shaking their fists,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +shouted: "Atheist! aristocrat! low rascal!" whilst +the president's bell kept ringing continuously, and the +cries of "Order! order!" redoubled. But, aimless, +and, moreover, fortified by three cups of coffee which +he had swallowed before coming to the meeting, he +struggled in the midst of the others:</p> + +<p>"What? I an aristocrat? Come, now!"</p> + +<p>When, at length, he was permitted to give an explanation, +he declared that he would never be at peace +with the priests; and, since something had just been +said about economical measures, it would be a splendid +one to put an end to the churches, the sacred +pyxes, and finally all creeds.</p> + +<p>Somebody raised the objection that he was going +very far.</p> + +<p>"Yes! I am going very far! But, when a vessel +is caught suddenly in a storm——"</p> + +<p>Without waiting for the conclusion of this simile, +another made a reply to his observation:</p> + +<p>"Granted! But this is to demolish at a single +stroke, like a mason devoid of judgment——"</p> + +<p>"You are insulting the masons!" yelled a citizen +covered with plaster. And persisting in the belief +that provocation had been offered to him, he vomited +forth insults, and wished to fight, clinging tightly to +the bench whereon he sat. It took no less than three +men to put him out.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the workman still remained on the +rostrum. The two secretaries gave him an intimation +that he should come down. He protested against the +injustice done to him.</p> + +<p>"You shall not prevent me from crying out, +'Eternal love to our dear France! eternal love all to +the Republic!'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Citizens!" said Compain, after this—"Citizens!"</p> + +<p>And, by dint of repeating "Citizens," having obtained +a little silence, he leaned on the rostrum with +his two red hands, which looked like stumps, bent +forward his body, and blinking his eyes:</p> + +<p>"I believe that it would be necessary to give a +larger extension to the calf's head."</p> + +<p>All who heard him kept silent, fancying that they +had misunderstood his words.</p> + +<p>"Yes! the calf's head!"</p> + +<p>Three hundred laughs burst forth at the same time. +The ceiling shook.</p> + +<p>At the sight of all these faces convulsed with mirth, +Compain shrank back. He continued in an angry tone:</p> + +<p>"What! you don't know what the calf's head is!"</p> + +<p>It was a paroxysm, a delirium. They held their +sides. Some of them even tumbled off the benches +to the ground with convulsions of laughter. Compain, +not being able to stand it any longer, took refuge +beside Regimbart, and wanted to drag him away.</p> + +<p>"No! I am remaining till 'tis all over!" said the +Citizen.</p> + +<p>This reply caused Frederick to make up his mind; +and, as he looked about to the right and the left to +see whether his friends were prepared to support +him, he saw Pellerin on the rostrum in front of him.</p> + +<p>The artist assumed a haughty tone in addressing +the meeting.</p> + +<p>"I would like to get some notion as to who is the +candidate amongst all these that represents art. For +my part, I have painted a picture."</p> + +<p>"We have nothing to do with painting pictures!" +was the churlish remark of a thin man with red spots +on his cheek-bones.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> + +<p>Pellerin protested against this interruption.</p> + +<p>But the other, in a tragic tone:</p> + +<p>"Ought not the Government to make an ordinance +abolishing prostitution and want?"</p> + +<p>And this phrase having at once won to his side +the popular favour, he thundered against the corruption +of great cities.</p> + +<p>"Shame and infamy! We ought to catch hold of +wealthy citizens on their way out of the Maison d'Or +and spit in their faces—unless it be that the Government +countenances debauchery! But the collectors of +the city dues exhibit towards our daughters and our +sisters an amount of indecency——"</p> + +<p>A voice exclaimed, some distance away:</p> + +<p>"This is blackguard language! Turn him out!"</p> + +<p>"They extract taxes from us to pay for licentiousness! +Thus, the high salaries paid to actors——"</p> + +<p>"Help!" cried Pellerin.</p> + +<p>He leaped from the rostrum, pushed everybody +aside, and declaring that he regarded such stupid accusations +with disgust, expatiated on the civilising +mission of the player. Inasmuch as the theatre was +the focus of national education, he would record his +vote for the reform of the theatre; and to begin with, +no more managements, no more privileges!</p> + +<p>"Yes; of any sort!"</p> + +<p>The actor's performance excited the audience, and +people moved backwards and forwards knocking each +other down.</p> + +<p>"No more academies! No more institutes!"</p> + +<p>"No missions!"</p> + +<p>"No more bachelorships! Down with University +degrees!"</p> + +<p>"Let us preserve them," said Sénécal; "but let<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +them be conferred by universal suffrage, by the people, +the only true judge!"</p> + +<p>Besides, these things were not the most useful. It +was necessary to take a level which would be above +the heads of the wealthy. And he represented them +as gorging themselves with crimes under their gilded +ceilings; while the poor, writhing in their garrets with +famine, cultivated every virtue. The applause became +so vehement that he interrupted his discourse. For +several minutes he remained with his eyes closed, his +head thrown back, and, as it were, lulling himself to +sleep over the fury which he had aroused.</p> + +<p>Then he began to talk in a dogmatic fashion, in +phrases as imperious as laws. The State should take +possession of the banks and of the insurance offices. +Inheritances should be abolished. A social fund +should be established for the workers. Many other +measures were desirable in the future. For the time +being, these would suffice, and, returning to the +question of the elections: "We want pure citizens, +men entirely fresh. Let some one offer himself."</p> + +<p>Frederick arose. There was a buzz of approval +made by his friends. But Sénécal, assuming the attitude +of a Fouquier-Tinville, began to ask questions as +to his Christian name and surname, his antecedents, +life, and morals.</p> + +<p>Frederick answered succinctly, and bit his lips. +Sénécal asked whether anyone saw any impediment +to this candidature.</p> + +<p>"No! no!"</p> + +<p>But, for his part, he saw some. All around him +bent forward and strained their ears to listen. The +citizen who was seeking for their support had not +delivered a certain sum promised by him for the foun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>dation +of a democratic journal. Moreover, on the +twenty-second of February, though he had had sufficient +notice on the subject, he had failed to be at the +meeting-place in the Place de Panthéon.</p> + +<p>"I swear that he was at the Tuileries!" exclaimed +Dussardier.</p> + +<p>"Can you swear to having seen him at the Panthéon?"</p> + +<p>Dussardier hung down his head. Frederick was +silent. His friends, scandalised, regarded him with +disquietude.</p> + +<p>"In any case," Sénécal went on, "do you know +a patriot who will answer to us for your principles?"</p> + +<p>"I will!" said Dussardier.</p> + +<p>"Oh! this is not enough; another!"</p> + +<p>Frederick turned round to Pellerin. The artist replied +to him with a great number of gestures, which +meant:</p> + +<p>"Ah! my dear boy, they have rejected myself! +The deuce! What would you have?"</p> + +<p>Thereupon Frederick gave Regimbart a nudge.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's true; 'tis time! I'm going."</p> + +<p>And Regimbart stepped upon the platform; then, +pointing towards the Spaniard, who had followed him:</p> + +<p>"Allow me, citizens, to present to you a patriot +from Barcelona!"</p> + +<p>The patriot made a low bow, rolled his gleaming +eyes about, and with his hand on his heart:</p> + +<p>"Ciudadanos! mucho aprecio el honor that you +have bestowed on me! however great may be vuestra +bondad, mayor vuestra atención!"</p> + +<p>"I claim the right to speak!" cried Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Desde que se proclamo la constitutión de Cadiz, +ese pacto fundamental of las libertades Españolas,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +hasta la ultima revolución, nuestra patria cuenta numerosos +y heroicos mártires."</p> + +<p>Frederick once more made an effort to obtain a +hearing:</p> + +<p>"But, citizens!—--"</p> + +<p>The Spaniard went on: "El martes proximo +tendra lugar en la iglesia de la Magdelena un servicio +fúnebre."</p> + +<p>"In fact, this is ridiculous! Nobody understands +him!"</p> + +<p>This observation exasperated the audience.</p> + +<p>"Turn him out! Turn him out!"</p> + +<p>"Who? I?" asked Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Yourself!" said Sénécal, majestically. "Out with +you!"</p> + +<p>He rose to leave, and the voice of the Iberian pursued +him:</p> + +<p>"Y todos los Españoles descarien ver alli reunidas +las disputaciónes de los clubs y de la milicia nacional. +An oración fúnebre en honour of the libertad Española +y del mundo entero will be prononciado por un +miembro del clero of Paris en la sala Bonne Nouvelle. +Honour al pueblo frances que llamaria yo el primero +pueblo del mundo, sino fuese ciudadano de otra +nación!"</p> + +<p>"Aristo!" screamed one blackguard, shaking his +fist at Frederick, as the latter, boiling with indignation, +rushed out into the yard adjoining the place where +the meeting was held.</p> + +<p>He reproached himself for his devotedness, without +reflecting that, after all, the accusations brought against +him were just.</p> + +<p>What fatal idea was this candidature! But what +asses! what idiots! He drew comparisons between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +himself and these men, and soothed his wounded +pride with the thought of their stupidity.</p> + +<p>Then he felt the need of seeing Rosanette. After +such an exhibition of ugly traits, and so much magniloquence, +her dainty person would be a source of +relaxation. She was aware that he had intended to +present himself at a club that evening. However, she +did not even ask him a single question when he came in. +She was sitting near the fire, ripping open the lining +of a dress. He was surprised to find her thus occupied.</p> + +<p>"Hallo! what are you doing?"</p> + +<p>"You can see for yourself," said she, dryly. "I +am mending my clothes! So much for this Republic +of yours!"</p> + +<p>"Why do you call it mine?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you want to make out that it's mine!"</p> + +<p>And she began to upbraid him for everything that +had happened in France for the last two months, accusing +him of having brought about the Revolution +and with having ruined her prospects by making +everybody that had money leave Paris, and that she +would by-and-by be dying in a hospital.</p> + +<p>"It is easy for you to talk lightly about it, with +your yearly income! However, at the rate at which +things are going on, you won't have your yearly income +long."</p> + +<p>"That may be," said Frederick. "The most devoted +are always misunderstood, and if one were not +sustained by one's conscience, the brutes that you +mix yourself up with would make you feel disgusted +with your own self-denial!"</p> + +<p>Rosanette gazed at him with knitted brows.</p> + +<p>"Eh? What? What self-denial? Monsieur has +not succeeded, it would seem? So much the better!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +It will teach you to make patriotic donations. Oh, +don't lie! I know you have given them three hundred +francs, for this Republic of yours has to be kept. +Well, amuse yourself with it, my good man!"</p> + +<p>Under this avalanche of abuse, Frederick passed +from his former disappointment to a more painful disillusion.</p> + +<p>He withdrew to the lower end of the apartment. +She came up to him.</p> + +<p>"Look here! Think it out a bit! In a country as +in a house, there must be a master, otherwise, everyone +pockets something out of the money spent. At +first, everybody knows that Ledru-Rollin is head over +ears in debt. As for Lamartine, how can you expect +a poet to understand politics? Ah! 'tis all very well +for you to shake your head and to presume that you +have more brains than others; all the same, what I say +is true! But you are always cavilling; a person can't +get in a word with you! For instance, there's Fournier-Fontaine, +who had stores at Saint-Roch! do you +know how much he failed for? Eight hundred thousand +francs! And Gomer, the packer opposite to him—another +Republican, that one—he smashed the +tongs on his wife's head, and he drank so much absinthe +that he is going to be put into a private asylum. +That's the way with the whole of them—the Republicans! +A Republic at twenty-five percent. Ah! yes! +plume yourself upon it!"</p> + +<p>Frederick took himself off. He was disgusted at +the foolishness of this girl, which revealed itself all at +once in the language of the populace. He felt himself +even becoming a little patriotic once more.</p> + +<p>The ill-temper of Rosanette only increased. Mademoiselle +Vatnaz irritated him with her enthusiasm.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +Believing that she had a mission, she felt a furious +desire to make speeches, to carry on disputes, and—sharper +than Rosanette in matters of this sort—overwhelmed +her with arguments.</p> + +<p>One day she made her appearance burning with indignation +against Hussonnet, who had just indulged +in some blackguard remarks at the Woman's Club. +Rosanette approved of this conduct, declaring even +that she would take men's clothes to go and "give +them a bit of her mind, the entire lot of them, and +to whip them."</p> + +<p>Frederick entered at the same moment.</p> + +<p>"You'll accompany me—won't you?"</p> + +<p>And, in spite of his presence, a bickering match +took place between them, one of them playing the +part of a citizen's wife and the other of a female +philosopher.</p> + +<p>According to Rosanette, women were born exclusively +for love, or in order to bring up children, to be +housekeepers.</p> + +<p>According to Mademoiselle Vatnaz, women ought +to have a position in the Government. In former +times, the Gaulish women, and also the Anglo-Saxon +women, took part in the legislation; the squaws of the +Hurons formed a portion of the Council. The work of +civilisation was common to both. It was necessary +that all should contribute towards it, and that fraternity +should be substituted for egoism, association for individualism, +and cultivation on a large scale for minute +subdivision of land.</p> + +<p>"Come, that is good! you know a great deal about +culture just now!"</p> + +<p>"Why not? Besides, it is a question of humanity, +of its future!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mind your own business!"</p> + +<p>"This is my business!"</p> + +<p>They got into a passion. Frederick interposed. +The Vatnaz became very heated, and went so far as +to uphold Communism.</p> + +<p>"What nonsense!" said Rosanette. "How could +such a thing ever come to pass?"</p> + +<p>The other brought forward in support of her theory +the examples of the Essenes, the Moravian Brethren, +the Jesuits of Paraguay, the family of the Pingons +near Thiers in Auvergne; and, as she gesticulated a +great deal, her gold chain got entangled in her bundle +of trinkets, to which was attached a gold ornament +in the form of a sheep.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, Rosanette turned exceedingly pale.</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle Vatnaz continued extricating her +trinkets.</p> + +<p>"Don't give yourself so much trouble," said Rosanette. +"Now, I know your political opinions."</p> + +<p>"What?" replied the Vatnaz, with a blush on her +face like that of a virgin.</p> + +<p>"Oh! oh! you understand me."</p> + +<p>Frederick did not understand. There had evidently +been something taking place between them of a +more important and intimate character than Socialism.</p> + +<p>"And even though it should be so," said the Vatnaz +in reply, rising up unflinchingly. "'Tis a loan, +my dear—set off one debt against the other."</p> + +<p>"Faith, I don't deny my own debts. I owe some +thousands of francs—a nice sum. I borrow, at least; +I don't rob anyone."</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle Vatnaz made an effort to laugh.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I would put my hand in the fire for him."</p> + +<p>"Take care! it is dry enough to burn."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p> + +<p>The spinster held out her right hand to her, and +keeping it raised in front of her:</p> + +<p>"But there are friends of yours who find it convenient +for them."</p> + +<p>"Andalusians, I suppose? as castanets?"</p> + +<p>"You beggar!"</p> + +<p>The Maréchale made her a low bow.</p> + +<p>"There's nobody so charming!"</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle Vatnaz made no reply. Beads of +perspiration appeared on her temples. Her eyes fixed +themselves on the carpet. She panted for breath. +At last she reached the door, and slamming it vigorously: +"Good night! You'll hear from me!"</p> + +<p>"Much I care!" said Rosanette. The effort of self-suppression +had shattered her nerves. She sank down +on the divan, shaking all over, stammering forth +words of abuse, shedding tears. Was it this threat +on the part of the Vatnaz that had caused so much +agitation in her mind? Oh, no! what did she care, +indeed, about that one? It was the golden sheep, a +present, and in the midst of her tears the name of +Delmar escaped her lips. So, then, she was in love +with the mummer?</p> + +<p>"In that case, why did she take on with me?" +Frederick asked himself. "How is it that he has +come back again? Who compels her to keep me? +Where is the sense of this sort of thing?"</p> + +<p>Rosanette was still sobbing. She remained all the +time stretched at the edge of the divan, with her +right cheek resting on her two hands, and she seemed +a being so dainty, so free from self-consciousness, and +so sorely troubled, that he drew closer to her and +softly kissed her on the forehead.</p> + +<p>Thereupon she gave him assurances of her affec<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>tion +for him; the Prince had just left her, they would +be free. But she was for the time being short of +money. "You saw yourself that this was so, the +other day, when I was trying to turn my old linings +to use." No more equipages now! And this was +not all; the upholsterer was threatening to resume +possession of the bedroom and the large drawing-room +furniture. She did not know what to do.</p> + +<p>Frederick had a mind to answer:</p> + +<p>"Don't annoy yourself about it. I will pay."</p> + +<p>But the lady knew how to lie. Experience had +enlightened her. He confined himself to mere expressions +of sympathy.</p> + +<p>Rosanette's fears were not vain. It was necessary +to give up the furniture and to quit the handsome +apartment in the Rue Drouot. She took another on +the Boulevard Poissonnière, on the fourth floor.</p> + +<p>The curiosities of her old boudoir were quite sufficient +to give to the three rooms a coquettish air. +There were Chinese blinds, a tent on the terrace, and +in the drawing-room a second-hand carpet still perfectly +new, with ottomans covered with pink silk. +Frederick had contributed largely to these purchases. +He had felt the joy of a newly-married man who +possesses at last a house of his own, a wife of his +own—and, being much pleased with the place, he +used to sleep there nearly every evening.</p> + +<p>One morning, as he was passing out through the +anteroom, he saw, on the third floor, on the staircase, +the shako of a National Guard who was ascending +it. Where in the world was he going?</p> + +<p>Frederick waited. The man continued his progress +up the stairs, with his head slightly bent down. He +raised his eyes. It was my lord Arnoux!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> + +<p>The situation was clear. They both reddened +simultaneously, overcome by a feeling of embarrassment +common to both.</p> + +<p>Arnoux was the first to find a way out of the +difficulty.</p> + +<p>"She is better—isn't that so?" as if Rosanette +were ill, and he had come to learn how she was.</p> + +<p>Frederick took advantage of this opening.</p> + +<p>"Yes, certainly! at least, so I was told by her +maid," wishing to convey that he had not been allowed +to see her.</p> + +<p>Then they stood facing each other, both undecided +as to what they would do next, and eyeing one +another intently. The question now was, which of +the two was going to remain. Arnoux once more +solved the problem.</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! I'll come back by-and-by. Where are +you going? I go with you!"</p> + +<p>And, when they were in the street, he chatted as +naturally as usual. Unquestionably he was not a man +of jealous disposition, or else he was too good-natured +to get angry. Besides, his time was devoted +to serving his country. He never left off his uniform +now. On the twenty-ninth of March he had defended +the offices of the <i>Presse</i>. When the Chamber was +invaded, he distinguished himself by his courage, and +he was at the banquet given to the National Guard +at Amiens.</p> + +<p>Hussonnet, who was still on duty with him, availed +himself of his flask and his cigars; but, irreverent by +nature, he delighted in contradicting him, disparaging +the somewhat inaccurate style of the decrees; and decrying +the conferences at the Luxembourg, the women +known as the "Vésuviennes," the political section<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +bearing the name of "Tyroliens"; everything, in fact, +down to the Car of Agriculture, drawn by horses to +the ox-market, and escorted by ill-favoured young +girls. Arnoux, on the other hand, was the upholder +of authority, and dreamed of uniting the different parties. +However, his own affairs had taken an unfavourable +turn, and he was more or less anxious about them.</p> + +<p>He was not much troubled about Frederick's relations +with the Maréchale; for this discovery made him +feel justified (in his conscience) in withdrawing the +allowance which he had renewed since the Prince had +left her. He pleaded by way of excuse for this step the +embarrassed condition in which he found himself, +uttered many lamentations—and Rosanette was generous. +The result was that M. Arnoux regarded himself +as the lover who appealed entirely to the heart, +an idea that raised him in his own estimation and +made him feel young again. Having no doubt that +Frederick was paying the Maréchale, he fancied that +he was "playing a nice trick" on the young man, +even called at the house in such a stealthy fashion as +to keep the other in ignorance of the fact, and when +they happened to meet, left the coast clear for him.</p> + +<p>Frederick was not pleased with this partnership, +and his rival's politeness seemed only an elaborate +piece of sarcasm. But by taking offence at it, he +would have removed from his path every opportunity +of ever finding his way back to Madame Arnoux; and +then, this was the only means whereby he could hear +about her movements. The earthenware-dealer, in accordance +with his usual practice, or perhaps with +some cunning design, recalled her readily in the course +of conversation, and asked him why he no longer +came to see her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> + +<p>Frederick, having exhausted every excuse he could +frame, assured him that he had called several times to +see Madame Arnoux, but without success. Arnoux +was convinced that this was so, for he had often referred +in an eager tone at home to the absence of +their friend, and she had invariably replied that she +was out when he called, so that these two lies, in +place of contradicting, corroborated each other.</p> + +<p>The young man's gentle ways and the pleasure of +finding a dupe in him made Arnoux like him all the +better. He carried familiarity to its extreme limits, +not through disdain, but through assurance. One day +he wrote saying that very urgent business compelled +him to be away in the country for twenty-four hours. +He begged of the young man to mount guard in his +stead. Frederick dared not refuse, so he repaired to +the guard-house in the Place du Carrousel.</p> + +<p>He had to submit to the society of the National +Guards, and, with the exception of a sugar-refiner, +a witty fellow who drank to an inordinate extent, +they all appeared to him more stupid than their cartridge-boxes. +The principal subject of conversation +amongst them was the substitution of sashes for +belts. Others declaimed against the national workshops.</p> + +<p>One man said:</p> + +<p>"Where are we going?"</p> + +<p>The man to whom the words had been addressed +opened his eyes as if he were standing on the verge +of an abyss.</p> + +<p>"Where are we going?"</p> + +<p>Then, one who was more daring than the rest exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"It cannot last! It must come to an end!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> + +<p>And as the same kind of talk went on till night, +Frederick was bored to death.</p> + +<p>Great was his surprise when, at eleven o'clock, he +suddenly beheld Arnoux, who immediately explained +that he had hurried back to set him at liberty, having +disposed of his own business.</p> + +<p>The fact was that he had no business to transact. +The whole thing was an invention to enable him to +spend twenty-four hours alone with Rosanette. But the +worthy Arnoux had placed too much confidence in +his own powers, so that, now in the state of lassitude +which was the result, he was seized with remorse. +He had come to thank Frederick, and to +invite him to have some supper.</p> + +<p>"A thousand thanks! I'm not hungry. All I want +is to go to bed."</p> + +<p>"A reason the more for having a snack together. +How flabby you are! One does not go home at +such an hour as this. It is too late! It would be +dangerous!"</p> + +<p>Frederick once more yielded. Arnoux was quite a +favorite with his brethren-in-arms, who had not expected +to see him—and he was a particular crony of +the refiner. They were all fond of him, and he was +such a good fellow that he was sorry Hussonnet was +not there. But he wanted to shut his eyes for one +minute, no longer.</p> + +<p>"Sit down beside me!" said he to Frederick, stretching +himself on the camp-bed without taking off his +belt and straps. Through fear of an alarm, in spite of +the regulation, he even kept his gun in his hand, +then stammered out some words:</p> + +<p>"My darling! my little angel!" and ere long was +fast asleep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> + +<p>Those who had been talking to each other became +silent; and gradually there was a deep silence in the +guard-house. Frederick tormented by the fleas, kept +staring about him. The wall, painted yellow, had, +half-way up, a long shelf, on which the knapsacks +formed a succession of little humps, while underneath, +the muskets, which had the colour of lead, rose up +side by side; and there could be heard a succession +of snores, produced by the National Guards, whose +stomachs were outlined through the darkness in a confused +fashion. On the top of the stove stood an +empty bottle and some plates. Three straw chairs +were drawn around the table, on which a pack of +cards was displayed. A drum, in the middle of the +bench, let its strap hang down.</p> + +<p>A warm breath of air making its way through +the door caused the lamp to smoke. Arnoux slept +with his two arms wide apart; and, as his gun was +placed in a slightly crooked position, with the butt-end +downward, the mouth of the barrel came up +right under his arm. Frederick noticed this, and was +alarmed.</p> + +<p>"But, no, I'm wrong, there's nothing to be afraid +of! And yet, suppose he met his death!"</p> + +<p>And immediately pictures unrolled themselves before +his mind in endless succession.</p> + +<p>He saw himself with her at night in a post-chaise, +then on a river's bank on a summer's evening, and +under the reflection of a lamp at home in their own +house. He even fixed his attention on household expenses +and domestic arrangements, contemplating, +feeling already his happiness between his hands; and +in order to realise it, all that was needed was that +the cock of the gun should rise. The end of it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +could be pushed with one's toe, the gun would go +off—it would be a mere accident—nothing more!</p> + +<p>Frederick brooded over this idea like a playwright +in the agonies of composition. Suddenly it seemed +to him that it was not far from being carried into +practical operation, and that he was going to contribute +to that result—that, in fact, he was yearning for +it; and then a feeling of absolute terror took possession +of him. In the midst of this mental distress he +experienced a sense of pleasure, and he allowed himself +to sink deeper and deeper into it, with a dreadful +consciousness all the time that his scruples were +vanishing. In the wildness of his reverie the rest of +the world became effaced, and he could only realise +that he was still alive from the intolerable oppression +on his chest.</p> + +<p>"Let us take a drop of white wine!" said the +refiner, as he awoke.</p> + +<p>Arnoux sprang to his feet, and, as soon as the +white wine was swallowed, he wanted to relieve +Frederick of his sentry duty.</p> + +<p>Then he brought him to have breakfast in the Rue +de Chartres, at Parly's, and as he required to recuperate +his energies, he ordered two dishes of meat, a lobster, +an omelet with rum, a salad, etc., and finished this +off with a brand of Sauterne of 1819 and one of '42 +Romanée, not to speak of the champagne at dessert +and the liqueurs.</p> + +<p>Frederick did not in any way gainsay him. He +was disturbed in mind as if by the thought that the +other might somehow trace on his countenance the +idea that had lately flitted before his imagination. +With both elbows on the table and his head bent +forward, so that he annoyed Frederick by his fixed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +stare, he confided some of his hobbies to the young +man.</p> + +<p>He wanted to take for farming purposes all the +embankments on the Northern line, in order to plant +potatoes there, or else to organise on the boulevards +a monster cavalcade in which the celebrities of the +period would figure. He would let all the windows, +which would, at the rate of three francs for each person, +produce a handsome profit. In short, he dreamed +of a great stroke of fortune by means of a monopoly. +He assumed a moral tone, nevertheless, found fault +with excesses and all sorts of misconduct, spoke +about his "poor father," and every evening, as he +said, made an examination of his conscience before +offering his soul to God.</p> + +<p>"A little curaçao, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Just as you please."</p> + +<p>As for the Republic, things would right themselves; +in fact, he looked on himself as the happiest +man on earth; and forgetting himself, he exalted +Rosanette's attractive qualities, and even compared her +with his wife. It was quite a different thing. You +could not imagine a lovelier person!</p> + +<p>"Your health!"</p> + +<p>Frederick touched glasses with him. He had, out +of complaisance, drunk a little too much. Besides, +the strong sunlight dazzled him; and when they went +up the Rue Vivienne together again, their shoulders +touched each other in a fraternal fashion.</p> + +<p>When he got home, Frederick slept till seven +o'clock. After that he called on the Maréchale. She +had gone out with somebody—with Arnoux, perhaps! +Not knowing what to do with himself, he continued +his promenade along the boulevard, but could not get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +past the Porte Saint-Martin, owing to the great crowd +that blocked the way.</p> + +<p>Want had abandoned to their own resources a +considerable number of workmen, and they used to +come there every evening, no doubt for the purpose +of holding a review and awaiting a signal.</p> + +<p>In spite of the law against riotous assemblies, +these clubs of despair increased to a frightful extent, +and many citizens repaired every day to the spot +through bravado, and because it was the fashion.</p> + +<p>All of a sudden Frederick caught a glimpse, three +paces away, of M. Dambreuse along with Martinon. +He turned his head away, for M. Dambreuse having +got himself nominated as a representative of the people, +he cherished a secret spite against him. But the +capitalist stopped him.</p> + +<p>"One word, my dear monsieur! I have some explanations +to make to you."</p> + +<p>"I am not asking you for any."</p> + +<p>"Pray listen to me!"</p> + +<p>It was not his fault in any way. Appeals had +been made to him; pressure had, to a certain extent, +been placed on him. Martinon immediately endorsed +all that he had said. Some of the electors of Nogent +had presented themselves in a deputation at his +house.</p> + +<p>"Besides, I expected to be free as soon as——"</p> + +<p>A crush of people on the footpath forced M. Dambreuse +to get out of the way. A minute after he reappeared, +saying to Martinon:</p> + +<p>"This is a genuine service, really, and you won't +have any reason to regret——"</p> + +<p>All three stood with their backs resting against a +shop in order to be able to chat more at their ease.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> + +<p>From time to time there was a cry of, "Long +live Napoléon! Long live Barbès! Down with Marie!"</p> + +<p>The countless throng kept talking in very loud +tones; and all these voices, echoing through the houses, +made, so to speak, the continuous ripple of waves in +a harbour. At intervals they ceased; and then could +be heard voices singing the "Marseillaise."</p> + +<p>Under the court-gates, men of mysterious aspect +offered sword-sticks to those who passed. Sometimes +two individuals, one of whom preceded the other, +would wink, and then quickly hurry away. The footpaths +were filled with groups of staring idlers. A +dense crowd swayed to and fro on the pavement. +Entire bands of police-officers, emerging from the +alleys, had scarcely made their way into the midst of +the multitude when they were swallowed up in the +mass of people. Little red flags here and there looked +like flames. Coachmen, from the place where they sat +high up, gesticulated energetically, and then turned to +go back. It was a case of perpetual movement—one +of the strangest sights that could be conceived.</p> + +<p>"How all this," said Martinon, "would have +amused Mademoiselle Cécile!"</p> + +<p>"My wife, as you are aware, does not like my +niece to come with us," returned M. Dambreuse with +a smile.</p> + +<p>One could scarcely recognise in him the same man. +For the past three months he had been crying, +"Long live the Republic!" and he had even voted in +favour of the banishment of Orléans. But there should +be an end of concessions. He exhibited his rage so +far as to carry a tomahawk in his pocket.</p> + +<p>Martinon had one, too. The magistracy not being +any longer irremovable, he had withdrawn from Par<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>quet, +so that he surpassed M. Dambreuse in his display +of violence.</p> + +<p>The banker had a special antipathy to Lamartine +(for having supported Ledru-Rollin) and, at the same +time, to Pierre Leroux, Proudhon, Considérant, +Lamennais, and all the cranks, all the Socialists.</p> + +<p>"For, in fact, what is it they want? The duty on +meat and arrest for debt have been abolished. Now +the project of a bank for mortgages is under consideration; +the other day it was a national bank; and +here are five millions in the Budget for the working-men! +But luckily, it is over, thanks to Monsieur de +Falloux! Good-bye to them! let them go!"</p> + +<p>In fact, not knowing how to maintain the three +hundred thousand men in the national workshops, +the Minister of Public Works had that very day signed +an order inviting all citizens between the ages of +eighteen and twenty to take service as soldiers, or else +to start for the provinces to cultivate the ground there.</p> + +<p>They were indignant at the alternative thus put +before them, convinced that the object was to destroy +the Republic. They were aggrieved by the thought +of having to live at a distance from the capital, as if +it were a kind of exile. They saw themselves dying +of fevers in desolate parts of the country. To many +of them, moreover, who had been accustomed to +work of a refined description, agriculture seemed a +degradation; it was, in short, a mockery, a decisive +breach of all the promises which had been made to +them. If they offered any resistance, force would be +employed against them. They had no doubt of it, +and made preparations to anticipate it.</p> + +<p>About nine o'clock the riotous assemblies which +had formed at the Bastille and at the Châtelet ebbed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> +back towards the boulevard. From the Porte +Saint-Denis to the Porte Saint-Martin nothing could be +seen save an enormous swarm of people, a single +mass of a dark blue shade, nearly black. The men +of whom one caught a glimpse all had glowing eyes, +pale complexions, faces emaciated with hunger and +excited with a sense of wrong.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, some clouds had gathered. The tempestuous +sky roused the electricity that was in the +people, and they kept whirling about of their own accord +with the great swaying movements of a swelling +sea, and one felt that there was an incalculable force +in the depths of this excited throng, and as it were, +the energy of an element. Then they all began exclaiming: +"Lamps! lamps!" Many windows had no +illumination, and stones were flung at the panes. M. +Dambreuse deemed it prudent to withdraw from the +scene. The two young men accompanied him home. +He predicted great disasters. The people might once +more invade the Chamber, and on this point he told +them how he should have been killed on the fifteenth +of May had it not been for the devotion of a National +Guard.</p> + +<p>"But I had forgotten! he is a friend of yours—your +friend the earthenware manufacturer—Jacques +Arnoux!" The rioters had been actually throttling +him, when that brave citizen caught him in his arms +and put him safely out of their reach.</p> + +<p>So it was that, since then, there had been a kind +of intimacy between them.</p> + +<p>"It would be necessary, one of these days, to dine +together, and, since you often see him, give him the +assurance that I like him very much. He is an excellent +man, and has, in my opinion, been slandered;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +and he has his wits about him in the morning. My +compliments once more! A very good evening!"</p> + +<p>Frederick, after he had quitted M. Dambreuse, +went back to the Maréchale, and, in a very gloomy +fashion, said that she should choose between him and +Arnoux. She replied that she did not understand +"dumps of this sort," that she did not care about +Arnoux, and had no desire to cling to him. Frederick +was thirsting to fly from Paris. She did not +offer any opposition to this whim; and next morning +they set out for Fontainebleau.</p> + +<p>The hotel at which they stayed could be distinguished +from others by a fountain that rippled in the +middle of the courtyard attached to it. The doors of +the various apartments opened out on a corridor, as +in monasteries. The room assigned to them was +large, well-furnished, hung with print, and noiseless, +owing to the scarcity of tourists. Alongside the houses, +people who had nothing to do kept passing up and +down; then, under their windows, when the day was +declining, children in the street would engage in a +game of base; and this tranquillity, following so soon +the tumult they had witnessed in Paris, filled them +with astonishment and exercised over them a soothing +influence.</p> + +<p>Every morning at an early hour, they went to +pay a visit to the château. As they passed in +through the gate, they had a view of its entire front, +with the five pavilions covered with sharp-pointed +roofs, and its staircase of horseshoe-shape opening +out to the end of the courtyard, which is hemmed +in, to right and left, by two main portions of the +building further down. On the paved ground lichens +blended their colours here and there with the tawny<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +hue of bricks, and the entire appearance of the palace, +rust-coloured like old armour, had about it something +of the impassiveness of royalty—a sort of warlike, +melancholy grandeur.</p> + +<p>At last, a man-servant made his appearance with +a bunch of keys in his hand. He first showed them +the apartments of the queens, the Pope's oratory, +the gallery of Francis I., the mahogany table on +which the Emperor signed his abdication, and in one +of the rooms cut in two the old Galerie des Cerfs, +the place where Christine got Monaldeschi assassinated. +Rosanette listened to this narrative attentively, +then, turning towards Frederick:</p> + +<p>"No doubt it was through jealousy? Mind yourself!" +After this they passed through the Council +Chamber, the Guards' Room, the Throne Room, and +the drawing-room of Louis XIII. The uncurtained +windows sent forth a white light. The handles of +the window-fastenings and the copper feet of the +pier-tables were slightly tarnished with dust. The +armchairs were everywhere hidden under coarse linen +covers. Above the doors could be seen reliquaries of +Louis XIV., and here and there hangings representing +the gods of Olympus, Psyche, or the battles of +Alexander.</p> + +<p>As she was passing in front of the mirrors, Rosanette +stopped for a moment to smooth her head-bands.</p> + +<p>After passing through the donjon-court and the +Saint-Saturnin Chapel, they reached the Festal Hall.</p> + +<p>They were dazzled by the magnificence of the +ceiling, which was divided into octagonal apartments +set off with gold and silver, more finely chiselled +than a jewel, and by the vast number of paintings +covering the walls, from the immense chimney-piece,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +where the arms of France were surrounded by crescents +and quivers, down to the musicians' gallery, +which had been erected at the other end along the +entire width of the hall. The ten arched windows +were wide open; the sun threw its lustre on the +pictures, so that they glowed beneath its rays; the +blue sky continued in an endless curve the ultramarine +of the arches; and from the depths of the woods, +where the lofty summits of the trees filled up the +horizon, there seemed to come an echo of flourishes +blown by ivory trumpets, and mythological ballets, +gathering together under the foliage princesses and +nobles disguised as nymphs or fauns—an epoch of +ingenuous science, of violent passions, and sumptuous +art, when the ideal was to sweep away the world +in a vision of the Hesperides, and when the mistresses +of kings mingled their glory with the stars. There was +a portrait of one of the most beautiful of these celebrated +women in the form of Diana the huntress, and even +the Infernal Diana, no doubt in order to indicate the +power which she possessed even beyond the limits of +the tomb. All these symbols confirmed her glory, +and there remained about the spot something of her, +an indistinct voice, a radiation that stretched out +indefinitely. A feeling of mysterious retrospective +voluptuousness took possession of Frederick.</p> + +<p>In order to divert these passionate longings into +another channel, he began to gaze tenderly on Rosanette, +and asked her would she not like to have been +this woman?</p> + +<p>"What woman?"</p> + +<p>"Diane de Poitiers!"</p> + +<p>He repeated:</p> + +<p>"Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + +<p>She gave utterance to a little "Ah!" that was all.</p> + +<p>Her silence clearly demonstrated that she knew +nothing about the matter, and had failed to comprehend +his meaning, so that out of complaisance he +said to her:</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you are getting tired of this?"</p> + +<p>"No, no—quite the reverse." And lifting up her +chin, and casting around her a glance of the vaguest +description, Rosanette let these words escape her lips:</p> + +<p>"It recalls some memories to me!"</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, it was easy to trace on her countenance +a strained expression, a certain sense of awe; +and, as this air of gravity made her look all the prettier, +Frederick overlooked it.</p> + +<p>The carps' pond amused her more. For a quarter +of an hour she kept flinging pieces of bread into the +water in order to see the fishes skipping about.</p> + +<p>Frederick had seated himself by her side under the +linden-trees. He saw in imagination all the personages +who had haunted these walls—Charles V., the +Valois Kings, Henry IV., Peter the Great, Jean Jacques +Rousseau, and "the fair mourners of the stage-boxes," +Voltaire, Napoléon, Pius VII., and Louis Philippe; +and he felt himself environed, elbowed, by these tumultuous +dead people. He was stunned by such a +confusion of historic figures, even though he found a +certain fascination in contemplating them, nevertheless.</p> + +<p>At length they descended into the flower-garden.</p> + +<p>It is a vast rectangle, which presents to the spectator, +at the first glance, its wide yellow walks, its +square grass-plots, its ribbons of box-wood, its yew-trees +shaped like pyramids, its low-lying green +swards, and its narrow borders, in which thinly-sown +flowers make spots on the grey soil. At the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +end of the garden may be seen a park through whose +entire length a canal makes its way.</p> + +<p>Royal residences have attached to them a peculiar +kind of melancholy, due, no doubt, to their dimensions +being much too large for the limited number of +guests entertained within them, to the silence which +one feels astonished to find in them after so many +flourishes of trumpets, to the immobility of their +luxurious furniture, which attests by the aspect of +age and decay it gradually assumes the transitory +character of dynasties, the eternal wretchedness of all +things; and this exhalation of the centuries, enervating +and funereal, like the perfume of a mummy, +makes itself felt even in untutored brains. Rosanette +yawned immoderately. They went back to the hotel.</p> + +<p>After their breakfast an open carriage came round +for them. They started from Fontainebleau at a point +where several roads diverged, then went up at a +walking pace a gravelly road leading towards a little +pine-wood. The trees became larger, and, from time +to time, the driver would say, "This is the Frères +Siamois, the Pharamond, the Bouquet de Roi," not +forgetting a single one of these notable sites, sometimes +even drawing up to enable them to admire the +scene.</p> + +<p>They entered the forest of Franchard. The carriage +glided over the grass like a sledge; pigeons +which they could not see began cooing. Suddenly, +the waiter of a café made his appearance, and they +alighted before the railing of a garden in which a +number of round tables were placed. Then, passing +on the left by the walls of a ruined abbey, they made +their way over big boulders of stone, and soon +reached the lower part of the gorge.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is covered on one side with sandstones and +juniper-trees tangled together, while on the other side +the ground, almost quite bare, slopes towards the +hollow of the valley, where a foot-track makes a pale +line through the brown heather; and far above could +be traced a flat cone-shaped summit with a telegraph-tower +behind it.</p> + +<p>Half-an-hour later they stepped out of the vehicle +once more, in order to climb the heights of Aspremont.</p> + +<p>The roads form zigzags between the thick-set +pine-trees under rocks with angular faces. All this +corner of the forest has a sort of choked-up look—a +rather wild and solitary aspect. One thinks of hermits +in connection with it—companions of huge +stags with fiery crosses between their horns, who +were wont to welcome with paternal smiles the good +kings of France when they knelt before their grottoes. +The warm air was filled with a resinous odour, +and roots of trees crossed one another like veins +close to the soil. Rosanette slipped over them, grew +dejected, and felt inclined to shed tears.</p> + +<p>But, at the very top, she became joyous once +more on finding, under a roof made of branches, a +sort of tavern where carved wood was sold. She +drank a bottle of lemonade, and bought a holly-stick; +and, without one glance towards the landscape which +disclosed itself from the plateau, she entered the +Brigands' Cave, with a waiter carrying a torch in +front of her. Their carriage was awaiting them in +the Bas Breau.</p> + +<p>A painter in a blue blouse was working at the foot +of an oak-tree with his box of colours on his knees. +He raised his head and watched them as they passed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the middle of the hill of Chailly, the sudden +breaking of a cloud caused them to turn up the +hoods of their cloaks. Almost immediately the rain +stopped, and the paving-stones of the street glistened +under the sun when they were re-entering the town.</p> + +<p>Some travellers, who had recently arrived, informed +them that a terrible battle had stained Paris +with blood. Rosanette and her lover were not surprised. +Then everybody left; the hotel became quiet, +the gas was put out, and they were lulled to sleep +by the murmur of the fountain in the courtyard.</p> + +<p>On the following day they went to see the Wolf's +Gorge, the Fairies' Pool, the Long Rock, and the +<i>Marlotte</i>.<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a> Two days later, they began again at +random, just as their coachman thought fit to drive +them, without asking where they were, and often +even neglecting the famous sites.</p> + +<p>They felt so comfortable in their old landau, low +as a sofa, and covered with a rug made of a striped +material which was quite faded. The moats, filled +with brushwood, stretched out under their eyes with +a gentle, continuous movement. White rays passed +like arrows through the tall ferns. Sometimes a road +that was no longer used presented itself before them, +in a straight line, and here and there might be seen +a feeble growth of weeds. In the centre between +four cross-roads, a crucifix extended its four arms. +In other places, stakes were bending down like dead +trees, and little curved paths, which were lost under +the leaves, made them feel a longing to pursue them. +At the same moment the horse turned round; they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +entered there; they plunged into the mire. Further +down moss had sprouted out at the sides of the deep +ruts.</p> + +<p>They believed that they were far away from all +other people, quite alone. But suddenly a game-keeper +with his gun, or a band of women in rags +with big bundles of fagots on their backs, would +hurry past them.</p> + +<p>When the carriage stopped, there was a universal +silence. The only sounds that reached them were +the blowing of the horse in the shafts with the faint +cry of a bird more than once repeated.</p> + +<p>The light at certain points illuminating the outskirts +of the wood, left the interior in deep shadow, +or else, attenuated in the foreground by a sort of +twilight, it exhibited in the background violet vapours, +a white radiance. The midday sun, falling +directly on wide tracts of greenery, made splashes of +light over them, hung gleaming drops of silver from +the ends of the branches, streaked the grass with +long lines of emeralds, and flung gold spots on the +beds of dead leaves. When they let their heads fall +back, they could distinguish the sky through the tops +of the trees. Some of them, which were enormously +high, looked like patriarchs or emperors, or, touching +one another at their extremities formed with their +long shafts, as it were, triumphal arches; others, +sprouting forth obliquely from below, seemed like +falling columns. This heap of big vertical lines gaped +open. Then, enormous green billows unrolled themselves +in unequal embossments as far as the surface +of the valleys, towards which advanced the brows of +other hills looking down on white plains, which ended +by losing themselves in an undefined pale tinge.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> + +<p>Standing side by side, on some rising ground, they +felt, as they drank in the air, the pride of a life more +free penetrating into the depths of their souls, with a +superabundance of energy, a joy which they could +not explain.</p> + +<p>The variety of trees furnished a spectacle of the +most diversified character. The beeches with their +smooth white bark twisted their tops together. Ash +trees softly curved their bluish branches. In the tufts +of the hornbeams rose up holly stiff as bronze. +Then came a row of thin birches, bent into elegiac +attitudes; and the pine-trees, symmetrical as organ +pipes, seemed to be singing a song as they swayed +to and fro. There were gigantic oaks with knotted +forms, which had been violently shaken, stretched +themselves out from the soil and pressed close against +each other, and with firm trunks resembling torsos, +launched forth to heaven despairing appeals with their +bare arms and furious threats, like a group of Titans +struck motionless in the midst of their rage. An +atmosphere of gloom, a feverish languor, brooded over +the pools, whose sheets of water were cut into flakes +by the overshadowing thorn-trees. The lichens on +their banks, where the wolves come to drink, are of +the colour of sulphur, burnt, as it were, by the footprints +of witches, and the incessant croaking of the +frogs responds to the cawing of the crows as they +wheel through the air. After this they passed through +the monotonous glades, planted here and there with a +staddle. The sound of iron falling with a succession +of rapid blows could be heard. On the side of the +hill a group of quarrymen were breaking the rocks. +These rocks became more and more numerous and +finally filled up the entire landscape, cube-shaped like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +houses, flat like flagstones, propping up, overhanging, +and became intermingled with each other, as if +they were the ruins, unrecognisable and monstrous, +of some vanished city. But the wild chaos they exhibited +made one rather dream of volcanoes, of +deluges, of great unknown cataclysms. Frederick said +they had been there since the beginning of the world, +and would remain so till the end. Rosanette turned +aside her head, declaring that this would drive her +out of her mind, and went off to collect sweet +heather. The little violet blossoms, heaped up near +one another, formed unequal plates, and the soil, +which was giving way underneath, placed soft dark +fringes on the sand spangled with mica.</p> + +<p>One day they reached a point half-way up a hill, +where the soil was full of sand. Its surface, untrodden +till now, was streaked so as to resemble +symmetrical waves. Here and there, like promontories +on the dry bed of an ocean, rose up rocks +with the vague outlines of animals, tortoises thrusting +forward their heads, crawling seals, hippopotami, and +bears. Not a soul around them. Not a single sound. +The shingle glowed under the dazzling rays of the +sun, and all at once in this vibration of light the +specimens of the brute creation that met their gaze +began to move about. They returned home quickly, +flying from the dizziness that had seized hold of them, +almost dismayed.</p> + +<p>The gravity of the forest exercised an influence +over them, and hours passed in silence, during which, +allowing themselves to yield to the lulling effects of +springs, they remained as it were sunk in the torpor +of a calm intoxication. With his arm around her +waist, he listened to her talking while the birds were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +warbling, noticed with the same glance the black +grapes on her bonnet and the juniper-berries, the +draperies of her veil, and the spiral forms assumed +by the clouds, and when he bent towards her the +freshness of her skin mingled with the strong perfume +of the woods. They found amusement in everything. +They showed one another, as a curiosity, +gossamer threads of the Virgin hanging from bushes, +holes full of water in the middle of stones, a squirrel +on the branches, the way in which two butterflies +kept flying after them; or else, at twenty paces +from them, under the trees, a hind strode on peacefully, +with an air of nobility and gentleness, its doe +walking by its side.</p> + +<p>Rosanette would have liked to run after it to embrace +it.</p> + +<p>She got very much alarmed once, when a man +suddenly presenting himself, showed her three vipers +in a box. She wildly flung herself on Frederick's +breast. He felt happy at the thought that she was +weak and that he was strong enough to defend her.</p> + +<p>That evening they dined at an inn on the banks +of the Seine. The table was near the window, Rosanette +sitting opposite him, and he contemplated her +little well-shaped white nose, her turned-up lips, her +bright eyes, the swelling bands of her nut-brown +hair, and her pretty oval face. Her dress of raw silk +clung to her somewhat drooping shoulders, and her +two hands, emerging from their sleeves, joined +close together as if they were one—carved, poured +out wine, moved over the table-cloth. The waiters +placed before them a chicken with its four limbs +stretched out, a stew of eels in a dish of pipe-clay, +wine that had got spoiled, bread that was too hard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +and knives with notches in them. All these things +made the repast more enjoyable and strengthened the +illusion. They fancied that they were in the middle +of a journey in Italy on their honeymoon. Before +starting again they went for a walk along the bank +of the river.</p> + +<p>The soft blue sky, rounded like a dome, leaned +at the horizon on the indentations of the woods. +On the opposite side, at the end of the meadow, +there was a village steeple; and further away, to the +left, the roof of a house made a red spot on the +river, which wound its way without any apparent +motion. Some rushes bent over it, however, and the +water lightly shook some poles fixed at its edge in +order to hold nets. An osier bow-net and two or +three old fishing-boats might be seen there. Near the +inn a girl in a straw hat was drawing buckets out +of a well. Every time they came up again, Frederick +heard the grating sound of the chain with a feeling +of inexpressible delight.</p> + +<p>He had no doubt that he would be happy till the +end of his days, so natural did his felicity appear to +him, so much a part of his life, and so intimately +associated with this woman's being. He was irresistibly +impelled to address her with words of endearment. +She answered with pretty little speeches, light +taps on the shoulder, displays of tenderness that +charmed him by their unexpectedness. He discovered +in her quite a new sort of beauty, in fact, which +was perhaps only the reflection of surrounding things, +unless it happened to bud forth from their hidden +potentialities.</p> + +<p>When they were lying down in the middle of the +field, he would stretch himself out with his head on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +her lap, under the shelter of her parasol; or else with +their faces turned towards the green sward, in the +centre of which they rested, they kept gazing +towards one another so that their pupils seemed to +intermingle, thirsting for one another and ever satiating +their thirst, and then with half-closed eyelids +they lay side by side without uttering a single word.</p> + +<p>Now and then the distant rolling of a drum +reached their ears. It was the signal-drum which +was being beaten in the different villages calling on +people to go and defend Paris.</p> + +<p>"Oh! look here! 'tis the rising!" said Frederick, +with a disdainful pity, all this excitement now presenting +to his mind a pitiful aspect by the side of +their love and of eternal nature.</p> + +<p>And they talked about whatever happened to +come into their heads, things that were perfectly +familiar to them, persons in whom they took no interest, +a thousand trifles. She chatted with him +about her chambermaid and her hairdresser. One +day she was so self-forgetful that she told him her +age—twenty-nine years. She was becoming quite +an old woman.</p> + +<p>Several times, without intending it, she gave him +some particulars with reference to her own life. She +had been a "shop girl," had taken a trip to England, +and had begun studying for the stage; all this she +told without any explanation of how these changes +had come about; and he found it impossible to reconstruct +her entire history.</p> + +<p>She related to him more about herself one day +when they were seated side by side under a plane-tree +at the back of a meadow. At the road-side, +further down, a little barefooted girl, standing amid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +a heap of dust, was making a cow go to pasture. +As soon as she caught sight of them she came up +to beg, and while with one hand she held up her +tattered petticoat, she kept scratching with the other +her black hair, which, like a wig of Louis XIV.'s +time, curled round her dark face, lighted by a magnificent +pair of eyes.</p> + +<p>"She will be very pretty by-and-by," said Frederick.</p> + +<p>"How lucky she is, if she has no mother!" remarked +Rosanette.</p> + +<p>"Eh? How is that?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. I, if it were not for mine——"</p> + +<p>She sighed, and began to speak about her childhood. +Her parents were weavers in the Croix-Rousse. +She acted as an apprentice to her father. +In vain did the poor man wear himself out with hard +work; his wife was continually abusing him, and +sold everything for drink. Rosanette could see, as if +it were yesterday, the room they occupied with the +looms ranged lengthwise against the windows, the +pot boiling on the stove, the bed painted like mahogany, +a cupboard facing it, and the obscure loft +where she used to sleep up to the time when she +was fifteen years old. At length a gentleman made +his appearance on the scene—a fat man with a face +of the colour of boxwood, the manners of a devotee, +and a suit of black clothes. Her mother and this +man had a conversation together, with the result that +three days afterwards—Rosanette stopped, and with +a look in which there was as much bitterness as +shamelessness:</p> + +<p>"It was done!"</p> + +<p>Then, in response to a gesture of Frederick.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As he was married (he would have been afraid +of compromising himself in his own house), I was +brought to a private room in a restaurant, and told +that I would be happy, that I would get a handsome +present.</p> + +<p>"At the door, the first thing that struck me was +a candelabrum of vermilion on a table, on which +there were two covers. A mirror on the ceiling +showed their reflections, and the blue silk hangings +on the walls made the entire apartment resemble an +alcove; I was seized with astonishment. You understand—a +poor creature who had never seen anything +before. In spite of my dazed condition of mind, I +got frightened. I wanted to go away. However, I +remained.</p> + +<p>"The only seat in the room was a sofa close beside +the table. It was so soft that it gave way under +me. The mouth of the hot-air stove in the middle of +the carpet sent out towards me a warm breath, and +there I sat without taking anything. The waiter, +who was standing near me, urged me to eat. He +poured out for me immediately a large glass of wine. +My head began to swim, I wanted to open the window. +He said to me:</p> + +<p>"'No, Mademoiselle! that is forbidden.'"</p> + +<p>"And he left me.</p> + +<p>"The table was covered with a heap of things +that I had no knowledge of. Nothing there seemed +to me good. Then I fell back on a pot of jam, and +patiently waited. I did not know what prevented +him from coming. It was very late—midnight at +last—I couldn't bear the fatigue any longer. While +pushing aside one of the pillows, in order to hear +better, I found under my hand a kind of album—a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +book of engravings, they were vulgar pictures. I was +sleeping on top of it when he entered the room."</p> + +<p>She hung down her head and remained pensive.</p> + +<p>The leaves rustled around them. Amid the tangled +grass a great foxglove was swaying to and fro. The +sunlight flowed like a wave over the green expanse, +and the silence was interrupted at intervals by the +browsing of the cow, which they could no longer see.</p> + +<p>Rosanette kept her eyes fixed on a particular spot, +three paces away from her, her nostrils heaving, and +her mind absorbed in thought. Frederick caught +hold of her hand.</p> + +<p>"How you suffered, poor darling!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said she, "more than you imagine! So +much so that I wanted to make an end of it—they +had to fish me up!"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! think no more about it! I love you, I am +happy! kiss me!"</p> + +<p>And she picked off, one by one, the sprigs of the +thistles which clung to the hem of her gown.</p> + +<p>Frederick was thinking more than all on what she +had not told him. What were the means by which +she had gradually emerged from wretchedness? To +what lover did she owe her education? What had +occurred in her life down to the day when he first +came to her house? Her latest avowal was a bar to +these questions. All he asked her was how she had +made Arnoux's acquaintance.</p> + +<p>"Through the Vatnaz."</p> + +<p>"Wasn't it you that I once saw with both of +them at the Palais-Royal?"</p> + +<p>He referred to the exact date. Rosanette made a +movement which showed a sense of deep pain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, it is true! I was not gay at that time!"</p> + +<p>But Arnoux had proved himself a very good fellow. +Frederick had no doubt of it. However, their +friend was a queer character, full of faults. He took +care to recall them. She quite agreed with him on +this point.</p> + +<p>"Never mind! One likes him, all the same, this +camel!"</p> + +<p>"Still—even now?" said Frederick.</p> + +<p>She began to redden, half smiling, half angry.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! that's an old story. I don't keep anything +hidden from you. Even though it might be so, +with him it is different. Besides, I don't think you +are nice towards your victim!"</p> + +<p>"My victim!"</p> + +<p>Rosanette caught hold of his chin.</p> + +<p>"No doubt!"</p> + +<p>And in the lisping fashion in which nurses talk to +babies:</p> + +<p>"Have always been so good! Never went a-by-by +with his wife?"</p> + +<p>"I! never at any time!"</p> + +<p>Rosanette smiled. He felt hurt by this smile of +hers, which seemed to him a proof of indifference.</p> + +<p>But she went on gently, and with one of those +looks which seem to appeal for a denial of the +truth:</p> + +<p>"Are you perfectly certain?"</p> + +<p>"Not a doubt of it!"</p> + +<p>Frederick solemnly declared on his word of honour +that he had never bestowed a thought on Madame +Arnoux, as he was too much in love with another +woman.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, with you, my beautiful one!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! don't laugh at me! You only annoy me!"</p> + +<p>He thought it a prudent course to invent a story—to +pretend that he was swayed by a passion. He +manufactured some circumstantial details. This woman, +however, had rendered him very unhappy.</p> + +<p>"Decidedly, you have not been lucky," said +Rosanette.</p> + +<p>"Oh! oh! I may have been!" wishing to convey +in this way that he had been often fortunate in his +love-affairs, so that she might have a better opinion +of him, just as Rosanette did not avow how many +lovers she had had, in order that he might have more +respect for her—for there will always be found in +the midst of the most intimate confidences restrictions, +false shame, delicacy, and pity. You divine +either in the other or in yourself precipices or miry +paths which prevent you from penetrating any farther; +moreover, you feel that you will not be understood. +It is hard to express accurately the thing you mean, +whatever it may be; and this is the reason why perfect +unions are rare.</p> + +<p>The poor Maréchale had never known one better +than this. Often, when she gazed at Frederick, tears +came into her eyes; then she would raise them or +cast a glance towards the horizon, as if she saw +there some bright dawn, perspectives of boundless +felicity. At last, she confessed one day to him that +she wished to have a mass said, "so that it might +bring a blessing on our love."</p> + +<p>How was it, then, that she had resisted him so +long? She could not tell herself. He repeated his +question a great many times; and she replied, as she +clasped him in her arms:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was because I was afraid, my darling, of loving +you too well!"</p> + +<p>On Sunday morning, Frederick read, amongst the +list of the wounded given in a newspaper, the name +of Dussardier. He uttered a cry, and showing the +paper to Rosanette, declared that he was going to +start at once for Paris.</p> + +<p>"For what purpose?"</p> + +<p>"In order to see him, to nurse him!"</p> + +<p>"You are not going, I'm sure, to leave me by +myself?"</p> + +<p>"Come with me!"</p> + +<p>"Ha! to poke my nose in a squabble of that sort? +Oh, no, thanks!"</p> + +<p>"However, I cannot——"</p> + +<p>"Ta! ta! ta! as if they had need of nurses in +the hospitals! And then, what concern is he of +yours any longer? Everyone for himself!"</p> + +<p>He was roused to indignation by this egoism on +her part, and he reproached himself for not being in +the capital with the others. Such indifference to the +misfortunes of the nation had in it something shabby, +and only worthy of a small shopkeeper. And now, +all of a sudden, his intrigue with Rosanette weighed +on his mind as if it were a crime. For an hour they +were quite cool towards each other.</p> + +<p>Then she appealed to him to wait, and not expose +himself to danger.</p> + +<p>"Suppose you happen to be killed?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I should only have done my duty!"</p> + +<p>Rosanette gave a jump. His first duty was to +love her; but, no doubt, he did not care about her +any longer. There was no common sense in what +he was going to do. Good heavens! what an idea!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> + +<p>Frederick rang for his bill. But to get back to +Pans was not an easy matter. The Leloir stagecoach +had just left; the Lecomte berlins would not +be starting; the diligence from Bourbonnais would +not be passing till a late hour that night, and perhaps +it might be full, one could never tell. When he had +lost a great deal of time in making enquiries about +the various modes of conveyance, the idea occurred +to him to travel post. The master of the post-house +refused to supply him with horses, as Frederick had +no passport. Finally, he hired an open carriage—the +same one in which they had driven about the country—and +at about five o'clock they arrived in front +of the Hôtel du Commerce at Melun.</p> + +<p>The market-place was covered with piles of arms. +The prefect had forbidden the National Guards to +proceed towards Paris. Those who did not belong +to his department wished to go on. There was a +great deal of shouting, and the inn was packed with +a noisy crowd.</p> + +<p>Rosanette, seized with terror, said she would not +go a step further, and once more begged of him to +stay. The innkeeper and his wife joined in her entreaties. +A decent sort of man who happened to be +dining there interposed, and observed that the fighting +would be over in a very short time. Besides, +one ought to do his duty. Thereupon the Maréchale +redoubled her sobs. Frederick got exasperated. He +handed her his purse, kissed her quickly, and disappeared.</p> + +<p>On reaching Corbeil, he learned at the station that +the insurgents had cut the rails at regular distances, +and the coachman refused to drive him any farther; +he said that his horses were "overspent."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p> + +<p>Through his influence, however, Frederick managed +to procure an indifferent cabriolet, which, for +the sum of sixty francs, without taking into account +the price of a drink for the driver, was to convey +him as far as the Italian barrier. But at a hundred +paces from the barrier his coachman made him descend +and turn back. Frederick was walking along +the pathway, when suddenly a sentinel thrust out his +bayonet. Four men seized him, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"This is one of them! Look out! Search him! +Brigand! scoundrel!"</p> + +<p>And he was so thoroughly stupefied that he let +himself be dragged to the guard-house of the barrier, +at the very point where the Boulevards des Gobelins +and de l'Hôpital and Rues Godefroy and Mauffetard +converge.</p> + +<p>Four barricades formed at the ends of four different +ways enormous sloping ramparts of paving-stones. +Torches were glimmering here and there. In spite +of the rising clouds of dust he could distinguish foot-soldiers +of the Line and National Guards, all with +their faces blackened, their chests uncovered, and an +aspect of wild excitement. They had just captured +the square, and had shot down a number of men. +Their rage had not yet cooled. Frederick said he had +come from Fontainebleau to the relief of a wounded +comrade who lodged in the Rue Bellefond. Not one +of them would believe him at first. They examined +his hands; they even put their noses to his ear to +make sure that he did not smell of powder.</p> + +<p>However, by dint of repeating the same thing, he +finally satisfied a captain, who directed two fusiliers +to conduct him to the guard-house of the Jardin des +Plantes. They descended the Boulevard de l'Hôpital.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +A strong breeze was blowing. It restored him to +animation.</p> + +<p>After this they turned up the Rue du Marché aux +Chevaux. The Jardin des Plantes at the right formed +a long black mass, whilst at the left the entire front +of the Pitié, illuminated at every window, blazed like +a conflagration, and shadows passed rapidly over the +window-panes.</p> + +<p>The two men in charge of Frederick went away. +Another accompanied him to the Polytechnic School. +The Rue Saint-Victor was quite dark, without a gas-lamp +or a light at any window to relieve the gloom. +Every ten minutes could be heard the words:</p> + +<p>"Sentinels! mind yourselves!"</p> + +<p>And this exclamation, cast into the midst of the +silence, was prolonged like the repeated striking of a +stone against the side of a chasm as it falls through +space.</p> + +<p>Every now and then the stamp of heavy footsteps +could be heard drawing nearer. This was +nothing less than a patrol consisting of about a hundred +men. From this confused mass escaped whisperings +and the dull clanking of iron; and, moving +away with a rhythmic swing, it melted into the +darkness.</p> + +<p>In the middle of the crossing, where several +streets met, a dragoon sat motionless on his horse. +From time to time an express rider passed at a rapid +gallop; then the silence was renewed. Cannons, +which were being drawn along the streets, made, on +the pavement, a heavy rolling sound that seemed +full of menace—a sound different from every ordinary +sound—which oppressed the heart. The sounds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +was profound, unlimited—a black silence. Men in +white blouses accosted the soldiers, spoke one or two +words to them, and then vanished like phantoms.</p> + +<p>The guard-house of the Polytechnic School overflowed +with people. The threshold was blocked up +with women, who had come to see their sons or +their husbands. They were sent on to the Panthéon, +which had been transformed into a dead-house; and +no attention was paid to Frederick. He pressed forward +resolutely, solemnly declaring that his friend +Dussardier was waiting for him, that he was at +death's door. At last they sent a corporal to accompany +him to the top of the Rue Saint-Jacques, to the +Mayor's office in the twelfth arrondissement.</p> + +<p>The Place du Panthéon was filled with soldiers +lying asleep on straw. The day was breaking; the +bivouac-fires were extinguished.</p> + +<p>The insurrection had left terrible traces in this +quarter. The soil of the streets, from one end to the +other, was covered with risings of various sizes. On +the wrecked barricades had been piled up omnibuses, +gas-pipes, and cart-wheels. In certain places there +were little dark pools, which must have been blood. +The houses were riddled with projectiles, and their +framework could be seen under the plaster that +was peeled off. Window-blinds, each attached only +by a single nail, hung like rags. The staircases having +fallen in, doors opened on vacancy. The interiors +of rooms could be perceived with their papers +in strips. In some instances dainty objects had remained +in them quite intact. Frederick noticed a +timepiece, a parrot-stick, and some engravings.</p> + +<p>When he entered the Mayor's office, the National +Guards were chattering without a moment's pause<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +about the deaths of Bréa and Négrier, about the +deputy Charbonnel, and about the Archbishop of +Paris. He heard them saying that the Duc d'Aumale +had landed at Boulogne, that Barbès had fled from +Vincennes, that the artillery were coming up from +Bourges, and that abundant aid was arriving from the +provinces. About three o'clock some one brought +good news.</p> + +<p>Truce-bearers from the insurgents were in conference +with the President of the Assembly.</p> + +<p>Thereupon they all made merry; and as he had a +dozen francs left, Frederick sent for a dozen bottles +of wine, hoping by this means to hasten his deliverance. +Suddenly a discharge of musketry was heard. +The drinking stopped. They peered with distrustful +eyes into the unknown—it might be Henry V.</p> + +<p>In order to get rid of responsibility, they took +Frederick to the Mayor's office in the eleventh arrondissement, +which he was not permitted to leave +till nine o'clock in the morning.</p> + +<p>He started at a running pace from the Quai Voltaire. +At an open window an old man in his shirt-sleeves +was crying, with his eyes raised. The Seine +glided peacefully along. The sky was of a clear blue; +and in the trees round the Tuileries birds were singing.</p> + +<p>Frederick was just crossing the Place du Carrousel +when a litter happened to be passing by. The soldiers +at the guard-house immediately presented arms; +and the officer, putting his hand to his shako, said: +"Honour to unfortunate bravery!" This phrase +seemed to have almost become a matter of duty. He +who pronounced it appeared to be, on each occasion, +filled with profound emotion. A group of people in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +state of fierce excitement followed the litter, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"We will avenge you! we will avenge you!"</p> + +<p>The vehicles kept moving about on the boulevard, +and women were making lint before the doors. +Meanwhile, the outbreak had been quelled, or very +nearly so. A proclamation from Cavaignac, just +posted up, announced the fact. At the top of the +Rue Vivienne, a company of the Garde Mobile appeared. +Then the citizens uttered cries of enthusiasm. +They raised their hats, applauded, danced, +wished to embrace them, and to invite them to +drink; and flowers, flung by ladies, fell from the balconies.</p> + +<p>At last, at ten o'clock, at the moment when the +cannon was booming as an attack was being made +on the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, Frederick reached the +abode of Dussardier. He found the bookkeeper in his +garret, lying asleep on his back. From the adjoining +apartment a woman came forth with silent tread—Mademoiselle +Vatnaz.</p> + +<p>She led Frederick aside and explained to him how +Dussardier had got wounded.</p> + +<p>On Saturday, on the top of a barricade in the Rue +Lafayette, a young fellow wrapped in a tricoloured +flag cried out to the National Guards: "Are you going +to shoot your brothers?" As they advanced, +Dussardier threw down his gun, pushed away the +others, sprang over the barricade, and, with a blow +of an old shoe, knocked down the insurgent, from +whom he tore the flag. He had afterwards been +found under a heap of rubbish with a slug of copper +in his thigh. It was found necessary to make an incision +in order to extract the projectile. Mademoiselle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +Vatnaz arrived the same evening, and since then had +not quitted his side.</p> + +<p>She intelligently prepared everything that was +needed for the dressings, assisted him in taking his +medicine or other liquids, attended to his slightest +wishes, left and returned again with footsteps more +light than those of a fly, and gazed at him with eyes +full of tenderness.</p> + +<p>Frederick, during the two following weeks, did +not fail to come back every morning. One day, +while he was speaking about the devotion of the +Vatnaz, Dussardier shrugged his shoulders:</p> + +<p>"Oh! no! she does this through interested motives."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?"</p> + +<p>He replied: "I am sure of it!" without seeming +disposed to give any further explanation.</p> + +<p>She had loaded him with kindnesses, carrying her +attentions so far as to bring him the newspapers in +which his gallant action was extolled. He even confessed +to Frederick that he felt uneasy in his conscience.</p> + +<p>Perhaps he ought to have put himself on the other +side with the men in blouses; for, indeed, a heap of +promises had been made to them which had not +been carried out. Those who had vanquished them +hated the Republic; and, in the next place, they had +treated them very harshly. No doubt they were +in the wrong—not quite, however; and the honest +fellow was tormented by the thought that he might +have fought against the righteous cause. Sénécal, +who was immured in the Tuileries, under the terrace +at the water's edge, had none of this mental +anguish.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> + +<p>There were nine hundred men in the place, huddled +together in the midst of filth, without the slightest +order, their faces blackened with powder and +clotted blood, shivering with ague and breaking out +into cries of rage, and those who were brought there +to die were not separated from the rest. Sometimes, +on hearing the sound of a detonation, they believed +that they were all going to be shot. Then they +dashed themselves against the walls, and after that +fell back again into their places, so much stupefied +by suffering that it seemed to them that they were +living in a nightmare, a mournful hallucination. The +lamp, which hung from the arched roof, looked like +a stain of blood, and little green and yellow flames +fluttered about, caused by the emanations from the +vault. Through fear of epidemics, a commission was +appointed. When he had advanced a few steps, the +President recoiled, frightened by the stench from the +excrements and from the corpses.</p> + +<p>As soon as the prisoners drew near a vent-hole, +the National Guards who were on sentry, in order to +prevent them from shaking the bars of the grating, +prodded them indiscriminately with their bayonets.</p> + +<p>As a rule they showed no pity. Those who were +not beaten wished to signalise themselves. There +was a regular outbreak of fear. They avenged themselves +at the same time on newspapers, clubs, mobs, +speech-making—everything that had exasperated them +during the last three months, and in spite of the victory +that had been gained, equality (as if for the +punishment of its defenders and the exposure of its +enemies to ridicule) manifested itself in a triumphal +fashion—an equality of brute beasts, a dead level of +sanguinary vileness; for the fanaticism of self-interest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +balanced the madness of want, aristocracy had the +same fits of fury as low debauchery, and the cotton +cap did not show itself less hideous than the red cap. +The public mind was agitated just as it would be +after great convulsions of nature. Sensible men were +rendered imbeciles for the rest of their lives on account +of it.</p> + +<p>Père Roque had become very courageous, almost +foolhardy. Having arrived on the 26th at Paris with +some of the inhabitants of Nogent, instead of going +back at the same time with them, he had gone to +give his assistance to the National Guard encamped +at the Tuileries; and he was quite satisfied to be +placed on sentry in front of the terrace at the water's +side. There, at any rate, he had these brigands under +his feet! He was delighted to find that they were +beaten and humiliated, and he could not refrain from +uttering invectives against them.</p> + +<p>One of them, a young lad with long fair hair, put +his face to the bars, and asked for bread. M. Roque +ordered him to hold his tongue. But the young man +repeated in a mournful tone:</p> + +<p>"Bread!"</p> + +<p>"Have I any to give you?"</p> + +<p>Other prisoners presented themselves at the vent-hole, +with their bristling beards, their burning eyeballs, +all pushing forward, and yelling:</p> + +<p>"Bread!"</p> + +<p>Père Roque was indignant at seeing his authority +slighted. In order to frighten them he took aim at +them; and, borne onward into the vault by the crush +that nearly smothered him, the young man, with his +head thrown backward, once more exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Bread!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hold on! here it is!" said Père Roque, firing a +shot from his gun. There was a fearful howl—then, +silence. At the side of the trough something white +could be seen lying.</p> + +<p>After this, M. Roque returned to his abode, for he +had a house in the Rue Saint-Martin, which he used +as a temporary residence; and the injury done to the +front of the building during the riots had in no slight +degree contributed to excite his rage. It seemed to +him, when he next saw it, that he had exaggerated +the amount of damage done to it. His recent act had +a soothing effect on him, as if it indemnified him for +his loss.</p> + +<p>It was his daughter herself who opened the door +for him. She immediately made the remark that she +had felt uneasy at his excessively prolonged absence. +She was afraid that he had met with some misfortune—that +he had been wounded.</p> + +<p>This manifestation of filial love softened Père +Roque. He was astonished that she should have set +out on a journey without Catherine.</p> + +<p>"I sent her out on a message," was Louise's +reply.</p> + +<p>And she made enquiries about his health, about +one thing or another; then, with an air of indifference, +she asked him whether he had chanced to come +across Frederick:</p> + +<p>"No; I didn't see him!"</p> + +<p>It was on his account alone that she had come +up from the country.</p> + +<p>Some one was walking at that moment in the +lobby.</p> + +<p>"Oh! excuse me——"</p> + +<p>And she disappeared.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> + +<p>Catherine had not found Frederick. He had been +several days away, and his intimate friend, M. Deslauriers, +was now living in the provinces.</p> + +<p>Louise once more presented herself, shaking all +over, without being able to utter a word. She leaned +against the furniture.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with you? Tell me—what's +the matter with you?" exclaimed her father.</p> + +<p>She indicated by a wave of her hand that it was +nothing, and with a great effort of will she regained +her composure.</p> + +<p>The keeper of the restaurant at the opposite side +of the street brought them soup. But Père Roque had +passed through too exciting an ordeal to be able to +control his emotions. "He is not likely to die;" and +at dessert he had a sort of fainting fit. A doctor was +at once sent for, and he prescribed a potion. Then, +when M. Roque was in bed, he asked to be as well +wrapped up as possible in order to bring on perspiration. +He gasped; he moaned.</p> + +<p>"Thanks, my good Catherine! Kiss your poor +father, my chicken! Ah! those revolutions!"</p> + +<p>And, when his daughter scolded him for having +made himself ill by tormenting his mind on her account, +he replied:</p> + +<p>"Yes! you are right! But I couldn't help it! I +am too sensitive!"</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="chapter_xv" id="chapter_xv"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">"How Happy Could I Be With Either."</h3> + + +<p><img src="images/i_chxv.png" width="120" height="125" alt="M" title="" class="illodrop" style="margin-top: -4em;" />adame Dambreuse, in her boudoir,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +between her niece and Miss John, +was listening to M. Roque as he +described the severe military duties +he had been forced to perform.</p> + +<p>She was biting her lips, and appeared +to be in pain.</p> + +<p>"Oh! 'tis nothing! it will pass away!"</p> + +<p>And, with a gracious air:</p> + +<p>"We are going to have an acquaintance of yours +at dinner with us,—Monsieur Moreau."</p> + +<p>Louise gave a start.</p> + +<p>"Oh! we'll only have a few intimate friends there—amongst +others, Alfred de Cisy."</p> + +<p>And she spoke in terms of high praise about his manners, +his personal appearance, and especially his moral +character.</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse was nearer to a correct estimate +of the state of affairs than she imagined; the +Vicomte was contemplating marriage. He said so to +Martinon, adding that Mademoiselle Cécile was certain +to like him, and that her parents would accept +him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> + +<p>To warrant him in going so far as to confide to +another his intentions on the point, he ought to have +satisfactory information with regard to her dowry. +Now Martinon had a suspicion that Cécile was M. +Dambreuse's natural daughter; and it is probable that +it would have been a very strong step on his part to +ask for her hand at any risk. Such audacity, of +course, was not unaccompanied by danger; and for +this reason Martinon had, up to the present, acted in +a way that could not compromise him. Besides, he +did not see how he could well get rid of the aunt. +Cisy's confidence induced him to make up his mind; +and he had formally made his proposal to the banker, +who, seeing no obstacle to it, had just informed +Madame Dambreuse about the matter.</p> + +<p>Cisy presently made his appearance. She arose +and said:</p> + +<p>"You have forgotten us. Cécile, shake hands!"</p> + +<p>At the same moment Frederick entered the room.</p> + +<p>"Ha! at last we have found you again!" exclaimed +Père Roque. "I called with Cécile on you three +times this week!"</p> + +<p>Frederick had carefully avoided them. He pleaded +by way of excuse that he spent all his days beside a +wounded comrade.</p> + +<p>For a long time, however, a heap of misfortunes +had happened to him, and he tried to invent stories +to explain his conduct. Luckily the guests arrived in +the midst of his explanation. First of all M. Paul de +Grémonville, the diplomatist whom he met at the +ball; then Fumichon, that manufacturer whose conservative +zeal had scandalised him one evening. +After them came the old Duchesse de Montreuil +Nantua.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p> + +<p>But two loud voices in the anteroom reached his +ears. They were that of M. de Nonancourt, an old +beau with the air of a mummy preserved in cold +cream, and that of Madame de Larsillois, the wife of +a prefect of Louis Philippe. She was terribly frightened, +for she had just heard an organ playing a polka +which was a signal amongst the insurgents. Many +of the wealthy class of citizens had similar apprehensions; +they thought that men in the catacombs were +going to blow up the Faubourg Saint-Germain. Some +noises escaped from cellars, and things that excited +suspicion were passed up to windows.</p> + +<p>Everyone in the meantime made an effort to calm +Madame de Larsillois. Order was re-established. +There was no longer anything to fear.</p> + +<p>"Cavaignac has saved us!"</p> + +<p>As if the horrors of the insurrection had not been +sufficiently numerous, they exaggerated them. There +had been twenty-three thousand convicts on the side +of the Socialists—no less!</p> + +<p>They had no doubt whatever that food had been +poisoned, that Gardes Mobiles had been sawn between +two planks, and that there had been inscriptions +on flags inciting the people to pillage and +incendiarism.</p> + +<p>"Aye, and something more!" added the ex-prefect.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" said Madame Dambreuse, whose +modesty was shocked, while she indicated the three +young girls with a glance.</p> + +<p>M. Dambreuse came forth from his study accompanied +by Martinon. She turned her head round and +responded to a bow from Pellerin, who was advancing +towards her. The artist gazed in a restless +fashion towards the walls. The banker took him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> +aside, and conveyed to him that it was desirable for +the present to conceal his revolutionary picture.</p> + +<p>"No doubt," said Pellerin, the rebuff which he received +at the Club of Intellect having modified his +opinions.</p> + +<p>M. Dambreuse let it slip out very politely that he +would give him orders for other works.</p> + +<p>"But excuse me. Ah! my dear friend, what a +pleasure!"</p> + +<p>Arnoux and Madame Arnoux stood before Frederick.</p> + +<p>He had a sort of vertigo. Rosanette had been +irritating him all the afternoon with her display of +admiration for soldiers, and the old passion was re-awakened.</p> + +<p>The steward came to announce that dinner was +on the table. With a look she directed the Vicomte +to take Cécile's arm, while she said in a low tone to +Martinon, "You wretch!" And then they passed +into the dining-room.</p> + +<p>Under the green leaves of a pineapple, in the +middle of the table-cloth, a dorado stood, with its +snout reaching towards a quarter of roebuck and its +tail just grazing a bushy dish of crayfish. Figs, huge +cherries, pears, and grapes (the first fruits of Parisian +cultivation) rose like pyramids in baskets of old +Saxe. Here and there a bunch of flowers mingled +with the shining silver plate. The white silk blinds, +drawn down in front of the windows, filled the +apartment with a mellow light. It was cooled by +two fountains, in which there were pieces of ice; and +tall men-servants, in short breeches, waited on them. +All these luxuries seemed more precious after the +emotion of the past few days. They felt a fresh de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>light +at possessing things which they had been afraid +of losing; and Nonancourt expressed the general sentiment +when he said:</p> + +<p>"Ah! let us hope that these Republican gentlemen +will allow us to dine!"</p> + +<p>"In spite of their fraternity!" Père Roque added, +with an attempt at wit.</p> + +<p>These two personages were placed respectively at +the right and at the left of Madame Dambreuse, her +husband being exactly opposite her, between Madame +Larsillois, at whose side was the diplomatist and the +old Duchesse, whom Fumichon elbowed. Then came +the painter, the dealer in faïence, and Mademoiselle +Louise; and, thanks to Martinon, who had carried her +chair to enable her to take a seat near Louise, Frederick +found himself beside Madame Arnoux.</p> + +<p>She wore a black barège gown, a gold hoop on +her wrist, and, as on the first day that he dined at +her house, something red in her hair, a branch of +fuchsia twisted round her chignon. He could not +help saying:</p> + +<p>"'Tis a long time since we saw each other."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she returned coldly.</p> + +<p>He went on, in a mild tone, which mitigated the +impertinence of his question:</p> + +<p>"Have you thought of me now and then?"</p> + +<p>"Why should I think of you?"</p> + +<p>Frederick was hurt by these words.</p> + +<p>"You are right, perhaps, after all."</p> + +<p>But very soon, regretting what he had said, he +swore that he had not lived a single day without being +ravaged by the remembrance of her.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe a single word of it, Monsieur."</p> + +<p>"However, you know that I love you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux made no reply.</p> + +<p>"You know that I love you!"</p> + +<p>She still kept silent.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, go be hanged!" said Frederick to +himself.</p> + +<p>And, as he raised his eyes, he perceived Mademoiselle +Roque at the other side of Madame Arnoux.</p> + +<p>She thought it gave her a coquettish look to dress +entirely in green, a colour which contrasted horribly +with her red hair. The buckle of her belt was large +and her collar cramped her neck. This lack of elegance +had, no doubt, contributed to the coldness which +Frederick at first displayed towards her. She watched +him from where she sat, some distance away from +him, with curious glances; and Arnoux, close to her +side, in vain lavished his gallantries—he could not get +her to utter three words, so that, finally abandoning +all hope of making himself agreeable to her, he listened +to the conversation. She now began rolling about a +slice of Luxembourg pineapple in her pea-soup.</p> + +<p>Louis Blanc, according to Fumichon, owned a large +house in the Rue Saint-Dominique, which he refused +to let to the workmen.</p> + +<p>"For my part, I think it rather a funny thing," +said Nonancourt, "to see Ledru-Rollin hunting over +the Crown lands."</p> + +<p>"He owes twenty thousand francs to a goldsmith!" +Cisy interposed, "and 'tis maintained——"</p> + +<p>Madame Darnbreuse stopped him.</p> + +<p>"Ah! how nasty it is to be getting hot about +politics! and for such a young man, too! fie, fie! +Pay attention rather to your fair neighbour!"</p> + +<p>After this, those who were of a grave turn of +mind attacked the newspapers. Arnoux took it on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> +himself to defend them. Frederick mixed himself up +in the discussion, describing them as commercial establishments +just like any other house of business. +Those who wrote for them were, as a rule, imbeciles +or humbugs; he gave his listeners to understand that +he was acquainted with journalists, and combated +with sarcasms his friend's generous sentiments.</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux did not notice that this was said +through a feeling of spite against her.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the Vicomte was torturing his brain in +the effort to make a conquest of Mademoiselle Cécile. +He commenced by finding fault with the shape of the +decanters and the graving of the knives, in order to +show his artistic tastes. Then he talked about his +stable, his tailor and his shirtmaker. Finally, he took +up the subject of religion, and seized the opportunity +of conveying to her that he fulfilled all his duties.</p> + +<p>Martinon set to work in a better fashion. With +his eyes fixed on her continually, he praised, in a +monotonous fashion, her birdlike profile, her dull fair +hair, and her hands, which were unusually short. +The plain-looking young girl was delighted at this +shower of flatteries.</p> + +<p>It was impossible to hear anything, as all present +were talking at the tops of their voices. M. Roque +wanted "an iron hand" to govern France. Nonancourt +even regretted that the political scaffold was +abolished. They ought to have all these scoundrels +put to death together.</p> + +<p>"Now that I think of it, are we speaking of +Dussardier?" said M. Dambreuse, turning towards +Frederick.</p> + +<p>The worthy shopman was now a hero, like Sallesse, +the brothers Jeanson, the wife of Pequillet, etc.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> + +<p>Frederick, without waiting to be asked, related +his friend's history; it threw around him a kind of +halo.</p> + +<p>Then they came quite naturally to refer to different +traits of courage.</p> + +<p>According to the diplomatist, it was not hard to +face death, witness the case of men who fight duels.</p> + +<p>"We might take the Vicomte's testimony on that +point," said Martinon.</p> + +<p>The Vicomte's face got very flushed.</p> + +<p>The guests stared at him, and Louise, more astonished +than the rest, murmured:</p> + +<p>"What is it, pray?"</p> + +<p>"He <i>sank</i> before Frederick," returned Arnoux, in +a very low tone.</p> + +<p>"Do you know anything, Mademoiselle?" said +Nonancourt presently, and he repeated her answer to +Madame Dambreuse, who, bending forward a little, +began to fix her gaze on Frederick.</p> + +<p>Martinon did not wait for Cécile's questions. He +informed her that this affair had reference to a woman +of improper character. The young girl drew back +slightly in her chair, as if to escape from contact with +such a libertine.</p> + +<p>The conversation was renewed. The great wines +of Bordeaux were sent round, and the guests became +animated. Pellerin had a dislike to the Revolution, +because he attributed to it the complete loss of the +Spanish Museum.</p> + +<p>This is what grieved him most as a painter.</p> + +<p>As he made the latter remark, M. Roque asked:</p> + +<p>"Are you not yourself the painter of a very notable +picture?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps! What is it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It represents a lady in a costume—faith!—a little +light, with a purse, and a peacock behind."</p> + +<p>Frederick, in his turn, reddened. Pellerin pretended +that he had not heard the words.</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, it is certainly by you! For your +name is written at the bottom of it, and there is a +line on it stating that it is Monsieur Moreau's property."</p> + +<p>One day, when Père Roque and his daughter were +waiting at his residence to see him, they saw the +Maréchale's portrait. The old gentleman had even +taken it for "a Gothic painting."</p> + +<p>"No," said Pellerin rudely, "'tis a woman's portrait."</p> + +<p>Martinon added:</p> + +<p>"And a living woman's, too, and no mistake! +Isn't that so, Cisy?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I know nothing about it."</p> + +<p>"I thought you were acquainted with her. But, +since it causes you pain, I must beg a thousand pardons!"</p> + +<p>Cisy lowered his eyes, proving by his embarrassment +that he must have played a pitiable part in connection +with this portrait. As for Frederick, the model +could only be his mistress. It was one of those convictions +which are immediately formed, and the faces +of the assembly revealed it with the utmost clearness.</p> + +<p>"How he lied to me!" said Madame Arnoux to +herself.</p> + +<p>"It is for her, then, that he left me," thought +Louise.</p> + +<p>Frederick had an idea that these two stories might +compromise him; and when they were in the garden,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +Mademoiselle Cécile's wooer burst out laughing in +his face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, not at all! 'twill do you good! Go ahead!"</p> + +<p>What did he mean? Besides, what was the cause +of this good nature, so contrary to his usual conduct? +Without giving any explanation, he proceeded +towards the lower end, where the ladies were seated. +The men were standing round them, and, in their +midst, Pellerin was giving vent to his ideas. The +form of government most favourable for the arts was +an enlightened monarchy. He was disgusted with +modern times, "if it were only on account of the +National Guard"—he regretted the Middle Ages and +the days of Louis XIV. M. Roque congratulated him +on his opinions, confessing that they overcame all his +prejudices against artists. But almost without a +moment's delay he went off when the voice of Fumichon +attracted his attention.</p> + +<p>Arnoux tried to prove that there were two Socialisms—a +good and a bad. The manufacturer saw no +difference whatever between them, his head becoming +dizzy with rage at the utterance of the word "property."</p> + +<p>"'Tis a law written on the face of Nature! Children +cling to their toys. All peoples, all animals are +of my opinion. The lion even, if he were able to +speak, would declare himself a proprietor! Thus I +myself, messieurs, began with a capital of fifteen +thousand francs. Would you be surprised to hear +that for thirty years I used to get up at four o'clock +every morning? I've had as much pain as five hundred +devils in making my fortune! And people will +come and tell me I'm not the master, that my money +is not my money; in short, that property is theft!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But Proudhon——"</p> + +<p>"Let me alone with your Proudhon! if he were +here I think I'd strangle him!"</p> + +<p>He would have strangled him. After the intoxicating +drink he had swallowed Fumichon did not know +what he was talking about any longer, and his apoplectic +face was on the point of bursting like a bombshell.</p> + +<p>"Good morrow, Arnoux," said Hussonnet, who +was walking briskly over the grass.</p> + +<p>He brought M. Dambreuse the first leaf of a +pamphlet, bearing the title of "The Hydra," the +Bohemian defending the interests of a reactionary club, +and in that capacity he was introduced by the banker +to his guests.</p> + +<p>Hussonnet amused them by relating how the dealers +in tallow hired three hundred and ninety-two street +boys to bawl out every evening "Lamps,"<a name="FNanchor_H_8" id="FNanchor_H_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_H_8" class="fnanchor">[H]</a> and then +turning into ridicule the principles of '89, the emancipation +of the negroes, and the orators of the Left; +and he even went so far as to do "Prudhomme on +a Barricade," perhaps under the influence of a kind of +jealousy of these rich people who had enjoyed a good +dinner. The caricature did not please them overmuch. +Their faces grew long.</p> + +<p>This, however, was not a time for joking, so +Nonancourt observed, as he recalled the death of +Monseigneur Affre and that of General de Bréa. +These events were being constantly alluded to, and +arguments were constructed out of them. M. Roque +described the archbishop's end as "everything that +one could call sublime." Fumichon gave the palm to +the military personage, and instead of simply ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>pressing +regret for these two murders, they held disputes +with a view to determining which ought to +excite the greatest indignation. A second comparison +was next instituted, namely, between Lamoricière and +Cavaignac, M. Dambreuse glorifying Cavaignac, and +Nonancourt, Lamoricière.</p> + +<p>Not one of the persons present, with the exception +of Arnoux, had ever seen either of them engaged in +the exercise of his profession. None the less, everyone +formulated an irrevocable judgment with reference +to their operations.</p> + +<p>Frederick, however, declined to give an opinion on +the matter, confessing that he had not served as a +soldier. The diplomatist and M. Dambreuse gave him +an approving nod of the head. In fact, to have +fought against the insurrection was to have defended +the Republic. The result, although favourable, consolidated +it; and now they had got rid of the vanquished, +they wanted to be conquerors.</p> + +<p>As soon as they had got out into the garden, +Madame Dambreuse, taking Cisy aside, chided him +for his awkwardness. When she caught sight of +Martinon, she sent him away, and then tried to learn +from her future nephew the cause of his witticisms +at the Vicomte's expense.</p> + +<p>"There's nothing of the kind."</p> + +<p>"And all this, as it were, for the glory of M. +Moreau. What is the object of it?"</p> + +<p>"There's no object. Frederick is a charming fellow. +I am very fond of him."</p> + +<p>"And so am I, too. Let him come here. Go and +look for him!"</p> + +<p>After two or three commonplace phrases, she began +by lightly disparaging her guests, and in this way<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> +she placed him on a higher level than the others. +He did not fail to run down the rest of the ladies +more or less, which was an ingenious way of paying +her compliments. But she left his side from time to +time, as it was a reception-night, and ladies were +every moment arriving; then she returned to her seat, +and the entirely accidental arrangement of the chairs +enabled them to avoid being overheard.</p> + +<p>She showed herself playful and yet grave, melancholy +and yet quite rational. Her daily occupations +interested her very little—there was an order of sentiments +of a less transitory kind. She complained of +the poets, who misrepresent the facts of life, then she +raised her eyes towards heaven, asking of him what +was the name of a star.</p> + +<p>Two or three Chinese lanterns had been suspended +from the trees; the wind shook them, and lines of +coloured light quivered on her white dress. She sat, +after her usual fashion, a little back in her armchair, +with a footstool in front of her. The tip of a black +satin shoe could be seen; and at intervals Madame +Dambreuse allowed a louder word than usual, and +sometimes even a laugh, to escape her.</p> + +<p>These coquetries did not affect Martinon, who was +occupied with Cécile; but they were bound to make +an impression on M. Roque's daughter, who was +chatting with Madame Arnoux. She was the only +member of her own sex present whose manners did +not appear disdainful. Louise came and sat beside +her; then, yielding to the desire to give vent to her +emotions:</p> + +<p>"Does he not talk well—Frederick Moreau, I +mean?"</p> + +<p>"Do you know him?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh! intimately! We are neighbours; and he used +to amuse himself with me when I was quite a little +girl."</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux cast at her a sidelong glance, +which meant:</p> + +<p>"I suppose you are not in love with him?"</p> + +<p>The young girl's face replied with an untroubled +look:</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"You see him often, then?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! only when he comes to his mother's +house. 'Tis ten months now since he came. He +promised, however, to be more particular."</p> + +<p>"The promises of men are not to be too much relied +on, my child."</p> + +<p>"But he has not deceived me!"</p> + +<p>"As he did others!"</p> + +<p>Louise shivered: "Can it be by any chance that +he promised something to her;" and her features became +distracted with distrust and hate.</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux was almost afraid of her; she +would have gladly withdrawn what she had said. +Then both became silent.</p> + +<p>As Frederick was sitting opposite them on a folding-stool, +they kept staring at him, the one with propriety +out of the corner of her eye, the other boldly, with +parted lips, so that Madame Dambreuse said to him:</p> + +<p>"Come, now, turn round, and let her have a good +look at you!"</p> + +<p>"Whom do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Monsieur Roque's daughter!"</p> + +<p>And she rallied him on having won the heart of +this young girl from the provinces. He denied that +this was so, and tried to make a laugh of it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is it credible, I ask you? Such an ugly creature!"</p> + +<p>However, he experienced an intense feeling of +gratified vanity. He recalled to mind the reunion from +which he had returned one night, some time before, +his heart filled with bitter humiliation, and he drew a +deep breath, for it seemed to him that he was now +in the environment that really suited him, as if all +these things, including the Dambreuse mansion, belonged +to himself. The ladies formed a semicircle +around him while they listened to what he was saying, +and in order to create an effect, he declared that +he was in favor of the re-establishment of divorce, +which he maintained should be easily procurable, so +as to enable people to quit one another and come +back to one another without any limit as often as +they liked. They uttered loud protests; a few of them +began to talk in whispers. Little exclamations every +now and then burst forth from the place where the +wall was overshadowed with aristolochia. One would +imagine that it was a mirthful cackling of hens; and +he developed his theory with that self-complacency +which is generated by the consciousness of success. +A man-servant brought into the arbour a tray laden +with ices. The gentlemen drew close together and +began to chat about the recent arrests.</p> + +<p>Thereupon Frederick revenged himself on the +Vicomte by making him believe that he might be prosecuted +as a Legitimist. The other urged by way of +reply that he had not stirred outside his own room. +His adversary enumerated in a heap the possible mischances. +MM. Dambreuse and Grémonville found the +discussion very amusing. Then they paid Frederick +compliments, while expressing regret at the same +time that he did not employ his abilities in the de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>fence +of order. They grasped his hand with the utmost +warmth; he might for the future count on them. +At last, just as everyone was leaving, the Vicomte +made a low bow to Cécile:</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle, I have the honour of wishing you +a very good evening."</p> + +<p>She replied coldly:</p> + +<p>"Good evening." But she gave Martinon a parting +smile.</p> + +<p>Pére Roque, in order to continue the conversation +between himself and Arnoux, offered to see him +home, "as well as Madame"—they were going the +same way. Louise and Frederick walked in front of +them. She had caught hold of his arm; and, when +she was some distance away from the others she said:</p> + +<p>"Ah! at last! at last! I've had enough to bear all +the evening! How nasty those women were! What +haughty airs they had!"</p> + +<p>He made an effort to defend them.</p> + +<p>"First of all, you might certainly have spoken to +me the moment you came in, after being away a +whole year!"</p> + +<p>"It was not a year," said Frederick, glad to be +able to give some sort of rejoinder on this point in +order to avoid the other questions.</p> + +<p>"Be it so; the time appeared very long to me, +that's all. But, during this horrid dinner, one would +think you felt ashamed of me. Ah! I understand—I +don't possess what is needed in order to please as +they do."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken," said Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Really! Swear to me that you don't love anyone!"</p> + +<p>He did swear.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You love nobody but me alone?"</p> + +<p>"I assure you, I do not."</p> + +<p>This assurance filled her with delight. She would +have liked to lose her way in the streets, so that they +might walk about together the whole night.</p> + +<p>"I have been so much tormented down there! +Nothing was talked about but barricades. I imagined +I saw you falling on your back covered with blood! +Your mother was confined to her bed with rheumatism. +She knew nothing about what was happening. +I had to hold my tongue. I could stand it no longer, +so I took Catherine with me."</p> + +<p>And she related to him all about her departure, +her journey, and the lie she told her father.</p> + +<p>"He's bringing me back in two days. Come to-morrow +evening, as if you were merely paying a +casual visit, and take advantage of the opportunity to +ask for my hand in marriage."</p> + +<p>Never had Frederick been further from the idea of +marriage. Besides, Mademoiselle Roque appeared to +him a rather absurd young person. How different +she was from a woman like Madame Dambreuse! A +very different future was in store for him. He had +found reason to-day to feel perfectly certain on that +point; and, therefore, this was not the time to involve +himself, from mere sentimental motives, in a step of +such momentous importance. It was necessary now +to be decisive—and then he had seen Madame Arnoux +once more. Nevertheless he was rather embarrassed +by Louise's candour.</p> + +<p>He said in reply to her last words:</p> + +<p>"Have you considered this matter?"</p> + +<p>"How is that?" she exclaimed, frozen with astonishment +and indignation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> + +<p>He said that to marry at such a time as this +would be a piece of folly.</p> + +<p>"So you don't want to have me?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, you don't understand me!"</p> + +<p>And he plunged into a confused mass of verbiage +in order to impress upon her that he was kept back +by more serious considerations; that he had business +on hand which it would take a long time to dispose +of; that even his inheritance had been placed in +jeopardy (Louise cut all this explanation short with +one plain word); that, last of all, the present political +situation made the thing undesirable. So, then, the +most reasonable course was to wait patiently for some +time. Matters would, no doubt, right themselves—at +least, he hoped so; and, as he could think of no further +grounds to go upon just at that moment, he +pretended to have been suddenly reminded that he +should have been with Dussardier two hours ago.</p> + +<p>Then, bowing to the others, he darted down the +Rue Hauteville, took a turn round the Gymnase, returned +to the boulevard, and quickly rushed up Rosanette's +four flights of stairs.</p> + +<p>M. and Madame Arnoux left Pére Roque and his +daughter at the entrance of the Rue Saint-Denis. +Husband and wife returned home without exchanging +a word, as he was unable to continue chattering any +longer, feeling quite worn out. She even leaned +against his shoulder. He was the only man who had +displayed any honourable sentiments during the evening. +She entertained towards him feelings of the utmost +indulgence. Meanwhile, he cherished a certain +degree of spite against Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Did you notice his face when a question was +asked about the portrait? When I told you that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +was her lover, you did not wish to believe what I +said!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes, I was wrong!"</p> + +<p>Arnoux, gratified with his triumph, pressed the +matter even further.</p> + +<p>"I'd even make a bet that when he left us, a little +while ago, he went to see her again. He's with +her at this moment, you may be sure! He's finishing +the evening with her!"</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux had pulled down her hat very +low.</p> + +<p>"Why, you're shaking all over!"</p> + +<p>"That's because I feel cold!" was her reply.</p> + +<p>As soon as her father was asleep, Louise made her +way into Catherine's room, and, catching her by the +shoulders, shook her.</p> + +<p>"Get up—quick! as quick as ever you can! and +go and fetch a cab for me!"</p> + +<p>Catherine replied that there was not one to be had +at such an hour.</p> + +<p>"Will you come with me yourself there, then?"</p> + +<p>"Where, might I ask?"</p> + +<p>"To Frederick's house!"</p> + +<p>"Impossible! What do you want to go there for?"</p> + +<p>It was in order to have a talk with him. She +could not wait. She must see him immediately.</p> + +<p>"Just think of what you're about to do! To present +yourself this way at a house in the middle of +the night! Besides, he's asleep by this time!"</p> + +<p>"I'll wake him up!"</p> + +<p>"But this is not a proper thing for a young girl +to do!"</p> + +<p>"I am not a young girl—I'm his wife! I love +him! Come—put on your shawl!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span></p> + +<p>Catherine, standing at the side of the bed, was +trying to make up her mind how to act. She said +at last:</p> + +<p>"No! I won't go!"</p> + +<p>"Well, stay behind then! I'll go there by myself!"</p> + +<p>Louise glided like an adder towards the staircase. +Catherine rushed after her, and came up with her on +the footpath outside the house. Her remonstrances +were fruitless; and she followed the girl, fastening +her undervest as she hurried along in the rear. The +walk appeared to her exceedingly tedious. She complained +that her legs were getting weak from age.</p> + +<p>"I'll go on after you—faith, I haven't the same +thing to drive me on that you have!"</p> + +<p>Then she grew softened.</p> + +<p>"Poor soul! You haven't anyone now but your +Catau, don't you see?"</p> + +<p>From time to time scruples took hold of her +mind.</p> + +<p>"Ah, this is a nice thing you're making me do! +Suppose your father happened to wake and miss you! +Lord God, let us hope no misfortune will happen!"</p> + +<p>In front of the Théâtre des Variétés, a patrol of +National Guards stopped them.</p> + +<p>Louise immediately explained that she was going +with her servant to look for a doctor in the Rue +Rumfort. The patrol allowed them to pass on.</p> + +<p>At the corner of the Madeleine they came across a +second patrol, and, Louise having given the same explanation, +one of the National Guards asked in return:</p> + +<p>"Is it for a nine months' ailment, ducky?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, damn it!" exclaimed the captain, "no blackguardisms +in the ranks! Pass on, ladies!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p> + +<p>In spite of the captain's orders, they still kept +cracking jokes.</p> + +<p>"I wish you much joy!"</p> + +<p>"My respects to the doctor!"</p> + +<p>"Mind the wolf!"</p> + +<p>"They like laughing," Catherine remarked in a loud +tone. "That's the way it is to be young."</p> + +<p>At length they reached Frederick's abode.</p> + +<p>Louise gave the bell a vigorous pull, which she repeated +several times. The door opened a little, and, +in answer to her inquiry, the porter said:</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"But he must be in bed!"</p> + +<p>"I tell you he's not. Why, for nearly three months +he has not slept at home!"</p> + +<p>And the little pane of the lodge fell down sharply, +like the blade of a guillotine.</p> + +<p>They remained in the darkness under the archway.</p> + +<p>An angry voice cried out to them:</p> + +<p>"Be off!"</p> + +<p>The door was again opened; they went away.</p> + +<p>Louise had to sit down on a boundary-stone; and +clasping her face with her hands, she wept copious +tears welling up from her full heart. The day was +breaking, and carts were making their way into the +city.</p> + +<p>Catherine led her back home, holding her up, kissing +her, and offering her every sort of consolation +that she could extract from her own experience. +She need not give herself so much trouble about a +lover. If this one failed her, she could find others.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="chapter_xvi" id="chapter_xvi"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">Unpleasant News from Rosanette.</h3> + + +<p><img src="images/i_chxvi.png" width="115" height="125" alt="W" title="" class="illodrop" style="margin-top: -3.5em" />hen Rosanette's enthusiasm for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +Gardes Mobiles had calmed down, +she became more charming than +ever, and Frederick insensibly +glided into the habit of living +with her.</p> + +<p>The best portion of the day was the morning on +the terrace. In a light cambric dress, and with her +stockingless feet thrust into slippers, she kept moving +about him—went and cleaned her canaries' cage, +gave her gold-fishes some water, and with a fire-shovel +did a little amateur gardening in the box filled +with clay, from which arose a trellis of nasturtiums, +giving an attractive look to the wall. Then, resting, +with their elbows on the balcony, they stood side by +side, gazing at the vehicles and the passers-by; and +they warmed themselves in the sunlight, and made +plans for spending the evening. He absented himself +only for two hours at most, and, after that, they +would go to some theatre, where they would get seats +in front of the stage; and Rosanette, with a large +bouquet of flowers in her hand, would listen to the +instruments, while Frederick, leaning close to her ear,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> +would tell her comic or amatory stories. At other +times they took an open carriage to drive to the Bois +de Boulogne. They kept walking about slowly until +the middle of the night. At last they made their way +home through the Arc de Triomphe and the grand +avenue, inhaling the breeze, with the stars above their +heads, and with all the gas-lamps ranged in the +background of the perspective like a double string of +luminous pearls.</p> + +<p>Frederick always waited for her when they were +going out together. She was a very long time fastening +the two ribbons of her bonnet; and she smiled +at herself in the mirror set in the wardrobe; then she +would draw her arm over his, and, making him look +at himself in the glass beside her:</p> + +<p>"We produce a good effect in this way, the two +of us side by side. Ah! my poor darling, I could eat +you!"</p> + +<p>He was now her chattel, her property. She wore +on her face a continuous radiance, while at the same +time she appeared more languishing in manner, more +rounded in figure; and, without being able to explain +in what way, he found her altered, nevertheless.</p> + +<p>One day she informed him, as if it were a very +important bit of news, that my lord Arnoux had +lately set up a linen-draper's shop for a woman who +was formerly employed in his pottery-works. He +used to go there every evening—"he spent a great +deal on it no later than a week ago; he had even +given her a set of rosewood furniture."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?" said Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I'm sure of it."</p> + +<p>Delphine, while carrying out some orders for her, +had made enquiries about the matter, She must, then,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +be much attached to Arnoux to take such a deep +interest in his movements. He contented himself +with saying to her in reply:</p> + +<p>"What does this signify to you?"</p> + +<p>Rosanette looked surprised at this question.</p> + +<p>"Why, the rascal owes me money. Isn't it atrocious +to see him keeping beggars?"</p> + +<p>Then, with an expression of triumphant hate in +her face:</p> + +<p>"Besides, she is having a nice laugh at him. She +has three others on hand. So much the better; and +I'll be glad if she eats him up, even to the last farthing!"</p> + +<p>Arnoux had, in fact, let himself be made use of by +the girl from Bordeaux with the indulgence which +characterises senile attachments. His manufactory +was no longer going on. The entire state of his +affairs was pitiable; so that, in order to set them +afloat again, he was at first projecting the establishment +of a <i>café chantant</i>, at which only patriotic pieces +would be sung. With a grant from the Minister, +this establishment would become at the same time a +focus for the purpose of propagandism and a source +of profit. Now that power had been directed into a +different channel, the thing was impossible.</p> + +<p>His next idea was a big military hat-making +business. He lacked capital, however, to give it a +start.</p> + +<p>He was not more fortunate in his domestic life. +Madame Arnoux was less agreeable in manner towards +him, sometimes even a little rude. Berthe +always took her father's part. This increased the discord, +and the house was becoming intolerable. He +often set forth in the morning, passed his day in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +making long excursions out of the city, in order +to divert his thoughts, then dined at a rustic tavern, +abandoning himself to his reflections.</p> + +<p>The prolonged absence of Frederick disturbed his +habits. Then he presented himself one afternoon, +begged of him to come and see him as in former +days, and obtained from him a promise to do so.</p> + +<p>Frederick did not feel sufficient courage within him +to go back to Madame Arnoux's house. It seemed to +him as if he had betrayed her. But this conduct was +very pusillanimous. There was no excuse for it. +There was only one way of ending the matter, and +so, one evening, he set out on his way.</p> + +<p>As the rain was falling, he had just turned up the +Passage Jouffroy, when, under the light shed from +the shop-windows, a fat little man accosted him. +Frederick had no difficulty in recognising Compain, +that orator whose motion had excited so much laughter +at the club. He was leaning on the arm of an +individual whose head was muffled in a zouave's red +cap, with a very long upper lip, a complexion as +yellow as an orange, a tuft of beard under his jaw, +and big staring eyes listening with wonder.</p> + +<p>Compain was, no doubt, proud of him, for he said:</p> + +<p>"Let me introduce you to this jolly dog! He is +a bootmaker whom I include amongst my friends. +Come and let us take something!"</p> + +<p>Frederick having thanked him, he immediately +thundered against Rateau's motion, which he described +as a manœuvre of the aristocrats. In order to +put an end to it, it would be necessary to begin '93 +over again! Then he enquired about Regimbart +and some others, who were also well known, such +as Masselin, Sanson, Lecornu, Maréchal, and a cer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>tain +Deslauriers, who had been implicated in the case +of the carbines lately intercepted at Troyes.</p> + +<p>All this was new to Frederick. Compain knew +nothing more about the subject. He quitted the +young man with these words:</p> + +<p>"You'll come soon, will you not? for you belong +to it."</p> + +<p>"To what?"</p> + +<p>"The calf's head!"</p> + +<p>"What calf's head?"</p> + +<p>"Ha, you rogue!" returned Compain, giving him +a tap on the stomach.</p> + +<p>And the two terrorists plunged into a café.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later Frederick was no longer thinking +of Deslauriers. He was on the footpath of the +Rue de Paradis in front of a house; and he was staring +at the light which came from a lamp in the second +floor behind a curtain.</p> + +<p>At length he ascended the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Is Arnoux there?"</p> + +<p>The chambermaid answered:</p> + +<p>"No; but come in all the same."</p> + +<p>And, abruptly opening a door:</p> + +<p>"Madame, it is Monsieur Moreau!"</p> + +<p>She arose, whiter than the collar round her neck.</p> + +<p>"To what do I owe the honour—of a visit—so +unexpected?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. The pleasure of seeing old friends once +more."</p> + +<p>And as he took a seat:</p> + +<p>"How is the worthy Arnoux going on?"</p> + +<p>"Very well. He has gone out."</p> + +<p>"Ah, I understand! still following his old nightly +practices. A little distraction!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And why not? After a day spent in making calculations, +the head needs a rest."</p> + +<p>She even praised her husband as a hard-working +man. Frederick was irritated at hearing this eulogy; +and pointing towards a piece of black cloth with a +narrow blue braid which lay on her lap:</p> + +<p>"What is it you are doing there?"</p> + +<p>"A jacket which I am trimming for my daughter."</p> + +<p>"Now that you remind me of it, I have not seen +her. Where is she, pray?"</p> + +<p>"At a boarding-school," was Madame Arnoux's +reply.</p> + +<p>Tears came into her eyes. She held them back, +while she rapidly plied her needle. To keep himself +in countenance, he took up a number of <i>L'Illustration</i> +which had been lying on the table close to where +she sat.</p> + +<p>"These caricatures of Cham are very funny, are +they not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Then they relapsed into silence once more.</p> + +<p>All of a sudden, a fierce gust of wind shook the +window-panes.</p> + +<p>"What weather!" said Frederick.</p> + +<p>"It was very good of you, indeed, to come here +in the midst of this dreadful rain."</p> + +<p>"Oh! what do I care about that? I'm not like +those whom it prevents, no doubt, from going to keep +their appointments."</p> + +<p>"What appointments?" she asked with an ingenuous +air.</p> + +<p>"Don't you remember?"</p> + +<p>A shudder ran through her frame and she hung +down her head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span></p> + +<p>He gently laid his hand on her arm.</p> + +<p>"I assure you that you have given me great pain."</p> + +<p>She replied, with a sort of wail in her voice:</p> + +<p>"But I was frightened about my child."</p> + +<p>She told him about Eugène's illness, and all the +tortures which she had endured on that day.</p> + +<p>"Thanks! thanks! I doubt you no longer. I love +you as much as ever."</p> + +<p>"Ah! no; it is not true!"</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>She glanced at him coldly.</p> + +<p>"You forget the other! the one you took with you +to the races! the woman whose portrait you have—your +mistress!"</p> + +<p>"Well, yes!" exclaimed Frederick, "I don't deny +anything! I am a wretch! Just listen to me!"</p> + +<p>If he had done this, it was through despair, as one +commits suicide. However, he had made her very +unhappy in order to avenge himself on her with his +own shame.</p> + +<p>"What mental anguish! Do you not realise what +it means?"</p> + +<p>Madame Arnoux turned away her beautiful face +while she held out her hand to him; and they closed +their eyes, absorbed in a kind of intoxication that was +like a sweet, ceaseless rocking. Then they stood face +to face, gazing at one another.</p> + +<p>"Could you believe it possible that I no longer +loved you?"</p> + +<p>She replied in a low voice, full of caressing tenderness:</p> + +<p>"No! in spite of everything, I felt at the bottom +of my heart that it was impossible, and that one day +the obstacle between us two would disappear!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So did I; and I was dying to see you again."</p> + +<p>"I once passed close to you in the Palais-Royal!"</p> + +<p>"Did you really?"</p> + +<p>And he spoke to her of the happiness he experienced +at coming across her again at the Dambreuses' +house.</p> + +<p>"But how I hated you that evening as I was leaving +the place!"</p> + +<p>"Poor boy!"</p> + +<p>"My life is so sad!"</p> + +<p>"And mine, too! If it were only the vexations, +the anxieties, the humiliations, all that I endure as +wife and as mother, seeing that one must die, I +would not complain; the frightful part of it is my +solitude, without anyone."</p> + +<p>"But you have me here with you!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! yes!"</p> + +<p>A sob of deep emotion made her bosom swell. +She spread out her arms, and they strained one +another, while their lips met in a long kiss.</p> + +<p>A creaking sound on the floor not far from them +reached their ears. There was a woman standing +close to them; it was Rosanette. Madame Arnoux +had recognised her. Her eyes, opened to their widest, +scanned this woman, full of astonishment and indignation. +At length Rosanette said to her:</p> + +<p>"I have come to see Monsieur Arnoux about a +matter of business."</p> + +<p>"You see he is not here."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's true," returned the Maréchale. "Your +nurse is right! A thousand apologies!"</p> + +<p>And turning towards Frederick:</p> + +<p>"So here you are—you?"</p> + +<p>The familiar tone in which she addressed him, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> +in her own presence, too, made Madame Arnoux +flush as if she had received a slap right across the face.</p> + +<p>"I tell you again, he is not here!"</p> + +<p>Then the Maréchale, who was looking this way +and that, said quietly:</p> + +<p>"Let us go back together! I have a cab waiting +below."</p> + +<p>He pretended not to hear.</p> + +<p>"Come! let us go!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! yes! this is a good opportunity! Go! go!" +said Madame Arnoux.</p> + +<p>They went off together, and she stooped over the +head of the stairs in order to see them once more, +and a laugh—piercing, heart-rending, reached them +from the place where she stood. Frederick pushed +Rosanette into the cab, sat down opposite her, and +during the entire drive did not utter a word.</p> + +<p>The infamy, which it outraged him to see once +more flowing back on him, had been brought about +by himself alone. He experienced at the same time +the dishonour of a crushing humiliation and the regret +caused by the loss of his new-found happiness. Just +when, at last, he had it in his grasp, it had for ever +more become impossible, and that through the fault +of this girl of the town, this harlot. He would have +liked to strangle her. He was choking with rage. +When they had got into the house he flung his hat +on a piece of furniture and tore off his cravat.</p> + +<p>"Ha! you have just done a nice thing—confess it!"</p> + +<p>She planted herself boldly in front of him.</p> + +<p>"Ah! well, what of that? Where's the harm?"</p> + +<p>"What! You are playing the spy on me?"</p> + +<p>"Is that my fault? Why do you go to amuse +yourself with virtuous women?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Never mind! I don't wish you to insult them."</p> + +<p>"How have I insulted them?"</p> + +<p>He had no answer to make to this, and in a more +spiteful tone:</p> + +<p>"But on the other occasion, at the Champ de +Mars——"</p> + +<p>"Ah! you bore us to death with your old +women!"</p> + +<p>"Wretch!"</p> + +<p>He raised his fist.</p> + +<p>"Don't kill me! I'm pregnant!"</p> + +<p>Frederick staggered back.</p> + +<p>"You are lying!"</p> + +<p>"Why, just look at me!"</p> + +<p>She seized a candlestick, and pointing at her face:</p> + +<p>"Don't you recognise the fact there?"</p> + +<p>Little yellow spots dotted her skin, which was +strangely swollen. Frederick did not deny the evidence. +He went to the window, and opened it, took +a few steps up and down the room, and then sank +into an armchair.</p> + +<p>This event was a calamity which, in the first +place, put off their rupture, and, in the next place, +upset all his plans. The notion of being a father, +moreover, appeared to him grotesque, inadmissible. +But why? If, in place of the Maréchale——And +his reverie became so deep that he had a kind of +hallucination. He saw there, on the carpet, in front +of the chimney-piece, a little girl. She resembled +Madame Arnoux and himself a little—dark, and yet +fair, with two black eyes, very large eyebrows, and +a red ribbon in her curling hair. (Oh, how he would +have loved her!) And he seemed to hear her voice +saying: "Papa! papa!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span></p> + +<p>Rosanette, who had just undressed herself, came +across to him, and noticing a tear in his eyelids, +kissed him gravely on the forehead.</p> + +<p>He arose, saying:</p> + +<p>"By Jove, we mustn't kill this little one!"</p> + +<p>Then she talked a lot of nonsense. To be sure, +it would be a boy, and its name would be Frederick. +It would be necessary for her to begin making its +clothes; and, seeing her so happy, a feeling of pity +for her took possession of him. As he no longer +cherished any anger against her, he desired to know +the explanation of the step she had recently taken. +She said it was because Mademoiselle Vatnaz had +sent her that day a bill which had been protested for +some time past; and so she hastened to Arnoux to +get the money from him.</p> + +<p>"I'd have given it to you!" said Frederick.</p> + +<p>"It is a simpler course for me to get over there +what belongs to me, and to pay back to the other +one her thousand francs."</p> + +<p>"Is this really all you owe her?"</p> + +<p>She answered:</p> + +<p>"Certainly!"</p> + +<p>On the following day, at nine o'clock in the evening +(the hour specified by the doorkeeper), Frederick +repaired to Mademoiselle Vatnaz's residence.</p> + +<p>In the anteroom, he jostled against the furniture, +which was heaped together. But the sound of voices +and of music guided him. He opened a door, and +tumbled into the middle of a rout. Standing up before +a piano, which a young lady in spectacles was +fingering, Delmar, as serious as a pontiff, was declaiming +a humanitarian poem on prostitution; and +his hollow voice rolled to the accompaniment of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +metallic chords. A row of women sat close to the +wall, attired, as a rule, in dark colours without neck-bands +or sleeves. Five or six men, all people of culture, +occupied seats here and there. In an armchair +was seated a former writer of fables, a mere wreck +now; and the pungent odour of the two lamps was +intermingled with the aroma of the chocolate which +filled a number of bowls placed on the card-table.</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle Vatnaz, with an Oriental shawl +thrown over her shoulders, sat at one side of the +chimney-piece. Dussardier sat facing her at the other +side. He seemed to feel himself in an embarrassing +position. Besides, he was rather intimidated by his +artistic surroundings. Had the Vatnaz, then, broken +off with Delmar? Perhaps not. However, she seemed +jealous of the worthy shopman; and Frederick, having +asked to let him exchange a word with her, she +made a sign to him to go with them into her own +apartment. When the thousand francs were paid +down before her, she asked, in addition, for interest.</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't worth while," said Dussardier.</p> + +<p>"Pray hold your tongue!"</p> + +<p>This want of moral courage on the part of so +brave a man was agreeable to Frederick as a justification +of his own conduct. He took away the bill +with him, and never again referred to the scandal at +Madame Arnoux's house. But from that time forth +he saw clearly all the defects in the Maréchale's character.</p> + +<p>She possessed incurable bad taste, incomprehensible +laziness, the ignorance of a savage, so much so +that she regarded Doctor Derogis as a person of great +celebrity, and she felt proud of entertaining himself +and his wife, because they were "married people."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> +She lectured with a pedantic air on the affairs of +daily life to Mademoiselle Irma, a poor little creature +endowed with a little voice, who had as a protector +a gentleman "very well off," an ex-clerk in the Custom-house, +who had a rare talent for card tricks. +Rosanette used to call him "My big Loulou." Frederick +could no longer endure the repetition of her +stupid words, such as "Some custard," "To Chaillot," +"One could never know," etc.; and she persisted +in wiping off the dust in the morning from her +trinkets with a pair of old white gloves. He was +above all disgusted by her treatment of her servant, +whose wages were constantly in arrear, and who +even lent her money. On the days when they settled +their accounts, they used to wrangle like two fish-women; +and then, on becoming reconciled, used to +embrace each other. It was a relief to him when +Madame Dambreuse's evening parties began again.</p> + +<p>There, at any rate, he found something to amuse +him. She was well versed in the intrigues of society, +the changes of ambassadors, the personal character +of dressmakers; and, if commonplaces escaped +her lips, they did so in such a becoming fashion, +that her language might be regarded as the expression +of respect for propriety or of polite irony. It +was worth while to watch the way in which, in the +midst of twenty persons chatting around her, she +would, without overlooking any of them, bring about +the answers she desired and avoid those that were +dangerous. Things of a very simple nature, when +related by her, assumed the aspect of confidences. +Her slightest smile gave rise to dreams; in short, her +charm, like the exquisite scent which she usually +carried about with her, was complex and indefinable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p> + +<p>While he was with her, Frederick experienced on +each occasion the pleasure of a new discovery, and, +nevertheless, he always found her equally serene the +next time they met, like the reflection of limpid waters.</p> + +<p>But why was there such coldness in her manner +towards her niece? At times she even darted strange +looks at her.</p> + +<p>As soon as the question of marriage was started, +she had urged as an objection to it, when discussing +the matter with M. Dambreuse, the state of "the +dear child's" health, and had at once taken her off +to the baths of Balaruc. On her return fresh pretexts +were raised by her—that the young man was +not in a good position, that this ardent passion did +not appear to be a very serious attachment, and that +no risk would be run by waiting. Martinon had replied, +when the suggestion was made to him, that +he would wait. His conduct was sublime. He lectured +Frederick. He did more. He enlightened him +as to the best means of pleasing Madame Dambreuse, +even giving him to understand that he had ascertained +from the niece the sentiments of her aunt.</p> + +<p>As for M. Dambreuse, far from exhibiting jealousy, +he treated his young friend with the utmost attention, +consulted him about different things, and even showed +anxiety about his future, so that one day, when they +were talking about Père Roque, he whispered with a +sly air:</p> + +<p>"You have done well."</p> + +<p>And Cécile, Miss John, the servants and the +porter, every one of them exercised a fascination over +him in this house. He came there every evening, +quitting Rosanette for that purpose. Her approaching +maternity rendered her graver in manner, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +even a little melancholy, as if she were tortured by +anxieties. To every question put to her she replied:</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken; I am quite well."</p> + +<p>She had, as a matter of fact, signed five notes in +her previous transactions, and not having the courage +to tell Frederick after the first had been paid, she +had gone back to the abode of Arnoux, who had +promised her, in writing, the third part of his profits +in the lighting of the towns of Languedoc by gas (a +marvellous undertaking!), while requesting her not to +make use of this letter at the meeting of shareholders. +The meeting was put off from week to week.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Maréchale wanted money. She +would have died sooner than ask Frederick for any. +She did not wish to get it from him; it would have +spoiled their love. He contributed a great deal to the +household expenses; but a little carriage, which he +hired by the month, and other sacrifices, which +were indispensable since he had begun to visit the +Dambreuses, prevented him from doing more for +his mistress. On two or three occasions, when he +came back to the house at a different hour from his +usual time, he fancied he could see men's backs disappearing +behind the door, and she often went out +without wishing to state where she was going. +Frederick did not attempt to enquire minutely into +these matters. One of these days he would make up +his mind as to his future course of action. He +dreamed of another life which would be more amusing +and more noble. It was the fact that he had such +an ideal before his mind that rendered him indulgent +towards the Dambreuse mansion.</p> + +<p>It was an establishment in the neighbourhood of +the Rue de Poitiers. There he met the great M. A.,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> +the illustrious B., the profound C., the eloquent +Z., the immense Y., the old terrors of the Left +Centre, the paladins of the Right, the burgraves of +the golden mean; the eternal good old men of the +comedy. He was astonished at their abominable style +of talking, their meannesses, their rancours, their dishonesty—all +these personages, after voting for the +Constitution, now striving to destroy it; and they got +into a state of great agitation, and launched forth +manifestoes, pamphlets, and biographies. Hussonnet's +biography of Fumichon was a masterpiece. Nonancourt +devoted himself to the work of propagandism +in the country districts; M. de Grémonville worked +up the clergy; and Martinon brought together the +young men of the wealthy class. Each exerted himself +according to his resources, including Cisy himself. +With his thoughts now all day long absorbed in +matters of grave moment, he kept making excursions +here and there in a cab in the interests of the party.</p> + +<p>M. Dambreuse, like a barometer, constantly gave +expression to its latest variation. Lamartine could +not be alluded to without eliciting from this gentleman +the quotation of a famous phrase of the man of +the people: "Enough of poetry!" Cavaignac was, +from this time forth, nothing better in his eyes than +a traitor. The President, whom he had admired for +a period of three months, was beginning to fall off +in his esteem (as he did not appear to exhibit the +"necessary energy"); and, as he always wanted a +savior, his gratitude, since the affair of the Conservatoire, +belonged to Changarnier: "Thank God for +Changarnier.... Let us place our reliance on +Changarnier.... Oh, there's nothing to fear as +long as Changarnier——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p> + +<p>M. Thiers was praised, above all, for his volume +against Socialism, in which he showed that he was +quite as much of a thinker as a writer. There was +an immense laugh at Pierre Leroux, who had quoted +passages from the philosophers in the Chamber. +Jokes were made about the phalansterian tail. The +"Market of Ideas" came in for a meed of applause, +and its authors were compared to Aristophanes. +Frederick patronised the work as well as the rest.</p> + +<p>Political verbiage and good living had an enervating +effect on his morality. Mediocre in capacity as +these persons appeared to him, he felt proud of knowing +them, and internally longed for the respectability +that attached to a wealthy citizen. A mistress like +Madame Dambreuse would give him a position.</p> + +<p>He set about taking the necessary steps for achieving +that object.</p> + +<p>He made it his business to cross her path, did +not fail to go and greet her with a bow in her box +at the theatre, and, being aware of the hours when +she went to church, he would plant himself behind a +pillar in a melancholy attitude. There was a continual +interchange of little notes between them with regard +to curiosities to which they drew each other's +attention, preparations for a concert, or the borrowing +of books or reviews. In addition to his visit each +night, he sometimes made a call just as the day was +closing; and he experienced a progressive succession +of pleasures in passing through the large front entrance, +through the courtyard, through the anteroom, +and through the two reception-rooms. Finally, he +reached her boudoir, which was as quiet as a tomb, +as warm as an alcove, and in which one jostled +against the upholstered edging of furniture in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> +midst of objects of every sort placed here and there—chiffoniers, +screens, bowls, and trays made of lacquer, +or shell, or ivory, or malachite, expensive +trifles, to which fresh additions were frequently made. +Amongst single specimens of these rarities might be +noticed three Etretat rollers which were used as +paper-presses, and a Frisian cap hung from a Chinese +folding-screen. Nevertheless, there was a harmony +between all these things, and one was even impressed +by the noble aspect of the entire place, which was, +no doubt, due to the loftiness of the ceiling, the richness +of the portières, and the long silk fringes that +floated over the gold legs of the stools.</p> + +<p>She nearly always sat on a little sofa, close to the +flower-stand, which garnished the recess of the window. +Frederick, seating himself on the edge of a +large wheeled ottoman, addressed to her compliments +of the most appropriate kind that he could conceive; +and she looked at him, with her head a little on one +side, and a smile playing round her mouth.</p> + +<p>He read for her pieces of poetry, into which he +threw his whole soul in order to move her and excite +her admiration. She would now and then interrupt +him with a disparaging remark or a practical +observation; and their conversation relapsed incessantly +into the eternal question of Love. They discussed +with each other what were the circumstances +that produced it, whether women felt it more than +men, and what was the difference between them on +that point. Frederick tried to express his opinion, +and, at the same time, to avoid anything like coarseness +or insipidity. This became at length a species +of contest between them, sometimes agreeable and at +other times tedious.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span></p> + +<p>Whilst at her side, he did not experience that +ravishment of his entire being which drew him towards +Madame Arnoux, nor the feeling of voluptuous +delight with which Rosanette had, at first, inspired +him. But he felt a passion for her as a thing that +was abnormal and difficult of attainment, because she +was of aristocratic rank, because she was wealthy, +because she was a devotee—imagining that she had +a delicacy of sentiment as rare as the lace she wore, together +with amulets on her skin, and modest instincts +even in her depravity.</p> + +<p>He made a certain use of his old passion for Madame +Arnoux, uttering in his new flame's hearing all +those amorous sentiments which the other had caused +him to feel in downright earnest, and pretending that +it was Madame Dambreuse herself who had occasioned +them. She received these avowals like one accustomed +to such things, and, without giving him a +formal repulse, did not yield in the slightest degree; +and he came no nearer to seducing her than Martinon +did to getting married. In order to bring matters to +an end with her niece's suitor, she accused him of +having money for his object, and even begged of her +husband to put the matter to the test. M. Dambreuse +then declared to the young man that Cécile, being +the orphan child of poor parents, had neither expectations +nor a dowry.</p> + +<p>Martinon, not believing that this was true, or feeling +that he had gone too far to draw back, or +through one of those outbursts of idiotic infatuation +which may be described as acts of genius, replied +that his patrimony, amounting to fifteen thousand +francs a year, would be sufficient for them. The +banker was touched by this unexpected display of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> +disinterestedness. He promised the young man a tax-collectorship, +undertaking to obtain the post for him; +and in the month of May, 1850, Martinon married +Mademoiselle Cécile. There was no ball to celebrate +the event. The young people started the same evening +for Italy. Frederick came next day to pay a +visit to Madame Dambreuse. She appeared to him +paler than usual. She sharply contradicted him about +two or three matters of no importance. However, +she went on to observe, all men were egoists.</p> + +<p>There were, however, some devoted men, though +he might happen himself to be the only one.</p> + +<p>"Pooh, pooh! you're just like the rest of them!"</p> + +<p>Her eyelids were red; she had been weeping.</p> + +<p>Then, forcing a smile:</p> + +<p>"Pardon me; I am in the wrong. Sad thoughts +have taken possession of my mind."</p> + +<p>He could not understand what she meant to convey +by the last words.</p> + +<p>"No matter! she is not so hard to overcome as I +imagined," he thought.</p> + +<p>She rang for a glass of water, drank a mouthful +of it, sent it away again, and then began to complain +of the wretched way in which her servants attended +on her. In order to amuse her, he offered to become +her servant himself, pretending that he knew +how to hand round plates, dust furniture, and announce +visitors—in fact, to do the duties of a <i>valet-de-chambre</i>, +or, rather, of a running-footman, although +the latter was now out of fashion. He would have +liked to cling on behind her carriage with a hat +adorned with cock's feathers.</p> + +<p>"And how I would follow you with majestic +stride, carrying your pug on my arm!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You are facetious," said Madame Dambreuse.</p> + +<p>Was it not a piece of folly, he returned, to take +everything seriously? There were enough of miseries +in the world without creating fresh ones. Nothing +was worth the cost of a single pang. Madame Dambreuse +raised her eyelids with a sort of vague approval.</p> + +<p>This agreement in their views of life impelled +Frederick to take a bolder course. His former miscalculations +now gave him insight. He went on:</p> + +<p>"Our grandsires lived better. Why not obey the +impulse that urges us onward?" After all, love was +not a thing of such importance in itself.</p> + +<p>"But what you have just said is immoral!"</p> + +<p>She had resumed her seat on the little sofa. He +sat down at the side of it, near her feet.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see that I am lying! For in order to +please women, one must exhibit the thoughtlessness +of a buffoon or all the wild passion of tragedy! +They only laugh at us when we simply tell them +that we love them! For my part, I consider those +hyperbolical phrases which tickle their fancy a profanation +of true love, so that it is no longer possible +to give expression to it, especially when addressing +women who possess more than ordinary intelligence."</p> + +<p>She gazed at him from under her drooping eyelids. +He lowered his voice, while he bent his head +closer to her face.</p> + +<p>"Yes! you frighten me! Perhaps I am offending +you? Forgive me! I did not intend to say all that I +have said! 'Tis not my fault! You are so beautiful!"</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse closed her eyes, and he was +astonished at his easy victory. The tall trees in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> +clouds streaked the sky with long strips of red, and +on every side there seemed to be a suspension of +vital movements. Then he recalled to mind, in a +confused sort of way, evenings just the same as this, +filled with the same unbroken silence. Where was it +that he had known them?</p> + +<p>He sank upon his knees, seized her hand, and +swore that he would love her for ever. Then, as he +was leaving her, she beckoned to him to come back, +and said to him in a low tone:</p> + +<p>"Come by-and-by and dine with us! We'll be +all alone!"</p> + +<p>It seemed to Frederick, as he descended the +stairs, that he had become a different man, that he +was surrounded by the balmy temperature of hot-houses, +and that he was beyond all question entering +into the higher sphere of patrician adulteries and lofty +intrigues. In order to occupy the first rank there all +he required was a woman of this stamp. Greedy, no +doubt, of power and of success, and married to a +man of inferior calibre, for whom she had done prodigious +services, she longed for some one of ability +in order to be his guide. Nothing was impossible +now. He felt himself capable of riding two hundred +leagues on horseback, of travelling for several nights +in succession without fatigue. His heart overflowed +with pride.</p> + +<p>Just in front of him, on the footpath, a man +wrapped in a seedy overcoat was walking, with +downcast eyes, and with such an air of dejection +that Frederick, as he passed, turned aside to have +a better look at him. The other raised his head. It +was Deslauriers. He hesitated. Frederick fell upon +his neck.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah! my poor old friend! What! 'tis you!"</p> + +<p>And he dragged Deslauriers into his house, at the +same time asking his friend a heap of questions.</p> + +<p>Ledru-Rollin's ex-commissioner commenced by +describing the tortures to which he had been subjected. +As he preached fraternity to the Conservatives, +and respect for the laws to the Socialists, the +former tried to shoot him, and the latter brought +cords to hang him with. After June he had been +brutally dismissed. He found himself involved in a +charge of conspiracy—that which was connected with +the seizure of arms at Troyes. He had subsequently +been released for want of evidence to sustain the +charge. Then the acting committee had sent him to +London, where his ears had been boxed in the very +middle of a banquet at which he and his colleagues +were being entertained. On his return to Paris——</p> + +<p>"Why did you not call here, then, to see me?"</p> + +<p>"You were always out! Your porter had mysterious +airs—I did not know what to think; and, in +the next place, I had no desire to reappear before +you in the character of a defeated man."</p> + +<p>He had knocked at the portals of Democracy, offering +to serve it with his pen, with his tongue, with +all his energies. He had been everywhere repelled. +They had mistrusted him; and he had sold his watch, +his bookcase, and even his linen.</p> + +<p>"It would be much better to be breaking one's +back on the pontoons of Belle Isle with Sénécal!"</p> + +<p>Frederick, who had been fastening his cravat, did +not appear to be much affected by this news.</p> + +<p>"Ha! so he is transported, this good Sénécal?"</p> + +<p>Deslauriers replied, while he surveyed the walls +with an envious air:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not everybody has your luck!"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me," said Frederick, without noticing +the allusion to his own circumstances, "but I am +dining in the city. We must get you something to +eat; order whatever you like. Take even my bed!"</p> + +<p>This cordial reception dissipated Deslauriers' bitterness.</p> + +<p>"Your bed? But that might inconvenience you!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! I have others!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, all right!" returned the advocate, with a +laugh. "Pray, where are you dining?"</p> + +<p>"At Madame Dambreuse's."</p> + +<p>"Can it be that you are—perhaps——?"</p> + +<p>"You are too inquisitive," said Frederick, with a +smile, which confirmed this hypothesis.</p> + +<p>Then, after a glance at the clock, he resumed his +seat.</p> + +<p>"That's how it is! and we mustn't despair, my +ex-defender of the people!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, pardon me; let others bother themselves +about the people henceforth!"</p> + +<p>The advocate detested the working-men, because +he had suffered so much on their account in his +province, a coal-mining district. Every pit had appointed +a provisional government, from which he received +orders.</p> + +<p>"Besides, their conduct has been everywhere +charming—at Lyons, at Lille, at Havre, at Paris! +For, in imitation of the manufacturers, who would +fain exclude the products of the foreigner, these gentlemen +call on us to banish the English, German, +Belgian, and Savoyard workmen. As for their intelligence, +what was the use of that precious trades' +union of theirs which they established under the Res<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>toration? +In 1830 they joined the National Guard, +without having the common sense to get the upper +hand of it. Is it not the fact that, since the morning +when 1848 dawned, the various trade-bodies had not +reappeared with their banners? They have even demanded +popular representatives for themselves, who +are not to open their lips except on their own behalf. +All this is the same as if the deputies who represent +beetroot were to concern themselves about nothing +save beetroot. Ah! I've had enough of these dodgers +who in turn prostrate themselves before the scaffold +of Robespierre, the boots of the Emperor, and the +umbrella of Louis Philippe—a rabble who always +yield allegiance to the person that flings bread into +their mouths. They are always crying out against +the venality of Talleyrand and Mirabeau; but the messenger +down below there would sell his country for +fifty centimes if they'd only promise to fix a tariff of +three francs on his walk. Ah! what a wretched state +of affairs! We ought to set the four corners of +Europe on fire!"</p> + +<p>Frederick said in reply:</p> + +<p>"The spark is what you lack! You were simply +a lot of shopboys, and even the best of you were +nothing better than penniless students. As for the +workmen, they may well complain; for, if you except +a million taken out of the civil list, and of +which you made a grant to them with the meanest +expressions of flattery, you have done nothing for +them, save to talk in stilted phrases! The workman's +certificate remains in the hands of the employer, and +the person who is paid wages remains (even in the +eye of the law), the inferior of his master, because +his word is not believed. In short, the Republic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +seems to me a worn-out institution. Who knows? +Perhaps Progress can be realised only through an +aristocracy or through a single man? The initiative +always comes from the top, and whatever may be +the people's pretensions, they are lower than those +placed over them!"</p> + +<p>"That may be true," said Deslauriers.</p> + +<p>According to Frederick, the vast majority of citizens +aimed only at a life of peace (he had been improved +by his visits to the Dambreuses), and the +chances were all on the side of the Conservatives. +That party, however, was lacking in new men.</p> + +<p>"If you came forward, I am sure——"</p> + +<p>He did not finish the sentence. Deslauriers saw +what Frederick meant, and passed his two hands +over his head; then, all of a sudden:</p> + +<p>"But what about yourself? Is there anything to +prevent you from doing it? Why would you not be +a deputy?"</p> + +<p>In consequence of a double election there was in +the Aube a vacancy for a candidate. M. Dambreuse, +who had been re-elected as a member of the Legislative +Assembly, belonged to a different arrondissement.</p> + +<p>"Do you wish me to interest myself on your behalf?" +He was acquainted with many publicans, +schoolmasters, doctors, notaries' clerks and their masters. +"Besides, you can make the peasants believe +anything you like!"</p> + +<p>Frederick felt his ambition rekindling.</p> + +<p>Deslauriers added:</p> + +<p>"You would find no trouble in getting a situation +for me in Paris."</p> + +<p>"Oh! it would not be hard to manage it through +Monsieur Dambreuse."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As we happened to have been talking just now +about coal-mines," the advocate went on, "what has +become of his big company? This is the sort of employment +that would suit me, and I could make myself +useful to them while preserving my own +independence."</p> + +<p>Frederick promised that he would introduce him +to the banker before three days had passed.</p> + +<p>The dinner, which he enjoyed alone with Madame +Dambreuse, was a delightful affair. She sat facing +him with a smile on her countenance at the opposite +side of the table, whereon was placed a basket of +flowers, while a lamp suspended above their heads +shed its light on the scene; and, as the window was +open, they could see the stars. They talked very +little, distrusting themselves, no doubt; but, the moment +the servants had turned their backs, they sent +across a kiss to one another from the tips of their +lips. He told her about his idea of becoming a candidate. +She approved of the project, promising even +to get M. Dambreuse to use every effort on his behalf.</p> + +<p>As the evening advanced, some of her friends presented +themselves for the purpose of congratulating +her, and, at the same time, expressing sympathy with +her; she must be so much pained at the loss of her +niece. Besides, it was all very well for newly-married +people to go on a trip; by-and-by would come +incumbrances, children. But really, Italy did not realise +one's expectations. They had not as yet passed +the age of illusions; and, in the next place, the +honeymoon made everything look beautiful. The last +two who remained behind were M. de Grémonville +and Frederick. The diplomatist was not inclined to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> +leave. At last he departed at midnight. Madame +Dambreuse beckoned to Frederick to go with him, +and thanked him for this compliance with her wishes +by giving him a gentle pressure with her hand more +delightful than anything that had gone before.</p> + +<p>The Maréchale uttered an exclamation of joy on +seeing him again. She had been waiting for him for +the last five hours. He gave as an excuse for the +delay an indispensable step which he had to take in +the interests of Deslauriers. His face wore a look of +triumph, and was surrounded by an aureola which +dazzled Rosanette.</p> + +<p>"'Tis perhaps on account of your black coat, +which fits you well; but I have never seen you look +so handsome! How handsome you are!"</p> + +<p>In a transport of tenderness, she made a vow internally +never again to belong to any other man, no +matter what might be the consequence, even if she +were to die of want.</p> + +<p>Her pretty eyes sparkled with such intense passion +that Frederick took her upon his knees and said +to himself:</p> + +<p>"What a rascally part I am playing!" while admiring +his own perversity.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="chapter_xvii" id="chapter_xvii"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">A Strange Betrothal.</h3> + + + +<p><img src="images/i_chxvii.png" width="118" height="125" alt="M" title="" class="illodrop" style="margin-top: -3.5em" /> Dambreuse, when Deslauriers presented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> +himself at his house, was +thinking of reviving his great coal-mining +speculation. But this fusion +of all the companies into one was +looked upon unfavourably; there was +an outcry against monopolies, as if immense capital +were not needed for carrying out enterprises of this +kind!</p> + +<p>Deslauriers, who had read for the purpose the +work of Gobet and the articles of M. Chappe in the +<i>Journal des Mines</i>, understood the question perfectly. +He demonstrated that the law of 1810 established for +the benefit of the grantee a privilege which could +not be transferred. Besides, a democratic colour +might be given to the undertaking. To interfere +with the formation of coal-mining companies was +against the principle even of association.</p> + +<p>M. Dambreuse intrusted to him some notes for +the purpose of drawing up a memorandum. As for +the way in which he meant to pay for the work, he +was all the more profuse in his promises from the +fact that they were not very definite.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span></p> + +<p>Deslauriers called again at Frederick's house, and +gave him an account of the interview. Moreover, he +had caught a glimpse of Madame Dambreuse at the +bottom of the stairs, just as he was going out.</p> + +<p>"I wish you joy—upon my soul, I do!"</p> + +<p>Then they had a chat about the election. There +was something to be devised in order to carry it.</p> + +<p>Three days later Deslauriers reappeared with a +sheet of paper covered with handwriting, intended +for the newspapers, and which was nothing less than +a friendly letter from M. Dambreuse, expressing approval +of their friend's candidature. Supported by a +Conservative and praised by a Red, he ought to succeed. +How was it that the capitalist had put his +signature to such a lucubration? The advocate had, +of his own motion, and without the least appearance +of embarrassment, gone and shown it to Madame +Dambreuse, who, thinking it quite appropriate, had +taken the rest of the business on her own shoulders.</p> + +<p>Frederick was astonished at this proceeding. +Nevertheless, he approved of it; then, as Deslauriers +was to have an interview with M. Roque, his friend +explained to him how he stood with regard to +Louise.</p> + +<p>"Tell them anything you like; that my affairs are +in an unsettled state, that I am putting them in order. +She is young enough to wait!"</p> + +<p>Deslauriers set forth, and Frederick looked upon +himself as a very able man. He experienced, moreover, +a feeling of gratification, a profound satisfaction. +His delight at being the possessor of a rich +woman was not spoiled by any contrast. The sentiment +harmonised with the surroundings. His life +now would be full of joy in every sense.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span></p> + +<p>Perhaps the most delicious sensation of all was +to gaze at Madame Dambreuse in the midst of a +number of other ladies in her drawing-room. The +propriety of her manners made him dream of other +attitudes. While she was talking in a tone of coldness, +he would recall to mind the loving words +which she had murmured in his ear. All the respect +which he felt for her virtue gave him a thrill of +pleasure, as if it were a homage which was reflected +back on himself; and at times he felt a longing to +exclaim:</p> + +<p>"But I know her better than you! She is mine!"</p> + +<p>It was not long ere their relations came to be +socially recognised as an established fact. Madame +Dambreuse, during the whole winter, brought Frederick +with her into fashionable society.</p> + +<p>He nearly always arrived before her; and he +watched her as she entered the house they were +visiting with her arms uncovered, a fan in her +hand, and pearls in her hair. She would pause on +the threshold (the lintel of the door formed a framework +round her head), and she would open and +shut her eyes with a certain air of indecision, in order +to see whether he was there.</p> + +<p>She drove him back in her carriage; the rain +lashed the carriage-blinds. The passers-by seemed +merely shadows wavering in the mire of the street; +and, pressed close to each other, they observed all +these things vaguely with a calm disdain. Under +various pretexts, he would linger in her room for an +entire additional hour.</p> + +<p>It was chiefly through a feeling of ennui that +Madame Dambreuse had yielded. But this latest experience +was not to be wasted. She desired to give<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> +herself up to an absorbing passion; and so she began +to heap on his head adulations and caresses.</p> + +<p>She sent him flowers; she had an upholstered +chair made for him. She made presents to him of a +cigar-holder, an inkstand, a thousand little things for +daily use, so that every act of his life should recall +her to his memory. These kind attentions charmed +him at first, and in a little while appeared to him +very simple.</p> + +<p>She would step into a cab, get rid of it at the +opening into a by-way, and come out at the other +end; and then, gliding along by the walls, with a +double veil on her face, she would reach the street +where Frederick, who had been keeping watch, would +take her arm quickly to lead her towards his house. +His two men-servants would have gone out for a +walk, and the doorkeeper would have been sent on +some errand. She would throw a glance around her—nothing +to fear!—and she would breathe forth the +sigh of an exile who beholds his country once more. +Their good fortune emboldened them. Their appointments +became more frequent. One evening, she even +presented herself, all of a sudden, in full ball-dress. +These surprises might have perilous consequences. +He reproached her for her lack of prudence. Nevertheless, +he was not taken with her appearance. The +low body of her dress exposed her thinness too +freely.</p> + +<p>It was then that he discovered what had hitherto +been hidden from him—the disillusion of his senses. +None the less did he make professions of ardent love; +but in order to call up such emotions he found it +necessary to evoke the images of Rosanette and Madame +Arnoux.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p> + +<p>This sentimental atrophy left his intellect entirely +untrammelled; and he was more ambitious than ever +of attaining a high position in society. Inasmuch as +he had such a stepping-stone, the very least he could +do was to make use of it.</p> + +<p>One morning, about the middle of January, Sénécal +entered his study, and in response to his exclamation +of astonishment, announced that he was +Deslauriers' secretary. He even brought Frederick a +letter. It contained good news, and yet it took him +to task for his negligence; he would have to come +down to the scene of action at once. The future +deputy said he would set out on his way there in +two days' time.</p> + +<p>Sénécal gave no opinion on the other's merits as a +candidate. He spoke about his own concerns and +about the affairs of the country.</p> + +<p>Miserable as the state of things happened to be, +it gave him pleasure, for they were advancing in the +direction of Communism. In the first place, the Administration +led towards it of its own accord, since +every day a greater number of things were controlled +by the Government. As for Property, the Constitution +of '48, in spite of its weaknesses, had not spared +it. The State might, in the name of public utility, +henceforth take whatever it thought would suit it. +Sénécal declared himself in favour of authority; and +Frederick noticed in his remarks the exaggeration +which characterised what he had said himself to Deslauriers. +The Republican even inveighed against the +masses for their inadequacy.</p> + +<p>"Robespierre, by upholding the right of the +minority, had brought Louis XVI. to acknowledge +the National Convention, and saved the people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +Things were rendered legitimate by the end towards +which they were directed. A dictatorship is sometimes +indispensable. Long live tyranny, provided +that the tyrant promotes the public welfare!"</p> + +<p>Their discussion lasted a long time; and, as he +was taking his departure, Sénécal confessed (perhaps +it was the real object of his visit) that Deslauriers +was getting very impatient at M. Dambreuse's silence.</p> + +<p>But M. Dambreuse was ill. Frederick saw him +every day, his character of an intimate friend enabling +him to obtain admission to the invalid's bedside.</p> + +<p>General Changarnier's recall had powerfully affected +the capitalist's mind. He was, on the evening of the +occurrence, seized with a burning sensation in his +chest, together with an oppression that prevented +him from lying down. The application of leeches +gave him immediate relief. The dry cough disappeared; +the respiration became more easy; and, eight +days later, he said, while swallowing some broth:</p> + +<p>"Ah! I'm better now—but I was near going on +the last long journey!"</p> + +<p>"Not without me!" exclaimed Madame Dambreuse, +intending by this remark to convey that she would +not be able to outlive him.</p> + +<p>Instead of replying, he cast upon her and upon +her lover a singular smile, in which there was at the +same time resignation, indulgence, irony, and even, +as it were, a touch of humour, a sort of secret satisfaction +almost amounting to actual joy.</p> + +<p>Frederick wished to start for Nogent. Madame +Dambreuse objected to this; and he unpacked and re-packed +his luggage by turns according to the changes +in the invalid's condition.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p> + +<p>Suddenly M. Dambreuse spat forth considerable +blood. The "princes of medical science," on being +consulted, could not think of any fresh remedy. His +legs swelled, and his weakness increased. He had +several times evinced a desire to see Cécile, who was +at the other end of France with her husband, now a +collector of taxes, a position to which he had been +appointed a month ago. M. Dambreuse gave express +orders to send for her. Madame Dambreuse wrote +three letters, which she showed him.</p> + +<p>Without trusting him even to the care of the nun, +she did not leave him for one second, and no longer +went to bed. The ladies who had their names entered +at the door-lodge made enquiries about her +with feelings of admiration, and the passers-by were +filled with respect on seeing the quantity of straw +which was placed in the street under the windows.</p> + +<p>On the 12th of February, at five o'clock, a frightful +hæmoptysis came on. The doctor who had charge +of him pointed out that the case had assumed a dangerous +aspect. They sent in hot haste for a priest.</p> + +<p>While M. Dambreuse was making his confession, +Madame kept gazing curiously at him some distance +away. After this, the young doctor applied a blister, +and awaited the result.</p> + +<p>The flame of the lamps, obscured by some of the +furniture, lighted up the apartment in an irregular +fashion. Frederick and Madame Dambreuse, at the +foot of the bed, watched the dying man. In the +recess of a window the priest and the doctor chatted +in low tones. The good sister on her knees kept +mumbling prayers.</p> + +<p>At last came a rattling in the throat. The hands +grew cold; the face began to turn white. Now and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +then he drew a deep breath all of a sudden; but +gradually this became rarer and rarer. Two or three +confused words escaped him. He turned his eyes +upward, and at the same moment his respiration became +so feeble that it was almost imperceptible. +Then his head sank on one side on the pillow.</p> + +<p>For a minute, all present remained motionless.</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse advanced towards the dead +body of her husband, and, without an effort—with +the unaffectedness of one discharging a duty—she +drew down the eyelids. Then she spread out her +two arms, her figure writhing as if in a spasm of repressed +despair, and quitted the room, supported by +the physician and the nun.</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour afterwards, Frederick made +his way up to her apartment.</p> + +<p>There was in it an indefinable odour, emanating +from some delicate substances with which it was +filled. In the middle of the bed lay a black dress, +which formed a glaring contrast with the pink coverlet.</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse was standing at the corner of +the mantelpiece. Without attributing to her any passionate +regret, he thought she looked a little sad; +and, in a mournful voice, he said:</p> + +<p>"You are enduring pain?"</p> + +<p>"I? No—not at all."</p> + +<p>As she turned around, her eyes fell on the dress, +which she inspected. Then she told him not to +stand on ceremony.</p> + +<p>"Smoke, if you like! You can make yourself at +home with me!"</p> + +<p>And, with a great sigh:</p> + +<p>"Ah! Blessed Virgin!—what a riddance!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p> + +<p>Frederick was astonished at this exclamation. He +replied, as he kissed her hand:</p> + +<p>"All the same, you were free!"</p> + +<p>This allusion to the facility with which the intrigue +between them had been carried on hurt Madame +Dambreuse.</p> + +<p>"Ah! you don't know the services that I did for +him, or the misery in which I lived!"</p> + +<p>"What!"</p> + +<p>"Why, certainly! Was it a safe thing to have +always near him that bastard, a daughter, whom he +introduced into the house at the end of five years of +married life, and who, were it not for me, might +have led him into some act of folly?"</p> + +<p>Then she explained how her affairs stood. The +arrangement on the occasion of her marriage was +that the property of each party should be separate.<a name="FNanchor_I_9" id="FNanchor_I_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_I_9" class="fnanchor">[I]</a> +The amount of her inheritance was three hundred +thousand francs. M. Dambreuse had guaranteed by +the marriage contract that in the event of her surviving +him, she should have an income of fifteen thousand +francs a year, together with the ownership of +the mansion. But a short time afterwards he had +made a will by which he gave her all he possessed, +and this she estimated, so far as it was possible to +ascertain just at present, at over three millions.</p> + +<p>Frederick opened his eyes widely.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was worth the trouble, wasn't it? However, +I contributed to it! It was my own property I was +protecting; Cécile would have unjustly robbed me +of it."</p> + +<p>"Why did she not come to see her father?"</p> + +<p>As he asked her this question Madame Dambreuse +eyed him attentively; then, in a dry tone:</p> + +<p>"I haven't the least idea! Want of heart, probably! +Oh! I know what she is! And for that reason +she won't get a farthing from me!"</p> + +<p>She had not been very troublesome, he pointed +out; at any rate, since her marriage.</p> + +<p>"Ha! her marriage!" said Madame Dambreuse, +with a sneer. And she grudged having treated only +too well this stupid creature, who was jealous, self-interested, +and hypocritical. "All the faults of her +father!" She disparaged him more and more. There +was never a person with such profound duplicity, +and with such a merciless disposition into the bargain, +as hard as a stone—"a bad man, a bad man!"</p> + +<p>Even the wisest people fall into errors. Madame +Dambreuse had just made a serious one through this +overflow of hatred on her part. Frederick, sitting +opposite her in an easy chair, was reflecting deeply, +scandalised by the language she had used.</p> + +<p>She arose and knelt down beside him.</p> + +<p>"To be with you is the only real pleasure! You +are the only one I love!"</p> + +<p>While she gazed at him her heart softened, a nervous +reaction brought tears into her eyes, and she +murmured:</p> + +<p>"Will you marry me?"</p> + +<p>At first he thought he had not understood what +she meant. He was stunned by this wealth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p> + +<p>She repeated in a louder tone:</p> + +<p>"Will you marry me?"</p> + +<p>At last he said with a smile:</p> + +<p>"Have you any doubt about it?"</p> + +<p>Then the thought forced itself on his mind that his +conduct was infamous, and in order to make a kind +of reparation to the dead man, he offered to watch by +his side himself. But, feeling ashamed of this pious +sentiment, he added, in a flippant tone:</p> + +<p>"It would be perhaps more seemly."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so, indeed," she said, "on account of +the servants."</p> + +<p>The bed had been drawn completely out of the alcove. +The nun was near the foot of it, and at the +head of it sat a priest, a different one, a tall, spare +man, with the look of a fanatical Spaniard. On the +night-table, covered with a white cloth, three wax-tapers +were burning.</p> + +<p>Frederick took a chair, and gazed at the corpse.</p> + +<p>The face was as yellow as straw. At the corners +of the mouth there were traces of blood-stained foam. +A silk handkerchief was tied around the skull, and +on the breast, covered with a knitted waistcoat, lay a +silver crucifix between the two crossed hands.</p> + +<p>It was over, this life full of anxieties! How many +journeys had he not made to various places? How +many rows of figures had he not piled together? +How many speculations had he not hatched? How +many reports had he not heard read? What quackeries, +what smiles and curvets! For he had acclaimed +Napoléon, the Cossacks, Louis XVIII., 1830, the working-men, +every <i>régime</i>, loving power so dearly that +he would have paid in order to have the opportunity +of selling himself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> + +<p>But he had left behind him the estate of La Fortelle, +three factories in Picardy, the woods of Crancé +in the Yonne, a farm near Orléans, and a great deal +of personal property in the form of bills and papers.</p> + +<p>Frederick thus made an estimate of her fortune; +and it would soon, nevertheless, belong to him! First +of all, he thought of "what people would say"; then +he asked himself what present he ought to make to +his mother, and he was concerned about his future +equipages, and about employing an old coachman belonging +to his own family as the doorkeeper. Of +course, the livery would not be the same. He would +convert the large reception-room into his own study. +There was nothing to prevent him by knocking down +three walls from setting up a picture-gallery on the +second-floor. Perhaps there might be an opportunity +for introducing into the lower portion of the house a +hall for Turkish baths. As for M. Dambreuse's office, +a disagreeable spot, what use could he make of it?</p> + +<p>These reflections were from time to time rudely +interrupted by the sounds made by the priest in blowing +his nose, or by the good sister in settling the fire.</p> + +<p>But the actual facts showed that his thoughts +rested on a solid foundation. The corpse was there. +The eyelids had reopened, and the pupils, although +steeped in clammy gloom, had an enigmatic, intolerable +expression.</p> + +<p>Frederick fancied that he saw there a judgment directed +against himself, and he felt almost a sort of remorse, +for he had never any complaint to make against +this man, who, on the contrary——</p> + +<p>"Come, now! an old wretch!" and he looked at +the dead man more closely in order to strengthen his +mind, mentally addressing him thus:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, what? Have I killed you?"</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the priest read his breviary; the nun, +who sat motionless, had fallen asleep. The wicks of +the three wax-tapers had grown longer.</p> + +<p>For two hours could be heard the heavy rolling of +carts making their way to the markets. The window-panes +began to admit streaks of white. A cab passed; +then a group of donkeys went trotting over the pavement. +Then came strokes of hammers, cries of itinerant +vendors of wood and blasts of horns. Already +every other sound was blended with the great voice +of awakening Paris.</p> + +<p>Frederick went out to perform the duties assigned +to him. He first repaired to the Mayor's office to make +the necessary declaration; then, when the medical officer +had given him a certificate of death, he called a +second time at the municipal buildings in order to +name the cemetery which the family had selected, and +to make arrangements for the funeral ceremonies.</p> + +<p>The clerk in the office showed him a plan which +indicated the mode of interment adopted for the various +classes, and a programme giving full particulars +with regard to the spectacular portion of the funeral. +Would he like to have an open funeral-car or a hearse +with plumes, plaits on the horses, and aigrettes on +the footmen, initials or a coat-of-arms, funeral-lamps, +a man to display the family distinctions? and what +number of carriages would he require?</p> + +<p>Frederick did not economise in the slightest degree. +Madame Dambreuse was determined to spare no +expense.</p> + +<p>After this he made his way to the church.</p> + +<p>The curate who had charge of burials found +fault with the waste of money on funeral pomps.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> +For instance, the officer for the display of armorial +distinctions was really useless. It would be far better +to have a goodly display of wax-tapers. A low mass +accompanied by music would be appropriate.</p> + +<p>Frederick gave written directions to have everything +that was agreed upon carried out, with a joint +undertaking to defray all the expenses.</p> + +<p>He went next to the Hôtel de Ville to purchase a +piece of ground. A grant of a piece which was two +metres in length and one in breadth<a name="FNanchor_J_10" id="FNanchor_J_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_J_10" class="fnanchor">[J]</a> cost five hundred +francs. Did he want a grant for fifty years or +forever?</p> + +<p>"Oh, forever!" said Frederick.</p> + +<p>He took the whole thing seriously and got into a +state of intense anxiety about it. In the courtyard of +the mansion a marble-cutter was waiting to show +him estimates and plans of Greek, Egyptian, and +Moorish tombs; but the family architect had already +been in consultation with Madame; and on the table +in the vestibule there were all sorts of prospectuses +with reference to the cleaning of mattresses, the disinfection +of rooms, and the various processes of embalming.</p> + +<p>After dining, he went back to the tailor's shop to +order mourning for the servants; and he had still to +discharge another function, for the gloves that he had +ordered were of beaver, whereas the right kind for a +funeral were floss-silk.</p> + +<p>When he arrived next morning, at ten o'clock, the +large reception-room was filled with people, and +nearly everyone said, on encountering the others, in +a melancholy tone:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is only a month ago since I saw him! Good +heavens! it will be the same way with us all!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but let us try to keep it as far away from +us as possible!"</p> + +<p>Then there were little smiles of satisfaction; and +they even engaged in conversations entirely unsuited +to the occasion. At length, the master of the ceremonies, +in a black coat in the French fashion and +short breeches, with a cloak, cambric mourning-bands, +a long sword by his side, and a three-cornered hat +under his arm, gave utterance, with a bow, to the +customary words:</p> + +<p>"Messieurs, when it shall be your pleasure."</p> + +<p>The funeral started. It was the market-day for +flowers on the Place de la Madeleine. It was a fine +day with brilliant sunshine; and the breeze, which +shook the canvas tents, a little swelled at the edges +the enormous black cloth which was hung over +the church-gate. The escutcheon of M. Dambreuse, +which covered a square piece of velvet, was repeated +there three times. It was: <i>Sable, with an arm sinister +or and a clenched hand with a glove argent</i>; +with the coronet of a count, and this device: <i>By +every path</i>.</p> + +<p>The bearers lifted the heavy coffin to the top of +the staircase, and they entered the building. The six +chapels, the hemicycles, and the seats were hung +with black. The catafalque at the end of the choir +formed, with its large wax-tapers, a single focus of +yellow lights. At the two corners, over the candelabra, +flames of spirits of wine were burning.</p> + +<p>The persons of highest rank took up their position +in the sanctuary, and the rest in the nave; and then +the Office for the Dead began.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p> + +<p>With the exception of a few, the religious ignorance +of all was so profound that the master of the +ceremonies had, from time to time, to make signs to +them to rise, to kneel, or to resume their seats. The +organ and the two double-basses could be heard alternately +with the voices. In the intervals of silence, +the only sounds that reached the ear were the mumblings +of the priest at the altar; then the music and +the chanting went on again.</p> + +<p>The light of day shone dimly through the three +cupolas, but the open door let in, as it were, a stream +of white radiance, which, entering in a horizontal +direction, fell on every uncovered head; and in the +air, half-way towards the ceiling of the church, floated +a shadow, which was penetrated by the reflection of +the gildings that decorated the ribbing of the pendentives +and the foliage of the capitals.</p> + +<p>Frederick, in order to distract his attention, listened +to the <i>Dies iræ</i>. He gazed at those around him, or +tried to catch a glimpse of the pictures hanging too +far above his head, wherein the life of the Magdalen +was represented. Luckily, Pellerin came to sit down +beside him, and immediately plunged into a long dissertation +on the subject of frescoes. The bell began +to toll. They left the church.</p> + +<p>The hearse, adorned with hanging draperies and +tall plumes, set out for Père-Lachaise drawn by four +black horses, with their manes plaited, their heads +decked with tufts of feathers, and with large trappings +embroidered with silver flowing down to their +shoes. The driver of the vehicle, in Hessian boots, +wore a three-cornered hat with a long piece of crape +falling down from it. The cords were held by four +personages: a questor of the Chamber of Deputies, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> +member of the General Council of the Aube, a delegate +from the coal-mining company, and Fumichon, as a +friend. The carriage of the deceased and a dozen +mourning-coaches followed. The persons attending at +the funeral came in the rear, filling up the middle of +the boulevard.</p> + +<p>The passers-by stopped to look at the mournful +procession. Women, with their brats in their arms, +got up on chairs, and people, who had been drinking +glasses of beer in the cafés, presented themselves at +the windows with billiard-cues in their hands.</p> + +<p>The way was long, and, as at formal meals at +which people are at first reserved and then expansive, +the general deportment speedily relaxed. They talked +of nothing but the refusal of an allowance by the +Chamber to the President. M. Piscatory had shown +himself harsh; Montalembert had been "magnificent, +as usual," and MM. Chamballe, Pidoux, Creton, in +short, the entire committee would be compelled perhaps +to follow the advice of MM. Quentin-Bauchard +and Dufour.</p> + +<p>This conversation was continued as they passed +through the Rue de la Roquette, with shops on each +side, in which could be seen only chains of coloured +glass and black circular tablets covered with drawings +and letters of gold—which made them resemble +grottoes full of stalactites and crockery-ware shops. +But, when they had reached the cemetery-gate, everyone +instantaneously ceased speaking.</p> + +<p>The tombs among the trees: broken columns, pyramids, +temples, dolmens, obelisks, and Etruscan vaults +with doors of bronze. In some of them might be +seen funereal boudoirs, so to speak, with rustic armchairs +and folding-stools. Spiders' webs hung like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> +rags from the little chains of the urns; and the bouquets +of satin ribbons and the crucifixes were covered +with dust. Everywhere, between the balusters on the +tombstones, may be observed crowns of immortelles +and chandeliers, vases, flowers, black discs set off with +gold letters, and plaster statuettes—little boys or little +girls or little angels sustained in the air by brass wires; +several of them have even a roof of zinc overhead. +Huge cables made of glass strung together, black, +white, or azure, descend from the tops of the monuments +to the ends of the flagstones with long folds, +like boas. The rays of the sun, striking on them, +made them scintillate in the midst of the black wooden +crosses. The hearse advanced along the broad paths, +which are paved like the streets of a city. From +time to time the axletrees cracked. Women, kneeling +down, with their dresses trailing in the grass, addressed +the dead in tones of tenderness. Little white +fumes arose from the green leaves of the yew trees. +These came from offerings that had been left behind, +waste material that had been burnt.</p> + +<p>M. Dambreuse's grave was close to the graves of +Manuel and Benjamin Constant. The soil in this place +slopes with an abrupt decline. One has under his +feet there the tops of green trees, further down the +chimneys of steam-pumps, then the entire great city.</p> + +<p>Frederick found an opportunity of admiring the +scene while the various addresses were being delivered.</p> + +<p>The first was in the name of the Chamber of +Deputies, the second in the name of the General +Council of the Aube, the third in the name of the +coal-mining company of Saone-et-Loire, the fourth in +the name of the Agricultural Society of the Yonne,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> +and there was another in the name of a Philanthropic +Society. Finally, just as everyone was going +away, a stranger began reading a sixth address, in +the name of the Amiens Society of Antiquaries.</p> + +<p>And thereupon they all took advantage of the occasion +to denounce Socialism, of which M. Dambreuse +had died a victim. It was the effect produced on his +mind by the exhibitions of anarchic violence, together +with his devotion to order, that had shortened his +days. They praised his intellectual powers, his integrity, +his generosity, and even his silence as a +representative of the people, "for, if he was not an +orator, he possessed instead those solid qualities a +thousand times more useful," etc., with all the requisite +phrases—"Premature end; eternal regrets; the better +land; farewell, or rather no, <i>au revoir!</i>"</p> + +<p>The clay, mingled with stones, fell on the coffin, +and he would never again be a subject for discussion +in society.</p> + +<p>However, there were a few allusions to him as the +persons who had followed his remains left the cemetery. +Hussonnet, who would have to give an account +of the interment in the newspapers, took up all the +addresses in a chaffing style, for, in truth, the worthy +Dambreuse had been one of the most notable <i>pots-de-vin</i><a name="FNanchor_K_11" id="FNanchor_K_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_K_11" class="fnanchor">[K]</a> +of the last reign. Then the citizens were +driven in the mourning-coaches to their various places +of business; the ceremony had not lasted very long; +they congratulated themselves on the circumstance.</p> + +<p>Frederick returned to his own abode quite worn out.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> + +<p>When he presented himself next day at Madame +Dambreuse's residence, he was informed that she was +busy below stairs in the room where M. Dambreuse +had kept his papers.</p> + +<p>The cardboard receptacles and the different drawers +had been opened confusedly, and the account-books +had been flung about right and left. A roll of papers +on which were endorsed the words "Repayment +hopeless" lay on the ground. He was near falling +over it, and picked it up. Madame Dambreuse had +sunk back in the armchair, so that he did not see her.</p> + +<p>"Well? where are you? What is the matter!"</p> + +<p>She sprang to her feet with a bound.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? I am ruined, ruined! do +you understand?"</p> + +<p>M. Adolphe Langlois, the notary, had sent her a +message to call at his office, and had informed her +about the contents of a will made by her husband +before their marriage. He had bequeathed everything +to Cécile; and the other will was lost. Frederick +turned very pale. No doubt she had not made sufficient +search.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, look yourself!" said Madame Dambreuse, +pointing at the objects contained in the room.</p> + +<p>The two strong-boxes were gaping wide, having +been broken open with blows of a cleaver, and she +had turned up the desk, rummaged in the cupboards, +and shaken the straw-mattings, when, all of a sudden, +uttering a piercing cry, she dashed into corner +where she had just noticed a little box with a brass +lock. She opened it—nothing!</p> + +<p>"Ah! the wretch! I, who took such devoted care +of him!"</p> + +<p>Then she burst into sobs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps it is somewhere else?" said Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Oh! no! it was there! in that strong-box, I saw +it there lately. 'Tis burned! I'm certain of it!"</p> + +<p>One day, in the early stage of his illness, M. +Dambreuse had gone down to this room to sign some +documents.</p> + +<p>"'Tis then he must have done the trick!"</p> + +<p>And she fell back on a chair, crushed. A mother +grieving beside an empty cradle was not more woeful +than Madame Dambreuse was at the sight of the +open strong-boxes. Indeed, her sorrow, in spite of +the baseness of the motive which inspired it, appeared +so deep that he tried to console her by reminding +her that, after all, she was not reduced to sheer want.</p> + +<p>"It is want, when I am not in a position to offer +you a large fortune!"</p> + +<p>She had not more than thirty thousand livres a +year, without taking into account the mansion, which +was worth from eighteen to twenty thousand, perhaps.</p> + +<p>Although to Frederick this would have been opulence, +he felt, none the less, a certain amount of disappointment. +Farewell to his dreams and to all the +splendid existence on which he had intended to enter! +Honour compelled him to marry Madame Dambreuse. +For a minute he reflected; then, in a tone of tenderness:</p> + +<p>"I'll always have yourself!"</p> + +<p>She threw herself into his arms, and he clasped +her to his breast with an emotion in which there +was a slight element of admiration for himself.</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse, whose tears had ceased to +flow, raised her face, beaming all over with happiness, +and seizing his hand:</p> + +<p>"Ah! I never doubted you! I knew I could count +on you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p> + +<p>The young man did not like this tone of anticipated +certainty with regard to what he was pluming +himself on as a noble action.</p> + +<p>Then she brought him into her own apartment, +and they began to arrange their plans for the future. +Frederick should now consider the best way of advancing +himself in life. She even gave him excellent +advice with reference to his candidature.</p> + +<p>The first point was to be acquainted with two or +three phrases borrowed from political economy. It +was necessary to take up a specialty, such as the +stud system, for example; to write a number of notes +on questions of local interest, to have always at his +disposal post-offices or tobacconists' shops, and to +do a heap of little services. In this respect M. Dambreuse +had shown himself a true model. Thus, on +one occasion, in the country, he had drawn up his +wagonette, full of friends of his, in front of a cobbler's +stall, and had bought a dozen pairs of shoes for +his guests, and for himself a dreadful pair of boots, +which he had not even the courage to wear for an +entire fortnight. This anecdote put them into a good +humour. She related others, and that with a renewal +of grace, youthfulness, and wit.</p> + +<p>She approved of his notion of taking a trip immediately +to Nogent. Their parting was an affectionate +one; then, on the threshold, she murmured once more:</p> + +<p>"You love me—do you not?"</p> + +<p>"Eternally," was his reply.</p> + +<p>A messenger was waiting for him at his own +house with a line written in lead-pencil informing him +that Rosanette was about to be confined. He had +been so much preoccupied for the past few days that +he had not bestowed a thought upon the matter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p> + +<p>She had been placed in a special establishment at +Chaillot.</p> + +<p>Frederick took a cab and set out for this institution.</p> + +<p>At the corner of the Rue de Marbeuf he read on a +board in big letters: "Private Lying-in-Hospital, +kept by Madame Alessandri, first-class midwife, ex-pupil +of the Maternity, author of various works, etc." +Then, in the centre of the street, over the door—a +little side-door—there was another sign-board: "Private +Hospital of Madame Alessandri," with all her titles.</p> + +<p>Frederick gave a knock. A chambermaid, with +the figure of an Abigail, introduced him into the reception-room, +which was adorned with a mahogany +table and armchairs of garnet velvet, and with a clock +under a globe.</p> + +<p>Almost immediately Madame appeared. She was +a tall brunette of forty, with a slender waist, fine +eyes, and the manners of good society. She apprised +Frederick of the mother's happy delivery, and brought +him up to her apartment.</p> + +<p>Rosanette broke into a smile of unutterable bliss, +and, as if drowned in the floods of love that were +suffocating her, she said in a low tone:</p> + +<p>"A boy—there, there!" pointing towards a cradle +close to her bed.</p> + +<p>He flung open the curtains, and saw, wrapped up +in linen, a yellowish-red object, exceedingly shrivelled-looking, +which had a bad smell, and which was +bawling lustily.</p> + +<p>"Embrace him!"</p> + +<p>He replied, in order to hide his repugnance:</p> + +<p>"But I am afraid of hurting him."</p> + +<p>"No! no!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then, with the tips of his lips, he kissed his child.</p> + +<p>"How like you he is!"</p> + +<p>And with her two weak arms, she clung to his +neck with an outburst of feeling which he had never +witnessed on her part before.</p> + +<p>The remembrance of Madame Dambreuse came +back to him. He reproached himself as a monster +for having deceived this poor creature, who loved and +suffered with all the sincerity of her nature. For +several days he remained with her till night.</p> + +<p>She felt happy in this quiet place; the window-shutters +in front of it remained always closed. Her +room, hung with bright chintz, looked out on a large +garden. Madame Alessandri, whose only shortcoming +was that she liked to talk about her intimate acquaintanceship +with eminent physicians, showed her the +utmost attention. Her associates, nearly all provincial +young ladies, were exceedingly bored, as they had +nobody to come to see them. Rosanette saw that +they regarded her with envy, and told this to Frederick +with pride. It was desirable to speak low, +nevertheless. The partitions were thin, and everyone +stood listening at hiding-places, in spite of the constant +thrumming of the pianos.</p> + +<p>At last, he was about to take his departure for +Nogent, when he got a letter from Deslauriers. Two +fresh candidates had offered themselves, the one a +Conservative, the other a Red; a third, whatever he +might be, would have no chance. It was all Frederick's +fault; he had let the lucky moment pass by; +he should have come sooner and stirred himself.</p> + +<p>"You have not even been seen at the agricultural +assembly!" The advocate blamed him for not having +any newspaper connection.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah! if you had followed my advice long ago! If +we had only a public print of our own!"</p> + +<p>He laid special stress on this point. However, +many persons who would have voted for him out of +consideration for M. Dambreuse, abandoned him now. +Deslauriers was one of the number. Not having anything +more to expect from the capitalist, he had +thrown over his <i>protégé</i>.</p> + +<p>Frederick took the letter to show it to Madame +Dambreuse.</p> + +<p>"You have not been to Nogent, then?" said she.</p> + +<p>"Why do you ask?"</p> + +<p>"Because I saw Deslauriers three days ago."</p> + +<p>Having learned that her husband was dead, the +advocate had come to make a report about the coal-mines, +and to offer his services to her as a man of +business. This seemed strange to Frederick; and what +was his friend doing down there?</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse wanted to know how he had +spent his time since they had parted.</p> + +<p>"I have been ill," he replied.</p> + +<p>"You ought at least to have told me about it."</p> + +<p>"Oh! it wasn't worth while;" besides, he had to +settle a heap of things, to keep appointments and to +pay visits.</p> + +<p>From that time forth he led a double life, sleeping +religiously at the Maréchale's abode and passing the +afternoon with Madame Dambreuse, so that there was +scarcely a single hour of freedom left to him in the +middle of the day.</p> + +<p>The infant was in the country at Andilly. They +went to see it once a week.</p> + +<p>The wet-nurse's house was on rising ground in the +village, at the end of a little yard as dark as a pit,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> +with straw on the ground, hens here and there, and a +vegetable-cart under the shed.</p> + +<p>Rosanette would begin by frantically kissing her +baby, and, seized with a kind of delirium, would keep +moving to and fro, trying to milk the she-goat, eating +big pieces of bread, and inhaling the odour of +manure; she even wanted to put a little of it into her +handkerchief.</p> + +<p>Then they took long walks, in the course of which +she went into the nurseries, tore off branches from +the lilac-trees which hung down over the walls, and +exclaimed, "Gee ho, donkey!" to the asses that were +drawing cars along, and stopped to gaze through the +gate into the interior of one of the lovely gardens; or +else the wet-nurse would take the child and place it +under the shade of a walnut-tree; and for hours the two +women would keep talking the most tiresome nonsense.</p> + +<p>Frederick, not far away from them, gazed at the +beds of vines on the slopes, with here and there a +clump of trees; at the dusty paths resembling strips of +grey ribbon; at the houses, which showed white and +red spots in the midst of the greenery; and sometimes +the smoke of a locomotive stretched out horizontally +to the bases of the hills, covered with foliage, +like a gigantic ostrich's feather, the thin end of which +was disappearing from view.</p> + +<p>Then his eyes once more rested on his son. He +imagined the child grown into a young man; he would +make a companion of him; but perhaps he would be +a blockhead, a wretched creature, in any event. He +was always oppressed by the illegality of the infant's +birth; it would have been better if he had never been +born! And Frederick would murmur, "Poor child!" +his heart swelling with feelings of unutterable sadness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p> + +<p>They often missed the last train. Then Madame +Dambreuse would scold him for his want of punctuality. +He would invent some falsehood.</p> + +<p>It was necessary to invent some explanations, too, +to satisfy Rosanette. She could not understand how +he spent all his evenings; and when she sent a messenger +to his house, he was never there! One day, +when he chanced to be at home, the two women +made their appearance almost at the same time. He +got the Maréchale to go away, and concealed Madame +Dambreuse, pretending that his mother was coming +up to Paris.</p> + +<p>Ere long, he found these lies amusing. He would +repeat to one the oath which he had just uttered to +the other, send them bouquets of the same sort, write +to them at the same time, and then would institute +a comparison between them. There was a third always +present in his thoughts. The impossibility of +possessing her seemed to him a justification of his +perfidies, which were intensified by the fact that he +had to practise them alternately; and the more he deceived, +no matter which of the two, the fonder of him +she grew, as if the love of one of them added heat +to that of the other, and, as if by a sort of emulation, +each of them were seeking to make him forget the +other.</p> + +<p>"Admire my confidence in you!" said Madame +Dambreuse one day to him, opening a sheet of paper, +in which she was informed that M. Moreau and +a certain Rose Bron were living together as husband +and wife.</p> + +<p>"Can it be that this is the lady of the races?"</p> + +<p>"What an absurdity!" he returned. "Let me +have a look at it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p> + +<p>The letter, written in Roman characters, had no +signature. Madame Dambreuse, in the beginning, had +tolerated this mistress, who furnished a cloak for their +adultery. But, as her passion became stronger, she +had insisted on a rupture—a thing which had been +effected long since, according to Frederick's account; +and when he had ceased to protest, she replied, half +closing her eyes, in which shone a look like the +point of a stiletto under a muslin robe:</p> + +<p>"Well—and the other?"</p> + +<p>"What other?"</p> + +<p>"The earthenware-dealer's wife!"</p> + +<p>He shrugged his shoulders disdainfully. She did +not press the matter.</p> + +<p>But, a month later, while they were talking about +honour and loyalty, and he was boasting about his +own (in a casual sort of way, for the sake of precaution), +she said to him:</p> + +<p>"It is true—you are acting uprightly—you don't +go back there any more?"</p> + +<p>Frederick, who was at the moment thinking of the +Maréchale, stammered:</p> + +<p>"Where, pray?"</p> + +<p>"To Madame Arnoux's."</p> + +<p>He implored her to tell him from whom she got +the information. It was through her second dressmaker, +Madame Regimbart.</p> + +<p>So, she knew all about his life, and he knew +nothing about hers!</p> + +<p>In the meantime, he had found in her dressing-room +the miniature of a gentleman with long moustaches—was +this the same person about whose +suicide a vague story had been told him at one time? +But there was no way of learning any more about it!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> +However, what was the use of it? The hearts of +women are like little pieces of furniture wherein +things are secreted, full of drawers fitted into each +other; one hurts himself, breaks his nails in opening +them, and then finds within only some withered +flower, a few grains of dust—or emptiness! And +then perhaps he felt afraid of learning too much about +the matter.</p> + +<p>She made him refuse invitations where she was +unable to accompany him, stuck to his side, was +afraid of losing him; and, in spite of this union +which was every day becoming stronger, all of a +sudden, abysses disclosed themselves between the +pair about the most trifling questions—an estimate +of an individual or a work of art.</p> + +<p>She had a style of playing on the piano which was +correct and hard. Her spiritualism (Madame Dambreuse +believed in the transmigration of souls into the stars) +did not prevent her from taking the utmost care of +her cash-box. She was haughty towards her servants; +her eyes remained dry at the sight of the rags of the +poor. In the expressions of which she habitually +made use a candid egoism manifested itself: "What +concern is that of mine? I should be very silly! +What need have I?" and a thousand little acts incapable +of analysis revealed hateful qualities in her. She +would have listened behind doors; she could not help +lying to her confessor. Through a spirit of despotism, +she insisted on Frederick going to the church with her +on Sunday. He obeyed, and carried her prayer-book.</p> + +<p>The loss of the property she had expected to inherit +had changed her considerably. These marks of +grief, which people attributed to the death of M. Dambreuse, +rendered her interesting, and, as in former<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +times, she had a great number of visitors. Since +Frederick's defeat at the election, she was ambitious +of obtaining for both of them an embassy in Germany; +therefore, the first thing they should do was +to submit to the reigning ideas.</p> + +<p>Some persons were in favour of the Empire, others +of the Orléans family, and others of the Comte de +Chambord; but they were all of one opinion as to +the urgency of decentralisation, and several expedients +were proposed with that view, such as to cut up +Paris into many large streets in order to establish +villages there, to transfer the seat of government to +Versailles, to have the schools set up at Bourges, +to suppress the libraries, and to entrust everything to +the generals of division; and they glorified a rustic +existence on the assumption that the uneducated man +had naturally more sense than other men! Hatreds +increased—hatred of primary teachers and wine-merchants, +of the classes of philosophy, of the courses of +lectures on history, of novels, red waistcoats, long +beards, of independence in any shape, or any manifestation +of individuality, for it was necessary "to restore +the principle of authority"—let it be exercised +in the name of no matter whom; let it come from no +matter where, as long as it was Force, Authority! +The Conservatives now talked in the very same way +as Sénécal. Frederick was no longer able to understand +their drift, and once more he found at the house +of his former mistress the same remarks uttered by +the same men.</p> + +<p>The salons of the unmarried women (it was from +this period that their importance dates) were a sort of +neutral ground where reactionaries of different kinds +met. Hussonnet, who gave himself up to the depre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>ciation +of contemporary glories (a good thing for the +restoration of Order), inspired Rosanette with a longing +to have evening parties like any other. He undertook +to publish accounts of them, and first of all +he brought a man of grave deportment, Fumichon; +then came Nonancourt, M. de Grémonville, the Sieur +de Larsilloix, ex-prefect, and Cisy, who was now an +agriculturist in Lower Brittany, and more Christian +than ever.</p> + +<p>In addition, men who had at one time been the +Maréchale's lovers, such as the Baron de Comaing, +the Comte de Jumillac, and others, presented themselves; +and Frederick was annoyed by their free-and-easy +behaviour.</p> + +<p>In order that he might assume the attitude of +master in the house, he increased the rate of expenditure +there. Then he went in for keeping a groom, took +a new habitation, and got a fresh supply of furniture. +These displays of extravagance were useful for the +purpose of making his alliance appear less out of proportion +with his pecuniary position. The result was +that his means were soon terribly reduced—and +Rosanette was entirely ignorant of the fact!</p> + +<p>One of the lower middle-class, who had lost caste, +she adored a domestic life, a quiet little home. However, +it gave her pleasure to have "an at home day." +In referring to persons of her own class, she called +them "Those women!" She wished to be a society +lady, and believed herself to be one. She begged of +him not to smoke in the drawing-room any more, +and for the sake of good form tried to make herself +look thin.</p> + +<p>She played her part badly, after all; for she grew +serious, and even before going to bed always ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>hibited +a little melancholy, just as there are cypress +trees at the door of a tavern.</p> + +<p>He found out the cause of it; she was dreaming of +marriage—she, too! Frederick was exasperated at +this. Besides, he recalled to mind her appearance at +Madame Arnoux's house, and then he cherished a certain +spite against her for having held out against him +so long.</p> + +<p>He made enquiries none the less as to who her +lovers had been. She denied having had any relations +with any of the persons he mentioned. A sort of +jealous feeling took possession of him. He irritated +her by asking questions about presents that had been +made to her, and were still being made to her; and +in proportion to the exciting effect which the lower +portion of her nature produced upon him, he was +drawn towards her by momentary illusions which +ended in hate.</p> + +<p>Her words, her voice, her smile, all had an unpleasant +effect on him, and especially her glances with +that woman's eye forever limpid and foolish. Sometimes +he felt so tired of her that he would have seen +her die without being moved at it. But how could +he get into a passion with her? She was so mild +that there was no hope of picking a quarrel with her.</p> + +<p>Deslauriers reappeared, and explained his sojourn +at Nogent by saying that he was making arrangements +to buy a lawyer's office. Frederick was glad +to see him again. It was somebody! and as a third +person in the house, he helped to break the monotony.</p> + +<p>The advocate dined with them from time to time, +and whenever any little disputes arose, always took +Rosanette's part, so that Frederick, on one occasion, +said to him:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah! you can have with her, if it amuses you!" +so much did he long for some chance of getting rid +of her.</p> + +<p>About the middle of the month of June, she was +served with an order made by the law courts by +which Maître Athanase Gautherot, sheriff's officer, +called on her to pay him four thousand francs due to +Mademoiselle Clemence Vatnaz; if not, he would +come to make a seizure on her.</p> + +<p>In fact, of the four bills which she had at various +times signed, only one had been paid; the money +which she happened to get since then having been +spent on other things that she required.</p> + +<p>She rushed off at once to see Arnoux. He lived +now in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and the porter +was unable to tell her the name of the street. She +made her way next to the houses of several friends +of hers, could not find one of them at home, and +came back in a state of utter despair.</p> + +<p>She did not wish to tell Frederick anything about +it, fearing lest this new occurrence might prejudice +the chance of a marriage between them.</p> + +<p>On the following morning, M. Athanase Gautherot +presented himself with two assistants close behind +him, one of them sallow with a mean-looking face +and an expression of devouring envy in his glance, +the other wearing a collar and straps drawn very +tightly, with a sort of thimble of black taffeta on his +index-finger—and both ignobly dirty, with greasy +necks, and the sleeves of their coats too short.</p> + +<p>Their employer, a very good-looking man, on the +contrary, began by apologising for the disagreeable +duty he had to perform, while at the same time he +threw a look round the room, "full of pretty things,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> +upon my word of honour!" He added, "Not to +speak of the things that can't be seized." At a gesture +the two bailiff's men disappeared.</p> + +<p>Then he became twice as polite as before. Could +anyone believe that a lady so charming would not +have a genuine friend! A sale of her goods under an +order of the courts would be a real misfortune. One +never gets over a thing like that. He tried to excite +her fears; then, seeing that she was very much agitated, +suddenly assumed a paternal tone. He knew +the world. He had been brought into business relations +with all these ladies—and as he mentioned +their names, he examined the frames of the pictures +on the walls. They were old pictures of the worthy +Arnoux, sketches by Sombary, water-colours by Burieu, +and three landscapes by Dittmer. It was evident +that Rosanette was ignorant of their value, +Maître Gautherot turned round to her:</p> + +<p>"Look here! to show that I am a decent fellow, +do one thing: give me up those Dittmers here—and +I am ready to pay all. Do you agree?"</p> + +<p>At that moment Frederick, who had been informed +about the matter by Delphine in the anteroom, and +who had just seen the two assistants, came in with +his hat on his head, in a rude fashion. Maître +Gautherot resumed his dignity; and, as the door had +been left open:</p> + +<p>"Come on, gentlemen—write down! In the second +room, let us say—an oak table with its two +leaves, two sideboards——"</p> + +<p>Frederick here stopped him, asking whether there +was not some way of preventing the seizure.</p> + +<p>"Oh! certainly! Who paid for the furniture?"</p> + +<p>"I did."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, draw up a claim—you have still time to +do it."</p> + +<p>Maître Gautherot did not take long in writing out his +official report, wherein he directed that Mademoiselle +Bron should attend at an enquiry in chambers +with reference to the ownership of the furniture, and +having done this he withdrew.</p> + +<p>Frederick uttered no reproach. He gazed at the +traces of mud left on the floor by the bailiff's shoes, +and, speaking to himself:</p> + +<p>"It will soon be necessary to look about for +money!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! my God, how stupid I am!" said the Maréchale.</p> + +<p>She ransacked a drawer, took out a letter, and +made her way rapidly to the Languedoc Gas Lighting +Company, in order to get the transfer of her shares.</p> + +<p>She came back an hour later. The interest in the +shares had been sold to another. The clerk had said, +in answer to her demand, while examining the sheet +of paper containing Arnoux's written promise to her: +"This document in no way constitutes you the proprietor +of the shares. The company has no cognisance +of the matter." In short, he sent her away +unceremoniously, while she choked with rage; and +Frederick would have to go to Arnoux's house at once +to have the matter cleared up.</p> + +<p>But Arnoux would perhaps imagine that he had +come to recover in an indirect fashion the fifteen thousand +francs due on the mortgage which he had lost; +and then this claim from a man who had been his +mistress's lover seemed to him a piece of baseness.</p> + +<p>Selecting a middle course, he went to the Dambreuse +mansion to get Madame Regimbart's address,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> +sent a messenger to her residence, and in this way +ascertained the name of the café which the Citizen +now haunted.</p> + +<p>It was the little café on the Place de la Bastille, +in which he sat all day in the corner to the right at +the lower end of the establishment, never moving any +more than if he were a portion of the building.</p> + +<p>After having gone successively through the half-cup +of coffee, the glass of grog, the "bishop," the +glass of mulled wine, and even the red wine and +water, he fell back on beer, and every half hour he +let fall this word, "Bock!" having reduced his language +to what was actually indispensable. Frederick +asked him if he saw Arnoux occasionally.</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"Look here—why?"</p> + +<p>"An imbecile!"</p> + +<p>Politics, perhaps, kept them apart, and so Frederick +thought it a judicious thing to enquire about Compain.</p> + +<p>"What a brute!" said Regimbart.</p> + +<p>"How is that?"</p> + +<p>"His calf's head!"</p> + +<p>"Ha! explain to me what the calf's head is!"</p> + +<p>Regimbart's face wore a contemptuous smile.</p> + +<p>"Some tomfoolery!"</p> + +<p>After a long interval of silence, Frederick went on +to ask:</p> + +<p>"So, then, he has changed his address?"</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"Arnoux!"</p> + +<p>"Yes—Rue de Fleurus!"</p> + +<p>"What number?"</p> + +<p>"Do I associate with the Jesuits?"</p> + +<p>"What, Jesuits!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Citizen replied angrily:</p> + +<p>"With the money of a patriot whom I introduced +to him, this pig has set up as a dealer in beads!"</p> + +<p>"It isn't possible!"</p> + +<p>"Go there, and see for yourself!"</p> + +<p>It was perfectly true; Arnoux, enfeebled by a fit +of sickness, had turned religious; besides, he had +always had a stock of religion in his composition, +and (with that mixture of commercialism and ingenuity +which was natural to him), in order to gain salvation +and fortune both together, he had begun to +traffick in religious objects.</p> + +<p>Frederick had no difficulty in discovering his establishment, +on whose signboard appeared these +words: "<i>Emporium of Gothic Art</i>—Restoration of +articles used in ecclesiastical ceremonies—Church ornaments—Polychromatic +sculpture—Frankincense of +the Magi, Kings, &c., &c."</p> + +<p>At the two corners of the shop-window rose two +wooden statues, streaked with gold, cinnabar, and +azure, a Saint John the Baptist with his sheepskin, +and a Saint Genevieve with roses in her apron and a +distaff under her arm; next, groups in plaster, a good +sister teaching a little girl, a mother on her knees beside +a little bed, and three collegians before the holy +table. The prettiest object there was a kind of châlet +representing the interior of a crib with the ass, the +ox, and the child Jesus stretched on straw—real +straw. From the top to the bottom of the shelves +could be seen medals by the dozen, every sort of +beads, holy-water basins in the form of shells, and +portraits of ecclesiastical dignitaries, amongst whom +Monsignor Affre and our Holy Father shone forth with +smiles on their faces.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p> + +<p>Arnoux sat asleep at his counter with his head +down. He had aged terribly. He had even round +his temples a wreath of rosebuds, and the reflection +of the gold crosses touched by the rays of the sun +fell over him.</p> + +<p>Frederick was filled with sadness at this spectacle +of decay. Through devotion to the Maréchale he, +however, submitted to the ordeal, and stepped forward. +At the end of the shop Madame Arnoux +showed herself; thereupon, he turned on his heel.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't see him," he said, when he came back +to Rosanette.</p> + +<p>And in vain he went on to promise that he would +write at once to his notary at Havre for some money—she +flew into a rage. She had never seen a man +so weak, so flabby. While she was enduring a thousand +privations, other people were enjoying themselves.</p> + +<p>Frederick was thinking about poor Madame Arnoux, +and picturing to himself the heart-rending impoverishment +of her surroundings. He had seated +himself before the writing-desk; and, as Rosanette's +voice still kept up its bitter railing:</p> + +<p>"Ah! in the name of Heaven, hold your tongue!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you are going to defend them?"</p> + +<p>"Well, yes!" he exclaimed; "for what's the cause +of this display of fury?"</p> + +<p>"But why is it that you don't want to make them +pay up? 'Tis for fear of vexing your old flame—confess +it!"</p> + +<p>He felt an inclination to smash her head with the +timepiece. Words failed him. He relapsed into silence.</p> + +<p>Rosanette, as she walked up and down the room, +continued:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am going to hurl a writ at this Arnoux of yours. +Oh! I don't want your assistance. I'll get legal advice."</p> + +<p>Three days later, Delphine rushed abruptly into the +room where her mistress sat.</p> + +<p>"Madame! madame! there's a man here with a pot +of paste who has given me a fright!"</p> + +<p>Rosanette made her way down to the kitchen, and +saw there a vagabond whose face was pitted with +smallpox. Moreover, one of his arms was paralysed, +and he was three fourths drunk, and hiccoughed +every time he attempted to speak.</p> + +<p>This was Maître Gautherot's bill-sticker. The objections +raised against the seizure having been overruled, +the sale followed as a matter of course.</p> + +<p>For his trouble in getting up the stairs he demanded, +in the first place, a half-glass of brandy; +then he wanted another favour, namely, tickets for the +theatre, on the assumption that the lady of the house +was an actress. After this he indulged for some +minutes in winks, whose import was perfectly incomprehensible. +Finally, he declared that for forty +sous he would tear off the corners of the poster +which he had already affixed to the door below +stairs. Rosanette found herself referred to by name +in it—a piece of exceptional harshness which showed +the spite of the Vatnaz.</p> + +<p>She had at one time exhibited sensibility, and had +even, while suffering from the effects of a heartache, +written to Béranger for his advice. But under the +ravages of life's storms, her spirit had become soured, +for she had been forced, in turn, to give lessons on +the piano, to act as manageress of a <i>table d'hôte</i>, to +assist others in writing for the fashion journals, to +sublet apartments, and to traffic in lace in the world<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> +of light women, her relations with whom enabled +her to make herself useful to many persons, and +amongst others to Arnoux. She had formerly been +employed in a commercial establishment.</p> + +<p>There it was one of her functions to pay the workwomen; +and for each of them there were two livres, +one of which always remained in her hands. Dussardier, +who, through kindness, kept the amount payable +to a girl named Hortense Baslin, presented himself one +day at the cash-office at the moment when Mademoiselle +Vatnaz was presenting this girl's account, +1,682 francs, which the cashier paid her. Now, on +the very day before this, Dussardier had entered down +the sum as 1,082 in the girl Baslin's book. He asked +to have it given back to him on some pretext; then, +anxious to bury out of sight the story of this theft, he +stated that he had lost it. The workwoman ingenuously +repeated this falsehood to Mademoiselle Vatnaz, +and the latter, in order to satisfy her mind about the +matter, came with a show of indifference to talk to +the shopman on the subject. He contented himself +with the answer: "I have burned it!"—that was all. +A little while afterwards she quitted the house, without +believing that the book had been really destroyed, and +filled with the idea that Dussardier had preserved it.</p> + +<p>On hearing that he had been wounded, she rushed +to his abode, with the object of getting it back. +Then, having discovered nothing, in spite of the +closest searches, she was seized with respect, and +presently with love, for this youth, so loyal, so gentle, +so heroic and so strong! At her age such good fortune +in an affair of the heart was a thing that one +would not expect. She threw herself into it with the +appetite of an ogress; and she had given up literature,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> +Socialism, "the consoling doctrines and the generous +Utopias," the course of lectures which she had projected +on the "Desubalternization of Woman"—everything, +even Delmar himself; finally she offered to +unite herself to Dussardier in marriage.</p> + +<p>Although she was his mistress, he was not at all +in love with her. Besides, he had not forgotten her +theft. Then she was too wealthy for him. He refused +her offer. Thereupon, with tears in her eyes, +she told him about what she had dreamed—it was to +have for both of them a confectioner's shop. She +possessed the capital that was required beforehand for +the purpose, and next week this would be increased +to the extent of four thousand francs. By way of explanation, +she referred to the proceedings she had +taken against the Maréchale.</p> + +<p>Dussardier was annoyed at this on account of his +friend. He recalled to mind the cigar-holder that had +been presented to him at the guard-house, the evenings +spent in the Quai Napoléon, the many pleasant +chats, the books lent to him, the thousand acts of +kindness which Frederick had done in his behalf. He +begged of the Vatnaz to abandon the proceedings.</p> + +<p>She rallied him on his good nature, while exhibiting +an antipathy against Rosanette which he could +not understand. She longed only for wealth, in fact, +in order to crush her, by-and-by, with her four-wheeled +carriage.</p> + +<p>Dussardier was terrified by these black abysses of +hate, and when he had ascertained what was the exact +day fixed for the sale, he hurried out. On the +following morning he made his appearance at Frederick's +house with an embarrassed countenance.</p> + +<p>"I owe you an apology."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p> + +<p>"For what, pray?"</p> + +<p>"You must take me for an ingrate, I, whom she +is the——" He faltered.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I'll see no more of her. I am not going +to be her accomplice!" And as the other was gazing +at him in astonishment:</p> + +<p>"Isn't your mistress's furniture to be sold in three +days' time?"</p> + +<p>"Who told you that?"</p> + +<p>"Herself—the Vatnaz! But I am afraid of giving +you offence——"</p> + +<p>"Impossible, my dear friend!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that is true—you are so good!"</p> + +<p>And he held out to him, in a cautious fashion, a +hand in which he clasped a little pocket-book made +of sheep-leather.</p> + +<p>It contained four thousand francs—all his savings.</p> + +<p>"What! Oh! no! no!—--"</p> + +<p>"I knew well I would wound your feelings," returned +Dussardier, with a tear in the corner of his eye.</p> + +<p>Frederick pressed his hand, and the honest fellow +went on in a piteous tone:</p> + +<p>"Take the money! Give me that much pleasure! +I am in such a state of despair. Can it be, furthermore, +that all is over? I thought we should be +happy when the Revolution had come. Do you remember +what a beautiful thing it was? how freely +we breathed! But here we are flung back into a +worse condition of things than ever.</p> + +<p>"Now, they are killing our Republic, just as they +killed the other one—the Roman! ay, and poor +Venice! poor Poland! poor Hungary! What abominable +deeds! First of all, they knocked down the +trees of Liberty, then they restricted the right to vote,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> +shut up the clubs, re-established the censorship and +surrendered to the priests the power of teaching, so +that we might look out for the Inquisition. Why +not? The Conservatives want to give us a taste of +the stick. The newspapers are fined merely for pronouncing +an opinion in favour of abolishing the +death-penalty. Paris is overflowing with bayonets; +sixteen departments are in a state of siege; and then +the demand for amnesty is again rejected!"</p> + +<p>He placed both hands on his forehead, then, +spreading out his arms as if his mind were in a distracted +state:</p> + +<p>"If, however, we only made the effort! if we +were only sincere, we might understand each other. +But no! The workmen are no better than the capitalists, +you see! At Elbœuf recently they refused to +help at a fire! There are wretches who profess to +regard Barbès as an aristocrat! In order to make the +people ridiculous, they want to get nominated for the +presidency Nadaud, a mason—just imagine! And +there is no way out of it—no remedy! Everybody +is against us! For my part, I have never done any +harm; and yet this is like a weight pressing down +on my stomach. If this state of things continues, I'll +go mad. I have a mind to do away with myself. I +tell you I want no money for myself! You'll pay it +back to me, deuce take it! I am lending it to you."</p> + +<p>Frederick, who felt himself constrained by necessity, +ended by taking the four thousand francs from +him. And so they had no more disquietude so far as +the Vatnaz was concerned.</p> + +<p>But it was not long ere Rosanette was defeated in +her action against Arnoux; and through sheer obstinacy +she wished to appeal.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span></p> + +<p>Deslauriers exhausted his energies in trying to +make her understand that Arnoux's promise constituted +neither a gift nor a regular transfer. She did +not even pay the slightest attention to him, her notion +being that the law was unjust—it was because she was +a woman; men backed up each other amongst themselves. +In the end, however, she followed his advice.</p> + +<p>He made himself so much at home in the house, +that on several occasions he brought Sénécal to dine +there. Frederick, who had advanced him money, and +even got his own tailor to supply him with clothes, +did not like this unceremoniousness; and the advocate +gave his old clothes to the Socialist, whose means of +existence were now of an exceedingly uncertain character.</p> + +<p>He was, however, anxious to be of service to +Rosanette. One day, when she showed him a dozen +shares in the Kaolin Company (that enterprise which +led to Arnoux being cast in damages to the extent of +thirty thousand francs), he said to her:</p> + +<p>"But this is a shady transaction, and you have +now a grand chance!"</p> + +<p>She had the right to call on him to pay her debts. +In the first place, she could prove that he was jointly +bound to pay all the company's liabilities, since he +had certified personal debts as collective debts—in +short, he had embezzled sums which were payable +only to the company.</p> + +<p>"All this renders him guilty of fraudulent bankruptcy +under articles 586 and 587 of the Commercial +Code, and you may be sure, my pet, we'll send him +packing."</p> + +<p>Rosanette threw herself on his neck. He entrusted +her case next day to his former master, not having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> +time to devote attention to it himself, as he had business +at Nogent. In case of any urgency, Sénécal +could write to him.</p> + +<p>His negotiations for the purchase of an office were +a mere pretext. He spent his time at M. Roque's house, +where he had begun not only by sounding the praises +of their friend, but by imitating his manners and language +as much as possible; and in this way he had +gained Louise's confidence, while he won over that of +her father by making an attack on Ledru-Rollin.</p> + +<p>If Frederick did not return, it was because he +mingled in aristocratic society, and gradually Deslauriers +gave them to understand that he was in love +with somebody, that he had a child, and that he was +keeping a fallen creature.</p> + +<p>The despair of Louise was intense. The indignation +of Madame Moreau was not less strong. She +saw her son whirling towards the bottom of a gulf +the depth of which could not be determined, was +wounded in her religious ideas as to propriety, and as +it were, experienced a sense of personal dishonour; +then all of a sudden her physiognomy underwent a +change. To the questions which people put to her +with regard to Frederick, she replied in a sly fashion:</p> + +<p>"He is well, quite well."'</p> + +<p>She was aware that he was about to be married +to Madame Dambreuse.</p> + +<p>The date of the event had been fixed, and he was +even trying to think of some way of making Rosanette +swallow the thing.</p> + +<p>About the middle of autumn she won her action +with reference to the kaolin shares. Frederick was +informed about it by Sénécal, whom he met at his +own door, on his way back from the courts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span></p> + +<p>It had been held that M. Arnoux was privy to all +the frauds, and the ex-tutor had such an air of making +merry over it that Frederick prevented him from coming +further, assuring Sénécal that he would convey +the intelligence to Rosanette. He presented himself +before her with a look of irritation on his face.</p> + +<p>"Well, now you are satisfied!"</p> + +<p>But, without minding what he had said:</p> + +<p>"Look here!"</p> + +<p>And she pointed towards her child, which was +lying in a cradle close to the fire. She had found it +so sick at the house of the wet-nurse that morning +that she had brought it back with her to Paris.</p> + +<p>All the infant's limbs were exceedingly thin, and +the lips were covered with white specks, which in +the interior of the mouth became, so to speak, clots +of blood-stained milk.</p> + +<p>"What did the doctor say?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! the doctor! He pretends that the journey +has increased his—I don't know what it is, some +name in 'ite'—in short, that he has the thrush.<a name="FNanchor_L_12" id="FNanchor_L_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_L_12" class="fnanchor">[L]</a> +Do you know what that is?"</p> + +<p>Frederick replied without hesitation: "Certainly," +adding that it was nothing.</p> + +<p>But in the evening he was alarmed by the child's +debilitated look and by the progress of these whitish +spots, resembling mould, as if life, already abandoning +this little frame, had left now nothing but matter +from which vegetation was sprouting. His hands +were cold; he was no longer able to drink anything; +and the nurse, another woman, whom the porter had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> +gone and taken on chance at an office, kept repeating:</p> + +<p>"It seems to me he's very low, very low!"</p> + +<p>Rosanette was up all night with the child.</p> + +<p>In the morning she went to look for Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Just come and look at him. He doesn't move +any longer."</p> + +<p>In fact, he was dead. She took him up, shook +him, clasped him in her arms, calling him most tender +names, covered him with kisses, broke into sobs, +turned herself from one side to the other in a state +of distraction, tore her hair, uttered a number of +shrieks, and then let herself sink on the edge of the +divan, where she lay with her mouth open and a +flood of tears rushing from her wildly-glaring eyes.</p> + +<p>Then a torpor fell upon her, and all became still +in the apartment. The furniture was overturned. +Two or three napkins were lying on the floor. It +struck six. The night-light had gone out.</p> + +<p>Frederick, as he gazed at the scene, could almost +believe that he was dreaming. His heart was oppressed +with anguish. It seemed to him that this +death was only a beginning, and that behind it was +a worse calamity, which was just about to come on.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, Rosanette said in an appealing tone:</p> + +<p>"We'll preserve the body—shall we not?"</p> + +<p>She wished to have the dead child embalmed. +There were many objections to this. The principal +one, in Frederick's opinion, was that the thing +was impracticable in the case of children so young. +A portrait would be better. She adopted this idea. +He wrote a line to Pellerin, and Delphine hastened to +deliver it.</p> + +<p>Pellerin arrived speedily, anxious by this display of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> +zeal to efface all recollection of his former conduct. +The first thing he said was:</p> + +<p>"Poor little angel! Ah, my God, what a misfortune!"</p> + +<p>But gradually (the artist in him getting the upper +hand) he declared that nothing could be made out of +those yellowish eyes, that livid face, that it was a +real case of still-life, and would, therefore, require +very great talent to treat it effectively; and so he +murmured:</p> + +<p>"Oh, 'tisn't easy—'tisn't easy!"</p> + +<p>"No matter, as long as it is life-like," urged +Rosanette.</p> + +<p>"Pooh! what do I care about a thing being life-like? +Down with Realism! 'Tis the spirit that must +be portrayed by the painter! Let me alone! I am +going to try to conjure up what it ought to be!"</p> + +<p>He reflected, with his left hand clasping his brow, +and with his right hand clutching his elbow; then, +all of a sudden:</p> + +<p>"Ha, I have an idea! a pastel! With coloured +mezzotints, almost spread out flat, a lovely model +could be obtained with the outer surface alone!"</p> + +<p>He sent the chambermaid to look for his box of +colours; then, having a chair under his feet and another +by his side, he began to throw out great +touches with as much complacency as if he had +drawn them in accordance with the bust. He praised +the little Saint John of Correggio, the Infanta Rosa of +Velasquez, the milk-white flesh-tints of Reynolds, the +distinction of Lawrence, and especially the child with +long hair that sits in Lady Gower's lap.</p> + +<p>"Besides, could you find anything more charming +than these little toads? The type of the sublime<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> +(Raphael has proved it by his Madonnas) is probably +a mother with her child?"</p> + +<p>Rosanette, who felt herself stifling, went away; +and presently Pellerin said:</p> + +<p>"Well, about Arnoux; you know what has happened?"</p> + +<p>"No! What?"</p> + +<p>"However, it was bound to end that way!"</p> + +<p>"What has happened, might I ask?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps by this time he is——Excuse me!"</p> + +<p>The artist got up in order to raise the head of the +little corpse higher.</p> + +<p>"You were saying——" Frederick resumed.</p> + +<p>And Pellerin, half-closing his eyes, in order to take +his dimensions better:</p> + +<p>"I was saying that our friend Arnoux is perhaps +by this time locked up!"</p> + +<p>Then, in a tone of satisfaction:</p> + +<p>"Just give a little glance at it. Is that the thing?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, 'tis quite right. But about Arnoux?"</p> + +<p>Pellerin laid down his pencil.</p> + +<p>"As far as I could understand, he was sued by +one Mignot, an intimate friend of Regimbart—a long-headed +fellow that, eh? What an idiot! Just imagine! +one day——"</p> + +<p>"What! it's not Regimbart that's in question, is it?"</p> + +<p>"It is, indeed! Well, yesterday evening, Arnoux +had to produce twelve thousand francs; if not, he was +a ruined man."</p> + +<p>"Oh! this perhaps is exaggerated," said Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit. It looked to me a very serious business, +very serious!"</p> + +<p>At that moment Rosanette reappeared, with red +spots under her eyes, which glowed like dabs of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> +paint. She sat down near the drawing and gazed at +it. Pellerin made a sign to the other to hold his +tongue on account of her. But Frederick, without +minding her:</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, I can't believe——"</p> + +<p>"I tell you I met him yesterday," said the artist, +"at seven o'clock in the evening, in the Rue Jacob. +He had even taken the precaution to have his passport +with him; and he spoke about embarking from +Havre, he and his whole camp."</p> + +<p>"What! with his wife?"</p> + +<p>"No doubt. He is too much of a family man to +live by himself."</p> + +<p>"And are you sure of this?"</p> + +<p>"Certain, faith! Where do you expect him to +find twelve thousand francs?"</p> + +<p>Frederick took two or three turns round the room. +He panted for breath, bit his lips, and then snatched +up his hat.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going now?" said Rosanette.</p> + +<p>He made no reply, and the next moment he had +disappeared.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="chapter_xviii" id="chapter_xviii"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">An Auction.</h3> + + +<p><img src="images/i_chxviii.png" width="125" height="121" alt="T" title="" class="illodrop" style="margin-top: -3.5em;" />welve thousand francs should be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> +procured, or, if not, he would see +Madame Arnoux no more; and until +now there had lingered in his +breast an unconquerable hope. Did +she not, as it were, constitute the +very substance of his heart, the very basis of his +life? For some minutes he went staggering along +the footpath, his mind tortured with anxiety, and +nevertheless gladdened by the thought that he was +no longer by the other's side.</p> + +<p>Where was he to get the money? Frederick was +well aware from his own experience how hard it +was to obtain it immediately, no matter at what cost. +There was only one person who could help him in +the matter—Madame Dambreuse. She always kept a +good supply of bank-notes in her escritoire. He +called at her house; and in an unblushing fashion:</p> + +<p>"Have you twelve thousand francs to lend me?"</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>That was another person's secret. She wanted to +know who this person was. He would not give way +on this point. They were equally determined not to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> +yield. Finally, she declared that she would give nothing +until she knew for what purpose it was wanted.</p> + +<p>Frederick's face became very flushed; and he stated +that one of his comrades had committed a theft. It +was necessary to replace the sum this very day.</p> + +<p>"Let me know his name? His name? Come! +what's his name?"</p> + +<p>"Dussardier!"</p> + +<p>And he threw himself on his knees, imploring of +her to say nothing about it.</p> + +<p>"What idea have you got into your head about +me?" Madame Dambreuse replied. "One would imagine +that you were the guilty party yourself. Pray, +have done with your tragic airs! Hold on! here's the +money! and much good may it do him!"</p> + +<p>He hurried off to see Arnoux. That worthy merchant +was not in his shop. But he was still residing +in the Rue de Paradis, for he had two domiciles.</p> + +<p>In the Rue de Paradis, the porter said that M. +Arnoux had been away since the evening before. +As for Madame, he ventured to say nothing; and +Frederick, having rushed like an arrow up the stairs, +laid his ear against the keyhole. At length, the +door was opened. Madame had gone out with Monsieur. +The servant could not say when they would +be back; her wages had been paid, and she was +leaving herself.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he heard the door creaking.</p> + +<p>"But is there anyone in the room?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, Monsieur! it is the wind."</p> + +<p>Thereupon he withdrew. There was something +inexplicable in such a rapid disappearance.</p> + +<p>Regimbart, being Mignot's intimate friend, could +perhaps enlighten him? And Frederick got himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> +driven to that gentleman's house at Montmartre in the +Rue l'Empereur.</p> + +<p>Attached to the house there was a small garden +shut in by a grating which was stopped up with +iron plates. Three steps before the hall-door set off +the white front; and a person passing along the footpath +could see the two rooms on the ground-floor, +the first of which was a parlour with ladies' dresses +lying on the furniture on every side, and the second +the workshop in which Madame Regimbart's female +assistants were accustomed to sit.</p> + +<p>They were all convinced that Monsieur had important +occupations, distinguished connections, that he +was a man altogether beyond comparison. When he +was passing through the lobby with his hat cocked +up at the sides, his long grave face, and his green +frock-coat, the girls stopped in the midst of their +work. Besides, he never failed to address to them a +few words of encouragement, some observation which +showed his ceremonious courtesy; and, afterwards, in +their own homes they felt unhappy at not having +been able to preserve him as their ideal.</p> + +<p>No one, however, was so devoted to him as Madame +Regimbart, an intelligent little woman, who +maintained him by her handicraft.</p> + +<p>As soon as M. Moreau had given his name, she +came out quickly to meet him, knowing through the +servants what his relations were with Madame Dambreuse. +Her husband would be back in a moment; and +Frederick, while he followed her, admired the appearance +of the house and the profusion of oil-cloth that +was displayed in it. Then he waited a few minutes +in a kind of office, into which the Citizen was in the +habit of retiring, in order to be alone with his thoughts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p> + +<p>When they met, Regimbart's manner was less +cranky than usual.</p> + +<p>He related Arnoux's recent history. The ex-manufacturer +of earthenware had excited the vanity of +Mignot, a patriot who owned a hundred shares in +the <i>Siècle</i>, by professing to show that it would be +necessary from the democratic standpoint to change +the management and the editorship of the newspaper; +and under the pretext of making his views prevail in +the next meeting of shareholders, he had given the +other fifty shares, telling him that he could pass them +on to reliable friends who would back up his vote. +Mignot would have no personal responsibility, and +need not annoy himself about anyone; then, when he +had achieved success, he would be able to secure a +good place in the administration of at least from five +to six thousand francs. The shares had been delivered. +But Arnoux had at once sold them, and with +the money had entered into partnership with a dealer +in religious articles. Thereupon came complaints from +Mignot, to which Arnoux sent evasive answers. At +last the patriot had threatened to bring against him +a charge of cheating if he did not restore his share-certificates +or pay an equivalent sum—fifty thousand +francs.</p> + +<p>Frederick's face wore a look of despondency.</p> + +<p>"That is not the whole of it," said the Citizen. +"Mignot, who is an honest fellow, has reduced his +claim to one fourth. New promises on the part of +the other, and, of course, new dodges. In short, on +the morning of the day before yesterday Mignot sent +him a written application to pay up, within twenty-four +hours, twelve thousand francs, without prejudice +to the balance."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But I have the amount!" said Frederick.</p> + +<p>The Citizen slowly turned round:</p> + +<p>"Humbug!"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me! I have the money in my pocket. +I brought it with me."</p> + +<p>"How you do go at it! By Jove, you do! However, +'tis too late now—the complaint has been +lodged, and Arnoux is gone."</p> + +<p>"Alone?"</p> + +<p>"No! along with his wife. They were seen at +the Havre terminus."</p> + +<p>Frederick grew exceedingly pale. Madame Regimbart +thought he was going to faint. He regained his +self-possession with an effort, and had even sufficient +presence of mind to ask two or three questions about +the occurrence. Regimbart was grieved at the affair, +considering that it would injure the cause of Democracy. +Arnoux had always been lax in his conduct +and disorderly in his life.</p> + +<p>"A regular hare-brained fellow! He burned the +candle at both ends! The petticoat has ruined him! +'Tis not himself that I pity, but his poor wife!" For +the Citizen admired virtuous women, and had a great +esteem for Madame Arnoux.</p> + +<p>"She must have suffered a nice lot!"</p> + +<p>Frederick felt grateful to him for his sympathy; +and, as if Regimbart had done him a service, pressed +his hand effusively.</p> + +<p>"Have you done all that's necessary in the matter?" +was Rosanette's greeting to him when she saw +him again.</p> + +<p>He had not been able to pluck up courage to do +it, he answered, and walked about the streets at random +to divert his thoughts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span></p> + +<p>At eight o'clock, they passed into the dining-room; +but they remained seated face to face in silence, +gave vent each to a deep sigh every now and then, +and pushed away their plates.</p> + +<p>Frederick drank some brandy. He felt quite shattered, +crushed, annihilated, no longer conscious of anything +save a sensation of extreme fatigue.</p> + +<p>She went to look at the portrait. The red, the +yellow, the green, and the indigo made glaring stains +that jarred with each other, so that it looked a hideous +thing—almost ridiculous.</p> + +<p>Besides, the dead child was now unrecognisable. +The purple hue of his lips made the whiteness of his +skin more remarkable. His nostrils were more drawn +than before, his eyes more hollow; and his head +rested on a pillow of blue taffeta, surrounded by petals +of camelias, autumn roses, and violets. This was +an idea suggested by the chambermaid, and both of +them had thus with pious care arranged the little +corpse. The mantelpiece, covered with a cloth of +guipure, supported silver-gilt candlesticks with bunches +of consecrated box in the spaces between them. At +the corners there were a pair of vases in which pastilles +were burning. All these things, taken in conjunction +with the cradle, presented the aspect of an +altar; and Frederick recalled to mind the night when +he had watched beside M. Dambreuse's death-bed.</p> + +<p>Nearly every quarter of an hour Rosanette drew +aside the curtains in order to take a look at her child. +She saw him in imagination, a few months hence, +beginning to walk; then at college, in the middle of +the recreation-ground, playing a game of base; then +at twenty years a full-grown young man; and all +these pictures conjured up by her brain created for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> +her, as it were, the son she would have lost, had he +only lived, the excess of her grief intensifying in her +the maternal instinct.</p> + +<p>Frederick, sitting motionless in another armchair, +was thinking of Madame Arnoux.</p> + +<p>No doubt she was at that moment in a train, with +her face leaning against a carriage window, while she +watched the country disappearing behind her in the +direction of Paris, or else on the deck of a steamboat, +as on the occasion when they first met; but this vessel +carried her away into distant countries, from which +she would never return. He next saw her in a room +at an inn, with trunks covering the floor, the wall-paper +hanging in shreds, and the door shaking in the +wind. And after that—to what would she be compelled +to turn? Would she have to become a school-mistress +or a lady's companion, or perhaps a +chambermaid? She was exposed to all the vicissitudes +of poverty. His utter ignorance as to what her +fate might be tortured his mind. He ought either to +have opposed her departure or to have followed her. +Was he not her real husband? And as the thought +impressed itself on his consciousness that he would +never meet her again, that it was all over forever, +that she was lost to him beyond recall, he felt, so to +speak, a rending of his entire being, and the tears +that had been gathering since morning in his heart +overflowed.</p> + +<p>Rosanette noticed the tears in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Ah! you are crying just like me! You are grieving, +too?"</p> + +<p>"Yes! yes! I am——"</p> + +<p>He pressed her to his heart, and they both sobbed, +locked in each other's arms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse was weeping too, as she lay, +face downwards, on her bed, with her hands clasped +over her head.</p> + +<p>Olympe Regimbart having come that evening to +try on her first coloured gown after mourning, had +told her about Frederick's visit, and even about the +twelve thousand francs which he had ready to transfer +to M. Arnoux.</p> + +<p>So, then, this money, the very money which he +had got from her, was intended to be used simply for +the purpose of preventing the other from leaving Paris—for +the purpose, in fact, of preserving a mistress!</p> + +<p>At first, she broke into a violent rage, and determined +to drive him from her door, as she would have +driven a lackey. A copious flow of tears produced a +soothing effect upon her. It was better to keep it all +to herself, and say nothing about it.</p> + +<p>Frederick brought her back the twelve thousand +francs on the following day.</p> + +<p>She begged of him to keep the money lest he might +require it for his friend, and she asked a number of +questions about this gentleman. Who, then, had +tempted him to such a breach of trust? A woman, +no doubt! Women drag you into every kind of +crime.</p> + +<p>This bantering tone put Frederick out of countenance. +He felt deep remorse for the calumny he had +invented. He was reassured by the reflection that +Madame Dambreuse could not be aware of the facts. +All the same, she was very persistent about the subject; +for, two days later, she again made enquiries +about his young friend, and, after that, about another—Deslauriers.</p> + +<p>"Is this young man trustworthy and intelligent?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span></p> + +<p>Frederick spoke highly of him.</p> + +<p>"Ask him to call on me one of these mornings; +I want to consult him about a matter of business."</p> + +<p>She had found a roll of old papers in which there +were some bills of Arnoux, which had been duly protested, +and which had been signed by Madame +Arnoux. It was about these very bills Frederick had +called on M. Dambreuse on one occasion while the +latter was at breakfast; and, although the capitalist +had not sought to enforce repayment of this outstanding +debt, he had not only got judgment on foot of +them from the Tribunal of Commerce against Arnoux, +but also against his wife, who knew nothing about +the matter, as her husband had not thought fit to give +her any information on the point.</p> + +<p>Here was a weapon placed in Madame Dambreuse's +hands—she had no doubt about it. But her notary +would advise her to take no step in the affair. She +would have preferred to act through some obscure +person, and she thought of that big fellow with such +an impudent expression of face, who had offered her +his services.</p> + +<p>Frederick ingenuously performed this commission +for her.</p> + +<p>The advocate was enchanted at the idea of having +business relations with such an aristocratic lady.</p> + +<p>He hurried to Madame Dambreuse's house.</p> + +<p>She informed him that the inheritance belonged to +her niece, a further reason for liquidating those debts +which she should repay, her object being to overwhelm +Martinon's wife by a display of greater attention +to the deceased's affairs.</p> + +<p>Deslauriers guessed that there was some hidden +design underlying all this. He reflected while he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> +examining the bills. Madame Arnoux's name, traced +by her own hand, brought once more before his eyes +her entire person, and the insult which he had received +at her hands. Since vengeance was offered to +him, why should he not snatch at it?</p> + +<p>He accordingly advised Madame Dambreuse to +have the bad debts which went with the inheritance +sold by auction. A man of straw, whose name +would not be divulged, would buy them up, and +would exercise the legal rights thus given him to +realise them. He would take it on himself to provide +a man to discharge this function.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of the month of November, Frederick, +happening to pass through the street in which +Madame Arnoux had lived, raised his eyes towards +the windows of her house, and saw posted on the +door a placard on which was printed in large letters:</p> + +<p>"Sale of valuable furniture, consisting of kitchen +utensils, body and table linen, shirts and chemises, +lace, petticoats, trousers, French and Indian cashmeres, +an Erard piano, two Renaissance oak chests, Venetian +mirrors, Chinese and Japanese pottery."</p> + +<p>"'Tis their furniture!" said Frederick to himself, +and his suspicions were confirmed by the doorkeeper.</p> + +<p>As for the person who had given instructions for +the sale, he could get no information on that head. +But perhaps the auctioneer, Maître Berthelmot, might +be able to throw light on the subject.</p> + +<p>The functionary did not at first want to tell what +creditor was having the sale carried out. Frederick +pressed him on the point. It was a gentleman named +Sénécal, an agent; and Maître Berthelmot even carried +his politeness so far as to lend his newspaper—the +<i>Petites Affiches</i>—to Frederick.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span></p> + +<p>The latter, on reaching Rosanette's house, flung +down this paper on the table spread wide open.</p> + +<p>"Read that!"</p> + +<p>"Well, what?" said she with a face so calm that +it roused up in him a feeling of revolt.</p> + +<p>"Ah! keep up that air of innocence!"</p> + +<p>"I don't understand what you mean."</p> + +<p>"'Tis you who are selling out Madame Arnoux +yourself!"</p> + +<p>She read over the announcement again.</p> + +<p>"Where is her name?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! 'tis her furniture. You know that as well +as I do."</p> + +<p>"What does that signify to me?" said Rosanette, +shrugging her shoulders.</p> + +<p>"What does it signify to you? But you are taking +your revenge, that's all. This is the consequence +of your persecutions. Haven't you outraged her so far +as to call at her house?—you, a worthless creature! +and this to the most saintly, the most charming, the +best woman that ever lived! Why do you set your +heart on ruining her?"</p> + +<p>"I assure you, you are mistaken!"</p> + +<p>"Come now! As if you had not put Sénécal forward +to do this!"</p> + +<p>"What nonsense!"</p> + +<p>Then he was carried away with rage.</p> + +<p>"You lie! you lie! you wretch! You are jealous of +her! You have got a judgment against her husband! +Sénécal is already mixed up in your affairs. He detests +Arnoux; and your two hatreds have entered into +a combination with one another. I saw how delighted +he was when you won that action of yours about the +kaolin shares. Are you going to deny this?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I give you my word——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know what that's worth—your word!"</p> + +<p>And Frederick reminded her of her lovers, giving +their names and circumstantial details. Rosanette +drew back, all the colour fading from her face.</p> + +<p>"You are astonished at this. You thought I was +blind because I shut my eyes. Now I have had +enough of it. We do not die through the treacheries +of a woman of your sort. When they become too +monstrous we get out of the way. To inflict punishment +on account of them would be only to degrade +oneself."</p> + +<p>She twisted her arms about.</p> + +<p>"My God, who can it be that has changed him?"</p> + +<p>"Nobody but yourself."</p> + +<p>"And all this for Madame Arnoux!" exclaimed +Rosanette, weeping.</p> + +<p>He replied coldly:</p> + +<p>"I have never loved any woman but her!"</p> + +<p>At this insult her tears ceased to flow.</p> + +<p>"That shows your good taste! A woman of mature +years, with a complexion like liquorice, a thick +waist, big eyes like the ventholes of a cellar, and just +as empty! As you like her so much, go and join +her!"</p> + +<p>"This is just what I expected. Thank you!"</p> + +<p>Rosanette remained motionless, stupefied by this +extraordinary behaviour.</p> + +<p>She even allowed the door to be shut; then, with +a bound, she pulled him back into the anteroom, +and flinging her arms around him:</p> + +<p>"Why, you are mad! you are mad! this is absurd! +I love you!" Then she changed her tone to one of +entreaty:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good heavens! for the sake of our dead infant!"</p> + +<p>"Confess that it was you who did this trick!" +said Frederick.</p> + +<p>She still protested that she was innocent.</p> + +<p>"You will not acknowledge it?"</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"Well, then, farewell! and forever!"</p> + +<p>"Listen to me!"</p> + +<p>Frederick turned round:</p> + +<p>"If you understood me better, you would know +that my decision is irrevocable!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! oh! you will come back to me again!"</p> + +<p>"Never as long as I live!"</p> + +<p>And he slammed the door behind him violently.</p> + +<p>Rosanette wrote to Deslauriers saying that she +wanted to see him at once.</p> + +<p>He called one evening, about five days later; and, +when she told him about the rupture:</p> + +<p>"That's all! A nice piece of bad luck!"</p> + +<p>She thought at first that he would have been able +to bring back Frederick; but now all was lost. She +ascertained through the doorkeeper that he was about +to be married to Madame Dambreuse.</p> + +<p>Deslauriers gave her a lecture, and showed himself +an exceedingly gay fellow, quite a jolly dog; and, +as it was very late, asked permission to pass the +night in an armchair.</p> + +<p>Then, next morning, he set out again for Nogent, +informing her that he was unable to say when they +would meet once more. In a little while, there would +perhaps be a great change in his life.</p> + +<p>Two hours after his return, the town was in a +state of revolution. The news went round that M. +Frederick was going to marry Madame Dambreuse.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> +At length the three Mesdemoiselles Auger, unable to +stand it any longer, made their way to the house of +Madame Moreau, who with an air of pride confirmed +this intelligence. Père Roque became quite ill when +he heard it. Louise locked herself up; it was even +rumoured that she had gone mad.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Frederick was unable to hide his dejection. +Madame Dambreuse, in order to divert his +mind, no doubt, from gloomy thoughts, redoubled +her attentions. Every afternoon they went out for a +drive in her carriage; and, on one occasion, as they +were passing along the Place de la Bourse, she took +the idea into her head to pay a visit to the public +auction-rooms for the sake of amusement.</p> + +<p>It was the 1st of December, the very day on which +the sale of Madame Arnoux's furniture was to take +place. He remembered the date, and manifested his +repugnance, declaring that this place was intolerable +on account of the crush and the noise. She only +wanted to get a peep at it. The brougham drew up. +He had no alternative but to accompany her.</p> + +<p>In the open space could be seen washhand-stands +without basins, the wooden portions of armchairs, old +hampers, pieces of porcelain, empty bottles, mattresses; +and men in blouses or in dirty frock-coats, all grey +with dust, and mean-looking faces, some with canvas +sacks over their shoulders, were chatting in separate +groups or hailing each other in a disorderly fashion.</p> + +<p>Frederick urged that it was inconvenient to go on +any further.</p> + +<p>"Pooh!"</p> + +<p>And they ascended the stairs. In the first room, +at the right, gentlemen, with catalogues in their hands, +were examining pictures; in another, a collection of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> +Chinese weapons were being sold. Madame Dambreuse +wanted to go down again. She looked at the +numbers over the doors, and she led him to the end +of the corridor towards an apartment which was +blocked up with people.</p> + +<p>He immediately recognised the two whatnots belonging +to the office of <i>L'Art Industriel</i>, her work-table, +all her furniture. Heaped up at the end of the +room according to their respective heights, they formed +a long slope from the floor to the windows, and at +the other sides of the apartment, the carpets and the +curtains hung down straight along the walls. There +were underneath steps occupied by old men who had +fallen asleep. At the left rose a sort of counter at +which the auctioneer, in a white cravat, was lightly +swinging a little hammer. By his side a young man +was writing, and below him stood a sturdy fellow, +between a commercial traveller and a vendor of countermarks, +crying out: "Furniture for sale." Three +attendants placed the articles on a table, at the sides +of which sat in a row second-hand dealers and old-clothes' +women. The general public at the auction +kept walking in a circle behind them.</p> + +<p>When Frederick came in, the petticoats, the neckerchiefs, +and even the chemises were being passed on +from hand to hand, and then given back. Sometimes +they were flung some distance, and suddenly strips +of whiteness went flying through the air. After that +her gowns were sold, and then one of her hats, the +broken feather of which was hanging down, then her +furs, and then three pairs of boots; and the disposal +by sale of these relics, wherein he could trace in a +confused sort of way the very outlines of her form, +appeared to him an atrocity, as if he had seen carrion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> +crows mangling her corpse. The atmosphere of the +room, heavy with so many breaths, made him feel sick. +Madame Dambreuse offered him her smelling-bottle. +She said that she found all this highly amusing.</p> + +<p>The bedroom furniture was now exhibited. Maître +Berthelmot named a price. The crier immediately repeated +it in a louder voice, and the three auctioneer's +assistants quietly waited for the stroke of the hammer, +and then carried off the article sold to an adjoining +apartment. In this way disappeared, one after +the other, the large blue carpet spangled with camellias, +which her dainty feet used to touch so lightly +as she advanced to meet him, the little upholstered +easy-chair, in which he used to sit facing her when +they were alone together, the two screens belonging +to the mantelpiece, the ivory of which had been rendered +smoother by the touch of her hands, and a +velvet pincushion, which was still bristling with pins. +It was as if portions of his heart had been carried +away with these things; and the monotony of the +same voices and the same gestures benumbed him with +fatigue, and caused within him a mournful torpor, a +sensation like that of death itself.</p> + +<p>There was a rustle of silk close to his ear. Rosanette +touched him.</p> + +<p>It was through Frederick himself that she had +learned about this auction. When her first feelings of +vexation was over, the idea of deriving profit from it +occurred to her mind. She had come to see it in a +white satin vest with pearl buttons, a furbelowed +gown, tight-fitting gloves on her hands, and a look +of triumph on her face.</p> + +<p>He grew pale with anger. She stared at the +woman who was by his side.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span></p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse had recognised her, and for a +minute they examined each other from head to foot +minutely, in order to discover the defect, the blemish—the +one perhaps envying the other's youth, and +the other filled with spite at the extreme good form, +the aristocratic simplicity of her rival.</p> + +<p>At last Madame Dambreuse turned her head +round with a smile of inexpressible insolence.</p> + +<p>The crier had opened a piano—her piano! While +he remained standing before it he ran the fingers of +his right hand over the keys, and put up the instrument +at twelve hundred francs; then he brought down +the figures to one thousand, then to eight hundred, +and finally to seven hundred.</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse, in a playful tone, laughed +at the appearance of some socket that was out of +gear.</p> + +<p>The next thing placed before the second-hand +dealers was a little chest with medallions and silver +corners and clasps, the same one which he had seen +at the first dinner in the Rue de Choiseul, which had +subsequently been in Rosanette's house, and again +transferred back to Madame Arnoux's residence. Often, +during their conversations his eyes wandered towards +it. He was bound to it by the dearest memories, +and his soul was melting with tender emotions about +it, when suddenly Madame Dambreuse said:</p> + +<p>"Look here! I am going to buy that!"</p> + +<p>"But it is not a very rare article," he returned.</p> + +<p>She considered it, on the contrary, very pretty, and +the appraiser commended its delicacy.</p> + +<p>"A gem of the Renaissance! Eight hundred +francs, messieurs! Almost entirely of silver! With +a little whiting it can be made to shine brilliantly."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span></p> + +<p>And, as she was pushing forward through the +crush of people:</p> + +<p>"What an odd idea!" said Frederick.</p> + +<p>"You are annoyed at this!"</p> + +<p>"No! But what can be done with a fancy article +of that sort?"</p> + +<p>"Who knows? Love-letters might be kept in it, +perhaps!"</p> + +<p>She gave him a look which made the allusion +very clear.</p> + +<p>"A reason the more for not robbing the dead of +their secrets."</p> + +<p>"I did not imagine she was dead." And then in +a loud voice she went on to bid:</p> + +<p>"Eight hundred and eighty francs!"</p> + +<p>"What you're doing is not right," murmured +Frederick.</p> + +<p>She began to laugh.</p> + +<p>"But this is the first favour, dear, that I am asking +from you."</p> + +<p>"Come, now! doesn't it strike you that at this +rate you won't be a very considerate husband?"</p> + +<p>Some one had just at that moment made a higher +bid.</p> + +<p>"Nine hundred francs!"</p> + +<p>"Nine hundred francs!" repeated Maître Berthelmot.</p> + +<p>"Nine hundred and ten—fifteen—twenty—thirty!" +squeaked the auctioneer's crier, with jerky shakes of +his head as he cast a sweeping glance at those assembled +around him.</p> + +<p>"Show me that I am going to have a wife who +is amenable to reason," said Frederick.</p> + +<p>And he gently drew her towards the door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span></p> + +<p>The auctioneer proceeded:</p> + +<p>"Come, come, messieurs; nine hundred and thirty. +Is there any bidder at nine hundred and thirty?"</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse, just as she had reached the +door, stopped, and raising her voice to a high pitch:</p> + +<p>"One thousand francs!"</p> + +<p>There was a thrill of astonishment, and then a +dead silence.</p> + +<p>"A thousand francs, messieurs, a thousand francs! +Is nobody advancing on this bid? Is that clear? Very +well, then—one thousand francs! going!—gone!"</p> + +<p>And down came the ivory hammer. She passed +in her card, and the little chest was handed over to +her. She thrust it into her muff.</p> + +<p>Frederick felt a great chill penetrating his heart.</p> + +<p>Madame Dambreuse had not let go her hold of his +arm; and she had not the courage to look up at his +face in the street, where her carriage was awaiting her.</p> + +<p>She flung herself into it, like a thief flying away +after a robbery, and then turned towards Frederick. +He had his hat in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Are you not going to come in?"</p> + +<p>"No, Madame!"</p> + +<p>And, bowing to her frigidly, he shut the carriage-door, +and then made a sign to the coachman to drive +away.</p> + +<p>The first feeling that he experienced was one of +joy at having regained his independence. He was +filled with pride at the thought that he had avenged +Madame Arnoux by sacrificing a fortune to her; then, +he was amazed at his own act, and he felt doubled +up with extreme physical exhaustion.</p> + +<p>Next morning his man-servant brought him the +news.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span></p> + +<p>The city had been declared to be in a state of +siege; the Assembly had been dissolved; and a number +of the representatives of the people had been imprisoned +at Mazas. Public affairs had assumed to his +mind an utterly unimportant aspect, so deeply preoccupied +was he by his private troubles.</p> + +<p>He wrote to several tradesmen countermanding +various orders which he had given for the purchase of +articles in connection with his projected marriage, +which now appeared to him in the light of a rather +mean speculation; and he execrated Madame Dambreuse, +because, owing to her, he had been very near +perpetrating a vile action. He had forgotten the Maréchale, +and did not even bother himself about Madame +Arnoux—absorbed only in one thought—lost +amid the wreck of his dreams, sick at heart, full of +grief and disappointment, and in his hatred of the +artificial atmosphere wherein he had suffered so much, +he longed for the freshness of green fields, the repose +of provincial life, a sleeping existence spent beneath +his natal roof in the midst of ingenuous hearts. At +last, when Wednesday evening arrived, he made his +way out into the open air.</p> + +<p>On the boulevard numerous groups had taken up +their stand. From time to time a patrol came and +dispersed them; they gathered together again in regular +order behind it. They talked freely and in loud +tones, made chaffing remarks about the soldiers, +without anything further happening.</p> + +<p>"What! are they not going to fight?" said Frederick +to a workman.</p> + +<p>"They're not such fools as to get themselves killed +for the well-off people! Let them take care of themselves!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span></p> + +<p>And a gentleman muttered, as he glanced across +at the inhabitants of the faubourgs:</p> + +<p>"Socialist rascals! If it were only possible, this +time, to exterminate them!"</p> + +<p>Frederick could not, for the life of him, understand +the necessity of so much rancour and vituperative +language. His feeling of disgust against Paris was intensified +by these occurrences, and two days later he +set out for Nogent by the first train.</p> + +<p>The houses soon became lost to view; the country +stretched out before his gaze. Alone in his carriage, +with his feet on the seat in front of him, he pondered +over the events of the last few days, and then on his +entire past. The recollection of Louise came back to +his mind.</p> + +<p>"She, indeed, loved me truly! I was wrong not +to snatch at this chance of happiness. Pooh! let us +not think any more about it!"</p> + +<p>Then, five minutes afterwards: "Who knows, +after all? Why not, later?"</p> + +<p>His reverie, like his eyes, wandered afar towards +vague horizons.</p> + +<p>"She was artless, a peasant girl, almost a savage; +but so good!"</p> + +<p>In proportion as he drew nearer to Nogent, her +image drew closer to him. As they were passing +through the meadows of Sourdun, he saw her once +more in imagination under the poplar-trees, as in the +old days, cutting rushes on the edges of the pools. +And now they had reached their destination; he +stepped out of the train.</p> + +<p>Then he leaned with his elbows on the bridge, to +gaze again at the isle and the garden where they had +walked together one sunshiny day, and the dizzy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> +sensation caused by travelling, together with the +weakness engendered by his recent emotions, arousing +in his breast a sort of exaltation, he said to himself:</p> + +<p>"She has gone out, perhaps; suppose I were to +go and meet her!"</p> + +<p>The bell of Saint-Laurent was ringing, and in the +square in front of the church there was a crowd of +poor people around an open carriage, the only one in +the district—the one which was always hired for +weddings. And all of a sudden, under the church-gate, +accompanied by a number of well-dressed persons +in white cravats, a newly-married couple appeared.</p> + +<p>He thought he must be labouring under some hallucination. +But no! It was, indeed, Louise! covered +with a white veil which flowed from her red hair +down to her heels; and with her was no other than +Deslauriers, attired in a blue coat embroidered with +silver—the costume of a prefect.</p> + +<p>How was this?</p> + +<p>Frederick concealed himself at the corner of a +house to let the procession pass.</p> + +<p>Shamefaced, vanquished, crushed, he retraced his +steps to the railway-station, and returned to Paris.</p> + +<p>The cabman who drove him assured him that the +barricades were erected from the Château d'Eau to +the Gymnase, and turned down the Faubourg Saint-Martin. +At the corner of the Rue de Provence, Frederick +stepped out in order to reach the boulevards.</p> + +<p>It was five o'clock. A thin shower was falling. +A number of citizens blocked up the footpath close +to the Opera House. The houses opposite were +closed. No one at any of the windows. All along +the boulevard, dragoons were galloping behind a row<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> +of wagons, leaning with drawn swords over their +horses; and the plumes of their helmets, and their +large white cloaks, rising up behind them, could be +seen under the glare of the gas-lamps, which shook +in the wind in the midst of a haze. The crowd +gazed at them mute with fear.</p> + +<p>In the intervals between the cavalry-charges, +squads of policemen arrived on the scene to keep +back the people in the streets.</p> + +<p>But on the steps of Tortoni, a man—Dussardier—who +could be distinguished at a distance by his great +height, remained standing as motionless as a caryatide.</p> + +<p>One of the police-officers, marching at the head +of his men, with his three-cornered hat drawn over +his eyes, threatened him with his sword.</p> + +<p>The other thereupon took one step forward, and +shouted:</p> + +<p>"Long live the Republic!"</p> + +<p>The next moment he fell on his back with his +arms crossed.</p> + +<p>A yell of horror arose from the crowd. The +police-officer, with a look of command, made a circle +around him; and Frederick, gazing at him in open-mouthed +astonishment, recognised Sénécal.</p> + + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="image"><a name="i315" id="i315"><img src="images/i315.jpg" width="435" height="668" alt="" title="" /></a></div> +<div class="image"><img src="images/i315cap.jpg" width="454" height="619" alt="When a woman suddenly came in." title="" /></div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> + + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="chapter_xix" id="chapter_xix"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">A Bitter-Sweet Reunion.</h3> + + +<p><img src="images/i_chxix.png" width="126" height="125" alt="H" title="" class="illodrop" style="margin-top: -3.5em;" />e travelled.</p> + +<p>He realised the melancholy associated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> +with packet-boats, the chill +one feels on waking up under +tents, the dizzy effect of landscapes +and ruins, and the bitterness +of ruptured sympathies.</p> + +<p>He returned home.</p> + +<p>He mingled in society, and he conceived attachments +to other women. But the constant recollection +of his first love made these appear insipid; and besides +the vehemence of desire, the bloom of the sensation +had vanished. In like manner, his intellectual +ambitions had grown weaker. Years passed; and he +was forced to support the burthen of a life in which +his mind was unoccupied and his heart devoid of +energy.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of March, 1867, just as it was +getting dark, one evening, he was sitting all alone in +his study, when a woman suddenly came in.</p> + +<p>"Madame Arnoux!"</p> + +<p>"Frederick!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span></p> + +<p>She caught hold of his hands, and drew him +gently towards the window, and, as she gazed into +his face, she kept repeating:</p> + +<p>"'Tis he! Yes, indeed—'tis he!"</p> + +<p>In the growing shadows of the twilight, he could +see only her eyes under the black lace veil that hid +her face.</p> + +<p>When she had laid down on the edge of the +mantelpiece a little pocket-book bound in garnet +velvet, she seated herself in front of him, and they +both remained silent, unable to utter a word, smiling +at one another.</p> + +<p>At last he asked her a number of questions about +herself and her husband.</p> + +<p>They had gone to live in a remote part of Brittany +for the sake of economy, so as to be able to pay +their debts. Arnoux, now almost a chronic invalid, +seemed to have become quite an old man. Her +daughter had been married and was living at Bordeaux, +and her son was in garrison at Mostaganem.</p> + +<p>Then she raised her head to look at him again:</p> + +<p>"But I see you once more! I am happy!"</p> + +<p>He did not fail to let her know that, as soon as he +heard of their misfortune, he had hastened to their +house.</p> + +<p>"I was fully aware of it!"</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>She had seen him in the street outside the house, +and had hidden herself.</p> + +<p>"Why did you do that?"</p> + +<p>Then, in a trembling voice, and with long pauses +between her words:</p> + +<p>"I was afraid! Yes—afraid of you and of myself!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span></p> + +<p>This disclosure gave him, as it were, a shock of +voluptuous joy. His heart began to throb wildly. +She went on:</p> + +<p>"Excuse me for not having come sooner." And, +pointing towards the little pocket-book covered with +golden palm-branches:</p> + +<p>"I embroidered it on your account expressly. It +contains the amount for which the Belleville property +was given as security."</p> + +<p>Frederick thanked her for letting him have the +money, while chiding her at the same time for having +given herself any trouble about it.</p> + +<p>"No! 'tis not for this I came! I was determined to +pay you this visit—then I would go back there again."</p> + +<p>And she spoke about the place where they had +taken up their abode.</p> + +<p>It was a low-built house of only one story; and +there was a garden attached to it full of huge box-trees, +and a double avenue of chestnut-trees, reaching +up to the top of the hill, from which there was a +view of the sea.</p> + +<p>"I go there and sit down on a bench, which I +have called 'Frederick's bench.'"</p> + +<p>Then she proceeded to fix her gaze on the furniture, +the objects of virtù, the pictures, with eager intentness, +so that she might be able to carry away the +impressions of them in her memory. The Maréchale's +portrait was half-hidden behind a curtain. But the +gilding and the white spaces of the picture, which +showed their outlines through the midst of the surrounding +darkness, attracted her attention.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me I knew that woman?"</p> + +<p>"Impossible!" said Frederick. "It is an old Italian +painting."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span></p> + +<p>She confessed that she would like to take a walk +through the streets on his arm.</p> + +<p>They went out.</p> + +<p>The light from the shop-windows fell, every now +and then, on her pale profile; then once more she +was wrapped in shadow, and in the midst of the +carriages, the crowd, and the din, they walked on +without paying any heed to what was happening +around them, without hearing anything, like those +who make their way across the fields over beds of +dead leaves.</p> + +<p>They talked about the days which they had formerly +spent in each other's society, the dinners at +the time when <i>L'Art Industriel</i> flourished, Arnoux's +fads, his habit of drawing up the ends of his collar +and of squeezing cosmetic over his moustache, and +other matters of a more intimate and serious character. +What delight he experienced on the first occasion +when he heard her singing! How lovely she looked +on her feast-day at Saint-Cloud! He recalled to her +memory the little garden at Auteuil, evenings at the +theatre, a chance meeting on the boulevard, and some +of her old servants, including the negress.</p> + +<p>She was astonished at his vivid recollection of +these things.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes your words come back to me like a +distant echo, like the sound of a bell carried on by +the wind, and when I read passages about love in +books, it seems to me that it is about you I am +reading."</p> + +<p>"All that people have found fault with as exaggerated +in fiction you have made me feel," said +Frederick. "I can understand Werther, who felt no +disgust at his Charlotte for eating bread and butter."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Poor, dear friend!"</p> + +<p>She heaved a sigh; and, after a prolonged silence:</p> + +<p>"No matter; we shall have loved each other truly!"</p> + +<p>"And still without having ever belonged to each +other!"</p> + +<p>"This perhaps is all the better," she replied.</p> + +<p>"No, no! What happiness we might have enjoyed!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am sure of it with a love like yours!"</p> + +<p>And it must have been very strong to endure after +such a long separation.</p> + +<p>Frederick wished to know from her how she first +discovered that he loved her.</p> + +<p>"It was when you kissed my wrist one evening +between the glove and the cuff. I said to myself, +'Ah! yes, he loves me—he loves me;' nevertheless, +I was afraid of being assured of it. So charming was +your reserve, that I felt myself the object, as it were, +of an involuntary and continuous homage."</p> + +<p>He regretted nothing now. He was compensated +for all he had suffered in the past.</p> + +<p>When they came back to the house, Madame Arnoux +took off her bonnet. The lamp, placed on a +bracket, threw its light on her white hair. Frederick +felt as if some one had given him a blow in the middle +of the chest.</p> + +<p>In order to conceal from her his sense of disillusion, +he flung himself on the floor at her feet, and seizing +her hands, began to whisper in her ear words of tenderness:</p> + +<p>"Your person, your slightest movements, seemed +to me to have a more than human importance in +the world. My heart was like dust under your feet. +You produced on me the effect of moonlight on a +summer's night, when around us we find nothing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> +but perfumes, soft shadows, gleams of whiteness, infinity; +and all the delights of the flesh and of the +spirit were for me embodied in your name, which I +kept repeating to myself while I tried to kiss it with +my lips. I thought of nothing further. It was Madame +Arnoux such as you were with your two +children, tender, grave, dazzlingly beautiful, and yet +so good! This image effaced every other. Did I not +think of it alone? for I had always in the very depths +of my soul the music of your voice and the brightness +of your eyes!"</p> + +<p>She accepted with transports of joy these tributes +of adoration to the woman whom she could no longer +claim to be. Frederick, becoming intoxicated with +his own words, came to believe himself in the reality +of what he said. Madame Arnoux, with her back +turned to the light of the lamp, stooped towards him. +He felt the caress of her breath on his forehead, and +the undefined touch of her entire body through the +garments that kept them apart. Their hands were +clasped; the tip of her boot peeped out from beneath +her gown, and he said to her, as if ready to faint:</p> + +<p>"The sight of your foot makes me lose my self-possession."</p> + +<p>An impulse of modesty made her rise. Then, without +any further movement, she said, with the strange +intonation of a somnambulist:</p> + +<p>"At my age!—he—Frederick! Ah! no woman +has ever been loved as I have been. No! Where is +the use in being young? What do I care about them, +indeed? I despise them—all those women who come +here!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! very few women come to this place," he +returned, in a complaisant fashion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span></p> + +<p>Her face brightened up, and then she asked him +whether he meant to be married.</p> + +<p>He swore that he never would.</p> + +<p>"Are you perfectly sure? Why should you not?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis on your account!" said Frederick, clasping +her in his arms.</p> + +<p>She remained thus pressed to his heart, with her +head thrown back, her lips parted, and her eyes +raised. Suddenly she pushed him away from her +with a look of despair, and when he implored of her +to say something to him in reply, she bent forward +and whispered:</p> + +<p>"I would have liked to make you happy!"</p> + +<p>Frederick had a suspicion that Madame Arnoux +had come to offer herself to him, and once more he +was seized with a desire to possess her—stronger, +fiercer, more desperate than he had ever experienced +before. And yet he felt, the next moment, an unaccountable +repugnance to the thought of such a thing, +and, as it were, a dread of incurring the guilt of incest. +Another fear, too, had a different effect on him—lest +disgust might afterwards take possession of +him. Besides, how embarrassing it would be!—and, +abandoning the idea, partly through prudence, and +partly through a resolve not to degrade his ideal, he +turned on his heel and proceeded to roll a cigarette +between his fingers.</p> + +<p>She watched him with admiration.</p> + +<p>"How dainty you are! There is no one like you! +There is no one like you!"</p> + +<p>It struck eleven.</p> + +<p>"Already!" she exclaimed; "at a quarter-past I +must go."</p> + +<p>She sat down again, but she kept looking at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span> +clock, and he walked up and down the room, puffing +at his cigarette. Neither of them could think of anything +further to say to the other. There is a moment +at the hour of parting when the person that we love +is with us no longer.</p> + +<p>At last, when the hands of the clock got past the +twenty-five minutes, she slowly took up her bonnet, +holding it by the strings.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, my friend—my dear friend! I shall +never see you again! This is the closing page in +my life as a woman. My soul shall remain with you +even when you see me no more. May all the blessings +of Heaven be yours!"</p> + +<p>And she kissed him on the forehead, like a mother.</p> + +<p>But she appeared to be looking for something, and +then she asked him for a pair of scissors.</p> + +<p>She unfastened her comb, and all her white hair +fell down.</p> + +<p>With an abrupt movement of the scissors, she cut +off a long lock from the roots.</p> + +<p>"Keep it! Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>When she was gone, Frederick rushed to the +window and threw it open. There on the footpath +he saw Madame Arnoux beckoning towards a passing +cab. She stepped into it. The vehicle disappeared.</p> + +<p>And this was all.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="chapter_xx" id="chapter_xx"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">"Wait Till You Come to Forty Year."</h3> + + +<p><img src="images/i_chxx.png" width="126" height="125" alt="A" title="" class="illodrop" style="margin-top: -3em;" />bout the beginning of this winter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> +Frederick and Deslauriers were chatting +by the fireside, once more +reconciled by the fatality of their +nature, which made them always +reunite and be friends again.</p> + +<p>Frederick briefly explained his quarrel with Madame +Dambreuse, who had married again, her second +husband being an Englishman.</p> + +<p>Deslauriers, without telling how he had come to +marry Mademoiselle Roque, related to his friend how +his wife had one day eloped with a singer. In order +to wipe away to some extent the ridicule that this +brought upon him, he had compromised himself by +an excess of governmental zeal in the exercise of his +functions as prefect. He had been dismissed. After +that, he had been an agent for colonisation in Algeria, +secretary to a pasha, editor of a newspaper, and canvasser +for advertisements, his latest employment being +the office of settling disputed cases for a manufacturing +company.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span></p> + +<p>As for Frederick, having squandered two thirds of +his means, he was now living like a citizen of comparatively +humble rank.</p> + +<p>Then they questioned each other about their +friends.</p> + +<p>Martinon was now a member of the Senate.</p> + +<p>Hussonnet occupied a high position, in which he +was fortunate enough to have all the theatres and entire +press dependent upon him.</p> + +<p>Cisy, given up to religion, and the father of eight +children, was living in the château of his ancestors.</p> + +<p>Pellerin, after turning his hand to Fourrièrism, +homœopathy, table-turning, Gothic art, and humanitarian +painting, had become a photographer; and he +was to be seen on every dead wall in Paris, where +he was represented in a black coat with a very small +body and a big head.</p> + +<p>"And what about your chum Sénécal?" asked +Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Disappeared—I can't tell you where! And yourself—what +about the woman you were so passionately +attached to, Madame Arnoux?"</p> + +<p>"She is probably at Rome with her son, a lieutenant +of chasseurs."</p> + +<p>"And her husband?"</p> + +<p>"He died a year ago."</p> + +<p>"You don't say so?" exclaimed the advocate. +Then, striking his forehead:</p> + +<p>"Now that I think of it, the other day in a shop +I met that worthy Maréchale, holding by the hand a +little boy whom she has adopted. She is the widow +of a certain M. Oudry, and is now enormously stout. +What a change for the worse!—she who formerly +had such a slender waist!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span></p> + +<p>Deslauriers did not deny that he had taken advantage +of the other's despair to assure himself of that +fact by personal experience.</p> + +<p>"As you gave me permission, however."</p> + +<p>This avowal was a compensation for the silence +he had maintained with reference to his attempt with +Madame Arnoux.</p> + +<p>Frederick would have forgiven him, inasmuch as he +had not succeeded in the attempt.</p> + +<p>Although a little annoyed at the discovery, he pretended +to laugh at it; and the allusion to the Maréchale +brought back the Vatnaz to his recollection.</p> + +<p>Deslauriers had never seen her any more than the +others who used to come to the Arnoux's house; but +he remembered Regimbart perfectly.</p> + +<p>"Is he still living?"</p> + +<p>"He is barely alive. Every evening regularly he +drags himself from the Rue de Grammont to the Rue +Montmartre, to the cafés, enfeebled, bent in two, emaciated, +a spectre!"</p> + +<p>"Well, and what about Compain?"</p> + +<p>Frederick uttered a cry of joy, and begged of the +ex-delegate of the provisional government to explain +to him the mystery of the calf's head.</p> + +<p>"'Tis an English importation. In order to parody +the ceremony which the Royalists celebrated on the +thirtieth of January, some Independents founded an +annual banquet, at which they have been accustomed +to eat calves' heads, and at which they make it their +business to drink red wine out of calves' skulls while +giving toasts in favour of the extermination of the +Stuarts. After Thermidor, the Terrorists organised a +brotherhood of a similar description, which proves +how prolific folly is."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You seem to me very dispassionate about politics?"</p> + +<p>"Effect of age," said the advocate.</p> + +<p>And then they each proceeded to summarise their +lives.</p> + +<p>They had both failed in their objects—the one +who dreamed only of love, and the other of power.</p> + +<p>What was the reason of this?</p> + +<p>"'Tis perhaps from not having taken up the proper +line," said Frederick.</p> + +<p>"In your case that may be so. I, on the contrary, +have sinned through excess of rectitude, without +taking into account a thousand secondary things +more important than any. I had too much logic, and +you too much sentiment."</p> + +<p>Then they blamed luck, circumstances, the epoch +at which they were born.</p> + +<p>Frederick went on:</p> + +<p>"We have never done what we thought of doing +long ago at Sens, when you wished to write a critical +history of Philosophy and I a great mediæval romance +about Nogent, the subject of which I had found in +Froissart: 'How Messire Brokars de Fenestranges and +the Archbishop of Troyes attacked Messire Eustache +d'Ambrecicourt.' Do you remember?"</p> + +<p>And, exhuming their youth with every sentence, +they said to each other:</p> + +<p>"Do you remember?"</p> + +<p>They saw once more the college playground, the +chapel, the parlour, the fencing-school at the bottom +of the staircase, the faces of the ushers and of the pupils—one +named Angelmare, from Versailles, who +used to cut off trousers-straps from old boots, M. +Mirbal and his red whiskers, the two professors of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> +linear drawing and large drawing, who were always +wrangling, and the Pole, the fellow-countryman of +Copernicus, with his planetary system on pasteboard, +an itinerant astronomer whose lecture had been paid +for by a dinner in the refectory, then a terrible debauch +while they were out on a walking excursion, +the first pipes they had smoked, the distribution of +prizes, and the delightful sensation of going home for +the holidays.</p> + +<p>It was during the vacation of 1837 that they had +called at the house of the Turkish woman.</p> + +<p>This was the phrase used to designate a woman +whose real name was Zoraide Turc; and many persons +believed her to be a Mohammedan, a Turk, +which added to the poetic character of her establishment, +situated at the water's edge behind the rampart. +Even in the middle of summer there was a shadow +around her house, which could be recognised by a +glass bowl of goldfish near a pot of mignonette at a +window. Young ladies in white nightdresses, with +painted cheeks and long earrings, used to tap at the +panes as the students passed; and as it grew dark, +their custom was to hum softly in their hoarse voices +at the doorsteps.</p> + +<p>This home of perdition spread its fantastic notoriety +over all the arrondissement. Allusions were made +to it in a circumlocutory style: "The place you +know—a certain street—at the bottom of the +Bridges." It made the farmers' wives of the district +tremble for their husbands, and the ladies grow apprehensive +as to their servants' virtue, inasmuch as +the sub-prefect's cook had been caught there; and, to +be sure, it exercised a fascination over the minds of +all the young lads of the place.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now, one Sunday, during vesper-time, Frederick +and Deslauriers, having previously curled their hair, +gathered some flowers in Madame Moreau's garden, +then made their way out through the gate leading +into the fields, and, after taking a wide sweep round +the vineyards, came back through the Fishery, and +stole into the Turkish woman's house with their big +bouquets still in their hands.</p> + +<p>Frederick presented his as a lover does to his betrothed. +But the great heat, the fear of the unknown, +and even the very pleasure of seeing at one glance +so many women placed at his disposal, excited him +so strangely that he turned exceedingly pale, and remained +there without advancing a single step or +uttering a single word. All the girls burst out laughing, +amused at his embarrassment. Fancying that +they were turning him into ridicule, he ran away; +and, as Frederick had the money, Deslauriers was +obliged to follow him.</p> + +<p>They were seen leaving the house; and the episode +furnished material for a bit of local gossip which was +not forgotten three years later.</p> + +<p>They related the story to each other in a prolix +fashion, each supplementing the narrative where the +other's memory failed; and, when they had finished +the recital:</p> + +<p>"That was the best time we ever had!" said +Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Yes, perhaps so, indeed! It was the best time +we ever had," said Deslauriers.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<div class="microspace"> </div> +<div class="border"> +<h2><a name="Footnotes" id="Footnotes"></a>FOOTNOTES</h2> +<div class="space"> </div> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a><i>Voleur</i> means, at the same time, a "hunter" and a "thief." +This is the foundation for Cisy's little joke.—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> <i>Coq de bruyère</i> means a heath-cock or grouse; hence the +play on the name of La Bruyère, whose <i>Caractères</i> is a well-known +work.—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> In 1828, a certain La Fougère brought out a work entitled +<i>L'Art de n'être jamais tué ni blessé en Duel sans avons pris +aucune leçon d'armes et lors même qu'on aurait affaire au +premier Tireur de l'Univers.</i>—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> This refers to a charge of corruption made in 1843 against a +general who was a member of the Ministry.—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> <i>Rouget</i> means a gurnet.—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> This is another political allusion. Flocon was a well-known +member of the Ministry of the day.—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> The "Overall." The word <i>Marlotte</i> means a loose wrapper +worn by ladies in the sixteenth century.—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_H_8" id="Footnote_H_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_H_8"><span class="label">[H]</span></a> The word also means "grease-pots."—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_I_9" id="Footnote_I_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_I_9"><span class="label">[I]</span></a> A marriage may take place in France under the <i>régime de +communauté</i>, by which the husband has the enjoyment and the +right of disposing of the property both of himself and his wife; the +<i>régime dotal</i>, by which he can only dispose of the income; and +the <i>régime de séparation de biens</i>, by which husband and wife +enjoy and exercise control over their respective estates separately.—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_J_10" id="Footnote_J_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_J_10"><span class="label">[J]</span></a> A metre is about 3¼ feet—<span class="sc">Translator.</span>.</div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_K_11" id="Footnote_K_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_K_11"><span class="label">[K]</span></a> The reader will excuse this barbarism on account of its convenience. +<i>Pot-de-vin</i> means a gratuity or something paid to a person +who has not earned it.—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +<br /> +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_L_12" id="Footnote_L_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_L_12"><span class="label">[L]</span></a> This disease, consisting of ulceration of the tongue and palate, is +also called <i>aphthæ</i>—<span class="sc">Translator.</span></div> +</div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="nanospace"> </div> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION, VOLUME II***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 27537-h.txt or 27537-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/5/3/27537">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/5/3/27537</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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