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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> +and Pat Castevens <patcat@ctnet.net> + + + + + +The Wandering Jew + +by Eugene Sue + + + + +THE WANDERING JEW + + +BOOK III. + +XXXVI. A Female Jesuit +XXXVII. The Plot +XXXVIII. Adrienne's Enemies +XXXIX. The Skirmish +XL. The Revolt +XLI. Treachery +XLII. The Snare +XLIII. A False Friend +XLIV. The Minister's Cabinet +XLV. The Visit +XLVI. Presentiments +XLVII. The Letter +XLVIII. The Confessional +XLIX. My Lord and Spoil-sport +L. Appearances +LI. The Convent +LII. The Influence of a Confessor +LIII. The Examination + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +A FEMALE JESUIT. + +During the preceding scenes which occurred in the Pompadour rotunda, +occupied by Miss de Cardoville, other events took place in the residence +of the Princess Saint-Dizier. The elegance and sumptuousness of the +former dwelling presented a strong contrast to the gloomy interior of the +latter, the first floor of which was inhabited by the princess, for the +plan of the ground floor rendered it only fit for giving parties; and, +for a long time past, Madame de Saint-Dizier had renounced all worldly +splendors. The gravity of her domestics, all aged and dressed in black; +the profound silence which reigned in her abode, where everything was +spoken, if it could be called speaking, in an undertone; and the almost +monastic regularity and order of this immense mansion, communicated to +everything around the princess a sad and chilling character. A man of +the world, who joined great courage to rare independence of spirit, +speaking of the princess (to whom Adrienne de Cardoville went, according +to her expression, to fight a pitched battle), said of her as follows: +"In order to avoid having Madame de Saint-Dizier for an enemy, I, who am +neither bashful nor cowardly, have, for the first time in my life, been +both a noodle and a coward." This man spoke sincerely. But Madame de +Saint-Dizier had not all at once arrived at this high degree of +importance. + +Some words are necessary for the purpose of exhibiting distinctly some +phases in the life of this dangerous and implacable woman who, by her +affiliation with the Order of Jesuits, had acquired an occult and +formidable power. For there is something even more menacing than a +Jesuit: it is a Jesuits; and, when one has seen certain circles, it +becomes evident that there exist, unhappily, many of those affiliated, +who, more or less, uniformly dress (for the lay members of the Order call +themselves "Jesuits of the short robe"). + +Madame de Saint-Dizier, once very beautiful, had been, during the last +years of the Empire, and the early years of the Restoration, one of the +most fashionable women of Paris, of a stirring, active, adventurous, and +commanding spirit, of cold heart, but lively imagination. She was +greatly given to amorous adventures, not from tenderness of heart, but +from a passion for intrigue, which she loved as men love play--for the +sake of the emotions it excites. Unhappily, such had always been the +blindness or the carelessness of her husband, the Prince of Saint-Dizier +(eldest brother of the Count of Rennepont and Duke of Cardoville, father +of Adrienne), that during his life he had never said one word that could +make it be thought that he suspected the actions of his wife. Attaching +herself to Napoleon, to dig a mine under the feet of the Colossus, that +design at least afforded emotions sufficient to gratify the humor of the +most insatiable. During some time, all went well. The princess was +beautiful and spirited, dexterous and false, perfidious and seductive. +She was surrounded by fanatical adorers, upon whom she played off a kind +of ferocious coquetry, to induce them to run their heads into grave +conspiracies. They hoped to resuscitate the Fonder party, and carried on +a very active secret correspondence with some influential personages +abroad, well known for their hatred against the emperor and France. +Hence arose her first epistolary relations with the Marquis d'Aigrigny, +then colonel in the Russian service and aide-de-camp to General Moreau. +But one day all these petty intrigues were discovered. Many knights of +Madame de Saint-Dizier were sent to Vincennes; but the emperor, who might +have punished her terribly, contented himself with exiling the princess +to one of her estates near Dunkirk. + +Upon the Restoration, the persecutions which Madame de Saint-Dizier had +suffered for the Good Cause were entered to her credit, and she acquired +even then very considerable influence, in spite of the lightness of her +behavior. The Marquis d'Aigrigny, having entered the military service of +France, remained there. He was handsome, and of fashionable manners and +address. He had corresponded and conspired with the princess, without +knowing her; and these circumstances necessarily led to a close +connection between them. + +Excessive self-love, a taste for exciting pleasures, aspirations of +hatred, pride, and lordliness, a species of evil sympathy, the perfidious +attraction of which brings together perverse natures without mingling +them, had made of the princess and the Marquis accomplices rather than +lovers. This connection, based upon selfish and bitter feelings, and +upon the support which two characters of this dangerous temper could lend +to each other against a world in which their spirit of intrigue, of +gallantry, and of contempt had made them many enemies, this connection +endured till the moment when, after his duel with General Simon, the +Marquis entered a religious house, without any one understanding the +cause of his unexpected and sudden resolution. + +The princess, having not yet heard the hour of her conversion strike, +continued to whirl round the vortex of the world with a greedy, jealous, +and hateful ardor, for she saw that the last years of her beauty were +dying out. + +An estimate of the character of this woman may be formed from the +following fact: + +Still very agreeable, she wished to close her worldly and volatile career +with some brilliant and final triumph, as a great actress knows the +proper time to withdraw from the stage so as to leave regrets behind. +Desirous of offering up this final incense to her own vanity, the +princess skillfully selected her victims. She spied out in the world a +young couple who idolized each other; and, by dint of cunning and +address, she succeeded in taking away the lover from his mistress, a +charming woman of eighteen, by whom he was adored. This triumph being +achieved, Madame Saint-Dizier retired from the fashionable world in the +full blaze of her exploit. After many long conversations with the Abbe- +Marquis d'Aigrigny, who had become a renowned preacher, she departed +suddenly from Paris, and spent two years upon her estate near Dunkirk, to +which she took only one of her female attendants, viz., Mrs. Grivois. + +When the princess afterwards returned to Paris, it was impossible to +recognize the frivolous, intriguing, and dissipated woman she had +formerly been. The metamorphosis was as complete as it was extraordinary +and even startling. Saint-Dizier House, heretofore open to the banquets +and festivals of every kind of pleasure, became gloomily silent and +austere. Instead of the world of elegance and fashion, the princess now +received in her mansion only women of ostentatious piety, and men of +consequence, who were remarkably exemplary by the extravagant rigor of +their religious and monarchial principles. Above all, she drew around +her several noted members of the higher orders of the clergy. She was +appointed patroness of a body of religious females. She had her own +confessor, chaplin, almoner, and even spiritual director; but this last +performed his functions in partibus. The Marquis-Abbe d'Aigrigny +continued in reality to be her spiritual guide; and it is almost +unnecessary to say that for a long time past their mutual relations as to +flirting had entirely ceased. + +This sudden and complete conversion of a gay and distinguished woman, +especially as it was loudly trumpeted forth, struck the greater number of +persons with wonder and respect. Others, more discerning, only smiled. + +A single anecdote, from amongst a thousand, will suffice to show the +alarming influence and power which the princess had acquired since her +affiliation with the Jesuits. This anecdote will also exhibit the deep, +vindictive, and pitiless character of this woman, whom Adrienne de +Cardoville had so imprudently made herself ready to brave. + +Amongst the persons who smiled more or less at the conversion of Madame +de Saint-Dizier were the young and charming couple whom she had so +cruelly disunited before she quitted forever the scenes of revelry in +which she had lived. The young couple became more impassioned and +devoted to each other than ever; they were reconciled and married, after +the passing storm which had hurled them asunder; and they indulged in no +other vengeance against the author of their temporary infelicity than +that of mildly jesting at the pious conversion of the woman who had done +them so much injury. + +Some time after, a terrible fatality overtook the loving pair. The +husband, until then blindly unsuspicious, was suddenly inflamed by +anonymous communications. A dreadful rupture ensued, and the young wife +perished. + +As for the husband, certain vague rumors, far from distinct, yet pregnant +with secret meanings, perfidiously contrived, and a thousand times more +detestable than formal accusations, which can, at least, be met and +destroyed, were strewn about him with so much perseverance, with a skill +so diabolical, and by means and ways so very various, that his best +friends, by little and little, withdrew themselves from him, thus +yielding to the slow, irresistible influence of that incessant whispering +and buzzing, confused as indistinct, amounting to some such results as +this-- + +"Well! you know!" says one. + +"No!" replies another. + +"People say very vile things about him." + +"Do they? really! What then?" + +"I don't know! Bad reports! Rumors grievously affecting his honor!" + +"The deuce! That's very serious. It accounts for the coldness with +which he is now everywhere received!" + +"I shall avoid him in future!" + +"So will I," etc. + +Such is the world, that very often nothing more than groundless surmises +are necessary to brand a man whose very, happiness may have incurred +envy. So it was with the gentleman of whom we speak. The unfortunate +man, seeing the void around him extending itself,--feeling (so to speak) +the earth crumbling from beneath his feet, knew not where to find or +grasp the impalpable enemy whose blows he felt; for not once had the idea +occurred to him of suspecting the princess, whom he had not seen since +his adventure with her. Anxiously desiring to learn why he was so much +shunned and despised, he at length sought an explanation from an old +friend; but he received only a disdainfully evasive answer; at which, +being exasperated, he demanded satisfaction. His adversary replied--"If +you can find two persons of our acquaintance, I will fight you!" The +unhappy man could not find one! + +Finally, forsaken by all, without having ever obtained an explanation of +the reason for forsaking him--suffering keenly for the fate of the wife +whom he had lost, he became mad with grief, rage, and despair, and killed +himself. + +On the day of his death, Madame de Saint-Dizier remarked that it was fit +and necessary that one who had lived so shamefully should come to an +equally shameful end, and that he who had so long jested at all laws, +human and divine, could not seemly otherwise terminate his wretched life +than by perpetrating a last crime--suicide! And the friends of Madame de +Saint-Dizier hawked about and everywhere repeated these terrible words +with a contrite air, as if beatified and convinced! But this was not +all. Along with chastisements there were rewards. + +Observant people remarked that the favorites of the religious clan of +Madame de Saint-Dizier rose to high distinction with singular rapidity. +The virtuous young men, such as were religiously attentive to tiresome +sermons, were married to rich orphans of the Sacred Heart Convents, who +were held in reserve for the purpose; poor young girls, who, learning too +late what it is to have a pious husband selected and imposed upon them by +a set of devotees, often expiated by very bitter tears the deceitful +favor of thus being admitted into a world of hypocrisy and falsehood, in +which they found themselves strangers without support, crushed by it if +they dared to complain of the marriages to which they had been condemned. + +In the parlor of Madame de Saint-Dizier were appointed prefects, +colonels, treasurers, deputies, academicians, bishops and peers of the +realm, from whom nothing more was required in return for the all-powerful +support bestowed upon them, but to wear a pious gloss, sometimes publicly +take the communion, swear furious war against everything impious or +revolutionary,--and above all, correspond confidentially upon "different +subjects of his choosing" with the Abbe d'Aigrigny,--an amusement, +moreover, which was very agreeable; for the abbe was the most amiable man +in the world, the most witty, and above all, the most obliging. The +following is an historical fact, which requires the bitter and vengeful +irony of Moliere or Pascal to do it justice. + +During the last year of the Restoration, there was one of the mighty +dignitaries of the court a firm and independent man, who did not make +profession (as the holy fathers call it), that is, who did not +communicate at the altar. The splendor amid which he moved was +calculated to give the weight of a very injurious example to his +indifference. The Abbe-Marquis d'Aigrigny was therefore despatched to +him; and he knowing the honorable and elevated character of the non- +communicant, thought that if he could only bring him to profess by any +means (whatever the means might be) the effect would be what was desired. +Like a man of intellect, the abbe prized the dogma but cheaply himself. +He only spoke of the suitableness of the step, and of the highly salutary +example which the resolution to adopt it would afford to the public. + +"M. Abbe," replied the person sought to be influenced, "I have a greater +respect for religion than you have. I should consider it an infamous +mockery to go to the communion table without feeling the proper +conviction." + +"Nonsense! you inflexible man! you frowning Alcestes," said the Marquis- +Abbe, smiling slyly. "Your profits and your scruples will go together, +believe me, by listening to me. In short, we shall manage to make it a +BLANK COMMUNION for you; for after all, what is it that we ask?--only the +APPEARANCE!" + +Now, a BLANK COMMUNION means breaking an unconsecrated wafer! + +The Abbe-Marquis retired with his offers, which were rejected with +indignation;--but then, the refractory man was dismissed from his place +at court. This was but a single isolated fact. Woe to all who found +themselves opposed to the interest and principles of Madame de Saint- +Dizier or her friends! Sooner or later, directly or indirectly, they +felt themselves cruelly stabbed, generally immediately--some in their +dearest connections, others in their credit, some in their honor; others +in their official functions; and all by secret action, noiseless, +continuous, and latent, in time becoming a terrible and mysterious +dissolvent, which invisibly undermined reputations, fortunes, positions +the most solidly established, until the moment when all sunk forever into +the abyss, amid the surprise and terror of the beholders. + +It will now be conceived how under the Restoration the Princess de Saint- +Dizier had become singularly influential and formidable. At the time of +the Revolution of July (1830) she had "rallied," and, strangely enough, +by preserving some relation of family and of society with persons +faithful to the worship of decayed monarchy, people still attributed to +the princess much influence and power. Let us mention, at last, that the +Prince of Saint-Dizier, having died many years since, his very large +personal fortune had descended to his younger brother, the father of +Adrienne de Cardoville; and he, having died eighteen months ago, that +young lady found herself to be the last and only representative of that +branch of the family of the Renneponts. + +The Princess of Saint-Dizier awaited her niece in a very large room, +rendered dismal by its gloomy green damask. The chairs, etc., covered +with similar stuff, were of carved ebony. Paintings of scriptural and +other religious subjects, and an ivory crucifix thrown up from a +background of black velvet, contributed to give the apartment a +lugubrious and austere aspect. + +Madame de Saint-Dizier, seated before a large desk, has just finished +putting the seals on numerous letters; for she had a very extensive and +very diversified correspondence. Though then aged about forty-five she +was still fair. Advancing years had somewhat thickened her shape, which +formerly of distinguished elegance, was still sufficiently handsome to be +seen to advantage under the straight folds of her black dress. Her +headdress, very simple, decorated with gray ribbons, allowed her fair +sleek hair to be seen arranged in broad bands. At first look, people +were struck with her dignified though unassuming appearance; and would +have vainly tried to discover in her physiognomy, now marked with +repentant calmness, any trace of the agitations of her past life. So +naturally grave and reserved was she, that people could not believe her +the heroine of so many intrigues and adventures and gallantry. Moreover, +if by chance she ever heard any lightness of conversation, her +countenance, since she had come to believe herself a kind of "mother in +the Church," immediately expressed candid but grieved astonishment, which +soon changed into an air of offended chastity and disdainful pity. + +"For the rest, her smile, when requisite, was still full of grace, and +even of the seducing and resistless sweetness of seeming good-nature. +Her large blue eyes, on fit occasions, became affectionate and caressing. +But if any one dared to wound or ruffle her pride, gainsay her orders or +harm her interests, her countenance, usually placid and serene, betrayed +a cold but implacable malignity. Mrs. Grivois entered the cabinet, +holding in her hand Florine's report of the manner in which Adrienne de +Cardoville had spent the morning. + +Mrs. Grivois had been about twenty years in the service of Madame de +Saint-Dizier. She knew everything that a lady's-maid could or ought to +have known of her mistress in the days of her sowing of wild (being a +lady) flowers. Was it from choice that the princess had still retained +about her person this so-well-informed witness of the numerous follies of +her youth? The world was kept in ignorance of the motive; but one thing +was evident, viz., that Mrs. Grivois enjoyed great privileges under the +princess, and was treated by her rather as a companion than as a tiring- +woman. + +"Here are Florine's notes, madame," said Mrs. Grivois, giving the paper +to the princess. + +"I will examine them presently," said the princess; "but tell me, is my +niece coming? Pending the conference at which she is to be present, you +will conduct into her house a person who will soon be here, to inquire +for you by my desire." + +"Well, madame?" + +"This man will make an exact inventory of everything contained in +Adrienne's residence. You will take care that nothing is omitted; for +that is of very great importance." + +"Yes, madame. But should Georgette or Hebe make any opposition?" + +"There is no fear; the man charged with taking the inventory is of such a +stamp, that when they know him, they will not dare to oppose either his +making the inventory, or his other steps. It will be necessary not to +fail, as you go along with him, to be careful to obtain certain +peculiarities destined to confirm the reports which you have spread for +some time past." + +"Do not have the slightest doubt, madame. The reports have all the +consistency of truth." + +"Very soon, then, this Adrienne, so insolent and so haughty, will be +crushed and compelled to pray for pardon; and from me!" + +An old footman opened both of the folding doors, and announced the +Marquis-Abbe d'Aigrigny. + +"If Miss de Cardoville present herself," said the princess to Mrs. +Grivois, "you will request her to wait an instant." + +"Yes, madame," said the duenna, going out with the servant. + +Madame de Saint-Dizier and D'Aigrigny remained alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +THE PLOT. + +The Abbe-Marquis d'Aigrigny, as the reader has easily divined, was the +person already seen in the Rue du Milieu-des-Ursins; whence he had +departed from Rome, in which city he had remained about three months. +The marquis was dressed in deep mourning, but with his usual elegance. +His was not a priestly robe; his black coat, and his waistcoat, tightly +gathered in at the waist, set off to great advantage the elegance of his +figure: his black cassimere pantaloons disguised his feet, exactly fitted +with lace boots, brilliantly polished. And all traces of his tonsure +disappeared in the midst of the slight baldness which whitened slightly +the back part of his head. There was nothing in his entire costume, or +aspect, that revealed the priest, except, perhaps, the entire absence of +beard, the more remarkable upon so manly a countenance. His chin, newly +shaved, rested on a large and elevated black cravat, tied with a military +ostentation which reminded the beholder, that this abbe-marquis this +celebrated preacher--now one of the most active and influential chiefs of +his order, had commanded a regiment of hussars upon the Restoration, and +had fought in aid of the Russians against France. + +Returned to Paris only this morning, the marquis had not seen the +princess since his mother, the Dowager Marchioness d'Aigrigny, had died +near Dunkirk, upon an estate belonging to Madame de Saint-Dizier, while +vainly calling for her son to alleviate her last moments; but the order +to which M. d'Aigrigny had thought fit to sacrifice the most sacred +feeling and duties of nature, having been suddenly transmitted to him +from Rome, he had immediately set out for that city; though not without +hesitation, which was remarked and denounced by Rodin; for the love of M. +d'Aigrigny for his mother had been the only pure feeling that had +invariably distinguished his life. + +When the servant had discreetly withdrawn with Mrs. Grivois, the marquis +quickly approached the princess, held out his hand to her, and said with +a voice of emotion: + +"Herminia, have you not concealed something in your letters. In her last +moments did not my mother curse me?" + +"No, no, Frederick, compose yourself. She had anxiously desired your +presence. Her ideas soon became confused. But in her delirium it was +still for you that she called." + +"Yes," said the marquis, bitterly; "her maternal instinct doubtless +assured her that my presence could have saved her life." + +"I entreat you to banish these sad recollections," said the princess, +"this misfortune is irreparable." + +"Tell me for the last time, truly, did not my absence cruelly affect my +mother? Had she no suspicion that a more imperious duty called me +elsewhere?" + +"No, no, I assure you. Even when her reason was shaken, she believed +that you had not yet had time to come to her. All the sad details which +I wrote to you upon this painful subject are strictly true. Again, I beg +of you to compose yourself." + +"Yes, my conscience ought to be easy; for I have fulfilled my duty in +sacrificing my mother. Yet I have never been able to arrive at that +complete detachment from natural affection, which is commanded to us by +those awful words: `He who hates not his father and his mother, even +with the soul, cannot be my disciple.'"[9] + +"Doubtless, Frederick," said the princess, "these renunciations are +painful. But, in return, what influence, what power!" + +"It is true," said the marquis, after a moment's silence. "What ought +not to be sacrificed in order to reign in secret over the all-powerful of +the earth, who lord it in full day? This journey to Rome, from which I +have just returned, has given me a new idea of our formidable power. +For, Herminia, it is Rome which is the culminating point, overlooking the +fairest and broadest quarters of the globe, made so by custom, by +tradition, or by faith. Thence can our workings be embraced in their +full extent. It is an uncommon view to see from its height the myriad +tools, whose personality is continually absorbed into the immovable +personality of our Order. What a might we possess! Verily, I am always +swayed with admiration, aye, almost frightened, that man once thinks, +wishes, believes, and acts as he alone lists, until, soon ours, he +becomes but a human shell; its kernel of intelligence, mind, reason, +conscience, and free will, shrivelled within him, dry and withered by the +habit of mutely, fearingly bowing under mysterious tasks, which shatter +and slay everything spontaneous in the human soul! Then do we infuse in +such spiritless clay, speechless, cold, and motionless as corpses, the +breath of our Order, and, lo! the dry bones stand up and walk, acting and +executing, though only within the limits which are circled round them +evermore. Thus do they become mere limbs of the gigantic trunk, whose +impulses they mechanically carry out, while ignorant of the design, like +the stonecutter who shapes out a stone, unaware if it be for cathedral or +bagnio." + +In so speaking, the marquis's features wore an incredible air of proud +and domineering haughtiness. + +"Oh, yes! this power is great, most great," observed the princess; "and +the more formidable because it moves in a mysterious way over minds and +consciences." + +"Aye, Herminia," said the marquis: "I have had under my command a +magnificent regiment. Very often have I experienced the energetic and +exquisite enjoyment of command! At my word my squadrons put themselves +in action; bugles blared, my officers, glittering in golden embroidery, +galloped everywhere to repeat my orders: all my brave soldiers, burning +with courage, and cicatrized by battles, obeyed my signal; and I felt +proud and strong, holding as I did (so to speak) in my hands, the force +and valor of each and all combined into one being of resistless strength +and invincible intrepidity,--of all of which I was as much the master, as +I mastered the rage and fire of my war-horse! Aye! that was greatness. +But now, in spite of the misfortunes which have befallen our Order, I +feel myself a thousand times more ready for action, more authoritative, +more strong and more daring, at the head of our mute and black-robed +militia, who only think and wish, or move and obey, mechanically, +according to my will. On a sign they scatter over the surface of the +globe, gliding stealthily into households under the guise of confessing +the wife or teaching the children, into family affairs by hearing the +dying avowals,--up to the throne through the quaking conscience of a +credulous crowned coward;--aye, even to the chair of the Pope himself, +living manifesto of the Godhead though he is, by the services rendered +him or imposed by him. Is not this secret rule, made to kindle or glut +the wildest ambition, as it reaches from the cradle to the grave, from +the laborer's hovel to the royal palace, from palace to the papal chair? +What career in all the world presents such splendid openings? what +unutterable scorn ought I not feel for the bright butterfly life of early +days, when we made so many envy us? Don't you remember, Herminia?" he +added, with a bitter smile. + +"You are right, perfectly right, Frederick!" replied the princess +quickly. "How little soever we may reflect, with what contempt do we not +think upon the past! I, like you, often compare it with the present; and +then what satisfaction I feel at having followed your counsels! For, +indeed, without you, I should have played the miserable and ridiculous +part which a woman always plays in her decline from having been beautiful +and surrounded by admirers. What could I have done at this hour? I +should have vainly striven to retain around me a selfish and ungrateful +world of gross and shameful men, who court women only that they may turn +them to the service of their passions, or to the gratification of their +vanity. It is true that there would have remained to me the resource of +what is called keeping an agreeable house for all others,--yes, in order +to entertain them, be visited by a crowd of the indifferent, to afford +opportunities of meeting to amorous young couples, who, following each +other from parlor to parlor, come not to your house but for the purpose +of being together; a very pretty pleasure, truly, that of harboring those +blooming, laughing, amorous youths, who look upon the luxury and +brilliancy with which one surrounds them, as if they were their due upon +bonds to minister to their pleasure, and to their impudent amours!" + +Her words were so stinging, and such hateful envy sat upon her face, that +she betrayed the intense bitterness of her regrets in spite of herself. + +"NO, no; thanks to you, Frederick," she continued, "After a last and +brilliant triumph, I broke forever with the world, which would soon have +abandoned me, though I was so long its idol and its queen. And I have +only changed my queendom. Instead of the dissipated men whom I ruled +with a frivolity superior to their own, I now find myself surrounded by +men of high consideration, of redoubtable character, and all-powerful, +many of whom have governed the state; to them I have devoted myself, as +they have devoted themselves to me! It is now only that I really enjoy +that happiness, of which I ever dreamt. I have taken an active part and +have exercised a powerful influence over the greatest interests of the +world; I have been initiated into the most important secrets; I have been +able to strike, surely, whosoever scoffed at or hated me; and I have been +able to elevate beyond their hopes those who have served or respected and +obeyed me." + +"There are some madmen, and some so blind, that they imagine that we are +struck down, because we ourselves have had to struggle against some +misfortunes," said M. d'Aigrigny, disdainfully, "as if we were not, above +all others, securely founded, organized for every struggle, and drew not +from our very struggles a new and more vigorous activity. Doubtless the +times are bad. But they will become better; and, as you know, it is +nearly certain that in a few days (the 13th of February), we shall have +at our disposal a means of action sufficiently powerful for re- +establishing our influence which has been temporarily shaken." + +"Yes, doubtless this affair of the medals is most important," said the +princess. + +"I should not have made so much haste to return hither," resumed the +abbe, "were it not to act in what will be, perhaps, for us, a very great +event." + +"But you are aware of the fatality which has once again overthrown +projects the most laboriously conceived and matured?" + +"Yes; immediately on arriving I saw Rodin." + +"And he told you--?" + +"The inconceivable arrival of the Indian, and of General Simon's +daughters at Cardoville Castle, after a double shipwreck, which threw +them upon the coast of Picardy; though it was deemed certain that the +young girls were at Leipsic, and the Indian in Java. Precautions were so +well taken, indeed," added the marquis in vexation, "that one would think +an invisible power protects this family." + +"Happily, Rodin is a man of resources and activity, resumed the princess. +"He came here last night, and we had a long conversation." + +"And the result of your consultation is excellent," added the marquis: +"the old soldier is to be kept out of the way for two days; and his +wife's confessor has been posted; the rest will proceed of itself. To- +morrow, the girls need no longer be feared; and the Indian remains at +Cardoville, wounded dangerously. We have plenty of time for action." + +"But that is not all," continued the princess: "there are still, without +reckoning my niece, two persons, who, for our interests, ought not to be +found in Paris on the 13th of February." + +"Yes, M. Hardy: but his most dear and intimate friend has betrayed him; +for, by means of that friend, we have drawn M. Hardy into the South, +whence it is impossible for him to return before a month. As for that +miserable vagabond workman, surnamed `Sleepinbuff!'" + +"Fie!" exclaimed the princess, with an expression of outraged modesty. + +"That man," resumed the marquis, "is no longer an object of inquietude. +Lastly, Gabriel, upon whom our vast and certain hope reposes, will not be +left by himself for a single minute until the great day. Everything +seems, you see, to promise success; indeed, more so than ever; and it is +necessary to obtain this success at any price. It is for us a question +of life or death; for, in returning, I stopped at Forli, and there saw +the Duke d'Orbano. His influence over the mind of the king is all- +powerful--indeed, absolute; and he has completely prepossessed the royal +mind. It is with the duke alone, then, that it is possible to treat." + +"Well?" + +"D'Orbano has gained strength; and he can, I know it, assure to us a +legal existence, highly protected, in the dominions of his master, with +full charge of popular education. Thanks to such advantages, after two +or three years in that country we shall become so deeply rooted, that +this very Duke d'Orbano, in his turn, will have to solicit support and +protection from us. But at present he has everything in his power; and +he puts an absolute condition upon his services." + +"What is the condition?" + +"Five millions down; and an annual pension of a hundred thousand francs." + +"It is very much." + +"Nay, but little if it be considered that our foot once planted in that +country, we shall promptly repossess ourselves of that sum, which, after +all, is scarcely an eighth part of what the affair of the medals, if +happily brought to an issue, ought to assure to the Order." + +"Yes, nearly forty millions," said the princess, thoughtfully. + +"And again: these five millions that Orbano demands will be but an +advance. They will be returned to us in voluntary gifts, by reason even +of the increase of influence that we shall acquire from the education of +children; through whom we have their families. And yet, the fools +hesitate! those who govern see not, that in doing our own business, we do +theirs also;--that in abandoning education to us (which is what we wish +for above all things) we mold the people into that mute and quiet +obedience, that servile and brutal submission, which assures the repose +of states by the immobility of the mind. They don't reflect that most of +the upper and middle classes fear and hate us; don't understand that +(when we have persuaded the mass that their wretchedness is an eternal +law, that sufferers must give up hope of relief, that it is a crime to +sigh for welfare in this world, since the crown of glory on high is the +only reward for misery here), then the stupefied people will resignedly +wallow in the mire, all their impatient aspirations for better days +smothered, and the volcano-blasts blown aside, which made the future of +rulers so horrid and so dark? They see not, in truth, that this blind +and passive faith which we demand from the mass, furnishes their rulers +with a bridle with which both to conduct and curb them; whilst we ask +from the happy of the world only some appearances which ought, if they +had only the knowledge of their own corruption, to give an increased +stimulant to their pleasures. + +"It signifies not," resumed the princess; "since, as you say, a great day +is at hand, bringing nearly forty millions, of which the Order can become +possessed by the happy success of the affair of the medals. We certainly +can attempt very great things. Like a lever in your hands, such a means +of action would be of incalculable power, in times during which all men +buy and sell one another." + +"And then," resumed M. d'Aigrigny, with a thoughtful air, "here the +reaction continues: the example of France is everything. In Austria and +Holland we can rarely maintain ourselves; while the resources of the +Order diminish from day to day. We have arrived at a crisis; but it can +be made to prolong itself. Thus, thanks to the immense resource of the +affair of the medals, we can not only brave all eventualities, but we can +again powerfully establish ourselves, thanks to the offer of the Duke +d'Orbano, which we accept; and then, from that inassailable centre, our +radiations will be incalculable. Ah! the 13th of February!" added M. +d'Aigrigny, after a moment of silence, and shaking his head: "the 13th of +February, a date perhaps fortunate and famous for our power as that of +the council which gave to us (so to say) a new life!" + +"And nothing must be spared." resumed the princess, "in order to succeed +at any price. Of the six persons whom we have to fear, five are or will +be out of any condition to hurt us. There remains then only my niece; +and you know that I have waited but for your arrival in order to take my +last resolution. All my preparations are completed; and this very +morning we will begin to act." + +"Have your suspicions increased since your last letter?" + +"Yes, I am certain that she is more instructed than she wishes to appear; +and if so, we shall not have a more dangerous enemy." + +"Such has always been my opinion. Thus it is six month: since I advised +you to take in all cases the measures which you have adopted, in order to +provoke, on her part, that demand of emancipation, the consequences of +which now render quite easy that which would have been impossible without +it." + +"At last," said the princess, with an expression of joy, hateful and +bitter, "this indomitable spirit will be broken. I am at length about to +be avenged of the many insolent sarcasms which I have been compelled to +swallow, lest I should awaken her suspicions. I! I to have borne so much +till now! for this Adrienne has made it her business (imprudent as she +is!) to irritate me against herself!" + +"Whosoever offends you, offends me; you know it," said D'Aigrigny, "my +hatreds are yours." + +"And you yourself!" said the princess, "how many times have you been the +butt of her poignant irony!" + +"My instincts seldom deceive me. I am certain that this young girl may +become a dangerous enemy for us," said the marquis, with a voice +painfully broken into short monosyllables. + +"And, therefore, it is necessary that she may be rendered incapable of +exciting further fear," responded Madame de Saint-Dizier, fixedly +regarding the marquis. + +"Have you seen Dr. Baleinier, and the sub-guardian, M. Tripeaud?" asked +he. + +"They will be here this morning. I have informed them of everything." + +"Did you find them well disposed to act against her?" + +"Perfectly so--and the best is, Adrienne does not at all suspect the +doctor, who has known how, up to a certain point, to preserve her +confidence. Moreover, a circumstance which appears to me inexplicable +has come to our aid." + +"What do you allude to?" + +"This morning, Mrs. Grivois went, according to my orders, to remind +Adrienne that I expected her at noon, upon important business. As she +approached the pavilion, Mrs. Grivois saw, or thought she saw, Adrienne +come in by the little garden-gate." + +"What do you tell me? Is it possible? Is there any positive proof of it?" +cried the marquis. + +"Till now, there is no other proof than the spontaneous declaration of +Mrs. Grivois: but whilst I think of it," said the Princess, taking up a +paper that lay before her, "here is the report, which, every day, one of +Adrienne's women makes to me." + +"The one that Rodin succeeded in introducing into your niece's service?" + +"The same; as this creature is entirely in Rodin's hands, she has +hitherto answered our purpose very well. In this report, we shall +perhaps find the confirmation of what Mrs. Grivois affirms she saw." + +Hardly had the Princess glanced at the note, than she exclaimed almost in +terror: "What do I see? Why, Adrienne is a very demon!" + +"What now?" + +"The bailiff at Cardoville, having written to my niece to ask her +recommendation, informed her at the same time of the stay of the Indian +prince at the castle. She knows that he is her relation, and has just +written to her old drawing-master, Norval, to set out post with Eastern +dresses, and bring Prince Djalma hither--the man that must be kept away +from Paris at any cost." + +The marquis grew pale, and said to Mme. de Saint-Dizier: "If this be not +merely one of her whims, the eagerness she displays in sending for this +relation hither, proves that she knows more than you even suspected. She +is `posted' on the affair of the medals. Have a care--she may ruin all." + +"In that case," said the princess, resolutely, "there is no room to +hesitate. We must carry things further than we thought, and make an end +this very morning." + +"Yes, though it is almost impossible." + +"Nay, all is possible. The doctor and M. Tripeaud are ours," said the +princess, hastily. + +"Though I am as sure as you are of the doctor, or of M. Tripeaud, under +present circumstances, we must not touch on the question of acting--which +will be sure to frighten them at first--until after our interview with +your niece. It will he easy, notwithstanding her cleverness, to find out +her armor's defect. If our suspicions should be realized--if she is +really informed of what it would be so dangerous for her to know--then we +must have no scruples, and above all no delay. This very day must see +all set at rest. The time for wavering is past." + +'Have you been able to send for the person agreed on?" asked the +princess, after a moment's silence. + +"He was to be here at noon. He cannot be long." + +"I thought this room would do very well for our purpose. It is separated +from the smaller parlor by a curtain only behind which your man may be +stationed." + +"Capital!" + +"Is he a man to be depended on?" + +"Quite so--we have often employed him in similar matters. He is as +skillful as discreet." + +At this moment a low knock was heard at the door. + +"Come in," said the princess. + +"Dr. Baleinier wishes to know if her Highness the Princess can receive +him," asked the valet-de-chambre. + +"Certainly. Beg him to walk in." + +"There is also a gentleman that M. l'Abbe appointed to be here at noon, +by whose orders I have left him waiting in the oratory." + +"'Tis the person in question," said the marquis to the princess. "We +must have him in first. 'Twould be useless for Dr. Baleinier to see him +at present." + +"Show this person in first," said the princess; "next when I ring the +bell, you will beg Dr. Baleinier to walk this way: and, if Baron Tripeaud +should call, you will bring him here also. After that, I am at home to +no one, except Mdlle. Adrienne." The servant went out. + +[9] With regard to this text, a commentary upon it will be found in the +Constitutions of the Jesuits, as follows: "In order that the habit of +language may come to the help of the sentiments, it is wise not to say, +`I have parents, or I have brothers;' but to say, 'I had parents; I had +brothers.' --General Examination, p. 29; Constitutions.--Paulin; 1843. +Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +ADRIENNE'S ENEMIES. + +The Princess de Saint-Dizier's valet soon returned, showing in a little, +pale man, dressed in black, and wearing spectacles. He carried under his +left arm a long black morocco writing-case. + +The princess said to this man: "M. l'Abbe, I suppose, has already +informed you of what is to be done?" + +"Yes, your highness," said the man in a faint, shrill, piping voice, +making at the same time a low bow. + +"Shall you be conveniently placed in this room?" asked the princess, +conducting him to the adjoining apartment, which was only separated from +the other by a curtain hung before a doorway. + +"I shall do nicely here, your highness," answered the man in spectacles, +with a second and still lower bow. + +"In that case, sir, please to step in here; I will let you know when it +is time." + +"I shall wait your highness's order." + +"And pray remember my instructions," added the marquis, as he unfastened +the loops of the curtain. + +"You may be perfectly tranquil, M. l'Abbe." The heavy drapery, as it +fell, completely concealed the man in spectacles. + +The princess touched the bell; some moments after, the door opened, and +the servant announced a very important personage in this work. + +Dr. Baleinier was about fifty years of age, middling size, rather plump, +with a full shining, ruddy countenance. His gray hair, very smooth and +rather long, parted by a straight line in the middle, fell flat over his +temples. He had retained the fashion of wearing short, black silk +breeches, perhaps because he had a well-formed leg; his garters were +fastened with small, golden buckles, as were his shoes of polished +morocco leather; his coat, waistcoat, and cravat were black, which gave +him rather a clerical appearance; his sleek, white hand was half hidden +beneath a cambric ruffle, very closely plaited; on the whole, the gravity +of his costume did not seem to exclude a shade of foppery. + +His face was acute and smiling; his small gray eye announced rare +penetration and sagacity. A man of the world and a man of pleasure, a +delicate epicure, witty in conversation, polite to obsequiousness, +supple, adroit, insinuating, Baleinier was one of the oldest favorites of +the congregational set of the Princess de Saint-Dizier. Thanks to this +powerful support, its cause unknown, the doctor, who had been long +neglected, in spite of real skill and incontestable merit, found himself, +under the Restoration, suddenly provided with two medical sinecures most +valuable, and soon after with numerous patients. We must add, that, once +under the patronage of the princess, the doctor began scrupulously to +observe his religious duties; he communicated once a week, with great +publicity, at the high mass in Saint Thomas Aquinas Church. + +At the year's end, a certain class of patients, led by the example and +enthusiasm of Madame de Saint-Dizier's followers, would have no other +physician than Doctor Baleinier, and his practice was now increased to an +extraordinary degree. It may be conceived how important it was for the +order, to have amongst its "plain clothes members" one of the most +popular practitioners of Paris. + +A doctor has in some sort a priesthood of his own. Admitted at all hours +to the most secret intimacy of families, he knows, guesses, and is able +to effect much. Like the priest, in short, he has the ear of the sick +and the dying. Now, when he who cares for the health of the body, and he +who takes charge of the health of the soul, understands each other, and +render mutual aid for the advancement of a common interest, there is +nothing (with certain exceptions), which they may not extract from the +weakness and fears of a sick man at the last gasp--not for themselves +(the laws forbid it)--but for third parties belonging more or less to the +very convenient class of men of straw. Doctor Baleinier was therefore +one of the most active and valuable assistant members of the Paris +Jesuits. + +When he entered the room, he hastened to kiss the princess's hand with +the most finished gallantry. + +"Always punctual, my dear M. Baleinier." + +"Always eager and happy to attend to your highness's orders." Then +turning towards the marquis, whose hand he pressed cordially, he added: +"Here we have you then at last. Do you know, that three months' absence +appears very long to your friends?" + +"The time is as long to the absent as to those who remain, my dear +doctor. Well! here is the great day. Mdlle. de Cardoville is coming." + +"I am not quite easy," said the princess; "suppose she had any suspicion? +" + +"That's impossible," said M. Baleinier; "we are the best friends in the +world. You know, that Mdlle. Adrienne has always had great confidence in +me. The day before yesterday, we laughed a good deal, and as I made some +observations to her, as usual, on her eccentric mode of life, and on the +singular state of excitement in which I sometimes found her--" + +"M. Baleinier never fails to insist on these circumstances, in appearance +so insignificant," said Madame de Saint-Dizier to the marquis with a +meaning look. + +"They are indeed very essential," replied the other. + +"Mdlle. Adrienne answered my observations," resumed the doctor, "by +laughing at me in the gayest and most witty manner; for I must confess, +that this young lady has one of the aptest and most accomplished minds I +know." + +"Doctor, doctor!" said Madame de Saint-Dizier, "no weakness!" + +Instead of answering immediately, M. Baleinier drew his gold snuff-box +from his waistcoat pocket, opened it, and took slowly a pinch of snuff, +looking all the time at the princess with so significant an air, that she +appeared quite reassured. "Weakness, madame?" observed he at last, +brushing some grains of snuff from his shirt-front with his plump white +hand; "did I not have the honor of volunteering to extricate you from +this embarrassment?" + +"And you are the only person in the world that could render us this +important service," said D'Aigrigny. + +"Your highness sees, therefore," resumed the doctor, "that I am not +likely to show any weakness. I perfectly understand the responsibility +of what I undertake; but such immense interests, you told me, were at +stake--" + +"Yes," said D'Aigrigny, "interests of the first consequence." + +"Therefore I did not hesitate," proceeded M. Baleinier; "and you need not +be at all uneasy. As a man of taste, accustomed to good society, allow +me to render homage to the charming qualities of Mdlle. Adrienne; when +the time for action comes, you will find me quite as willing to do my +work." + +"Perhaps, that moment may be nearer than we thought," said Madame de +Saint-Dizier, exchanging a glance with D'Aigrigny. + +"I am, and will be, always ready," said the doctor. "I answer for +everything that concerns myself. I wish I could be as tranquil on every +other point." + +"Is not your asylum still as fashionable--as an asylum can well be?" +asked Madame de Saint-Dizier, with a half smile. + +"On the contrary. I might almost complain of having too many boarders. +It is not that. But, whilst we are waiting for Mdlle. Adrienne, I will +mention another subject, which only relates to her indirectly, for it +concerns the person who, bought Cardoville Manor, one Madame de la +Sainte-Colombe, who has taken me for a doctor, thanks to Rodin's able +management." + +"True," said D'Aigrigny; "Rodin wrote to me on the subject--but without +entering into details." + +"These are the facts," resumed the doctor. "This Madame de la Sainte- +Colombe, who was at first considered easy enough to lead, has shown +herself very refractory on the head of her conversion. Two spiritual +directors have already renounced the task of saving her soul. In +despair, Rodin unslipped little Philippon on her. He is adroit, +tenacious, and above all patient in the extreme--the very man that was +wanted. When I got Madame de la Sainte-Colombe for a patient, Philippon +asked my aid, which he was naturally entitled to. We agreed upon our +plan. I was not to appear to know him the least in the world; and he was +to keep me informed of the variations in the moral state of his penitent, +so that I might be able, by the use of very inoffensive medicines--for +there was nothing dangerous in the illness--to keep my patient in +alternate states of improvement or the reverse, according as her director +had reason to be satisfied or displeased--so that he might say to her: +`You see, madame, you are in the good way! Spiritual grace acts upon +your bodily health, and you are already better. If, on the contrary, you +fall back into evil courses, you feel immediately some physical ail, +which is a certain proof of the powerful influence of faith, not only on +the soul, but on the body also?'" + +"It is doubtless painful," said D'Aigrigny, with perfect coolness, "to be +obliged to have recourse to such means, to rescue perverse souls from +perdition--but we must needs proportion our modes of action to the +intelligence and the character of the individual." + +"By-the-bye, the princess knows," resumed the doctor, "that I have often +pursued this plan at St. Mary's Convent, to the great advantage of the +soul's peace and health of some of our patients, being extremely +innocent. These alternations never exceed the difference between "pretty +well," and "not quite so well." Yet small as are the variations, they +act most efficaciously on certain minds. It was thus with Madame de la +Sainte-Colombe. She was in such a fair way of recovery, both moral and +physical, that Rodin thought he might get Philippon to advise the country +for his penitent, fearing that Paris air might occasion a relapse. This +advice, added to the desire the woman had to play `lady of the parish,' +induced her to buy Cardoville Manor, a good investment in any respect. +But yesterday, unfortunate Philippon came to tell me, that Madame de la +Sainte-Colombe was about to have an awful relapse--moral, of course--for +her physical health is now desperately good. The said relapse appears to +have been occasioned by an interview she has had with one Jacques +Dumoulin, whom they tell me you know, my dear abbe; he has introduced +himself to her, nobody can guess how." + +"This Jacques Dumoulin,"said the marquis, with disgust, "is one of those +men, that we employ while we despise. He is a writer full of gall, envy, +and hate, qualities that give him a certain unmercifully cutting +eloquence. We pay him largely to attack our enemies, though it is often +painful to see principles we respect defended by such a pen. For this +wretch lives like a vagabond--is constantly in taverns--almost always +intoxicated--but, I must own, his power of abuse is inexhaustible, and he +is well versed in the most abstruse theological controversies, so that he +is sometimes very useful to us." + +"Well! though Madame de la Sainte-Colombe is hard upon sixty, it appears +that Dumoulin has matrimonial views on her large fortune. You will do +well to inform Rodin, so that he may be on his guard against the dark +designs of this rascal. I really beg a thousand pardons for having so +long occupied you with such a paltry affair--but, talking of St. Mary's +Convent," added the doctor, addressing the princess, "may I take the +liberty of asking if your highness has been there lately?" + +The princess exchanged a rapid glance with D'Aigrigny, and answered: "Oh, +let me see! Yes, I was there about a week ago." + +"You will find great changes then. The wall that was next to my asylum +has been taken down, for they are going to build anew wing and a chapel, +the old one being too small. I must say in praise of Mdlle. Adrienne" +continued the doctor with a singular smile aside, "that she promised me a +copy of one of Raphael's Madonnas for this chapel." + +"Really? very appropriate!" said the princess. "But here it is almost +noon, and M. Tripeaud has not come." + +"He is the deputy-guardian of Mdlle. de Cardoville, whose property he has +managed, as former agent of the count-duke," said the marquis, with +evident anxiety, "and his presence here is absolutely indispensable. It +is greatly to be desired that his coming should precede that of Mdlle. +de Cardoville, who may he here at any moment." + +"It is unlucky that his portrait will not do as well," said the doctor, +smiling maliciously, and drawing a small pamphlet from his pocket. + +"What is that, doctor?" asked the princess. + +"One of those anonymous sheets, which are published from time to time. +It is called the `Scourge,' and Baron Tripeaud's portrait is drawn with +such faithfulness, that it ceases to be satire. It is really quite life- +like; you have only to listen. The sketch is entitled: `TYPE OF THE LYNX +SPECIES.' + +"`The Baron Tripeaud.--This man, who is as basely humble towards his +social superiors, as he is insolent and coarse to those who depend upon +him--is the living, frightful incarnation of the worst pardon of the +moneyed and commercial aristocracy--one of the rich and cynical +speculators, without heart, faith or conscience, who would speculate for +a rise or fall on the death of his mother, if the death of his mother +could influence the price of stocks. + +"`Such persons have all the odious vices of men suddenly elevated, not +like those whom honest and patient labor has nobly enriched, but like +those who owe their wealth to some blind caprice of fortune, or some +lucky cast of the net in the miry waters of stock-jobbing. + +"'Once up in the world, they hate the people--because the people remind +them of a mushroom origin of which they are ashamed. Without pity for +the dreadful misery of the masses, they ascribe it wholly to idleness or +debauchery. because this calumny forms an excuse for their barbarous +selfishness. + +"`And this is not all. On the strength of his well-filled safe, mounted +on his right of the candidate, Baron Tripeaud insults the poverty and +political disfranchisement-- + +"`Of the officer, who, after forty years of wars and hard service, is +just able to live on a scanty pension-- + +"`Of the magistrate, who has consumed his strength in the discharge of +stern and sad duties, and who is not better remunerated in his litter +days-- + +"'Of the learned man who has made his country illustrious by useful +labors; or the professor who has initiated entire generations in the +various branches of human knowledge-- + +"`Of the modest and virtuous country curate, the pure representative of +the gospel, in its charitable, fraternal, and democratic tendencies, etc. + +"`In such a state of things, how should our shoddy baron of in-dust-ry +not feel the most sovereign contempt for all that stupid mob of honest +folk, who, having given to their country their youth, their mature age, +their blood, their intelligence, their learning, see themselves deprived +of the rights which he enjoys, because he has gained a million by unfair +and illegal transactions? + +"`It is true, that your optimists say to these pariahs of civilization, +whose proud and noble poverty cannot be too much revered and honored: +"Buy an estate and you too may be electors and candidates!" + +"`But to come to the biography of our worthy baron--Andrew Tripeaud, the +son of an ostler, at a roadside inn '" + +At this instant the folding-doors were thrown open, and the valet +announced: "The Baron Tripeaud!" + +Dr. Baleinier put his pamphlet into his pocket, made the most cordial bow +to the financier, and even rose to give him his hand. The baron entered +the room, overwhelming every one with salutations. "I have the honor to +attend the orders of your highness the princess. She knows that she may +always count upon me." + +"I do indeed rely upon you, M. Tripeaud, and particularly under present +circumstances." + +"If the intentions of your highness the princess are still the same with +regard to Mdlle. de Cardoville " + +"They are still the same, M. Tripeaud, and we meet to-day on that +subject." + +"Your highness may be assured of my concurrence, as, indeed, I have +already promised. I think that the greatest severity must at length be +employed, and that even if it were necessary." + +"That is also our opinion," said the marquis, hastily making a sign to +the princess, and glancing at the place where the man in spectacles was +hidden; "we are all perfectly in harmony. Still, we must not leave any +point doubtful, for the sake of the young lady herself, whose interests +alone guides us in this affair. We must draw out her sincerity by every +possible means." + +"Mademoiselle has just arrived from the summer-house and wishes to see +your highness," said the valet, again entering, after having knocked at +the door. + +"Say that I wait for her," answered the princess; "and now I am at home +to no one--without exception. You understand me; absolutely to no one." + +Thereupon, approaching the curtain behind which the man was concealed, +Mme. de Saint-Dizier gave him the cue--after which she returned to her +seat. + +It is singular, but during the short space which preceded Adrienne's +arrival, the different actors in this scene appeared uneasy and +embarrassed, as if they had a vague fear of her coming. In about a +minute, Mdlle. de Cardoville entered the presence of her aunt. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE SKIRMISH. + +On entering, Mdlle. de Cardoville threw down upon a chair the gray beaver +hat she had worn to cross the garden, and displayed her fine golden hair, +falling on either side of her face in long, light ringlets, and twisted +in a broad knot behind her head. She presented herself without boldness, +but with perfect ease: her countenance was gay and smiling; her large +black eyes appeared even more brilliant than usual. When she perceived +Abbe d'Aigrigny, she started in surprise, and her rosy lips were just +touched with a mocking smile. + +After nodding graciously to the doctor, she passed Baron Tripeaud by +without looking at him, and saluted the princess with stately obeisance, +in the most fashionable style. + +Though the walk and bearing of Mdlle. de Cardoville were extremely +elegant, and full of propriety and truly feminine grace, there was about +her an air of resolution and independence by no means common in women, +and particularly in girls of her age. Her movements, without being +abrupt, bore no traces of restraint, stiffness, or formality. They were +frank and free as her character, full of life, youth, and freshness; and +one could easily divine that so buoyant, straightforward, and decided a +nature had never been able to conform itself to the rules of an affected +rigor. + +Strangely enough, though he was a man of the world, a man of great +talent, a churchman distinguished for his eloquence, and, above all, a +person of influence and authority. Marquis d'Aigrigny experienced an +involuntary, incredible, almost painful uneasiness, in presence of +Adrienne de Cardoville. He--generally so much the master of himself, so +accustomed to exercise great power--who (in the name of his Order) had +often treated with crowned heads on the footing of an equal, felt himself +abashed and lowered in the presence of this girl, as remarkable for her +frankness as for her biting irony. Now, as men who are accustomed to +impose their will upon others generally hate those who, far from +submitting to their influence, hamper it and make sport of them, it was +no great degree of affection that the marquis bore towards the Princess +de Saint-Dizier's niece. + +For a long time past, contrary to his usual habit, he had ceased to try +upon Adrienne that fascinating address to which he had often owed an +irresistible charm; towards her he had become dry, curt, serious, taking +refuge in that icy sphere of haughty dignity and rigid austerity which +completely hid all those amiable qualities with which he was endowed and +of which, in general, he made such efficient use. Adrienne was much +amused at all this, and thereby showed her imprudence--for the most +vulgar motives often engender the most implacable hatreds. + +From these preliminary observations, the reader will understand the +divers sentiments and interests which animated the different actors in +the following scene. + +Madame de Saint-Dizier was seated in a large arm-chair by one side of the +hearth. Marquis d'Aigrigny was standing before the fire. Dr. Baleinier +seated near a bureau, was again turning over the leaves of Baron +Tripeaud's biography, whilst the baron appeared to be very attentively +examining one of the pictures of sacred subjects suspended from the wall. + +"You sent for me, aunt, to talk upon matters of importance?" said +Adrienne, breaking the silence which had reigned in the reception-room +since her entrance. + +"Yes, madame," answered the princess, with a cold and severe mien; "upon +matters of the gravest importance." + +"I am at your service, aunt. Perhaps we had better walk into your +library?" + +"It is not necessary. We can talk here." Then, addressing the marquis, +the doctor, and the baron, she said to them, "Pray, be seated, +gentlemen," and they all took their places round the table. + +"How can the subject of our interview interest these gentlemen, aunt?" +asked Mdlle. de Cardoville, with surprise. + +"These gentlemen are old family friends; all that concerns you must +interest them, and their advice ought to be heard and accepted by you +with respect." + +"I have no doubt, aunt, of the bosom friendship of M. d'Aigrigny for our +family: I have still less of the profound and disinterested devotion of +M. Tripeaud; M. Baleinier is one of my old friends; still, before +accepting these gentlemen as spectators, or, if you will, as confidants +of our interview, I wish to know what we are going to talk of before +them." + +"I thought that, among your many singular pretensions, you had at least +those of frankness and courage." + +"Really, aunt," said Adrienne, smiling with mock humility, "I have no +more pretensions to frankness and courage than you have to sincerity and +goodness. Let us admit, once for all, that we are what we are--without +pretension." + +"Be it so," said Madame de Saint-Dizier, in a dry tone; "I have long been +accustomed to the freaks of your independent spirit. I suppose, then, +that, courageous and frank as you say you are, you will not he afraid to +speak before such grave and respectable persons as these gentlemen what +you would speak to me alone?" + +"Is it a formal examination that I am to submit to? if so, upon what +subject?" + +"It is not an examination: but, as I have a right to watch over you, and +as you take advantage of my weak compliance with your caprices, I mean to +put an end to what has lasted too long, and tell you my irrevocable +resolutions for the future, in presence of friends of the family. And, +first, you have hitherto had a very false and imperfect notion of my +power over you." + +"I assure you, aunt, that I have never had any notion, true or false, on +the subject--for I have never even dreamt about it." + +"That is my own fault; for, instead of yielding to your fancies, I should +have made you sooner feel my authority; but the moment has come to submit +yourself; the severe censures of my friends have enlightened me in time. +Your character is self-willed, independent, stubborn; it must change-- +either by fair means or by force, understand me, it shall change." + +At these words, pronounced harshly before strangers, with a severity +which did not seem at all justified by circumstances, Adrienne tossed her +head proudly; but, restraining herself, she answered with a smile: "You +say, aunt, that I shall change. I should not be astonished at it. We +hear of such odd conversions." + +The princess bit her lips. + +"A sincere conversion can never be called odd, as you term it, madame," +said Abbe d'Aigrigny, coldly. "It is, on the contrary, meritorious, and +forms an excellent example." + +"Excellent?" answered Adrienne: "that depends! For instance, what if one +converts defects into vices?" + +"What do you mean, madame?" cried the princess. + +"I am speaking of myself, aunt; you reproach me of being independent and +resolute--suppose I were to become hypocritical and wicked? In truth, I +prefer keeping my dear little faults, which I love like spoiled children. +I know what I am; I do not know what I might be." + +"But you must acknowledge, Mdlle. Adrienne," said Baron Tripeaud, with a +self-conceited and sententious air, "that a conversion--" + +"I believe," said Adrienne, disdainfully, "that M. Tripeaud is well +versed in the conversion of all sorts of property into all sorts of +profit, by all sorts of means--but he knows nothing of this matter." + +"But, madame," resumed the financier, gathering courage from a glance of +the princess, "you forget that I have the honor to be your deputy +guardian, and that--" + +"It is true that M. Tripeaud has that honor," said Adrienne, with still +more haughtiness, and not even looking at the baron; "I could never tell +exactly why. But as it is not now the time to guess enigmas, I wish to +know, aunt, the object and the end of this meeting?" + +"You shall be satisfied, madame. I will explain myself in a very clear +and precise manner. You shall know the plan of conduct that you will +have henceforth to pursue; and if you refuse to submit thereto, with the +obedience and respect that is due to my orders, I shall at once see what +course to take." + +It is impossible to give an idea of the imperious tone and stern look of +the princess, as she pronounced these words which were calculated to +startle a girl, until now accustomed to live in a great measure as she +pleased: yet, contrary perhaps to the expectation of Madame de Saint- +Dizier, instead of answering impetuously, Adrienne looked her full in the +face, and said, laughing: "This is a perfect declaration of war. It's +becoming very amusing." + +"We are not talking of declarations of war," said the Abbe d'Aigrigny, +harshly, as if offended by the expressions of Mdlle. de Cardoville. + +"Now, M. l'Abbe!" returned Adrienne, "for an old colonel, you are really +too severe upon a jest!--you are so much indebted to `war,' which gave +you a French regiment after fighting so long against France--in order to +learn, of course, the strength and the weakness of her enemies." + +On these words, which recalled painful remembrances, the marquis colored; +he was going to answer, but the princess exclaimed: "Really, madame, your +behavior is quite intolerable!" + +"Well, aunt, I acknowledge I was wrong. I ought not to have said this is +very amusing--for it is not so, at all; but it is at least very curious-- +and perhaps," added the young girl, after a moment's silence, "perhaps +very audacious and audacity pleases me. As we are upon this subject, and +you talk of a plan of conduct to which I must conform myself, under pain +of (interrupting herself)--under pain of what, I should like to know, +aunt?" + +"You shall know. Proceed." + +"I will, in the presence of these gentlemen, also declare, in a very +plain and precise manner, the determination that I have come to. As it +required some time to prepare for its execution, I have not spoken of it +sooner, for you know I am not in the habit of saying, `I will do so and +so!' but I do it." + +"Certainly; and it is just this habit of culpable independence of which +you must break yourself." + +"Well, I had intended only to inform you of my determination at a later +period; but I cannot resist the pleasure of doing so to-day, you seem so +well disposed to hear and receive it. Still, I would beg of you to speak +first: it may just so happen, that our views are precisely the same." + +"I like better to see you thus," said the princess. "I acknowledge at +least the courage of your pride, and your defiance of all authority. You +speak of audacity--yours is indeed great." + +"I am at least decided to do that which others in their weakness dare +not--but which I dare. This, I hope, is clear and precise." + +"Very clear, very precise," said the princess, exchanging a glance of +satisfaction with the other actors in this scene. "The positions being +thus established, matters will be much simplified. I have only to give +you notice, in your own interest, that this is a very serious affair-- +much more so than you imagine--and that the only way to dispose me to +indulgence, is to substitute, for the habitual arrogance and irony of +your language, the modesty and respect becoming a young lady." + +Adrienne smiled, but made no reply. Some moments of silence, and some +rapid glances exchanged between the princess and her three friends, +showed that these encounters, more or less brilliant in themselves, were +to be followed by a serious combat. + +Mdlle. de Cardoville had too much penetration and sagacity, not to +remark, that the Princess de Saint-Dizier attached the greatest +importance to this decisive interview. But she could not understand how +her aunt could hope to impose her absolute will upon her: the threat of +coercive measures appearing with reason a mere ridiculous menace. Yet, +knowing the vindictive character of her aunt, the secret power at her +disposal, and the terrible vengeance she had sometimes exacted-- +reflecting, moreover, that men in the position of the marquis and the +doctor would not have come to attend this interview without some weighty +motive--the young lady paused for a moment before she plunged into the +strife. + +But soon, the very presentiment of some vague danger, far from weakening +her, gave her new courage to brave the worst, to exaggerate, if that were +possible, the independence of her ideas, and uphold, come what might, the +determination that she was about to signify to the Princess de Saint- +Dizier. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +THE REVOLT. + +"Madame," said the princess to Adrienne de Cardoville, in a cold, severe +tone, "I owe it to myself, as well as to these gentlemen, to +recapitulate, in a few words, the events that have taken place for some +time past. Six months ago, at the end of the mourning for your father, +you, being eighteen years old, asked for the management of your fortune, +and for emancipation from control. Unfortunately, I had the weakness to +consent. You quitted the house, and established yourself in the +extension, far from all superintendence. Then began a train of +expenditures, each one more extravagant than the last. Instead of being +satisfied with one or two waiting-women, taken from that class from which +they are generally selected, you chose governesses for lady-companions, +whom you dressed in the most ridiculous and costly fashion. It is true, +that, in the solitude of your pavilion, you yourself chose to wear, one +after another, costumes of different ages. Your foolish fancies and +unreasonable whims have been without end and without limit: not only have +you never fulfilled your religious duties, but you have actually had the +audacity to profane one of your rooms, by rearing in the centre of it a +species of pagan altar, on which is a group in marble representing a +youth and a girl"--the princess uttered these words as if they would burn +her lips --"a work of art, if you will, but a work in the highest degree +unsuitable to a person of your age. You pass whole days entirely +secluded in your pavilion, refusing to see any one; and Dr. Baleinier, +the only one of my friends in whom you seem to have retained some +confidence, having succeeded by much persuasion in gaining admittance, +has frequently found you in so very excited a state, that he has felt +seriously uneasy with regard to your health. You have always insisted on +going out alone, without rendering any account of your actions to any +one. You have taken delight in opposing, in every possible way, your +will to my authority. Is all this true?" + +"The picture of my past is not much flattered," said Adrienne; smiling, +"but it is not altogether unlike." + +"So you admit, madame," said Abbe d'Aigrigny, laying stress on his words, +"that all the facts stated by your aunt are scrupulously true?" + +Every eye was turned towards Adrienne, as if her answer would be of +extreme importance. + +"Yes, M. l'Abbe," said she; "I live openly enough to render this question +superfluous." + +"These facts are therefore admitted," said Abbe d'Aigrigny, turning +towards the doctor and the baron. + +"These facts are completely established," said M. Tripeaud, in a pompous +voice. + +"Will you tell me, aunt," asked Adrienne, "what is the good of this long +preamble?" + +"This long preamble, madame," resumed the princess with dignity, "exposes +the past in order to justify the future." + +"Really, aunt, such mysterious proceedings are a little in the style of +the answers of the Cumaean Sybil. They must be intended to cover +something formidable." + +"Perhaps, mademoiselle--for to certain characters nothing is so +formidable as duty and obedience. Your character is one of those +inclined to revolt--" + +"I freely acknowledge it, aunt--and it will always he so, until duty and +obedience come to me in a shape that I can respect and love." + +"Whether you respect and love my orders or not, madame," said the +princess, in a curt, harsh voice, "you will, from to-day, from this +moment, learn to submit blindly and absolutely to my will. In one word, +you will do nothing without my permission: it is necessary, I insist upon +it, and so I am determined it shall be." + +Adrienne looked at her aunt for a second, and then burst into so free and +sonorous a laugh, that it rang for quite a time through the vast +apartment. D'Aigrigny and Baron Tripeaud started in indignation. The +princess looked angrily at her niece. The doctor raised his eyes to +heaven, and clasped his hands over his waistcoat with a sanctimonious +sigh. + +"Madame," said Abbe d'Aigrigny, "such fits of laughter are highly +unbecoming. Your aunt's words are serious, and deserve a different +reception." + +"Oh, sir!" said Adrienne, recovering herself, "it is not my fault if I +laugh. How can I maintain my gravity, when I hear my aunt talking of +blind submission to her orders? Is the swallow, accustomed to fly +upwards and enjoy the sunshine, fledged to live with the mole in +darkness?" + +At this answer, D'Aigrigny affected to stare at the other members of this +kind of family council with blank astonishment. + +"A swallow? what does she mean?" asked the abbe of the baron making a +sign, which the latter understood. + +"I do not know," answered Tripeaud, staring in his turn at the doctor. +"She spoke too of a mole. It 'is quite unheard-of--incomprehensible." + +"And so, madame," said the princess, appearing to share in the surprise +of the others, "this is the reply that you make to me?" + +"Certainly," answered Adrienne, astonished herself that they should +pretend not to understand the simile of which she had made use, +accustomed as she was to speak in figurative language. + +"Come, come, madame," said Dr. Baleinier, smiling good-humoredly, "we +must be indulgent. My dear Mdlle. Adrienne has naturally so uncommon and +excitable a nature! She is really the most charming mad woman I know; I +have told her so a hundred times, in my position of an old friend, which +allows such freedom." + +"I can conceive that your attachment makes you indulgent--but it is not +the less true, doctor," said D'Aigrigny, as if reproaching him for taking +the part of Mdlle. de Cardoville, "that such answers to serious questions +are most extravagant." + +"The evil is, that mademoiselle does not seem to comprehend the serious +nature of this conference," said the princess, harshly. "She will +perhaps understand it better when I have given her my orders." + +"Let us hear these orders, aunt," replied Adrienne as, seated on the +other side of the table, opposite to the princess, she leaned her small, +dimpled chin in the hollow of her pretty hand, with an air of graceful +mockery, charming to behold. + +"From to-morrow forward," resumed the princess, "you will quit the +summer-house which you at present inhabit, you will discharge your women, +and come and occupy two rooms in this house, to which there will be no +access except through my apartment. You will never go out alone. You +will accompany me to the services of the church. Your emancipation +terminates, in consequence of your prodigality duly proven. I will take +charge of all your expenses, even to the ordering of your clothes, so +that you may be properly and modestly dressed. Until your majority +(which will be indefinitely postponed, by means of the intervention of a +family-council), you will have no money at your own disposal. Such is my +resolution." + +"And certainly your resolution can only be applauded, madame," said Baron +Tripeaud ; "we can but encourage you to show the greatest firmness, for +such disorders must have an end." + +"It is more than time to put a stop to such scandal," added the abbe. + +"Eccentricity and exaltation of temperament--may excuse many things," +ventured to observe the smooth-tongued doctor. + +"No doubt," replied the princess dryly to Baleinier, who played his part +to perfection; "but then, doctor, the requisite measures must be taken +with such characters." + +Madame de Saint-Dizier had expressed herself in a firm and precise +manner; she appeared convinced of the possibility of putting her threats +into execution. M. Tripeaud and D'Aigrigny had just now given their full +consent to the words of the princess. Adrienne began to perceive that +something very serious was in contemplation, and her gayety was at once +replaced by an air of bitter irony and offended independence. + +She rose abruptly, and colored a little; her rosy nostrils dilated, her +eyes flashed fire, and, as she raised her head, she gently shook the +fine, wavy golden hair, with a movement of pride that was natural to her. +After a moment's silence, she said to her aunt in a cutting tone: "You +have spoken of the past, madame; I also will speak a few words concerning +it, since you force me to do so, though I may regret the necessity. I +quitted your dwelling, because it was impossible for me to live longer in +this atmosphere of dark hypocrisy and black treachery." + +"Madame," said D'Aigrigny, "such words are as violent as they are +unreasonable." + +"Since you interrupt me, sir," said Adrienne, hastily, as she fixed her +eyes on the abbe, "tell me what examples did I meet with in my aunt's +house?" + +"Excellent, examples, madame." + +"Excellent, sir? Was it because I saw there, every day, her conversion +keep pace with your own?" + +"Madame, you forget yourself!" cried the princess, becoming pale with +rage. + +"Madame, I do not forget--I remember, like other people; that is all. I +had no relation of whom I could ask an asylum. I wished to live alone. +I wished to enjoy my revenues--because I chose rather to spend them +myself, than to see them wasted by M. Tripeaud." + +"Madame," cried the baron, "I cannot imagine how you can presume--" + +"Sir!" said Adrienne, reducing him to silence by a gesture of +overwhelming lordliness, "I speak of you--not to you. I wished to spend +my income," she continued, "according to my own tastes. I embellished +the retreat that I had chosen. Instead of ugly, ill-taught servants, I +selected girls, pretty and well brought up, though poor. Their education +forbade their being subjected to any humiliating servitude, though I have +endeavored to make their situation easy and agreeable. They do not serve +me, but render me service--I pay them, but I am obliged to them--nice +distinctions that your highness will not understand, I know. Instead of +seeing them badly or ungracefully dressed, I have given them clothes that +suit their charming faces well, because I like whatever is young and +fair. Whether I dress myself one way or the other, concerns only my +looking-glass. I go out alone, because I like to follow my fancy. I do +not go to mass--but, if I had still a mother, I would explain to her my +devotions, and she would kiss me none the less tenderly. It is true, +that I have raised a pagan altar to youth and beauty, because I adore God +in all that He has made fair and good, noble and grand--because, morn and +evening, my heart repeats the fervent and sincere prayer: `Thanks, my +Creator! thanks!'--Your highness says that M. Baleinier has often found +me in my solitude, a prey to a strange excitement: yes, it is true; for +it is then that, escaping in thought from all that renders the present +odious and painful to me, I find refuge in the future--it is then that +magical horizons spread far before me--it is then that such splendid +visions appear to me, as make me feel myself rapt in a sublime and +heavenly ecstasy, as if I no longer appertained to earth!" + +As Adrienne pronounced these last words with enthusiasm, her countenance +appeared transfigured, so resplendent did it become. In that moment, she +had lost sight of all that surrounded her. + +"It is then," she resumed, with spirit soaring higher and higher, "that I +breathe a pure air, reviving and free--yes, free--above all, free--and so +salubrious, so grateful to the soul!--Yes, instead of seeing my sisters +painfully submit to a selfish, humiliating, brutal dominion, which +entails upon them the seductive vices of slavery, the graceful fraud, the +enchanting perfidy, the caressing falsehood, the contemptuous +resignation, the hateful obedience--I behold them, my noble sisters! +worthy and sincere because they are free, faithful and devoted because +they have liberty to choose--neither imperious not base, because they +have no master to govern or to flatter--cherished and respected, because +they can withdraw from a disloyal hand their hand, loyally bestowed. Oh, +my sisters! my sisters! I feel it. These are not merely consoling +visions--they are sacred hopes." + +Carried away, in spite of herself, by the excitement of her feelings, +Adrienne paused for a moment, in order to return to earth; she did not +perceive that the other actors in this scene were looking at each other +with an air of delight. + +"What she says there is excellent," murmured the doctor in the princess's +ear, next to whom he was seated; "were she in league with us, she would +not speak differently." + +"It is only by excessive harshness," added D'Aigrigny, "that we shall +bring her to the desired point." + +But it seemed as if the vexed emotion of Adrienne had been dissipated by +the contact of the generous sentiments she had just uttered. Addressing +Baleinier with a smile, she said: "I must own, doctor, that there is +nothing more ridiculous, than to yield to the current of certain +thoughts, in the presence of persons incapable of understanding them. +This would give you a fine opportunity to make game of that exaltation of +mind for which you sometimes reproach me. To let myself be carried away +by transports at so serious a moment!--for, verily, the matter in hand +seems to be serious. But you see, good M. Baleinier, when an idea comes +into my head, I can no more help following it out, than I could refrain +from running after butterflies when I was a little girl." + +"And heaven only knows whither these brilliant butterflies of all +colors," said M. Baleinier, smiling with an air of paternal indulgence, +"that are passing through your brain, are likely to lead you. Oh, +madcap, when will she be as reasonable as she is charming?" + +"This very instant, my good doctor," replied Adrienne. "I am about to +cast off my reveries for realities, and speak plain and positive +language, as you shall hear." + +Upon which, addressing her aunt, she continued: "You have imparted to me +your resolution, madame; I will now tell you mine. Within a week, I +shall quit the pavilion that I inhabit, for a house which I have arranged +to my taste, where I shall live after my own fashion. I have neither +father nor mother, and I owe no account of my actions to any but myself." + +"Upon my word, mademoiselle," said the princess, shrugging her shoulders, +"you talk nonsense. You forget that society has inalienable moral +rights, which we are bound to enforce. And we shall not neglect them, +depend upon it." + +"So madame, it is you, and M. d'Aigrigny, and M. Tripeaud, that represent +the morality of society! This appears to me very fine. Is it because M. +Tripeaud has considered (I must acknowledge it) my fortune as his own? +Is it because--" + +"Now, really, madame," began Tripeaud. + +"In good time, madame," said Adrienne to her aunt, without noticing the +baron, "as the occasion offers, I shall have to ask you for explanations +with regard to certain interests, which have hitherto, I think, been +concealed from me." + +These words of Adrienne made D'Aigrigny and the princess start, and then +rapidly exchange a glance of uneasiness and anxiety. Adrienne did not +seem to perceive it, but thus continued: "To have done with your demands, +madame, here is my final resolve. I shall live where and how I please. +I think that, if I were a man, no one would impose on me, at my age, the +harsh and humiliating guardianship you have in view, for living as I have +lived till now--honestly, freely, and generously, in the sight of all." + +"This idea is absurd! is madness!" cried the princess. "To wish to live +thus alone, is to carry immorality and immodesty to their utmost limits." + +"If so, madame," said Adrienne, "what opinion must you entertain of so +many poor girls, orphans like myself, who live alone and free, as I wish +to live? They have not received, as I have, a refined education, +calculated to raise the soul, and purify the heart. They have not +wealth, as I have, to protect them from the evil temptations of misery; +and yet they live honestly and proudly in their distress." + +"Vice and virtue do not exist for such tag-rag vermin!" cried Baron +Tripeaud, with an expression of anger and hideous disdain. + +"Madame, you would turn away a lackey, that would venture to speak thus +before you," said Adrienne to her aunt, unable to conceal her disgust, +"and yet you oblige me to listen to such speeches!" + +The Marquis d'Aigrigny touched M. Tripeaud with his knee under the table, +to remind him that he must not express himself in the princess's parlors +in the same manner as he would in the lobbies of the Exchange. To repair +the baron's coarseness, the abbe thus continued: "There is no comparison, +mademoiselle, between people of the class you name, and a young lady of +your rank." + +"For a Catholic priest, M. l'Abbe, that distinction is not very +Christian," replied Adrienne. + +"I know the purport of my words, madame," answered the abbe, dryly; +"besides the independent life that you wish to lead, in opposition to all +reason, may tend to very serious consequences for you. Your family may +one day wish to see you married--" + +"I will spare my family that trouble, sir, if I marry at all, I will +choose for myself, which also appears to me reasonable enough. But, in +truth, I am very little tempted by that heavy chain, which selfishness +and brutality rivet for ever about our necks." + +"It is indecent, madame," said the princess, to speak so lightly of such +an institution." + +"Before you, especially, madame, I beg pardon for having shocked your +highness! You fear that my independent planner of living will frighten +away all wooers; but that is another reason for persisting in my +independence, for I detest wooers. I only hope that they may have the +very worst opinion of me, and there is no better means of effecting that +object, than to appear to live as they live themselves. I rely upon my +whims, my follies, my sweet faults, to preserve me from the annoyance of +any matrimonial hunting." + +"You will he quite satisfied on that head," resumed Madame de Saint- +Dizier, "if unfortunately the report should gain credit, that you have +carried the forgetfulness of all duty and decency, to such a height, as +to return home at eight o'clock in the morning. So I am told is the case +but I cannot bring myself to believe such an enormity." + +"You are wrong, madame, for it is quite true." + +"So you confess it?" cried the princess. + +"I confess all that I do, madame. I came home this morning at eight +o'clock." + +"You hear Gentlemen?" ejaculated the princess. + +"Oh!" said M. d'Aigrigny, in a bass voice. + +"Ah!" said the baron, in a treble key. + +"Oh!" muttered the doctor, with a deep sigh. + +On hearing these lamentable exclamations, Adrienne seemed about to speak, +perhaps to justify herself; but her lip speedily assumed a curl of +contempt, which showed that she disdained to stoop to any explanation. + +"So it is true," said the princess. "Oh, wretched girl, you had +accustomed me to be astonished at nothing; but, nevertheless, I doubted +the possibility of such conduct. It required your impudent and audacious +reply to convince the of the fact." + +"Madame, lying has always appeared to be more impudent than to speak the +truth." + +"And where had you been, madame? and for what?" + +"Madame," said Adrienne, interrupting her aunt, "I never speak false--but +neither do I speak more than I choose; and then again, it were cowardice +to defend myself from a revolting accusation. Let us say no more about +it: your importunities on this head will be altogether vain. To resume: +you wish to impose upon me a harsh and humiliating restraint; I wish to +quit the house I inhabit, to go and live where I please, at my own fancy. +Which of us two will yield, remains to be seen. Now for another matter: +this mansion belongs to me! As I am about to leave it, I am indifferent +whether you continue to live here or not; but the ground floor is +uninhabited. It contains, besides the reception-rooms, two complete sets +of apartments; I have let them for some time." + +"Indeed!" said the princess, looking at D'Aigrigny with intense surprise. +"And to whom," she added ironically, "have you disposed of them?" + +"To three members of my family." + +"What does all this mean?" said Mme. de Saint-Dizier, more and more +astonished. + +"It means, madame, that I wish to offer a generous hospitality to a young +Indian prince, my kinsman on my mother's side. He will arrive in two or +three days, and I wish to have the rooms ready to receive him." + +"You hear, gentlemen?" said D'Aigrigny to the doctor and Tripeaud, with +an affectation of profound stupor. + +"It surpasses all one could imagine!" exclaimed the baron. + +"Alas!" observed the doctor, benignantly, "the impulse is generous in +itself--but the mad little head crops out?" + +"Excellent!" said the princes. "I cannot prevent you madame, from +announcing the most extravagant designs but it is presumable that you +will not stop short in so fair a path. Is that all?" + +"Not quite, your highness. I learned this morning, that two of my female +relations, also on my mother's side--poor children of fifteen--orphan +daughters of Marshal Simon arrived yesterday from a long journey, and are +now with the wife of the brave soldier who brought them to France from +the depths of Siberia." + +At these words from Adrienne, D'Aigrigny and the princess could not help +starting suddenly, and staring at each other with affright, so far were +they from expecting that Mdlle. de Cardoville was informed of the coming +of Marshal Simon's daughters. This discovery was like a thunder-clap to +them. + +"You are no doubt astonished at seeing me so well informed," said +Adrienne; "fortunately, before I have done, I hope to astonish you still +more. But to return to these daughters of Marshal Simon: your highness +will understand, that it is impossible for me to leave them in charge of +the good people who have afforded them a temporary asylum. Though this +family is honest, and hard-working, it is not the place for them. I +shall go and fetch them hither, and lodge them in apartments on the +ground-floor, along with the soldier's wife, who will do very well to +take care of them." + +Upon these words, D'Aigrigny and the baron looked at each other, and the +baron exclaimed: "Decidedly, she's out of her head." + +Without a word to Tripeaud, Adrienne continued: "Marshal Simon cannot +fail to arrive at Paris shortly. Your highness perceives how pleasant it +will he, to be able to present his daughters to him, and prove that they +have been treated as they deserve. To-morrow morning I shall send for +milliners and mantua makers, so that they may want for nothing. I desire +their surprised father, on his return, to find them every way beautiful. +They are pretty, I am told, as angels--but I will endeavor to make little +Cupids of them." + +"At last, madame, you must have finished?" said the princess, in a +sardonic and deeply irritated tone, whilst D'Aigrigny, calm and cold in +appearance, could hardly dissemble his mental anguish. + +"Try again!" continued the princess, addressing Adrienne. "Are there no +more relations that you wish to add to this interesting family-group? +Really a queen could not act with more magnificence." + +"Right! I wish to give my family a royal reception--such as is due to the +son of a king, and the daughters of the Duke de Ligny. It is well to +unite other luxuries of life with the luxury of the hospitable heart." + +"The maxim is assuredly generous," said the princess, becoming more and +more agitated; "it is only a pity that you do not possess the mines of El +Dorado to make it practicable." + +"It was on the subject of a mine, said to be a rich one, that I also +wished to speak to your highness. Could I find a better opportunity? +Though my fortune is already considerable, it is nothing to what may come +to our family at any moment. You will perhaps excuse, therefore, what +you are pleased to call my royal prodigalities." + +D'Aigrigny's dilemma became momentarily more and more thorny. The affair +of the medals was so important, that he had concealed it even from Dr. +Baleinier, though he had called in his services to forward immense +interests. Neither had Tripeaud been informed of it, for the princess +believed that she had destroyed every vestige of those papers of +Adrienne's father, which might have put him on the scent of this +discovery. The abbe, therefore was not only greatly alarmed that Mdlle. +de Cardoville might be informed of this secret, but he trembled lest she +should divulge it. + +The princess, sharing the alarms of D'Aigrigny, interrupted her niece by +exclaiming: "Madame, there are certain family affairs which ought to be +kept secret, and, without exactly understanding to what you allude, I +must request you to change the subject." + +"What, madame! are we not here a family party? Is that not sufficiently +evident by the somewhat ungracious things that have been here said?" + +"No matter, madame! when affairs of interest are concerned, which are +more or less disputable, it is perfectly useless to speak of them without +the documents laid before every one." + +"And of what have we been speaking this hour, madame, if not of affairs +of interest? I really do not understand your surprise and +embarrassment." + +"I am neither surprised nor embarrassed, madame; but for the last two +hours, you have obliged me to listen to so many new and extravagant +things, that a little amaze is very permissible." + +"I beg your highness's pardon, but you are very much embarrassed," said +Adrienne, looking fixedly at her aunt, "and M. d'Aigrigny also--which +confirms certain suspicions that I have not had the time to clear up. +Have I then guessed rightly?" she added, after a pause. "We will see--" + +"Madame, I command you to be silent," cried the princess, no longer +mistress of herself. + +"Oh, madame!" said Adrienne, "for a person who has in general so much +command of her feelings, you compromise yourself strangely." + +Providence (as some will have it) came to the aid of the princess and the +Abbe d'Aigrigny at this critical juncture. A valet entered the room; his +countenance bore such marks of fright and agitation, that the princess +exclaimed as soon as she saw him: "Why, Dubois! what is the matter?" + +"I have to beg pardon, your highness, for interrupting you against your +express orders, but a police inspector demands to speak with you +instantly. He is below stairs, and the yard is full of policemen and +soldiers." + +Notwithstanding the profound surprise which this new incident occasioned +her, the princess, determining to profit by the opportunity thus +afforded, to concert prompt measures with D'Aigrigny on the subject of +Adrienne's threatened revelations, rose, and said to the abbe: "Will you +be so obliging as to accompany me, M. d'Aigrigny, for I do not know what +the presence of this commissary of police may signify." + +D'Aigrigny followed the speaker into the next room. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +TREACHERY. + +The Princess de Saint-Dizier, accompanied by D'Aigrigny, and followed by +the servants, stopped short in the next room to that in which had +remained Adrienne, Tripeaud and the doctor. + +"Where is the commissary?" asked the princess of the servant, who had +just before announced to her the arrival of that magistrate." + +"In the blue saloon, madame." + +"My compliments, and beg him to wait for me a few moments." + +The man bowed and withdrew. As soon as he was gone Madame de Saint- +Dizier approached hastily M. d'Aigrigny, whose countenance, usually firm +and haughty, was now pale and agitated. + +"You see," cried the princess in a hurried voice, "Adrienne knows all. +What shall we do?--what?" + +"I cannot tell," said the abbe, with a fixed and absent look. "This +disclosure is a terrible blow to us." + +"Is all, then, lost?" + +"There is only one means of safety," said M. d'Aigrigny;--"the doctor." + +"But how?" cried the princess. "So, sudden? this very day?" + +"Two hours hence, it will be too late; ere then, this infernal girl will +have seen Marshal Simon's daughters." + +"But--Frederick!--it is impossible! M. Baleinier will never consent. I +ought to have been prepared before hand as we intended, after to-day's +examination." + +"No matter," replied the abbe, quickly; "the doctor must try at any +hazard." + +"But under what pretext?" + +"I will try and find one." + +"Suppose you were to find a pretext, Frederick, and we could act +immediately--nothing would be ready down there." + +"Be satisfied: they are always ready there, by habitual foresight." + +"How instruct the doctor on the instant?" resumed the princess. + +"To send for him would be to rouse the suspicions of your niece," said M. +d'Aigrigny, thoughtfully; "and we must avoid that before everything." + +"Of course," answered the princess; "her confidence in the doctor is one +of our greatest resources." + +"There is a way," said the abbe quickly; "I will write a few words in +haste to Baleinier: one of your people can take the note to him, as if it +came from without--from a patient dangerously ill." + +"An excellent idea!" cried the princess. "You are right. Here--upon +this table--there is everything necessary for writing. Quick! quick--But +will the doctor succeed?" + +"In truth, I scarcely dare to hope it," said the marquis, sitting down at +the table with repressed rage. "Thanks to this examination, going beyond +our hopes, which our man, hidden behind the curtain, has faithfully taken +down in shorthand--thanks to the violent scenes, which would necessarily +have occurred to-morrow and the day after--the doctor, by fencing himself +round with all sorts of clever precautions, would have been able to act +with the most complete certainty. But to ask this of him to-day, on the +instant!--Herminia--it is folly to think of!"--The marquis threw down the +pen which he held in his hand; then he added, in a tone of bitter and +profound irritation: "At the very moment of success--to see all our hopes +destroyed!--Oh, the consequences of all this are incalculable. Your +niece will be the cause of the greatest mischief--oh! the greatest injury +to us." + +It is impossible to describe the expression of deep rage and implacable +hatred with which D'Aigrigny uttered these last words. + +"Frederick," cried the princess with anxiety, as she clasped her hands +strongly around the abbe's, "I conjure you, do not despair!--The doctor +is fertile in resources, and he is so devoted to us. Let us at least, +make the attempt." + +"Well--it is at least a chance," said the abbe, taking up the pen again. + +"Should it come to the worst." said the princess, "and Adrienne go this +evening to fetch General Simon's daughters, she may perhaps no longer +find them. + +"We cannot hope for that. It is impossible that Rodin's orders should +have been so quickly executed. We should have been informed of it." + +"It is true. Write then to the doctor; I will send you Dubois, to carry +your letter. Courage, Frederick! we shall yet be too much for that +ungovernable girl." Madame de Saint-Dizier added, with concentrated +rage: "Oh, Adrienne! Adrienne! you shall pay dearly for your insolent +sarcasms, and the anxiety you have caused us." + +As she went out, the princess turned towards M. d'Aigrigny, and said to +him: "Wait for me here. I will tell you the meaning of this visit of the +police, and we will go in together. + +The princess disappeared. D'Aigrigny dashed off a few words, with a +trembling hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +THE SNARE. + +After the departure of Madame de Saint-Dizier and the marquis, Adrienne +had remained in her aunt's apartment with M. Baleinier and Baron +Tripeaud. + +On hearing of the commissary's arrival, Mdlle. de Cardoville had felt +considerable uneasiness; for there could be no doubt that, as Agricola +had apprehended, this magistrate was come to search the hotel and +extension, in order to find the smith, whom he believed to be concealed +there. + +Though she looked upon Agricola's hiding-place as a very safe one, +Adrienne was not quite tranquil on his account; so in the event of any +unfortunate accident, she thought it a good opportunity to recommend the +refugee to the doctor, an intimate friend, as we have said, of one of the +most influential ministers of the day. So, drawing near to the +physician, who was conversing in a low voice with the baron, she said to +him in her softest and most coaxing manner: "My good M. Baleinier, I wish +to speak a few words with you." She pointed to the deep recess of one of +the windows. + +"I am at your orders, madame," answered the doctor, as he rose to follow +Adrienne to the recess. + +M. Tripeaud, who, no longer sustained by the abbe's presence, dreaded the +young lady as he did fire, was not sorry for this diversion. To keep up +appearances, he stationed himself before one of the sacred pictures, and +began again to contemplate it, as if there were no bounds to his +admiration. + +When Mdlle. de Cardoville was far enough from the baron, not to be +overheard by him, she said to the physician, who, all smiles and +benevolence, waited for her to explain: "My good doctor, you are my +friend, as you were my father's. Just now, notwithstanding the +difficulty of your position, you had the courage to show yourself my only +partisan." + +"Not at all, madame; do not go and say such things!" cried the doctor, +affecting a pleasant kind of anger. "Plague on't! you would get me into +a pretty scrape; so pray be silent on that subject. Vade retro Satanas!- +-which means: Get thee behind me, charming little demon that you are!" + +"Do not be afraid," answered Adrienne, with a smile; "I will not +compromise you. Only allow me to remind you, that you have often made me +offers of service, and spoken to me of your devotion." + +"Put me to the test--and you will see if I do not keep my promises." + +"Well, then! give me a proof on the instant," said Adrienne, quickly. + +"Capital! this is how I like to be taken at my word. What can I do for +you?" + +"Are you still very intimate with your friend the minister?" + +"Yes; I am just treating him for a loss of voice, which he always has, +the day they put questions to him in the house. He likes it better." + +"I want you to obtain from him something very important for me." + +"For you? pray, what is it?" + +"At this instant, the valet entered the room, delivered a letter to M. +Baleinier, and said to him: "A footman has just brought this letter for +you, sir; it is very pressing." + +The physician took the letter, and the servant went out. + +"This is one of the inconveniences of merit," said Adrienne, smiling; +"they do not leave you a moment's rest, my poor doctor." + +"Do not speak of it, madame," said the physician, who could not conceal a +start of amazement, as he recognized the writing of D'Aigrigny; "these +patients think we are made of iron, and have monopolized the health which +they so much need. They have really no mercy. With your permission, +madame," added M. Baleinier, looking at Adrienne before he unsealed the +letter. + +Mdlle. de Cardoville answered by a graceful nod. Marquis d'Aigrigny's +letter was not long; the doctor read it at a single glance, and, +notwithstanding his habitual prudence, he shrugged his shoulders, and +said hastily: "Today! why, it's impossible. He is mad." + +"You speak no doubt of some poor patient, who has placed all his hopes in +you--who waits and calls for you at this moment. Come, my dear M. +Baleinier, do not reject his prayer. It is so sweet to justify the +confidence we inspire." + +There was at once so much analogy, and such contradiction, between the +object of this letter, written just before by Adrienne's most implacable +enemy, and these words of commiseration which she spoke in a touching +voice, that Dr. Baleinier himself could not help being struck with it. +He looked at Mdlle. de Cardoville with an almost embarrassed air, as he +replied: "I am indeed speaking of one of my patients, who counts much +upon me--a great deal too much--for he asks me to do an impossibility. +But why do you feel so interested in an unknown person?" + +"If he is unfortunate, I know enough to interest me. The person for whom +I ask your assistance with the minister, was quite as little known to me; +and now I take the deepest interest in him. I must tell you, that he is +the son of the worthy soldier who brought Marshal Simon's daughters from +the heart of Siberia." + +"What! he is--" + +"An honest workman, the support of his family; but I must tell you all +about it--this is how the affair took place." + +The confidential communication which Adrienne was going to make to the +doctor, was cut short by Madame Saint-Dizier, who, followed by M. +d'Aigrigny, opened abruptly the door. An expression of infernal joy, +hardly concealed beneath a semblance of extreme indignation, was visible +in her countenance. + +M. d'Aigrigny threw rapidly, as he entered the apartment, an inquiring +and anxious glance at M. Baleinier. The doctor answered by a shake of +the head. The abbe bit his lips with silent rage; he had built his last +hopes upon the doctor, and his projects seemed now forever annihilated, +notwithstanding the new blow which the princess had in reserve for +Adrienne. + +"Gentlemen," said Madame de Saint-Dizier, in a sharp, hurried voice, for +she was nearly choking with wicked pleasure, "gentlemen, pray be seated! +I have some new and curious things to tell you, on the subject of this +young lady." She pointed to her niece, with a look of ineffable hatred +and disdain. + +"My poor child, what is the matter now?" said M. Baleinier, in a soft, +wheedling tone, before he left the window where he was standing with +Adrienne. "Whatever happens, count upon me!"--And the physician went to +seat himself between M. d'Aigrigny and M. Tripeaud. + +At her aunt's insolent address, Mdlle. de Cardoville had proudly lined +her head. The blood rushed to her face, and irritated at the new attacks +with which she was menaced, she advanced to the table where the princess +was seated, and said in an agitated voice to M. Baleinier: "I shall +expect you to call on me as soon as possible, my dear doctor. You know +that I wish particularly to speak with you." + +Adrienne made one step towards the arm-chair, on which she had left her +hat. The princess rose abruptly, and exclaimed: "What are you doing, +madame?" + +"I am about to retire. Your highness has expressed to me your will, and +I have told you mine. It is enough." + +She took her hat. Madame de Saint-Dizier, seeing her prey about to +escape, hastened towards her niece, and, in defiance of all propriety, +seized her violently by the arm with a convulsive grasp, and bade her, +"Remain!" + +"Fie, madame!" exclaimed Adrienne, with an accent of painful contempt, +"have we sunk so low?" + +"You wish to escape--you are afraid!" resumed Madame de Saint-Dizier, +looking at her disdainfully from head to foot. + +With these words "you are afraid," you could have made Adrienne de +Cardoville walk into a fiery furnace. Disengaging her arm from her +aunt's grasp, with a gesture full of nobleness and pride, she threw down +the hat upon the chair, and returning to the table, said imperiously to +the princess: "There is something even stronger than the disgust with +which all this inspires me--the fear of being accused of cowardice. Go +on, madame! I am listening!" + +With her head raised, her color somewhat heightened, her glance half +veiled by a tear of indignation, her arms folded over her bosom, which +heaved in spite of herself with deep emotion, and her little foot beating +convulsively on the carpet, Adrienne looked steadily at her aunt. The +princess wished to infuse drop by drop, the poison with which she was +swelling, and make her victim suffer as long as possible, feeling certain +that she could not escape. "Gentlemen," said Madame de Saint-Dizier, in +a forced voice, "this has occurred: I was told that the commissary of +police wished to speak with me: I went to receive this magistrate; he +excused himself, with a troubled air, for the nature of the duty he had +to perform. A man, against whom a warrant was out, had been seen to +enter the garden-house." + +Adrienne started, there could be no doubt that Agricola was meant. But +she recovered her tranquillity, when she thought of the security of the +hiding-place she had given him. + +"The magistrate," continued the princess, "asked my consent to search the +hotel and extension, to discover this man. It was his right. I begged +him to commence with the garden-house, and accompanied him. +Notwithstanding the improper conduct of Mademoiselle, it never, I +confess, entered my head for a moment, that she was in any way mixed up +with this police business. I was deceived." + +"What do you mean, madame?" cried Adrienne. + +"You shall know all, madame," said the princess, with a triumphant air, +"in good time. You were in rather too great a hurry just now, to show +yourself so proud and satirical. Well! I accompanied the commissary in +his search; we came to the summer-house; I leave you to imagine the +stupor and astonishment of the magistrate, on seeing three creatures +dressed up like actresses. At my request, the fact was noted in the +official report; for it is well to reveal such extravagances to all whom +it may concern." + +"The princess acted very wisely," said Tripeaud, bowing; "it is well that +the authorities should be informed of such matters." + +Adrienne, too much interested in the fate of the workman to think of +answering Tripeaud or the princess, listened in silence, and strove to +conceal her uneasiness. + +"The magistrate," resumed Madame de Saint-Dizier, "began by a severe +examination of these young girls; to learn if any man had, with their +knowledge, been introduced into the house; with incredible effrontery, +they answered that they had seen nobody enter." + +"The true-hearted, honest girls!" thought Mademoiselle de Cardoville, +full of joy; "the poor workman is safe! the protection of Dr. Baleinier +will do the rest." + +"Fortunately," continued the princess, "one of my women, Mrs. Grivois, +had accompanied me. This excellent person, remembering to have seen +Mademoiselle return home at eight o'clock in the morning, remarked with +much simplicity to the magistrate, that the man, whom they sought, might +probably have entered by the little garden gate, left open, accidentally, +by Mademoiselle." + +"It would have been well, madame," said Tripeaud, "to have caused to be +noted also in the report, that Mademoiselle had returned home at eight +o'clock in the morning." + +"I do not see the necessity for this," said the doctor, faithful to his +part: "it would have been quite foreign to the search carried on by the +commissary." + +"But, doctor," said Tripeaud. + +"But, baron," resumed M. Baleinier, in a firm voice, "that is my +opinion." + +"It was not mine, doctor," said the princess; "like M. Tripeaud, I +considered it important to establish the fact by an entry in the report, +and I saw, by the confused and troubled countenance of the magistrate, +how painful it was to register the scandalous conduct of a young person +placed in so high a position in society." + +"Certainly, madame," said Adrienne, losing patience, "I believe your +modesty to be about equal to that of this candid commissary of police; +but it seems to me, that your mutual innocence was alarmed a little too +soon. You might, and ought to have reflected, that there was nothing +extraordinary in my coming home at eight o'clock, if I had gone out at +six." + +"The excuse, though somewhat tardy, is at least cunning," said the +princess, spitefully. + +"I do not excuse myself, madame," said Adrienne; "but as M. Baleinier has +been kind enough to speak a word in my favor, I give the possible +interpretation of a fact, which it would not become me to explain in your +presence." + +"The fact will stand, however, in the report," said Tripeaud, "until the +explanation is given." + +Abbe d'Aigrigny, his forehead resting on his hand, remained as if a +stranger to this scene; he was too much occupied with his fears at the +consequences of the approaching interview between Mdlle. de Cardoville +and Marshal Simon's daughters--for there seemed no possibility of using +force to prevent Adrienne from going out that evening. + +Madame de Saint-Dizier went on: "The fact which so greatly scandalized +the commissary is nothing compared to what I yet have to tell you, +gentlemen. We had searched all parts of the pavilion without finding any +one, and were just about to quit the bed-chamber, for we had taken this +room the last, when Mrs. Grivois pointed out to us that one of the golden +mouldings of a panel did not appear to come quite home to the wall. We +drew the attention of the magistrate to this circumstance; his men +examined, touched, felt--the panel flew open!--and then--can you guess +what we discovered? But, no! it is too odious, too revolting; I dare not +even--" + +"Then I dare, madame," said Adrienne, resolutely, though she saw with the +utmost grief the retreat of Agricola was discovered; "I will spare your +highness's candor the recital of this new scandal, and yet what I am +about to say is in nowise intended as a justification." + +"It requires one, however," said Madame de Saint-Dizier, with a +disdainful smile; "a man concealed by you in your own bedroom." + +"A man concealed in her bedroom!" cried the Marquis d'Aigrigny, raising +his head with apparent indignation, which only covered a cruel joy. + +"A man! in the bedroom of Mademoiselle!" added Baron Tripeaud. "I hope +this also was inserted in the report." + +"Yes, yes, baron," said the princess with a triumphant air. + +"But this man," said the doctor, in a hypocritical tone, "must have been +a robber? Any other supposition would be in the highest degree +improbable. This explains itself." + +"Your indulgence deceives you, M. Baleinier," answered the princess, +dryly. + +"We knew the sort of thieves," said Tripeaud; "they are generally young +men, handsome, and very rich." + +"You are wrong, sir," resumed Madame de Saint-Dizier. "Mademoiselle does +not raise her views so high. She proves that a dereliction from duty may +be ignoble as well as criminal. I am no longer astonished at the +sympathy which was just now professed for the lower orders. It is the +more touching and affecting, as the man concealed by her was dressed in a +blouse." + +"A blouse!" cried the baron, with an air of extreme disgust; "then he is +one of the common people? It really makes one's hair stand on end." + +"The man is a working smith--he confessed it," said the princess; "but +not to be unjust--he is really a good-looking fellow. It was doubtless +that singular worship which Mademoiselle pays to the beautiful--" + +"Enough, madame, enough!" said Adrienne suddenly, for, hitherto +disdaining to answer, she had listened to her aunt with growing and +painful indignation; "I was just now on the point of defending myself +against one of your odious insinuations--but I will not a second time +descend to any such weakness. One word only, madame; has this honest and +worthy artisan been arrested?" + +"To be sure, he has been arrested and taken to prison, under a strong +escort. Does not that pierce your heart?" sneered the princess, with a +triumphant air. "Your tender pity for this interesting smith must indeed +be very great, since it deprives you of your sarcastic assurance." + +"Yes, madame; for I have something better to do than to satirize that +which is utterly odious and ridiculous," replied Adrienne, whose eyes +grew dim with tears at the thought of the cruel hurt to Agricola's +family. Then, putting her hat on, and tying the strings, she said to the +doctor: "M. Baleinier, I asked you just now for your interest with the +minister." + +"Yes, madame; and it will give me great pleasure to act on your behalf." + +"Is your carriage below?" + +"Yes, madame," said the doctor, much surprised. + +"You will be good enough to accompany me immediately to the minister's. +Introduced by you, he will not refuse me the favor, or rather the act of +justice, that I have to solicit." + +"What, mademoiselle," said the princess; "do you dare take such a course, +without my orders, after what has just passed? It is really quite +unheard-of." + +"It confounds one," added Tripeaud; "but we must not be surprised at +anything." + +The moment Adrienne asked the doctor if his carriage was below, +D'Aigrigny started. A look of intense satisfaction flashed across his +countenance, and he could hardly repress the violence of his delight, +when, darting, a rapid and significant glance at the doctor, he saw the +latter respond to it by trace closing his eyelids in token of +comprehension and assent. + +When therefore the princess resumed, in an angry tone, addressing herself +to Adrienne: "Madame, I forbid you leaving the house!"--D'Aigrigny said +to the speaker, with a peculiar inflection of the voice: "I think, your +highness, we may trust the lady to the doctor's care." + +The marquis pronounced these words in so significant a manner, that the +princess, having looked by turns at the physician and D'Aigrigny, +understood it all, and her countenance grew radiant with joy. + +Not only did this pass with extreme rapidity, but the night was already +almost come, so that Adrienne, absorbed in painful thoughts with regard +to Agricola, did not perceive the different signals exchanged between the +princess, the doctor, and the abbe. Even had she done so, they would +have been incomprehensible to her. + +Not wishing to have the appearance of yielding too readily, to the +suggestion of the marquis, Madame de Saint-Dizier resumed: "Though the +doctor seems to me to be far too indulgent to mademoiselle, I might not +see any great objection to trusting her with him; but that I do not wish +to establish such a precedent, for hence forward she must have no will +but mine." + +"Madame," said the physician gravely, feigning to be somewhat shocked by +the words of the Princess de Saint-Dizier, "I do not think I have been +too indulgent to mademoiselle--but only just. I am at her orders, to +take her to the minister if she wishes it. I do not know what she +intends to solicit, but I believe her incapable of abusing the confidence +I repose in her, or making me support a recommendation undeserved." + +Adrienne, much moved, extended her hand cordially to the doctor, and said +to him: "Rest assured, my excellent friend, that you will thank me for +the step I am taking, for you will assist in a noble action." + +Tripeaud, who was not in the secret of the new plans of the doctor and +the abbe in a low voice faltered to the latter, with a stupefied air, +"What! will you let her go?" + +"Yes, yes," answered D'Aigrigny abruptly, making a sign that he should +listen to the princess, who was about to speak. Advancing towards her +niece, she said to her in a slow and measured tone, laying a peculiar +emphasis on every word: "One moment more, mademoiselle--one last word in +presence of these gentlemen. Answer me! Notwithstanding the heavy +charges impending over you, are you still determined to resist my formal +commands?" + +"Yes, madame." + +"Notwithstanding the scandalous exposure which has just taken place, you +still persist in withdrawing yourself from my authority?" + +"Yes, madame." + +"You refuse positively to submit to the regular and decent mode of life +which I would impose upon you?" + +"I have already told you, madame, that I am about to quit this dwelling +in order to live alone and after my own fashion." + +"Is that your final decision?" + +"It is my last word." + +"Reflect! the matter is serious. Beware!" + +"I have given your highness my last word, and I never speak it twice." + +"Gentlemen, you hear all this?" resumed the princess; "I have tried in +vain all that was possible to conciliate. Mademoiselle will have only +herself to thank for the measures to which this audacious revolt will +oblige me to have recourse." + +"Be it so, madame," replied Adrienne. Then, addressing M. Baleinier, she +said quickly to him: "Come, my dear doctor; I am dying with impatience. +Let us set out immediately. Every minute lost may occasion bitter tears +to an honest family." + +So saying, Adrienne left the room precipitately with the physician. One +of the servants called for M. Baleinier's carriage. Assisted by the +doctor, Adrienne mounted the step, without perceiving that he said +something in a low whisper to the footman that opened the coach-door. + +When, however, he was seated by the side of Mdlle. de Cardoville, and the +door was closed upon them, he waited for about a second, and then called +out in a loud voice to the coachman: "To the house of the minister, by +the private entrance!" The horses started at a gallop. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +A FALSE FRIEND. + +Night had set in dark and cold. The sky, which had been clear till the +sun went down, was now covered with gray and lurid clouds; a strong wind +raised here and there, in circling eddies, the snow that was beginning to +fall thick and fast. + +The lamps threw a dubious light into the interior of Dr. Baleinier's +carriage, in which he was seated alone with Adrienne de Cardoville. The +charming countenance of the latter, faintly illumined by the lamps +beneath the shade of her little gray hat, looked doubly white and pure in +contrast with the dark lining of the carriage, which was now filled with +that, sweet, delicious, and almost voluptuous perfume which hangs about +the garments of young women of taste. The attitude of the girl, seated +next to the doctor, was full of grace. Her slight and elegant figure, +imprisoned in her high-necked dress of blue cloth, imprinted its wavy +outline on the soft cushion against which she leaned; her little feet, +crossed one upon the other, and stretched rather forward, rested upon a +thick bear-skin, which carpeted the bottom of the carriage. In her hand, +which was ungloved and dazzlingly white, she held a magnificently +embroidered handkerchief, with which, to the great astonishment of M. +Baleinier, she dried her eyes, now filled with tears. + +Yes; Adrienne wept, for she now felt the reaction from the painful scenes +through which she had passed at Saint-Dizier House; to the feverish and +nervous excitement, which had till then sustained her, had succeeded a +sorrowful dejection. Resolute in her independence, proud in her disdain, +implacable in her irony, audacious in her resistance to unjust +oppression, Adrienne was yet endowed with the most acute sensibility, +which she always dissembled, however, in the presence of her aunt and +those who surrounded her. + +Notwithstanding her courage, no one could have been less masculine, less +of a virago, than Mdlle. Cardoville. She was essentially womanly, but as +a woman, she knew how to exercise great empire over herself, the moment +that the least mark of weakness on her part would have rejoiced or +emboldened her enemies. + +The carriage had rolled onwards for some minutes; but Adrienne, drying +her tears in silence, to the doctor's great astonishment, had not yet +uttered a word. + +"What, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne?" said M. Baleinier, truly surprised at +her emotion; "what! you, that were just now so courageous, weeping?" + +"Yes," answered Adrienne, in an agitated voice; "I weep in presence of a +friend; but, before my aunt--oh! never." + +"And yet, in that long interview, your stinging replies " + +"Ah me! do you think that I resigned myself with pleasure to that war of +sarcasm? Nothing is more painful to me than such combats of bitter +irony, to which I am forced by the necessity of defending myself from +this woman and her friends. You speak of my courage: it does not +consist, I assure you, in the display of wicked feelings--but in the +power to repress and hide all that I suffer, when I hear myself treated +so grossly--in the presence, too, of people that I hate and despise-- +when, after all, I have never done them any harm, and have only asked to +be allowed to live alone, freely and quietly, and see those about me +happy." + +"That's where it is: they envy your happiness, and that which you bestow +upon others." + +"And it is my aunt," cried Adrienne, with indignation, "my aunt, whose +whole life has been one long scandal that accuses me in this revolting +manner!--as if she did not know me proud and honest enough never to make +a choice of which I should be ashamed! Oh! if I ever love, I shall +proclaim it, I shall be proud of it: for love, as I understand it, is the +most glorious feeling in the world. But, alas!" continued Adrienne, with +redoubled bitterness, "of what use are truth and honor, if they do not +secure you from suspicions, which are as absurd as they are odious?" So +saying, she again pressed her handkerchief to her eyes. + +"Come, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne," said M. Baleinier, in a voice full of +the softest unction, "becalm--it is all over now. You have in me a +devoted friend." As he pronounced these last words, he blushed in spite +of his diabolical craft. + +"I know you are my friend," said Adrienne: "I shall never forget that, by +taking my part to-day, you exposed yourself to the resentment of my aunt- +-for I am not ignorant of her power, which is very great, alas! for +evil." + +"As for that," said the doctor, affecting a profound indifference, "we +medical men are pretty safe from personal enmities." + +"Nay, my dear M. Baleinier! Mme. de Saint-Dizier and her friends never +forgive," said the young girl, with a shudder. "It needed all my +invincible aversion, my innate horror for all that is base, cowardly, and +perfidious, to induce me to break so openly with her. But if death +itself were the penalty, I could not hesitate and yet," she added, with +one of those graceful smiles which gave such a charm to her beautiful +countenance, "yet I am fond of life: if I have to reproach myself with +anything, it is that I would have it too bright, too fair, too +harmonious; but then, you know, I am resigned to my faults." + +"Well, come, I am more tranquil," said the doctor, gayly; "for you smile- +-that is a good sign." + +"It is often the wisest course; and yet, ought I smile, after the threats +that my aunt has held out to me? Still, what can she do? what is the +meaning of this kind of family council? Did she seriously think that the +advice of a M. D'Aigrigny or a M. Tripeaud could have influenced me? And +then she talked of rigorous measures. What measures can she take; do you +know?" + +"I think, between ourselves, that the princess only wished to frighten +you, and hopes to succeed by persuasion. She has the misfortune to fancy +herself a mother of the Church, and dreams of your conversion," said the +doctor, maliciously, for he now wished to tranquillize Adrienne at any +cost; "but let us think no more about it. Your fire eyes must shine with +all their lustre, to fascinate the minister that we are going to see." + +"You are right, dear doctor; we ought always avoid grief, for it has the +disadvantage of making us forget the sorrows of others. But here am I, +availing myself of your kindness, without even telling you what I +require." + +"Luckily, we shall have plenty of time to talk over it, for our statesman +lives at some distance." + +"In two words, here's the mystery," answered Adrienne. "I told you what +reasons I had to interest myself in that honest workman. This morning he +came to me in great grief, to inform me that he was compromised by some +songs he had written (for he is a poet), and that, though innocent, he +was threatened with an arrest; and if they put him into prison, his +family, whose sole support he is, would die of hunger. Therefore he came +to beg me to procure bail for him, so that he might be left at liberty to +work: I promised immediately, thinking of your interest with the +minister; for, as they were already in pursuit of the poor lad, I chose +to conceal him in my residence, and you know how my aunt has twisted that +action. Now tell me, do you think, that, by means of your +recommendation, the minister will grant me the freedom of this workman, +bail being given for the same?" + +"No doubt of it. There will not be the shadow of a difficulty-- +especially when you have explained the facts to him, with that eloquence +of the heart which you possess in perfection." + +"Do you know, my dear Dr. Baleinier, why I have taken the resolution +(which is perhaps a strange one) to ask you to accompany me to the +minister's?" + +"Why, doubtless, to recommend your friend in a more effective manner." + +"Yes--but also to put an end, by a decisive step, to the calumnies which +my aunt will be sure to spread with regard to me, and which she has +already, you know, had inserted in the report of the commissary of +police. I have preferred to address myself at once, frankly and openly, +to a man placed in a high social position. I will explain all to him, +who will believe me, because truth has an accent of its own." + +"All this, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne, is wisely planned. You will, as the +saw says, kill two birds with one stone--or rather, you will obtain by +one act of kindness two acts of justice; you will destroy a dangerous +calumny, and restore a worthy youth to liberty." + +"Come," said Adrienne, laughing, "thanks to this pleasing prospect, my +light heart has returned." + +"How true that in life," said the doctor, philosophically, "everything +depends on the point of view." + +Adrienne was so completely ignorant of the forms of a constitutional +government, and had so blind a confidence in the doctor, that she did not +doubt for an instant what he told her. She therefore resumed with joy: +"What happiness it will be! when I go to fetch the daughters of Marshal +Simon, to be able to console this workman's mother, who is now perhaps in +a state of cruel anxiety, at not seeing her son return home!" + +"Yes, you will have this pleasure," said M. Baleinier, with a smile; "for +we will solicit and intrigue to such purpose, that the good, mother may +learn from you the release of her son before she even knows that he has +been arrested." + +"How kind, how obliging you are!" said Adrienne. "Really, if the motive +were not so serious, I should he ashamed of making you lose so much +precious time, my dear M. Baleinier. But I know your heart." + +"I have no other wish, than to prove to you my profound devotion, my +sincere attachment," said the doctor inhaling a pinch of snuff. But at +the same time, he cast an uneasy glance through the window, for the +carriage was just crossing the Place de l'Odeon, and in spite of the +snow, he could see the front of the Odeon theatre brilliantly +illuminated. Now Adrienne, who had just turned her head towards that +side, might perhaps be astonished at the singular road they were taking. + +In order to draw off her attention by a skillful diversion, the doctor +exclaimed suddenly: "Bless me! I had almost forgotten." + +"What is the matter, M. Baleinier?" said Adrienne, turning hastily +towards him. + +"I had forgotten a thing of the highest importance, in regard to the +success of our petition." + +"What is it, please?" asked the young girl, anxiously. + +M. Baleinier gave a cunning smile. "Every man," said he, "has his +weakness--ministers even more than others. The one we are going to visit +has the folly to attach the utmost importance to his title, and the first +impression would be unfavorable, if you did not lay great stress on the +Minister." + +"Is that all, my dear M. Baleinier?" said Adrienne, smiling in her turn. +"I will even go so far as Your Excellency, which is, I believe, one of +his adopted titles." + +"Not now--but that is no matter; if you could even slide in a My Lord or +two, our business would be done at once." + +"Be satisfied! since there are upstart ministers as well as City-turned +gentlemen, I will remember Moliere's M. Jourdain, and feed full the +gluttonous vanity of your friend." + +"I give him up to you, for I know he will be in good hands," replied the +physician, who rejoiced to see that the carriage had now entered those +dark streets which lead from the Place de l'Odeon to the Pantheon +district; "I do not wish to find fault with the minister for being proud, +since his pride may be of service to us on this occasion." + +"These petty devices are innocent enough," said Mdlle. de Cardoville, +"and I confess that I do not scruple to have recourse to them." Then, +leaning towards the door-sash, she added: "Gracious! how sad and dark are +these streets. What wind! what snow! In which quarter are we?" + +"What! are you so ungrateful, that you do not recognize by the absence of +shops, your dear quarter of the Faubourg Saint Germain?" + +"I imagine we had quitted it long ago." + +"I thought so too," said the physician, leaning forward as if to +ascertain where they were, "but we are still there. My poor coachman, +blinded by the snow, which is beating against his face, must have gone +wrong just now--but we are all right again. Yes, I perceive we are in +the Rue Saint Guillaume--not the gayest of streets by the way--but, in +ten minutes, we shall arrive at the minister's private entrance, for +intimate friends like myself enjoy the privilege of escaping the honors +of a grand reception." + +Mdlle. de Cardoville, like most carriage-people, was so little acquainted +with certain streets of Paris, as well as with the customs of men in +office, that she did not doubt for a moment the statements of Baleinier, +in whom she reposed the utmost confidence. + +When they left the Saint-Dizier House, the doctor had upon his lips a +question which he hesitated to put, for fear of endangering himself in +the eyes of Adrienne. The latter had spoken of important interests, the +existence of which had been concealed from her. The doctor, who was an +acute and skillful observer, had quite clearly remarked the embarrassment +and anxiety of the princess and D'Aigrigny. He no longer doubted, that +the plot directed against Adrienne--one in which he was the blind agent, +in submission to the will of the Order--related to interests which had +been concealed from him, and which, for that very reason, he burned to +discover; for every member of the dark conspiracy to which he belonged +had necessarily acquired the odious vices inherent to spies and +informers--envy, suspicion, and jealous curiosity. + +It is easy to understand, therefore, that Dr. Baleinier, though quite +determined to serve the projects of D'Aigrigny, was yet very anxious to +learn what had been kept from him. Conquering his irresolution, and +finding the opportunity favorable, and no time to be lost, he said to +Adrienne, after a moment's silence: "I am going perhaps to ask you a very +indiscreet question. If you think it such, pray do not answer." + +"Nay--go on, I entreat you." + +"Just now--a few minutes before the arrival of the commissary of police +was announced to your aunt--you spoke, I think, of some great interests, +which had hitherto been concealed from you." + +"Yes, I did so." + +"These words," continued M. Baleinier, speaking slowly and emphatically, +"appeared to make a deep impression on the princess." + +"An impression so deep," said Adrienne, "that sundry suspicions of mine +were changed to certainty." + +"I need not tell you, my charming friend," resumed M. Baleinier, in a +bland tone, "that if I remind you of this circumstance, it is only to +offer you my services, in case they should be required. If not--and +there is the shadow of impropriety in letting me know more--forget that I +have said a word." + +Adrienne became serious and pensive, and, after a silence of some +moments, she thus answered Dr. Baleinier: "On this subject, there are +some things that I do not know--others that I may tell you--others again +that I must keep from you: but you are so kind to-day, that I am happy to +be able to give you a new mark of confidence." + +"Then I wish to know nothing," said the doctor, with an air of humble +deprecation, "for I should have the appearance of accepting a kind of +reward; whilst I am paid a thousand times over, by the pleasure I feel in +serving you." + +"Listen," said Adrienne, without attending to the delicate scruples of +Dr. Baleinier; "I have powerful reasons for believing that an immense +inheritance must, at no very distant period, be divided between the +members of my family, all of whom I do not know--for, after the +Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, those from whom we are descended were +dispersed in foreign countries, and experienced a great variety of +fortunes." + +"Really!" cried the doctor, becoming extremely interested. "Where is +this inheritance, in whose hands?" + +"I do not know." + +"Now how will you assert your rights?" + +"That I shall learn soon." + +"Who will inform you of it?" + +"That I may not tell you." + +"But how did you find out the existence of this inheritance?" + +"That also I may not tell you," returned Adrienne, in a soft and +melancholy tone, which remarkably contrasted with the habitual vivacity +of her conversation. "It is a secret--a strange secret--and in those +moments of excitement, in which you have sometimes surprised me, I have +been thinking of extraordinary circumstances connected with this secret, +which awakened within me lofty and magnificent ideas." + +Adrienne paused and was silent, absorbed in her own reflections. +Baleinier did not seek to disturb her. In the first place, Mdlle. de +Cardoville did not perceive the direction the coach was taking; secondly, +the doctor was not sorry to ponder over what he had just heard. With his +usual perspicuity, he saw that the Abbe d'Aigrigny was concerned in this +inheritance, and he resolved instantly to make a secret report on the +subject; either M. d'Aigrigny was acting under the instructions of the +Order, or by his own impulse; in the one event, the report of the doctor +would confirm a fact; in the other, it would reveal one. + +For some time, therefore, the lady and Dr. Baleinier remained perfectly +silent, no longer even disturbed by the noise of the wheels, for the +carriage now rolled over a thick carpet of snow, and the streets had +become more and more deserted. Notwithstanding his crafty treachery, +notwithstanding his audacity and the blindness of his dupe, the doctor +was not quite tranquil as to the result of his machinations. The +critical moment approached, and the least suspicion roused in the mind of +Adrienne by any inadvertence on his part, might ruin all his projects. + +Adrienne, already fatigued by the painful emotions of the day, shuddered +from time to time, as the cold became more and more piercing; in her +haste to accompany Dr. Baleinier, she had neglected to take either shawl +or mantle. + +For some minutes the coach had followed the line of a very high wall, +which, seen through the snow, looked white against a black sky. The +silence was deep and mournful. Suddenly the carriage stopped, and the +footman went to knock at a large gateway; he first gave two rapid knocks, +and then one other at a long interval. Adrienne did not notice the +circumstance, for the noise was not loud, and the doctor had immediately +begun to speak, to drown with his voice this species of signal. + +"Here we are at last," said he gayly to Adrienne; "you must be very +winning--that is, you must be yourself." + +"Be sure I will do my best," replied Adrienne, with a smile; then she +added, shivering in spite of herself: "How dreadfully cold it is! I must +confess, my dear Dr. Baleinier, that when I have been to fetch my poor +little relations from the house of our workman's mother, I shall be truly +glad to find myself once more in the warmth and light of my own +cheerful rooms, for you know my aversion to cold and darkness." + +"It is quite natural," said the doctor, gallantly; "the most charming +flowers require the most light and heat." + +Whilst the doctor and Mdlle. de Cardoville exchanged these few words, a +heavy gate had turned creaking upon its hinges, and the carriage had +entered a court-yard. The physician got down first, to offer his arm to +Adrienne. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +THE MINISTER'S CABINET. + +The carriage had stopped before some steps covered with snow, which led +to a vestibule lighted by a lamp. The better to ascend the steps, which +were somewhat slippery, Adrienne leaned upon the doctor's arm. + +"Dear me! how you tremble," said he. + +"Yes," replied she, shuddering, "I feel deadly cold. In my haste, I came +out without a shawl. But how gloomy this house appears," she added, +pointing to the entrance. + +"It is what you call the minister's private house, the sanctum sanctorum, +whither our statesman retires far from the sound of the profane," said +Dr. Baleinier, with a smile. "Pray come in!" and he pushed open the door +of a large hall, completely empty. + +"They are right in saying," resumed Dr. Baleinier, who covered his secret +agitation with an appearance of gayety, "that a minister's house is like +nobody else's. Not a footman--not a page, I should say--to be found in +the antechamber. Luckily," added he, opening the door of a room which +communicated with the vestibule, + +"`In this seraglio reared, I know the secret ways.'" + +Mdlle. de Cardoville was now introduced into an apartment hung with green +embossed paper, and very simply furnished with mahogany chairs, covered +with yellow velvet; the floor was carefully polished, and a globe lamp, +which gave at most a third of its proper light, was suspended (at a much +greater height than usual) from the ceiling. Finding the appearance of +this habitation singularly plain for the dwelling of a minister, +Adrienne, though she had no suspicion, could not suppress a movement of +surprise and paused a moment on the threshold of the door. M. Baleinier, +by whose arm she held, guessed the cause of her astonishment, and said to +her with a smile: + +"This place appears to you very paltry for `his excellency,' does it not? +If you knew what a thing constitutional economy is!--Moreover, you will +see a `my lord,' who has almost as little pretension as his furniture. +But please to wait for me an instant. I will go and inform the minister +you are here, and return immediately." + +Gently disengaging himself from the grasp of Adrienne, who had +involuntarily pressed close to him, the physician opened a small side- +door, by which he instantly disappeared. Adrienne de Cardoville was left +alone. + +Though she could not have explained the cause of her impression, there +was something awe-inspiring to the young lady in this large, cold, naked, +curtainless room; and as, by degrees, she noticed certain peculiarities +in the furniture, which she had not at first perceived, she was seized +with an indefinable feeling of uneasiness. + +Approaching the cheerless hearth, she perceived with surprise that an +iron grating completely enclosed the opening of the chimney, and that the +tongs and shovel were fastened with iron chains. Already astonished by +this singularity, she was about mechanically to draw towards her an +armchair placed against the wall, when she found that it remained +motionless. She then discovered that the back of this piece of +furniture, as well as that of all the other chairs, was fastened to the +wainscoting by iron clamps. Unable to repress a smile, she exclaimed: +"Have they so little confidence in the statesman in whose house I am, +that they are obliged to fasten the furniture to the walls?" + +Adrienne had recourse to this somewhat forced pleasantry as a kind of +effort to resist the painful feeling of apprehension that was gradually +creeping over her; for the most profound and mournful silence reigned in +this habitation, where nothing indicated the life, the movement and the +activity, which usually surround a great centre of business. Only, from +time to time, the young lady heard the violent gusts of wind from +without. + +More than a quarter of an hour had elapsed, and M. Baleinier did not +return. In her impatient anxiety, Adrienne wished to call some one to +inquire about the doctor and the minister. She raised her eyes to look +for a bell-rope by the side of the chimney-glass; she found none, but she +perceived, that what she had hitherto taken for a glass, thanks to the +half obscurity of the room, was in reality a large sheet of shining tin. +Drawing nearer to it, she accidentally touched a bronzed candlestick; and +this, as well as a clock, was fixed to the marble of the chimney-piece. + +In certain dispositions of mind, the most insignificant circumstances +often assume terrific proportions. This immovable candlestick, this +furniture fastened to the wainscot, this glass replaced by a tin sheet, +this profound silence, and the prolonged absence of M. Baleinier, had +such an effect upon Adrienne, that she was struck with a vague terror. +Yet such was her implicit confidence in the doctor, that she reproached +herself with her own fears, persuading herself that the causes of them +were after all of no real importance, and that it was unreasonable to +feel uneasy at such trifles. + +Still, though she thus strove to regain courage, her anxiety induced her +to do what otherwise she would never have attempted. She approached the +little door by which the doctor had disappeared, and applied her ear to +it. She held her breath, and listened, but heard nothing. + +Suddenly, a dull, heavy sound, like that of a falling body, was audible +just above her head; she thought she could even distinguish a stifled +moaning. Raising her eyes, hastily, she saw some particles of the +plaster fall from the ceiling, loosened, no doubt, by the shaking of the +floor above. + +No longer able to resist the feeling of terror, Adrienne ran to the door +by which she had entered with the doctor, in order to call some one. To +her great surprise, she found it was fastened on the outside. Yet, since +her arrival, she had heard no sound of a key turning in the lock. + +More and more alarmed, the young girl flew to the little door by which +the physician had disappeared, and at which she had just been listening. +This door also was fastened on the outside. + +Still, wishing to struggle with the terror which was gaining invincibly +upon her, Adrienne called to her aid all the firmness of her character, +and tried to argue away her fears. + +"I must have been deceived." she said; "it was only a fall that I heard. +The moaning had no existence, except in my imagination. There are a +thousand reasons for believing that it was not a person who fell down. +But, then, these locked doors? They, perhaps, do not know that I am +here; they may have thought that there was nobody in this room." + +As she uttered these words, Adrienne looked round with anxiety; then she +added, in a firm voice: "No weakness! it is useless to try to blind +myself to my real situation. On the contrary, I must look it well in the +face. It is evident that I am not here at a minister's house; no end of +reasons prove it beyond a doubt; M. Baleinier has therefore deceived me. +But for what end? Why has he brought me hither? Where am I?" + +The last two questions appeared to Adrienne both equally insoluble. It +only remained clear, that she was the victim of M. Baleinier's perfidy. +But this certainly seemed so horrible to the young girl's truthful and +generous soul, that she still tried to combat the idea by the +recollection of the confiding friendship which she had always shown this +man. She said to herself with bitterness: "See how weakness and fear may +lead one to unjust and odious suspicions! Yes; for until the last +extremity, it is not justifiable to believe in so infernal a deception-- +and then only upon the clearest evidence. I will call some one: it is +the only way of completely satisfying these doubts." Then, remembering +that there was no bell, she added: "No matter; I will knock, and some one +will doubtless answer." With her little, delicate hand, Adrienne struck +the door several times. + +The dull, heavy sound which came from the door showed that it was very +thick. No answer was returned to the young girl. She ran to the other +door. There was the same appeal on her part, the same profound silence +without--only interrupted from time to time by the howling of the wind. + +"I am not more timid than other people," said Adrienne, shuddering; "I do +not know if it is the excessive cold, but I tremble in spite of myself. +I endeavor to guard against all weakness; yet I think that any one in my +position would find all this very strange and frightful." + +At this instant, loud cries, or rather savage and dreadful howls, burst +furiously from the room just above, and soon after a sort of stamping of +feet, like the noise of a violent struggle, shook the ceiling of the +apartment. Struck with consternation, Adrienne uttered a loud cry of +terror became deadly pale, stood for a moment motionless with affright, +and then rushed to one of the windows, and abruptly threw it open. + +A violent gust of wind, mixed with melted snow, beat against Adrienne's +face, swept roughly into the room, and soon extinguished the flickering +and smoky light of the lamp. Thus, plunged in profound darkness, with +her hands clinging to the bars that were placed across the window, Mdlle. +de Cardoville yielded at length to the full influence of her fears, so +long restrained, and was about to call aloud for help, when an unexpected +apparition rendered her for some minutes absolutely mute with terror. + +Another wing of the building, opposite to that in which she was, stood at +no great distance. Through the midst of the black darkness, which filled +the space between, one large, lighted window was distinctly visible. +Through the curtainless panes, Adrienne perceived a white figure, gaunt +and ghastly, dragging after it a sort of shroud, and passing and +repassing continually before the window, with an abrupt and restless +motion. Her eyes fixed upon this window, shining through the darkness, +Adrienne remained as if fascinated by that fatal vision: and, as the +spectacle filled up the measure of her fears, she called for help with +all her might, without quitting the bars of the window to which she +clung. After a few seconds, whilst she was thus crying out, two tall +women entered the room in silence, unperceived by Mdlle. de Cardoville, +who was still clinging to the window. + +These women, of about forty to fifty years of age, robust and masculine, +were negligently and shabbily dressed, like chambermaids of the lower +sort; over their clothes they wore large aprons of blue cotton, cut +sloping from their necks, and reaching down to their feet. One of them, +who held a lamp in her hand, had a broad, red, shining face, a large +pimpled nose, small green eyes, and tow hair, which straggled rough and +shaggy from beneath her dirty white cap. The other, sallow, withered, +and bony, wore a mourning-cap over a parchment visage, pitted with the +small-pox, and rendered still more repulsive by the thick black eyebrows, +and some long gray hairs that overshadowed the upper lip. This woman +carried, half unfolded in her hand, a garment of strange form, made of +thick gray stuff. + +They both entered silently by the little door, at the moment when +Adrienne, in the excess of her terror, was grasping the bars of the +window, and crying out: "Help! help!" + +Pointing out the young lady to each other, one of them went to place the +lamp on the chimney-piece, whilst the other (she who wore the mourning- +cap) approached the window, and laid her great bony hand upon Mdlle. de +Cardoville's shoulder. + +Turning round, Adrienne uttered a new cry of terror at the sight of this +grim figure. Then, the first moment of stupor over, she began to feel +less afraid; hideous as was this woman, it was at least some one to speak +to; she exclaimed, therefore, in an agitated voice: "Where is M. +Baleinier?" + +The two women looked at each other, exchanged a leer of mutual +intelligence, but did not answer. + +"I ask you, madame,"resumed Adrienne, "where is M. Baleinier, who brought +me hither? I wish to see him instantly." + +"He is gone," said the big woman. + +"Gone!" cried Adrienne; "gone without me!--Gracious heaven! what can be +the meaning of all this?" Then, after a moment's reflection, she +resumed, "Please to fetch me a coach." + +The two women looked at each other, and shrugged their shoulders. "I +entreat you, madame," continued Adrienne, with forced calmness in her +voice, "to fetch me a coach since M. Baleinier is gone without me. I +wish to leave this place." + +"Come, come, madame," said the tall woman, who was called "Tomboy," +without appearing to listen to what Adrienne asked, "it is time for you +to go to bed." + +"To go to bed!" cried Mdlle. Cardoville, in alarm. "This is really +enough to drive one mad." Then, addressing the two women, she added: +"What is this house? where am I? answer!" + +"You are in a house," said Tomboy, in a rough voice, "where you must not +make a row from the window, as you did just now." + +"And where you must not put out the lamp as you have done," added the +other woman, who was called Gervaise, "or else we shall have a crow to +pick with you." + +Adrienne, unable to utter a word, and trembling with fear, looked in a +kind of stupor from one to the other of these horrible women; her reason +strove in vain to comprehend what was passing around her. Suddenly she +thought she had guessed it, and exclaimed: "I see there is a mistake +here. I do not understand how, but there is a mistake. You take me for +some one else. Do you know who I am? My name is Adrienne de Cardoville +You see, therefore, that I am at liberty to leave this house; no one in +the world has the right to detain me. I command you, then, to fetch me a +coach immediately. If there are none in this quarter, let me have some +one to accompany me home to the Rue de Babylone, Saint-Dizier House. I +will reward such a person liberally, and you also." + +"Well, have you finished?" said Tomboy. "What is the use of telling us +all this rubbish?" + +"Take care," resumed Adrienne, who wished to try every means; "if you +detain me here by force, it will be very serious. You do not know to +what you expose yourselves." + +"Will you come to bed; yes or no?" said Gervaise, in a tone of harsh +impatience. + +"Listen to me, madame," resumed Adrienne, precipitately, "let me out this +place, and I will give each of you two thousand francs. It is not +enough? I will give you ten--twenty--whatever you ask. I am rich--only +let me out for heaven's sake, let me out!--I cannot remain here--I am +afraid." As she said this, the tone of the poor girl's voice was +heartrending. + +"Twenty thousand francs!--that's the usual figure, ain't it, Tomboy?" + +"Let be, Gervaise! they all sing the same song." + +"Well, then? since reasons, prayers, and menaces are all in vain," said +Adrienne gathering energy from her desperate position, "I declare to you +that I will go out and that instantly. We will see if you are bold +enough to employ force against me." + +So saying, Adrienne advanced resolutely towards the door. But, at this +moment, the wild hoarse cries, which had preceded the noise of the +struggle that had so frightened her, again resounded; only, this time +they were not accompanied by the movement of feet. + +"Oh! what screams!" said Adrienne, stopping short, and in her terror +drawing nigh to the two women. "Do you not hear those cries? What, +then, is this house, in which one hears such things? And over there, +too," added she almost beside herself, as she pointed to the other wing +where the lighted windows shone through the darkness, and the white +figure continued to pass and repass before it; "over there! do you see? +What is it?" + +"Oh! that 'un," said Tomboy; "one of the folks who, like you, have not +behaved well." + +"What do you say?" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, clasping her hands in +terror. "Heavens! what is this house? What do they do to them?" + +"What will be done to you, if you are naughty, and refuse to come to +bed," answered Gervaise. + +"They put this on them," said Tomboy, showing the garment that she had +held under her arm, "they clap 'em into the strait-waistcoast." + +"Oh!" cried Adrienne, hiding her face in her hands with horror. A +terrible discovery had flashed suddenly upon her. She understood it all. + +Capping the violent emotions of the day, the effect of this last blow was +dreadful. The young girl felt her strength give way. Her hands fell +powerless, her face became fearfully pale, all her limbs trembled, and +sinking upon her knees, and casting a terrified glance at the strait- +waistcoat she was just able to falter in a feeble voice, "Oh, no:--not +that--for pity's sake, madame. I will do--whatever you wish." And, her +strength quite failing, she would have fallen upon the ground if the two +women had not run towards her, and received her fainting into their arms. + +"A fainting fit," said Tomboy; "that's not dangerous. Let us carry her +to bed. We can undress her, and this will be all nothing." + +"Carry her, then," said Gervaise. "I will take the lamp." + +The tall and robust Tomboy took up Mdlle. de Cardoville as if she had +been a sleeping child, carried her in her arms, and followed her +companion into the chamber through which M. Baleinier had made his exit. + +This chamber, though perfectly clean, was cold and bare. A greenish +paper covered the walls, and a low, little iron bedstead, the head of +which formed a kind of shelf, stood in one corner; a stove, fixed in the +chimney-place, was surrounded by an iron grating, which forbade a near +approach; a table fastened to the wall, a chair placed before this table, +and also clamped to the floor, a mahogany chest of drawers, and a rush- +bottomed armchair completed the scanty furniture. The curtainless window +was furnished on the inside with an iron grating, which served to protect +the panes from being broken. + +It was into this gloomy retreat, which formed so painful a contrast with +the charming little summer-house in the Rue de Babylone, that Adrienne +was carried by Tomboy, who, with the assistance of Gervaise, placed the +inanimate form on the bed. The lamp was deposited on the shelf at the +head of the couch. Whilst one of the nurses held her up, the other +unfastened and took off the cloth dress of the young girl, whose head +drooped languidly on her bosom. Though in a swoon, large tears trickled +slowly from her closed eyes, whose long black lashes threw their shadows +on the transparent whiteness of her cheeks. Over her neck and breast of +ivory flowed the golden waves of her magnificent hair, which had come +down at the time of her fall. When, as they unlaced her satin corset, +less soft, less fresh, less white than the virgin form beneath, which lay +like a statue of alabaster in its covering of lace and lawn, one of the +horrible hags felt the arms and shoulders of the young girl with her +large, red, horny, and chapped hands. Though she did not completely +recover the use of her senses, she started involuntarily from the rude +and brutal touch. + +"Hasn't she little feet?" said the nurse, who, kneeling down, was +employed in drawing off Adrienne's stockings. "I could hold them both in +the hollow of my hand." In fact, a small, rosy foot, smooth as a +child's, here and there veined with azure, was soon exposed to view, as +was also a leg with pink knee and ankle, of as pure and exquisite a form +as that of Diana Huntress. + +"And what hair!" said Tomboy; "so long and soft!--She might almost walk +upon it. 'Twould be a pity to cut it off, to put ice upon her skull!" +As she spoke, she gathered up Adrienne's magnificent hair, and twisted it +as well as she could behind her head. Alas! it was no longer the fair, +light hand of Georgette, Florine, or Hebe that arranged the beauteous +locks of their mistress with so much love and pride! + +And as she again felt the rude touch of the nurse's hand, the young girl +was once more seized with the same nervous trembling, only more +frequently and strongly than before. And soon, whether by a sort of +instinctive repulsion, magnetically excited during her swoon, or from the +effect of the cold night air, Adrienne again started and slowly came to +herself. + +It is impossible to describe her alarm, horror, and chaste indignation, +as, thrusting aside with both her hands the numerous curls that covered +her face, bathed in tears, she saw herself half-naked between these +filthy hags. At first, she uttered a cry of shame and terror; then to +escape from the looks of the women, by a movement, rapid as thought, she +drew down the lamp placed on the shelf at the head of her bed, so that it +was extinguished and broken to pieces on the floor. After which, in the +midst of the darkness, the unfortunate girl, covering herself with the +bed-clothes, burst into passionate sobs. + +The nurses attributed Adrienne's cry and violent actions to a fit of +furious madness. "Oh! you begin again to break the lamps--that's your +partickler fancy, is it?" cried Tomboy, angrily, as she felt her way in +the dark. "Well! I gave you fair warning. You shall have the strait- +waistcoat on this very night, like the mad gal upstairs." + +"That's it," said the other; "hold her fast, Tommy, while I go and fetch +a light. Between us, we'll soon master her." + +"Make haste, for, in spite of her soft look, she must be a regular fury. +We shall have to sit up all night with her, I suppose." + +Sad and painful contrast! That morning, Adrienne had risen free, +smiling, happy, in the midst of all the wonders of luxury and art, and +surrounded by the delicate attentions of the three charming girls whom +she had chosen to serve her. In her generous and fantastic mood, she had +prepared a magnificent and fairy-like surprise for the young Indian +prince, her relation; she had also taken a noble resolution with regard +to the two orphans brought home by Dagobert; in her interview with Mme. +de Saint-Dizier, she had shown herself by turns proud and sensitive, +melancholy and gay, ironical and serious, loyal and courageous; finally, +she had come to this accursed house to plead in favor of an honest and +laborious artisan. + +And now, in the evening delivered over by an atrocious piece of treachery +to the ignoble hands of two coarse-minded muses in a madhouse--Mdlle. de +Cardoville felt her delicate limbs imprisoned in that abominable garment, +which is called a strait-waistcoat. + +Mdlle. de Cardoville passed a horrible night in company with the two +hags. The next morning, at nine o'clock, what was the young lady's +stupor to see Dr. Baleinier enter the room, still smiling with an air at +once benevolent and paternal. + +"Well, my dear child?" said he, in a bland, affectionate voice; "how have +we spent the night?" + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE VISIT. + +The keepers, yielding to Mdlle. de Cardoville's prayers, and, above all, +to her promises of good behavior, had only left on the canvas jacket a +portion of the time. Towards morning, they had allowed her to rise and +dress herself, without interfering. + +Adrienne was seated on the edge of her bed. The alteration in her +features, her dreadful paleness, the lurid fire of fever shining in her +eyes, the convulsive trembling which ever and anon shook her frame, +showed already the fatal effects of this terrible night upon a +susceptible and high-strung organization. At sight of Dr. Baleinier, +who, with a sign, made Gervaise and her mate leave the room, Adrienne +remained petrified. + +She felt a kind of giddiness at the thought of the audacity of the man, +who dared to present himself to her! But when the physician repeated, in +the softest tone of affectionate interest: "Well, my poor child! how have +we spent the night?" she pressed her hands to her burning forehead, as if +in doubt whether she was awake or sleeping. Then, staring at the doctor, +she half opened her lips; but they trembled so much that it was +impossible for her to utter a word. Anger, indignation, contempt, and, +above all, the bitter and acutely painful feeling of a generous heart, +whose confidence has been basely betrayed, so overpowered Adrienne that +she was unable to break the silence. + +"Come, come! I see how it is," said the doctor, shaking his head +sorrowfully; "you are very much displeased with me--is it not so? Well! +I expected it, my dear child." + +These words, pronounced with the most hypocritical effrontery, made +Adrienne start up. Her pale cheek flushed, her large eyes sparkled, she +lifted proudly her beautiful head, whilst her upper lip curled slightly +with a smile of disdainful bitterness; then, passing in angry silence +before M. Baleinier, who retained his seat, she directed her swift and +firm steps towards the door. This door, in which was a little wicket, +was fastened on the outside. Adrienne turned towards the doctor, and +said to him, with an imperious gesture; "Open that door for me!" + +"Come, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne," said the physician, "be calm. Let us +talk like good friends--for you know I am your friend." And he inhaled +slowly a pinch of snuff. + +"It appears, sir," said Adrienne, in a voice trembling with indignation, +"I am not to leave this place to-day?" + +"Alas! no. In such a state of excitement--if you knew how inflamed your +face is, and your eyes so feverish, your pulse must be at least eighty to +the minute--I conjure you, my dear child, not to aggravate your symptoms +by this fatal agitation." + +After looking fixedly at the doctor, Adrienne returned with a slow step, +and again took her seat on the edge of the bed. "That is right," resumed +M. Baleinier: only be reasonable; and, as I said before, let us talk +together like good friends." + +"You say well, sir," replied Adrienne, in a collected and perfectly calm +voice; "let us talk like friends. You wish to make me pass for mad--is +it not so?" + +"I wish, my dear child, that one day you may feel towards me as much +gratitude as you now do aversion. The latter I had fully foreseen--but, +however painful may be the performance of certain duties, we must resign +ourselves to it." + +M. Baleinier sighed, as he said this, with such a natural air of +conviction, that for a moment Adrienne could not repress a movement of +surprise; then, while her lip curled with a bitter laugh, she answered: +"Oh, it's very clear, you have done all this for my good?" + +"Really, my dear young lady--have I ever had any other design than to be +useful to you?" + +"I do not know, sir, if your impudence be not still more odious than your +cowardly treachery!" + +"Treachery!" said M. Baleinier, shrugging his shoulders with a grieved +air; "treachery, indeed! Only reflect, my poor child--do you think, if I +were not acting with good faith, conscientiously, in your interest, I +should return this morning to meet your indignation, for which I was +fully prepared? I am the head physician of this asylum, which belongs to +me--but I have two of my pupils here, doctors, like myself--and might +have left them to take care of you but, no--I could not consent to it--I +knew your character, your nature, your previous history, and (leaving out +of the question the interest I feel for you) I can treat your case better +than any one." + +Adrienne had heard M. Baleinier without interrupting him; she now looked +at him fixedly, and said: "Pray, sir, how much do they pay you to make me +pass for mad?" + +"Madame!" cried M. Baleinier, who felt stung in spite of, himself. + +"You know I am rich," continued Adrienne, with over, whelming disdain; "I +will double the sum that they give you. Come, sir--in the name of +friendship, as you call it, let me have the pleasure of outbidding them." + +"Your keepers," said M. Baleinier, recovering all his coolness, "have +informed me, in their report of the night's proceedings, that you made +similar propositions to them." + +"Pardon me, sir; I offered them what might be acceptable to poor women, +without education, whom misfortune has forced to undertake a painful +employment--but to you, sir a man of the world, a man of science, a man +of great abilities--that is quite different--the pay must be a great deal +higher. There is treachery at all prices; so do not found your refusal +on the smallness of my offer to those wretched women. Tell me--how much +do you want?" + +"Your keepers, in their report of the night, have also spoken of +threats," resumed M. Baleinier, with the same coolness; "have you any of +those likewise to address me? Believe me, my poor child, you will do +well to exhaust at once your attempts at corruption, and your vain +threats of vengeance. We shall then come to the true state of the case." + +"So you deem my threats vain!" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, at length +giving way to the full tide of her indignation, till then restrained. +"Do you think, sir, that when I leave this place--for this outrage must +have an end--that I will not proclaim aloud your infamous treachery? Do +you think chat I will not denounce to the contempt and horror of all, +your base conspiracy with Madame de Saint-Dizier? Oh! do you think that +I will conceal the frightful treatment I have received! But, mad as I +may be, I know that there are laws in this country, by which I will +demand a full reparation for myself, and shame, disgrace, and punishment, +for you, and for those who have employed you! Henceforth, between you +and me will be hate and war to the death; and all my strength, all my +intelligence--" + +"Permit me to interrupt you, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne," said the doctor, +still perfectly calm and affectionate: "nothing can be more unfavorable +to your cure, than to cherish idle hopes: they will only tend to keep up +a state of deplorable excitement: it is best to put the facts fairly +before you, that you may understand clearly your position. + +"1. It is impossible for you to leave this house. 2. You can have no +communication with any one beyond its walls. 3. No one enters here that +I cannot perfectly depend upon. 4. I am completely indifferent to your +threats of vengeance because law and reason are both in my favor." + +"What! have you the right to shut me up here?" + +"We should never have come to that determination, without a number of +reasons of the most serious kind." + +"Oh! there are reasons for it, it seems." + +"Unfortunately, too many." + +"You will perhaps inform me of them?" + +"Alas! they are only too conclusive; and if you should ever apply to the +protection of the laws, as you threatened me just now, we should be +obliged to state them. The fantastical eccentricity of your manner of +living, your whimsical mode of dressing up your maids, your extravagant +expenditure, the story of the Indian prince, to whom you offered a royal +hospitality, your unprecedented resolution of going to live by yourself, +like a young bachelor, the adventure of the man found concealed in your +bed-chamber; finally, the report of your yesterday's conversation, which +was faithfully taken down in shorthand, by a person employed for that +purpose." + +"Yesterday?" cried Adrienne, with as much indignation as surprise. + +"Oh, yes! to be prepared for every event, in case you should misinterpret +the interest we take in you, we had all your answers reported by a man +who was concealed behind a curtain in the next room; and really, one day, +in a calmer state of mind, when you come to read over quietly the +particulars of what took place, you will no longer be astonished at the +resolution we have been forced to adopt." + +"Go on, sir," said Adrienne, with contempt. + +"The facts I have cited being thus confirmed and acknowledged, you will +understand, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne, that your friends are perfectly free +from responsibility. It was their duty to endeavor to cure this +derangement of mind, which at present only shows itself in idle whims, +but which, were it to increase, might seriously compromise the happiness +of your future life. Now, in my opinion, we may hope to see a radical +cure, by means of a treatment at once physical and moral; but the first +condition of this attempt was to remove you from the scenes which so +dangerously excited your imagination; whilst a calm retreat, the repose +of a simple and solitary life combined with my anxious, I may say, +paternal care, will gradually bring about a complete recovery--" + +"So, sir," said Adrienne, with a bitter laugh, "the love of a noble +independence, generosity, the worship of the beautiful, detestation of +what is base and odious, such are the maladies of which you wish to cure +me; I fear that my case is desperate, for my aunt has long ago tried to +effect that benevolent purpose." + +"Well, we may perhaps not succeed; but at least we will attempt it. You +see, then, there is a mass of serious facts, quite enough to justify the +determination come to by the family-council, which puts me completely at +my ease with regard to your menaces. It is to that I wish to return; a +man of my age and condition never acts lightly--in such circumstances, +and you can readily understand what I was saying to you just now. In a +word, do not hope to leave this place before your complete recovery, and +rest assured, that I am and shall ever be safe from your resentment. +This being once admitted, let us talk of your actual state with all the +interest that you naturally inspire." + +"I think, sir, that, considering I am mad, you speak to me very +reasonably." + +"Mad! no, thank heaven, my poor child, you are not mad yet--and I hope +that, by my care, you will never be so. It is to prevent your becoming +mad, that one must take it in time; and believe me, it is full time. You +look at me with such an air of surprise--now tell me, what interest can I +have in talking to you thus? Is it the hatred of your aunt that I wish +to favor? To what end, I would ask? What can she do for me or against +me? I think of her at this moment neither more nor less than I thought +yesterday. Is it a new language that I hold to yourself? Did I not +speak to you yesterday many times, of the dangerous excitement of mind in +which you were, and of your singular whims and fancies? It is true, I +made use of stratagem to bring you hither. No doubt, I did so. I +hastened to avail myself of the opportunity, which you yourself offered, +my poor, dear child; for you would never have come hither with your own +good will. One day or the other, we must have found some pretext to get +you here: and I said to myself; `Her interest before all! Do your duty, +let whatever will betide!'--" + +Whilst M. Baleinier was speaking, Adrienne's countenance, which had +hitherto expressed alternately indignation and disdain, assumed an +indefinable look of anguish and horror. On hearing this man talk in such +a natural manner, and with such an appearance of sincerity, justice and +reason, she felt herself more alarmed than ever. An atrocious deception, +clothed in such forms, frightened her a hundred times more than the +avowed hatred of Madame de Saint-Dizier. This audacious hypocrisy seemed +to her so monstrous, that she believed it almost impossible. + +Adrienne had so little the art of hiding her emotions, that the doctor, a +skillful and profound physiognomist, instantly perceived the impression +he had produced. "Come," said he to himself, "that is a great step. +Fright has succeeded to disdain and anger. Doubt will come next. I +shall not leave this place, till she has said to me: `Return soon, my +good M. Baleinier!' "With a voice of sorrowful emotion, which seemed to +come from the very depths of his heart, the doctor thus continued: "I +see, you are still suspicious of me. All I can say to you is falsehood, +fraud, hypocrisy, hate--is it not so?--Hate you? why, in heaven's name, +should I hate you? What have you done to me? or rather--you will +perhaps attach more value to this reason from a man of my sort," added M. +Baleinier, bitterly, "or rather, what interest have I to hate you?--You, +that have only been reduced to the state in which you are by an over- +abundance of the most generous instincts--you, that are suffering, as it +were, from an excess of good qualities--you can bring yourself coolly and +deliberately to accuse an honest man, who has never given you any but +marks of affection, of the basest, the blackest, the most abominable +crime, of which a human being could be guilty. Yes, I call it a crime; +because the audacious deception of which you accuse me would not deserve +any other name. Really, my poor child, it is hard--very hard--and I now +see, that an independent spirit may sometimes exhibit as much injustice +and intolerance as the most narrow mind. It does not incense me--no--it +only pains me: yes, I assure you--it pains me cruelly." And the doctor +drew his hand across his moist eyes. + +It is impossible to give the accent, the look, the gesture of M. +Baleinier, as he thus expressed himself. The most able and practiced +lawyer, or the greatest actor in the world, could not have played this +scene with more effect than the doctor--or rather, no one could have +played it so well -M. Baleinier, carried away by the influence of the +situations, was himself half convinced of what he said. + +In few words, he felt all the horror of his own perfidy but he felt also +that Adrienne could not believe it; for there are combinations of such +nefarious character, that pure and upright minds are unable to comprehend +them as possible. If a lofty spirit looks down into the abyss of evil, +beyond a certain depth it is seized with giddiness, and no longer able to +distinguish one object from the other. + +And then the most perverse of men have a day, an hour, a moment, in which +the good instincts, planted in the heart of every creature, appear in +spite of themselves. Adrienne was too interesting, was in too cruel a +position, for the doctor mot to feel some pity for her in his heart; the +tone of sympathy, which for some time past he had been obliged to assume +towards her, and the sweet confidence of the young girl in return, had +become for this man habitual and necessary ratifications. But sympathy +and habit were now to yield to implacable necessity. + +Thus the Marquis d'Aigrigny had idolized his mother; dying, she called +him to her--and he turned away from the last prayer of a parent in the +agony of death. After such an example, how could M. Baleinier hesitate +to sacrifice Adrienne? The members of the Order, of which he formed a +part, were bound to him--but he was perhaps still more strongly bound to +them, for a long partnership in evil creates terrible and indissoluble +ties. + +The moment M. Baleinier finished his fervid address to Mdlle. de +Cardoville, the slide of the wicket in the door was softly pushed back, +and a pair of eyes peered attentively into the chamber, unperceived by +the doctor. + +Adrienne could not withdraw her gaze from the physician's, which seemed +to fascinate her. Mute, overpowered, seized with a vague terror, unable +to penetrate the dark depths of this man's soul, moved in spite of +herself by the accent of sorrow, half feigned and half real--the young +lady had a momentary feeling of doubt. For the first time, it came into +her mind, that M. Baleinier might perhaps be committing a frightful +error--committing it in good faith. + +Besides, the anguish of the past night, the dangers of her position, her +feverish agitation, all concurred to fill her mind with trouble and +indecision. She looked at the physician with ever increasing surprise, +and making a violent effort not to yield to a weakness, of which she +partly foresaw the dreadful consequences, she exclaimed: "No, no, sir; I +will not, I cannot believe it. You have too much skill, too much +experience, to commit such an error." + +"An error!" said M. Baleinier, in a grave and sorrowful tone. "Let me +speak to you in the name of that skill and experience, which you are +pleased to ascribe to me. Hear me but for a moment, my dear child; and +then I will appeal to yourself." + +"To me!" replied the young girl, in a kind of stupor; "you wish to +persuade me, that--" Then, interrupting herself, she added, with a +convulsive laugh: "This only is wanting to your triumph--to bring me to +confess that I am mad--that my proper place is here--that I owe you -" +"Gratitude. Yes, you do owe it me, even as I told you at the +commencement of this conversation. Listen to me then; my words may be +cruel, but there are wounds which can only be cured with steel and fire. +I conjure you, my dear child--reflect--throw back one impartial glance at +your past life--weigh your own thoughts--and you will be afraid of +yourself. Remember those moments of strange excitement, during which, as +you have told me, you seemed to soar above the earth--and, above all, +while it is yet time--while you preserve enough clearness of mind to +compare and judge--compare, I entreat, your manner of living with that of +other ladies of your age? Is there a single one who acts as you act? who +thinks as you think? unless, indeed, you imagine yourself so superior to +other women, that, in virtue of that supremacy, you can justify a life +and habits that have no parallel in the world." + +"I have never had such stupid pride, you know it well," said Adrienne, +looking at the doctor with growing terror. + +"Then, my dear child, to what are we to attribute your strange and +inexplicable mode of life? Can you even persuade yourself that it is +founded on reason? Oh, my child! take care?--As yet, you only indulge in +charming originalities of conduct, poetical eccentricities, sweet and +vague reveries--but the tendency is fatal, the downward course +irresistible. Take care, take care!--the healthful, graceful, spiritual +portion of your intelligence has yet the upper hand, and imprints its +stamp upon all your extravagances; but you do not know, believe me, with +what frightful force the insane portion of the mind, at a given moment, +develops itself and strangles up the rest. Then we have no longer +graceful eccentricities, like yours, but ridiculous, sordid, hideous +delusions." + +"Oh! you frighten me," said the unfortunate girl, as she passed her +trembling hands across her burning brow. + +"Then," continued M. Baleinier, in an agitated voice, "then the last rays +of intelligence are extinguished; then madness--for we must pronounce the +dreaded word--gets the upper hand, and displays itself in furious and +savage transports." + +"Like the woman upstairs," murmured Adrienne, as, with fixed and eager +look, she raised her finger towards the ceiling. + +"Sometimes," continued the doctor, alarmed himself at the terrible +consequences of his own words, but yielding to the inexorable fatality of +his situation, "sometimes madness takes a stupid and brutal form; the +unfortunate creature, who is attacked by it, preserves nothing human but +the shape--has only the instincts of the lower animals--eats with +voracity, and moves ever backwards and forwards in the cell, in which +such a being is obliged to be confined. That is all its life--all." + +"Like the woman yonder." cried Adrienne, with a still wilder look, as she +slowly raised her arm towards the window that was visible on the other +side of the building. + +"Why--yes," said M. Baleinier. "Like you, unhappy child, those women +were young, fair, and sensible, but like you, alas! they had in them the +fatal germ of insanity, which, not having been destroyed in time, grew, +and grew, larger and ever larger, until it overspread and destroyed their +reason." + +"Oh, mercy!" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, whose head was getting confused +with terror; "mercy! do not tell me such things!--I am afraid. Take me +from this place--oh! take me from this place!" she added, with a +heartrending accent; "for, if I remain here, I shall end by going mad! +No," added she, struggling with the terrible agony which assailed her, +"no, do not hope it! I shall not become mad. I have all my reason. I +am not blind enough to believe what you tell me. Doubtless, I live +differently from others; think differently from others; am shocked by +things that do not offend others; but what does all this prove? Only +that I am different from others. Have I a bad heart? Am I envious or +selfish? My ideas are singular, I knew--yes, I confess it--but then, M. +Baleinier, is not their tendency good, generous, noble!--Oh!" cried +Adrienne's supplicating voice, while her tears flowed abundantly, "I have +never in my life done one malicious action; my worst errors have arisen +from excess of generosity. Is it madness to wish to see everybody about +one too happy? And again, if you are mad, you must feel it yourself--and +I do not feel it--and yet--I scarcely know--you tell me such terrible +things of those two women! You ought to know these things better than I. +But then," added Mdlle, de Cardoville, with an accent of the deepest +despair, "something ought to have been done. Why, if you felt an +interest for me, did you wait so long? Why did you not take pity on me +sooner? But the most frightful fact is, that I do not know whether I +ought to believe you--for all this may be a snare--but no, no! you weep-- +it is true, then!--you weep!" She looked anxiously at M. Baleinier, who, +notwithstanding his cynical philosophy, could not restrain his tears at +the sight of these nameless tortures. + +"You weep over me," she continued; "so it is true! But (good heaven!) +must there not be something done? I will do all that you wish--all--so +that I may not be like those women. But if it should be too late? no, it +is not too late--say it is not too late, my good M. Baleinier! Oh, now I +ask your pardon for what I said when you came in--but then I did not +know, you see--I did not know!" + +To these few broken words, interrupted by sobs, and rushing forth in a +sort of feverish excitement, succeeded a silence of some minutes, during +which the deeply affected physician dried his tears. His resolution had +almost failed him. Adrienne hid her face in her hands. Suddenly she +again lifted her head; her countenance was calmer than before, though +agitated by a nervous trembling. + +"M. Baleinier," she resumed, with touching dignity, "I hardly know what I +said to you just now. Terror, I think, made me wander; I have again +collected myself. Hear me! I know that I am in your power; I know that +nothing can deliver me from it. Are you an implacable enemy? or are you +a friend? I am not able to determine. Do you really apprehend, as you +assure me, that what is now eccentricity will hereafter become madness-- +or are you rather the accomplice in some infernal machination? You alone +can answer. In spite of my boasted courage, I confess myself conquered. +Whatever is required of me--you understand, whatever it may be, I will +subscribe to, I give you my word and you know that I hold it sacred--you +have therefore no longer any interest to keep me here. If, on the +contrary, you really think my reason in danger--and I own that you have +awakened in my mind vague, but frightful doubts--tell it me, and I will +believe you. I am alone, at your mercy, without friends, without +counsel. I trust myself blindly to you. I know not whether I address +myself to a deliverer or a destroyer--but I say to you--here is my +happiness--here is my life--take it--I have no strength to dispute it +with you!" + +These touching words, full of mournful resignation and almost hopeless +reliance, gave the finishing stroke to the indecision of M. Baleinier. +Already deeply moved by this scene, and without reflecting on the +consequences of what he was about to do, he determined at all events to +dissipate the terrible and unjust fears with which he had inspired +Adrienne. Sentiments of remorse and pity, which now animated the +physician, were visible in his countenance. + +Alas! they were too visible. The moment he approached to take the hand +of Mdlle. de Cardoville, a low but sharp voice exclaimed from behind the +wicket: "M. Baleinier!" + +"Rodin!" muttered the startled doctor to himself; "he's been spying on +me!" + +"Who calls you?" asked the lady of the physician. + +"A person that I promised to meet here this morning." replied he, with +the utmost depression, "to go with him to St. Mary's Convent, which is +close at hand." + +"And what answer have you to give me?" said Adrienne with mortal anguish. + +After a moment's solemn silence, during which he turned his face towards +the wicket, the doctor replied, in a voice of deep emotion: "I am--what I +have always been--a friend incapable of deceiving you." + +Adrienne became deadly pale. Then, extending her hand to M. Baleinier, +she said to him in a voice that she endeavored to render calm: "Thank +you--I will have courage--but will it be very long?" + +"Perhaps a month. Solitude, reflection, a proper regimen, my attentive +care, may do much. You will be allowed everything that is compatible +with your situation. Every attention will be paid you. If this room +displeases you, I will see you have another." + +"No--this or another--it is of little consequence," answered Adrienne, +with an air of the deepest dejection. + +"Come, come! be of good courage. There is no reason to despair." + +"Perhaps you flatter me," said Adrienne with the shadow of a smile. +"Return soon," she added, "my dear M. Baleinier! my only hope rests in +you now." + +Her head fell upon her bosom, her hands upon her knees and she remained +sitting on the edge of the bed, pale, motionless, overwhelmed with woe. + +"Mad!" she said when M. Baleinier had disappeared. "Perhaps mad!" + +We have enlarged upon this episode much less romantic than it may appear. +Many times have motives of interest or vengeance or perfidious +machination led to the abuse of the imprudent facility with which inmates +are received in certain private lunatic asylums from the hands of their +families or friends. + +We shall subsequently explain our views, as to the establishment of a +system of inspection, by the crown or the civil magistrates, for the +periodical survey of these institutions, and others of no less +importance, at present placed beyond the reach of all superintendence. +These latter are the nunneries of which we will presently have an +example. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +PRESENTIMENTS. + +Whilst the preceding events took place in Dr. Baleinier's asylum, other +scenes were passing about the same hour, at Frances Baudoin's, in the Rue +Brise-Miche. + +Seven o'clock in the morning had just struck at St. Mary church; the day +was dark and gloomy, and the sleet rattled against the windows of the +joyless chamber of Dagobert's wife. + +As yet ignorant of her son's arrest, Frances had waited for him the whole +of the preceding evening, and a good part of the night, with the most +anxious uneasiness; yielding at length to fatigue and sleep, about three +o'clock in the morning, she had thrown herself on a mattress beside the +bed of Rose and Blanche. But she rose with the first dawn of day, to +ascend to Agricola's garret, in the very faint hope that he might have +returned home some hours before. + +Rose and Blanche had just risen, and dressed themselves. They were alone +in the sad, chilly apartment. Spoil-sport, whom Dagobert had left in +Paris, was stretched at full length near the cold stove; with his long +muzzle resting on his forepaws, he kept his eye fixed on the sisters. + +Having slept but little during the night, they had perceived the +agitation and anguish of Dagobert's wife. They had seen her walk up and +down, now talking to herself, now listening to the least noise that came +up the staircase, and now kneeling before the crucifix placed at one +extremity of the room. The orphans were not aware, that, whilst she +brayed with fervor on behalf of her son, this excellent woman was praying +for them also. For the state of their souls filled her with anxiety and +alarm. + +The day before, when Dagobert had set out for Chartres, Frances, having +assisted Rose and Blanche to rise, had invited them to say their morning +prayer: they answered with the utmost simplicity, that they did not know +any, and that they never more than addressed their mother, who was in +heaven. When Frances, struck with painful surprise, spoke to them of +catechism, confirmation, communion, the sisters opened widely their large +eyes with astonishment, understanding nothing of such talk. + +According to her simple faith, terrified at the ignorance of the young +girls in matters of religion, Dagobert's wife believed their souls to be +in the greatest peril, the more so as, having asked them if they had ever +been baptized (at the same time explaining to them the nature of that +sacrament), the orphans answered they did not think they had, since there +was neither church nor priest in the village where they were born, during +their mother's exile in Siberia. + +Placing one's self in the position of Frances, you understand how much +she was grieved and alarmed; for, in her eyes, these young girls, whom +she already loved tenderly, so charmed was she with their sweet +disposition, were nothing but poor heathens, innocently doomed to eternal +damnation. So, unable to restrain her tears, or conceal her horrors, she +had clasped them in her arms, promising immediately to attend to their +salvation, and regretting that Dagobert had not thought of having them +baptized by the way. Now, it must be confessed, that this notion had +never once occurred to the ex-grenadier. + +When she went to her usual Sunday devotions, Frances had not dared to +take Rose and Blanche with her, as their complete ignorance of sacred +things would have rendered their presence at church, if not useless, +scandalous; but, in her own fervent prayers she implored celestial mercy +for these orphans, who did not themselves know the desperate position of +their souls. + +Rose and Blanche were now left alone, in the absence of Dagobert's wife. +They were still dressed in mourning, their charming faces seeming even +more pensive than usual. Though they were accustomed to a life of +misfortune, they had been struck, since their arrival in the Rue Brise- +Miche, with the painful contrast between the poor dwelling which they had +come to inhabit, and the wonders which their young imagination had +conceived of Paris, that golden city of their dreams. But, soon this +natural astonishment was replaced by thoughts of singular gravity for +their age. The contemplation of such honest and laborious poverty made +the orphans have reflections no longer those of children, but of young +women. Assisted by their admirable spirit of justice and of sympathy for +all that is good, by their noble heart, by a character at once delicate +and courageous, they had observed and meditated much during the last +twenty-four hours. + +"Sister," said Rose to Blanche, when Frances had quitted the room, +"Dagobert's poor wife is very uneasy. Did you remark in the night, how +agitated she was? how she wept and prayed?" + +"I was grieved to see it, sister, and wondered what could be the cause." + +"I am almost afraid to guess. Perhaps we may be the cause of her +uneasiness?" + +"Why so, sister? Because we cannot say prayers, nor tell if we have ever +been baptized?" + +"That seemed to give her a good deal of pain, it is true. I was quite +touched by it, for it proves that she loves us tenderly. But I could not +understand how we ran such terrible danger as she said we did." + +"Nor I either, sister. We have always tried not to displease our mother, +who sees and hears us." + +"We love those who love us; we are resigned to whatever may happen to us. +So, who can reproach us with any harm?" + +"No one. But, perhaps, we may do some without meaning it." + +"We?" + +"Yes, and therefore I thought: We may perhaps be the cause of her +uneasiness." + +"How so?" + +"Listen, sister! yesterday Madame Baudoin tried to work at those sacks of +coarse cloth there on the table." + +"Yes; but in about an half-hour, she told us sorrowfully, that she could +not go on, because her eyes failed her, and she could not see clearly." + +"So that she is not able to earn her living." + +"No--but her son, M. Agricola, works for her. He looks so good, so gay, +so frank, and so happy to devote himself for his mother. Oh, indeed! he +is the worthy brother of our angel Gabriel!" + +"You will see my reason for speaking of this. Our good old Dagobert told +us, that, when we arrived here, he had only a few pieces of money left." + +"That is true." + +"Now both he and his wife are unable to earn their living; what can a +poor old soldier like him do?" + +"You are right; he only knows how to love us, and take care of us, like +his children." + +"It must then be M. Agricola who will have to support his father; for +Gabriel is a poor priest, who possesses nothing, and can render no +assistance to those who have brought him up. So M. Agricola will have to +support the whole family by himself." + +"Doubtless--he owes it to father and mother--it is his duty, and he will +do it with a good will." + +"Yes, sister--but he owes us nothing." + +"What do you say, Blanche?" + +"He is obliged to work for us also, as we possess nothing in the world." + +"I had not thought of that. True." + +"It is all very well, sister, for our father to be Duke and Marshal of +France, as Dagobert tells us, it is all very well for us to hope great +things from this medal, but as long as father is not here, and our hopes +are not realized, we shall be merely poor orphans, obliged to remain a +burden to this honest family, to whom we already owe so much, and who +find it so hard to live, that--" + +"Why do you pause, sister?" + +"What I am about to say would make other people laugh; but you will +understand it. Yesterday, when Dagobert's wife saw poor Spoil-sport at +his dinner, she said, sorrowfully: "Alas! he eats as much as a man!"--so +that I could almost have cried to hear her. They must be very poor, and +yet we have come to increase their poverty." + +The sisters looked sadly at each other, while Spoil-sport pretended not +to know they were talking of his voracity. + +"Sister, I understand," said Rose, after a moment's silence. "Well, we +must not be at the charge of any one. We are young, and have courage. +Till our fate is decided, let us fancy ourselves daughters of workmen. +After all, is not our grandfather a workman? Let us find some +employment, and earn our own living. It must be so proud and happy to +earn one's living!" + +"Good little sister," said Blanche, kissing Rose. "What happiness! You +have forestalled my thought; kiss me!" + +"How so?" + +"Your project is mine exactly. Yesterday, when I heard Dagobert's wife +complain so sadly that she had lost her sight. I looked into your large +eyes, which reminded me of my own, and said to myself : 'Well! this poor +old woman may have lost her sight, but Rose and Blanche Simon can see +pretty clearly'--which is a compensation," added Blanche, with a smile. + +"And, after all," resumed Rose, smiling in her turn, "the young ladies in +question are not so very awkward, as not to be able to sew up great sacks +of coarse cloth--though it may chafe their fingers a little." + +"So we had both the same thought, as usual; only I wished to surprise +you, and waited till we were alone, to tell you my plan." + +"Yes, but there is something teases me." + +"What is that?" + +"First of all, Dagobert and his wife will be sure to say to us: `Young +ladies, you are not fitted for such work. What, daughters of a Marshal +of France sewing up great ugly bags!' And then, if we insist upon it, +they will add: `Well, we have no work to give you. If you want any, you +must hunt for it.' What would Misses Simon do then?" + +"The fact is, that when Dagobert has made up his mind to anything--" + +"Oh! even then, if we coax him well--" + +"Yes, in certain things; but in others he is immovable. It is just as +when upon the journey, we wished to prevent his doing so much for us." + +"Sister, an idea strikes me," cried Rose, "an excellent idea!" + +"What is it? quick!" + +"You know the young woman they call Mother Bunch, who appears to be so +serviceable and persevering?" + +"Oh yes! and so timid and discreet. She seems always to be afraid of +giving offence, even if she looks at one. Yesterday, she did not +perceive that I saw her; but her eyes were fixed on you with so good and +sweet an expression, that tears came into mine at the very sight of it." + +"Well, we must ask her how she gets work, for certainly she lives by her +labor." + +"You are right. She will tell us all about it; and when we know, +Dagobert may scold us, or try to make great ladies of us, but we will be +as obstinate as he is." + +"That is it; we must show some spirit! We will prove to him, as he says +himself, that we have soldier's blood in our veins." + +"We will say to him: `Suppose, as you say, we should one day be rich, my +good Dagobert, we shall only remember this time with the more pleasure." + +"It is agreed then, is it not, Rose? The first time we are alone with +Mother Bunch, we must make her our confidant, and ask her for +information. She is so good a person, that she will not refuse us." + +"And when father comes home, he will be pleased, I am sure, with our +courage." + +"And will approve our wish to support ourselves, as if we were alone in +the world." + +On these words of her sister, Rose started. A cloud of sadness, almost +of alarm, passed over her charming countenance, as she exclaimed: "Oh, +sister, what a horrible idea!" + +"What is the matter? your look frightens me." + +"At the moment I heard you say, that our father would approve our wish to +support ourselves, as if we were alone in the world--a frightful thought +struck me--I know not why--but feel how my heart beats--just as if some +misfortune were about to happen us." + +"It is true; your poor heart beats violently. But what was this thought? +You alarm me." + +"When we were prisoners, they did not at least separate us, and, besides, +the prison was a kind of shelter--" + +"A sad one, though shared with you." + +"But if, when arrived here, any accident had parted us from Dagobert--if +we had been left alone, without help, in this great town?" + +"Oh, sister! do not speak of that. It would indeed be terrible. What +would become of us, kind heaven?" + +This cruel thought made the girls remain for a moment speechless with +emotion. Their sweet faces, which had just before glowed with a noble +hope, grew pale and sad. After a pretty long silence, Rose uplifted her +eyes, now filled with tears, "Why does this thought," she said, +trembling, "affect us so deeply, sister? My heart sinks within me, as if +it were really to happen to us." + +"I feel as frightened as you yourself. Alas! were we both to be lost in +this immense city, what would become of us?" + +"Do not let us give way to such ideas, Blanche! Are we not here in +Dagobert's house, in the midst of good people?" + +"And yet, sister," said Rose, with a pensive air, "it is perhaps good for +us to have had this thought." + +"Why so?" + +"Because we shall now find this poor lodging all the better, as it +affords a shelter from all our fears. And when, thanks to our labor, we +are no longer a burden to any one, what more can we need until the +arrival of our father?" + +"We shall want for nothing--there you are right--but still, why did this +thought occur to us, and why does it weigh so heavily on our minds?" + +"Yes, indeed--why? Are we not here in the midst of friends that love us? +How could we suppose that we should ever be left alone in Paris? It is +impossible that such a misfortune should happen to us--is it not, my dear +sister?" + +"Impossible!" said Rose, shuddering. "If the day before we reached that +village in Germany, where poor Jovial was killed, any one had said to us: +`To-morrow, you will be in prison'--we should have answered as now: `It +is impossible. Is not Dagobert here to protect us; what have we to +fear?' And yet, sister, the day after we were in prison at Leipsic." + +"Oh! do not speak thus, my dear sister! It frightens me." + +By a sympathetic impulse, the orphans took one another by the hand, while +they pressed close together, and looked around with involuntary fear. +The sensation they felt was in fact deep, strange, inexplicable, and yet +lowering--one of those dark presentiments which come over us, in spite of +ourselves--those fatal gleams of prescience, which throw a lurid light on +the mysterious profundities of the future. + +Unaccountable glimpses of divination! often no sooner perceived than +forgotten--but, when justified by the event, appearing with all the +attributes of an awful fatality! + +The daughters of Marshal Simon were still absorbed in the mournful +reverie which these singular thoughts had awakened, when Dagobert's wife, +returning from her son's chamber, entered the room with a painfully +agitated countenance. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +THE LETTER. + +Frances' agitation was so perceptible that Rose could not help +exclaiming: "Good gracious, what is the matter?" + +"Alas, my dear young ladies! I can no longer conceal it from you," said +Frances, bursting into tears. "Since yesterday I have not seen him. I +expected my son to supper as usual, and he never came; but I would not +let you see how much I suffered. I continued to expect him, minute after +minute; for ten years he has never gone up to bed without coming to kiss +me; so I spent a good part of the night close to the door, listening if I +could hear his step. But he did not come; and, at last, about three +o'clock in the morning, I threw myself down upon the mattress. I have +just been to see (for I still had a faint hope), if my son had come in +this morning--" + +"Well, madame!" + +"There is no sign of him!" said the poor mother, drying her eyes. + +Rose and Blanche looked at each other with emotion; the same thought +filled the minds of both; if Agricola should not return, how would this +family live? would they not, in such an event, become doubly burdensome? + +"But, perhaps, madame," said Blanche, "M. Agricola remained too late at +his work to return home last night." + +"Oh! no, no! he would have returned in the middle of the night, because +he knew what uneasiness he would cause me by stopping out. Alas! some +misfortune must have happened to him! Perhaps he has been injured at the +forge, he is so persevering at his work. Oh, my poor boy! and, as if I +did not feel enough anxiety about him, I am also uneasy about the poor +young woman who lives upstairs." + +"Why so, madame?" + +"When I left my son's room, I went into hers, to tell her my grief, for +she is almost a daughter to me; but I did not find her in the little +closet where she lives, and the bed had not even been slept in. Where +can she have gone so early--she, that never goes out?" + +Rose and Blanche looked at each other with fresh uneasiness, for they +counted much upon Mother Bunch to help them in the resolution they had +taken. Fortunately, both they and Frances were soon to be satisfied on +this head, for they heard two low knocks at the door, and the +sempstress's voice, saying: "Can I come in, Mrs. Baudoin?" + +By a spontaneous impulse, Rose and Blanche ran to the door, and opened it +to the young girl. Sleet and snow had been falling incessantly since the +evening before; the gingham dress of the young sempstress, her scanty +cotton shawl, and the black net cap, which, leaving uncovered two thick +bands of chestnut hair, encircled her pale and interesting countenance, +were all dripping wet; the cold had given a livid appearance to her thin, +white hands; it was only in the fire of her blue eyes, generally so soft +and timid, that one perceived the extraordinary energy which this frail +and fearful creature had gathered from the emergency of the occasion. + +"Dear me! where do you come from, my good Mother Bunch?" said Frances. +"Just now, in going to see if my son had returned, I opened your door, +and was quite astonished to find you gone out so early." + +"I bring you news of Agricola." + +"Of my son!" cried Frances, trembling all over. "What has happened to +him? Did you see him?--Did you speak to him?--Where is he?" + +"I did not see him, but I know where he is." Then, perceiving that +Frances grew very pale, the girl added: "He is well; he is in no danger." + +"Blessed be God, who has pity on a poor sinner!--who yesterday restored +me my husband, and to-day, after a night of cruel anguish, assures me of +the safety of my child!" So saying, Frances knelt down upon the floor, +and crossed herself with fervor. + +During the moment of silence, caused by this pious action, Rose and +Blanche approached Mother Bunch, and said to her in a low voice, with an +expression of touching interest: "How wet you are! you must be very cold. +Take care you do not get ill. We did not venture to ask Madame Frances +to light the fire in the stove, but now we will do so." + +Surprised and affected by the kindness of Marshal Simon's daughters, the +hunchback, who was more sensible than others to the least mark of +kindness, answered them with a look of ineffable gratitude: "I am much +obliged to you, young ladies; but I am accustomed to the cold, and am +moreover so anxious that I do not feel it." + +"And my son?" said Frances, rising after she had remained some moments on +her knees; "why did he stay out all night? And could you tell me where +to find him, my good girl? Will he soon come? why is he so long?" + +"I assure you, Agricola is well; but I must inform you, that for some +time--" + +"Well?" + +"You must have courage, mother." + +"Oh! the blood runs cold in my veins. What has happened? why shall I not +see him?" + +"Alas, he is arrested." + +"Arrested!" cried Rose and Blanche, with affright. + +"Father! Thy will be done!" said Frances; "but it is a great misfortune. +Arrested! for what? He is so good and honest, that there must be some +mistake." + +"The day before yesterday," resumed Mother Bunch, "I received an +anonymous letter, by which I was informed that Agricola might be arrested +at any moment, on account of his song. We agreed together that he should +go to the rich young lady in the Rue de Babylone, who had offered him her +services, and ask her to procure bail for him; to prevent his going to +prison. Yesterday morning he set out to go to the young lady's." + +"And neither of you told me anything of all this--why did you hide it +from me?" + +"That we might not make you uneasy, mother; for, counting on the +generosity of that young lady, I expected Agricola back every moment. +When he did not come yesterday evening. I said to myself : `Perhaps the +necessary formalities with regard to the bail have detained him.' But the +time passed on, and he did not make his appearance. So, I watched all +night, expecting him." + +"So you did not go to bed either, my good girl?" + +"No, I was too uneasy. This morning, not being able to conquer my fears, +I went out before dawn. I remembered the address of the young lady in +the Rue de Babylone, and I ran thither." + +"Oh, well!" said Frances, with anxiety; "you were in the right. +According to what my son told us, that young lady appeared very good and +generous." + +Mother Bunch shook her head sorrowfully; a tear glittered in her eyes, as +she continued: "It was still dark when I arrived at the Rue de Babylone; +I waited till daylight was come." + +"Poor child! you, who are so weak and timid," said Frances, with deep +feeling, "to go so far, and in this dreadful weather!--Oh, you have been +a real daughter to me!" + +"Has not Agricola been like a brother to me!" said Mother Bunch, softly, +with a slight blush. + +"When it was daylight," she resumed: "I ventured to ring at the door of +the little summer-house; a charming young girl, but with a sad, pale +countenance, opened the door to me. `I come in the name of an +unfortunate mother in despair,' said I to her immediately, for I was so +poorly dressed that I feared to be sent away as a beggar; but seeing, on +the contrary, that the young girl listened to me with kindness, I asked +her if, the day before, a young workman had not come to solicit a great +favor of her mistress. `Alas! yes,' answered the young girl; `my +mistress was going to interest herself for him, and, hearing that he was +in danger of being arrested, she concealed him here; unfortunately, his +retreat was discovered, and yesterday afternoon, at four o'clock, he was +arrested and taken to prison.'" + +Though the orphans took no part in this melancholy conversation, the +sorrow and anxiety depicted in their countenances, showed how much they +felt for the sufferings of Dagobert's wife. + +"But the young lady?" cried Frances. "You should have tried to see her, +my good Mother Bunch, and begged her not to abandon my son. She is so +rich that she must have influence, and her protection might save us from +great calamities." + +"Alas!" said Mother Bunch, with bitter grief, "we must renounce this last +hope." + +"Why?" said Frances. "If this young lady is so good, she will have pity +upon us, when she knows that my son is the only support of a whole +family, and that for him to go to prison is worse than for another, +because it will reduce us all to the greatest misery." + +"But this young lady," replied the girl, "according to what I learned +from her weeping maid, was taken last evening to a lunatic asylum: it +appears she is mad." + +"Mad! Oh! it is horrible for her, and for us also--for now there is no +hope. What will become of us without my son? Oh, merciful heaven!" The +unfortunate woman hid her face in her hands. + +A profound silence followed this heart-rending outburst. Rose and +Blanche exchanged mournful glances, for they perceived that their +presence augmented the weighty embarrassments of this family. Mother +Bunch, worn out with fatigue, a prey to painful emotions, and trembling +with cold in her wet clothes, sank exhausted on a chair, and reflected on +their desperate position. + +That position was indeed a cruel one! + +Often, in times of political disturbances, or of agitation amongst the +laboring classes, caused by want of work, or by the unjust reduction of +wages (the result of the powerful coalition of the capitalists)--often +are whole families reduced, by a measure of preventive imprisonment, to +as deplorable a position as that of Dagobert s household by Agricola's +arrest--an arrest, which, as will afterwards appear, was entirely owing +to Rodin's arts. + +Now, with regard to this "precautionary imprisonment," of which the +victims are almost always honest and industrious mechanics, driven to the +necessity of combining together by the In organization of Labor and the +Insufficiency of Wages, it is painful to see the law, which ought to be +equal for all, refuse to strikers what it grants to masters--because the +latter can dispose of a certain sum of money. Thus, under many +circumstances, the rich man, by giving bail, can escape the annoyance and +inconveniences of a preventive incarceration; he deposits a sum of money, +pledges his word to appear on a certain day, and goes back to his +pleasures, his occupations, and the sweet delights of his family. +Nothing can be better; an accused person is innocent till he is proved +guilty; we cannot be too much impressed with that indulgent maxim. It is +well for the rich man that he can avail himself of the mercy of the law. +But how is it with the poor? + +Not only has he no bail to give, for his whole capital consists of his +daily labor; but it is upon him chiefly that the rigors of preventive +measures must fall with a terrible and fatal force. + +For the rich man, imprisonment is merely the privation of ease and +comfort, tedious hours, and the pain of separation from his family-- +distresses not unworthy of interest, for all suffering deserves pity, and +the tears of the rich man separated from his children are as bitter as +those of the poor. But the absence of the rich man does not condemn his +family to hunger and cold, and the incurable maladies caused by +exhaustion and misery. + +For the workman, on the contrary, imprisonment means want, misery, +sometimes death, to those most dear to him. Possessing nothing, he is +unable to find bail, and he goes to prison. But if he have, as it often +happens, an old, infirm father or mother, a sick wife, or children in the +cradle? What will become of this unfortunate family? They could hardly +manage to live from day to day upon the wages of this man, wages almost +always insufficient, and suddenly this only resource will be wanting for +three or four months together. + +What will this family do? To whom will they have recourse? + +What will become of these infirm old men, these sickly wives, these +little children, unable to gain their daily bread? If they chance to +have a little linen and a few spare clothes, these will be carried to the +pawnbroker's, and thus they will exist for a week or so--but afterwards? + +And if winter adds the rigors of the season to this frightful and +inevitable misery? + +Then will the imprisoned artisan see in his mind's eyes, during the long +and sleepless nights, those who are dear to him, wan, gaunt, haggard, +exhausted, stretched almost naked upon filthy straw, or huddled close +together to warm their frozen limbs. And, should he afterwards be +acquitted, it is ruin and desolation that he finds on his return to his +poor dwelling. + +And then, after that long cessation from labor, he will find it difficult +to return to his old employers. How many days will be lost in seeking +for work! and a day without employment is a day without bread! + +Let us repeat our opinion, that if, under various circumstances, the law +did not afford to the rich the facility of giving bail, we could only +lament over all such victims of individual and inevitable misfortune. +But since the law does provide the means of setting provisionally at +liberty those who possess a certain sum of money, why should it deprive +of this advantage those very persons, for whom liberty is indeed +indispensable, as it involves the existence of themselves and families? + +Is there any remedy for this deplorable state of things? We believe +there is. + +The law has fixed the minimum of bail at five hundred francs. Now five +hundred francs represent, upon the average, six months' labor of an +industrious workman. + +If he have a wife and two children (which is also about the average), it +is evidently quite impossible for him to have saved any such sum. + +So, to ask of such a man five hundred francs, to enable him to continue +to support his family, is in fact to put him beyond the pale of the law, +though, more than any one else, he requires its protection, because of +the disastrous consequences which his imprisonment entails upon others. + +Would it not be equitable and humane, a noble and salutary example, to +accept, in every case where bail is allowed (and where the good character +of the accused could be honorably established), moral guarantees, in the +absence of material ones, from those who have no capital but their labor +and their integrity--to accept the word of an honest man to appear upon +the day of trial? Would it not be great and moral, in these days to +raise the value of the lighted word, and exalt man in his own eyes, by +showing him that his promise was held to be sufficient security? + +Will you so degrade the dignity of man, as to treat this proposition as +an impossible and Utopian dream? We ask, how many prisoners of war have +ever broken their parole, and if officers and soldiers are not brothers +of the workingman? + +Without exaggerating the virtue of promise-keeping in the honest and +laborious poor, we feel certain, that an engagement taken by the accused +to appear on the day of trial would be always fulfilled, not only with +fidelity, but with the warmest gratitude--for his family would not have +suffered by his absence, thanks to the indulgence of the law. + +There is also another fact, of which France may well be proud. It is, +that her magistrates (although miserably paid as the army itself) are +generally wise, upright, humane, and independent; they have the true +feeling of their own useful and sacred mission; they know how to +appreciate the wants and distresses of the working classes, with whom +they are so often brought in contact; to them might be safely granted the +power of fixing those cases in which a moral security, the only one that +can be given by the honest and necessitous man, should be received as +sufficient.[10] + +Finally, if those who make the laws have so low an opinion of the people +as to reject with disdain the suggestions we have ventured to throw out, +let them at least so reduce the minimum of bail, as to render it +available for those who have most need to escape the fruitless rigors of +imprisonment. Let them take as their lowest limit, the month's wages of +an artisan--say eighty francs. + +This sum would still be exorbitant; but, with the aid of friends, the +pawnbroker's, and some little advances, eighty francs might perhaps be +found--not always, it is true--but still sometimes--and, at all events, +many families would be rescued from frightful misery. + +Having made these observations, let us return to Dagobert's family, who, +in consequence of the preventive arrest of Agricola, were now reduced to +an almost hopeless state. + +The anguish of Dagobert's wife increased, the more she reflected on her +situation, for, including the marshal's daughters, four persons were left +absolutely without resource. It must be confessed, however, that the +excellent mother thought less of herself, than of the grief which her son +must feel in thinking over her deplorable position. + +At this moment there was a knock at the door. + +"Who is there?" said Frances. + +"It is me--Father Loriot." + +"Come in," said Dagobert's wife. + +The dyer, who also performed the functions of a porter, appeared at the +door of the room. This time, his arms were no longer of a bright apple- +green, but of a magnificent violet. + +"Mrs. Baudoin," said Father Loriot, "here is a letter that the giver of +holy water at Saint Merely's has just brought from Abbe Dubois, with a +request that I would bring it up to you immediately, as it is very +pressing." + +"A letter from my confessor?" said Frances, in astonishment; and, as she +took it, added: "Thank you, Father Loriot." + +"You do not want anything?" + +"No, Father Loriot." + +"My respects to the ladies!" and the dyer went out. + +"Mother Bunch, will you read this letter for me?" said Frances, anxious +to learn the contents of the missive in question. + +"Yes, mother,"--and the young girl read as follows: + +"`MY DEAR MADAME BAUDOIN,--I am in the habit of hearing you Tuesday and +Saturday, but I shall not be at liberty either to-morrow or the last day +of the week; you must then come to me this morning, unless you wish to +remain a whole week without approaching the tribunal of penance.'" + +"Good heavens! a week!" cried Dagobert's wife. "Alas! I am only too +conscious of the necessity of going there today, notwithstanding the +trouble and grief in which I am plunged." + +Then, addressing herself to the orphans, she continued: "Heaven has +heard the prayers that I made for you, my dear young ladies; this very +day I shall be able to consult a good and holy man with regard to the +great dangers to which you are exposed. Poor dear souls, that are so +innocent, and yet so guilty, without any fault of your own! Heaven is my +witness, that my heart bleeds for you as much as for my son." + +Rose and Blanche looked at each other in confusion; they could not +understand the fears with which the state of their souls inspired the +wife of Dagobert. The latter soon resumed, addressing the young +sempstress: + +"My good girl, will you render me yet another service?" + +"Certainly." + +"My husband took Agricola's week's wages with him to pay his journey to +Chartres. It was all the money I had in the house; I am sure that my +poor child had none about him, and in prison he will perhaps want some. +Therefore take my silver cup, fork, and spoon, the two pair of sheets +that remain over, and my wadded silk shawl, that Agricola gave me on my +birthday, and carry them all to the pawnbroker's. I will try and find +out in which prison my son is confined, and will send him half of the +little sum we get upon the things; the rest will serve us till my husband +comes home. And then, what shall we do? What a blow for him--and only +more misery in prospect--since my son is in prison, and I have lost my +sight. Almighty Father!" cried the unfortunate mother, with an +expression of impatient and bitter grief, "why am I thus afflicted? Have +I not done enough to deserve some pity, if not for myself, at least for +those belonging to me?" But immediately reproaching herself for this +outburst, she added, "No, no! I ought to accept with thankfulness all +that Thou sandiest me. Forgive me for these complaints, or punish only +myself!" + +"Be of good courage, mother!" said Mother Bunch. "Agricola is innocent, +and will not remain long in prison." + +"But now I think of it," resumed Dagobert's wife, "to go to the +pawnbroker's will make you lose much time, my poor girl." + +"I can make up that in the night, Madame Frances; I could not sleep, +knowing you in such trouble. Work will amuse me." + +"Yes, but the candles--" + +"Never mind, I am a little beforehand with my work," said the poor girl, +telling a falsehood. + +"Kiss me, at least," said Frances, with moist eyes, "for you are the very +best creature in the world." So saying, she hastened cut of the room. + +Rose and Blanche were left alone with Mother Bunch; at length had arrived +the moment for which they had waited with so much impatience. Dagobert's +wife proceeded to St. Merely Church, where her confessor was expecting to +see her. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII: + +THE CONFESSIONAL + +Nothing could be more gloomy than the appearance of St. Merely Church, on +this dark and snowy winter's day. Frances stopped a moment beneath the +porch, to behold a lugubrious spectacle. + +While a priest was mumbling some words in a low voice, two or three dirty +choristers, in soiled surplices, were charting the prayers for the dead, +with an absent and sullen air, round a plain deal coffin, followed only +by a sobbing old man and a child, miserably clad. The beadle and the +sacristan, very much displeased at being disturbed for so wretched a +funeral, had not deigned to put on their liveries, but, yawning with +impatience, waited for the end of the ceremony, so useless to the +interests of the establishment. At length, a few drops of holy water +being sprinkled on the coffin, the priest handed the brush to the beadle, +and retired. + +Then took place one of those shameful scenes, the necessary consequence +of an ignoble and sacrilegious traffic, so frequent with regard to the +burials of the poor, who cannot afford to pay for tapers, high mass, or +violins--for now St. Thomas Aquinas' Church has violins even for the +dead. + +The old man stretched forth his hand to the sacristan to receive the +brush. "Come, look sharp!" said that official, blowing on his fingers. + +The emotion of the old man was profound, and his weakness extreme; he +remained for a moment without stirring, while the brush was clasped +tightly in his trembling hand. In that coffin was his daughter, the +mother of the ragged child who wept by his side--his heart was breaking +at the thought of that last farewell; he stood motionless, and his bosom +heaved with convulsive sobs. + +"Now, will you make haste?" said the brutal beadle. "Do you think we are +going to sleep here?" + +The old man quickened his movements. He made the sign of the cross over +the corpse, and, stooping down, was about to place the brush in the hand +of his grandson, when the sacristan, thinking the affair had lasted long +enough, snatched the sprinkling-brush from the child, and made a sign to +the bearers to carry away the coffin--which was immediately done. + +"Wasn't that old beggar a slow coach?" said the beadle to his companion, +as they went back to the sacristy. "We shall hardly have time to get +breakfast, and to dress ourselves for the bang-up funeral of this +morning. That will be something like a dead man, that's worth the +trouble. I shall shoulder my halberd in style!" + +"And mount your colonel's epaulets, to throw dust in the eyes of the +women that let out the chairs--eh, you old rascal!" said the other, with +a sly look. + +"What can I do, Capillare? When one has a fine figure, it must be seen," +answered the beadle, with a triumphant air. "I cannot blind the women to +prevent their losing their hearts!" + +Thus conversing; the two men reached the sacristy. The sight of the +funeral had only increased the gloom of Frances. When she entered the +church, seven or eight persons, scattered about upon chairs, alone +occupied the damp and icy building. One of the distributors of holy +water, an old fellow with a rubicund, joyous, wine-bibbing face, seeing +Frances approach the little font, said to her in a low voice: "Abbe +Dubois is not yet in his box. Be quick, and you will have the first wag +of his beard." + +Though shocked at this pleasantry, Frances thanked the irreverent +speaker, made devoutly the sign of the cross, advanced some steps into +the church, and knelt down upon the stones to repeat the prayer, which +she always offered up before approaching the tribunal of penance. Having +said this prayer, she went towards a dark corner of the church, in which +was an oaken confessional, with a black curtain drawn across the grated +door. The places on each side were vacant; so Frances knelt down in that +upon the right hand, and remained there for some time absorbed in bitter +reflections. + +In a few minutes, a priest of tall stature, with gray hair and a stern +countenance, clad in a long black cassock, stalked slowly along one of +the aisles of the church. A short, old, misshapen man, badly dressed, +leaning upon an umbrella, accompanied him, and from time to time +whispered in his ear, when the priest would stop to listen with a +profound and respectful deference. + +As they approached the confessional, the short old man, perceiving +Frances on her knees, looked at the priest with an air of interrogation. +"It is she," said the clergyman. + +"Well, in two or three hours, they will expect the two girls at St. +Mary's Convent. I count upon it," said the old man. + +"I hope so, for the sake of their souls," answered the priest; and, +bowing gravely, he entered the confessional. The short old man quitted +the church. + +This old man was Rodin. It was on leaving Saint Merely's that he went to +the lunatic asylum, to assure himself that Dr. Baleinier had faithfully +executed his instructions with regard to Adrienne de Cardoville. + +Frances was still kneeling in the interior of the confessional. One of +the slides opened, and a voice began to speak. It was that of the +priest, who, for the last twenty years had been the confessor of +Dagobert's wife, and exercised over her an irresistible and all-powerful +influence. + +"You received my letter?" said the voice. + +"Yes, father. + +"Very well--I listen to you." + +"Bless me, father--for I have sinned!" said Frances. + +The voice pronounced the formula of the benediction. Dagobert's wife +answered "amen," as was proper, said her confider to "It is my fault," +gave an account of the manner in which she had performed her last +penance, and then proceeded to the enumeration of the new sins, committed +since she had received absolution. + +For this excellent woman, a glorious martyr of industry and maternal +love, always fancied herself sinning: her conscience was incessantly +tormented by the fear that she had committed some incomprehensible +offence. This mild and courageous creature, who, after a whole life of +devotion, ought to have passed what time remained to her in calm serenity +of soul, looked upon herself as a great sinner, and lived in continual +anxiety, doubting much her ultimate salvation. + +"Father," said Frances, in a trembling voice, "I accuse myself of +omitting my evening prayer the day before yesterday. My husband, from +whom I had been separated for many years, returned home. The joy and the +agitation caused by his arrival, made me commit this great sin." + +"What next?" said the voice, in a severe tone, which redoubled the poor +woman's uneasiness. + +"Father, I accuse myself of falling into the same sin yesterday evening. +I was in a state of mortal anxiety, for my son did not come home as +usual, and I waited for him minute after minute, till the hour had passed +over." + +"What next?" said the voice. + +"Father, I accuse myself of having told a falsehood all this week to my +son, by letting him think that on account of his reproaching me for +neglecting my health, I had taken a little wine for my dinner--whereas I +had left it for him, who has more need of it, because he works so much." + +"Go on!" said the voice. + +"Father, I accuse myself of a momentary want of resignation this morning, +when I learned that my poor son was arrested; instead of submitting with +respect and gratitude to this new trial which the Lord hath sent me-- +alas! I rebelled against it in my grief--and of this I accuse myself." + +"A bad week," said the priest, in a tone of still greater severity, "a +bad week--for you have always put the creature before the Creator. But +proceed!" + +"alas, father!" resumed Frances, much dejected, "I know that I am a great +sinner; and I fear that I am on the road to sins of a still graver kind." + +"Speak!" + +"My husband brought with him from Siberia two young orphans, daughters of +Marshal Simon. Yesterday morning, I asked them to say their prayers, and +I learned from them, with as much fright as sorrow, that they know none +of the mysteries of our holy faith, though they are fifteen years old. +They have never received the sacrament, nor are they even baptized, +father--not even baptized!" + +"They must be heathens!" cried the voice, in a tone of angry surprise. + +"That is what so much grieves me, father; for, as I and my husband are in +the room of parents to these young orphans, we should be guilty of the +sins which they might commit--should we not, father?" + +"Certainly,--since you take the place of those who ought to watch over +their souls. The shepherd must answer for his flock," said the voice. + +"And if they should happen to he in mortal sin, father, I and my husband +would be in mortal sin?" + +"Yes," said the voice; "you take the place of their parents; and fathers +and mothers are guilty of all the sins which their children commit when +those sins arise from the want of a Christian education." + +"Alas, father! what am I to do? I address myself to you as I would to +heaven itself. Every day, every hour, that these poor young girls remain +heathens, may contribute to bring about their eternal damnation, may it +not, father?" said Frances, in a tone of the deepest emotion. + +"Yes," answered the voice; "and the weight of this terrible +responsibility rests upon you and your husband; you have the charge of +souls!" + +"Lord, have mercy upon me!" said Frances weeping. + +"You must not grieve yourself thus," answered the voice, in a softer +tone; "happily for these unfortunates, they have met you upon the way. +They, will have in you and your husband good and pious examples--for I +suppose that your husband, though formerly an ungodly person, now +practices his religious duties!" + +"We must pray for him, father," said Frances, sorrowfully; "grace has not +yet touched his heart. He is like my poor child, who has also not been +called to holiness. Ah, father!" said Frances, drying her tears, "these +thoughts are my heaviest cross." + +"So neither your husband nor your son practises," resumed the voice, in a +tone of reflection; "this is serious--very serious. The religious +education of these two unfortunate girls has yet to begin. In your +house, they will have ever before them the most deplorable examples. +Take care! I have warned you. You have the charge of souls--your +responsibility is immense!" + +"Father, it is that which makes me wretched--I am at a loss what to do. +Help me, and give me your counsels: for twenty years your voice has been +to me as the voice of the Lord." + +"Well! you must agree with your husband to send these unfortunate girls +to some religious house where they may be instructed." + +"We are too poor, father, to pay for their schooling, and unfortunately +my son has just been put in prison for songs that he wrote." + +"Behold the fruit of impiety," said the voice, severely; "look at +Gabriel! he has followed my counsels, and is now the model of every +Christian virtue." + +"My son, Agricola, has had good qualities, father; he is so kind, so +devoted!" + +"Without religion," said the voice, with redoubled severity, "what you +call good qualities are only vain appearances; at the least breath of the +devil they will disappear--for the devil lurks in every soul that has no +religion." + +"Oh! my poor son!" said Frances, weeping; "I pray for him every day, that +faith may enlighten him." + +"I have always told you," resumed the voice, "that you have been too weak +with him. God now punishes you for it. You should have parted from this +irreligious son, and not sanctioned his impiety by loving him as you do. +`If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off,' saith the Scripture." + +"Alas, father! you know it is the only time I have disobeyed you; but I +could not bring myself to part from my son." + +"Therefore is your salvation uncertain--but God is merciful. Do not fall +into the same fault with regard to these young girls, whom Providence has +sent you, that you might save them from eternal damnation. Do not plunge +them into it by your own culpable indifference." + +"Oh, father! I have wept and prayed for them." + +"That is not sufficient. These unfortunate children cannot have any +notion of good or evil. Their souls must be an abyss of scandal and +impurity--brought up as they have been, by an impious mother, and a +soldier devoid of religion." + +"As for that, father," said Frances, with simplicity, "they are gentle as +angels, and my husband, who has not quitted them since their birth, +declares they have the best hearts in the world." + +"Your husband has dwelt all his life in mortal sin," said the voice, +harshly; "how can he judge of the state of souls? I repeat to you, that +as you represent the parents of these unfortunates, it is not to-morrow, +but it is today, and on the instant, that you must labor for their +salvation, if you would not incur a terrible responsibility." + +"It is true--I know it well, father--and I suffer as much from this fear +as from grief at my son's arrest. But what is to be done? I could not +instruct these young girls at home--for I have not the knowledge--I have +only faith--and then my poor husband, in his blindness, makes game of +sacred things, which my son, at least, respects in my presence, out of +regard for me. Then, once more, father, come to my aid, I conjure you! +Advise me: what is to be done?" + +"We cannot abandon these two young souls to frightful perdition," said +the voice, after a moment's silence: "there are not two ways of saving +them: there is only one, and that is to place them in a religious house, +where they may be surrounded by good and pious examples." + +"Oh, father! if we were not so poor, or if I could still work, I would +try to gain sufficient to pay for their board, and do for them as I did +for Gabriel. Unfortunately, I have quite lost my sight; but you, father, +know some charitable souls, and if you could get any of them to interest +them, selves for these poor orphans--" + +"Where is their father?" + +"He was in India; but, my husband tells me, he will soon be in France. +That, however, is uncertain. Besides, it would make my heart bleed to +see those poor children share our misery--which will soon be extreme--for +we only live by my son's labor." + +"Have these girls no relation here?" asked the voice. + +"I believe not, father." + +"It was their mother who entrusted them to your husband, to bring them to +France?" + +"Yes, father; he was obliged to set out yesterday for Chartres, on some +very pressing business, as he told me." + +It will be remembered that Dagobert had not thought fit to inform his +wife of the hopes which the daughters of Marshall Simon founded on the +possession of the medal, and that he had particularly charged them not to +mention these hopes, even to Frances. + +"So," resumed the voice, after a pause of some moments' duration, "your +husband is not in Paris." + +"No, father; but he will doubtless return this evening or to-morrow +morning." + +"Listen to me," said the voice, after another pause. "Every minute lost +for those two young girls is a new step on the road to perdition. At any +moment the hand of God may smite them, for He alone knows the hour of our +death; and were they to die in the state in which they now are, they +would most probably be lost to all eternity. This very day, therefore, +you must open their eyes to the divine light, and place them in a +religious house. It is your duty--it should be your desire!" + +"Oh, yes, father; but, unfortunately, I am too poor, as I have already +told you." + +"I know it--you do not want for zeal or faith--but even were you capable +of directing these young girls, the impious examples of your husband and +son would daily destroy your work. Others must do for these orphans, in +the name of Christian charity, that which you cannot do, though you are +answerable for them before heaven." + +"Oh, father! if, thanks to you, this good work could be accomplished, how +grateful I should be!" + +"It is not impossible. I know the superior of a convent, where these +young girls would be instructed as they ought. The charge for their +board would be diminished in consideration of their poverty; but, however +small, it must be paid and there would be also an outfit to furnish. All +that would be too dear for you." + +"Alas! yes, father." + +"But, by taking a little from my poor-box, and by applying to one or two +generous persons, I think I shall be able to complete the necessary sum, +and so get the young girls received at the convent." + +"Ah, father! you are my deliverer, and these children's." + +"I wish to be so--but, in the interest of their salvation, and to make +these measures really efficacious, I must attach some conditions to the +support I offer you." + +"Name them, father; they are accepted beforehand. Your commands shall be +obeyed in everything." + +"First of all, the children must be taken this very morning to the +convent, by my housekeeper, to whom you must bring them almost +immediately." + +"Nay, father; that is impossible!" cried Frances. + +"Impossible? why?" + +"In the absence of my husband--" + +"Well?" + +"I dare not take a such a step without consulting him." + +"Not only must you abstain from consulting him, but the thing must be +done during his absence." + +"What, father? should I not wait for his return?" + +"No, for two reasons," answered the priest, sternly: "first, because his +hardened impiety would certainly lead him to oppose your pious +resolution; secondly, because it is indispensable that these young girls +should break off all connection with your husband, who, therefore, must +be left in ignorance of the place of their retreat." + +"But, father," said Frances, a prey to cruel doubt and embarrassment, "it +is to my husband that these children were entrusted--and to dispose of +them without his consent would be--" + +"Can you instruct these children at your house--yes or no?" interrupted +the voice. + +"No, father, I cannot." + +"Are they exposed to fall into a state of final impenitence by remaining +with you--yes or no?" + +"Yes, father, they are so exposed." + +"Are you responsible, as you take the place of their parents, for the +mortal sins they may commit--yes or no?" + +"Alas, father! I am responsible before God." + +"Is it in the interest of their eternal salvation that I enjoin you to +place them this very day in a convent?" + +"It is for their salvation, father." + +"Well, then, choose!" + +"But tell me, I entreat you, father if I have the right to dispose of +them without the consent of my husband?" + +"The right! you have not only the right, but it is your sacred duty. +Would you not be bound, I ask you, to rescue these unfortunate creatures +from a fire, against the will of your husband, or during his absence? +Well! you must now rescue them, not from a fire that will only consume +the body, but from one in which their souls would burn to all eternity." + +"Forgive me, I implore you, father," said the poor woman, whose +indecision and anguish increased every minute; "satisfy my doubts!--How +can I act thus, when I have sworn obedience to my husband?" + +"Obedience for good--yes--but never for evil. You confess, that, were it +left to him, the salvation of these orphans would be doubtful, and +perhaps impossible." + +"But, father," said Frances, trembling, "when my husband returns, he will +ask me where are these children? Must I tell him a falsehood?" + +"Silence is not falsehood; you will tell him that you cannot answer his +question." + +"My husband is the kindest of men; but such an answer will drive him +almost mad. He has been a soldier, and his anger will be terrible, +father," said Frances, shuddering at the thought. + +"And were his anger a hundred times more terrible, you should be proud to +brave it in so sacred a cause!" cried the voice, with indignation. "Do +you think that salvation is to be so easily gained on earth? Since when +does the sinner, that would walk in the way of the Lord, turn aside for +the stones and briars that may bruise and tear him?" + +"Pardon, father, pardon!" said Frances, with the resignation of despair. +"Permit me to ask one more question, one only. Alas! if you do not guide +me, how shall I find the way?" + +"Speak!" + +"When Marshal Simon arrives, he will ask his children of my husband. +What answer can he then give to their father?" + +"When Marshal Simon arrives, you will let me know immediately, and then-- +I will see what is to be done. The rights of a father are only sacred in +so far as he make use of them for the salvation of his children. Before +and above the father on earth, is the Father in heaven, whom we must +first serve. Reflect upon all this. By accepting what I propose to you, +these young girls will be saved from perdition; they will not be at your +charge; they will not partake of your misery; they will be brought up in +a sacred institution, as, after all, the daughters of a Marshal of France +ought to be--and, when their father arrives at Paris, if he be found +worthy of seeing them again, instead of finding poor, ignorant, half- +savage heathens, he will behold two girls, pious, modest, and well- +informed, who, being acceptable with the Almighty, may invoke His mercy +for their father, who, it must be owned, has great need of it--being a +man of violence, war, and battle. Now decide! Will you, on peril of +your soul, sacrifice the welfare of these girls in this world and the +next, because of an impious dread of your husband's anger?" + +Though rude and fettered by intolerance, the confessor's language was +(taking his view of the case) reasonable and just, because the honest +priest was himself convinced of what he said; a blind instrument of +Rodin, ignorant of the end in view, he believed firmly, that, in forcing +Frances to place these young girls in a convent, he was performing a +pious duty. Such was, and is, one of the most wonderful resources of the +order to which Rodin belonged--to have for accomplices good and sincere +people, who are ignorant of the nature of the plots in which they are the +principal actors. + +Frances, long accustomed to submit to the influence of her confessor, +could find nothing to object to his last words. She resigned herself to +follow his directions, though she trembled to think of the furious anger +of Dagobert, when he should no longer find the children that a dying +mother had confided to his care. But, according to the priest's opinion, +the more terrible this anger might appear to her, the more she would show +her pious humility by exposing herself to it. + +"God's will be done, father!" said she, in reply to her confessor. +"Whatever may happen, I wilt do my duty as a Christian--in obedience to +your commands." + +"And the Lord will reward you for what you may have to suffer in the +accomplishment of this meritorious act. You promise then, before God, +that you will not answer any of your husband's questions, when he asks +you for the daughters of Marshal Simon?" + +"Yes, father, I promise!" said Frances, with a shudder. + +"And will preserve the same silence towards Marshal Simon himself, in +case he should return, before his daughters appear to me sufficiently +grounded in the faith to be restored to him?" + +"Yes, father," said Frances, in a still fainter voice. + +"You will come and give me an account of the scene that takes place +between you and your husband, upon his return?" + +"Yes, father; when must I bring the orphans to your house?" + +"In an hour. I will write to the superior, and leave the letter with my +housekeeper. She is a trusty person, and will conduct the young girls to +the convent." + +After she had listened to the exhortations of her confessor, and received +absolution for her late sins, on condition of performing penance, +Dagobert's wife left the confessional. + +The church was no longer deserted. An immense crowd pressed into it, +drawn thither by the pomp of the grand funeral of which the beadle had +spoken to the sacristan two hours before. It was with the greatest +difficulty that Frances could reach the door of the church, now hung with +sumptuous drapery. + +What a contrast to the poor and humble train, which had that morning so +timidly presented themselves beneath the porch! + +The numerous clergy of the parish, in full procession, advanced +majestically to receive the coffin covered with a velvet pall; the +watered silks and stuffs of their copes and stoles, their splendid +silvered embroideries, sparkled in the light of a thousand tapers. The +beadle strutted in all the glory of his brilliant uniform and flashing +epaulets; on the opposite side walked in high glee the sacristan, +carrying his whalebone staff with a magisterial air; the voice of the +choristers, now clad in fresh, white surplices, rolled out in bursts of +thunder; the trumpets' blare shook the windows; and upon the countenances +of all those who were to have a share in the spoils of this rich corpse, +this excellent corpse, this first-class corpse, a look of satisfaction +was visible, intense and yet subdued, which suited admirably with the air +and attitude of the two heirs, tall, vigorous fellows with florid +complexions, who, without overstepping the limits of a charming modesty +of enjoyment, seemed to cuddle and hug themselves most comfortably in +their mourning cloaks. + +Notwithstanding her simplicity and pious faith, Dagobert's wife was +painfully impressed with this revolting difference between the reception +of the rich and the poor man's coffin at the door of the house of God-- +for surely, if equality be ever real, it is in the presence of death and +eternity! + +The two sad spectacles she had witnessed, tended still further to depress +the spirits of Frances. Having succeeded with no small trouble in making +her way out of the church, she hastened to return to the Rue Brise-Miche, +in order to fetch the orphans and conduct them to the housekeeper of her +confessor, who was in her turn to take them to St. Mary's Convent. +situated, as we know, next door to Dr. Baleinier's lunatic-asylum, in +which--Adrienne de Cardoville was confined. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +MY LORD AND SPOIL-SPORT. + +The wife of Dagobert, having quitted the church, arrived at the corner of +the Rue Brise-Miche, when she was accosted by the distributor of holy +water; he came running out of breath, to beg her to return to Saint- +Mery's, where the Abbe Dubois had yet something of importance to say to +her. + +The moment Frances turned to go back, a hackney-coach stopped in front of +the house she inhabited. The coachman quitted his box to open the door. + +"Driver," said a stout woman dressed in black, who was seated in the +carriage, and held a pug-dog upon her knees, "ask if Mrs. Frances Baudoin +lives in this house." + +"Yes, ma'am," said the coachman. + +The reader will no doubt have recognized Mrs. Grivois, head waiting-woman +to the Princess de Saint-Dizier, accompanied by My Lord, who exercised a +real tyranny over his mistress. The dyer, whom we have already seen +performing the duties of a porter, being questioned by the coachman as to +the dwelling of Frances, came out of his workshop, and advanced gallantly +to the coach-door, to inform Mrs. Grivois, that Frances Baudoin did in +fact live in the house, but that she was at present from home. + +The arms, hands, and part of the face of Father Loriot were now of a +superb gold-color. The sight of this yellow personage singularly +provoked My Lord, and at the moment the dyer rested his hand upon the +edge of the coach-window, the cur began to yelp frightfully, and bit him +in the wrist. + +"Oh! gracious heaven!" cried Mrs. Grivois, in an agony, whilst Father +Loriot, withdrew his hand with precipitation; "I hope there is nothing +poisonous in the dye that you have about you--my dog is so delicate!" + +So saying, she carefully wiped the pug-nose, spotted with yellow. Father +Loriot, not at all satisfied with this speech, when he had expected to +receive some apology from Mrs. Grivois on account of her dog's behavior, +said to her, as with difficulty he restrained his anger: "If you did not +belong to the fair sex, which obliges me to respect you in the person of +that wretched animal I would have the pleasure of taking him by the tail, +and making him in one minute a dog of the brightest orange color, by +plunging him into my cauldron, which is already on the fire." + +"Dye my pet yellow!" cried Mrs. Grivois, in great wrath, as she descended +from the hackney-coach, clasping My Lord tenderly to her bosom, and +surveying Father Loriot with a savage look. + +"I told you, Mrs. Baudoin is not at home," said the dyer, as he saw the +pug-dog's mistress advance in the direction of the dark staircase. + +"Never mind; I will wait for her," said Mrs. Grivois tartly. "On which +story does she live?" + +"Up four pair!" answered Father Loriot, returning abruptly to his shop. +And he added to himself, with a chuckle at the anticipation: "I hope +Father Dagobert's big prowler will be in a bad humor, and give that +villainous pug a shaking by the skin of his neck." + +Mrs. Grivois mounted the steep staircase with some difficulty, stopping +at every landing-place to take breath, and looking about her with +profound disgust. At length she reached the fourth story, and paused an +instant at the door of the humble chamber, in which the two sisters and +Mother Bunch then were. + +The young sempstress was occupied in collecting the different articles +that she was about to carry to the pawnbroker's. Rose and Blanche seemed +happier, and somewhat less uneasy about the future; for they had learned +from Mother Bunch, that, when they knew how to sew, they might between +them earn eight francs a week, which would at least afford some +assistance to the family. + +The presence of Mrs. Grivois in Baudoin's dwelling was occasioned by a +new resolution of Abbe d'Aigrigny and the Princess de Saint-Dizier; they +had thought it more prudent to send Mrs. Grivois, on whom they could +blindly depend, to fetch the young girls, and the confessor was charged +to inform Frances that it was not to his housekeeper, but to a lady that +would call on her with a note from him, that she was to deliver the +orphans, to be taken to a religious establishment. + +Having knocked at the door, the waiting-woman of the Princess de Saint- +Dizier entered the room, and asked for Frances Baudoin. + +"She is not at home, madame," said Mother Bunch timidly, not a little +astonished at so unexpected a visit, and casting down her eyes before the +gaze of this woman. + +"Then I will wait for her, as I have important affairs to speak of," +answered Mrs. Grivois, examining with curiosity and attention the faces +of the two orphans, who also cast down their eyes with an air of +confusion. + +So saying, Madame Grivois sat down, not without some repugnance, in the +old arm-chair of Dagobert's wife, and believing that she might now leave +her favorite at liberty, she laid him carefully on the floor. +Immediately, a low growl, deep and hollow, sounding from behind the +armchair, made Mrs. Grivois jump from her seat, and sent the pug-dog, +yelping with affright, and trembling through his fat, to take refuge +close to his mistress, with all the symptoms of angry alarm. + +"What! is there a dog here?" cried Mrs. Grivois, stooping precipitately +to catch up My Lord, whilst, as if he wished himself to answer the +question, Spoil-sport rose leisurely from his place behind the arm-chair, +and appeared suddenly, yawning and stretching himself. + +At sight of this powerful animal, with his double row of formidable +pointed fangs, which he seemed to take delight in displaying as he opened +his large jaws, Mrs. Grivois could not help giving utterance to a cry of +terror. The snappish pug had at first trembled in all his limbs at the +Siberian's approach; but, finding himself in safety on the lap of his +mistress, he began to growl insolently, and to throw the most provoking +glances at Spoil-sport. These the worthy companion of the deceased +Jovial answered disdainfully by gaping anew; after which he went smelling +round Mrs. Grivois with a sort of uneasiness, turned his back upon My +Lord, and stretched himself at the feet of Rose and Blanche, keeping his +large, intelligent eyes fixed upon them, as if he foresaw that they were +menaced with some danger. + +"Turn out that beast," said Mrs. Grivois, imperiously; "he frightens my +dog, and may do him some harm." + +"Do not be afraid, madame," replied Rose, with a smile; "Spoil-sport will +do no harm, if he is not attacked." + +"Never mind!" cried Mrs. Grivois; "an accident soon happens. The very +sight of that enormous dog, with his wolf's head and terrible teeth, is +enough to make one tremble at the injuries he might do one. I tell you +to turn him out." + +Mrs. Grivois had pronounced these last words in a tone of irritation, +which did not sound at all satisfactory in Spoil-sport's ears; so he +growled and showed his teeth, turning his head in the direction of the +stranger. + +"Be quiet, Spoil-sport!" said Blanche sternly. + +A new personage here entered the room, and put an end to this situation, +which was embarrassing enough for the two young girls. It was a +commissionaire, with a letter in his hand. + +"What is it, sir?" asked Mother Bunch. + +"A very pressing letter from the good man of the house; the dyer below +stairs told me to bring it up here." + +"A letter from Dagobert!" cried Rose and Blanche, with a lively +expression of pleasure. "He is returned then? where is he?" + +"I do not know whether the good man is called Dagobert or not," said the +porter; "but he is an old trooper, with a gray moustache, and may be +found close by, at the office of the Chartres coaches." + +"That is he!" cried Blanche. "Give me the letter." + +The porter handed it to the young girl, who opened it in all haste. + +Mrs. Grivois was struck dumb with dismay; she knew that Dagobert had been +decoyed from Paris, that the Abbe Dubois might have an opportunity to act +with safety upon Frances. Hitherto, all had succeeded; the good woman +had consented to place the young girls in the hands of a religious +community--and now arrives this soldier, who was thought to be absent +from Paris for two or three days at least, and whose sudden return might +easily ruin this laborious machination, at the moment when it seemed to +promise success. + +"Oh!" said Blanche, when she had read the letter. "What a misfortune!" + +"What is it, then, sister?" cried Rose. + +"Yesterday, half way to Chartres, Dagobert perceived that he had lost his +purse. He was unable to continue his journey; he took a place upon +credit, to return, and he asks his wife to send him some money to the +office, to pay what he owes." + +"That's it," said the porter; "for the good man told me to make haste, +because he was there in pledge." + +"And nothing in the house!" cried Blanche. "Dear me! what is to be +done?" + +At these words, Mrs. Grivois felt her hopes revive for a moment, they +were soon, however, dispelled by Mother Bunch, who exclaimed, as she +pointed to the parcel she had just made up: "Be satisfied, dear young +ladies! here is a resource. The pawnbroker's, to which I am going, is +not far off, and I will take the money direct to M. Dagobert: in half an +hour, at latest, he will be here." + +"Oh, my dear friend! you are right," said Rose. "How good you are! you +think of everything." + +"And here," said Blanche, "is the letter, with the address upon it. Take +that with you." + +"Thank you," answered Mother Bunch: then, addressing the porter, she +added: "Return to the person who sent you, and tell him I shall be at the +coach-office very shortly." + +"Infernal hunchback!" thought Mrs. Grivois, with suppressed rage, "she +thinks of everything. Without her, we should have escaped the plague of +this man's return. What is to be done now? The girls would not go with +me, before the arrival of the soldier's wife; to propose it to them would +expose me to a refusal, and might compromise all. Once more, what is to +be done?" + +"Do not be uneasy, ladies," said the porter as he went out; "I will go +and assure the good man, that he will not have to remain long in pledge." + +Whilst Mother Bunch was occupied in tying her parcel, in which she had +placed the silver cup, fork, and spoon, Mrs. Grivois seemed to reflect +deeply. Suddenly she started. Her countenance, which had been for some +moments expressive of anxiety and rage, brightened up on the instant. +She rose, still holding My Lord in her arms, and said to the young girls: +"As Mrs. Baudoin does not come in, I am going to pay a visit in the +neighborhood, and will return immediately. Pray tell her so!" + +With these words Mr. Grivois took her departure, a few minutes before +Mother Bunch left. + + + + +CHAPTER L. + +APPEARANCES. + +After she had again endeavored to cheer up the orphans, the sewing-girl +descended the stairs, not without difficulty, for, in addition to the +parcel, which was already heavy, she had fetched down from her own room +the only blanket she possessed--thus leaving herself without protection +from the cold of her icy garret. + +The evening before, tortured with anxiety as to Agricola's fate, the girl +had been unable to work; the miseries of expectation and hope delayed had +prevented her from doing so; now another day would be lost, and yet it +was necessary to live. Those overwhelming sorrows, which deprive the +poor of the faculty of labor, are doubly dreaded; they paralyze the +strength, and, with that forced cessation from toil, want and destitution +are often added to grief. + +But Mother Bunch, that complete incarnation of holiest duty, had yet +strength enough to devote herself for the service of others. Some of the +most frail and feeble creatures are endowed with extraordinary vigor of +soul; it would seem as if, in these weak, infirm organizations, the +spirit reigned absolutely over the body, and knew how to inspire it with +a factitious energy. + +Thus, for the last twenty-four hours, Mother Bunch had neither slept nor +eaten; she had suffered from the cold, through the whole of a frosty +night. In the morning she had endured great fatigue, in going, amid rain +and snow, to the Rue de Babylone and back, twice crossing Paris and yet +her strength was not exhausted--so immense is the power of the human +heart! + +She had just arrived at the corner of the Rue Saint Mery. Since the +recent Rue des Prouvaires conspiracy, there were stationed in this +populous quarter of the town a much larger number of police-officers than +usual. Now the young sempstress, though bending beneath the weight of +her parcel, had quickened her pace almost to a run, when, just as she +passed in front of one of the police, two five-franc pieces fell on the +ground behind her, thrown there by a stout woman in black, who followed +her closely. + +Immediately after the stout woman pointed out the two pieces to the +policeman, and said something hastily to him with regard to Mother Bunch. +Then she withdrew at all speed in the direction of the Rue Brise-Miche. + +The policeman, struck with what Mrs. Grivois had said to him ( for it was +that person), picked up the money, and, running after the humpback, cried +out to her: "Hi, there! young woman, I say--stop! stop!" + +On this outcry, several persons turned round suddenly and, as always +happens in those quarters of the town, a nucleus of five or six persons +soon grew to a considerable crowd. + +Not knowing that the policeman was calling to her, Mother Bunch only +quickened her speed, wishing to get to the pawnbroker's as soon as +possible, and trying to avoid touching any of the passers-by, so much did +she dread the brutal and cruel railleries, to which her infirmity so +often exposed her. + +Suddenly, she heard many persons running after her, and at the same +instant a hand was laid rudely on her shoulder. It was the policeman, +followed by another officer, who had been drawn to the spot by the noise. +Mother Bunch turned round, struck with as much surprise as fear. + +She found herself in the centre of a crowd, composed chiefly of that +hideous scum, idle and in rags, insolent and malicious, besotted with +ignorance, brutalized by want, and always loafing about the corners. +Workmen are scarcely ever met with in these mobs, for they are for the +most part engaged in their daily labors. + +"Come, can't you hear? you are deaf as Punch's dog," said the policeman, +seizing Mother Bunch so rudely by the arm, that she let her parcel fall +at her feet. + +When the unfortunate girl, looking round in terror, saw herself exposed +to all those insolent, mocking, malicious glances, when she beheld the +cynical and coarse grimace on so many ignoble and filthy countenances, +she trembled in all her limbs, and became fearfully pale. No doubt the +policeman had spoken roughly to her; but how could he speak otherwise to +a poor deformed girl, pale and trembling, with her features agitated by +grief and fear--to a wretched creature, miserably clad, who wore in +winter a thin cotton gown, soiled with mud, and wet with melted snow--for +the poor sempstress had walked much and far that morning. So the +policeman resumed, with great severity, following that supreme law of +appearances which makes poverty always suspected: "Stop a bit, young +woman! it seems you are in a mighty hurry, to let your money fall without +picking it up." + +"Was her blunt hid in her hump?" said the hoarse voice of a match-boy, a +hideous and repulsive specimen of precocious depravity. + +This sally was received with laughter, shouts, and hooting, which served +to complete the sewing-girl's dismay and terror. She was hardly able to +answer, in a feeble voice, as the policeman handed her the two pieces of +silver: "This money, sir, is not mine." + +"You lie," said the other officer, approaching; "a respectable lady saw +it drop from your pocket." + +"I assure you, sir, it is not so," answered Mother Bunch, trembling. + +"I tell you that you lie," resumed the officer; "for the lady, struck +with your guilty and frightened air, said to me: `Look at yonder little +hunchback, running away with that large parcel, and letting her money +fall without even stopping to pick it up--it is not natural.'" + +"Bobby," resumed the match-vendor in his hoarse voice, "be on your guard! +Feel her hump, for that is her luggage-van. I'm sure that you'll find +boots, and cloaks, and umbrellas, and clocks in it--for I just heard the +hour strike in the bend of her back." + +Then came fresh bursts of laughter and shouts and hooting, for this +horrible mob has no pity for those who implore and suffer. The crowd +increased more and more, and now they indulged in hoarse cries, piercing +whistles, and all kinds of horse play. + +"Let a fellow see her; it's free gratis." + +"Don't push so; I've paid for my place!" + +"Make her stand up on something, that all may have a look." + +"My corns are being ground: it was not worth coming." + +"Show her properly--or return the money." + +"That's fair, ain't it?" + +"Give it us in the `garden' style." + +"Trot her out in all her paces! Kim up!" + +Fancy the feelings of this unfortunate creature, with her delicate mind, +good heart, and lofty soul, and yet with so timid and nervous a +character, as she stood alone with the two policemen in the thick of the +crowd, and was forced to listen to all these coarse and savage insults. + +But the young sempstress did not yet understand of what crime she was +accused. She soon discovered it, however, for the policeman, seizing the +parcel which she had picked up and now held in her trembling hands, said +to her rudely: "What is there in that bundle?" + +"Sir--it is--I am going--" The unfortunate girl hesitated--unable, in her +terror, to find the word. + +"If that's all you have to answer," said the policeman, "it's no great +shakes. Come, make haste! turn your bundle inside out." + +So saying, the policeman snatched the parcel from her, half opened it, +and repeated, as he enumerated the divers articles it contained: "The +devil!--sheets--a spoon and fork--a silver mug--a shawl--a blanket-- +you're a downy mot! it was not so bad a move. Dressed like a beggar, and +with silver plate about you. Oh, yes! you're a deep 'un." + +"Those articles do not belong to you," said the other officer. + +"No, sir," replied Mother Bunch, whose strength was failing her; "but--" + +"Oh, vile hunchback! you have stolen more than you are big!" + +"Stolen!" cried Mother Bunch, clasping her hands in horror, for she now +understood it all. "Stolen!" + +"The guard! make way for the lobsters!" cried several persons at once. + +"Oh, ho! here's the lobsters!" + +"The fire-eaters!" + +"The Arab devourers!" + +"Come for their dromedary!" + +In the midst of these noisy jests, two soldiers and a corporal advanced +with much difficulty. Their bayonets and the barrels of their guns were +alone visible above the heads of this hideous and compact crowd. Some +officious person had been to inform the officer at the nearest guard- +house, that a considerable crowd obstructed the public way. + +"Come, here is the guard--so march to the guard-house!" said the +policeman, taking Mother Bunch by the arm. + +"Sir," said the poor girl, in a voice stifled by sobs, clasping her hands +in terror, and sinking upon her knees on the pavement; "sir,--have pity-- +let me explain--" + +"You will explain at the guard-house; so come on!" + +"But, sir--I am not a thief," cried Mother Bunch, in a heart-rending +tone; "have pity upon me--do not take me away like a thief, before all +this crowd. Oh! mercy! mercy!" + +"I tell you, there will be time to explain at the guard-house. The +street is blocked up; so come along!" Grasping the unfortunate creature +by both her hands, he set her, as it were, on her feet again. + +At this instant, the corporal and his two soldiers, having succeeded in +making their way through the crowd, approached the policeman. +"Corporal," said the latter, "take this girl to the guard-house. I am an +officer of the police." + +"Oh, gentlemen!" cried the girl, weeping hot tears, and wringing her +hands, "do not take me away, before you let me explain myself. I am not +a thief--indeed, indeed, I am not a thief! I will tell you--it was to +render service to others--only let me tell you--" + +"I tell you, you should give your explanations at the guard-house; if you +will not walk, we must drag you along," said the policeman. + +We must renounce the attempt to paint this scene, at once ignoble and +terrible. + +Weak, overpowered, filled with alarm, the unfortunate girl was dragged +along by the soldiers, her knees sinking under her at every step. The +two police-officers had each to lend an arm to support her, and +mechanically she accepted their assistance. Then the vociferations and +hootings burst forth with redoubled fury. Half-swooning between the two +men, the hapless creature seemed to drain the cup of bitterness to the +dregs. + +Beneath that foggy sky, in that dirty street, under the shadow of the +tall black houses, those hideous masses of people reminded one of the +wildest fancies of Callot and of Goya: children in rags, drunken women, +grim and blighted figures of men, rushed against each other, pushed, +fought, struggled, to follow with howls and hisses an almost inanimate +victim--the victim of a deplorable mistake. + +Of a mistake! How one shudders to think, that such arrests may often +take place, founded upon nothing but the suspicion caused by the +appearance of misery, or by some inaccurate description. Can we forget +the case of that young girl, who, wrongfully accused of participating in +a shameful traffic, found means to escape from the persons who were +leading her to prison, and, rushing up the stairs of a house, threw +herself from a window, in her despair, and was crushed to death upon the +paving-stones? + +Meanwhile, after the abominable denunciation of which Mother Bunch was +the victim, Mrs. Grivois had returned precipitately to the Rue Brise- +Miche. She ascended in haste to the fourth story, opened the door of +Frances Baudoin's room, and saw--Dagobert in company with his wife and +the two orphans! + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + +THE CONVENT. + +Let us explain in a few words the presence of Dagobert. His countenance +was impressed with such an air of military frankness that the manager of +the coach-office would have been satisfied with his promise to return and +pay the money; but the soldier had obstinately insisted on remaining in +pledge, as he called it, till his wife had answered his letter. When, +however, on the return of the porter, he found that the money was coming, +his scruples were satisfied, and he hastened to run home. + +We may imagine the stupor of Mrs. Grivois, when, upon entering the +chamber, she perceived Dagobert (whom she easily recognized by the +description she had heard of him) seated beside his wife and the orphans. +The anxiety of Frances at sight of Mrs. Grivois was equally striking. +Rose and Blanche had told her of the visit of a lady, during her absence, +upon important business; and, judging by the information received from +her confessor, Frances had no doubt that this was the person charged to +conduct the orphans to a religious establishment. + +Her anxiety was terrible. Resolved to follow the counsels of Abbe +Dubois, she dreaded lest a word from Mrs. Grivois should put Dagobert on +the scent--in which case all would be lost, and the orphans would remain +in their present state of ignorance and mortal sin, for which she +believed herself responsible. + +Dagobert, who held the hands of Rose and Blanche, left his seat as the +Princess de Saint-Dizier's waiting-woman entered the room and cast an +inquiring glance on Frances. + +The moment was critical--nay, decisive; but Mrs. Grivois had profited by +the example of the Princess de Saint-Dizier. So, taking her resolution +at once, and turning to account the precipitation with which she had +mounted the stairs, after the odious charge she had brought against poor +Mother Bunch, and even the emotion caused by the unexpected sight of +Dagobert, which gave to her features an expression of uneasiness and +alarm--she exclaimed, in an agitated voice, after the moment's silence +necessary to collect her thoughts: "Oh, madame! I have just been the +spectator of a great misfortune. Excuse my agitation! but I am so +excited--" + +"Dear me! what is the matter?" said Frances, in a trembling voice, for +she dreaded every moment some indiscretion on the part of Mrs. Grivois. + +"I called just now," resumed the other, "to speak to you on some +important business; whilst I was waiting for you, a poor young woman, +rather deformed, put up sundry articles in a parcel--" + +"Yes," said Frances; "it was Mother Bunch, an excellent, worthy +creature." + +"I thought as much, madame; well, you shall hear what has happened. As +you did not come in, I resolved to pay a visit in the neighborhood. I go +out, and get as far as the Rue St. Mery, when--Oh, madame!" + +"Well?" said Dagobert, "what then?" + +"I see a crowd--I inquire what is the matter--I learn that a policeman +has just arrested a young girl as a thief, because she had been seen +carrying a bundle, composed of different articles which did not appear to +belong to her--I approached--what do I behold?--the same young woman that +I had met just before in this room." + +"Oh! the poor child!" exclaimed Frances, growing pale, and clasping her +hands together. "What a dreadful thing!" + +"Explain, then," said Dagobert to his wife. "What was in this bundle?" + +"Well, my dear--to confess the truth--I was a little short, and I asked +our poor friend to take some things for me to the pawnbroker's--" + +"What! and they thought she had robbed us!" cried Dagobert; "she, the +most honest girl in the world! it is dreadful--you ought to have +interfered, madame; you ought to have said that you knew her." + +"I tried to do so, sir; but, unfortunately, they would not hear me. The +crowd increased every moment, till the guard came up, and carried her +off." + +"She might die of it, she is so sensitive and timid!" exclaimed Frances. + +"Ah, good Mother Bunch! so gentle! so considerate!" said Blanche, turning +with tearful eyes towards her sister. + +"Not being able to help her," resumed Mrs. Grivois "I hastened hither to +inform you of this misadventure--which may, indeed, easily be repaired-- +as it will only be necessary to go and claim the young girl as soon as +possible." + +At these words, Dagobert hastily seized his hat, and said abruptly to +Mrs. Grivois: "Zounds, madame! you should have begun by telling us that. +Where is the poor child? Do you know?" + +"I do not, sir; but there are still so many excited people in the street +that, if you will have the kindness to step out, you will be sure to +learn." + +"Why the devil do you talk of kindness? It is my duty, madame. Poor +child!" repeated Dagobert. "Taken up as a thief!--it is really horrible. +I will go to the guard-house, and to the commissary of police for this +neighborhood, and, by hook or crook, I will find her, and have her out, +and bring her home with me." + +So saying, Dagobert hastily departed. Frances, now that she felt more +tranquil as to the fate of Mother Bunch, thanked the Lord that this +circumstance had obliged her husband to go out, for his presence at this +juncture caused her a terrible embarrassment. + +Mrs. Grivois had left My Lord in the coach below, for the moments were +precious. Casting a significant glance at Frances she handed her Abbe +Dubois' letter, and said to her, with strong emphasis on every word: "You +will see by this letter, madame, what was the object of my visit, which I +have not before been able to explain to you, but on which I truly +congratulate myself, as it brings me into connection with these two +charming young ladies." Rose and Blanche looked at each other in +surprise. Frances took the letter with a trembling hand. It required +all the pressing and threatening injunctions of her confessor to conquer +the last scruples of the poor woman, for she shuddered at the thought of +Dagobert's terrible indignation. Moreover, in her simplicity, she knew +not how to announce to the young girls that they were to accompany this +lady. + +Mrs. Grivois guessed her embarrassment, made a sign to her to be at her +ease, and said to Rose, whilst Frances was reading the letter of her +confessor: "How happy your relation will be to see you, my dear young +lady!' + +"Our relation, madame?" said Rose, more and more astonished. + +"Certainly. She knew of your arrival here, but, as she is still +suffering from the effects of a long illness, she was not able to come +herself to-day, and has sent me to fetch you to her. Unfortunately," +added Mrs. Grivois, perceiving a movement of uneasiness on the part of +the two sisters, "it will not be in her power, as she tells Mrs. Baudoin +in her letter, to see you for more than a very short time--so you may be +back here in about an hour. But to-morrow or the next day after, she +will be well enough to leave home, and then she will come and make +arrangements with Mrs. Baudoin and her husband, to take you into her +house--for she could not bear to leave you at the charge of the worthy +people who have been so kind to you." + +These last words of Mrs. Grivois made a favorable impression upon the two +sisters, and banished their fears of becoming a heavy burden to +Dagobert's family. If it had been proposed to them to quit altogether +the house in the Rue Bris-Miche, without first asking the consent of +their old friend, they would certainly have hesitated; but Mrs. Grivois +had only spoken of an hour's visit. They felt no suspicion, therefore, +and Rose said to Frances: "We may go and see our relation, I suppose, +madame, without waiting for Dagobert's return?" + +"Certainly " said Frances, in a feeble voice, "since you are to be back +almost directly." + +"Then, madame, I would beg these dear young ladies to come with me as +soon as possible, as I should like to bring them back before noon. + +"We are ready, madame," said Rose. + +"Well then, young ladies, embrace your second mother, and come," said +Mrs. Grivois, who was hardly able to control her uneasiness, for she +trembled lest Dagobert should return from one moment to the other. + +Rose and Blanche embraced Frances, who, clasping in her arms the two +charming and innocent creatures that she was about to deliver up, could +with difficulty restrain her tears, though she was fully convinced that +she was acting for their salvation. + +"Come, young ladies," said Mrs. Grivois, in the most affable tone, "let +us make haste--you will excuse my impatience, I am sure--but it is in the +name of your relation that I speak." + +Having once more tenderly kissed the wife of Dagobert, the sisters +quitted the room hand in hand, and descended the staircase close behind +Mrs. Grivois, followed (without their being aware of it), by Spoil-sport. +The intelligent animal cautiously watched their movements, for, in the +absence of his master, he never let them out of his sight. + +For greater security, no doubt, the waiting-woman of Madame de Saint- +Dizier had ordered the hackney-coach to wait for her at a little distance +from the Rue Brise-Miche, in the cloister square. In a few seconds, the +orphans and their conductress reached the carriage. + +"Oh, missus!" said the coachman, opening the door; "no offence, I hope-- +but you have the most ill-tempered rascal of a dog! Since you put him +into my coach, he has never ceased howling like a roasted cat, and looks +as if he would eat us all up alive!" In fact, My Lord, who detested +solitude, was yelling in the most deplorable manner. + +"Be quiet, My Lord! here I am," said Mrs. Grivois; then addressing the +two sisters, she added: "Pray, get in, my dear young ladies." + +Rose and Blanche got into the coach. Before she followed them, Mrs. +Grivois was giving to the coachman in a low voice the direction to St. +Mary's Convent, and was adding other instructions, when suddenly the pug- +dog, who had growled savagely when the sisters took their seats in the +coach, began to bark with fury. The cause of this anger was clear +enough; Spoil-sport, until now unperceived, had with one bound entered +the carriage. + +The pug, exasperated by this boldness, forgetting his ordinary prudence, +and excited to the utmost by rage and ugliness of temper, sprang at his +muzzle, and bit him so cruelly, that, in his turn, the brave Siberian +dog, maddened by the pain, threw himself upon the teaser, seized him by +the throat, and fairly strangled him with two grips of his powerful jaws- +-as appeared by one stifled groan of the pug, previously half suffocated +with fat. + +All this took place in less time than is occupied by the description. +Rose and Blanche had hardly opportunity to exclaim twice: "Here, Spoil- +sport! down!" + +"Oh, good gracious!" said Mrs. Grivois, turning round at the noise. +"There again is that monster of a dog--he will certainly hurt my love. +Send him away, young ladies--make him get down--it is impossible to take +him with us." + +Ignorant of the degree of Spoil-sport's criminality, for his paltry foe +was stretched lifeless under a seat, the young girls yet felt that it +would be improper to take the dog with them, and they therefore said to +him in an angry tone, at the same time slightly touching him with their +feet: "Get down, Spoil-sport! go away!" + +The faithful animal hesitated at first to obey this order. Sad and +supplicatingly looked he at the orphans, and with an air of mild +reproach, as if blaming them for sending away their only defender. +But, upon the stern repetition of the command, he got down from the coach, +with his tail between his legs, feeling perhaps that he had been somewhat +over-hasty with regard to the pug. + +Mrs. Grivois, who was in a great hurry to leave that quarter of the town, +seated herself with precipitation in the carriage; the coachman closed +the door, and mounted his box; and then the coach started at a rapid +rate, whilst Mrs. Grivois prudently let down the blinds, for fear of +meeting Dagobert by the way. + +Having taken these indispensable precautions, she was able to turn her +attention to her pet, whom she loved with all that deep, exaggerated +affection, which people of a bad disposition sometimes entertain for +animals, as if then concentrated and lavished upon them all those +feelings in which they are deficient with regard to their fellow- +creatures. In a word. Mrs. Grivois vas passionately attached to this +peevish, cowardly, spiteful dog, partly perhaps from a secret sympathy +with his vices. This attachment had lasted for six years, and only +seemed to increase as My Lord advanced in age. + +We have laid some stress on this apparently puerile detail, because the +most trifling causes have often disastrous effects, and because we wish +the reader to understand what must have been the despair, fury, and +exasperation of this woman, when she discovered the death of her dog--a +despair, a fury, and an exasperation, of which the orphans might yet feel +the cruel consequences. + +The hackney-coach had proceeded rapidly for some seconds, when Mrs. +Grivois, who was seated with her back to the horses, called My Lord. The +dog had very good reasons for not replying. + +"Well, you sulky beauty!" said Mrs. Grivois, soothingly; "you have taken +offence, have you? It was not my fault if that great ugly dog came into +the coach, was it, young ladies? Come and kiss your mistress, and let us +make peace, old obstinate!" + +The same obstinate silence continued on the part of the canine noble. +Rose and Blanche began to look anxiously at each other, for they knew +that Spoil-sport was somewhat rough in his ways, though they were far +from suspecting what had really happened. But Mrs. Grivois, rather +surprised than uneasy at her pug-log's insensibility to her affectionate +appeals, and believing him to be sullenly crouching beneath the seat, +stooped clown to take him up, and feeling one of his paws, drew it +impatiently towards her whilst she said to him in a half-jesting, half- +angry tone: "Come, naughty fellow! you will give a pretty notion of your +temper to these young ladies." + +So saying, she took up the dog, much astonished at his unresisting +torpor; but what was her fright, when, having placed him upon her lap, +she saw that he was quite motionless. + +"An apoplexy!" cried she. "The dear creature ate too much--I was always +afraid of it." + +Turning round hastily, she exclaimed: "Stop, coachman! stop!" without +reflecting that the coachman could not hear her. Then raising the cur's +head, still thinking that he was only in a fit, she perceived with horror +the bloody holes imprinted by five or six sharp fangs, which left no +doubt of the cause of his deplorable end. + +Her first impulse was one of grief and despair. "Dead!" she exclaimed; +"dead! and already cold! Oh, goodness!--And this woman burst into tears. + +The tears of the wicked are ominous. For a bad man to weep, he must have +suffered much; and, with him, the reaction of suffering, instead of +softening the soul, inflames it to a dangerous anger. + +Thus, after yielding to that first painful emotion, the mistress of My +Lord felt herself transported with rage and hate--yes, hate--violent hate +for the young girls, who had been the involuntary cause of the dog's +death. Her countenance so plainly betrayed her resentment, that Blanche +and Rose were frightened at the expression of her face, which had now +grown purple with fury, as with agitated voice and wrathful glance she +exclaimed: "It was your dog that killed him!" + +"Oh, madame!" said Rose; "we had nothing to do with it." + +"It was your dog that bit Spoil-sport first," added Blanche, in a +plaintive voice. + +The look of terror impressed on the features of the orphans recalled Mrs. +Grivois to herself. She saw the fatal consequences that might arise from +yielding imprudently to her anger. For the very sake of vengeance, she +had to restrain herself, in order not to awaken suspicion in the minds of +Marshal Simon's daughters. But not to appear to recover too soon from +her first impression, she continued for some minutes to cast irritated +glances at the young girls; then, little by little, her anger seemed to +give way to violent grief; she covered her face with her hands, heaved a +long sigh, and appeared to weep bitterly. + +"Poor lady!" whispered Rose to Blanche. "How she weeps!--No doubt, she +loved her dog as much as we love Spoil-sport." + +"Alas! yes," replied Blanche. "We also wept when our old Jovial was +killed." + +After a few minutes, Mrs. Grivois raised her head, dried her eyes +definitively, and said in a gentle, and almost affectionate voice: +"Forgive me, young ladies! I was unable to repress the first movement of +irritation, or rather of deep sorrow--for I was tenderly attached to this +poor dog he has never left me for six years." + +"We are very sorry for this misfortune, madame," resumed Rose; "and we +regret it the more, that it seems to be irreparable." + +"I was just saying to my sister, that we can the better fancy your grief, +as we have had to mourn the death of our old horse, that carried us all +the way from Siberia." + +"Well, my dear young ladies, let us think no more about it. It was my +fault; I should not have brought him with me; but he was always so +miserable, whenever I left him. You will make allowance for my weakness. +A good heart feels for animals as well as people; so I must trust to your +sensibility to excuse my hastiness." + +"Do not think of it, madame; it is only your grief that afflicts us." + +"I shall get over it, my dear young ladies--I shall get over it. The joy +of the meeting between you and your relation will help to console me. +She will be so happy. You are so charming! and then the singular +circumstance of your exact likeness to each other adds to the interest +you inspire." + +"You are too kind to us, madame." + +"Oh, no--I am sure you resemble each other as much in disposition as in +face." + +"That is quite natural, madame," said Rose, "for since our birth we have +never left each other a minute, whether by night or day. It would be +strange, if we were not like in character." + +"Really, my dear young ladies! you have never left each other a minute?" + +"Never, madame." The sisters joined hands with an expressive smile. + +"Then, how unhappy you would be, and how much to be pitied, if ever you +were separated." + +"Oh, madame! it is impossible," said Blanche, smiling. + +"How impossible?" + +"Who would have the heart to separate us?" + +"No doubt, my dear young ladies, it would be very cruel." + +"Oh, madame," resumed Blanche, "even very wicked people would not think +of separating us." + +"So much the better, my dear young ladies--pray, why?" + +"Because it would cause us too much grief." + +"Because it would kill us." + +"Poor little dears!" + +"Three months ago, we were shut up in prison. Well when the governor of +the prison saw us, though he looked a very stern man, he could not help +saying: "It would be killing these children to separate them;" and so we +remained together, and were as happy as one can be in prison." + +"It shows your excellent heart, and also that of the persons who knew how +to appreciate it." + +The carriage stopped, and they heard the coachman call out "Any one at +the gate there?" + +"Oh! here we are at your relation's," said Mrs. Grivois. Two wings of a +gate flew open, and the carriage rolled over the gravel of a court-yard. + +Mrs. Grivois having drawn up one of the blinds, they found themselves in +a vast court, across the centre of which ran a high wall, with a kind of +porch upon columns, under which was a little door. Behind this wall, +they could see the upper part of a very large building in freestone. +Compared with the house in the Rue Brise-Miche, this building appeared a +palace; so Blanche said to Mrs. Grivois, with an expression of artless +admiration: "Dear me, madame, what a fine residence!" + +"That is nothing," replied Madame Grivois; "wait till you see the +interior, which is much finer." + +When the coachman opened the door of the carriage, what was the rage of +Mrs. Grivois, and the surprise of the girls, to see Spoil-sport, who had +been clever enough to follow the coach. Pricking up his ears, and +wagging his tail, he seemed to have forgotten his late offences, and to +expect to be praised for his intelligent fidelity. + +"What!" cried Mrs. Grivois, whose sorrows were renewed at the sight; "has +that abominable dog followed the coach?" + +"A famous dog, mum," answered the coachman "he never once left the heels +of my horses. He must have been trained to it. He's a powerful beast, +and two men couldn't scare him. Look at the throat of him now!" + +The mistress of the deceased pug, enraged at the somewhat unseasonable +praises bestowed upon the Siberian, said to the orphans, "I will announce +your arrival, wait for me an instant in the coach." + +So saying, she went with a rapid step towards the porch, and rang the +bell. A woman, clad in a monastic garb, appeared at the door, and bowed +respectfully to Mrs. Grivois, who addressed her in these few words, "I +have brought you the two young girls; the orders of Abbe d'Aigrigny and +the princess are, that they be instantly separated, and kept apart in +solitary cells--you understand, sister--and subjected to the rule for +impenitents." + +"I will go and inform the superior, and it will be done," said the +portress, with another bend. + +"Now, will you come, my dear young ladies?" resumed Mrs. Grivois, +addressing the two girls, who had secretly bestowed a few caresses upon +Spoil sport, so deeply were they touched by his instinctive attachment; +"you will be introduced to your relation, and I will return and fetch you +in half an hour. Coachman keep that dog back." + +Rose and Blanche, in getting out of the coach, were so much occupied with +Spoil-sport, that they did not perceive the portress, who was half hidden +behind the little door. Neither did they remark, that the person who was +to introduce them was dressed as a nun, till, taking them by the hand, +she had led them across the threshold, when the door was immediately +closed behind them. + +As soon as Mrs. Grivois had seen the orphans safe into the convent, she +told the coachman to leave the court-yard, and wait for her at the outer- +gate. The coachman obeyed; but Spoil-sport, who had seen Rose and +Blanche enter by the little door, ran to it, and remained there. + +Mrs. Grivois then called the porter of the main entrance, a tall, +vigorous fellow and said to him: "Here are ten francs for you, Nicholas, +if you will beat out the brains of that great dog, who is crouching under +the porch." + +Nicholas shook his head, as he observed Spoil-sport's size and strength. +"Devil take me, madame!" said he; "'tis not so easy to tackle a dog of +that build." + +"I will give you twenty francs; only kill him before me." + +"One ought to have a gun, and I have only an iron hammer." + +"That will do; you can knock him down at a blow." + +"Well, madame--I will try--but I have my doubts." And Nicholas went to +fetch his mallet. + +"Oh! if I had the strength!" said Mrs. Grivois. + +The porter returned with his weapon, and advanced slowly and +treacherously towards Spoil-sport, who was still crouching beneath the +porch. "Here, old fellow! here, my good dog!" said Nicholas striking his +left hand on his thigh, and keeping his right behind him, with the +crowbar grasped in it. + +Spoil-sport rose, examined Nicholas attentively, and no doubt perceiving +by his manner that the porter meditated some evil design, bounded away +from him, outflanked the enemy, saw clearly what was intended, and kept +himself at a respectful distance. + +"He smells a rat," said Nicholas; "the rascal's on his guard. He will +not let me come near him. It's no go." + +"You are an awkward fellow," said Mrs. Grivois in a passion, as she threw +a five-franc piece to Nicholas: "at all events, drive him away." + +"That will be easier than to kill him, madame," said the porter. Indeed, +finding himself pursued, and conscious probably that it would be useless +to attempt an open resistance, Spoil-sport fled from the court-yard into +the street; but once there, he felt himself, as it were, upon neutral +ground, and notwithstanding all the threats of Nicholas, refused to +withdraw an inch further than just sufficient to keep out of reach of the +sledge-hammer. So that when Mrs. Grivois, pale with rage, again stepped +into her hackney-coach, in which were My Lord's lifeless remains, she saw +with the utmost vexation that Spoil-sport was lying at a few steps from +the gate, which Nicholas had just closed, having given up the chase in +despair. + +The Siberian dog, sure of finding his way back to the Rue Brise-Miche, +had determined, with the sagacity peculiar to his race, to wait for the +orphans on the spot where he then was. + +Thus were the two sisters confined in St. Mary's Convent, which, as we +have already said, was next door to the lunatic asylum in which Adrienne +de Cardoville was immured. + +We now conduct the reader to the dwelling of Dagobert's wife, who was +waiting with dreadful anxiety for the return of her husband, knowing that +he would call her to account for the disappearance of Marshal Simon's +daughters. + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + +THE INFLUENCE OF A CONFESSOR. + +Hardly had the orphans quitted Dagobert's wife, when the poor woman, +kneeling down, began to pray with fervor. Her tears, long restrained, +now flowed abundantly; notwithstanding her sincere conviction that she +had performed a religious duty in delivering up the girl's she waited +with extreme fear her husband's return. Though blinded by her pious +zeal, she could not hide from herself, that Dagobert would have good +reason to be angry; and then this poor mother had also, under these +untoward circumstances, to tell him of Agricola's arrest. + +Every noise upon the stairs made Frances start with trembling anxiety; +after which, she would resume her fervent prayers, supplicating strength +to support this new and arduous trial. At length, she heard a step upon +the landing-place below, and, feeling sure this time that it was +Dagobert, she hastily seated herself, dried her tears, and taking a sack +of coarse cloth upon her lap, appeared to be occupied with sewing--though +her aged hands trembled so much, that she could hardly hold the needle. + +After some minutes the door opened, and Dagobert appeared. The soldier's +rough countenance was stern and sad; as he entered, he flung his hat +violently upon the table, so full of painful thought, that he did not at +first perceive the absence of the orphans. + +"Poor girl!" cried he. "It is really terrible!" + +"Didst see Mother Bunch? didst claim her?" said Frances hastily, +forgetting for a moment her own fears. + +"Yes, I have seen her--but in what a state--twas enough to break one's +heart. I claimed her, and pretty loud too, I can tell you; but they said +to me, that the commissary must first come to our place in order--" here +Dagobert paused, threw a glance of surprise round the room, and exclaimed +abruptly: "Where are the children?" + +Frances felt herself seized with an icy shudder. "My dear," she began in +a feeble voice--but she was unable to continue. + +"Where are Rose and Blanche! Answer me then! And Spoil-sport, who is +not here either!" + +"Do not be angry." + +"Come," said Dagobert, abruptly, "I see you have let them go out with a +neighbor--why not have accompanied them yourself, or let them wait for +me, if they wished to take a walk; which is natural enough, this room +being so dull. But I am astonished that they should have gone out before +they had news of good Mother Bunch--they have such kind hearts. But how +pale you are?" added the soldier looking nearer at Frances; "what is the +matter, my poor wife? Are you ill?" + +Dagobert took Frances's hand affectionately in his own but the latter, +painfully agitated by these words, pronounced with touching goodness, +bowed her head and wept as she kissed her husband's hand. The soldier, +growing more and more uneasy as he felt the scalding tears of his wife, +exclaimed: "You weep, you do not answer--tell me, then, the cause of your +grief, poor wife! Is it because I spoke a little loud, in asking you how +you could let the dear children go out with a neighbor? Remember their +dying mother entrusted them to my care--'tis sacred, you see--and with +them, I am like an old hen after her chickens," added he, laughing to +enliven Frances. + +"Yes, you are right in loving them!" + +"Come, then--becalm--you know me of old. With my great, hoarse voice, I +am not so bad a fellow at bottom. As you can trust to this neighbor, +there is no great harm done; but, in future, my good Frances, do not take +any step with regard to the children without consulting me. They asked, +I suppose, to go out for a little stroll with Spoil-sport?" + +"No, my dear!" + +"No! Who is this neighbor, to whom you have entrusted them? Where has +she taken them? What time will she bring them back?" + +"I do not know," murmured Frances, in a failing voice. + +"You do not know!" cried Dagobert, with indignation; but restraining +himself, he added, in a tone of friendly reproach: "You do not know? You +cannot even fix an hour, or, better still, not entrust them to any one? +The children must have been very anxious to go out. They knew that I +should return at any moment, so why not wait for me--eh, Frances? I ask +you, why did they not wait for me? Answer me, will you!--Zounds! you +would make a saint swear!" cried Dagobert, stamping his foot; "answer me, +I say!" + +The courage of Frances was fast failing. These pressing and reiterated +questions, which might end by the discovery of the truth, made her endure +a thousand slow and poignant tortures. She preferred coming at once to +the point, and determined to bear the full weight of her husband's anger, +like a humble and resigned victim, obstinately faithful to the promise +she had sworn to her confessor. + +Not having the strength to rise, she bowed her head, allowed her arms to +fall on either side of the chair, and said to her husband in a tone of +the deepest despondency: "Do with me what you will--but do not ask what +is become of the children--I cannot answer you." + +If a thunderbolt had fallen at the feet of the soldier, he would not have +been more violently, more deeply moved; he became deadly pale; his bald +forehead was covered with cold sweat; with fixed and staring look, he +remained for some moments motionless, mute, and petrified. Then, as if +roused with a start from this momentary torpor, and filled with a +terrific energy, he seized his wife by the shoulders, lifted her like a +feather, placed her on her feet before him, and, leaning over her, +exclaimed in a tone of mingled fury and despair: "The children!" + +"Mercy! mercy!" gasped Frances, in a faint voice. + +"Where are the children?" repeated Dagobert, as he shook with his +powerful hands that poor frail body, and added in a voice of thunder: +"Will you answer? the children!" + +"Kill me, or forgive me, I cannot answer you," replied the unhappy woman, +with that inflexible, yet mild obstinacy, peculiar to timid characters, +when they act from convictions of doing right. + +"Wretch!" cried the soldier; wild with rage, grief, despair, he lifted up +his wife as if he would have dashed her upon the floor--but he was too +brave a man to commit such cowardly cruelty, and, after that first burst +of involuntary fury, he let her go. + +Overpowered, Frances sank upon her knees, clasped her hands, and, by the +faint motion of her lips, it was clear that she was praying. Dagobert +had then a moment of stunning giddiness; his thoughts wandered; what had +just happened was so sudden, so incomprehensible that it required some +minutes to convince himself that his wife (that angel of goodness, whose +life had been one course of heroic self-devotion, and who knew what the +daughters of Marshal Simon were to him) should say to him: "Do not ask me +about them--I cannot answer you." + +The firmest, the strongest mind would have been shaken by this +inexplicable fact. But, when the soldier had a little recovered himself, +he began to look coolly at the circumstances, and reasoned thus sensibly +with himself: "My wife alone can explain to me this inconceivable +mystery--I do not mean either to beat or kill her--let us try every +possibly method, therefore, to induce her to speak, and above all, let me +try to control myself." + +He took a chair, handed another to his wife, who was still on her knees, +and said to her: "Sit down." With an air of the utmost dejection, +Frances obeyed. + +"Listen to me, wife," resumed Dagobert in a broken voice, interrupted by +involuntary starts, which betrayed the boiling impatience he could hardly +restrain. "Understand me--this cannot pass over in this manner--you +know. I will never use violence towards you--just now, I gave way to a +first moment of hastiness--I am sorry for it. Be sure, I shall not do so +again: but, after all, I must know what has become of these children. +Their mother entrusted them to my care, and I did not bring them all the +way from Siberia, for you to say to me: `Do not ask me--I cannot tell you +what I have done with them.' There is no reason in that. Suppose Marshal +Simon were to arrive, and say to me, `Dagobert, my children?' what answer +am I to give him? See, I am calm--judge for yourself--I am calm--but +just put yourself in my place, and tell me--what answer am I to give to +the marshal? Well--what say you! Will you speak!" + +"Alas! my dear--" + +"It is of no use crying alas!" said the soldier wiping his forehead, on +which the veins were swollen as if they would burst; "what am I to answer +to the marshal?" + +"Accuse me to him--I will bear it all--I will say--" + +"What will you say?" + +"That, on going out, you entrusted the two girls to me, and that not +finding them on return you asked be about them--and that my answer was, +that I could not tell you what had become of them." + +"And you think the marshal will be satisfied with such reasons?" cried +Dagobert, clinching his fists convulsively upon his knees. + +"Unfortunately, I can give no other--either to him or you--no--not if I +were to die for it." + +Dagobert bounded from his chair at this answer, which was given with +hopeless resignation. His patience was exhausted; but determined not to +yield to new bursts of anger, or to spend his breath in useless menaces, +he abruptly opened one of the windows, and exposed his burning forehead +to the cool air. A little calmer, he walked up and down for a few +moments, and then returned to seat himself beside his wife. She, with +her eyes bathed in tears, fixed her gaze upon the crucifix, thinking that +she also had to bear a heavy cross. + +Dagobert resumed: "By the manner in which you speak, I see that no +accident has happened, which might endanger the health of the children." + +"No, oh no! thank God, they are quite well--that is all I can say to +you." + +"Did they go out alone?" + +"I cannot answer you." + +"Has any one taken them away?" + +"Alas, my dear! why ask me these questions? I cannot answer you." + +"Will they come back here?" + +"I do not know." + +Dagobert started up; his patience was once more exhausted. But, after +taking a few turns in the room, he again seated himself as before. + +"After all," said he to his wife, "you have no interest to conceal from +me what is become of the children. Why refuse to let me know?" + +"I cannot do otherwise." + +"I think you will change your opinion, when you know something that I am +now forced to tell you. Listen to me well!" added Dagobert, in an +agitated voice; "if these children are not restored to me before the 13th +of February--a day close at hand--I am in the position of a man that +would rob the daughters of Marshal Simon--rob them, d'ye understand?" +said the soldier, becoming more and more agitated. Then, with an accent +of despair which pierced Frances's heart, he continued: "And yet I have +done all that an honest man could do for those poor children--you cannot +tell what I have had to suffer on the road--my cares, my anxieties--I, a +soldier, with the charge of two girls. It was only by strength of heart, +by devotion, that I could go through with it--and when, for my reward, I +hoped to be able to say to their father: `Here are your children!--' The +soldier paused. To the violence of his first emotions had succeeded a +mournful tenderness; he wept. + +At sight of the tears rolling slowly down Dagobert's gray moustache, +Frances felt for a moment her resolution give way; but, recalling the +oath which she had made to her confessor, and reflecting that the eternal +salvation of the orphans was at stake, she reproached herself inwardly +with this evil temptation, which would no doubt be severely blamed by +Abbe Dubois. She answered, therefore, in a trembling voice: "How can +they accuse you of robbing these children?" + +"Know," resumed Dagobert, drawing his hand across his eyes, "that if +these young girls have braved so many dangers, to come hither, all the +way from Siberia, it is that great interests are concerned--perhaps an +immense fortune--and that, if they are not present on the 13th February-- +here, in Paris, Rue Saint Francois--all will be lost--and through my +fault--for I am responsible for your actions." + +"The 13th February? Rue Saint Francois?" cried Frances, looking at her +husband with surprise. "Like Gabriel!" + +"What do you say about Gabriel?" + +"When I took him in (poor deserted child!), he wore a bronze medal about +his neck." + +"A bronze medal!" cried the soldier, struck with amazement; "a bronze +medal with these words, `At Paris you will be, the 13th of February, +1832, Rue Saint Francois?" + +"Yes--how do you know?" + +"Gabriel, too!" said the soldier speaking to himself. Then he added +hastily: "Does Gabriel know that this medal was found upon him?" + +"I spoke to him of it at some time. He had also about him a portfolio, +filled with papers in a foreign tongue. I gave them to Abbe Dubois, my +confessor, to look over. He told me afterwards, that they were of little +consequence; and, at a later period, when a charitable person named M. +Rodin, undertook the education of Gabriel, and to get him into the +seminary, Abbe Dubois handed both papers and medal to him. Since then, I +have heard nothing of them." + +When Frances spoke of her confessor a sudden light flashed across the +mind of the soldier, though he was far from suspecting the machinations +which had so long been at work with regard to Gabriel and the orphans. +But he had a vague feeling that his wife was acting in obedience to some +secret influence of the confessional--an influence of which he could not +understand the aim or object, but which explained, in part at least, +Frances's inconceivable obstinacy with regard to the disappearance of the +orphans. + +After a moment's reflection, he rose, and said sternly to his wife, +looking fixedly at her: "There is a priest at the bottom of all this." + +"What do you mean, my dear?" + +"You have no interest to conceal these children. You are one of the best +of women. You see that I suffer; if you only were concerned, you would +have pity upon me." + +"My dear--" + +"I tell you, all this smacks of the confessional," resumed Dagobert. +"You would sacrifice me and these children to your confessor; but take +care--I shall find out where he lives--and a thousand thunders! I will +go and ask him who is master in my house, he or I--and if he does not +answer," added the soldier, with a threatening expression of countenance, +"I shall know how to make him speak." + +"Gracious heaven!" cried Frances, clasping her hands in horror at these +sacrilegious words; "remember he is a priest!" + +"A priest, who causes discord, treachery, and misfortune in my house, is +as much of a wretch as any other; whom I have a right to call to account +for the evil he does to me and mine. Therefore, tell me immediately +where are the children--or else, I give you fair warning, I will go and +demand them of the confessor. Some crime is here hatching, of which you +are an accomplice without knowing it, unhappy woman! Well, I prefer +having to do with another than you." + +"My dear," said Frances, in a mild, firm voice, "you cannot think to +impose by violence on a venerable man, who for twenty years has had the +care of my soul. His age alone should be respected." + +"No age shall prevent me!" + +"Heavens! where are you going? You alarm me!" + +"I am going to your church. They must know you there--I will ask for +your confessor--and we shall see!" + +"I entreat you, my dear," cried Frances, throwing herself in a fright +before Dagobert, who was hastening towards the door; "only think, to what +you will expose yourself! Heavens! insult a priest? Why, it is one of +the reserved cases!" + +These last words, which appeared most alarming to the simplicity of +Dagobert's wife, did not make any impression upon the soldier. He +disengaged himself from her grasp, and was going to rush out bareheaded, +so high was his exasperation, when the door opened, and the commissary of +police entered, followed by Mother Bunch and a policeman, carrying the +bundle which he had taken from the young girl. + +"The commissary!" cried Dagobert, who recognized him by his official +scarf. "Ah! so much the better--he could not have come at a fitter +moment." + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + +THE EXAMINATION. + +"Mistress Frances Baudoin?" asked the magistrate. + +"Yes, sir--it is I," said Frances. Then, perceiving the pale and +trembling sewing-girl, who did not dare to come forward, she stretched +out her arms to her. "Oh, my poor child!" she exclaimed, bursting into +tears; "forgive--forgive us--since it is for our sake you have suffered +this humiliation!" + +When Dagobert's wife had tenderly embraced the young sempstress, the +latter, turning towards the commissary, said to him with an expression of +sad and touching dignity: `You see, sir, that I am not a thief." + +"Madame," said the magistrate, addressing Frances, "am I to understand +that the silver mug, the shawl, the sheets contained in this bundle--" + +"Belong to me, sir. It was to render me a service that this dear girl, +who is the best and most honest creature in the world, undertook to carry +these articles to the pawnbroker's." + +"Sir," said the magistrate sternly to the policeman, "you have committed +a deplorable error. I shall take care to report you, and see that you +are punished. You may go, sir." Then, addressing Mother Bunch, with an +air of real regret, he added: "I can only express my sorrow for what has +happened. Believe me, I deeply feel for the cruel position in which you +have been placed." + +"I believe it, sir," said Mother Bunch, "and I thank you." Overcome by +so many emotions, she sank upon a chair. + +The magistrate was about to retire, when Dagobert, who had been seriously +reflecting for some minutes, said to him in a firm voice: "Please to hear +me, Sir; I have a deposition to make." + +"Speak, Sir." + +"What I am about to say is very important; it is to you, in your quality +of a magistrate, that I make this declaration." + +"And as a magistrate I will hear you, sir." + +"I arrived here two days ago, bringing with me from Russia two girls who +had been entrusted to me by their mother--the wife of Marshal Simon." + +"Of Marshal Simon, Duke de Ligny?" said the commissary, very much +surprised. + +"Yes, Sir. Well, I left them here, being obliged to get out on pressing +business. This morning, during my absence, they disappeared--and I am +certain I know the man who has been the cause of it." + +"Now, my dear," said Frances, much alarmed. + +"Sir," said the magistrate, "your declaration is a very serious one. +Disappearance of persons--sequestration, perhaps. But are you quite +sure?" + +"These young ladies were here an hour ago; I repeat, sir, that during my +absence, they have been taken away." + +"I do not doubt the sincerity of your declaration, sir; but still it is +difficult to explain so strange an abduction. Who tells you that these +young girls will not return? Besides, whom do you suspect? One word, +before you make your accusation. Remember, it is the magistrate who +hears you. On leaving this place, the law will take its course in this +affair." + +"That is what I wish, Sir; I am responsible for those young ladies to +their father. He may arrive at any moment, and I must be prepared to +justify myself." + +"I understand all these reasons, sir; but still have a care you are not +deceived by unfounded suspicions. Your denunciation once made, I may +have to act provisionally against the person accused. Now, if you should +be under a mistake, the consequences would be very serious for you; and, +without going further," said the magistrate, pointing to Mother Bunch, +with emotion, "you see what are the results of a false accusation." + +"You hear, my dear," cried Frances, terrified at the resolution of +Dagobert to accuse Abbe Dubois; "do not say a word more, I entreat you." + +But the more the soldier reflected, the more he felt convinced that +nothing but the influence of her confessor could have induced Frances to +act as she had done; so he resumed, with assurance: "I accuse my wife's +confessor of being the principal or the accomplice in the abduction of +Marshal Simon's daughters." + +Frances uttered a deep groan, and hid her face in her hands; while Mother +Bunch, who had drawn nigh, endeavored to console her. The magistrate had +listened to Dagobert with extreme astonishment, and he now said to him +with some severity: "Pray, sir, do not accuse unjustly a man whose +position is in the highest degree respectable--a priest, sir?--yes, a +priest? I warned you beforehand to reflect upon what you advanced. All +this becomes very serious, and, at your age, any levity in such matters +would be unpardonable." + +"Bless me, sir!" said Dagobert, with impatience; "at my age, one has +common sense. These are the facts. My wife is one of the best and most +honorable of human creatures--ask any one in the neighborhood, and they +will tell you so--but she is a devotee; and, for twenty years, she has +always seen with her confessor's eyes. She adores her son, she loves me +also; but she puts the confessor before us both." + +"Sir," said the commissary, "these family details " + +Are indispensable, as you shall see. I go out an hour ago, to look after +this poor girl here. When I come back, the young ladies have +disappeared. I ask my wife to whom she has entrusted them, and where +they are; she falls at my feet weeping, and says: "Do what you will with +me, but do not ask me what has become of the children. I cannot answer +you. " + +"Is thus true, madame?" cried the commissary, looking at Frances with +surprise. + +"Anger, threats, entreaties, had no effect," resumed Dagobert; "to +everything she answered as mildly as a saint: `I can tell you nothing!' +Now, sir, I maintain that my wife has no interest to take away these +children; she is under the absolute dominion of her confessor; she has +acted by his orders and for his purposes; he is the guilty party." + +Whilst Dagobert spoke, the commissary looked more and more attentively at +Frances, who, supported by the hunchback, continued to weep bitterly. +After a moment's reflection, the magistrate advanced towards Dagobert's +wife, and said to her: "Madame, you have heard what your husband has just +declared." + +"Yes, sir." + +"What have you to say in your justification?'' + +"But, sir," cried Dagobert, "it is not my wife that I accuse--I do not +mean that; it is her confessor." + +"Sir, you have applied to a magistrate; and the magistrate must act as he +thinks best for the discovery of the truth. Once more, madame," he +resumed, addressing Frances, "what have you to say in your +justification?" + +"Alas! nothing, sir." + +"Is it true that your husband left these young girls in your charge when +he went out?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Is it true that, on his return, they were no longer to be found?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Is it true that, when he asked you where they were, you told him that +you could give him no information on the subject?" + +The commissary appeared to wait for Frances' reply with kind of anxious +curiosity. + +"Yes, sir," said she, with the utmost simplicity, "that was the answer I +made my husband." + +"What, madame!" said the magistrate, with an air of painful astonishment; +"that was your only answer to all the prayers and commands of your +husband? What! you refused to give him the least information? It is +neither probable nor possible." + +"It is the truth, sir." + +"Well, but, after all, madame, what have you done with the young ladies +that were entrusted to your care?" + +"I can tell you nothing about it, sir. If I would not answer my poor +husband, I certainly will not answer any one else." + +"Well, sir," resumed Dagobert, "was I wrong? An honest, excellent woman +like that, who was always full of good sense and affection, to talk in +this way--is it natural? I repeat to you, sir that it is the work of her +confessor; act against him promptly and decidedly, we shall soon know +all, and my poor children will be restored to me." + +"Madame," continued the commissary, without being able to repress a +certain degree of emotion, "I am about to speak to you very severely. My +duty obliges me to do so. This affair becomes so serious and +complicated, that I must instantly commence judicial proceedings on the +subject. Yon acknowledge that these young ladies have been left in your +charge, and that you cannot produce them. Now, listen to me: if you +refuse to give any explanation in the matter, it is you alone that will +be accused of their disappearance. I shall be obliged, though with great +regret, to take you into custody." + +"Me!" cried Frances, with the utmost alarm. + +"Her!" exclaimed Dagobert; "never! It is her confessor that I accuse, not +my poor wife. Take her into custody, indeed!" He ran towards her, as if +he would protect her. + +"It is too late, sir," said the commissary. "You have made your charge +for the abduction of these two young ladies. According to your wife's +own declaration, she alone is compromised up to this point. I must take +her before the Public Prosecutor, who will decide what course to pursue." + +"And I say, sir," cried Dagobert, in a menacing tone, "that my wife shall +not stir from this room." + +"Sir," said the commissary coolly, "I can appreciate your feelings; but, +in the interest of justice, I would beg you not to oppose a necessary +measure--a measure which, moreover, in ten minutes it would be quite +impossible for you to prevent." + +These words, spoken with calmness, recalled the soldier to himself. +"But, sir," said he, "I do not accuse my wife."' + +"Never mind, my dear--do not think of me!" said Frances, with the +angelic resignation of a martyr. "The Lord is still pleased to try me +sorely; but I am His unworthy servant, and must gratefully resign myself +to His will. Let them arrest me, if they choose; I will say no more in +prison than I have said already on the subject of those poor children." + +"But, sir," cried Dagobert, "you see that my wife is out of her head. You +cannot arrest her." + +"There is no charge, proof, or indication against the other person whom +you accuse, and whose character should be his protection. If I take your +wife, she may perhaps be restored to you after a preliminary examination. +I regret," added the commissary, in a tone of pity, "to have to execute +such a mission, at the very moment when your son's arrest--" + +"What!" cried Dagobert, looking with speechless astonishment at his wife +and Mother Bunch; "what does he say? my son?" + +"You were not then aware of it? Oh, sir, a thousand pardons!" said the +magistrate, with painful emotion. "It is distressing to make you such a +communication." + +"My son!" repeated Dagobert, pressing his two hands to his forehead. "My +son! arrested!" + +"For a political offence of no great moment," said the commissary. + +"Oh! this is too much. All comes on me at once!" cried the soldier, +falling overpowered into a chair, and hiding his face with his hands. + +After a touching farewell, during which, in spite of her terror, Frances +remained faithful to the vow she had made to the Abbe Dubois--Dagobert, +who had refused to give evidence against his wife, was left leaning upon +a table, exhausted by contending emotions, and could not help explaining: +"Yesterday, I had with me my wife, my son, my two poor orphans--and now-- +I am alone--alone!" + +The moment he pronounced these words, in a despairing tone, a mild sad +voice was heard close behind him, saying timidly: "M. Dagobert, I am +here; if you will allow me, I will remain and wait upon you." + +It was Mother Bunch! + +Trusting that the reader's sympathy is with the old soldier thus left +desolate, with Agricola in his prison, Adrienne in hers, the madhouse, +and Rose and Blanche Simon in theirs, the nunnery; we hasten to assure +him (or her, as the case may be), that not only will their future steps +be traced, but the dark machinations of the Jesuits, and the thrilling +scenes in which new characters will perform their varied parts, pervaded +by the watching spirit of the Wandering Jew, will be revealed in Part +Second of this work, entitled: THE CHASTISEMENT. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wandering Jew, V3, by Eugene Sue + diff --git a/old/es03v10.zip b/old/es03v10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6dbbe4f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/es03v10.zip diff --git a/old/es03v11.txt b/old/es03v11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..792ed6b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/es03v11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7148 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wandering Jew v3, by Eugene Sue +#3 in our series by Eugene Sue + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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The Examination + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +A FEMALE JESUIT. + +During the preceding scenes which occurred in the Pompadour rotunda, +occupied by Miss de Cardoville, other events took place in the residence +of the Princess Saint-Dizier. The elegance and sumptuousness of the +former dwelling presented a strong contrast to the gloomy interior of the +latter, the first floor of which was inhabited by the princess, for the +plan of the ground floor rendered it only fit for giving parties; and, +for a long time past, Madame de Saint-Dizier had renounced all worldly +splendors. The gravity of her domestics, all aged and dressed in black; +the profound silence which reigned in her abode, where everything was +spoken, if it could be called speaking, in an undertone; and the almost +monastic regularity and order of this immense mansion, communicated to +everything around the princess a sad and chilling character. A man of +the world, who joined great courage to rare independence of spirit, +speaking of the princess (to whom Adrienne de Cardoville went, according +to her expression, to fight a pitched battle), said of her as follows: +"In order to avoid having Madame de Saint-Dizier for an enemy, I, who am +neither bashful nor cowardly, have, for the first time in my life, been +both a noodle and a coward." This man spoke sincerely. But Madame de +Saint-Dizier had not all at once arrived at this high degree of +importance. + +Some words are necessary for the purpose of exhibiting distinctly some +phases in the life of this dangerous and implacable woman who, by her +affiliation with the Order of Jesuits, had acquired an occult and +formidable power. For there is something even more menacing than a +Jesuit: it is a Jesuits; and, when one has seen certain circles, it +becomes evident that there exist, unhappily, many of those affiliated, +who, more or less, uniformly dress (for the lay members of the Order call +themselves "Jesuits of the short robe"). + +Madame de Saint-Dizier, once very beautiful, had been, during the last +years of the Empire, and the early years of the Restoration, one of the +most fashionable women of Paris, of a stirring, active, adventurous, and +commanding spirit, of cold heart, but lively imagination. She was +greatly given to amorous adventures, not from tenderness of heart, but +from a passion for intrigue, which she loved as men love play--for the +sake of the emotions it excites. Unhappily, such had always been the +blindness or the carelessness of her husband, the Prince of Saint-Dizier +(eldest brother of the Count of Rennepont and Duke of Cardoville, father +of Adrienne), that during his life he had never said one word that could +make it be thought that he suspected the actions of his wife. Attaching +herself to Napoleon, to dig a mine under the feet of the Colossus, that +design at least afforded emotions sufficient to gratify the humor of the +most insatiable. During some time, all went well. The princess was +beautiful and spirited, dexterous and false, perfidious and seductive. +She was surrounded by fanatical adorers, upon whom she played off a kind +of ferocious coquetry, to induce them to run their heads into grave +conspiracies. They hoped to resuscitate the Fonder party, and carried on +a very active secret correspondence with some influential personages +abroad, well known for their hatred against the emperor and France. +Hence arose her first epistolary relations with the Marquis d'Aigrigny, +then colonel in the Russian service and aide-de-camp to General Moreau. +But one day all these petty intrigues were discovered. Many knights of +Madame de Saint-Dizier were sent to Vincennes; but the emperor, who might +have punished her terribly, contented himself with exiling the princess +to one of her estates near Dunkirk. + +Upon the Restoration, the persecutions which Madame de Saint-Dizier had +suffered for the Good Cause were entered to her credit, and she acquired +even then very considerable influence, in spite of the lightness of her +behavior. The Marquis d'Aigrigny, having entered the military service of +France, remained there. He was handsome, and of fashionable manners and +address. He had corresponded and conspired with the princess, without +knowing her; and these circumstances necessarily led to a close +connection between them. + +Excessive self-love, a taste for exciting pleasures, aspirations of +hatred, pride, and lordliness, a species of evil sympathy, the perfidious +attraction of which brings together perverse natures without mingling +them, had made of the princess and the Marquis accomplices rather than +lovers. This connection, based upon selfish and bitter feelings, and +upon the support which two characters of this dangerous temper could lend +to each other against a world in which their spirit of intrigue, of +gallantry, and of contempt had made them many enemies, this connection +endured till the moment when, after his duel with General Simon, the +Marquis entered a religious house, without any one understanding the +cause of his unexpected and sudden resolution. + +The princess, having not yet heard the hour of her conversion strike, +continued to whirl round the vortex of the world with a greedy, jealous, +and hateful ardor, for she saw that the last years of her beauty were +dying out. + +An estimate of the character of this woman may be formed from the +following fact: + +Still very agreeable, she wished to close her worldly and volatile career +with some brilliant and final triumph, as a great actress knows the +proper time to withdraw from the stage so as to leave regrets behind. +Desirous of offering up this final incense to her own vanity, the +princess skillfully selected her victims. She spied out in the world a +young couple who idolized each other; and, by dint of cunning and +address, she succeeded in taking away the lover from his mistress, a +charming woman of eighteen, by whom he was adored. This triumph being +achieved, Madame Saint-Dizier retired from the fashionable world in the +full blaze of her exploit. After many long conversations with the Abbe- +Marquis d'Aigrigny, who had become a renowned preacher, she departed +suddenly from Paris, and spent two years upon her estate near Dunkirk, to +which she took only one of her female attendants, viz., Mrs. Grivois. + +When the princess afterwards returned to Paris, it was impossible to +recognize the frivolous, intriguing, and dissipated woman she had +formerly been. The metamorphosis was as complete as it was extraordinary +and even startling. Saint-Dizier House, heretofore open to the banquets +and festivals of every kind of pleasure, became gloomily silent and +austere. Instead of the world of elegance and fashion, the princess now +received in her mansion only women of ostentatious piety, and men of +consequence, who were remarkably exemplary by the extravagant rigor of +their religious and monarchial principles. Above all, she drew around +her several noted members of the higher orders of the clergy. She was +appointed patroness of a body of religious females. She had her own +confessor, chaplin, almoner, and even spiritual director; but this last +performed his functions in partibus. The Marquis-Abbe d'Aigrigny +continued in reality to be her spiritual guide; and it is almost +unnecessary to say that for a long time past their mutual relations as to +flirting had entirely ceased. + +This sudden and complete conversion of a gay and distinguished woman, +especially as it was loudly trumpeted forth, struck the greater number of +persons with wonder and respect. Others, more discerning, only smiled. + +A single anecdote, from amongst a thousand, will suffice to show the +alarming influence and power which the princess had acquired since her +affiliation with the Jesuits. This anecdote will also exhibit the deep, +vindictive, and pitiless character of this woman, whom Adrienne de +Cardoville had so imprudently made herself ready to brave. + +Amongst the persons who smiled more or less at the conversion of Madame +de Saint-Dizier were the young and charming couple whom she had so +cruelly disunited before she quitted forever the scenes of revelry in +which she had lived. The young couple became more impassioned and +devoted to each other than ever; they were reconciled and married, after +the passing storm which had hurled them asunder; and they indulged in no +other vengeance against the author of their temporary infelicity than +that of mildly jesting at the pious conversion of the woman who had done +them so much injury. + +Some time after, a terrible fatality overtook the loving pair. The +husband, until then blindly unsuspicious, was suddenly inflamed by +anonymous communications. A dreadful rupture ensued, and the young wife +perished. + +As for the husband, certain vague rumors, far from distinct, yet pregnant +with secret meanings, perfidiously contrived, and a thousand times more +detestable than formal accusations, which can, at least, be met and +destroyed, were strewn about him with so much perseverance, with a skill +so diabolical, and by means and ways so very various, that his best +friends, by little and little, withdrew themselves from him, thus +yielding to the slow, irresistible influence of that incessant whispering +and buzzing, confused as indistinct, amounting to some such results as +this-- + +"Well! you know!" says one. + +"No!" replies another. + +"People say very vile things about him." + +"Do they? really! What then?" + +"I don't know! Bad reports! Rumors grievously affecting his honor!" + +"The deuce! That's very serious. It accounts for the coldness with +which he is now everywhere received!" + +"I shall avoid him in future!" + +"So will I," etc. + +Such is the world, that very often nothing more than groundless surmises +are necessary to brand a man whose very, happiness may have incurred +envy. So it was with the gentleman of whom we speak. The unfortunate +man, seeing the void around him extending itself,--feeling (so to speak) +the earth crumbling from beneath his feet, knew not where to find or +grasp the impalpable enemy whose blows he felt; for not once had the idea +occurred to him of suspecting the princess, whom he had not seen since +his adventure with her. Anxiously desiring to learn why he was so much +shunned and despised, he at length sought an explanation from an old +friend; but he received only a disdainfully evasive answer; at which, +being exasperated, he demanded satisfaction. His adversary replied--"If +you can find two persons of our acquaintance, I will fight you!" The +unhappy man could not find one! + +Finally, forsaken by all, without having ever obtained an explanation of +the reason for forsaking him--suffering keenly for the fate of the wife +whom he had lost, he became mad with grief, rage, and despair, and killed +himself. + +On the day of his death, Madame de Saint-Dizier remarked that it was fit +and necessary that one who had lived so shamefully should come to an +equally shameful end, and that he who had so long jested at all laws, +human and divine, could not seemly otherwise terminate his wretched life +than by perpetrating a last crime--suicide! And the friends of Madame de +Saint-Dizier hawked about and everywhere repeated these terrible words +with a contrite air, as if beatified and convinced! But this was not +all. Along with chastisements there were rewards. + +Observant people remarked that the favorites of the religious clan of +Madame de Saint-Dizier rose to high distinction with singular rapidity. +The virtuous young men, such as were religiously attentive to tiresome +sermons, were married to rich orphans of the Sacred Heart Convents, who +were held in reserve for the purpose; poor young girls, who, learning too +late what it is to have a pious husband selected and imposed upon them by +a set of devotees, often expiated by very bitter tears the deceitful +favor of thus being admitted into a world of hypocrisy and falsehood, in +which they found themselves strangers without support, crushed by it if +they dared to complain of the marriages to which they had been condemned. + +In the parlor of Madame de Saint-Dizier were appointed prefects, +colonels, treasurers, deputies, academicians, bishops and peers of the +realm, from whom nothing more was required in return for the all-powerful +support bestowed upon them, but to wear a pious gloss, sometimes publicly +take the communion, swear furious war against everything impious or +revolutionary,--and above all, correspond confidentially upon "different +subjects of his choosing" with the Abbe d'Aigrigny,--an amusement, +moreover, which was very agreeable; for the abbe was the most amiable man +in the world, the most witty, and above all, the most obliging. The +following is an historical fact, which requires the bitter and vengeful +irony of Moliere or Pascal to do it justice. + +During the last year of the Restoration, there was one of the mighty +dignitaries of the court a firm and independent man, who did not make +profession (as the holy fathers call it), that is, who did not +communicate at the altar. The splendor amid which he moved was +calculated to give the weight of a very injurious example to his +indifference. The Abbe-Marquis d'Aigrigny was therefore despatched to +him; and he knowing the honorable and elevated character of the non- +communicant, thought that if he could only bring him to profess by any +means (whatever the means might be) the effect would be what was desired. +Like a man of intellect, the abbe prized the dogma but cheaply himself. +He only spoke of the suitableness of the step, and of the highly salutary +example which the resolution to adopt it would afford to the public. + +"M. Abbe," replied the person sought to be influenced, "I have a greater +respect for religion than you have. I should consider it an infamous +mockery to go to the communion table without feeling the proper +conviction." + +"Nonsense! you inflexible man! you frowning Alcestes," said the Marquis- +Abbe, smiling slyly. "Your profits and your scruples will go together, +believe me, by listening to me. In short, we shall manage to make it a +BLANK COMMUNION for you; for after all, what is it that we ask?--only the +APPEARANCE!" + +Now, a BLANK COMMUNION means breaking an unconsecrated wafer! + +The Abbe-Marquis retired with his offers, which were rejected with +indignation;--but then, the refractory man was dismissed from his place +at court. This was but a single isolated fact. Woe to all who found +themselves opposed to the interest and principles of Madame de Saint- +Dizier or her friends! Sooner or later, directly or indirectly, they +felt themselves cruelly stabbed, generally immediately--some in their +dearest connections, others in their credit, some in their honor; others +in their official functions; and all by secret action, noiseless, +continuous, and latent, in time becoming a terrible and mysterious +dissolvent, which invisibly undermined reputations, fortunes, positions +the most solidly established, until the moment when all sunk forever into +the abyss, amid the surprise and terror of the beholders. + +It will now be conceived how under the Restoration the Princess de Saint- +Dizier had become singularly influential and formidable. At the time of +the Revolution of July (1830) she had "rallied," and, strangely enough, +by preserving some relation of family and of society with persons +faithful to the worship of decayed monarchy, people still attributed to +the princess much influence and power. Let us mention, at last, that the +Prince of Saint-Dizier, having died many years since, his very large +personal fortune had descended to his younger brother, the father of +Adrienne de Cardoville; and he, having died eighteen months ago, that +young lady found herself to be the last and only representative of that +branch of the family of the Renneponts. + +The Princess of Saint-Dizier awaited her niece in a very large room, +rendered dismal by its gloomy green damask. The chairs, etc., covered +with similar stuff, were of carved ebony. Paintings of scriptural and +other religious subjects, and an ivory crucifix thrown up from a +background of black velvet, contributed to give the apartment a +lugubrious and austere aspect. + +Madame de Saint-Dizier, seated before a large desk, has just finished +putting the seals on numerous letters; for she had a very extensive and +very diversified correspondence. Though then aged about forty-five she +was still fair. Advancing years had somewhat thickened her shape, which +formerly of distinguished elegance, was still sufficiently handsome to be +seen to advantage under the straight folds of her black dress. Her +headdress, very simple, decorated with gray ribbons, allowed her fair +sleek hair to be seen arranged in broad bands. At first look, people +were struck with her dignified though unassuming appearance; and would +have vainly tried to discover in her physiognomy, now marked with +repentant calmness, any trace of the agitations of her past life. So +naturally grave and reserved was she, that people could not believe her +the heroine of so many intrigues and adventures and gallantry. Moreover, +if by chance she ever heard any lightness of conversation, her +countenance, since she had come to believe herself a kind of "mother in +the Church," immediately expressed candid but grieved astonishment, which +soon changed into an air of offended chastity and disdainful pity. + +For the rest, her smile, when requisite, was still full of grace, and +even of the seducing and resistless sweetness of seeming good-nature. +Her large blue eyes, on fit occasions, became affectionate and caressing. +But if any one dared to wound or ruffle her pride, gainsay her orders or +harm her interests, her countenance, usually placid and serene, betrayed +a cold but implacable malignity. Mrs. Grivois entered the cabinet, +holding in her hand Florine's report of the manner in which Adrienne de +Cardoville had spent the morning. + +Mrs. Grivois had been about twenty years in the service of Madame de +Saint-Dizier. She knew everything that a lady's-maid could or ought to +have known of her mistress in the days of her sowing of wild (being a +lady) flowers. Was it from choice that the princess had still retained +about her person this so-well-informed witness of the numerous follies of +her youth? The world was kept in ignorance of the motive; but one thing +was evident, viz., that Mrs. Grivois enjoyed great privileges under the +princess, and was treated by her rather as a companion than as a tiring- +woman. + +"Here are Florine's notes, madame," said Mrs. Grivois, giving the paper +to the princess. + +"I will examine them presently," said the princess; "but tell me, is my +niece coming? Pending the conference at which she is to be present, you +will conduct into her house a person who will soon be here, to inquire +for you by my desire." + +"Well, madame?" + +"This man will make an exact inventory of everything contained in +Adrienne's residence. You will take care that nothing is omitted; for +that is of very great importance." + +"Yes, madame. But should Georgette or Hebe make any opposition?" + +"There is no fear; the man charged with taking the inventory is of such a +stamp, that when they know him, they will not dare to oppose either his +making the inventory, or his other steps. It will be necessary not to +fail, as you go along with him, to be careful to obtain certain +peculiarities destined to confirm the reports which you have spread for +some time past." + +"Do not have the slightest doubt, madame. The reports have all the +consistency of truth." + +"Very soon, then, this Adrienne, so insolent and so haughty, will be +crushed and compelled to pray for pardon; and from me!" + +An old footman opened both of the folding doors, and announced the +Marquis-Abbe d'Aigrigny. + +"If Miss de Cardoville present herself," said the princess to Mrs. +Grivois, "you will request her to wait an instant." + +"Yes, madame," said the duenna, going out with the servant. + +Madame de Saint-Dizier and D'Aigrigny remained alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +THE PLOT. + +The Abbe-Marquis d'Aigrigny, as the reader has easily divined, was the +person already seen in the Rue du Milieu-des-Ursins; whence he had +departed from Rome, in which city he had remained about three months. +The marquis was dressed in deep mourning, but with his usual elegance. +His was not a priestly robe; his black coat, and his waistcoat, tightly +gathered in at the waist, set off to great advantage the elegance of his +figure: his black cassimere pantaloons disguised his feet, exactly fitted +with lace boots, brilliantly polished. And all traces of his tonsure +disappeared in the midst of the slight baldness which whitened slightly +the back part of his head. There was nothing in his entire costume, or +aspect, that revealed the priest, except, perhaps, the entire absence of +beard, the more remarkable upon so manly a countenance. His chin, newly +shaved, rested on a large and elevated black cravat, tied with a military +ostentation which reminded the beholder, that this abbe-marquis this +celebrated preacher--now one of the most active and influential chiefs of +his order, had commanded a regiment of hussars upon the Restoration, and +had fought in aid of the Russians against France. + +Returned to Paris only this morning, the marquis had not seen the +princess since his mother, the Dowager Marchioness d'Aigrigny, had died +near Dunkirk, upon an estate belonging to Madame de Saint-Dizier, while +vainly calling for her son to alleviate her last moments; but the order +to which M. d'Aigrigny had thought fit to sacrifice the most sacred +feeling and duties of nature, having been suddenly transmitted to him +from Rome, he had immediately set out for that city; though not without +hesitation, which was remarked and denounced by Rodin; for the love of M. +d'Aigrigny for his mother had been the only pure feeling that had +invariably distinguished his life. + +When the servant had discreetly withdrawn with Mrs. Grivois, the marquis +quickly approached the princess, held out his hand to her, and said with +a voice of emotion: + +"Herminia, have you not concealed something in your letters. In her last +moments did not my mother curse me?" + +"No, no, Frederick, compose yourself. She had anxiously desired your +presence. Her ideas soon became confused. But in her delirium it was +still for you that she called." + +"Yes," said the marquis, bitterly; "her maternal instinct doubtless +assured her that my presence could have saved her life." + +"I entreat you to banish these sad recollections," said the princess, +"this misfortune is irreparable." + +"Tell me for the last time, truly, did not my absence cruelly affect my +mother? Had she no suspicion that a more imperious duty called me +elsewhere?" + +"No, no, I assure you. Even when her reason was shaken, she believed +that you had not yet had time to come to her. All the sad details which +I wrote to you upon this painful subject are strictly true. Again, I beg +of you to compose yourself." + +"Yes, my conscience ought to be easy; for I have fulfilled my duty in +sacrificing my mother. Yet I have never been able to arrive at that +complete detachment from natural affection, which is commanded to us by +those awful words: 'He who hates not his father and his mother, even +with the soul, cannot be my disciple.'"[9] + +"Doubtless, Frederick," said the princess, "these renunciations are +painful. But, in return, what influence, what power!" + +"It is true," said the marquis, after a moment's silence. "What ought +not to be sacrificed in order to reign in secret over the all-powerful of +the earth, who lord it in full day? This journey to Rome, from which I +have just returned, has given me a new idea of our formidable power. +For, Herminia, it is Rome which is the culminating point, overlooking the +fairest and broadest quarters of the globe, made so by custom, by +tradition, or by faith. Thence can our workings be embraced in their +full extent. It is an uncommon view to see from its height the myriad +tools, whose personality is continually absorbed into the immovable +personality of our Order. What a might we possess! Verily, I am always +swayed with admiration, aye, almost frightened, that man once thinks, +wishes, believes, and acts as he alone lists, until, soon ours, he +becomes but a human shell; its kernel of intelligence, mind, reason, +conscience, and free will, shrivelled within him, dry and withered by the +habit of mutely, fearingly bowing under mysterious tasks, which shatter +and slay everything spontaneous in the human soul! Then do we infuse in +such spiritless clay, speechless, cold, and motionless as corpses, the +breath of our Order, and, lo! the dry bones stand up and walk, acting and +executing, though only within the limits which are circled round them +evermore. Thus do they become mere limbs of the gigantic trunk, whose +impulses they mechanically carry out, while ignorant of the design, like +the stonecutter who shapes out a stone, unaware if it be for cathedral or +bagnio." + +In so speaking, the marquis's features wore an incredible air of proud +and domineering haughtiness. + +"Oh, yes! this power is great, most great," observed the princess; "and +the more formidable because it moves in a mysterious way over minds and +consciences." + +"Aye, Herminia," said the marquis: "I have had under my command a +magnificent regiment. Very often have I experienced the energetic and +exquisite enjoyment of command! At my word my squadrons put themselves +in action; bugles blared, my officers, glittering in golden embroidery, +galloped everywhere to repeat my orders: all my brave soldiers, burning +with courage, and cicatrized by battles, obeyed my signal; and I felt +proud and strong, holding as I did (so to speak) in my hands, the force +and valor of each and all combined into one being of resistless strength +and invincible intrepidity,--of all of which I was as much the master, as +I mastered the rage and fire of my war-horse! Aye! that was greatness. +But now, in spite of the misfortunes which have befallen our Order, I +feel myself a thousand times more ready for action, more authoritative, +more strong and more daring, at the head of our mute and black-robed +militia, who only think and wish, or move and obey, mechanically, +according to my will. On a sign they scatter over the surface of the +globe, gliding stealthily into households under the guise of confessing +the wife or teaching the children, into family affairs by hearing the +dying avowals,--up to the throne through the quaking conscience of a +credulous crowned coward;--aye, even to the chair of the Pope himself, +living manifesto of the Godhead though he is, by the services rendered +him or imposed by him. Is not this secret rule, made to kindle or glut +the wildest ambition, as it reaches from the cradle to the grave, from +the laborer's hovel to the royal palace, from palace to the papal chair? +What career in all the world presents such splendid openings? what +unutterable scorn ought I not feel for the bright butterfly life of early +days, when we made so many envy us? Don't you remember, Herminia?" he +added, with a bitter smile. + +"You are right, perfectly right, Frederick!" replied the princess +quickly. "How little soever we may reflect, with what contempt do we not +think upon the past! I, like you, often compare it with the present; and +then what satisfaction I feel at having followed your counsels! For, +indeed, without you, I should have played the miserable and ridiculous +part which a woman always plays in her decline from having been beautiful +and surrounded by admirers. What could I have done at this hour? I +should have vainly striven to retain around me a selfish and ungrateful +world of gross and shameful men, who court women only that they may turn +them to the service of their passions, or to the gratification of their +vanity. It is true that there would have remained to me the resource of +what is called keeping an agreeable house for all others,--yes, in order +to entertain them, be visited by a crowd of the indifferent, to afford +opportunities of meeting to amorous young couples, who, following each +other from parlor to parlor, come not to your house but for the purpose +of being together; a very pretty pleasure, truly, that of harboring those +blooming, laughing, amorous youths, who look upon the luxury and +brilliancy with which one surrounds them, as if they were their due upon +bonds to minister to their pleasure, and to their impudent amours!" + +Her words were so stinging, and such hateful envy sat upon her face, that +she betrayed the intense bitterness of her regrets in spite of herself. + +"NO, no; thanks to you, Frederick," she continued, "After a last and +brilliant triumph, I broke forever with the world, which would soon have +abandoned me, though I was so long its idol and its queen. And I have +only changed my queendom. Instead of the dissipated men whom I ruled +with a frivolity superior to their own, I now find myself surrounded by +men of high consideration, of redoubtable character, and all-powerful, +many of whom have governed the state; to them I have devoted myself, as +they have devoted themselves to me! It is now only that I really enjoy +that happiness, of which I ever dreamt. I have taken an active part and +have exercised a powerful influence over the greatest interests of the +world; I have been initiated into the most important secrets; I have been +able to strike, surely, whosoever scoffed at or hated me; and I have been +able to elevate beyond their hopes those who have served or respected and +obeyed me." + +"There are some madmen, and some so blind, that they imagine that we are +struck down, because we ourselves have had to struggle against some +misfortunes," said M. d'Aigrigny, disdainfully, "as if we were not, above +all others, securely founded, organized for every struggle, and drew not +from our very struggles a new and more vigorous activity. Doubtless the +times are bad. But they will become better; and, as you know, it is +nearly certain that in a few days (the 13th of February), we shall have +at our disposal a means of action sufficiently powerful for re- +establishing our influence which has been temporarily shaken." + +"Yes, doubtless this affair of the medals is most important," said the +princess. + +"I should not have made so much haste to return hither," resumed the +abbe, "were it not to act in what will be, perhaps, for us, a very great +event." + +"But you are aware of the fatality which has once again overthrown +projects the most laboriously conceived and matured?" + +"Yes; immediately on arriving I saw Rodin." + +"And he told you--?" + +"The inconceivable arrival of the Indian, and of General Simon's +daughters at Cardoville Castle, after a double shipwreck, which threw +them upon the coast of Picardy; though it was deemed certain that the +young girls were at Leipsic, and the Indian in Java. Precautions were so +well taken, indeed," added the marquis in vexation, "that one would think +an invisible power protects this family." + +"Happily, Rodin is a man of resources and activity, resumed the princess. +"He came here last night, and we had a long conversation." + +"And the result of your consultation is excellent," added the marquis: +"the old soldier is to be kept out of the way for two days; and his +wife's confessor has been posted; the rest will proceed of itself. To- +morrow, the girls need no longer be feared; and the Indian remains at +Cardoville, wounded dangerously. We have plenty of time for action." + +"But that is not all," continued the princess: "there are still, without +reckoning my niece, two persons, who, for our interests, ought not to be +found in Paris on the 13th of February." + +"Yes, M. Hardy: but his most dear and intimate friend has betrayed him; +for, by means of that friend, we have drawn M. Hardy into the South, +whence it is impossible for him to return before a month. As for that +miserable vagabond workman, surnamed 'Sleepinbuff!'" + +"Fie!" exclaimed the princess, with an expression of outraged modesty. + +"That man," resumed the marquis, "is no longer an object of inquietude. +Lastly, Gabriel, upon whom our vast and certain hope reposes, will not be +left by himself for a single minute until the great day. Everything +seems, you see, to promise success; indeed, more so than ever; and it is +necessary to obtain this success at any price. It is for us a question +of life or death; for, in returning, I stopped at Forli, and there saw +the Duke d'Orbano. His influence over the mind of the king is all- +powerful--indeed, absolute; and he has completely prepossessed the royal +mind. It is with the duke alone, then, that it is possible to treat." + +"Well?" + +"D'Orbano has gained strength; and he can, I know it, assure to us a +legal existence, highly protected, in the dominions of his master, with +full charge of popular education. Thanks to such advantages, after two +or three years in that country we shall become so deeply rooted, that +this very Duke d'Orbano, in his turn, will have to solicit support and +protection from us. But at present he has everything in his power; and +he puts an absolute condition upon his services." + +"What is the condition?" + +"Five millions down; and an annual pension of a hundred thousand francs." + +"It is very much." + +"Nay, but little if it be considered that our foot once planted in that +country, we shall promptly repossess ourselves of that sum, which, after +all, is scarcely an eighth part of what the affair of the medals, if +happily brought to an issue, ought to assure to the Order." + +"Yes, nearly forty millions," said the princess, thoughtfully. + +"And again: these five millions that Orbano demands will be but an +advance. They will be returned to us in voluntary gifts, by reason even +of the increase of influence that we shall acquire from the education of +children; through whom we have their families. And yet, the fools +hesitate! those who govern see not, that in doing our own business, we do +theirs also;--that in abandoning education to us (which is what we wish +for above all things) we mold the people into that mute and quiet +obedience, that servile and brutal submission, which assures the repose +of states by the immobility of the mind. They don't reflect that most of +the upper and middle classes fear and hate us; don't understand that +(when we have persuaded the mass that their wretchedness is an eternal +law, that sufferers must give up hope of relief, that it is a crime to +sigh for welfare in this world, since the crown of glory on high is the +only reward for misery here), then the stupefied people will resignedly +wallow in the mire, all their impatient aspirations for better days +smothered, and the volcano-blasts blown aside, which made the future of +rulers so horrid and so dark? They see not, in truth, that this blind +and passive faith which we demand from the mass, furnishes their rulers +with a bridle with which both to conduct and curb them; whilst we ask +from the happy of the world only some appearances which ought, if they +had only the knowledge of their own corruption, to give an increased +stimulant to their pleasures. + +"It signifies not," resumed the princess; "since, as you say, a great day +is at hand, bringing nearly forty millions, of which the Order can become +possessed by the happy success of the affair of the medals. We certainly +can attempt very great things. Like a lever in your hands, such a means +of action would be of incalculable power, in times during which all men +buy and sell one another." + +"And then," resumed M. d'Aigrigny, with a thoughtful air, "here the +reaction continues: the example of France is everything. In Austria and +Holland we can rarely maintain ourselves; while the resources of the +Order diminish from day to day. We have arrived at a crisis; but it can +be made to prolong itself. Thus, thanks to the immense resource of the +affair of the medals, we can not only brave all eventualities, but we can +again powerfully establish ourselves, thanks to the offer of the Duke +d'Orbano, which we accept; and then, from that inassailable centre, our +radiations will be incalculable. Ah! the 13th of February!" added M. +d'Aigrigny, after a moment of silence, and shaking his head: "the 13th of +February, a date perhaps fortunate and famous for our power as that of +the council which gave to us (so to say) a new life!" + +"And nothing must be spared." resumed the princess, "in order to succeed +at any price. Of the six persons whom we have to fear, five are or will +be out of any condition to hurt us. There remains then only my niece; +and you know that I have waited but for your arrival in order to take my +last resolution. All my preparations are completed; and this very +morning we will begin to act." + +"Have your suspicions increased since your last letter?" + +"Yes, I am certain that she is more instructed than she wishes to appear; +and if so, we shall not have a more dangerous enemy." + +"Such has always been my opinion. Thus it is six month: since I advised +you to take in all cases the measures which you have adopted, in order to +provoke, on her part, that demand of emancipation, the consequences of +which now render quite easy that which would have been impossible without +it." + +"At last," said the princess, with an expression of joy, hateful and +bitter, "this indomitable spirit will be broken. I am at length about to +be avenged of the many insolent sarcasms which I have been compelled to +swallow, lest I should awaken her suspicions. I! I to have borne so much +till now! for this Adrienne has made it her business (imprudent as she +is!) to irritate me against herself!" + +"Whosoever offends you, offends me; you know it," said D'Aigrigny, "my +hatreds are yours." + +"And you yourself!" said the princess, "how many times have you been the +butt of her poignant irony!" + +"My instincts seldom deceive me. I am certain that this young girl may +become a dangerous enemy for us," said the marquis, with a voice +painfully broken into short monosyllables. + +"And, therefore, it is necessary that she may be rendered incapable of +exciting further fear," responded Madame de Saint-Dizier, fixedly +regarding the marquis. + +"Have you seen Dr. Baleinier, and the sub-guardian, M. Tripeaud?" asked +he. + +"They will be here this morning. I have informed them of everything." + +"Did you find them well disposed to act against her?" + +"Perfectly so--and the best is, Adrienne does not at all suspect the +doctor, who has known how, up to a certain point, to preserve her +confidence. Moreover, a circumstance which appears to me inexplicable +has come to our aid." + +"What do you allude to?" + +"This morning, Mrs. Grivois went, according to my orders, to remind +Adrienne that I expected her at noon, upon important business. As she +approached the pavilion, Mrs. Grivois saw, or thought she saw, Adrienne +come in by the little garden-gate." + +"What do you tell me? Is it possible? Is there any positive proof of it?" +cried the marquis. + +"Till now, there is no other proof than the spontaneous declaration of +Mrs. Grivois: but whilst I think of it," said the Princess, taking up a +paper that lay before her, "here is the report, which, every day, one of +Adrienne's women makes to me." + +"The one that Rodin succeeded in introducing into your niece's service?" + +"The same; as this creature is entirely in Rodin's hands, she has +hitherto answered our purpose very well. In this report, we shall +perhaps find the confirmation of what Mrs. Grivois affirms she saw." + +Hardly had the Princess glanced at the note, than she exclaimed almost in +terror: "What do I see? Why, Adrienne is a very demon!" + +"What now?" + +"The bailiff at Cardoville, having written to my niece to ask her +recommendation, informed her at the same time of the stay of the Indian +prince at the castle. She knows that he is her relation, and has just +written to her old drawing-master, Norval, to set out post with Eastern +dresses, and bring Prince Djalma hither--the man that must be kept away +from Paris at any cost." + +The marquis grew pale, and said to Mme. de Saint-Dizier: "If this be not +merely one of her whims, the eagerness she displays in sending for this +relation hither, proves that she knows more than you even suspected. She +is 'posted' on the affair of the medals. Have a care--she may ruin all." + +"In that case," said the princess, resolutely, "there is no room to +hesitate. We must carry things further than we thought, and make an end +this very morning." + +"Yes, though it is almost impossible." + +"Nay, all is possible. The doctor and M. Tripeaud are ours," said the +princess, hastily. + +"Though I am as sure as you are of the doctor, or of M. Tripeaud, under +present circumstances, we must not touch on the question of acting--which +will be sure to frighten them at first--until after our interview with +your niece. It will he easy, notwithstanding her cleverness, to find out +her armor's defect. If our suspicions should be realized--if she is +really informed of what it would be so dangerous for her to know--then we +must have no scruples, and above all no delay. This very day must see +all set at rest. The time for wavering is past." + +'Have you been able to send for the person agreed on?" asked the +princess, after a moment's silence. + +"He was to be here at noon. He cannot be long." + +"I thought this room would do very well for our purpose. It is separated +from the smaller parlor by a curtain only behind which your man may be +stationed." + +"Capital!" + +"Is he a man to be depended on?" + +"Quite so--we have often employed him in similar matters. He is as +skillful as discreet." + +At this moment a low knock was heard at the door. + +"Come in," said the princess. + +"Dr. Baleinier wishes to know if her Highness the Princess can receive +him," asked the valet-de-chambre. + +"Certainly. Beg him to walk in." + +"There is also a gentleman that M. l'Abbe appointed to be here at noon, +by whose orders I have left him waiting in the oratory." + +"'Tis the person in question," said the marquis to the princess. "We +must have him in first. 'Twould be useless for Dr. Baleinier to see him +at present." + +"Show this person in first," said the princess; "next when I ring the +bell, you will beg Dr. Baleinier to walk this way: and, if Baron Tripeaud +should call, you will bring him here also. After that, I am at home to +no one, except Mdlle. Adrienne." The servant went out. + +[9] With regard to this text, a commentary upon it will be found in the +Constitutions of the Jesuits, as follows: "In order that the habit of +language may come to the help of the sentiments, it is wise not to say, +'I have parents, or I have brothers;' but to say, 'I had parents; I had +brothers.'"--General Examination, p. 29; Constitutions.--Paulin; 1843. +Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +ADRIENNE'S ENEMIES. + +The Princess de Saint-Dizier's valet soon returned, showing in a little, +pale man, dressed in black, and wearing spectacles. He carried under his +left arm a long black morocco writing-case. + +The princess said to this man: "M. l'Abbe, I suppose, has already +informed you of what is to be done?" + +"Yes, your highness," said the man in a faint, shrill, piping voice, +making at the same time a low bow. + +"Shall you be conveniently placed in this room?" asked the princess, +conducting him to the adjoining apartment, which was only separated from +the other by a curtain hung before a doorway. + +"I shall do nicely here, your highness," answered the man in spectacles, +with a second and still lower bow. + +"In that case, sir, please to step in here; I will let you know when it +is time." + +"I shall wait your highness's order." + +"And pray remember my instructions," added the marquis, as he unfastened +the loops of the curtain. + +"You may be perfectly tranquil, M. l'Abbe." The heavy drapery, as it +fell, completely concealed the man in spectacles. + +The princess touched the bell; some moments after, the door opened, and +the servant announced a very important personage in this work. + +Dr. Baleinier was about fifty years of age, middling size, rather plump, +with a full shining, ruddy countenance. His gray hair, very smooth and +rather long, parted by a straight line in the middle, fell flat over his +temples. He had retained the fashion of wearing short, black silk +breeches, perhaps because he had a well-formed leg; his garters were +fastened with small, golden buckles, as were his shoes of polished +morocco leather; his coat, waistcoat, and cravat were black, which gave +him rather a clerical appearance; his sleek, white hand was half hidden +beneath a cambric ruffle, very closely plaited; on the whole, the gravity +of his costume did not seem to exclude a shade of foppery. + +His face was acute and smiling; his small gray eye announced rare +penetration and sagacity. A man of the world and a man of pleasure, a +delicate epicure, witty in conversation, polite to obsequiousness, +supple, adroit, insinuating, Baleinier was one of the oldest favorites of +the congregational set of the Princess de Saint-Dizier. Thanks to this +powerful support, its cause unknown, the doctor, who had been long +neglected, in spite of real skill and incontestable merit, found himself, +under the Restoration, suddenly provided with two medical sinecures most +valuable, and soon after with numerous patients. We must add, that, once +under the patronage of the princess, the doctor began scrupulously to +observe his religious duties; he communicated once a week, with great +publicity, at the high mass in Saint Thomas Aquinas Church. + +At the year's end, a certain class of patients, led by the example and +enthusiasm of Madame de Saint-Dizier's followers, would have no other +physician than Doctor Baleinier, and his practice was now increased to an +extraordinary degree. It may be conceived how important it was for the +order, to have amongst its "plain clothes members" one of the most +popular practitioners of Paris. + +A doctor has in some sort a priesthood of his own. Admitted at all hours +to the most secret intimacy of families, he knows, guesses, and is able +to effect much. Like the priest, in short, he has the ear of the sick +and the dying. Now, when he who cares for the health of the body, and he +who takes charge of the health of the soul, understands each other, and +render mutual aid for the advancement of a common interest, there is +nothing (with certain exceptions), which they may not extract from the +weakness and fears of a sick man at the last gasp--not for themselves +(the laws forbid it)--but for third parties belonging more or less to the +very convenient class of men of straw. Doctor Baleinier was therefore +one of the most active and valuable assistant members of the Paris +Jesuits. + +When he entered the room, he hastened to kiss the princess's hand with +the most finished gallantry. + +"Always punctual, my dear M. Baleinier." + +"Always eager and happy to attend to your highness's orders." Then +turning towards the marquis, whose hand he pressed cordially, he added: +"Here we have you then at last. Do you know, that three months' absence +appears very long to your friends?" + +"The time is as long to the absent as to those who remain, my dear +doctor. Well! here is the great day. Mdlle. de Cardoville is coming." + +"I am not quite easy," said the princess; "suppose she had any suspicion? +" + +"That's impossible," said M. Baleinier; "we are the best friends in the +world. You know, that Mdlle. Adrienne has always had great confidence in +me. The day before yesterday, we laughed a good deal, and as I made some +observations to her, as usual, on her eccentric mode of life, and on the +singular state of excitement in which I sometimes found her--" + +"M. Baleinier never fails to insist on these circumstances, in appearance +so insignificant," said Madame de Saint-Dizier to the marquis with a +meaning look. + +"They are indeed very essential," replied the other. + +"Mdlle. Adrienne answered my observations," resumed the doctor, "by +laughing at me in the gayest and most witty manner; for I must confess, +that this young lady has one of the aptest and most accomplished minds I +know." + +"Doctor, doctor!" said Madame de Saint-Dizier, "no weakness!" + +Instead of answering immediately, M. Baleinier drew his gold snuff-box +from his waistcoat pocket, opened it, and took slowly a pinch of snuff, +looking all the time at the princess with so significant an air, that she +appeared quite reassured. "Weakness, madame?" observed he at last, +brushing some grains of snuff from his shirt-front with his plump white +hand; "did I not have the honor of volunteering to extricate you from +this embarrassment?" + +"And you are the only person in the world that could render us this +important service," said D'Aigrigny. + +"Your highness sees, therefore," resumed the doctor, "that I am not +likely to show any weakness. I perfectly understand the responsibility +of what I undertake; but such immense interests, you told me, were at +stake--" + +"Yes," said D'Aigrigny, "interests of the first consequence." + +"Therefore I did not hesitate," proceeded M. Baleinier; "and you need not +be at all uneasy. As a man of taste, accustomed to good society, allow +me to render homage to the charming qualities of Mdlle. Adrienne; when +the time for action comes, you will find me quite as willing to do my +work." + +"Perhaps, that moment may be nearer than we thought," said Madame de +Saint-Dizier, exchanging a glance with D'Aigrigny. + +"I am, and will be, always ready," said the doctor. "I answer for +everything that concerns myself. I wish I could be as tranquil on every +other point." + +"Is not your asylum still as fashionable--as an asylum can well be?" +asked Madame de Saint-Dizier, with a half smile. + +"On the contrary. I might almost complain of having too many boarders. +It is not that. But, whilst we are waiting for Mdlle. Adrienne, I will +mention another subject, which only relates to her indirectly, for it +concerns the person who, bought Cardoville Manor, one Madame de la +Sainte-Colombe, who has taken me for a doctor, thanks to Rodin's able +management." + +"True," said D'Aigrigny; "Rodin wrote to me on the subject--but without +entering into details." + +"These are the facts," resumed the doctor. "This Madame de la Sainte- +Colombe, who was at first considered easy enough to lead, has shown +herself very refractory on the head of her conversion. Two spiritual +directors have already renounced the task of saving her soul. In +despair, Rodin unslipped little Philippon on her. He is adroit, +tenacious, and above all patient in the extreme--the very man that was +wanted. When I got Madame de la Sainte-Colombe for a patient, Philippon +asked my aid, which he was naturally entitled to. We agreed upon our +plan. I was not to appear to know him the least in the world; and he was +to keep me informed of the variations in the moral state of his penitent, +so that I might be able, by the use of very inoffensive medicines--for +there was nothing dangerous in the illness--to keep my patient in +alternate states of improvement or the reverse, according as her director +had reason to be satisfied or displeased--so that he might say to her: +'You see, madame, you are in the good way! Spiritual grace acts upon +your bodily health, and you are already better. If, on the contrary, you +fall back into evil courses, you feel immediately some physical ail, +which is a certain proof of the powerful influence of faith, not only on +the soul, but on the body also?'" + +"It is doubtless painful," said D'Aigrigny, with perfect coolness, "to be +obliged to have recourse to such means, to rescue perverse souls from +perdition--but we must needs proportion our modes of action to the +intelligence and the character of the individual." + +"By-the-bye, the princess knows," resumed the doctor, "that I have often +pursued this plan at St. Mary's Convent, to the great advantage of the +soul's peace and health of some of our patients, being extremely +innocent. These alternations never exceed the difference between "pretty +well," and "not quite so well." Yet small as are the variations, they +act most efficaciously on certain minds. It was thus with Madame de la +Sainte-Colombe. She was in such a fair way of recovery, both moral and +physical, that Rodin thought he might get Philippon to advise the country +for his penitent, fearing that Paris air might occasion a relapse. This +advice, added to the desire the woman had to play 'lady of the parish,' +induced her to buy Cardoville Manor, a good investment in any respect. +But yesterday, unfortunate Philippon came to tell me, that Madame de la +Sainte-Colombe was about to have an awful relapse--moral, of course--for +her physical health is now desperately good. The said relapse appears to +have been occasioned by an interview she has had with one Jacques +Dumoulin, whom they tell me you know, my dear abbe; he has introduced +himself to her, nobody can guess how." + +"This Jacques Dumoulin," said the marquis, with disgust, "is one of those +men, that we employ while we despise. He is a writer full of gall, envy, +and hate, qualities that give him a certain unmercifully cutting +eloquence. We pay him largely to attack our enemies, though it is often +painful to see principles we respect defended by such a pen. For this +wretch lives like a vagabond--is constantly in taverns--almost always +intoxicated--but, I must own, his power of abuse is inexhaustible, and he +is well versed in the most abstruse theological controversies, so that he +is sometimes very useful to us." + +"Well! though Madame de la Sainte-Colombe is hard upon sixty, it appears +that Dumoulin has matrimonial views on her large fortune. You will do +well to inform Rodin, so that he may be on his guard against the dark +designs of this rascal. I really beg a thousand pardons for having so +long occupied you with such a paltry affair--but, talking of St. Mary's +Convent," added the doctor, addressing the princess, "may I take the +liberty of asking if your highness has been there lately?" + +The princess exchanged a rapid glance with D'Aigrigny, and answered: "Oh, +let me see! Yes, I was there about a week ago." + +"You will find great changes then. The wall that was next to my asylum +has been taken down, for they are going to build anew wing and a chapel, +the old one being too small. I must say in praise of Mdlle. Adrienne" +continued the doctor with a singular smile aside, "that she promised me a +copy of one of Raphael's Madonnas for this chapel." + +"Really? very appropriate!" said the princess. "But here it is almost +noon, and M. Tripeaud has not come." + +"He is the deputy-guardian of Mdlle. de Cardoville, whose property he has +managed, as former agent of the count-duke," said the marquis, with +evident anxiety, "and his presence here is absolutely indispensable. It +is greatly to be desired that his coming should precede that of Mdlle. +de Cardoville, who may he here at any moment." + +"It is unlucky that his portrait will not do as well," said the doctor, +smiling maliciously, and drawing a small pamphlet from his pocket. + +"What is that, doctor?" asked the princess. + +"One of those anonymous sheets, which are published from time to time. +It is called the 'Scourge,' and Baron Tripeaud's portrait is drawn with +such faithfulness, that it ceases to be satire. It is really quite life- +like; you have only to listen. The sketch is entitled: 'TYPE OF THE LYNX +SPECIES.' + +"'The Baron Tripeaud.--This man, who is as basely humble towards his +social superiors, as he is insolent and coarse to those who depend upon +him--is the living, frightful incarnation of the worst pardon of the +moneyed and commercial aristocracy--one of the rich and cynical +speculators, without heart, faith or conscience, who would speculate for +a rise or fall on the death of his mother, if the death of his mother +could influence the price of stocks. + +"'Such persons have all the odious vices of men suddenly elevated, not +like those whom honest and patient labor has nobly enriched, but like +those who owe their wealth to some blind caprice of fortune, or some +lucky cast of the net in the miry waters of stock-jobbing. + +"'Once up in the world, they hate the people--because the people remind +them of a mushroom origin of which they are ashamed. Without pity for +the dreadful misery of the masses, they ascribe it wholly to idleness or +debauchery. because this calumny forms an excuse for their barbarous +selfishness. + +"'And this is not all. On the strength of his well-filled safe, mounted +on his right of the candidate, Baron Tripeaud insults the poverty and +political disfranchisement-- + +"'Of the officer, who, after forty years of wars and hard service, is +just able to live on a scanty pension-- + +"'Of the magistrate, who has consumed his strength in the discharge of +stern and sad duties, and who is not better remunerated in his litter +days-- + +"'Of the learned man who has made his country illustrious by useful +labors; or the professor who has initiated entire generations in the +various branches of human knowledge-- + +"'Of the modest and virtuous country curate, the pure representative of +the gospel, in its charitable, fraternal, and democratic tendencies, etc. + +"'In such a state of things, how should our shoddy baron of in-dust-ry +not feel the most sovereign contempt for all that stupid mob of honest +folk, who, having given to their country their youth, their mature age, +their blood, their intelligence, their learning, see themselves deprived +of the rights which he enjoys, because he has gained a million by unfair +and illegal transactions? + +"'It is true, that your optimists say to these pariahs of civilization, +whose proud and noble poverty cannot be too much revered and honored: +"Buy an estate and you too may be electors and candidates!" + +"'But to come to the biography of our worthy baron--Andrew Tripeaud, the +son of an ostler, at a roadside inn '" + +At this instant the folding-doors were thrown open, and the valet +announced: "The Baron Tripeaud!" + +Dr. Baleinier put his pamphlet into his pocket, made the most cordial bow +to the financier, and even rose to give him his hand. The baron entered +the room, overwhelming every one with salutations. "I have the honor to +attend the orders of your highness the princess. She knows that she may +always count upon me." + +"I do indeed rely upon you, M. Tripeaud, and particularly under present +circumstances." + +"If the intentions of your highness the princess are still the same with +regard to Mdlle. de Cardoville--" + +"They are still the same, M. Tripeaud, and we meet to-day on that +subject." + +"Your highness may be assured of my concurrence, as, indeed, I have +already promised. I think that the greatest severity must at length be +employed, and that even if it were necessary." + +"That is also our opinion," said the marquis, hastily making a sign to +the princess, and glancing at the place where the man in spectacles was +hidden; "we are all perfectly in harmony. Still, we must not leave any +point doubtful, for the sake of the young lady herself, whose interests +alone guides us in this affair. We must draw out her sincerity by every +possible means." + +"Mademoiselle has just arrived from the summer-house and wishes to see +your highness," said the valet, again entering, after having knocked at +the door. + +"Say that I wait for her," answered the princess; "and now I am at home +to no one--without exception. You understand me; absolutely to no one." + +Thereupon, approaching the curtain behind which the man was concealed, +Mme. de Saint-Dizier gave him the cue--after which she returned to her +seat. + +It is singular, but during the short space which preceded Adrienne's +arrival, the different actors in this scene appeared uneasy and +embarrassed, as if they had a vague fear of her coming. In about a +minute, Mdlle. de Cardoville entered the presence of her aunt. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE SKIRMISH. + +On entering, Mdlle. de Cardoville threw down upon a chair the gray beaver +hat she had worn to cross the garden, and displayed her fine golden hair, +falling on either side of her face in long, light ringlets, and twisted +in a broad knot behind her head. She presented herself without boldness, +but with perfect ease: her countenance was gay and smiling; her large +black eyes appeared even more brilliant than usual. When she perceived +Abbe d'Aigrigny, she started in surprise, and her rosy lips were just +touched with a mocking smile. + +After nodding graciously to the doctor, she passed Baron Tripeaud by +without looking at him, and saluted the princess with stately obeisance, +in the most fashionable style. + +Though the walk and bearing of Mdlle. de Cardoville were extremely +elegant, and full of propriety and truly feminine grace, there was about +her an air of resolution and independence by no means common in women, +and particularly in girls of her age. Her movements, without being +abrupt, bore no traces of restraint, stiffness, or formality. They were +frank and free as her character, full of life, youth, and freshness; and +one could easily divine that so buoyant, straightforward, and decided a +nature had never been able to conform itself to the rules of an affected +rigor. + +Strangely enough, though he was a man of the world, a man of great +talent, a churchman distinguished for his eloquence, and, above all, a +person of influence and authority. Marquis d'Aigrigny experienced an +involuntary, incredible, almost painful uneasiness, in presence of +Adrienne de Cardoville. He--generally so much the master of himself, so +accustomed to exercise great power--who (in the name of his Order) had +often treated with crowned heads on the footing of an equal, felt himself +abashed and lowered in the presence of this girl, as remarkable for her +frankness as for her biting irony. Now, as men who are accustomed to +impose their will upon others generally hate those who, far from +submitting to their influence, hamper it and make sport of them, it was +no great degree of affection that the marquis bore towards the Princess +de Saint-Dizier's niece. + +For a long time past, contrary to his usual habit, he had ceased to try +upon Adrienne that fascinating address to which he had often owed an +irresistible charm; towards her he had become dry, curt, serious, taking +refuge in that icy sphere of haughty dignity and rigid austerity which +completely hid all those amiable qualities with which he was endowed and +of which, in general, he made such efficient use. Adrienne was much +amused at all this, and thereby showed her imprudence--for the most +vulgar motives often engender the most implacable hatreds. + +From these preliminary observations, the reader will understand the +divers sentiments and interests which animated the different actors in +the following scene. + +Madame de Saint-Dizier was seated in a large arm-chair by one side of the +hearth. Marquis d'Aigrigny was standing before the fire. Dr. Baleinier +seated near a bureau, was again turning over the leaves of Baron +Tripeaud's biography, whilst the baron appeared to be very attentively +examining one of the pictures of sacred subjects suspended from the wall. + +"You sent for me, aunt, to talk upon matters of importance?" said +Adrienne, breaking the silence which had reigned in the reception-room +since her entrance. + +"Yes, madame," answered the princess, with a cold and severe mien; "upon +matters of the gravest importance." + +"I am at your service, aunt. Perhaps we had better walk into your +library?" + +"It is not necessary. We can talk here." Then, addressing the marquis, +the doctor, and the baron, she said to them, "Pray, be seated, +gentlemen," and they all took their places round the table. + +"How can the subject of our interview interest these gentlemen, aunt?" +asked Mdlle. de Cardoville, with surprise. + +"These gentlemen are old family friends; all that concerns you must +interest them, and their advice ought to be heard and accepted by you +with respect." + +"I have no doubt, aunt, of the bosom friendship of M. d'Aigrigny for our +family: I have still less of the profound and disinterested devotion of +M. Tripeaud; M. Baleinier is one of my old friends; still, before +accepting these gentlemen as spectators, or, if you will, as confidants +of our interview, I wish to know what we are going to talk of before +them." + +"I thought that, among your many singular pretensions, you had at least +those of frankness and courage." + +"Really, aunt," said Adrienne, smiling with mock humility, "I have no +more pretensions to frankness and courage than you have to sincerity and +goodness. Let us admit, once for all, that we are what we are--without +pretension." + +"Be it so," said Madame de Saint-Dizier, in a dry tone; "I have long been +accustomed to the freaks of your independent spirit. I suppose, then, +that, courageous and frank as you say you are, you will not he afraid to +speak before such grave and respectable persons as these gentlemen what +you would speak to me alone?" + +"Is it a formal examination that I am to submit to? if so, upon what +subject?" + +"It is not an examination: but, as I have a right to watch over you, and +as you take advantage of my weak compliance with your caprices, I mean to +put an end to what has lasted too long, and tell you my irrevocable +resolutions for the future, in presence of friends of the family. And, +first, you have hitherto had a very false and imperfect notion of my +power over you." + +"I assure you, aunt, that I have never had any notion, true or false, on +the subject--for I have never even dreamt about it." + +"That is my own fault; for, instead of yielding to your fancies, I should +have made you sooner feel my authority; but the moment has come to submit +yourself; the severe censures of my friends have enlightened me in time. +Your character is self-willed, independent, stubborn; it must change-- +either by fair means or by force, understand me, it shall change." + +At these words, pronounced harshly before strangers, with a severity +which did not seem at all justified by circumstances, Adrienne tossed her +head proudly; but, restraining herself, she answered with a smile: "You +say, aunt, that I shall change. I should not be astonished at it. We +hear of such odd conversions." + +The princess bit her lips. + +"A sincere conversion can never be called odd, as you term it, madame," +said Abbe d'Aigrigny, coldly. "It is, on the contrary, meritorious, and +forms an excellent example." + +"Excellent?" answered Adrienne: "that depends! For instance, what if one +converts defects into vices?" + +"What do you mean, madame?" cried the princess. + +"I am speaking of myself, aunt; you reproach me of being independent and +resolute--suppose I were to become hypocritical and wicked? In truth, I +prefer keeping my dear little faults, which I love like spoiled children. +I know what I am; I do not know what I might be." + +"But you must acknowledge, Mdlle. Adrienne," said Baron Tripeaud, with a +self-conceited and sententious air, "that a conversion--" + +"I believe," said Adrienne, disdainfully, "that M. Tripeaud is well +versed in the conversion of all sorts of property into all sorts of +profit, by all sorts of means--but he knows nothing of this matter." + +"But, madame," resumed the financier, gathering courage from a glance of +the princess, "you forget that I have the honor to be your deputy +guardian, and that--" + +"It is true that M. Tripeaud has that honor," said Adrienne, with still +more haughtiness, and not even looking at the baron; "I could never tell +exactly why. But as it is not now the time to guess enigmas, I wish to +know, aunt, the object and the end of this meeting?" + +"You shall be satisfied, madame. I will explain myself in a very clear +and precise manner. You shall know the plan of conduct that you will +have henceforth to pursue; and if you refuse to submit thereto, with the +obedience and respect that is due to my orders, I shall at once see what +course to take." + +It is impossible to give an idea of the imperious tone and stern look of +the princess, as she pronounced these words which were calculated to +startle a girl, until now accustomed to live in a great measure as she +pleased: yet, contrary perhaps to the expectation of Madame de Saint- +Dizier, instead of answering impetuously, Adrienne looked her full in the +face, and said, laughing: "This is a perfect declaration of war. It's +becoming very amusing." + +"We are not talking of declarations of war," said the Abbe d'Aigrigny, +harshly, as if offended by the expressions of Mdlle. de Cardoville. + +"Now, M. l'Abbe!" returned Adrienne, "for an old colonel, you are really +too severe upon a jest!--you are so much indebted to 'war,' which gave +you a French regiment after fighting so long against France--in order to +learn, of course, the strength and the weakness of her enemies." + +On these words, which recalled painful remembrances, the marquis colored; +he was going to answer, but the princess exclaimed: "Really, madame, your +behavior is quite intolerable!" + +"Well, aunt, I acknowledge I was wrong. I ought not to have said this is +very amusing--for it is not so, at all; but it is at least very curious-- +and perhaps," added the young girl, after a moment's silence, "perhaps +very audacious and audacity pleases me. As we are upon this subject, and +you talk of a plan of conduct to which I must conform myself, under pain +of (interrupting herself)--under pain of what, I should like to know, +aunt?" + +"You shall know. Proceed." + +"I will, in the presence of these gentlemen, also declare, in a very +plain and precise manner, the determination that I have come to. As it +required some time to prepare for its execution, I have not spoken of it +sooner, for you know I am not in the habit of saying, 'I will do so and +so!' but I do it." + +"Certainly; and it is just this habit of culpable independence of which +you must break yourself." + +"Well, I had intended only to inform you of my determination at a later +period; but I cannot resist the pleasure of doing so to-day, you seem so +well disposed to hear and receive it. Still, I would beg of you to speak +first: it may just so happen, that our views are precisely the same." + +"I like better to see you thus," said the princess. "I acknowledge at +least the courage of your pride, and your defiance of all authority. You +speak of audacity--yours is indeed great." + +"I am at least decided to do that which others in their weakness dare +not--but which I dare. This, I hope, is clear and precise." + +"Very clear, very precise," said the princess, exchanging a glance of +satisfaction with the other actors in this scene. "The positions being +thus established, matters will be much simplified. I have only to give +you notice, in your own interest, that this is a very serious affair-- +much more so than you imagine--and that the only way to dispose me to +indulgence, is to substitute, for the habitual arrogance and irony of +your language, the modesty and respect becoming a young lady." + +Adrienne smiled, but made no reply. Some moments of silence, and some +rapid glances exchanged between the princess and her three friends, +showed that these encounters, more or less brilliant in themselves, were +to be followed by a serious combat. + +Mdlle. de Cardoville had too much penetration and sagacity, not to +remark, that the Princess de Saint-Dizier attached the greatest +importance to this decisive interview. But she could not understand how +her aunt could hope to impose her absolute will upon her: the threat of +coercive measures appearing with reason a mere ridiculous menace. Yet, +knowing the vindictive character of her aunt, the secret power at her +disposal, and the terrible vengeance she had sometimes exacted-- +reflecting, moreover, that men in the position of the marquis and the +doctor would not have come to attend this interview without some weighty +motive--the young lady paused for a moment before she plunged into the +strife. + +But soon, the very presentiment of some vague danger, far from weakening +her, gave her new courage to brave the worst, to exaggerate, if that were +possible, the independence of her ideas, and uphold, come what might, the +determination that she was about to signify to the Princess de Saint- +Dizier. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +THE REVOLT. + +"Madame," said the princess to Adrienne de Cardoville, in a cold, severe +tone, "I owe it to myself, as well as to these gentlemen, to +recapitulate, in a few words, the events that have taken place for some +time past. Six months ago, at the end of the mourning for your father, +you, being eighteen years old, asked for the management of your fortune, +and for emancipation from control. Unfortunately, I had the weakness to +consent. You quitted the house, and established yourself in the +extension, far from all superintendence. Then began a train of +expenditures, each one more extravagant than the last. Instead of being +satisfied with one or two waiting-women, taken from that class from which +they are generally selected, you chose governesses for lady-companions, +whom you dressed in the most ridiculous and costly fashion. It is true, +that, in the solitude of your pavilion, you yourself chose to wear, one +after another, costumes of different ages. Your foolish fancies and +unreasonable whims have been without end and without limit: not only have +you never fulfilled your religious duties, but you have actually had the +audacity to profane one of your rooms, by rearing in the centre of it a +species of pagan altar, on which is a group in marble representing a +youth and a girl"--the princess uttered these words as if they would burn +her lips--"a work of art, if you will, but a work in the highest degree +unsuitable to a person of your age. You pass whole days entirely +secluded in your pavilion, refusing to see any one; and Dr. Baleinier, +the only one of my friends in whom you seem to have retained some +confidence, having succeeded by much persuasion in gaining admittance, +has frequently found you in so very excited a state, that he has felt +seriously uneasy with regard to your health. You have always insisted on +going out alone, without rendering any account of your actions to any +one. You have taken delight in opposing, in every possible way, your +will to my authority. Is all this true?" + +"The picture of my past is not much flattered," said Adrienne; smiling, +"but it is not altogether unlike." + +"So you admit, madame," said Abbe d'Aigrigny, laying stress on his words, +"that all the facts stated by your aunt are scrupulously true?" + +Every eye was turned towards Adrienne, as if her answer would be of +extreme importance. + +"Yes, M. l'Abbe," said she; "I live openly enough to render this question +superfluous." + +"These facts are therefore admitted," said Abbe d'Aigrigny, turning +towards the doctor and the baron. + +"These facts are completely established," said M. Tripeaud, in a pompous +voice. + +"Will you tell me, aunt," asked Adrienne, "what is the good of this long +preamble?" + +"This long preamble, madame," resumed the princess with dignity, "exposes +the past in order to justify the future." + +"Really, aunt, such mysterious proceedings are a little in the style of +the answers of the Cumaean Sybil. They must be intended to cover +something formidable." + +"Perhaps, mademoiselle--for to certain characters nothing is so +formidable as duty and obedience. Your character is one of those +inclined to revolt--" + +"I freely acknowledge it, aunt--and it will always he so, until duty and +obedience come to me in a shape that I can respect and love." + +"Whether you respect and love my orders or not, madame," said the +princess, in a curt, harsh voice, "you will, from to-day, from this +moment, learn to submit blindly and absolutely to my will. In one word, +you will do nothing without my permission: it is necessary, I insist upon +it, and so I am determined it shall be." + +Adrienne looked at her aunt for a second, and then burst into so free and +sonorous a laugh, that it rang for quite a time through the vast +apartment. D'Aigrigny and Baron Tripeaud started in indignation. The +princess looked angrily at her niece. The doctor raised his eyes to +heaven, and clasped his hands over his waistcoat with a sanctimonious +sigh. + +"Madame," said Abbe d'Aigrigny, "such fits of laughter are highly +unbecoming. Your aunt's words are serious, and deserve a different +reception." + +"Oh, sir!" said Adrienne, recovering herself, "it is not my fault if I +laugh. How can I maintain my gravity, when I hear my aunt talking of +blind submission to her orders? Is the swallow, accustomed to fly +upwards and enjoy the sunshine, fledged to live with the mole in +darkness?" + +At this answer, D'Aigrigny affected to stare at the other members of this +kind of family council with blank astonishment. + +"A swallow? what does she mean?" asked the abbe of the baron making a +sign, which the latter understood. + +"I do not know," answered Tripeaud, staring in his turn at the doctor. +"She spoke too of a mole. It 'is quite unheard-of--incomprehensible." + +"And so, madame," said the princess, appearing to share in the surprise +of the others, "this is the reply that you make to me?" + +"Certainly," answered Adrienne, astonished herself that they should +pretend not to understand the simile of which she had made use, +accustomed as she was to speak in figurative language. + +"Come, come, madame," said Dr. Baleinier, smiling good-humoredly, "we +must be indulgent. My dear Mdlle. Adrienne has naturally so uncommon and +excitable a nature! She is really the most charming mad woman I know; I +have told her so a hundred times, in my position of an old friend, which +allows such freedom." + +"I can conceive that your attachment makes you indulgent--but it is not +the less true, doctor," said D'Aigrigny, as if reproaching him for taking +the part of Mdlle. de Cardoville, "that such answers to serious questions +are most extravagant." + +"The evil is, that mademoiselle does not seem to comprehend the serious +nature of this conference," said the princess, harshly. "She will +perhaps understand it better when I have given her my orders." + +"Let us hear these orders, aunt," replied Adrienne as, seated on the +other side of the table, opposite to the princess, she leaned her small, +dimpled chin in the hollow of her pretty hand, with an air of graceful +mockery, charming to behold. + +"From to-morrow forward," resumed the princess, "you will quit the +summer-house which you at present inhabit, you will discharge your women, +and come and occupy two rooms in this house, to which there will be no +access except through my apartment. You will never go out alone. You +will accompany me to the services of the church. Your emancipation +terminates, in consequence of your prodigality duly proven. I will take +charge of all your expenses, even to the ordering of your clothes, so +that you may be properly and modestly dressed. Until your majority +(which will be indefinitely postponed, by means of the intervention of a +family-council), you will have no money at your own disposal. Such is my +resolution." + +"And certainly your resolution can only be applauded, madame," said Baron +Tripeaud; "we can but encourage you to show the greatest firmness, for +such disorders must have an end." + +"It is more than time to put a stop to such scandal," added the abbe. + +"Eccentricity and exaltation of temperament--may excuse many things," +ventured to observe the smooth-tongued doctor. + +"No doubt," replied the princess dryly to Baleinier, who played his part +to perfection; "but then, doctor, the requisite measures must be taken +with such characters." + +Madame de Saint-Dizier had expressed herself in a firm and precise +manner; she appeared convinced of the possibility of putting her threats +into execution. M. Tripeaud and D'Aigrigny had just now given their full +consent to the words of the princess. Adrienne began to perceive that +something very serious was in contemplation, and her gayety was at once +replaced by an air of bitter irony and offended independence. + +She rose abruptly, and colored a little; her rosy nostrils dilated, her +eyes flashed fire, and, as she raised her head, she gently shook the +fine, wavy golden hair, with a movement of pride that was natural to her. +After a moment's silence, she said to her aunt in a cutting tone: "You +have spoken of the past, madame; I also will speak a few words concerning +it, since you force me to do so, though I may regret the necessity. I +quitted your dwelling, because it was impossible for me to live longer in +this atmosphere of dark hypocrisy and black treachery." + +"Madame," said D'Aigrigny, "such words are as violent as they are +unreasonable." + +"Since you interrupt me, sir," said Adrienne, hastily, as she fixed her +eyes on the abbe, "tell me what examples did I meet with in my aunt's +house?" + +"Excellent, examples, madame." + +"Excellent, sir? Was it because I saw there, every day, her conversion +keep pace with your own?" + +"Madame, you forget yourself!" cried the princess, becoming pale with +rage. + +"Madame, I do not forget--I remember, like other people; that is all. I +had no relation of whom I could ask an asylum. I wished to live alone. +I wished to enjoy my revenues--because I chose rather to spend them +myself, than to see them wasted by M. Tripeaud." + +"Madame," cried the baron, "I cannot imagine how you can presume--" + +"Sir!" said Adrienne, reducing him to silence by a gesture of +overwhelming lordliness, "I speak of you--not to you. I wished to spend +my income," she continued, "according to my own tastes. I embellished +the retreat that I had chosen. Instead of ugly, ill-taught servants, I +selected girls, pretty and well brought up, though poor. Their education +forbade their being subjected to any humiliating servitude, though I have +endeavored to make their situation easy and agreeable. They do not serve +me, but render me service--I pay them, but I am obliged to them--nice +distinctions that your highness will not understand, I know. Instead of +seeing them badly or ungracefully dressed, I have given them clothes that +suit their charming faces well, because I like whatever is young and +fair. Whether I dress myself one way or the other, concerns only my +looking-glass. I go out alone, because I like to follow my fancy. I do +not go to mass--but, if I had still a mother, I would explain to her my +devotions, and she would kiss me none the less tenderly. It is true, +that I have raised a pagan altar to youth and beauty, because I adore God +in all that He has made fair and good, noble and grand--because, morn and +evening, my heart repeats the fervent and sincere prayer: 'Thanks, my +Creator! thanks!'--Your highness says that M. Baleinier has often found +me in my solitude, a prey to a strange excitement: yes, it is true; for +it is then that, escaping in thought from all that renders the present +odious and painful to me, I find refuge in the future--it is then that +magical horizons spread far before me--it is then that such splendid +visions appear to me, as make me feel myself rapt in a sublime and +heavenly ecstasy, as if I no longer appertained to earth!" + +As Adrienne pronounced these last words with enthusiasm, her countenance +appeared transfigured, so resplendent did it become. In that moment, she +had lost sight of all that surrounded her. + +"It is then," she resumed, with spirit soaring higher and higher, "that I +breathe a pure air, reviving and free--yes, free--above all, free--and so +salubrious, so grateful to the soul!--Yes, instead of seeing my sisters +painfully submit to a selfish, humiliating, brutal dominion, which +entails upon them the seductive vices of slavery, the graceful fraud, the +enchanting perfidy, the caressing falsehood, the contemptuous +resignation, the hateful obedience--I behold them, my noble sisters! +worthy and sincere because they are free, faithful and devoted because +they have liberty to choose--neither imperious not base, because they +have no master to govern or to flatter--cherished and respected, because +they can withdraw from a disloyal hand their hand, loyally bestowed. Oh, +my sisters! my sisters! I feel it. These are not merely consoling +visions--they are sacred hopes." + +Carried away, in spite of herself, by the excitement of her feelings, +Adrienne paused for a moment, in order to return to earth; she did not +perceive that the other actors in this scene were looking at each other +with an air of delight. + +"What she says there is excellent," murmured the doctor in the princess's +ear, next to whom he was seated; "were she in league with us, she would +not speak differently." + +"It is only by excessive harshness," added D'Aigrigny, "that we shall +bring her to the desired point." + +But it seemed as if the vexed emotion of Adrienne had been dissipated by +the contact of the generous sentiments she had just uttered. Addressing +Baleinier with a smile, she said: "I must own, doctor, that there is +nothing more ridiculous, than to yield to the current of certain +thoughts, in the presence of persons incapable of understanding them. +This would give you a fine opportunity to make game of that exaltation of +mind for which you sometimes reproach me. To let myself be carried away +by transports at so serious a moment!--for, verily, the matter in hand +seems to be serious. But you see, good M. Baleinier, when an idea comes +into my head, I can no more help following it out, than I could refrain +from running after butterflies when I was a little girl." + +"And heaven only knows whither these brilliant butterflies of all +colors," said M. Baleinier, smiling with an air of paternal indulgence, +"that are passing through your brain, are likely to lead you. Oh, +madcap, when will she be as reasonable as she is charming?" + +"This very instant, my good doctor," replied Adrienne. "I am about to +cast off my reveries for realities, and speak plain and positive +language, as you shall hear." + +Upon which, addressing her aunt, she continued: "You have imparted to me +your resolution, madame; I will now tell you mine. Within a week, I +shall quit the pavilion that I inhabit, for a house which I have arranged +to my taste, where I shall live after my own fashion. I have neither +father nor mother, and I owe no account of my actions to any but myself." + +"Upon my word, mademoiselle," said the princess, shrugging her shoulders, +"you talk nonsense. You forget that society has inalienable moral +rights, which we are bound to enforce. And we shall not neglect them, +depend upon it." + +"So madame, it is you, and M. d'Aigrigny, and M. Tripeaud, that represent +the morality of society! This appears to me very fine. Is it because M. +Tripeaud has considered (I must acknowledge it) my fortune as his own? +Is it because--" + +"Now, really, madame," began Tripeaud. + +"In good time, madame," said Adrienne to her aunt, without noticing the +baron, "as the occasion offers, I shall have to ask you for explanations +with regard to certain interests, which have hitherto, I think, been +concealed from me." + +These words of Adrienne made D'Aigrigny and the princess start, and then +rapidly exchange a glance of uneasiness and anxiety. Adrienne did not +seem to perceive it, but thus continued: "To have done with your demands, +madame, here is my final resolve. I shall live where and how I please. +I think that, if I were a man, no one would impose on me, at my age, the +harsh and humiliating guardianship you have in view, for living as I have +lived till now--honestly, freely, and generously, in the sight of all." + +"This idea is absurd! is madness!" cried the princess. "To wish to live +thus alone, is to carry immorality and immodesty to their utmost limits." + +"If so, madame," said Adrienne, "what opinion must you entertain of so +many poor girls, orphans like myself, who live alone and free, as I wish +to live? They have not received, as I have, a refined education, +calculated to raise the soul, and purify the heart. They have not +wealth, as I have, to protect them from the evil temptations of misery; +and yet they live honestly and proudly in their distress." + +"Vice and virtue do not exist for such tag-rag vermin!" cried Baron +Tripeaud, with an expression of anger and hideous disdain. + +"Madame, you would turn away a lackey, that would venture to speak thus +before you," said Adrienne to her aunt, unable to conceal her disgust, +"and yet you oblige me to listen to such speeches!" + +The Marquis d'Aigrigny touched M. Tripeaud with his knee under the table, +to remind him that he must not express himself in the princess's parlors +in the same manner as he would in the lobbies of the Exchange. To repair +the baron's coarseness, the abbe thus continued: "There is no comparison, +mademoiselle, between people of the class you name, and a young lady of +your rank." + +"For a Catholic priest, M. l'Abbe, that distinction is not very +Christian," replied Adrienne. + +"I know the purport of my words, madame," answered the abbe, dryly; +"besides the independent life that you wish to lead, in opposition to all +reason, may tend to very serious consequences for you. Your family may +one day wish to see you married--" + +"I will spare my family that trouble, sir, if I marry at all, I will +choose for myself, which also appears to me reasonable enough. But, in +truth, I am very little tempted by that heavy chain, which selfishness +and brutality rivet for ever about our necks." + +"It is indecent, madame," said the princess, to speak so lightly of such +an institution." + +"Before you, especially, madame, I beg pardon for having shocked your +highness! You fear that my independent planner of living will frighten +away all wooers; but that is another reason for persisting in my +independence, for I detest wooers. I only hope that they may have the +very worst opinion of me, and there is no better means of effecting that +object, than to appear to live as they live themselves. I rely upon my +whims, my follies, my sweet faults, to preserve me from the annoyance of +any matrimonial hunting." + +"You will he quite satisfied on that head," resumed Madame de Saint- +Dizier, "if unfortunately the report should gain credit, that you have +carried the forgetfulness of all duty and decency, to such a height, as +to return home at eight o'clock in the morning. So I am told is the case +but I cannot bring myself to believe such an enormity." + +"You are wrong, madame, for it is quite true." + +"So you confess it?" cried the princess. + +"I confess all that I do, madame. I came home this morning at eight +o'clock." + +"You hear Gentlemen?" ejaculated the princess. + +"Oh!" said M. d'Aigrigny, in a bass voice. + +"Ah!" said the baron, in a treble key. + +"Oh!" muttered the doctor, with a deep sigh. + +On hearing these lamentable exclamations, Adrienne seemed about to speak, +perhaps to justify herself; but her lip speedily assumed a curl of +contempt, which showed that she disdained to stoop to any explanation. + +"So it is true," said the princess. "Oh, wretched girl, you had +accustomed me to be astonished at nothing; but, nevertheless, I doubted +the possibility of such conduct. It required your impudent and audacious +reply to convince the of the fact." + +"Madame, lying has always appeared to be more impudent than to speak the +truth." + +"And where had you been, madame? and for what?" + +"Madame," said Adrienne, interrupting her aunt, "I never speak false--but +neither do I speak more than I choose; and then again, it were cowardice +to defend myself from a revolting accusation. Let us say no more about +it: your importunities on this head will be altogether vain. To resume: +you wish to impose upon me a harsh and humiliating restraint; I wish to +quit the house I inhabit, to go and live where I please, at my own fancy. +Which of us two will yield, remains to be seen. Now for another matter: +this mansion belongs to me! As I am about to leave it, I am indifferent +whether you continue to live here or not; but the ground floor is +uninhabited. It contains, besides the reception-rooms, two complete sets +of apartments; I have let them for some time." + +"Indeed!" said the princess, looking at D'Aigrigny with intense surprise. +"And to whom," she added ironically, "have you disposed of them?" + +"To three members of my family." + +"What does all this mean?" said Mme. de Saint-Dizier, more and more +astonished. + +"It means, madame, that I wish to offer a generous hospitality to a young +Indian prince, my kinsman on my mother's side. He will arrive in two or +three days, and I wish to have the rooms ready to receive him." + +"You hear, gentlemen?" said D'Aigrigny to the doctor and Tripeaud, with +an affectation of profound stupor. + +"It surpasses all one could imagine!" exclaimed the baron. + +"Alas!" observed the doctor, benignantly, "the impulse is generous in +itself--but the mad little head crops out?" + +"Excellent!" said the princes. "I cannot prevent you madame, from +announcing the most extravagant designs but it is presumable that you +will not stop short in so fair a path. Is that all?" + +"Not quite, your highness. I learned this morning, that two of my female +relations, also on my mother's side--poor children of fifteen--orphan +daughters of Marshal Simon arrived yesterday from a long journey, and are +now with the wife of the brave soldier who brought them to France from +the depths of Siberia." + +At these words from Adrienne, D'Aigrigny and the princess could not help +starting suddenly, and staring at each other with affright, so far were +they from expecting that Mdlle. de Cardoville was informed of the coming +of Marshal Simon's daughters. This discovery was like a thunder-clap to +them. + +"You are no doubt astonished at seeing me so well informed," said +Adrienne; "fortunately, before I have done, I hope to astonish you still +more. But to return to these daughters of Marshal Simon: your highness +will understand, that it is impossible for me to leave them in charge of +the good people who have afforded them a temporary asylum. Though this +family is honest, and hard-working, it is not the place for them. I +shall go and fetch them hither, and lodge them in apartments on the +ground-floor, along with the soldier's wife, who will do very well to +take care of them." + +Upon these words, D'Aigrigny and the baron looked at each other, and the +baron exclaimed: "Decidedly, she's out of her head." + +Without a word to Tripeaud, Adrienne continued: "Marshal Simon cannot +fail to arrive at Paris shortly. Your highness perceives how pleasant it +will he, to be able to present his daughters to him, and prove that they +have been treated as they deserve. To-morrow morning I shall send for +milliners and mantua makers, so that they may want for nothing. I desire +their surprised father, on his return, to find them every way beautiful. +They are pretty, I am told, as angels--but I will endeavor to make little +Cupids of them." + +"At last, madame, you must have finished?" said the princess, in a +sardonic and deeply irritated tone, whilst D'Aigrigny, calm and cold in +appearance, could hardly dissemble his mental anguish. + +"Try again!" continued the princess, addressing Adrienne. "Are there no +more relations that you wish to add to this interesting family-group? +Really a queen could not act with more magnificence." + +"Right! I wish to give my family a royal reception--such as is due to the +son of a king, and the daughters of the Duke de Ligny. It is well to +unite other luxuries of life with the luxury of the hospitable heart." + +"The maxim is assuredly generous," said the princess, becoming more and +more agitated; "it is only a pity that you do not possess the mines of El +Dorado to make it practicable." + +"It was on the subject of a mine, said to be a rich one, that I also +wished to speak to your highness. Could I find a better opportunity? +Though my fortune is already considerable, it is nothing to what may come +to our family at any moment. You will perhaps excuse, therefore, what +you are pleased to call my royal prodigalities." + +D'Aigrigny's dilemma became momentarily more and more thorny. The affair +of the medals was so important, that he had concealed it even from Dr. +Baleinier, though he had called in his services to forward immense +interests. Neither had Tripeaud been informed of it, for the princess +believed that she had destroyed every vestige of those papers of +Adrienne's father, which might have put him on the scent of this +discovery. The abbe, therefore was not only greatly alarmed that Mdlle. +de Cardoville might be informed of this secret, but he trembled lest she +should divulge it. + +The princess, sharing the alarms of D'Aigrigny, interrupted her niece by +exclaiming: "Madame, there are certain family affairs which ought to be +kept secret, and, without exactly understanding to what you allude, I +must request you to change the subject." + +"What, madame! are we not here a family party? Is that not sufficiently +evident by the somewhat ungracious things that have been here said?" + +"No matter, madame! when affairs of interest are concerned, which are +more or less disputable, it is perfectly useless to speak of them without +the documents laid before every one." + +"And of what have we been speaking this hour, madame, if not of affairs +of interest? I really do not understand your surprise and +embarrassment." + +"I am neither surprised nor embarrassed, madame; but for the last two +hours, you have obliged me to listen to so many new and extravagant +things, that a little amaze is very permissible." + +"I beg your highness's pardon, but you are very much embarrassed," said +Adrienne, looking fixedly at her aunt, "and M. d'Aigrigny also--which +confirms certain suspicions that I have not had the time to clear up. +Have I then guessed rightly?" she added, after a pause. "We will see--" + +"Madame, I command you to be silent," cried the princess, no longer +mistress of herself. + +"Oh, madame!" said Adrienne, "for a person who has in general so much +command of her feelings, you compromise yourself strangely." + +Providence (as some will have it) came to the aid of the princess and the +Abbe d'Aigrigny at this critical juncture. A valet entered the room; his +countenance bore such marks of fright and agitation, that the princess +exclaimed as soon as she saw him: "Why, Dubois! what is the matter?" + +"I have to beg pardon, your highness, for interrupting you against your +express orders, but a police inspector demands to speak with you +instantly. He is below stairs, and the yard is full of policemen and +soldiers." + +Notwithstanding the profound surprise which this new incident occasioned +her, the princess, determining to profit by the opportunity thus +afforded, to concert prompt measures with D'Aigrigny on the subject of +Adrienne's threatened revelations, rose, and said to the abbe: "Will you +be so obliging as to accompany me, M. d'Aigrigny, for I do not know what +the presence of this commissary of police may signify." + +D'Aigrigny followed the speaker into the next room. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +TREACHERY. + +The Princess de Saint-Dizier, accompanied by D'Aigrigny, and followed by +the servants, stopped short in the next room to that in which had +remained Adrienne, Tripeaud and the doctor. + +"Where is the commissary?" asked the princess of the servant, who had +just before announced to her the arrival of that magistrate." + +"In the blue saloon, madame." + +"My compliments, and beg him to wait for me a few moments." + +The man bowed and withdrew. As soon as he was gone Madame de Saint- +Dizier approached hastily M. d'Aigrigny, whose countenance, usually firm +and haughty, was now pale and agitated. + +"You see," cried the princess in a hurried voice, "Adrienne knows all. +What shall we do?--what?" + +"I cannot tell," said the abbe, with a fixed and absent look. "This +disclosure is a terrible blow to us." + +"Is all, then, lost?" + +"There is only one means of safety," said M. d'Aigrigny;--"the doctor." + +"But how?" cried the princess. "So, sudden? this very day?" + +"Two hours hence, it will be too late; ere then, this infernal girl will +have seen Marshal Simon's daughters." + +"But--Frederick!--it is impossible! M. Baleinier will never consent. I +ought to have been prepared before hand as we intended, after to-day's +examination." + +"No matter," replied the abbe, quickly; "the doctor must try at any +hazard." + +"But under what pretext?" + +"I will try and find one." + +"Suppose you were to find a pretext, Frederick, and we could act +immediately--nothing would be ready down there." + +"Be satisfied: they are always ready there, by habitual foresight." + +"How instruct the doctor on the instant?" resumed the princess. + +"To send for him would be to rouse the suspicions of your niece," said M. +d'Aigrigny, thoughtfully; "and we must avoid that before everything." + +"Of course," answered the princess; "her confidence in the doctor is one +of our greatest resources." + +"There is a way," said the abbe quickly; "I will write a few words in +haste to Baleinier: one of your people can take the note to him, as if it +came from without--from a patient dangerously ill." + +"An excellent idea!" cried the princess. "You are right. Here--upon +this table--there is everything necessary for writing. Quick! quick--But +will the doctor succeed?" + +"In truth, I scarcely dare to hope it," said the marquis, sitting down at +the table with repressed rage. "Thanks to this examination, going beyond +our hopes, which our man, hidden behind the curtain, has faithfully taken +down in shorthand--thanks to the violent scenes, which would necessarily +have occurred to-morrow and the day after--the doctor, by fencing himself +round with all sorts of clever precautions, would have been able to act +with the most complete certainty. But to ask this of him to-day, on the +instant!--Herminia--it is folly to think of!"--The marquis threw down the +pen which he held in his hand; then he added, in a tone of bitter and +profound irritation: "At the very moment of success--to see all our hopes +destroyed!--Oh, the consequences of all this are incalculable. Your +niece will be the cause of the greatest mischief--oh! the greatest injury +to us." + +It is impossible to describe the expression of deep rage and implacable +hatred with which D'Aigrigny uttered these last words. + +"Frederick," cried the princess with anxiety, as she clasped her hands +strongly around the abbe's, "I conjure you, do not despair!--The doctor +is fertile in resources, and he is so devoted to us. Let us at least, +make the attempt." + +"Well--it is at least a chance," said the abbe, taking up the pen again. + +"Should it come to the worst." said the princess, "and Adrienne go this +evening to fetch General Simon's daughters, she may perhaps no longer +find them. + +"We cannot hope for that. It is impossible that Rodin's orders should +have been so quickly executed. We should have been informed of it." + +"It is true. Write then to the doctor; I will send you Dubois, to carry +your letter. Courage, Frederick! we shall yet be too much for that +ungovernable girl." Madame de Saint-Dizier added, with concentrated +rage: "Oh, Adrienne! Adrienne! you shall pay dearly for your insolent +sarcasms, and the anxiety you have caused us." + +As she went out, the princess turned towards M. d'Aigrigny, and said to +him: "Wait for me here. I will tell you the meaning of this visit of the +police, and we will go in together." + +The princess disappeared. D'Aigrigny dashed off a few words, with a +trembling hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +THE SNARE. + +After the departure of Madame de Saint-Dizier and the marquis, Adrienne +had remained in her aunt's apartment with M. Baleinier and Baron +Tripeaud. + +On hearing of the commissary's arrival, Mdlle. de Cardoville had felt +considerable uneasiness; for there could be no doubt that, as Agricola +had apprehended, this magistrate was come to search the hotel and +extension, in order to find the smith, whom he believed to be concealed +there. + +Though she looked upon Agricola's hiding-place as a very safe one, +Adrienne was not quite tranquil on his account; so in the event of any +unfortunate accident, she thought it a good opportunity to recommend the +refugee to the doctor, an intimate friend, as we have said, of one of the +most influential ministers of the day. So, drawing near to the +physician, who was conversing in a low voice with the baron, she said to +him in her softest and most coaxing manner: "My good M. Baleinier, I wish +to speak a few words with you." She pointed to the deep recess of one of +the windows. + +"I am at your orders, madame," answered the doctor, as he rose to follow +Adrienne to the recess. + +M. Tripeaud, who, no longer sustained by the abbe's presence, dreaded the +young lady as he did fire, was not sorry for this diversion. To keep up +appearances, he stationed himself before one of the sacred pictures, and +began again to contemplate it, as if there were no bounds to his +admiration. + +When Mdlle. de Cardoville was far enough from the baron, not to be +overheard by him, she said to the physician, who, all smiles and +benevolence, waited for her to explain: "My good doctor, you are my +friend, as you were my father's. Just now, notwithstanding the +difficulty of your position, you had the courage to show yourself my only +partisan." + +"Not at all, madame; do not go and say such things!" cried the doctor, +affecting a pleasant kind of anger. "Plague on't! you would get me into +a pretty scrape; so pray be silent on that subject. Vade retro Satanas!- +-which means: Get thee behind me, charming little demon that you are!" + +"Do not be afraid," answered Adrienne, with a smile; "I will not +compromise you. Only allow me to remind you, that you have often made me +offers of service, and spoken to me of your devotion." + +"Put me to the test--and you will see if I do not keep my promises." + +"Well, then! give me a proof on the instant," said Adrienne, quickly. + +"Capital! this is how I like to be taken at my word. What can I do for +you?" + +"Are you still very intimate with your friend the minister?" + +"Yes; I am just treating him for a loss of voice, which he always has, +the day they put questions to him in the house. He likes it better." + +"I want you to obtain from him something very important for me." + +"For you? pray, what is it?" + +At this instant, the valet entered the room, delivered a letter to M. +Baleinier, and said to him: "A footman has just brought this letter for +you, sir; it is very pressing." + +The physician took the letter, and the servant went out. + +"This is one of the inconveniences of merit," said Adrienne, smiling; +"they do not leave you a moment's rest, my poor doctor." + +"Do not speak of it, madame," said the physician, who could not conceal a +start of amazement, as he recognized the writing of D'Aigrigny; "these +patients think we are made of iron, and have monopolized the health which +they so much need. They have really no mercy. With your permission, +madame," added M. Baleinier, looking at Adrienne before he unsealed the +letter. + +Mdlle. de Cardoville answered by a graceful nod. Marquis d'Aigrigny's +letter was not long; the doctor read it at a single glance, and, +notwithstanding his habitual prudence, he shrugged his shoulders, and +said hastily: "Today! why, it's impossible. He is mad." + +"You speak no doubt of some poor patient, who has placed all his hopes in +you--who waits and calls for you at this moment. Come, my dear M. +Baleinier, do not reject his prayer. It is so sweet to justify the +confidence we inspire." + +There was at once so much analogy, and such contradiction, between the +object of this letter, written just before by Adrienne's most implacable +enemy, and these words of commiseration which she spoke in a touching +voice, that Dr. Baleinier himself could not help being struck with it. +He looked at Mdlle. de Cardoville with an almost embarrassed air, as he +replied: "I am indeed speaking of one of my patients, who counts much +upon me--a great deal too much--for he asks me to do an impossibility. +But why do you feel so interested in an unknown person?" + +"If he is unfortunate, I know enough to interest me. The person for whom +I ask your assistance with the minister, was quite as little known to me; +and now I take the deepest interest in him. I must tell you, that he is +the son of the worthy soldier who brought Marshal Simon's daughters from +the heart of Siberia." + +"What! he is--" + +"An honest workman, the support of his family; but I must tell you all +about it--this is how the affair took place." + +The confidential communication which Adrienne was going to make to the +doctor, was cut short by Madame Saint-Dizier, who, followed by M. +d'Aigrigny, opened abruptly the door. An expression of infernal joy, +hardly concealed beneath a semblance of extreme indignation, was visible +in her countenance. + +M. d'Aigrigny threw rapidly, as he entered the apartment, an inquiring +and anxious glance at M. Baleinier. The doctor answered by a shake of +the head. The abbe bit his lips with silent rage; he had built his last +hopes upon the doctor, and his projects seemed now forever annihilated, +notwithstanding the new blow which the princess had in reserve for +Adrienne. + +"Gentlemen," said Madame de Saint-Dizier, in a sharp, hurried voice, for +she was nearly choking with wicked pleasure, "gentlemen, pray be seated! +I have some new and curious things to tell you, on the subject of this +young lady." She pointed to her niece, with a look of ineffable hatred +and disdain. + +"My poor child, what is the matter now?" said M. Baleinier, in a soft, +wheedling tone, before he left the window where he was standing with +Adrienne. "Whatever happens, count upon me!"--And the physician went to +seat himself between M. d'Aigrigny and M. Tripeaud. + +At her aunt's insolent address, Mdlle. de Cardoville had proudly lined +her head. The blood rushed to her face, and irritated at the new attacks +with which she was menaced, she advanced to the table where the princess +was seated, and said in an agitated voice to M. Baleinier: "I shall +expect you to call on me as soon as possible, my dear doctor. You know +that I wish particularly to speak with you." + +Adrienne made one step towards the arm-chair, on which she had left her +hat. The princess rose abruptly, and exclaimed: "What are you doing, +madame?" + +"I am about to retire. Your highness has expressed to me your will, and +I have told you mine. It is enough." + +She took her hat. Madame de Saint-Dizier, seeing her prey about to +escape, hastened towards her niece, and, in defiance of all propriety, +seized her violently by the arm with a convulsive grasp, and bade her, +"Remain!" + +"Fie, madame!" exclaimed Adrienne, with an accent of painful contempt, +"have we sunk so low?" + +"You wish to escape--you are afraid!" resumed Madame de Saint-Dizier, +looking at her disdainfully from head to foot. + +With these words "you are afraid," you could have made Adrienne de +Cardoville walk into a fiery furnace. Disengaging her arm from her +aunt's grasp, with a gesture full of nobleness and pride, she threw down +the hat upon the chair, and returning to the table, said imperiously to +the princess: "There is something even stronger than the disgust with +which all this inspires me--the fear of being accused of cowardice. Go +on, madame! I am listening!" + +With her head raised, her color somewhat heightened, her glance half +veiled by a tear of indignation, her arms folded over her bosom, which +heaved in spite of herself with deep emotion, and her little foot beating +convulsively on the carpet, Adrienne looked steadily at her aunt. The +princess wished to infuse drop by drop, the poison with which she was +swelling, and make her victim suffer as long as possible, feeling certain +that she could not escape. "Gentlemen," said Madame de Saint-Dizier, in +a forced voice, "this has occurred: I was told that the commissary of +police wished to speak with me: I went to receive this magistrate; he +excused himself, with a troubled air, for the nature of the duty he had +to perform. A man, against whom a warrant was out, had been seen to +enter the garden-house." + +Adrienne started, there could be no doubt that Agricola was meant. But +she recovered her tranquillity, when she thought of the security of the +hiding-place she had given him. + +"The magistrate," continued the princess, "asked my consent to search the +hotel and extension, to discover this man. It was his right. I begged +him to commence with the garden-house, and accompanied him. +Notwithstanding the improper conduct of Mademoiselle, it never, I +confess, entered my head for a moment, that she was in any way mixed up +with this police business. I was deceived." + +"What do you mean, madame?" cried Adrienne. + +"You shall know all, madame," said the princess, with a triumphant air, +"in good time. You were in rather too great a hurry just now, to show +yourself so proud and satirical. Well! I accompanied the commissary in +his search; we came to the summer-house; I leave you to imagine the +stupor and astonishment of the magistrate, on seeing three creatures +dressed up like actresses. At my request, the fact was noted in the +official report; for it is well to reveal such extravagances to all whom +it may concern." + +"The princess acted very wisely," said Tripeaud, bowing; "it is well that +the authorities should be informed of such matters." + +Adrienne, too much interested in the fate of the workman to think of +answering Tripeaud or the princess, listened in silence, and strove to +conceal her uneasiness. + +"The magistrate," resumed Madame de Saint-Dizier, "began by a severe +examination of these young girls; to learn if any man had, with their +knowledge, been introduced into the house; with incredible effrontery, +they answered that they had seen nobody enter." + +"The true-hearted, honest girls!" thought Mademoiselle de Cardoville, +full of joy; "the poor workman is safe! the protection of Dr. Baleinier +will do the rest." + +"Fortunately," continued the princess, "one of my women, Mrs. Grivois, +had accompanied me. This excellent person, remembering to have seen +Mademoiselle return home at eight o'clock in the morning, remarked with +much simplicity to the magistrate, that the man, whom they sought, might +probably have entered by the little garden gate, left open, accidentally, +by Mademoiselle." + +"It would have been well, madame," said Tripeaud, "to have caused to be +noted also in the report, that Mademoiselle had returned home at eight +o'clock in the morning." + +"I do not see the necessity for this," said the doctor, faithful to his +part: "it would have been quite foreign to the search carried on by the +commissary." + +"But, doctor," said Tripeaud. + +"But, baron," resumed M. Baleinier, in a firm voice, "that is my +opinion." + +"It was not mine, doctor," said the princess; "like M. Tripeaud, I +considered it important to establish the fact by an entry in the report, +and I saw, by the confused and troubled countenance of the magistrate, +how painful it was to register the scandalous conduct of a young person +placed in so high a position in society." + +"Certainly, madame," said Adrienne, losing patience, "I believe your +modesty to be about equal to that of this candid commissary of police; +but it seems to me, that your mutual innocence was alarmed a little too +soon. You might, and ought to have reflected, that there was nothing +extraordinary in my coming home at eight o'clock, if I had gone out at +six." + +"The excuse, though somewhat tardy, is at least cunning," said the +princess, spitefully. + +"I do not excuse myself, madame," said Adrienne; "but as M. Baleinier has +been kind enough to speak a word in my favor, I give the possible +interpretation of a fact, which it would not become me to explain in your +presence." + +"The fact will stand, however, in the report," said Tripeaud, "until the +explanation is given." + +Abbe d'Aigrigny, his forehead resting on his hand, remained as if a +stranger to this scene; he was too much occupied with his fears at the +consequences of the approaching interview between Mdlle. de Cardoville +and Marshal Simon's daughters--for there seemed no possibility of using +force to prevent Adrienne from going out that evening. + +Madame de Saint-Dizier went on: "The fact which so greatly scandalized +the commissary is nothing compared to what I yet have to tell you, +gentlemen. We had searched all parts of the pavilion without finding any +one, and were just about to quit the bed-chamber, for we had taken this +room the last, when Mrs. Grivois pointed out to us that one of the golden +mouldings of a panel did not appear to come quite home to the wall. We +drew the attention of the magistrate to this circumstance; his men +examined, touched, felt--the panel flew open!--and then--can you guess +what we discovered? But, no! it is too odious, too revolting; I dare not +even--" + +"Then I dare, madame," said Adrienne, resolutely, though she saw with the +utmost grief the retreat of Agricola was discovered; "I will spare your +highness's candor the recital of this new scandal, and yet what I am +about to say is in nowise intended as a justification." + +"It requires one, however," said Madame de Saint-Dizier, with a +disdainful smile; "a man concealed by you in your own bedroom." + +"A man concealed in her bedroom!" cried the Marquis d'Aigrigny, raising +his head with apparent indignation, which only covered a cruel joy. + +"A man! in the bedroom of Mademoiselle!" added Baron Tripeaud. "I hope +this also was inserted in the report." + +"Yes, yes, baron," said the princess with a triumphant air. + +"But this man," said the doctor, in a hypocritical tone, "must have been +a robber? Any other supposition would be in the highest degree +improbable. This explains itself." + +"Your indulgence deceives you, M. Baleinier," answered the princess, +dryly. + +"We knew the sort of thieves," said Tripeaud; "they are generally young +men, handsome, and very rich." + +"You are wrong, sir," resumed Madame de Saint-Dizier. "Mademoiselle does +not raise her views so high. She proves that a dereliction from duty may +be ignoble as well as criminal. I am no longer astonished at the +sympathy which was just now professed for the lower orders. It is the +more touching and affecting, as the man concealed by her was dressed in a +blouse." + +"A blouse!" cried the baron, with an air of extreme disgust; "then he is +one of the common people? It really makes one's hair stand on end." + +"The man is a working smith--he confessed it," said the princess; "but +not to be unjust--he is really a good-looking fellow. It was doubtless +that singular worship which Mademoiselle pays to the beautiful--" + +"Enough, madame, enough!" said Adrienne suddenly, for, hitherto +disdaining to answer, she had listened to her aunt with growing and +painful indignation; "I was just now on the point of defending myself +against one of your odious insinuations--but I will not a second time +descend to any such weakness. One word only, madame; has this honest and +worthy artisan been arrested?" + +"To be sure, he has been arrested and taken to prison, under a strong +escort. Does not that pierce your heart?" sneered the princess, with a +triumphant air. "Your tender pity for this interesting smith must indeed +be very great, since it deprives you of your sarcastic assurance." + +"Yes, madame; for I have something better to do than to satirize that +which is utterly odious and ridiculous," replied Adrienne, whose eyes +grew dim with tears at the thought of the cruel hurt to Agricola's +family. Then, putting her hat on, and tying the strings, she said to the +doctor: "M. Baleinier, I asked you just now for your interest with the +minister." + +"Yes, madame; and it will give me great pleasure to act on your behalf." + +"Is your carriage below?" + +"Yes, madame," said the doctor, much surprised. + +"You will be good enough to accompany me immediately to the minister's. +Introduced by you, he will not refuse me the favor, or rather the act of +justice, that I have to solicit." + +"What, mademoiselle," said the princess; "do you dare take such a course, +without my orders, after what has just passed? It is really quite +unheard-of." + +"It confounds one," added Tripeaud; "but we must not be surprised at +anything." + +The moment Adrienne asked the doctor if his carriage was below, +D'Aigrigny started. A look of intense satisfaction flashed across his +countenance, and he could hardly repress the violence of his delight, +when, darting, a rapid and significant glance at the doctor, he saw the +latter respond to it by trace closing his eyelids in token of +comprehension and assent. + +When therefore the princess resumed, in an angry tone, addressing herself +to Adrienne: "Madame, I forbid you leaving the house!"--D'Aigrigny said +to the speaker, with a peculiar inflection of the voice: "I think, your +highness, we may trust the lady to the doctor's care." + +The marquis pronounced these words in so significant a manner, that the +princess, having looked by turns at the physician and D'Aigrigny, +understood it all, and her countenance grew radiant with joy. + +Not only did this pass with extreme rapidity, but the night was already +almost come, so that Adrienne, absorbed in painful thoughts with regard +to Agricola, did not perceive the different signals exchanged between the +princess, the doctor, and the abbe. Even had she done so, they would +have been incomprehensible to her. + +Not wishing to have the appearance of yielding too readily, to the +suggestion of the marquis, Madame de Saint-Dizier resumed: "Though the +doctor seems to me to be far too indulgent to mademoiselle, I might not +see any great objection to trusting her with him; but that I do not wish +to establish such a precedent, for hence forward she must have no will +but mine." + +"Madame," said the physician gravely, feigning to be somewhat shocked by +the words of the Princess de Saint-Dizier, "I do not think I have been +too indulgent to mademoiselle--but only just. I am at her orders, to +take her to the minister if she wishes it. I do not know what she +intends to solicit, but I believe her incapable of abusing the confidence +I repose in her, or making me support a recommendation undeserved." + +Adrienne, much moved, extended her hand cordially to the doctor, and said +to him: "Rest assured, my excellent friend, that you will thank me for +the step I am taking, for you will assist in a noble action." + +Tripeaud, who was not in the secret of the new plans of the doctor and +the abbe in a low voice faltered to the latter, with a stupefied air, +"What! will you let her go?" + +"Yes, yes," answered D'Aigrigny abruptly, making a sign that he should +listen to the princess, who was about to speak. Advancing towards her +niece, she said to her in a slow and measured tone, laying a peculiar +emphasis on every word: "One moment more, mademoiselle--one last word in +presence of these gentlemen. Answer me! Notwithstanding the heavy +charges impending over you, are you still determined to resist my formal +commands?" + +"Yes, madame." + +"Notwithstanding the scandalous exposure which has just taken place, you +still persist in withdrawing yourself from my authority?" + +"Yes, madame." + +"You refuse positively to submit to the regular and decent mode of life +which I would impose upon you?" + +"I have already told you, madame, that I am about to quit this dwelling +in order to live alone and after my own fashion." + +"Is that your final decision?" + +"It is my last word." + +"Reflect! the matter is serious. Beware!" + +"I have given your highness my last word, and I never speak it twice." + +"Gentlemen, you hear all this?" resumed the princess; "I have tried in +vain all that was possible to conciliate. Mademoiselle will have only +herself to thank for the measures to which this audacious revolt will +oblige me to have recourse." + +"Be it so, madame," replied Adrienne. Then, addressing M. Baleinier, she +said quickly to him: "Come, my dear doctor; I am dying with impatience. +Let us set out immediately. Every minute lost may occasion bitter tears +to an honest family." + +So saying, Adrienne left the room precipitately with the physician. One +of the servants called for M. Baleinier's carriage. Assisted by the +doctor, Adrienne mounted the step, without perceiving that he said +something in a low whisper to the footman that opened the coach-door. + +When, however, he was seated by the side of Mdlle. de Cardoville, and the +door was closed upon them, he waited for about a second, and then called +out in a loud voice to the coachman: "To the house of the minister, by +the private entrance!" The horses started at a gallop. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +A FALSE FRIEND. + +Night had set in dark and cold. The sky, which had been clear till the +sun went down, was now covered with gray and lurid clouds; a strong wind +raised here and there, in circling eddies, the snow that was beginning to +fall thick and fast. + +The lamps threw a dubious light into the interior of Dr. Baleinier's +carriage, in which he was seated alone with Adrienne de Cardoville. The +charming countenance of the latter, faintly illumined by the lamps +beneath the shade of her little gray hat, looked doubly white and pure in +contrast with the dark lining of the carriage, which was now filled with +that, sweet, delicious, and almost voluptuous perfume which hangs about +the garments of young women of taste. The attitude of the girl, seated +next to the doctor, was full of grace. Her slight and elegant figure, +imprisoned in her high-necked dress of blue cloth, imprinted its wavy +outline on the soft cushion against which she leaned; her little feet, +crossed one upon the other, and stretched rather forward, rested upon a +thick bear-skin, which carpeted the bottom of the carriage. In her hand, +which was ungloved and dazzlingly white, she held a magnificently +embroidered handkerchief, with which, to the great astonishment of M. +Baleinier, she dried her eyes, now filled with tears. + +Yes; Adrienne wept, for she now felt the reaction from the painful scenes +through which she had passed at Saint-Dizier House; to the feverish and +nervous excitement, which had till then sustained her, had succeeded a +sorrowful dejection. Resolute in her independence, proud in her disdain, +implacable in her irony, audacious in her resistance to unjust +oppression, Adrienne was yet endowed with the most acute sensibility, +which she always dissembled, however, in the presence of her aunt and +those who surrounded her. + +Notwithstanding her courage, no one could have been less masculine, less +of a virago, than Mdlle. Cardoville. She was essentially womanly, but as +a woman, she knew how to exercise great empire over herself, the moment +that the least mark of weakness on her part would have rejoiced or +emboldened her enemies. + +The carriage had rolled onwards for some minutes; but Adrienne, drying +her tears in silence, to the doctor's great astonishment, had not yet +uttered a word. + +"What, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne?" said M. Baleinier, truly surprised at +her emotion; "what! you, that were just now so courageous, weeping?" + +"Yes," answered Adrienne, in an agitated voice; "I weep in presence of a +friend; but, before my aunt--oh! never." + +"And yet, in that long interview, your stinging replies--" + +"Ah me! do you think that I resigned myself with pleasure to that war of +sarcasm? Nothing is more painful to me than such combats of bitter +irony, to which I am forced by the necessity of defending myself from +this woman and her friends. You speak of my courage: it does not +consist, I assure you, in the display of wicked feelings--but in the +power to repress and hide all that I suffer, when I hear myself treated +so grossly--in the presence, too, of people that I hate and despise-- +when, after all, I have never done them any harm, and have only asked to +be allowed to live alone, freely and quietly, and see those about me +happy." + +"That's where it is: they envy your happiness, and that which you bestow +upon others." + +"And it is my aunt," cried Adrienne, with indignation, "my aunt, whose +whole life has been one long scandal that accuses me in this revolting +manner!--as if she did not know me proud and honest enough never to make +a choice of which I should be ashamed! Oh! if I ever love, I shall +proclaim it, I shall be proud of it: for love, as I understand it, is the +most glorious feeling in the world. But, alas!" continued Adrienne, with +redoubled bitterness, "of what use are truth and honor, if they do not +secure you from suspicions, which are as absurd as they are odious?" So +saying, she again pressed her handkerchief to her eyes. + +"Come, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne," said M. Baleinier, in a voice full of +the softest unction, "becalm--it is all over now. You have in me a +devoted friend." As he pronounced these last words, he blushed in spite +of his diabolical craft. + +"I know you are my friend," said Adrienne: "I shall never forget that, by +taking my part to-day, you exposed yourself to the resentment of my aunt- +-for I am not ignorant of her power, which is very great, alas! for +evil." + +"As for that," said the doctor, affecting a profound indifference, "we +medical men are pretty safe from personal enmities." + +"Nay, my dear M. Baleinier! Mme. de Saint-Dizier and her friends never +forgive," said the young girl, with a shudder. "It needed all my +invincible aversion, my innate horror for all that is base, cowardly, and +perfidious, to induce me to break so openly with her. But if death +itself were the penalty, I could not hesitate and yet," she added, with +one of those graceful smiles which gave such a charm to her beautiful +countenance, "yet I am fond of life: if I have to reproach myself with +anything, it is that I would have it too bright, too fair, too +harmonious; but then, you know, I am resigned to my faults." + +"Well, come, I am more tranquil," said the doctor, gayly; "for you smile- +-that is a good sign." + +"It is often the wisest course; and yet, ought I smile, after the threats +that my aunt has held out to me? Still, what can she do? what is the +meaning of this kind of family council? Did she seriously think that the +advice of a M. D'Aigrigny or a M. Tripeaud could have influenced me? And +then she talked of rigorous measures. What measures can she take; do you +know?" + +"I think, between ourselves, that the princess only wished to frighten +you, and hopes to succeed by persuasion. She has the misfortune to fancy +herself a mother of the Church, and dreams of your conversion," said the +doctor, maliciously, for he now wished to tranquillize Adrienne at any +cost; "but let us think no more about it. Your fire eyes must shine with +all their lustre, to fascinate the minister that we are going to see." + +"You are right, dear doctor; we ought always avoid grief, for it has the +disadvantage of making us forget the sorrows of others. But here am I, +availing myself of your kindness, without even telling you what I +require." + +"Luckily, we shall have plenty of time to talk over it, for our statesman +lives at some distance." + +"In two words, here's the mystery," answered Adrienne. "I told you what +reasons I had to interest myself in that honest workman. This morning he +came to me in great grief, to inform me that he was compromised by some +songs he had written (for he is a poet), and that, though innocent, he +was threatened with an arrest; and if they put him into prison, his +family, whose sole support he is, would die of hunger. Therefore he came +to beg me to procure bail for him, so that he might be left at liberty to +work: I promised immediately, thinking of your interest with the +minister; for, as they were already in pursuit of the poor lad, I chose +to conceal him in my residence, and you know how my aunt has twisted that +action. Now tell me, do you think, that, by means of your +recommendation, the minister will grant me the freedom of this workman, +bail being given for the same?" + +"No doubt of it. There will not be the shadow of a difficulty-- +especially when you have explained the facts to him, with that eloquence +of the heart which you possess in perfection." + +"Do you know, my dear Dr. Baleinier, why I have taken the resolution +(which is perhaps a strange one) to ask you to accompany me to the +minister's?" + +"Why, doubtless, to recommend your friend in a more effective manner." + +"Yes--but also to put an end, by a decisive step, to the calumnies which +my aunt will be sure to spread with regard to me, and which she has +already, you know, had inserted in the report of the commissary of +police. I have preferred to address myself at once, frankly and openly, +to a man placed in a high social position. I will explain all to him, +who will believe me, because truth has an accent of its own." + +"All this, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne, is wisely planned. You will, as the +saw says, kill two birds with one stone--or rather, you will obtain by +one act of kindness two acts of justice; you will destroy a dangerous +calumny, and restore a worthy youth to liberty." + +"Come," said Adrienne, laughing, "thanks to this pleasing prospect, my +light heart has returned." + +"How true that in life," said the doctor, philosophically, "everything +depends on the point of view." + +Adrienne was so completely ignorant of the forms of a constitutional +government, and had so blind a confidence in the doctor, that she did not +doubt for an instant what he told her. She therefore resumed with joy: +"What happiness it will be! when I go to fetch the daughters of Marshal +Simon, to be able to console this workman's mother, who is now perhaps in +a state of cruel anxiety, at not seeing her son return home!" + +"Yes, you will have this pleasure," said M. Baleinier, with a smile; "for +we will solicit and intrigue to such purpose, that the good, mother may +learn from you the release of her son before she even knows that he has +been arrested." + +"How kind, how obliging you are!" said Adrienne. "Really, if the motive +were not so serious, I should he ashamed of making you lose so much +precious time, my dear M. Baleinier. But I know your heart." + +"I have no other wish, than to prove to you my profound devotion, my +sincere attachment," said the doctor inhaling a pinch of snuff. But at +the same time, he cast an uneasy glance through the window, for the +carriage was just crossing the Place de l'Odeon, and in spite of the +snow, he could see the front of the Odeon theatre brilliantly +illuminated. Now Adrienne, who had just turned her head towards that +side, might perhaps be astonished at the singular road they were taking. + +In order to draw off her attention by a skillful diversion, the doctor +exclaimed suddenly: "Bless me! I had almost forgotten." + +"What is the matter, M. Baleinier?" said Adrienne, turning hastily +towards him. + +"I had forgotten a thing of the highest importance, in regard to the +success of our petition." + +"What is it, please?" asked the young girl, anxiously. + +M. Baleinier gave a cunning smile. "Every man," said he, "has his +weakness--ministers even more than others. The one we are going to visit +has the folly to attach the utmost importance to his title, and the first +impression would be unfavorable, if you did not lay great stress on the +Minister." + +"Is that all, my dear M. Baleinier?" said Adrienne, smiling in her turn. +"I will even go so far as Your Excellency, which is, I believe, one of +his adopted titles." + +"Not now--but that is no matter; if you could even slide in a My Lord or +two, our business would be done at once." + +"Be satisfied! since there are upstart ministers as well as City-turned +gentlemen, I will remember Moliere's M. Jourdain, and feed full the +gluttonous vanity of your friend." + +"I give him up to you, for I know he will be in good hands," replied the +physician, who rejoiced to see that the carriage had now entered those +dark streets which lead from the Place de l'Odeon to the Pantheon +district; "I do not wish to find fault with the minister for being proud, +since his pride may be of service to us on this occasion." + +"These petty devices are innocent enough," said Mdlle. de Cardoville, +"and I confess that I do not scruple to have recourse to them." Then, +leaning towards the door-sash, she added: "Gracious! how sad and dark are +these streets. What wind! what snow! In which quarter are we?" + +"What! are you so ungrateful, that you do not recognize by the absence of +shops, your dear quarter of the Faubourg Saint Germain?" + +"I imagine we had quitted it long ago." + +"I thought so too," said the physician, leaning forward as if to +ascertain where they were, "but we are still there. My poor coachman, +blinded by the snow, which is beating against his face, must have gone +wrong just now--but we are all right again. Yes, I perceive we are in +the Rue Saint Guillaume--not the gayest of streets by the way--but, in +ten minutes, we shall arrive at the minister's private entrance, for +intimate friends like myself enjoy the privilege of escaping the honors +of a grand reception." + +Mdlle. de Cardoville, like most carriage-people, was so little acquainted +with certain streets of Paris, as well as with the customs of men in +office, that she did not doubt for a moment the statements of Baleinier, +in whom she reposed the utmost confidence. + +When they left the Saint-Dizier House, the doctor had upon his lips a +question which he hesitated to put, for fear of endangering himself in +the eyes of Adrienne. The latter had spoken of important interests, the +existence of which had been concealed from her. The doctor, who was an +acute and skillful observer, had quite clearly remarked the embarrassment +and anxiety of the princess and D'Aigrigny. He no longer doubted, that +the plot directed against Adrienne--one in which he was the blind agent, +in submission to the will of the Order--related to interests which had +been concealed from him, and which, for that very reason, he burned to +discover; for every member of the dark conspiracy to which he belonged +had necessarily acquired the odious vices inherent to spies and +informers--envy, suspicion, and jealous curiosity. + +It is easy to understand, therefore, that Dr. Baleinier, though quite +determined to serve the projects of D'Aigrigny, was yet very anxious to +learn what had been kept from him. Conquering his irresolution, and +finding the opportunity favorable, and no time to be lost, he said to +Adrienne, after a moment's silence: "I am going perhaps to ask you a very +indiscreet question. If you think it such, pray do not answer." + +"Nay--go on, I entreat you." + +"Just now--a few minutes before the arrival of the commissary of police +was announced to your aunt--you spoke, I think, of some great interests, +which had hitherto been concealed from you." + +"Yes, I did so." + +"These words," continued M. Baleinier, speaking slowly and emphatically, +"appeared to make a deep impression on the princess." + +"An impression so deep," said Adrienne, "that sundry suspicions of mine +were changed to certainty." + +"I need not tell you, my charming friend," resumed M. Baleinier, in a +bland tone, "that if I remind you of this circumstance, it is only to +offer you my services, in case they should be required. If not--and +there is the shadow of impropriety in letting me know more--forget that I +have said a word." + +Adrienne became serious and pensive, and, after a silence of some +moments, she thus answered Dr. Baleinier: "On this subject, there are +some things that I do not know--others that I may tell you--others again +that I must keep from you: but you are so kind to-day, that I am happy to +be able to give you a new mark of confidence." + +"Then I wish to know nothing," said the doctor, with an air of humble +deprecation, "for I should have the appearance of accepting a kind of +reward; whilst I am paid a thousand times over, by the pleasure I feel in +serving you." + +"Listen," said Adrienne, without attending to the delicate scruples of +Dr. Baleinier; "I have powerful reasons for believing that an immense +inheritance must, at no very distant period, be divided between the +members of my family, all of whom I do not know--for, after the +Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, those from whom we are descended were +dispersed in foreign countries, and experienced a great variety of +fortunes." + +"Really!" cried the doctor, becoming extremely interested. "Where is +this inheritance, in whose hands?" + +"I do not know." + +"Now how will you assert your rights?" + +"That I shall learn soon." + +"Who will inform you of it?" + +"That I may not tell you." + +"But how did you find out the existence of this inheritance?" + +"That also I may not tell you," returned Adrienne, in a soft and +melancholy tone, which remarkably contrasted with the habitual vivacity +of her conversation. "It is a secret--a strange secret--and in those +moments of excitement, in which you have sometimes surprised me, I have +been thinking of extraordinary circumstances connected with this secret, +which awakened within me lofty and magnificent ideas." + +Adrienne paused and was silent, absorbed in her own reflections. +Baleinier did not seek to disturb her. In the first place, Mdlle. de +Cardoville did not perceive the direction the coach was taking; secondly, +the doctor was not sorry to ponder over what he had just heard. With his +usual perspicuity, he saw that the Abbe d'Aigrigny was concerned in this +inheritance, and he resolved instantly to make a secret report on the +subject; either M. d'Aigrigny was acting under the instructions of the +Order, or by his own impulse; in the one event, the report of the doctor +would confirm a fact; in the other, it would reveal one. + +For some time, therefore, the lady and Dr. Baleinier remained perfectly +silent, no longer even disturbed by the noise of the wheels, for the +carriage now rolled over a thick carpet of snow, and the streets had +become more and more deserted. Notwithstanding his crafty treachery, +notwithstanding his audacity and the blindness of his dupe, the doctor +was not quite tranquil as to the result of his machinations. The +critical moment approached, and the least suspicion roused in the mind of +Adrienne by any inadvertence on his part, might ruin all his projects. + +Adrienne, already fatigued by the painful emotions of the day, shuddered +from time to time, as the cold became more and more piercing; in her +haste to accompany Dr. Baleinier, she had neglected to take either shawl +or mantle. + +For some minutes the coach had followed the line of a very high wall, +which, seen through the snow, looked white against a black sky. The +silence was deep and mournful. Suddenly the carriage stopped, and the +footman went to knock at a large gateway; he first gave two rapid knocks, +and then one other at a long interval. Adrienne did not notice the +circumstance, for the noise was not loud, and the doctor had immediately +begun to speak, to drown with his voice this species of signal. + +"Here we are at last," said he gayly to Adrienne; "you must be very +winning--that is, you must be yourself." + +"Be sure I will do my best," replied Adrienne, with a smile; then she +added, shivering in spite of herself: "How dreadfully cold it is! I must +confess, my dear Dr. Baleinier, that when I have been to fetch my poor +little relations from the house of our workman's mother, I shall be truly +glad to find myself once more in the warmth and light of my own +cheerful rooms, for you know my aversion to cold and darkness." + +"It is quite natural," said the doctor, gallantly; "the most charming +flowers require the most light and heat." + +Whilst the doctor and Mdlle. de Cardoville exchanged these few words, a +heavy gate had turned creaking upon its hinges, and the carriage had +entered a court-yard. The physician got down first, to offer his arm to +Adrienne. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +THE MINISTER'S CABINET. + +The carriage had stopped before some steps covered with snow, which led +to a vestibule lighted by a lamp. The better to ascend the steps, which +were somewhat slippery, Adrienne leaned upon the doctor's arm. + +"Dear me! how you tremble," said he. + +"Yes," replied she, shuddering, "I feel deadly cold. In my haste, I came +out without a shawl. But how gloomy this house appears," she added, +pointing to the entrance. + +"It is what you call the minister's private house, the sanctum sanctorum, +whither our statesman retires far from the sound of the profane," said +Dr. Baleinier, with a smile. "Pray come in!" and he pushed open the door +of a large hall, completely empty. + +"They are right in saying," resumed Dr. Baleinier, who covered his secret +agitation with an appearance of gayety, "that a minister's house is like +nobody else's. Not a footman--not a page, I should say--to be found in +the antechamber. Luckily," added he, opening the door of a room which +communicated with the vestibule, + +"'In this seraglio reared, I know the secret ways.'" + +Mdlle. de Cardoville was now introduced into an apartment hung with green +embossed paper, and very simply furnished with mahogany chairs, covered +with yellow velvet; the floor was carefully polished, and a globe lamp, +which gave at most a third of its proper light, was suspended (at a much +greater height than usual) from the ceiling. Finding the appearance of +this habitation singularly plain for the dwelling of a minister, +Adrienne, though she had no suspicion, could not suppress a movement of +surprise and paused a moment on the threshold of the door. M. Baleinier, +by whose arm she held, guessed the cause of her astonishment, and said to +her with a smile: + +"This place appears to you very paltry for 'his excellency,' does it not? +If you knew what a thing constitutional economy is!--Moreover, you will +see a 'my lord,' who has almost as little pretension as his furniture. +But please to wait for me an instant. I will go and inform the minister +you are here, and return immediately." + +Gently disengaging himself from the grasp of Adrienne, who had +involuntarily pressed close to him, the physician opened a small side- +door, by which he instantly disappeared. Adrienne de Cardoville was left +alone. + +Though she could not have explained the cause of her impression, there +was something awe-inspiring to the young lady in this large, cold, naked, +curtainless room; and as, by degrees, she noticed certain peculiarities +in the furniture, which she had not at first perceived, she was seized +with an indefinable feeling of uneasiness. + +Approaching the cheerless hearth, she perceived with surprise that an +iron grating completely enclosed the opening of the chimney, and that the +tongs and shovel were fastened with iron chains. Already astonished by +this singularity, she was about mechanically to draw towards her an +armchair placed against the wall, when she found that it remained +motionless. She then discovered that the back of this piece of +furniture, as well as that of all the other chairs, was fastened to the +wainscoting by iron clamps. Unable to repress a smile, she exclaimed: +"Have they so little confidence in the statesman in whose house I am, +that they are obliged to fasten the furniture to the walls?" + +Adrienne had recourse to this somewhat forced pleasantry as a kind of +effort to resist the painful feeling of apprehension that was gradually +creeping over her; for the most profound and mournful silence reigned in +this habitation, where nothing indicated the life, the movement and the +activity, which usually surround a great centre of business. Only, from +time to time, the young lady heard the violent gusts of wind from +without. + +More than a quarter of an hour had elapsed, and M. Baleinier did not +return. In her impatient anxiety, Adrienne wished to call some one to +inquire about the doctor and the minister. She raised her eyes to look +for a bell-rope by the side of the chimney-glass; she found none, but she +perceived, that what she had hitherto taken for a glass, thanks to the +half obscurity of the room, was in reality a large sheet of shining tin. +Drawing nearer to it, she accidentally touched a bronzed candlestick; and +this, as well as a clock, was fixed to the marble of the chimney-piece. + +In certain dispositions of mind, the most insignificant circumstances +often assume terrific proportions. This immovable candlestick, this +furniture fastened to the wainscot, this glass replaced by a tin sheet, +this profound silence, and the prolonged absence of M. Baleinier, had +such an effect upon Adrienne, that she was struck with a vague terror. +Yet such was her implicit confidence in the doctor, that she reproached +herself with her own fears, persuading herself that the causes of them +were after all of no real importance, and that it was unreasonable to +feel uneasy at such trifles. + +Still, though she thus strove to regain courage, her anxiety induced her +to do what otherwise she would never have attempted. She approached the +little door by which the doctor had disappeared, and applied her ear to +it. She held her breath, and listened, but heard nothing. + +Suddenly, a dull, heavy sound, like that of a falling body, was audible +just above her head; she thought she could even distinguish a stifled +moaning. Raising her eyes, hastily, she saw some particles of the +plaster fall from the ceiling, loosened, no doubt, by the shaking of the +floor above. + +No longer able to resist the feeling of terror, Adrienne ran to the door +by which she had entered with the doctor, in order to call some one. To +her great surprise, she found it was fastened on the outside. Yet, since +her arrival, she had heard no sound of a key turning in the lock. + +More and more alarmed, the young girl flew to the little door by which +the physician had disappeared, and at which she had just been listening. +This door also was fastened on the outside. + +Still, wishing to struggle with the terror which was gaining invincibly +upon her, Adrienne called to her aid all the firmness of her character, +and tried to argue away her fears. + +"I must have been deceived." she said; "it was only a fall that I heard. +The moaning had no existence, except in my imagination. There are a +thousand reasons for believing that it was not a person who fell down. +But, then, these locked doors? They, perhaps, do not know that I am +here; they may have thought that there was nobody in this room." + +As she uttered these words, Adrienne looked round with anxiety; then she +added, in a firm voice: "No weakness! it is useless to try to blind +myself to my real situation. On the contrary, I must look it well in the +face. It is evident that I am not here at a minister's house; no end of +reasons prove it beyond a doubt; M. Baleinier has therefore deceived me. +But for what end? Why has he brought me hither? Where am I?" + +The last two questions appeared to Adrienne both equally insoluble. It +only remained clear, that she was the victim of M. Baleinier's perfidy. +But this certainly seemed so horrible to the young girl's truthful and +generous soul, that she still tried to combat the idea by the +recollection of the confiding friendship which she had always shown this +man. She said to herself with bitterness: "See how weakness and fear may +lead one to unjust and odious suspicions! Yes; for until the last +extremity, it is not justifiable to believe in so infernal a deception-- +and then only upon the clearest evidence. I will call some one: it is +the only way of completely satisfying these doubts." Then, remembering +that there was no bell, she added: "No matter; I will knock, and some one +will doubtless answer." With her little, delicate hand, Adrienne struck +the door several times. + +The dull, heavy sound which came from the door showed that it was very +thick. No answer was returned to the young girl. She ran to the other +door. There was the same appeal on her part, the same profound silence +without--only interrupted from time to time by the howling of the wind. + +"I am not more timid than other people," said Adrienne, shuddering; "I do +not know if it is the excessive cold, but I tremble in spite of myself. +I endeavor to guard against all weakness; yet I think that any one in my +position would find all this very strange and frightful." + +At this instant, loud cries, or rather savage and dreadful howls, burst +furiously from the room just above, and soon after a sort of stamping of +feet, like the noise of a violent struggle, shook the ceiling of the +apartment. Struck with consternation, Adrienne uttered a loud cry of +terror became deadly pale, stood for a moment motionless with affright, +and then rushed to one of the windows, and abruptly threw it open. + +A violent gust of wind, mixed with melted snow, beat against Adrienne's +face, swept roughly into the room, and soon extinguished the flickering +and smoky light of the lamp. Thus, plunged in profound darkness, with +her hands clinging to the bars that were placed across the window, Mdlle. +de Cardoville yielded at length to the full influence of her fears, so +long restrained, and was about to call aloud for help, when an unexpected +apparition rendered her for some minutes absolutely mute with terror. + +Another wing of the building, opposite to that in which she was, stood at +no great distance. Through the midst of the black darkness, which filled +the space between, one large, lighted window was distinctly visible. +Through the curtainless panes, Adrienne perceived a white figure, gaunt +and ghastly, dragging after it a sort of shroud, and passing and +repassing continually before the window, with an abrupt and restless +motion. Her eyes fixed upon this window, shining through the darkness, +Adrienne remained as if fascinated by that fatal vision: and, as the +spectacle filled up the measure of her fears, she called for help with +all her might, without quitting the bars of the window to which she +clung. After a few seconds, whilst she was thus crying out, two tall +women entered the room in silence, unperceived by Mdlle. de Cardoville, +who was still clinging to the window. + +These women, of about forty to fifty years of age, robust and masculine, +were negligently and shabbily dressed, like chambermaids of the lower +sort; over their clothes they wore large aprons of blue cotton, cut +sloping from their necks, and reaching down to their feet. One of them, +who held a lamp in her hand, had a broad, red, shining face, a large +pimpled nose, small green eyes, and tow hair, which straggled rough and +shaggy from beneath her dirty white cap. The other, sallow, withered, +and bony, wore a mourning-cap over a parchment visage, pitted with the +small-pox, and rendered still more repulsive by the thick black eyebrows, +and some long gray hairs that overshadowed the upper lip. This woman +carried, half unfolded in her hand, a garment of strange form, made of +thick gray stuff. + +They both entered silently by the little door, at the moment when +Adrienne, in the excess of her terror, was grasping the bars of the +window, and crying out: "Help! help!" + +Pointing out the young lady to each other, one of them went to place the +lamp on the chimney-piece, whilst the other (she who wore the mourning- +cap) approached the window, and laid her great bony hand upon Mdlle. de +Cardoville's shoulder. + +Turning round, Adrienne uttered a new cry of terror at the sight of this +grim figure. Then, the first moment of stupor over, she began to feel +less afraid; hideous as was this woman, it was at least some one to speak +to; she exclaimed, therefore, in an agitated voice: "Where is M. +Baleinier?" + +The two women looked at each other, exchanged a leer of mutual +intelligence, but did not answer. + +"I ask you, madame," resumed Adrienne, "where is M. Baleinier, who brought +me hither? I wish to see him instantly." + +"He is gone," said the big woman. + +"Gone!" cried Adrienne; "gone without me!--Gracious heaven! what can be +the meaning of all this?" Then, after a moment's reflection, she +resumed, "Please to fetch me a coach." + +The two women looked at each other, and shrugged their shoulders. "I +entreat you, madame," continued Adrienne, with forced calmness in her +voice, "to fetch me a coach since M. Baleinier is gone without me. I +wish to leave this place." + +"Come, come, madame," said the tall woman, who was called "Tomboy," +without appearing to listen to what Adrienne asked, "it is time for you +to go to bed." + +"To go to bed!" cried Mdlle. Cardoville, in alarm. "This is really +enough to drive one mad." Then, addressing the two women, she added: +"What is this house? where am I? answer!" + +"You are in a house," said Tomboy, in a rough voice, "where you must not +make a row from the window, as you did just now." + +"And where you must not put out the lamp as you have done," added the +other woman, who was called Gervaise, "or else we shall have a crow to +pick with you." + +Adrienne, unable to utter a word, and trembling with fear, looked in a +kind of stupor from one to the other of these horrible women; her reason +strove in vain to comprehend what was passing around her. Suddenly she +thought she had guessed it, and exclaimed: "I see there is a mistake +here. I do not understand how, but there is a mistake. You take me for +some one else. Do you know who I am? My name is Adrienne de Cardoville +You see, therefore, that I am at liberty to leave this house; no one in +the world has the right to detain me. I command you, then, to fetch me a +coach immediately. If there are none in this quarter, let me have some +one to accompany me home to the Rue de Babylone, Saint-Dizier House. I +will reward such a person liberally, and you also." + +"Well, have you finished?" said Tomboy. "What is the use of telling us +all this rubbish?" + +"Take care," resumed Adrienne, who wished to try every means; "if you +detain me here by force, it will be very serious. You do not know to +what you expose yourselves." + +"Will you come to bed; yes or no?" said Gervaise, in a tone of harsh +impatience. + +"Listen to me, madame," resumed Adrienne, precipitately, "let me out this +place, and I will give each of you two thousand francs. It is not +enough? I will give you ten--twenty--whatever you ask. I am rich--only +let me out for heaven's sake, let me out!--I cannot remain here--I am +afraid." As she said this, the tone of the poor girl's voice was +heartrending. + +"Twenty thousand francs!--that's the usual figure, ain't it, Tomboy?" + +"Let be, Gervaise! they all sing the same song." + +"Well, then? since reasons, prayers, and menaces are all in vain," said +Adrienne gathering energy from her desperate position, "I declare to you +that I will go out and that instantly. We will see if you are bold +enough to employ force against me." + +So saying, Adrienne advanced resolutely towards the door. But, at this +moment, the wild hoarse cries, which had preceded the noise of the +struggle that had so frightened her, again resounded; only, this time +they were not accompanied by the movement of feet. + +"Oh! what screams!" said Adrienne, stopping short, and in her terror +drawing nigh to the two women. "Do you not hear those cries? What, +then, is this house, in which one hears such things? And over there, +too," added she almost beside herself, as she pointed to the other wing +where the lighted windows shone through the darkness, and the white +figure continued to pass and repass before it; "over there! do you see? +What is it?" + +"Oh! that 'un," said Tomboy; "one of the folks who, like you, have not +behaved well." + +"What do you say?" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, clasping her hands in +terror. "Heavens! what is this house? What do they do to them?" + +"What will be done to you, if you are naughty, and refuse to come to +bed," answered Gervaise. + +"They put this on them," said Tomboy, showing the garment that she had +held under her arm, "they clap 'em into the strait-waistcoast." + +"Oh!" cried Adrienne, hiding her face in her hands with horror. A +terrible discovery had flashed suddenly upon her. She understood it all. + +Capping the violent emotions of the day, the effect of this last blow was +dreadful. The young girl felt her strength give way. Her hands fell +powerless, her face became fearfully pale, all her limbs trembled, and +sinking upon her knees, and casting a terrified glance at the strait- +waistcoat she was just able to falter in a feeble voice, "Oh, no:--not +that--for pity's sake, madame. I will do--whatever you wish." And, her +strength quite failing, she would have fallen upon the ground if the two +women had not run towards her, and received her fainting into their arms. + +"A fainting fit," said Tomboy; "that's not dangerous. Let us carry her +to bed. We can undress her, and this will be all nothing." + +"Carry her, then," said Gervaise. "I will take the lamp." + +The tall and robust Tomboy took up Mdlle. de Cardoville as if she had +been a sleeping child, carried her in her arms, and followed her +companion into the chamber through which M. Baleinier had made his exit. + +This chamber, though perfectly clean, was cold and bare. A greenish +paper covered the walls, and a low, little iron bedstead, the head of +which formed a kind of shelf, stood in one corner; a stove, fixed in the +chimney-place, was surrounded by an iron grating, which forbade a near +approach; a table fastened to the wall, a chair placed before this table, +and also clamped to the floor, a mahogany chest of drawers, and a rush- +bottomed armchair completed the scanty furniture. The curtainless window +was furnished on the inside with an iron grating, which served to protect +the panes from being broken. + +It was into this gloomy retreat, which formed so painful a contrast with +the charming little summer-house in the Rue de Babylone, that Adrienne +was carried by Tomboy, who, with the assistance of Gervaise, placed the +inanimate form on the bed. The lamp was deposited on the shelf at the +head of the couch. Whilst one of the nurses held her up, the other +unfastened and took off the cloth dress of the young girl, whose head +drooped languidly on her bosom. Though in a swoon, large tears trickled +slowly from her closed eyes, whose long black lashes threw their shadows +on the transparent whiteness of her cheeks. Over her neck and breast of +ivory flowed the golden waves of her magnificent hair, which had come +down at the time of her fall. When, as they unlaced her satin corset, +less soft, less fresh, less white than the virgin form beneath, which lay +like a statue of alabaster in its covering of lace and lawn, one of the +horrible hags felt the arms and shoulders of the young girl with her +large, red, horny, and chapped hands. Though she did not completely +recover the use of her senses, she started involuntarily from the rude +and brutal touch. + +"Hasn't she little feet?" said the nurse, who, kneeling down, was +employed in drawing off Adrienne's stockings. "I could hold them both in +the hollow of my hand." In fact, a small, rosy foot, smooth as a +child's, here and there veined with azure, was soon exposed to view, as +was also a leg with pink knee and ankle, of as pure and exquisite a form +as that of Diana Huntress. + +"And what hair!" said Tomboy; "so long and soft!--She might almost walk +upon it. 'Twould be a pity to cut it off, to put ice upon her skull!" +As she spoke, she gathered up Adrienne's magnificent hair, and twisted it +as well as she could behind her head. Alas! it was no longer the fair, +light hand of Georgette, Florine, or Hebe that arranged the beauteous +locks of their mistress with so much love and pride! + +And as she again felt the rude touch of the nurse's hand, the young girl +was once more seized with the same nervous trembling, only more +frequently and strongly than before. And soon, whether by a sort of +instinctive repulsion, magnetically excited during her swoon, or from the +effect of the cold night air, Adrienne again started and slowly came to +herself. + +It is impossible to describe her alarm, horror, and chaste indignation, +as, thrusting aside with both her hands the numerous curls that covered +her face, bathed in tears, she saw herself half-naked between these +filthy hags. At first, she uttered a cry of shame and terror; then to +escape from the looks of the women, by a movement, rapid as thought, she +drew down the lamp placed on the shelf at the head of her bed, so that it +was extinguished and broken to pieces on the floor. After which, in the +midst of the darkness, the unfortunate girl, covering herself with the +bed-clothes, burst into passionate sobs. + +The nurses attributed Adrienne's cry and violent actions to a fit of +furious madness. "Oh! you begin again to break the lamps--that's your +partickler fancy, is it?" cried Tomboy, angrily, as she felt her way in +the dark. "Well! I gave you fair warning. You shall have the strait- +waistcoat on this very night, like the mad gal upstairs." + +"That's it," said the other; "hold her fast, Tommy, while I go and fetch +a light. Between us, we'll soon master her." + +"Make haste, for, in spite of her soft look, she must be a regular fury. +We shall have to sit up all night with her, I suppose." + +Sad and painful contrast! That morning, Adrienne had risen free, +smiling, happy, in the midst of all the wonders of luxury and art, and +surrounded by the delicate attentions of the three charming girls whom +she had chosen to serve her. In her generous and fantastic mood, she had +prepared a magnificent and fairy-like surprise for the young Indian +prince, her relation; she had also taken a noble resolution with regard +to the two orphans brought home by Dagobert; in her interview with Mme. +de Saint-Dizier, she had shown herself by turns proud and sensitive, +melancholy and gay, ironical and serious, loyal and courageous; finally, +she had come to this accursed house to plead in favor of an honest and +laborious artisan. + +And now, in the evening delivered over by an atrocious piece of treachery +to the ignoble hands of two coarse-minded muses in a madhouse--Mdlle. de +Cardoville felt her delicate limbs imprisoned in that abominable garment, +which is called a strait-waistcoat. + +Mdlle. de Cardoville passed a horrible night in company with the two +hags. The next morning, at nine o'clock, what was the young lady's +stupor to see Dr. Baleinier enter the room, still smiling with an air at +once benevolent and paternal. + +"Well, my dear child?" said he, in a bland, affectionate voice; "how have +we spent the night?" + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE VISIT. + +The keepers, yielding to Mdlle. de Cardoville's prayers, and, above all, +to her promises of good behavior, had only left on the canvas jacket a +portion of the time. Towards morning, they had allowed her to rise and +dress herself, without interfering. + +Adrienne was seated on the edge of her bed. The alteration in her +features, her dreadful paleness, the lurid fire of fever shining in her +eyes, the convulsive trembling which ever and anon shook her frame, +showed already the fatal effects of this terrible night upon a +susceptible and high-strung organization. At sight of Dr. Baleinier, +who, with a sign, made Gervaise and her mate leave the room, Adrienne +remained petrified. + +She felt a kind of giddiness at the thought of the audacity of the man, +who dared to present himself to her! But when the physician repeated, in +the softest tone of affectionate interest: "Well, my poor child! how have +we spent the night?" she pressed her hands to her burning forehead, as if +in doubt whether she was awake or sleeping. Then, staring at the doctor, +she half opened her lips; but they trembled so much that it was +impossible for her to utter a word. Anger, indignation, contempt, and, +above all, the bitter and acutely painful feeling of a generous heart, +whose confidence has been basely betrayed, so overpowered Adrienne that +she was unable to break the silence. + +"Come, come! I see how it is," said the doctor, shaking his head +sorrowfully; "you are very much displeased with me--is it not so? Well! +I expected it, my dear child." + +These words, pronounced with the most hypocritical effrontery, made +Adrienne start up. Her pale cheek flushed, her large eyes sparkled, she +lifted proudly her beautiful head, whilst her upper lip curled slightly +with a smile of disdainful bitterness; then, passing in angry silence +before M. Baleinier, who retained his seat, she directed her swift and +firm steps towards the door. This door, in which was a little wicket, +was fastened on the outside. Adrienne turned towards the doctor, and +said to him, with an imperious gesture; "Open that door for me!" + +"Come, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne," said the physician, "be calm. Let us +talk like good friends--for you know I am your friend." And he inhaled +slowly a pinch of snuff. + +"It appears, sir," said Adrienne, in a voice trembling with indignation, +"I am not to leave this place to-day?" + +"Alas! no. In such a state of excitement--if you knew how inflamed your +face is, and your eyes so feverish, your pulse must be at least eighty to +the minute--I conjure you, my dear child, not to aggravate your symptoms +by this fatal agitation." + +After looking fixedly at the doctor, Adrienne returned with a slow step, +and again took her seat on the edge of the bed. "That is right," resumed +M. Baleinier: only be reasonable; and, as I said before, let us talk +together like good friends." + +"You say well, sir," replied Adrienne, in a collected and perfectly calm +voice; "let us talk like friends. You wish to make me pass for mad--is +it not so?" + +"I wish, my dear child, that one day you may feel towards me as much +gratitude as you now do aversion. The latter I had fully foreseen--but, +however painful may be the performance of certain duties, we must resign +ourselves to it." + +M. Baleinier sighed, as he said this, with such a natural air of +conviction, that for a moment Adrienne could not repress a movement of +surprise; then, while her lip curled with a bitter laugh, she answered: +"Oh, it's very clear, you have done all this for my good?" + +"Really, my dear young lady--have I ever had any other design than to be +useful to you?" + +"I do not know, sir, if your impudence be not still more odious than your +cowardly treachery!" + +"Treachery!" said M. Baleinier, shrugging his shoulders with a grieved +air; "treachery, indeed! Only reflect, my poor child--do you think, if I +were not acting with good faith, conscientiously, in your interest, I +should return this morning to meet your indignation, for which I was +fully prepared? I am the head physician of this asylum, which belongs to +me--but I have two of my pupils here, doctors, like myself--and might +have left them to take care of you but, no--I could not consent to it--I +knew your character, your nature, your previous history, and (leaving out +of the question the interest I feel for you) I can treat your case better +than any one." + +Adrienne had heard M. Baleinier without interrupting him; she now looked +at him fixedly, and said: "Pray, sir, how much do they pay you to make me +pass for mad?" + +"Madame!" cried M. Baleinier, who felt stung in spite of, himself. + +"You know I am rich," continued Adrienne, with over, whelming disdain; "I +will double the sum that they give you. Come, sir--in the name of +friendship, as you call it, let me have the pleasure of outbidding them." + +"Your keepers," said M. Baleinier, recovering all his coolness, "have +informed me, in their report of the night's proceedings, that you made +similar propositions to them." + +"Pardon me, sir; I offered them what might be acceptable to poor women, +without education, whom misfortune has forced to undertake a painful +employment--but to you, sir a man of the world, a man of science, a man +of great abilities--that is quite different--the pay must be a great deal +higher. There is treachery at all prices; so do not found your refusal +on the smallness of my offer to those wretched women. Tell me--how much +do you want?" + +"Your keepers, in their report of the night, have also spoken of +threats," resumed M. Baleinier, with the same coolness; "have you any of +those likewise to address me? Believe me, my poor child, you will do +well to exhaust at once your attempts at corruption, and your vain +threats of vengeance. We shall then come to the true state of the case." + +"So you deem my threats vain!" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, at length +giving way to the full tide of her indignation, till then restrained. +"Do you think, sir, that when I leave this place--for this outrage must +have an end--that I will not proclaim aloud your infamous treachery? Do +you think chat I will not denounce to the contempt and horror of all, +your base conspiracy with Madame de Saint-Dizier? Oh! do you think that +I will conceal the frightful treatment I have received! But, mad as I +may be, I know that there are laws in this country, by which I will +demand a full reparation for myself, and shame, disgrace, and punishment, +for you, and for those who have employed you! Henceforth, between you +and me will be hate and war to the death; and all my strength, all my +intelligence--" + +"Permit me to interrupt you, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne," said the doctor, +still perfectly calm and affectionate: "nothing can be more unfavorable +to your cure, than to cherish idle hopes: they will only tend to keep up +a state of deplorable excitement: it is best to put the facts fairly +before you, that you may understand clearly your position. + +"1. It is impossible for you to leave this house. 2. You can have no +communication with any one beyond its walls. 3. No one enters here that +I cannot perfectly depend upon. 4. I am completely indifferent to your +threats of vengeance because law and reason are both in my favor." + +"What! have you the right to shut me up here?" + +"We should never have come to that determination, without a number of +reasons of the most serious kind." + +"Oh! there are reasons for it, it seems." + +"Unfortunately, too many." + +"You will perhaps inform me of them?" + +"Alas! they are only too conclusive; and if you should ever apply to the +protection of the laws, as you threatened me just now, we should be +obliged to state them. The fantastical eccentricity of your manner of +living, your whimsical mode of dressing up your maids, your extravagant +expenditure, the story of the Indian prince, to whom you offered a royal +hospitality, your unprecedented resolution of going to live by yourself, +like a young bachelor, the adventure of the man found concealed in your +bed-chamber; finally, the report of your yesterday's conversation, which +was faithfully taken down in shorthand, by a person employed for that +purpose." + +"Yesterday?" cried Adrienne, with as much indignation as surprise. + +"Oh, yes! to be prepared for every event, in case you should misinterpret +the interest we take in you, we had all your answers reported by a man +who was concealed behind a curtain in the next room; and really, one day, +in a calmer state of mind, when you come to read over quietly the +particulars of what took place, you will no longer be astonished at the +resolution we have been forced to adopt." + +"Go on, sir," said Adrienne, with contempt. + +"The facts I have cited being thus confirmed and acknowledged, you will +understand, my dear Mdlle. Adrienne, that your friends are perfectly free +from responsibility. It was their duty to endeavor to cure this +derangement of mind, which at present only shows itself in idle whims, +but which, were it to increase, might seriously compromise the happiness +of your future life. Now, in my opinion, we may hope to see a radical +cure, by means of a treatment at once physical and moral; but the first +condition of this attempt was to remove you from the scenes which so +dangerously excited your imagination; whilst a calm retreat, the repose +of a simple and solitary life combined with my anxious, I may say, +paternal care, will gradually bring about a complete recovery--" + +"So, sir," said Adrienne, with a bitter laugh, "the love of a noble +independence, generosity, the worship of the beautiful, detestation of +what is base and odious, such are the maladies of which you wish to cure +me; I fear that my case is desperate, for my aunt has long ago tried to +effect that benevolent purpose." + +"Well, we may perhaps not succeed; but at least we will attempt it. You +see, then, there is a mass of serious facts, quite enough to justify the +determination come to by the family-council, which puts me completely at +my ease with regard to your menaces. It is to that I wish to return; a +man of my age and condition never acts lightly--in such circumstances, +and you can readily understand what I was saying to you just now. In a +word, do not hope to leave this place before your complete recovery, and +rest assured, that I am and shall ever be safe from your resentment. +This being once admitted, let us talk of your actual state with all the +interest that you naturally inspire." + +"I think, sir, that, considering I am mad, you speak to me very +reasonably." + +"Mad! no, thank heaven, my poor child, you are not mad yet--and I hope +that, by my care, you will never be so. It is to prevent your becoming +mad, that one must take it in time; and believe me, it is full time. You +look at me with such an air of surprise--now tell me, what interest can I +have in talking to you thus? Is it the hatred of your aunt that I wish +to favor? To what end, I would ask? What can she do for me or against +me? I think of her at this moment neither more nor less than I thought +yesterday. Is it a new language that I hold to yourself? Did I not +speak to you yesterday many times, of the dangerous excitement of mind in +which you were, and of your singular whims and fancies? It is true, I +made use of stratagem to bring you hither. No doubt, I did so. I +hastened to avail myself of the opportunity, which you yourself offered, +my poor, dear child; for you would never have come hither with your own +good will. One day or the other, we must have found some pretext to get +you here: and I said to myself; 'Her interest before all! Do your duty, +let whatever will betide!'--" + +Whilst M. Baleinier was speaking, Adrienne's countenance, which had +hitherto expressed alternately indignation and disdain, assumed an +indefinable look of anguish and horror. On hearing this man talk in such +a natural manner, and with such an appearance of sincerity, justice and +reason, she felt herself more alarmed than ever. An atrocious deception, +clothed in such forms, frightened her a hundred times more than the +avowed hatred of Madame de Saint-Dizier. This audacious hypocrisy seemed +to her so monstrous, that she believed it almost impossible. + +Adrienne had so little the art of hiding her emotions, that the doctor, a +skillful and profound physiognomist, instantly perceived the impression +he had produced. "Come," said he to himself, "that is a great step. +Fright has succeeded to disdain and anger. Doubt will come next. I +shall not leave this place, till she has said to me: 'Return soon, my +good M. Baleinier!' "With a voice of sorrowful emotion, which seemed to +come from the very depths of his heart, the doctor thus continued: "I +see, you are still suspicious of me. All I can say to you is falsehood, +fraud, hypocrisy, hate--is it not so?--Hate you? why, in heaven's name, +should I hate you? What have you done to me? or rather--you will +perhaps attach more value to this reason from a man of my sort," added M. +Baleinier, bitterly, "or rather, what interest have I to hate you?--You, +that have only been reduced to the state in which you are by an over- +abundance of the most generous instincts--you, that are suffering, as it +were, from an excess of good qualities--you can bring yourself coolly and +deliberately to accuse an honest man, who has never given you any but +marks of affection, of the basest, the blackest, the most abominable +crime, of which a human being could be guilty. Yes, I call it a crime; +because the audacious deception of which you accuse me would not deserve +any other name. Really, my poor child, it is hard--very hard--and I now +see, that an independent spirit may sometimes exhibit as much injustice +and intolerance as the most narrow mind. It does not incense me--no--it +only pains me: yes, I assure you--it pains me cruelly." And the doctor +drew his hand across his moist eyes. + +It is impossible to give the accent, the look, the gesture of M. +Baleinier, as he thus expressed himself. The most able and practiced +lawyer, or the greatest actor in the world, could not have played this +scene with more effect than the doctor--or rather, no one could have +played it so well--M. Baleinier, carried away by the influence of the +situations, was himself half convinced of what he said. + +In few words, he felt all the horror of his own perfidy but he felt also +that Adrienne could not believe it; for there are combinations of such +nefarious character, that pure and upright minds are unable to comprehend +them as possible. If a lofty spirit looks down into the abyss of evil, +beyond a certain depth it is seized with giddiness, and no longer able to +distinguish one object from the other. + +And then the most perverse of men have a day, an hour, a moment, in which +the good instincts, planted in the heart of every creature, appear in +spite of themselves. Adrienne was too interesting, was in too cruel a +position, for the doctor mot to feel some pity for her in his heart; the +tone of sympathy, which for some time past he had been obliged to assume +towards her, and the sweet confidence of the young girl in return, had +become for this man habitual and necessary ratifications. But sympathy +and habit were now to yield to implacable necessity. + +Thus the Marquis d'Aigrigny had idolized his mother; dying, she called +him to her--and he turned away from the last prayer of a parent in the +agony of death. After such an example, how could M. Baleinier hesitate +to sacrifice Adrienne? The members of the Order, of which he formed a +part, were bound to him--but he was perhaps still more strongly bound to +them, for a long partnership in evil creates terrible and indissoluble +ties. + +The moment M. Baleinier finished his fervid address to Mdlle. de +Cardoville, the slide of the wicket in the door was softly pushed back, +and a pair of eyes peered attentively into the chamber, unperceived by +the doctor. + +Adrienne could not withdraw her gaze from the physician's, which seemed +to fascinate her. Mute, overpowered, seized with a vague terror, unable +to penetrate the dark depths of this man's soul, moved in spite of +herself by the accent of sorrow, half feigned and half real--the young +lady had a momentary feeling of doubt. For the first time, it came into +her mind, that M. Baleinier might perhaps be committing a frightful +error--committing it in good faith. + +Besides, the anguish of the past night, the dangers of her position, her +feverish agitation, all concurred to fill her mind with trouble and +indecision. She looked at the physician with ever increasing surprise, +and making a violent effort not to yield to a weakness, of which she +partly foresaw the dreadful consequences, she exclaimed: "No, no, sir; I +will not, I cannot believe it. You have too much skill, too much +experience, to commit such an error." + +"An error!" said M. Baleinier, in a grave and sorrowful tone. "Let me +speak to you in the name of that skill and experience, which you are +pleased to ascribe to me. Hear me but for a moment, my dear child; and +then I will appeal to yourself." + +"To me!" replied the young girl, in a kind of stupor; "you wish to +persuade me, that--" Then, interrupting herself, she added, with a +convulsive laugh: "This only is wanting to your triumph--to bring me to +confess that I am mad--that my proper place is here--that I owe you--" + +"Gratitude. Yes, you do owe it me, even as I told you at the +commencement of this conversation. Listen to me then; my words may be +cruel, but there are wounds which can only be cured with steel and fire. +I conjure you, my dear child--reflect--throw back one impartial glance at +your past life--weigh your own thoughts--and you will be afraid of +yourself. Remember those moments of strange excitement, during which, as +you have told me, you seemed to soar above the earth--and, above all, +while it is yet time--while you preserve enough clearness of mind to +compare and judge--compare, I entreat, your manner of living with that of +other ladies of your age? Is there a single one who acts as you act? who +thinks as you think? unless, indeed, you imagine yourself so superior to +other women, that, in virtue of that supremacy, you can justify a life +and habits that have no parallel in the world." + +"I have never had such stupid pride, you know it well," said Adrienne, +looking at the doctor with growing terror. + +"Then, my dear child, to what are we to attribute your strange and +inexplicable mode of life? Can you even persuade yourself that it is +founded on reason? Oh, my child! take care?--As yet, you only indulge in +charming originalities of conduct, poetical eccentricities, sweet and +vague reveries--but the tendency is fatal, the downward course +irresistible. Take care, take care!--the healthful, graceful, spiritual +portion of your intelligence has yet the upper hand, and imprints its +stamp upon all your extravagances; but you do not know, believe me, with +what frightful force the insane portion of the mind, at a given moment, +develops itself and strangles up the rest. Then we have no longer +graceful eccentricities, like yours, but ridiculous, sordid, hideous +delusions." + +"Oh! you frighten me," said the unfortunate girl, as she passed her +trembling hands across her burning brow. + +"Then," continued M. Baleinier, in an agitated voice, "then the last rays +of intelligence are extinguished; then madness--for we must pronounce the +dreaded word--gets the upper hand, and displays itself in furious and +savage transports." + +"Like the woman upstairs," murmured Adrienne, as, with fixed and eager +look, she raised her finger towards the ceiling. + +"Sometimes," continued the doctor, alarmed himself at the terrible +consequences of his own words, but yielding to the inexorable fatality of +his situation, "sometimes madness takes a stupid and brutal form; the +unfortunate creature, who is attacked by it, preserves nothing human but +the shape--has only the instincts of the lower animals--eats with +voracity, and moves ever backwards and forwards in the cell, in which +such a being is obliged to be confined. That is all its life--all." + +"Like the woman yonder." cried Adrienne, with a still wilder look, as she +slowly raised her arm towards the window that was visible on the other +side of the building. + +"Why--yes," said M. Baleinier. "Like you, unhappy child, those women +were young, fair, and sensible, but like you, alas! they had in them the +fatal germ of insanity, which, not having been destroyed in time, grew, +and grew, larger and ever larger, until it overspread and destroyed their +reason." + +"Oh, mercy!" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, whose head was getting confused +with terror; "mercy! do not tell me such things!--I am afraid. Take me +from this place--oh! take me from this place!" she added, with a +heartrending accent; "for, if I remain here, I shall end by going mad! +No," added she, struggling with the terrible agony which assailed her, +"no, do not hope it! I shall not become mad. I have all my reason. I +am not blind enough to believe what you tell me. Doubtless, I live +differently from others; think differently from others; am shocked by +things that do not offend others; but what does all this prove? Only +that I am different from others. Have I a bad heart? Am I envious or +selfish? My ideas are singular, I knew--yes, I confess it--but then, M. +Baleinier, is not their tendency good, generous, noble!--Oh!" cried +Adrienne's supplicating voice, while her tears flowed abundantly, "I have +never in my life done one malicious action; my worst errors have arisen +from excess of generosity. Is it madness to wish to see everybody about +one too happy? And again, if you are mad, you must feel it yourself--and +I do not feel it--and yet--I scarcely know--you tell me such terrible +things of those two women! You ought to know these things better than I. +But then," added Mdlle, de Cardoville, with an accent of the deepest +despair, "something ought to have been done. Why, if you felt an +interest for me, did you wait so long? Why did you not take pity on me +sooner? But the most frightful fact is, that I do not know whether I +ought to believe you--for all this may be a snare--but no, no! you weep-- +it is true, then!--you weep!" She looked anxiously at M. Baleinier, who, +notwithstanding his cynical philosophy, could not restrain his tears at +the sight of these nameless tortures. + +"You weep over me," she continued; "so it is true! But (good heaven!) +must there not be something done? I will do all that you wish--all--so +that I may not be like those women. But if it should be too late? no, it +is not too late--say it is not too late, my good M. Baleinier! Oh, now I +ask your pardon for what I said when you came in--but then I did not +know, you see--I did not know!" + +To these few broken words, interrupted by sobs, and rushing forth in a +sort of feverish excitement, succeeded a silence of some minutes, during +which the deeply affected physician dried his tears. His resolution had +almost failed him. Adrienne hid her face in her hands. Suddenly she +again lifted her head; her countenance was calmer than before, though +agitated by a nervous trembling. + +"M. Baleinier," she resumed, with touching dignity, "I hardly know what I +said to you just now. Terror, I think, made me wander; I have again +collected myself. Hear me! I know that I am in your power; I know that +nothing can deliver me from it. Are you an implacable enemy? or are you +a friend? I am not able to determine. Do you really apprehend, as you +assure me, that what is now eccentricity will hereafter become madness-- +or are you rather the accomplice in some infernal machination? You alone +can answer. In spite of my boasted courage, I confess myself conquered. +Whatever is required of me--you understand, whatever it may be, I will +subscribe to, I give you my word and you know that I hold it sacred--you +have therefore no longer any interest to keep me here. If, on the +contrary, you really think my reason in danger--and I own that you have +awakened in my mind vague, but frightful doubts--tell it me, and I will +believe you. I am alone, at your mercy, without friends, without +counsel. I trust myself blindly to you. I know not whether I address +myself to a deliverer or a destroyer--but I say to you--here is my +happiness--here is my life--take it--I have no strength to dispute it +with you!" + +These touching words, full of mournful resignation and almost hopeless +reliance, gave the finishing stroke to the indecision of M. Baleinier. +Already deeply moved by this scene, and without reflecting on the +consequences of what he was about to do, he determined at all events to +dissipate the terrible and unjust fears with which he had inspired +Adrienne. Sentiments of remorse and pity, which now animated the +physician, were visible in his countenance. + +Alas! they were too visible. The moment he approached to take the hand +of Mdlle. de Cardoville, a low but sharp voice exclaimed from behind the +wicket: "M. Baleinier!" + +"Rodin!" muttered the startled doctor to himself; "he's been spying on +me!" + +"Who calls you?" asked the lady of the physician. + +"A person that I promised to meet here this morning." replied he, with +the utmost depression, "to go with him to St. Mary's Convent, which is +close at hand." + +"And what answer have you to give me?" said Adrienne with mortal anguish. + +After a moment's solemn silence, during which he turned his face towards +the wicket, the doctor replied, in a voice of deep emotion: "I am--what I +have always been--a friend incapable of deceiving you." + +Adrienne became deadly pale. Then, extending her hand to M. Baleinier, +she said to him in a voice that she endeavored to render calm: "Thank +you--I will have courage--but will it be very long?" + +"Perhaps a month. Solitude, reflection, a proper regimen, my attentive +care, may do much. You will be allowed everything that is compatible +with your situation. Every attention will be paid you. If this room +displeases you, I will see you have another." + +"No--this or another--it is of little consequence," answered Adrienne, +with an air of the deepest dejection. + +"Come, come! be of good courage. There is no reason to despair." + +"Perhaps you flatter me," said Adrienne with the shadow of a smile. +"Return soon," she added, "my dear M. Baleinier! my only hope rests in +you now." + +Her head fell upon her bosom, her hands upon her knees and she remained +sitting on the edge of the bed, pale, motionless, overwhelmed with woe. + +"Mad!" she said when M. Baleinier had disappeared. "Perhaps mad!" + +We have enlarged upon this episode much less romantic than it may appear. +Many times have motives of interest or vengeance or perfidious +machination led to the abuse of the imprudent facility with which inmates +are received in certain private lunatic asylums from the hands of their +families or friends. + +We shall subsequently explain our views, as to the establishment of a +system of inspection, by the crown or the civil magistrates, for the +periodical survey of these institutions, and others of no less +importance, at present placed beyond the reach of all superintendence. +These latter are the nunneries of which we will presently have an +example. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +PRESENTIMENTS. + +Whilst the preceding events took place in Dr. Baleinier's asylum, other +scenes were passing about the same hour, at Frances Baudoin's, in the Rue +Brise-Miche. + +Seven o'clock in the morning had just struck at St. Mary church; the day +was dark and gloomy, and the sleet rattled against the windows of the +joyless chamber of Dagobert's wife. + +As yet ignorant of her son's arrest, Frances had waited for him the whole +of the preceding evening, and a good part of the night, with the most +anxious uneasiness; yielding at length to fatigue and sleep, about three +o'clock in the morning, she had thrown herself on a mattress beside the +bed of Rose and Blanche. But she rose with the first dawn of day, to +ascend to Agricola's garret, in the very faint hope that he might have +returned home some hours before. + +Rose and Blanche had just risen, and dressed themselves. They were alone +in the sad, chilly apartment. Spoil-sport, whom Dagobert had left in +Paris, was stretched at full length near the cold stove; with his long +muzzle resting on his forepaws, he kept his eye fixed on the sisters. + +Having slept but little during the night, they had perceived the +agitation and anguish of Dagobert's wife. They had seen her walk up and +down, now talking to herself, now listening to the least noise that came +up the staircase, and now kneeling before the crucifix placed at one +extremity of the room. The orphans were not aware, that, whilst she +brayed with fervor on behalf of her son, this excellent woman was praying +for them also. For the state of their souls filled her with anxiety and +alarm. + +The day before, when Dagobert had set out for Chartres, Frances, having +assisted Rose and Blanche to rise, had invited them to say their morning +prayer: they answered with the utmost simplicity, that they did not know +any, and that they never more than addressed their mother, who was in +heaven. When Frances, struck with painful surprise, spoke to them of +catechism, confirmation, communion, the sisters opened widely their large +eyes with astonishment, understanding nothing of such talk. + +According to her simple faith, terrified at the ignorance of the young +girls in matters of religion, Dagobert's wife believed their souls to be +in the greatest peril, the more so as, having asked them if they had ever +been baptized (at the same time explaining to them the nature of that +sacrament), the orphans answered they did not think they had, since there +was neither church nor priest in the village where they were born, during +their mother's exile in Siberia. + +Placing one's self in the position of Frances, you understand how much +she was grieved and alarmed; for, in her eyes, these young girls, whom +she already loved tenderly, so charmed was she with their sweet +disposition, were nothing but poor heathens, innocently doomed to eternal +damnation. So, unable to restrain her tears, or conceal her horrors, she +had clasped them in her arms, promising immediately to attend to their +salvation, and regretting that Dagobert had not thought of having them +baptized by the way. Now, it must be confessed, that this notion had +never once occurred to the ex-grenadier. + +When she went to her usual Sunday devotions, Frances had not dared to +take Rose and Blanche with her, as their complete ignorance of sacred +things would have rendered their presence at church, if not useless, +scandalous; but, in her own fervent prayers she implored celestial mercy +for these orphans, who did not themselves know the desperate position of +their souls. + +Rose and Blanche were now left alone, in the absence of Dagobert's wife. +They were still dressed in mourning, their charming faces seeming even +more pensive than usual. Though they were accustomed to a life of +misfortune, they had been struck, since their arrival in the Rue Brise- +Miche, with the painful contrast between the poor dwelling which they had +come to inhabit, and the wonders which their young imagination had +conceived of Paris, that golden city of their dreams. But, soon this +natural astonishment was replaced by thoughts of singular gravity for +their age. The contemplation of such honest and laborious poverty made +the orphans have reflections no longer those of children, but of young +women. Assisted by their admirable spirit of justice and of sympathy for +all that is good, by their noble heart, by a character at once delicate +and courageous, they had observed and meditated much during the last +twenty-four hours. + +"Sister," said Rose to Blanche, when Frances had quitted the room, +"Dagobert's poor wife is very uneasy. Did you remark in the night, how +agitated she was? how she wept and prayed?" + +"I was grieved to see it, sister, and wondered what could be the cause." + +"I am almost afraid to guess. Perhaps we may be the cause of her +uneasiness?" + +"Why so, sister? Because we cannot say prayers, nor tell if we have ever +been baptized?" + +"That seemed to give her a good deal of pain, it is true. I was quite +touched by it, for it proves that she loves us tenderly. But I could not +understand how we ran such terrible danger as she said we did." + +"Nor I either, sister. We have always tried not to displease our mother, +who sees and hears us." + +"We love those who love us; we are resigned to whatever may happen to us. +So, who can reproach us with any harm?" + +"No one. But, perhaps, we may do some without meaning it." + +"We?" + +"Yes, and therefore I thought: We may perhaps be the cause of her +uneasiness." + +"How so?" + +"Listen, sister! yesterday Madame Baudoin tried to work at those sacks of +coarse cloth there on the table." + +"Yes; but in about an half-hour, she told us sorrowfully, that she could +not go on, because her eyes failed her, and she could not see clearly." + +"So that she is not able to earn her living." + +"No--but her son, M. Agricola, works for her. He looks so good, so gay, +so frank, and so happy to devote himself for his mother. Oh, indeed! he +is the worthy brother of our angel Gabriel!" + +"You will see my reason for speaking of this. Our good old Dagobert told +us, that, when we arrived here, he had only a few pieces of money left." + +"That is true." + +"Now both he and his wife are unable to earn their living; what can a +poor old soldier like him do?" + +"You are right; he only knows how to love us, and take care of us, like +his children." + +"It must then be M. Agricola who will have to support his father; for +Gabriel is a poor priest, who possesses nothing, and can render no +assistance to those who have brought him up. So M. Agricola will have to +support the whole family by himself." + +"Doubtless--he owes it to father and mother--it is his duty, and he will +do it with a good will." + +"Yes, sister--but he owes us nothing." + +"What do you say, Blanche?" + +"He is obliged to work for us also, as we possess nothing in the world." + +"I had not thought of that. True." + +"It is all very well, sister, for our father to be Duke and Marshal of +France, as Dagobert tells us, it is all very well for us to hope great +things from this medal, but as long as father is not here, and our hopes +are not realized, we shall be merely poor orphans, obliged to remain a +burden to this honest family, to whom we already owe so much, and who +find it so hard to live, that--" + +"Why do you pause, sister?" + +"What I am about to say would make other people laugh; but you will +understand it. Yesterday, when Dagobert's wife saw poor Spoil-sport at +his dinner, she said, sorrowfully: "Alas! he eats as much as a man!"--so +that I could almost have cried to hear her. They must be very poor, and +yet we have come to increase their poverty." + +The sisters looked sadly at each other, while Spoil-sport pretended not +to know they were talking of his voracity. + +"Sister, I understand," said Rose, after a moment's silence. "Well, we +must not be at the charge of any one. We are young, and have courage. +Till our fate is decided, let us fancy ourselves daughters of workmen. +After all, is not our grandfather a workman? Let us find some +employment, and earn our own living. It must be so proud and happy to +earn one's living!" + +"Good little sister," said Blanche, kissing Rose. "What happiness! You +have forestalled my thought; kiss me!" + +"How so?" + +"Your project is mine exactly. Yesterday, when I heard Dagobert's wife +complain so sadly that she had lost her sight. I looked into your large +eyes, which reminded me of my own, and said to myself: 'Well! this poor +old woman may have lost her sight, but Rose and Blanche Simon can see +pretty clearly'--which is a compensation," added Blanche, with a smile. + +"And, after all," resumed Rose, smiling in her turn, "the young ladies in +question are not so very awkward, as not to be able to sew up great sacks +of coarse cloth--though it may chafe their fingers a little." + +"So we had both the same thought, as usual; only I wished to surprise +you, and waited till we were alone, to tell you my plan." + +"Yes, but there is something teases me." + +"What is that?" + +"First of all, Dagobert and his wife will be sure to say to us: 'Young +ladies, you are not fitted for such work. What, daughters of a Marshal +of France sewing up great ugly bags!' And then, if we insist upon it, +they will add: 'Well, we have no work to give you. If you want any, you +must hunt for it.' What would Misses Simon do then?" + +"The fact is, that when Dagobert has made up his mind to anything--" + +"Oh! even then, if we coax him well--" + +"Yes, in certain things; but in others he is immovable. It is just as +when upon the journey, we wished to prevent his doing so much for us." + +"Sister, an idea strikes me," cried Rose, "an excellent idea!" + +"What is it? quick!" + +"You know the young woman they call Mother Bunch, who appears to be so +serviceable and persevering?" + +"Oh yes! and so timid and discreet. She seems always to be afraid of +giving offence, even if she looks at one. Yesterday, she did not +perceive that I saw her; but her eyes were fixed on you with so good and +sweet an expression, that tears came into mine at the very sight of it." + +"Well, we must ask her how she gets work, for certainly she lives by her +labor." + +"You are right. She will tell us all about it; and when we know, +Dagobert may scold us, or try to make great ladies of us, but we will be +as obstinate as he is." + +"That is it; we must show some spirit! We will prove to him, as he says +himself, that we have soldier's blood in our veins." + +"We will say to him: 'Suppose, as you say, we should one day be rich, my +good Dagobert, we shall only remember this time with the more pleasure." + +"It is agreed then, is it not, Rose? The first time we are alone with +Mother Bunch, we must make her our confidant, and ask her for +information. She is so good a person, that she will not refuse us." + +"And when father comes home, he will be pleased, I am sure, with our +courage." + +"And will approve our wish to support ourselves, as if we were alone in +the world." + +On these words of her sister, Rose started. A cloud of sadness, almost +of alarm, passed over her charming countenance, as she exclaimed: "Oh, +sister, what a horrible idea!" + +"What is the matter? your look frightens me." + +"At the moment I heard you say, that our father would approve our wish to +support ourselves, as if we were alone in the world--a frightful thought +struck me--I know not why--but feel how my heart beats--just as if some +misfortune were about to happen us." + +"It is true; your poor heart beats violently. But what was this thought? +You alarm me." + +"When we were prisoners, they did not at least separate us, and, besides, +the prison was a kind of shelter--" + +"A sad one, though shared with you." + +"But if, when arrived here, any accident had parted us from Dagobert--if +we had been left alone, without help, in this great town?" + +"Oh, sister! do not speak of that. It would indeed be terrible. What +would become of us, kind heaven?" + +This cruel thought made the girls remain for a moment speechless with +emotion. Their sweet faces, which had just before glowed with a noble +hope, grew pale and sad. After a pretty long silence, Rose uplifted her +eyes, now filled with tears, "Why does this thought," she said, +trembling, "affect us so deeply, sister? My heart sinks within me, as if +it were really to happen to us." + +"I feel as frightened as you yourself. Alas! were we both to be lost in +this immense city, what would become of us?" + +"Do not let us give way to such ideas, Blanche! Are we not here in +Dagobert's house, in the midst of good people?" + +"And yet, sister," said Rose, with a pensive air, "it is perhaps good for +us to have had this thought." + +"Why so?" + +"Because we shall now find this poor lodging all the better, as it +affords a shelter from all our fears. And when, thanks to our labor, we +are no longer a burden to any one, what more can we need until the +arrival of our father?" + +"We shall want for nothing--there you are right--but still, why did this +thought occur to us, and why does it weigh so heavily on our minds?" + +"Yes, indeed--why? Are we not here in the midst of friends that love us? +How could we suppose that we should ever be left alone in Paris? It is +impossible that such a misfortune should happen to us--is it not, my dear +sister?" + +"Impossible!" said Rose, shuddering. "If the day before we reached that +village in Germany, where poor Jovial was killed, any one had said to us: +'To-morrow, you will be in prison'--we should have answered as now: 'It +is impossible. Is not Dagobert here to protect us; what have we to +fear?' And yet, sister, the day after we were in prison at Leipsic." + +"Oh! do not speak thus, my dear sister! It frightens me." + +By a sympathetic impulse, the orphans took one another by the hand, while +they pressed close together, and looked around with involuntary fear. +The sensation they felt was in fact deep, strange, inexplicable, and yet +lowering--one of those dark presentiments which come over us, in spite of +ourselves--those fatal gleams of prescience, which throw a lurid light on +the mysterious profundities of the future. + +Unaccountable glimpses of divination! often no sooner perceived than +forgotten--but, when justified by the event, appearing with all the +attributes of an awful fatality! + +The daughters of Marshal Simon were still absorbed in the mournful +reverie which these singular thoughts had awakened, when Dagobert's wife, +returning from her son's chamber, entered the room with a painfully +agitated countenance. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +THE LETTER. + +Frances' agitation was so perceptible that Rose could not help +exclaiming: "Good gracious, what is the matter?" + +"Alas, my dear young ladies! I can no longer conceal it from you," said +Frances, bursting into tears. "Since yesterday I have not seen him. I +expected my son to supper as usual, and he never came; but I would not +let you see how much I suffered. I continued to expect him, minute after +minute; for ten years he has never gone up to bed without coming to kiss +me; so I spent a good part of the night close to the door, listening if I +could hear his step. But he did not come; and, at last, about three +o'clock in the morning, I threw myself down upon the mattress. I have +just been to see (for I still had a faint hope), if my son had come in +this morning--" + +"Well, madame!" + +"There is no sign of him!" said the poor mother, drying her eyes. + +Rose and Blanche looked at each other with emotion; the same thought +filled the minds of both; if Agricola should not return, how would this +family live? would they not, in such an event, become doubly burdensome? + +"But, perhaps, madame," said Blanche, "M. Agricola remained too late at +his work to return home last night." + +"Oh! no, no! he would have returned in the middle of the night, because +he knew what uneasiness he would cause me by stopping out. Alas! some +misfortune must have happened to him! Perhaps he has been injured at the +forge, he is so persevering at his work. Oh, my poor boy! and, as if I +did not feel enough anxiety about him, I am also uneasy about the poor +young woman who lives upstairs." + +"Why so, madame?" + +"When I left my son's room, I went into hers, to tell her my grief, for +she is almost a daughter to me; but I did not find her in the little +closet where she lives, and the bed had not even been slept in. Where +can she have gone so early--she, that never goes out?" + +Rose and Blanche looked at each other with fresh uneasiness, for they +counted much upon Mother Bunch to help them in the resolution they had +taken. Fortunately, both they and Frances were soon to be satisfied on +this head, for they heard two low knocks at the door, and the +sempstress's voice, saying: "Can I come in, Mrs. Baudoin?" + +By a spontaneous impulse, Rose and Blanche ran to the door, and opened it +to the young girl. Sleet and snow had been falling incessantly since the +evening before; the gingham dress of the young sempstress, her scanty +cotton shawl, and the black net cap, which, leaving uncovered two thick +bands of chestnut hair, encircled her pale and interesting countenance, +were all dripping wet; the cold had given a livid appearance to her thin, +white hands; it was only in the fire of her blue eyes, generally so soft +and timid, that one perceived the extraordinary energy which this frail +and fearful creature had gathered from the emergency of the occasion. + +"Dear me! where do you come from, my good Mother Bunch?" said Frances. +"Just now, in going to see if my son had returned, I opened your door, +and was quite astonished to find you gone out so early." + +"I bring you news of Agricola." + +"Of my son!" cried Frances, trembling all over. "What has happened to +him? Did you see him?--Did you speak to him?--Where is he?" + +"I did not see him, but I know where he is." Then, perceiving that +Frances grew very pale, the girl added: "He is well; he is in no danger." + +"Blessed be God, who has pity on a poor sinner!--who yesterday restored +me my husband, and to-day, after a night of cruel anguish, assures me of +the safety of my child!" So saying, Frances knelt down upon the floor, +and crossed herself with fervor. + +During the moment of silence, caused by this pious action, Rose and +Blanche approached Mother Bunch, and said to her in a low voice, with an +expression of touching interest: "How wet you are! you must be very cold. +Take care you do not get ill. We did not venture to ask Madame Frances +to light the fire in the stove, but now we will do so." + +Surprised and affected by the kindness of Marshal Simon's daughters, the +hunchback, who was more sensible than others to the least mark of +kindness, answered them with a look of ineffable gratitude: "I am much +obliged to you, young ladies; but I am accustomed to the cold, and am +moreover so anxious that I do not feel it." + +"And my son?" said Frances, rising after she had remained some moments on +her knees; "why did he stay out all night? And could you tell me where +to find him, my good girl? Will he soon come? why is he so long?" + +"I assure you, Agricola is well; but I must inform you, that for some +time--" + +"Well?" + +"You must have courage, mother." + +"Oh! the blood runs cold in my veins. What has happened? why shall I not +see him?" + +"Alas, he is arrested." + +"Arrested!" cried Rose and Blanche, with affright. + +"Father! Thy will be done!" said Frances; "but it is a great misfortune. +Arrested! for what? He is so good and honest, that there must be some +mistake." + +"The day before yesterday," resumed Mother Bunch, "I received an +anonymous letter, by which I was informed that Agricola might be arrested +at any moment, on account of his song. We agreed together that he should +go to the rich young lady in the Rue de Babylone, who had offered him her +services, and ask her to procure bail for him; to prevent his going to +prison. Yesterday morning he set out to go to the young lady's." + +"And neither of you told me anything of all this--why did you hide it +from me?" + +"That we might not make you uneasy, mother; for, counting on the +generosity of that young lady, I expected Agricola back every moment. +When he did not come yesterday evening. I said to myself: 'Perhaps the +necessary formalities with regard to the bail have detained him.' But the +time passed on, and he did not make his appearance. So, I watched all +night, expecting him." + +"So you did not go to bed either, my good girl?" + +"No, I was too uneasy. This morning, not being able to conquer my fears, +I went out before dawn. I remembered the address of the young lady in +the Rue de Babylone, and I ran thither." + +"Oh, well!" said Frances, with anxiety; "you were in the right. +According to what my son told us, that young lady appeared very good and +generous." + +Mother Bunch shook her head sorrowfully; a tear glittered in her eyes, as +she continued: "It was still dark when I arrived at the Rue de Babylone; +I waited till daylight was come." + +"Poor child! you, who are so weak and timid," said Frances, with deep +feeling, "to go so far, and in this dreadful weather!--Oh, you have been +a real daughter to me!" + +"Has not Agricola been like a brother to me!" said Mother Bunch, softly, +with a slight blush. + +"When it was daylight," she resumed: "I ventured to ring at the door of +the little summer-house; a charming young girl, but with a sad, pale +countenance, opened the door to me. 'I come in the name of an +unfortunate mother in despair,' said I to her immediately, for I was so +poorly dressed that I feared to be sent away as a beggar; but seeing, on +the contrary, that the young girl listened to me with kindness, I asked +her if, the day before, a young workman had not come to solicit a great +favor of her mistress. 'Alas! yes,' answered the young girl; 'my +mistress was going to interest herself for him, and, hearing that he was +in danger of being arrested, she concealed him here; unfortunately, his +retreat was discovered, and yesterday afternoon, at four o'clock, he was +arrested and taken to prison.'" + +Though the orphans took no part in this melancholy conversation, the +sorrow and anxiety depicted in their countenances, showed how much they +felt for the sufferings of Dagobert's wife. + +"But the young lady?" cried Frances. "You should have tried to see her, +my good Mother Bunch, and begged her not to abandon my son. She is so +rich that she must have influence, and her protection might save us from +great calamities." + +"Alas!" said Mother Bunch, with bitter grief, "we must renounce this last +hope." + +"Why?" said Frances. "If this young lady is so good, she will have pity +upon us, when she knows that my son is the only support of a whole +family, and that for him to go to prison is worse than for another, +because it will reduce us all to the greatest misery." + +"But this young lady," replied the girl, "according to what I learned +from her weeping maid, was taken last evening to a lunatic asylum: it +appears she is mad." + +"Mad! Oh! it is horrible for her, and for us also--for now there is no +hope. What will become of us without my son? Oh, merciful heaven!" The +unfortunate woman hid her face in her hands. + +A profound silence followed this heart-rending outburst. Rose and +Blanche exchanged mournful glances, for they perceived that their +presence augmented the weighty embarrassments of this family. Mother +Bunch, worn out with fatigue, a prey to painful emotions, and trembling +with cold in her wet clothes, sank exhausted on a chair, and reflected on +their desperate position. + +That position was indeed a cruel one! + +Often, in times of political disturbances, or of agitation amongst the +laboring classes, caused by want of work, or by the unjust reduction of +wages (the result of the powerful coalition of the capitalists)--often +are whole families reduced, by a measure of preventive imprisonment, to +as deplorable a position as that of Dagobert s household by Agricola's +arrest--an arrest, which, as will afterwards appear, was entirely owing +to Rodin's arts. + +Now, with regard to this "precautionary imprisonment," of which the +victims are almost always honest and industrious mechanics, driven to the +necessity of combining together by the In organization of Labor and the +Insufficiency of Wages, it is painful to see the law, which ought to be +equal for all, refuse to strikers what it grants to masters--because the +latter can dispose of a certain sum of money. Thus, under many +circumstances, the rich man, by giving bail, can escape the annoyance and +inconveniences of a preventive incarceration; he deposits a sum of money, +pledges his word to appear on a certain day, and goes back to his +pleasures, his occupations, and the sweet delights of his family. +Nothing can be better; an accused person is innocent till he is proved +guilty; we cannot be too much impressed with that indulgent maxim. It is +well for the rich man that he can avail himself of the mercy of the law. +But how is it with the poor? + +Not only has he no bail to give, for his whole capital consists of his +daily labor; but it is upon him chiefly that the rigors of preventive +measures must fall with a terrible and fatal force. + +For the rich man, imprisonment is merely the privation of ease and +comfort, tedious hours, and the pain of separation from his family-- +distresses not unworthy of interest, for all suffering deserves pity, and +the tears of the rich man separated from his children are as bitter as +those of the poor. But the absence of the rich man does not condemn his +family to hunger and cold, and the incurable maladies caused by +exhaustion and misery. + +For the workman, on the contrary, imprisonment means want, misery, +sometimes death, to those most dear to him. Possessing nothing, he is +unable to find bail, and he goes to prison. But if he have, as it often +happens, an old, infirm father or mother, a sick wife, or children in the +cradle? What will become of this unfortunate family? They could hardly +manage to live from day to day upon the wages of this man, wages almost +always insufficient, and suddenly this only resource will be wanting for +three or four months together. + +What will this family do? To whom will they have recourse? + +What will become of these infirm old men, these sickly wives, these +little children, unable to gain their daily bread? If they chance to +have a little linen and a few spare clothes, these will be carried to the +pawnbroker's, and thus they will exist for a week or so--but afterwards? + +And if winter adds the rigors of the season to this frightful and +inevitable misery? + +Then will the imprisoned artisan see in his mind's eyes, during the long +and sleepless nights, those who are dear to him, wan, gaunt, haggard, +exhausted, stretched almost naked upon filthy straw, or huddled close +together to warm their frozen limbs. And, should he afterwards be +acquitted, it is ruin and desolation that he finds on his return to his +poor dwelling. + +And then, after that long cessation from labor, he will find it difficult +to return to his old employers. How many days will be lost in seeking +for work! and a day without employment is a day without bread! + +Let us repeat our opinion, that if, under various circumstances, the law +did not afford to the rich the facility of giving bail, we could only +lament over all such victims of individual and inevitable misfortune. +But since the law does provide the means of setting provisionally at +liberty those who possess a certain sum of money, why should it deprive +of this advantage those very persons, for whom liberty is indeed +indispensable, as it involves the existence of themselves and families? + +Is there any remedy for this deplorable state of things? We believe +there is. + +The law has fixed the minimum of bail at five hundred francs. Now five +hundred francs represent, upon the average, six months' labor of an +industrious workman. + +If he have a wife and two children (which is also about the average), it +is evidently quite impossible for him to have saved any such sum. + +So, to ask of such a man five hundred francs, to enable him to continue +to support his family, is in fact to put him beyond the pale of the law, +though, more than any one else, he requires its protection, because of +the disastrous consequences which his imprisonment entails upon others. + +Would it not be equitable and humane, a noble and salutary example, to +accept, in every case where bail is allowed (and where the good character +of the accused could be honorably established), moral guarantees, in the +absence of material ones, from those who have no capital but their labor +and their integrity--to accept the word of an honest man to appear upon +the day of trial? Would it not be great and moral, in these days to +raise the value of the lighted word, and exalt man in his own eyes, by +showing him that his promise was held to be sufficient security? + +Will you so degrade the dignity of man, as to treat this proposition as +an impossible and Utopian dream? We ask, how many prisoners of war have +ever broken their parole, and if officers and soldiers are not brothers +of the workingman? + +Without exaggerating the virtue of promise-keeping in the honest and +laborious poor, we feel certain, that an engagement taken by the accused +to appear on the day of trial would be always fulfilled, not only with +fidelity, but with the warmest gratitude--for his family would not have +suffered by his absence, thanks to the indulgence of the law. + +There is also another fact, of which France may well be proud. It is, +that her magistrates (although miserably paid as the army itself) are +generally wise, upright, humane, and independent; they have the true +feeling of their own useful and sacred mission; they know how to +appreciate the wants and distresses of the working classes, with whom +they are so often brought in contact; to them might be safely granted the +power of fixing those cases in which a moral security, the only one that +can be given by the honest and necessitous man, should be received as +sufficient.[10] + +Finally, if those who make the laws have so low an opinion of the people +as to reject with disdain the suggestions we have ventured to throw out, +let them at least so reduce the minimum of bail, as to render it +available for those who have most need to escape the fruitless rigors of +imprisonment. Let them take as their lowest limit, the month's wages of +an artisan--say eighty francs. + +This sum would still be exorbitant; but, with the aid of friends, the +pawnbroker's, and some little advances, eighty francs might perhaps be +found--not always, it is true--but still sometimes--and, at all events, +many families would be rescued from frightful misery. + +Having made these observations, let us return to Dagobert's family, who, +in consequence of the preventive arrest of Agricola, were now reduced to +an almost hopeless state. + +The anguish of Dagobert's wife increased, the more she reflected on her +situation, for, including the marshal's daughters, four persons were left +absolutely without resource. It must be confessed, however, that the +excellent mother thought less of herself, than of the grief which her son +must feel in thinking over her deplorable position. + +At this moment there was a knock at the door. + +"Who is there?" said Frances. + +"It is me--Father Loriot." + +"Come in," said Dagobert's wife. + +The dyer, who also performed the functions of a porter, appeared at the +door of the room. This time, his arms were no longer of a bright apple- +green, but of a magnificent violet. + +"Mrs. Baudoin," said Father Loriot, "here is a letter that the giver of +holy water at Saint Merely's has just brought from Abbe Dubois, with a +request that I would bring it up to you immediately, as it is very +pressing." + +"A letter from my confessor?" said Frances, in astonishment; and, as she +took it, added: "Thank you, Father Loriot." + +"You do not want anything?" + +"No, Father Loriot." + +"My respects to the ladies!" and the dyer went out. + +"Mother Bunch, will you read this letter for me?" said Frances, anxious +to learn the contents of the missive in question. + +"Yes, mother,"--and the young girl read as follows: + +"'MY DEAR MADAME BAUDOIN,--I am in the habit of hearing you Tuesday and +Saturday, but I shall not be at liberty either to-morrow or the last day +of the week; you must then come to me this morning, unless you wish to +remain a whole week without approaching the tribunal of penance.'" + +"Good heavens! a week!" cried Dagobert's wife. "Alas! I am only too +conscious of the necessity of going there today, notwithstanding the +trouble and grief in which I am plunged." + +Then, addressing herself to the orphans, she continued: "Heaven has +heard the prayers that I made for you, my dear young ladies; this very +day I shall be able to consult a good and holy man with regard to the +great dangers to which you are exposed. Poor dear souls, that are so +innocent, and yet so guilty, without any fault of your own! Heaven is my +witness, that my heart bleeds for you as much as for my son." + +Rose and Blanche looked at each other in confusion; they could not +understand the fears with which the state of their souls inspired the +wife of Dagobert. The latter soon resumed, addressing the young +sempstress: + +"My good girl, will you render me yet another service?" + +"Certainly." + +"My husband took Agricola's week's wages with him to pay his journey to +Chartres. It was all the money I had in the house; I am sure that my +poor child had none about him, and in prison he will perhaps want some. +Therefore take my silver cup, fork, and spoon, the two pair of sheets +that remain over, and my wadded silk shawl, that Agricola gave me on my +birthday, and carry them all to the pawnbroker's. I will try and find +out in which prison my son is confined, and will send him half of the +little sum we get upon the things; the rest will serve us till my husband +comes home. And then, what shall we do? What a blow for him--and only +more misery in prospect--since my son is in prison, and I have lost my +sight. Almighty Father!" cried the unfortunate mother, with an +expression of impatient and bitter grief, "why am I thus afflicted? Have +I not done enough to deserve some pity, if not for myself, at least for +those belonging to me?" But immediately reproaching herself for this +outburst, she added, "No, no! I ought to accept with thankfulness all +that Thou sandiest me. Forgive me for these complaints, or punish only +myself!" + +"Be of good courage, mother!" said Mother Bunch. "Agricola is innocent, +and will not remain long in prison." + +"But now I think of it," resumed Dagobert's wife, "to go to the +pawnbroker's will make you lose much time, my poor girl." + +"I can make up that in the night, Madame Frances; I could not sleep, +knowing you in such trouble. Work will amuse me." + +"Yes, but the candles--" + +"Never mind, I am a little beforehand with my work," said the poor girl, +telling a falsehood. + +"Kiss me, at least," said Frances, with moist eyes, "for you are the very +best creature in the world." So saying, she hastened cut of the room. + +Rose and Blanche were left alone with Mother Bunch; at length had arrived +the moment for which they had waited with so much impatience. Dagobert's +wife proceeded to St. Merely Church, where her confessor was expecting to +see her. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII: + +THE CONFESSIONAL + +Nothing could be more gloomy than the appearance of St. Merely Church, on +this dark and snowy winter's day. Frances stopped a moment beneath the +porch, to behold a lugubrious spectacle. + +While a priest was mumbling some words in a low voice, two or three dirty +choristers, in soiled surplices, were charting the prayers for the dead, +with an absent and sullen air, round a plain deal coffin, followed only +by a sobbing old man and a child, miserably clad. The beadle and the +sacristan, very much displeased at being disturbed for so wretched a +funeral, had not deigned to put on their liveries, but, yawning with +impatience, waited for the end of the ceremony, so useless to the +interests of the establishment. At length, a few drops of holy water +being sprinkled on the coffin, the priest handed the brush to the beadle, +and retired. + +Then took place one of those shameful scenes, the necessary consequence +of an ignoble and sacrilegious traffic, so frequent with regard to the +burials of the poor, who cannot afford to pay for tapers, high mass, or +violins--for now St. Thomas Aquinas' Church has violins even for the +dead. + +The old man stretched forth his hand to the sacristan to receive the +brush. "Come, look sharp!" said that official, blowing on his fingers. + +The emotion of the old man was profound, and his weakness extreme; he +remained for a moment without stirring, while the brush was clasped +tightly in his trembling hand. In that coffin was his daughter, the +mother of the ragged child who wept by his side--his heart was breaking +at the thought of that last farewell; he stood motionless, and his bosom +heaved with convulsive sobs. + +"Now, will you make haste?" said the brutal beadle. "Do you think we are +going to sleep here?" + +The old man quickened his movements. He made the sign of the cross over +the corpse, and, stooping down, was about to place the brush in the hand +of his grandson, when the sacristan, thinking the affair had lasted long +enough, snatched the sprinkling-brush from the child, and made a sign to +the bearers to carry away the coffin--which was immediately done. + +"Wasn't that old beggar a slow coach?" said the beadle to his companion, +as they went back to the sacristy. "We shall hardly have time to get +breakfast, and to dress ourselves for the bang-up funeral of this +morning. That will be something like a dead man, that's worth the +trouble. I shall shoulder my halberd in style!" + +"And mount your colonel's epaulets, to throw dust in the eyes of the +women that let out the chairs--eh, you old rascal!" said the other, with +a sly look. + +"What can I do, Capillare? When one has a fine figure, it must be seen," +answered the beadle, with a triumphant air. "I cannot blind the women to +prevent their losing their hearts!" + +Thus conversing; the two men reached the sacristy. The sight of the +funeral had only increased the gloom of Frances. When she entered the +church, seven or eight persons, scattered about upon chairs, alone +occupied the damp and icy building. One of the distributors of holy +water, an old fellow with a rubicund, joyous, wine-bibbing face, seeing +Frances approach the little font, said to her in a low voice: "Abbe +Dubois is not yet in his box. Be quick, and you will have the first wag +of his beard." + +Though shocked at this pleasantry, Frances thanked the irreverent +speaker, made devoutly the sign of the cross, advanced some steps into +the church, and knelt down upon the stones to repeat the prayer, which +she always offered up before approaching the tribunal of penance. Having +said this prayer, she went towards a dark corner of the church, in which +was an oaken confessional, with a black curtain drawn across the grated +door. The places on each side were vacant; so Frances knelt down in that +upon the right hand, and remained there for some time absorbed in bitter +reflections. + +In a few minutes, a priest of tall stature, with gray hair and a stern +countenance, clad in a long black cassock, stalked slowly along one of +the aisles of the church. A short, old, misshapen man, badly dressed, +leaning upon an umbrella, accompanied him, and from time to time +whispered in his ear, when the priest would stop to listen with a +profound and respectful deference. + +As they approached the confessional, the short old man, perceiving +Frances on her knees, looked at the priest with an air of interrogation. +"It is she," said the clergyman. + +"Well, in two or three hours, they will expect the two girls at St. +Mary's Convent. I count upon it," said the old man. + +"I hope so, for the sake of their souls," answered the priest; and, +bowing gravely, he entered the confessional. The short old man quitted +the church. + +This old man was Rodin. It was on leaving Saint Merely's that he went to +the lunatic asylum, to assure himself that Dr. Baleinier had faithfully +executed his instructions with regard to Adrienne de Cardoville. + +Frances was still kneeling in the interior of the confessional. One of +the slides opened, and a voice began to speak. It was that of the +priest, who, for the last twenty years had been the confessor of +Dagobert's wife, and exercised over her an irresistible and all-powerful +influence. + +"You received my letter?" said the voice. + +"Yes, father. + +"Very well--I listen to you." + +"Bless me, father--for I have sinned!" said Frances. + +The voice pronounced the formula of the benediction. Dagobert's wife +answered "amen," as was proper, said her confider to "It is my fault," +gave an account of the manner in which she had performed her last +penance, and then proceeded to the enumeration of the new sins, committed +since she had received absolution. + +For this excellent woman, a glorious martyr of industry and maternal +love, always fancied herself sinning: her conscience was incessantly +tormented by the fear that she had committed some incomprehensible +offence. This mild and courageous creature, who, after a whole life of +devotion, ought to have passed what time remained to her in calm serenity +of soul, looked upon herself as a great sinner, and lived in continual +anxiety, doubting much her ultimate salvation. + +"Father," said Frances, in a trembling voice, "I accuse myself of +omitting my evening prayer the day before yesterday. My husband, from +whom I had been separated for many years, returned home. The joy and the +agitation caused by his arrival, made me commit this great sin." + +"What next?" said the voice, in a severe tone, which redoubled the poor +woman's uneasiness. + +"Father, I accuse myself of falling into the same sin yesterday evening. +I was in a state of mortal anxiety, for my son did not come home as +usual, and I waited for him minute after minute, till the hour had passed +over." + +"What next?" said the voice. + +"Father, I accuse myself of having told a falsehood all this week to my +son, by letting him think that on account of his reproaching me for +neglecting my health, I had taken a little wine for my dinner--whereas I +had left it for him, who has more need of it, because he works so much." + +"Go on!" said the voice. + +"Father, I accuse myself of a momentary want of resignation this morning, +when I learned that my poor son was arrested; instead of submitting with +respect and gratitude to this new trial which the Lord hath sent me-- +alas! I rebelled against it in my grief--and of this I accuse myself." + +"A bad week," said the priest, in a tone of still greater severity, "a +bad week--for you have always put the creature before the Creator. But +proceed!" + +"Alas, father!" resumed Frances, much dejected, "I know that I am a great +sinner; and I fear that I am on the road to sins of a still graver kind." + +"Speak!" + +"My husband brought with him from Siberia two young orphans, daughters of +Marshal Simon. Yesterday morning, I asked them to say their prayers, and +I learned from them, with as much fright as sorrow, that they know none +of the mysteries of our holy faith, though they are fifteen years old. +They have never received the sacrament, nor are they even baptized, +father--not even baptized!" + +"They must be heathens!" cried the voice, in a tone of angry surprise. + +"That is what so much grieves me, father; for, as I and my husband are in +the room of parents to these young orphans, we should be guilty of the +sins which they might commit--should we not, father?" + +"Certainly,--since you take the place of those who ought to watch over +their souls. The shepherd must answer for his flock," said the voice. + +"And if they should happen to be in mortal sin, father, I and my husband +would be in mortal sin?" + +"Yes," said the voice; "you take the place of their parents; and fathers +and mothers are guilty of all the sins which their children commit when +those sins arise from the want of a Christian education." + +"Alas, father! what am I to do? I address myself to you as I would to +heaven itself. Every day, every hour, that these poor young girls remain +heathens, may contribute to bring about their eternal damnation, may it +not, father?" said Frances, in a tone of the deepest emotion. + +"Yes," answered the voice; "and the weight of this terrible +responsibility rests upon you and your husband; you have the charge of +souls!" + +"Lord, have mercy upon me!" said Frances weeping. + +"You must not grieve yourself thus," answered the voice, in a softer +tone; "happily for these unfortunates, they have met you upon the way. +They, will have in you and your husband good and pious examples--for I +suppose that your husband, though formerly an ungodly person, now +practices his religious duties!" + +"We must pray for him, father," said Frances, sorrowfully; "grace has not +yet touched his heart. He is like my poor child, who has also not been +called to holiness. Ah, father!" said Frances, drying her tears, "these +thoughts are my heaviest cross." + +"So neither your husband nor your son practises," resumed the voice, in a +tone of reflection; "this is serious--very serious. The religious +education of these two unfortunate girls has yet to begin. In your +house, they will have ever before them the most deplorable examples. +Take care! I have warned you. You have the charge of souls--your +responsibility is immense!" + +"Father, it is that which makes me wretched--I am at a loss what to do. +Help me, and give me your counsels: for twenty years your voice has been +to me as the voice of the Lord." + +"Well! you must agree with your husband to send these unfortunate girls +to some religious house where they may be instructed." + +"We are too poor, father, to pay for their schooling, and unfortunately +my son has just been put in prison for songs that he wrote." + +"Behold the fruit of impiety," said the voice, severely; "look at +Gabriel! he has followed my counsels, and is now the model of every +Christian virtue." + +"My son, Agricola, has had good qualities, father; he is so kind, so +devoted!" + +"Without religion," said the voice, with redoubled severity, "what you +call good qualities are only vain appearances; at the least breath of the +devil they will disappear--for the devil lurks in every soul that has no +religion." + +"Oh! my poor son!" said Frances, weeping; "I pray for him every day, that +faith may enlighten him." + +"I have always told you," resumed the voice, "that you have been too weak +with him. God now punishes you for it. You should have parted from this +irreligious son, and not sanctioned his impiety by loving him as you do. +'If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off,' saith the Scripture." + +"Alas, father! you know it is the only time I have disobeyed you; but I +could not bring myself to part from my son." + +"Therefore is your salvation uncertain--but God is merciful. Do not fall +into the same fault with regard to these young girls, whom Providence has +sent you, that you might save them from eternal damnation. Do not plunge +them into it by your own culpable indifference." + +"Oh, father! I have wept and prayed for them." + +"That is not sufficient. These unfortunate children cannot have any +notion of good or evil. Their souls must be an abyss of scandal and +impurity--brought up as they have been, by an impious mother, and a +soldier devoid of religion." + +"As for that, father," said Frances, with simplicity, "they are gentle as +angels, and my husband, who has not quitted them since their birth, +declares they have the best hearts in the world." + +"Your husband has dwelt all his life in mortal sin," said the voice, +harshly; "how can he judge of the state of souls? I repeat to you, that +as you represent the parents of these unfortunates, it is not to-morrow, +but it is today, and on the instant, that you must labor for their +salvation, if you would not incur a terrible responsibility." + +"It is true--I know it well, father--and I suffer as much from this fear +as from grief at my son's arrest. But what is to be done? I could not +instruct these young girls at home--for I have not the knowledge--I have +only faith--and then my poor husband, in his blindness, makes game of +sacred things, which my son, at least, respects in my presence, out of +regard for me. Then, once more, father, come to my aid, I conjure you! +Advise me: what is to be done?" + +"We cannot abandon these two young souls to frightful perdition," said +the voice, after a moment's silence: "there are not two ways of saving +them: there is only one, and that is to place them in a religious house, +where they may be surrounded by good and pious examples." + +"Oh, father! if we were not so poor, or if I could still work, I would +try to gain sufficient to pay for their board, and do for them as I did +for Gabriel. Unfortunately, I have quite lost my sight; but you, father, +know some charitable souls, and if you could get any of them to interest +them, selves for these poor orphans--" + +"Where is their father?" + +"He was in India; but, my husband tells me, he will soon be in France. +That, however, is uncertain. Besides, it would make my heart bleed to +see those poor children share our misery--which will soon be extreme--for +we only live by my son's labor." + +"Have these girls no relation here?" asked the voice. + +"I believe not, father." + +"It was their mother who entrusted them to your husband, to bring them to +France?" + +"Yes, father; he was obliged to set out yesterday for Chartres, on some +very pressing business, as he told me." + +It will be remembered that Dagobert had not thought fit to inform his +wife of the hopes which the daughters of Marshall Simon founded on the +possession of the medal, and that he had particularly charged them not to +mention these hopes, even to Frances. + +"So," resumed the voice, after a pause of some moments' duration, "your +husband is not in Paris." + +"No, father; but he will doubtless return this evening or to-morrow +morning." + +"Listen to me," said the voice, after another pause. "Every minute lost +for those two young girls is a new step on the road to perdition. At any +moment the hand of God may smite them, for He alone knows the hour of our +death; and were they to die in the state in which they now are, they +would most probably be lost to all eternity. This very day, therefore, +you must open their eyes to the divine light, and place them in a +religious house. It is your duty--it should be your desire!" + +"Oh, yes, father; but, unfortunately, I am too poor, as I have already +told you." + +"I know it--you do not want for zeal or faith--but even were you capable +of directing these young girls, the impious examples of your husband and +son would daily destroy your work. Others must do for these orphans, in +the name of Christian charity, that which you cannot do, though you are +answerable for them before heaven." + +"Oh, father! if, thanks to you, this good work could be accomplished, how +grateful I should be!" + +"It is not impossible. I know the superior of a convent, where these +young girls would be instructed as they ought. The charge for their +board would be diminished in consideration of their poverty; but, however +small, it must be paid and there would be also an outfit to furnish. All +that would be too dear for you." + +"Alas! yes, father." + +"But, by taking a little from my poor-box, and by applying to one or two +generous persons, I think I shall be able to complete the necessary sum, +and so get the young girls received at the convent." + +"Ah, father! you are my deliverer, and these children's." + +"I wish to be so--but, in the interest of their salvation, and to make +these measures really efficacious, I must attach some conditions to the +support I offer you." + +"Name them, father; they are accepted beforehand. Your commands shall be +obeyed in everything." + +"First of all, the children must be taken this very morning to the +convent, by my housekeeper, to whom you must bring them almost +immediately." + +"Nay, father; that is impossible!" cried Frances. + +"Impossible? why?" + +"In the absence of my husband--" + +"Well?" + +"I dare not take a such a step without consulting him." + +"Not only must you abstain from consulting him, but the thing must be +done during his absence." + +"What, father? should I not wait for his return?" + +"No, for two reasons," answered the priest, sternly: "first, because his +hardened impiety would certainly lead him to oppose your pious +resolution; secondly, because it is indispensable that these young girls +should break off all connection with your husband, who, therefore, must +be left in ignorance of the place of their retreat." + +"But, father," said Frances, a prey to cruel doubt and embarrassment, "it +is to my husband that these children were entrusted--and to dispose of +them without his consent would be--" + +"Can you instruct these children at your house--yes or no?" interrupted +the voice. + +"No, father, I cannot." + +"Are they exposed to fall into a state of final impenitence by remaining +with you--yes or no?" + +"Yes, father, they are so exposed." + +"Are you responsible, as you take the place of their parents, for the +mortal sins they may commit--yes or no?" + +"Alas, father! I am responsible before God." + +"Is it in the interest of their eternal salvation that I enjoin you to +place them this very day in a convent?" + +"It is for their salvation, father." + +"Well, then, choose!" + +"But tell me, I entreat you, father if I have the right to dispose of +them without the consent of my husband?" + +"The right! you have not only the right, but it is your sacred duty. +Would you not be bound, I ask you, to rescue these unfortunate creatures +from a fire, against the will of your husband, or during his absence? +Well! you must now rescue them, not from a fire that will only consume +the body, but from one in which their souls would burn to all eternity." + +"Forgive me, I implore you, father," said the poor woman, whose +indecision and anguish increased every minute; "satisfy my doubts!--How +can I act thus, when I have sworn obedience to my husband?" + +"Obedience for good--yes--but never for evil. You confess, that, were it +left to him, the salvation of these orphans would be doubtful, and +perhaps impossible." + +"But, father," said Frances, trembling, "when my husband returns, he will +ask me where are these children? Must I tell him a falsehood?" + +"Silence is not falsehood; you will tell him that you cannot answer his +question." + +"My husband is the kindest of men; but such an answer will drive him +almost mad. He has been a soldier, and his anger will be terrible, +father," said Frances, shuddering at the thought. + +"And were his anger a hundred times more terrible, you should be proud to +brave it in so sacred a cause!" cried the voice, with indignation. "Do +you think that salvation is to be so easily gained on earth? Since when +does the sinner, that would walk in the way of the Lord, turn aside for +the stones and briars that may bruise and tear him?" + +"Pardon, father, pardon!" said Frances, with the resignation of despair. +"Permit me to ask one more question, one only. Alas! if you do not guide +me, how shall I find the way?" + +"Speak!" + +"When Marshal Simon arrives, he will ask his children of my husband. +What answer can he then give to their father?" + +"When Marshal Simon arrives, you will let me know immediately, and then-- +I will see what is to be done. The rights of a father are only sacred in +so far as he make use of them for the salvation of his children. Before +and above the father on earth, is the Father in heaven, whom we must +first serve. Reflect upon all this. By accepting what I propose to you, +these young girls will be saved from perdition; they will not be at your +charge; they will not partake of your misery; they will be brought up in +a sacred institution, as, after all, the daughters of a Marshal of France +ought to be--and, when their father arrives at Paris, if he be found +worthy of seeing them again, instead of finding poor, ignorant, half- +savage heathens, he will behold two girls, pious, modest, and well- +informed, who, being acceptable with the Almighty, may invoke His mercy +for their father, who, it must be owned, has great need of it--being a +man of violence, war, and battle. Now decide! Will you, on peril of +your soul, sacrifice the welfare of these girls in this world and the +next, because of an impious dread of your husband's anger?" + +Though rude and fettered by intolerance, the confessor's language was +(taking his view of the case) reasonable and just, because the honest +priest was himself convinced of what he said; a blind instrument of +Rodin, ignorant of the end in view, he believed firmly, that, in forcing +Frances to place these young girls in a convent, he was performing a +pious duty. Such was, and is, one of the most wonderful resources of the +order to which Rodin belonged--to have for accomplices good and sincere +people, who are ignorant of the nature of the plots in which they are the +principal actors. + +Frances, long accustomed to submit to the influence of her confessor, +could find nothing to object to his last words. She resigned herself to +follow his directions, though she trembled to think of the furious anger +of Dagobert, when he should no longer find the children that a dying +mother had confided to his care. But, according to the priest's opinion, +the more terrible this anger might appear to her, the more she would show +her pious humility by exposing herself to it. + +"God's will be done, father!" said she, in reply to her confessor. +"Whatever may happen, I wilt do my duty as a Christian--in obedience to +your commands." + +"And the Lord will reward you for what you may have to suffer in the +accomplishment of this meritorious act. You promise then, before God, +that you will not answer any of your husband's questions, when he asks +you for the daughters of Marshal Simon?" + +"Yes, father, I promise!" said Frances, with a shudder. + +"And will preserve the same silence towards Marshal Simon himself, in +case he should return, before his daughters appear to me sufficiently +grounded in the faith to be restored to him?" + +"Yes, father," said Frances, in a still fainter voice. + +"You will come and give me an account of the scene that takes place +between you and your husband, upon his return?" + +"Yes, father; when must I bring the orphans to your house?" + +"In an hour. I will write to the superior, and leave the letter with my +housekeeper. She is a trusty person, and will conduct the young girls to +the convent." + +After she had listened to the exhortations of her confessor, and received +absolution for her late sins, on condition of performing penance, +Dagobert's wife left the confessional. + +The church was no longer deserted. An immense crowd pressed into it, +drawn thither by the pomp of the grand funeral of which the beadle had +spoken to the sacristan two hours before. It was with the greatest +difficulty that Frances could reach the door of the church, now hung with +sumptuous drapery. + +What a contrast to the poor and humble train, which had that morning so +timidly presented themselves beneath the porch! + +The numerous clergy of the parish, in full procession, advanced +majestically to receive the coffin covered with a velvet pall; the +watered silks and stuffs of their copes and stoles, their splendid +silvered embroideries, sparkled in the light of a thousand tapers. The +beadle strutted in all the glory of his brilliant uniform and flashing +epaulets; on the opposite side walked in high glee the sacristan, +carrying his whalebone staff with a magisterial air; the voice of the +choristers, now clad in fresh, white surplices, rolled out in bursts of +thunder; the trumpets' blare shook the windows; and upon the countenances +of all those who were to have a share in the spoils of this rich corpse, +this excellent corpse, this first-class corpse, a look of satisfaction +was visible, intense and yet subdued, which suited admirably with the air +and attitude of the two heirs, tall, vigorous fellows with florid +complexions, who, without overstepping the limits of a charming modesty +of enjoyment, seemed to cuddle and hug themselves most comfortably in +their mourning cloaks. + +Notwithstanding her simplicity and pious faith, Dagobert's wife was +painfully impressed with this revolting difference between the reception +of the rich and the poor man's coffin at the door of the house of God-- +for surely, if equality be ever real, it is in the presence of death and +eternity! + +The two sad spectacles she had witnessed, tended still further to depress +the spirits of Frances. Having succeeded with no small trouble in making +her way out of the church, she hastened to return to the Rue Brise-Miche, +in order to fetch the orphans and conduct them to the housekeeper of her +confessor, who was in her turn to take them to St. Mary's Convent. +situated, as we know, next door to Dr. Baleinier's lunatic-asylum, in +which--Adrienne de Cardoville was confined. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +MY LORD AND SPOIL-SPORT. + +The wife of Dagobert, having quitted the church, arrived at the corner of +the Rue Brise-Miche, when she was accosted by the distributor of holy +water; he came running out of breath, to beg her to return to Saint- +Mery's, where the Abbe Dubois had yet something of importance to say to +her. + +The moment Frances turned to go back, a hackney-coach stopped in front of +the house she inhabited. The coachman quitted his box to open the door. + +"Driver," said a stout woman dressed in black, who was seated in the +carriage, and held a pug-dog upon her knees, "ask if Mrs. Frances Baudoin +lives in this house." + +"Yes, ma'am," said the coachman. + +The reader will no doubt have recognized Mrs. Grivois, head waiting-woman +to the Princess de Saint-Dizier, accompanied by My Lord, who exercised a +real tyranny over his mistress. The dyer, whom we have already seen +performing the duties of a porter, being questioned by the coachman as to +the dwelling of Frances, came out of his workshop, and advanced gallantly +to the coach-door, to inform Mrs. Grivois, that Frances Baudoin did in +fact live in the house, but that she was at present from home. + +The arms, hands, and part of the face of Father Loriot were now of a +superb gold-color. The sight of this yellow personage singularly +provoked My Lord, and at the moment the dyer rested his hand upon the +edge of the coach-window, the cur began to yelp frightfully, and bit him +in the wrist. + +"Oh! gracious heaven!" cried Mrs. Grivois, in an agony, whilst Father +Loriot, withdrew his hand with precipitation; "I hope there is nothing +poisonous in the dye that you have about you--my dog is so delicate!" + +So saying, she carefully wiped the pug-nose, spotted with yellow. Father +Loriot, not at all satisfied with this speech, when he had expected to +receive some apology from Mrs. Grivois on account of her dog's behavior, +said to her, as with difficulty he restrained his anger: "If you did not +belong to the fair sex, which obliges me to respect you in the person of +that wretched animal I would have the pleasure of taking him by the tail, +and making him in one minute a dog of the brightest orange color, by +plunging him into my cauldron, which is already on the fire." + +"Dye my pet yellow!" cried Mrs. Grivois, in great wrath, as she descended +from the hackney-coach, clasping My Lord tenderly to her bosom, and +surveying Father Loriot with a savage look. + +"I told you, Mrs. Baudoin is not at home," said the dyer, as he saw the +pug-dog's mistress advance in the direction of the dark staircase. + +"Never mind; I will wait for her," said Mrs. Grivois tartly. "On which +story does she live?" + +"Up four pair!" answered Father Loriot, returning abruptly to his shop. +And he added to himself, with a chuckle at the anticipation: "I hope +Father Dagobert's big prowler will be in a bad humor, and give that +villainous pug a shaking by the skin of his neck." + +Mrs. Grivois mounted the steep staircase with some difficulty, stopping +at every landing-place to take breath, and looking about her with +profound disgust. At length she reached the fourth story, and paused an +instant at the door of the humble chamber, in which the two sisters and +Mother Bunch then were. + +The young sempstress was occupied in collecting the different articles +that she was about to carry to the pawnbroker's. Rose and Blanche seemed +happier, and somewhat less uneasy about the future; for they had learned +from Mother Bunch, that, when they knew how to sew, they might between +them earn eight francs a week, which would at least afford some +assistance to the family. + +The presence of Mrs. Grivois in Baudoin's dwelling was occasioned by a +new resolution of Abbe d'Aigrigny and the Princess de Saint-Dizier; they +had thought it more prudent to send Mrs. Grivois, on whom they could +blindly depend, to fetch the young girls, and the confessor was charged +to inform Frances that it was not to his housekeeper, but to a lady that +would call on her with a note from him, that she was to deliver the +orphans, to be taken to a religious establishment. + +Having knocked at the door, the waiting-woman of the Princess de Saint- +Dizier entered the room, and asked for Frances Baudoin. + +"She is not at home, madame," said Mother Bunch timidly, not a little +astonished at so unexpected a visit, and casting down her eyes before the +gaze of this woman. + +"Then I will wait for her, as I have important affairs to speak of," +answered Mrs. Grivois, examining with curiosity and attention the faces +of the two orphans, who also cast down their eyes with an air of +confusion. + +So saying, Madame Grivois sat down, not without some repugnance, in the +old arm-chair of Dagobert's wife, and believing that she might now leave +her favorite at liberty, she laid him carefully on the floor. +Immediately, a low growl, deep and hollow, sounding from behind the +armchair, made Mrs. Grivois jump from her seat, and sent the pug-dog, +yelping with affright, and trembling through his fat, to take refuge +close to his mistress, with all the symptoms of angry alarm. + +"What! is there a dog here?" cried Mrs. Grivois, stooping precipitately +to catch up My Lord, whilst, as if he wished himself to answer the +question, Spoil-sport rose leisurely from his place behind the arm-chair, +and appeared suddenly, yawning and stretching himself. + +At sight of this powerful animal, with his double row of formidable +pointed fangs, which he seemed to take delight in displaying as he opened +his large jaws, Mrs. Grivois could not help giving utterance to a cry of +terror. The snappish pug had at first trembled in all his limbs at the +Siberian's approach; but, finding himself in safety on the lap of his +mistress, he began to growl insolently, and to throw the most provoking +glances at Spoil-sport. These the worthy companion of the deceased +Jovial answered disdainfully by gaping anew; after which he went smelling +round Mrs. Grivois with a sort of uneasiness, turned his back upon My +Lord, and stretched himself at the feet of Rose and Blanche, keeping his +large, intelligent eyes fixed upon them, as if he foresaw that they were +menaced with some danger. + +"Turn out that beast," said Mrs. Grivois, imperiously; "he frightens my +dog, and may do him some harm." + +"Do not be afraid, madame," replied Rose, with a smile; "Spoil-sport will +do no harm, if he is not attacked." + +"Never mind!" cried Mrs. Grivois; "an accident soon happens. The very +sight of that enormous dog, with his wolf's head and terrible teeth, is +enough to make one tremble at the injuries he might do one. I tell you +to turn him out." + +Mrs. Grivois had pronounced these last words in a tone of irritation, +which did not sound at all satisfactory in Spoil-sport's ears; so he +growled and showed his teeth, turning his head in the direction of the +stranger. + +"Be quiet, Spoil-sport!" said Blanche sternly. + +A new personage here entered the room, and put an end to this situation, +which was embarrassing enough for the two young girls. It was a +commissionaire, with a letter in his hand. + +"What is it, sir?" asked Mother Bunch. + +"A very pressing letter from the good man of the house; the dyer below +stairs told me to bring it up here." + +"A letter from Dagobert!" cried Rose and Blanche, with a lively +expression of pleasure. "He is returned then? where is he?" + +"I do not know whether the good man is called Dagobert or not," said the +porter; "but he is an old trooper, with a gray moustache, and may be +found close by, at the office of the Chartres coaches." + +"That is he!" cried Blanche. "Give me the letter." + +The porter handed it to the young girl, who opened it in all haste. + +Mrs. Grivois was struck dumb with dismay; she knew that Dagobert had been +decoyed from Paris, that the Abbe Dubois might have an opportunity to act +with safety upon Frances. Hitherto, all had succeeded; the good woman +had consented to place the young girls in the hands of a religious +community--and now arrives this soldier, who was thought to be absent +from Paris for two or three days at least, and whose sudden return might +easily ruin this laborious machination, at the moment when it seemed to +promise success. + +"Oh!" said Blanche, when she had read the letter. "What a misfortune!" + +"What is it, then, sister?" cried Rose. + +"Yesterday, half way to Chartres, Dagobert perceived that he had lost his +purse. He was unable to continue his journey; he took a place upon +credit, to return, and he asks his wife to send him some money to the +office, to pay what he owes." + +"That's it," said the porter; "for the good man told me to make haste, +because he was there in pledge." + +"And nothing in the house!" cried Blanche. "Dear me! what is to be +done?" + +At these words, Mrs. Grivois felt her hopes revive for a moment, they +were soon, however, dispelled by Mother Bunch, who exclaimed, as she +pointed to the parcel she had just made up: "Be satisfied, dear young +ladies! here is a resource. The pawnbroker's, to which I am going, is +not far off, and I will take the money direct to M. Dagobert: in half an +hour, at latest, he will be here." + +"Oh, my dear friend! you are right," said Rose. "How good you are! you +think of everything." + +"And here," said Blanche, "is the letter, with the address upon it. Take +that with you." + +"Thank you," answered Mother Bunch: then, addressing the porter, she +added: "Return to the person who sent you, and tell him I shall be at the +coach-office very shortly." + +"Infernal hunchback!" thought Mrs. Grivois, with suppressed rage, "she +thinks of everything. Without her, we should have escaped the plague of +this man's return. What is to be done now? The girls would not go with +me, before the arrival of the soldier's wife; to propose it to them would +expose me to a refusal, and might compromise all. Once more, what is to +be done?" + +"Do not be uneasy, ladies," said the porter as he went out; "I will go +and assure the good man, that he will not have to remain long in pledge." + +Whilst Mother Bunch was occupied in tying her parcel, in which she had +placed the silver cup, fork, and spoon, Mrs. Grivois seemed to reflect +deeply. Suddenly she started. Her countenance, which had been for some +moments expressive of anxiety and rage, brightened up on the instant. +She rose, still holding My Lord in her arms, and said to the young girls: +"As Mrs. Baudoin does not come in, I am going to pay a visit in the +neighborhood, and will return immediately. Pray tell her so!" + +With these words Mr. Grivois took her departure, a few minutes before +Mother Bunch left. + + + + +CHAPTER L. + +APPEARANCES. + +After she had again endeavored to cheer up the orphans, the sewing-girl +descended the stairs, not without difficulty, for, in addition to the +parcel, which was already heavy, she had fetched down from her own room +the only blanket she possessed--thus leaving herself without protection +from the cold of her icy garret. + +The evening before, tortured with anxiety as to Agricola's fate, the girl +had been unable to work; the miseries of expectation and hope delayed had +prevented her from doing so; now another day would be lost, and yet it +was necessary to live. Those overwhelming sorrows, which deprive the +poor of the faculty of labor, are doubly dreaded; they paralyze the +strength, and, with that forced cessation from toil, want and destitution +are often added to grief. + +But Mother Bunch, that complete incarnation of holiest duty, had yet +strength enough to devote herself for the service of others. Some of the +most frail and feeble creatures are endowed with extraordinary vigor of +soul; it would seem as if, in these weak, infirm organizations, the +spirit reigned absolutely over the body, and knew how to inspire it with +a factitious energy. + +Thus, for the last twenty-four hours, Mother Bunch had neither slept nor +eaten; she had suffered from the cold, through the whole of a frosty +night. In the morning she had endured great fatigue, in going, amid rain +and snow, to the Rue de Babylone and back, twice crossing Paris and yet +her strength was not exhausted--so immense is the power of the human +heart! + +She had just arrived at the corner of the Rue Saint Mery. Since the +recent Rue des Prouvaires conspiracy, there were stationed in this +populous quarter of the town a much larger number of police-officers than +usual. Now the young sempstress, though bending beneath the weight of +her parcel, had quickened her pace almost to a run, when, just as she +passed in front of one of the police, two five-franc pieces fell on the +ground behind her, thrown there by a stout woman in black, who followed +her closely. + +Immediately after the stout woman pointed out the two pieces to the +policeman, and said something hastily to him with regard to Mother Bunch. +Then she withdrew at all speed in the direction of the Rue Brise-Miche. + +The policeman, struck with what Mrs. Grivois had said to him ( for it was +that person), picked up the money, and, running after the humpback, cried +out to her: "Hi, there! young woman, I say--stop! stop!" + +On this outcry, several persons turned round suddenly and, as always +happens in those quarters of the town, a nucleus of five or six persons +soon grew to a considerable crowd. + +Not knowing that the policeman was calling to her, Mother Bunch only +quickened her speed, wishing to get to the pawnbroker's as soon as +possible, and trying to avoid touching any of the passers-by, so much did +she dread the brutal and cruel railleries, to which her infirmity so +often exposed her. + +Suddenly, she heard many persons running after her, and at the same +instant a hand was laid rudely on her shoulder. It was the policeman, +followed by another officer, who had been drawn to the spot by the noise. +Mother Bunch turned round, struck with as much surprise as fear. + +She found herself in the centre of a crowd, composed chiefly of that +hideous scum, idle and in rags, insolent and malicious, besotted with +ignorance, brutalized by want, and always loafing about the corners. +Workmen are scarcely ever met with in these mobs, for they are for the +most part engaged in their daily labors. + +"Come, can't you hear? you are deaf as Punch's dog," said the policeman, +seizing Mother Bunch so rudely by the arm, that she let her parcel fall +at her feet. + +When the unfortunate girl, looking round in terror, saw herself exposed +to all those insolent, mocking, malicious glances, when she beheld the +cynical and coarse grimace on so many ignoble and filthy countenances, +she trembled in all her limbs, and became fearfully pale. No doubt the +policeman had spoken roughly to her; but how could he speak otherwise to +a poor deformed girl, pale and trembling, with her features agitated by +grief and fear--to a wretched creature, miserably clad, who wore in +winter a thin cotton gown, soiled with mud, and wet with melted snow--for +the poor sempstress had walked much and far that morning. So the +policeman resumed, with great severity, following that supreme law of +appearances which makes poverty always suspected: "Stop a bit, young +woman! it seems you are in a mighty hurry, to let your money fall without +picking it up." + +"Was her blunt hid in her hump?" said the hoarse voice of a match-boy, a +hideous and repulsive specimen of precocious depravity. + +This sally was received with laughter, shouts, and hooting, which served +to complete the sewing-girl's dismay and terror. She was hardly able to +answer, in a feeble voice, as the policeman handed her the two pieces of +silver: "This money, sir, is not mine." + +"You lie," said the other officer, approaching; "a respectable lady saw +it drop from your pocket." + +"I assure you, sir, it is not so," answered Mother Bunch, trembling. + +"I tell you that you lie," resumed the officer; "for the lady, struck +with your guilty and frightened air, said to me: 'Look at yonder little +hunchback, running away with that large parcel, and letting her money +fall without even stopping to pick it up--it is not natural.'" + +"Bobby," resumed the match-vendor in his hoarse voice, "be on your guard! +Feel her hump, for that is her luggage-van. I'm sure that you'll find +boots, and cloaks, and umbrellas, and clocks in it--for I just heard the +hour strike in the bend of her back." + +Then came fresh bursts of laughter and shouts and hooting, for this +horrible mob has no pity for those who implore and suffer. The crowd +increased more and more, and now they indulged in hoarse cries, piercing +whistles, and all kinds of horse play. + +"Let a fellow see her; it's free gratis." + +"Don't push so; I've paid for my place!" + +"Make her stand up on something, that all may have a look." + +"My corns are being ground: it was not worth coming." + +"Show her properly--or return the money." + +"That's fair, ain't it?" + +"Give it us in the 'garden' style." + +"Trot her out in all her paces! Kim up!" + +Fancy the feelings of this unfortunate creature, with her delicate mind, +good heart, and lofty soul, and yet with so timid and nervous a +character, as she stood alone with the two policemen in the thick of the +crowd, and was forced to listen to all these coarse and savage insults. + +But the young sempstress did not yet understand of what crime she was +accused. She soon discovered it, however, for the policeman, seizing the +parcel which she had picked up and now held in her trembling hands, said +to her rudely: "What is there in that bundle?" + +"Sir--it is--I am going--" The unfortunate girl hesitated--unable, in her +terror, to find the word. + +"If that's all you have to answer," said the policeman, "it's no great +shakes. Come, make haste! turn your bundle inside out." + +So saying, the policeman snatched the parcel from her, half opened it, +and repeated, as he enumerated the divers articles it contained: "The +devil!--sheets--a spoon and fork--a silver mug--a shawl--a blanket-- +you're a downy mot! it was not so bad a move. Dressed like a beggar, and +with silver plate about you. Oh, yes! you're a deep 'un." + +"Those articles do not belong to you," said the other officer. + +"No, sir," replied Mother Bunch, whose strength was failing her; "but--" + +"Oh, vile hunchback! you have stolen more than you are big!" + +"Stolen!" cried Mother Bunch, clasping her hands in horror, for she now +understood it all. "Stolen!" + +"The guard! make way for the lobsters!" cried several persons at once. + +"Oh, ho! here's the lobsters!" + +"The fire-eaters!" + +"The Arab devourers!" + +"Come for their dromedary!" + +In the midst of these noisy jests, two soldiers and a corporal advanced +with much difficulty. Their bayonets and the barrels of their guns were +alone visible above the heads of this hideous and compact crowd. Some +officious person had been to inform the officer at the nearest guard- +house, that a considerable crowd obstructed the public way. + +"Come, here is the guard--so march to the guard-house!" said the +policeman, taking Mother Bunch by the arm. + +"Sir," said the poor girl, in a voice stifled by sobs, clasping her hands +in terror, and sinking upon her knees on the pavement; "sir,--have pity-- +let me explain--" + +"You will explain at the guard-house; so come on!" + +"But, sir--I am not a thief," cried Mother Bunch, in a heart-rending +tone; "have pity upon me--do not take me away like a thief, before all +this crowd. Oh! mercy! mercy!" + +"I tell you, there will be time to explain at the guard-house. The +street is blocked up; so come along!" Grasping the unfortunate creature +by both her hands, he set her, as it were, on her feet again. + +At this instant, the corporal and his two soldiers, having succeeded in +making their way through the crowd, approached the policeman. +"Corporal," said the latter, "take this girl to the guard-house. I am an +officer of the police." + +"Oh, gentlemen!" cried the girl, weeping hot tears, and wringing her +hands, "do not take me away, before you let me explain myself. I am not +a thief--indeed, indeed, I am not a thief! I will tell you--it was to +render service to others--only let me tell you--" + +"I tell you, you should give your explanations at the guard-house; if you +will not walk, we must drag you along," said the policeman. + +We must renounce the attempt to paint this scene, at once ignoble and +terrible. + +Weak, overpowered, filled with alarm, the unfortunate girl was dragged +along by the soldiers, her knees sinking under her at every step. The +two police-officers had each to lend an arm to support her, and +mechanically she accepted their assistance. Then the vociferations and +hootings burst forth with redoubled fury. Half-swooning between the two +men, the hapless creature seemed to drain the cup of bitterness to the +dregs. + +Beneath that foggy sky, in that dirty street, under the shadow of the +tall black houses, those hideous masses of people reminded one of the +wildest fancies of Callot and of Goya: children in rags, drunken women, +grim and blighted figures of men, rushed against each other, pushed, +fought, struggled, to follow with howls and hisses an almost inanimate +victim--the victim of a deplorable mistake. + +Of a mistake! How one shudders to think, that such arrests may often +take place, founded upon nothing but the suspicion caused by the +appearance of misery, or by some inaccurate description. Can we forget +the case of that young girl, who, wrongfully accused of participating in +a shameful traffic, found means to escape from the persons who were +leading her to prison, and, rushing up the stairs of a house, threw +herself from a window, in her despair, and was crushed to death upon the +paving-stones? + +Meanwhile, after the abominable denunciation of which Mother Bunch was +the victim, Mrs. Grivois had returned precipitately to the Rue Brise- +Miche. She ascended in haste to the fourth story, opened the door of +Frances Baudoin's room, and saw--Dagobert in company with his wife and +the two orphans! + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + +THE CONVENT. + +Let us explain in a few words the presence of Dagobert. His countenance +was impressed with such an air of military frankness that the manager of +the coach-office would have been satisfied with his promise to return and +pay the money; but the soldier had obstinately insisted on remaining in +pledge, as he called it, till his wife had answered his letter. When, +however, on the return of the porter, he found that the money was coming, +his scruples were satisfied, and he hastened to run home. + +We may imagine the stupor of Mrs. Grivois, when, upon entering the +chamber, she perceived Dagobert (whom she easily recognized by the +description she had heard of him) seated beside his wife and the orphans. +The anxiety of Frances at sight of Mrs. Grivois was equally striking. +Rose and Blanche had told her of the visit of a lady, during her absence, +upon important business; and, judging by the information received from +her confessor, Frances had no doubt that this was the person charged to +conduct the orphans to a religious establishment. + +Her anxiety was terrible. Resolved to follow the counsels of Abbe +Dubois, she dreaded lest a word from Mrs. Grivois should put Dagobert on +the scent--in which case all would be lost, and the orphans would remain +in their present state of ignorance and mortal sin, for which she +believed herself responsible. + +Dagobert, who held the hands of Rose and Blanche, left his seat as the +Princess de Saint-Dizier's waiting-woman entered the room and cast an +inquiring glance on Frances. + +The moment was critical--nay, decisive; but Mrs. Grivois had profited by +the example of the Princess de Saint-Dizier. So, taking her resolution +at once, and turning to account the precipitation with which she had +mounted the stairs, after the odious charge she had brought against poor +Mother Bunch, and even the emotion caused by the unexpected sight of +Dagobert, which gave to her features an expression of uneasiness and +alarm--she exclaimed, in an agitated voice, after the moment's silence +necessary to collect her thoughts: "Oh, madame! I have just been the +spectator of a great misfortune. Excuse my agitation! but I am so +excited--" + +"Dear me! what is the matter?" said Frances, in a trembling voice, for +she dreaded every moment some indiscretion on the part of Mrs. Grivois. + +"I called just now," resumed the other, "to speak to you on some +important business; whilst I was waiting for you, a poor young woman, +rather deformed, put up sundry articles in a parcel--" + +"Yes," said Frances; "it was Mother Bunch, an excellent, worthy +creature." + +"I thought as much, madame; well, you shall hear what has happened. As +you did not come in, I resolved to pay a visit in the neighborhood. I go +out, and get as far as the Rue St. Mery, when--Oh, madame!" + +"Well?" said Dagobert, "what then?" + +"I see a crowd--I inquire what is the matter--I learn that a policeman +has just arrested a young girl as a thief, because she had been seen +carrying a bundle, composed of different articles which did not appear to +belong to her--I approached--what do I behold?--the same young woman that +I had met just before in this room." + +"Oh! the poor child!" exclaimed Frances, growing pale, and clasping her +hands together. "What a dreadful thing!" + +"Explain, then," said Dagobert to his wife. "What was in this bundle?" + +"Well, my dear--to confess the truth--I was a little short, and I asked +our poor friend to take some things for me to the pawnbroker's--" + +"What! and they thought she had robbed us!" cried Dagobert; "she, the +most honest girl in the world! it is dreadful--you ought to have +interfered, madame; you ought to have said that you knew her." + +"I tried to do so, sir; but, unfortunately, they would not hear me. The +crowd increased every moment, till the guard came up, and carried her +off." + +"She might die of it, she is so sensitive and timid!" exclaimed Frances. + +"Ah, good Mother Bunch! so gentle! so considerate!" said Blanche, turning +with tearful eyes towards her sister. + +"Not being able to help her," resumed Mrs. Grivois "I hastened hither to +inform you of this misadventure--which may, indeed, easily be repaired-- +as it will only be necessary to go and claim the young girl as soon as +possible." + +At these words, Dagobert hastily seized his hat, and said abruptly to +Mrs. Grivois: "Zounds, madame! you should have begun by telling us that. +Where is the poor child? Do you know?" + +"I do not, sir; but there are still so many excited people in the street +that, if you will have the kindness to step out, you will be sure to +learn." + +"Why the devil do you talk of kindness? It is my duty, madame. Poor +child!" repeated Dagobert. "Taken up as a thief!--it is really horrible. +I will go to the guard-house, and to the commissary of police for this +neighborhood, and, by hook or crook, I will find her, and have her out, +and bring her home with me." + +So saying, Dagobert hastily departed. Frances, now that she felt more +tranquil as to the fate of Mother Bunch, thanked the Lord that this +circumstance had obliged her husband to go out, for his presence at this +juncture caused her a terrible embarrassment. + +Mrs. Grivois had left My Lord in the coach below, for the moments were +precious. Casting a significant glance at Frances she handed her Abbe +Dubois' letter, and said to her, with strong emphasis on every word: "You +will see by this letter, madame, what was the object of my visit, which I +have not before been able to explain to you, but on which I truly +congratulate myself, as it brings me into connection with these two +charming young ladies." Rose and Blanche looked at each other in +surprise. Frances took the letter with a trembling hand. It required +all the pressing and threatening injunctions of her confessor to conquer +the last scruples of the poor woman, for she shuddered at the thought of +Dagobert's terrible indignation. Moreover, in her simplicity, she knew +not how to announce to the young girls that they were to accompany this +lady. + +Mrs. Grivois guessed her embarrassment, made a sign to her to be at her +ease, and said to Rose, whilst Frances was reading the letter of her +confessor: "How happy your relation will be to see you, my dear young +lady!' + +"Our relation, madame?" said Rose, more and more astonished. + +"Certainly. She knew of your arrival here, but, as she is still +suffering from the effects of a long illness, she was not able to come +herself to-day, and has sent me to fetch you to her. Unfortunately," +added Mrs. Grivois, perceiving a movement of uneasiness on the part of +the two sisters, "it will not be in her power, as she tells Mrs. Baudoin +in her letter, to see you for more than a very short time--so you may be +back here in about an hour. But to-morrow or the next day after, she +will be well enough to leave home, and then she will come and make +arrangements with Mrs. Baudoin and her husband, to take you into her +house--for she could not bear to leave you at the charge of the worthy +people who have been so kind to you." + +These last words of Mrs. Grivois made a favorable impression upon the two +sisters, and banished their fears of becoming a heavy burden to +Dagobert's family. If it had been proposed to them to quit altogether +the house in the Rue Bris-Miche, without first asking the consent of +their old friend, they would certainly have hesitated; but Mrs. Grivois +had only spoken of an hour's visit. They felt no suspicion, therefore, +and Rose said to Frances: "We may go and see our relation, I suppose, +madame, without waiting for Dagobert's return?" + +"Certainly," said Frances, in a feeble voice, "since you are to be back +almost directly." + +"Then, madame, I would beg these dear young ladies to come with me as +soon as possible, as I should like to bring them back before noon. + +"We are ready, madame," said Rose. + +"Well then, young ladies, embrace your second mother, and come," said +Mrs. Grivois, who was hardly able to control her uneasiness, for she +trembled lest Dagobert should return from one moment to the other. + +Rose and Blanche embraced Frances, who, clasping in her arms the two +charming and innocent creatures that she was about to deliver up, could +with difficulty restrain her tears, though she was fully convinced that +she was acting for their salvation. + +"Come, young ladies," said Mrs. Grivois, in the most affable tone, "let +us make haste--you will excuse my impatience, I am sure--but it is in the +name of your relation that I speak." + +Having once more tenderly kissed the wife of Dagobert, the sisters +quitted the room hand in hand, and descended the staircase close behind +Mrs. Grivois, followed (without their being aware of it), by Spoil-sport. +The intelligent animal cautiously watched their movements, for, in the +absence of his master, he never let them out of his sight. + +For greater security, no doubt, the waiting-woman of Madame de Saint- +Dizier had ordered the hackney-coach to wait for her at a little distance +from the Rue Brise-Miche, in the cloister square. In a few seconds, the +orphans and their conductress reached the carriage. + +"Oh, missus!" said the coachman, opening the door; "no offence, I hope-- +but you have the most ill-tempered rascal of a dog! Since you put him +into my coach, he has never ceased howling like a roasted cat, and looks +as if he would eat us all up alive!" In fact, My Lord, who detested +solitude, was yelling in the most deplorable manner. + +"Be quiet, My Lord! here I am," said Mrs. Grivois; then addressing the +two sisters, she added: "Pray, get in, my dear young ladies." + +Rose and Blanche got into the coach. Before she followed them, Mrs. +Grivois was giving to the coachman in a low voice the direction to St. +Mary's Convent, and was adding other instructions, when suddenly the pug- +dog, who had growled savagely when the sisters took their seats in the +coach, began to bark with fury. The cause of this anger was clear +enough; Spoil-sport, until now unperceived, had with one bound entered +the carriage. + +The pug, exasperated by this boldness, forgetting his ordinary prudence, +and excited to the utmost by rage and ugliness of temper, sprang at his +muzzle, and bit him so cruelly, that, in his turn, the brave Siberian +dog, maddened by the pain, threw himself upon the teaser, seized him by +the throat, and fairly strangled him with two grips of his powerful jaws- +-as appeared by one stifled groan of the pug, previously half suffocated +with fat. + +All this took place in less time than is occupied by the description. +Rose and Blanche had hardly opportunity to exclaim twice: "Here, Spoil- +sport! down!" + +"Oh, good gracious!" said Mrs. Grivois, turning round at the noise. +"There again is that monster of a dog--he will certainly hurt my love. +Send him away, young ladies--make him get down--it is impossible to take +him with us." + +Ignorant of the degree of Spoil-sport's criminality, for his paltry foe +was stretched lifeless under a seat, the young girls yet felt that it +would be improper to take the dog with them, and they therefore said to +him in an angry tone, at the same time slightly touching him with their +feet: "Get down, Spoil-sport! go away!" + +The faithful animal hesitated at first to obey this order. Sad and +supplicatingly looked he at the orphans, and with an air of mild +reproach, as if blaming them for sending away their only defender. +But, upon the stern repetition of the command, he got down from the coach, +with his tail between his legs, feeling perhaps that he had been somewhat +over-hasty with regard to the pug. + +Mrs. Grivois, who was in a great hurry to leave that quarter of the town, +seated herself with precipitation in the carriage; the coachman closed +the door, and mounted his box; and then the coach started at a rapid +rate, whilst Mrs. Grivois prudently let down the blinds, for fear of +meeting Dagobert by the way. + +Having taken these indispensable precautions, she was able to turn her +attention to her pet, whom she loved with all that deep, exaggerated +affection, which people of a bad disposition sometimes entertain for +animals, as if then concentrated and lavished upon them all those +feelings in which they are deficient with regard to their fellow- +creatures. In a word. Mrs. Grivois vas passionately attached to this +peevish, cowardly, spiteful dog, partly perhaps from a secret sympathy +with his vices. This attachment had lasted for six years, and only +seemed to increase as My Lord advanced in age. + +We have laid some stress on this apparently puerile detail, because the +most trifling causes have often disastrous effects, and because we wish +the reader to understand what must have been the despair, fury, and +exasperation of this woman, when she discovered the death of her dog--a +despair, a fury, and an exasperation, of which the orphans might yet feel +the cruel consequences. + +The hackney-coach had proceeded rapidly for some seconds, when Mrs. +Grivois, who was seated with her back to the horses, called My Lord. The +dog had very good reasons for not replying. + +"Well, you sulky beauty!" said Mrs. Grivois, soothingly; "you have taken +offence, have you? It was not my fault if that great ugly dog came into +the coach, was it, young ladies? Come and kiss your mistress, and let us +make peace, old obstinate!" + +The same obstinate silence continued on the part of the canine noble. +Rose and Blanche began to look anxiously at each other, for they knew +that Spoil-sport was somewhat rough in his ways, though they were far +from suspecting what had really happened. But Mrs. Grivois, rather +surprised than uneasy at her pug-log's insensibility to her affectionate +appeals, and believing him to be sullenly crouching beneath the seat, +stooped clown to take him up, and feeling one of his paws, drew it +impatiently towards her whilst she said to him in a half-jesting, half- +angry tone: "Come, naughty fellow! you will give a pretty notion of your +temper to these young ladies." + +So saying, she took up the dog, much astonished at his unresisting +torpor; but what was her fright, when, having placed him upon her lap, +she saw that he was quite motionless. + +"An apoplexy!" cried she. "The dear creature ate too much--I was always +afraid of it." + +Turning round hastily, she exclaimed: "Stop, coachman! stop!" without +reflecting that the coachman could not hear her. Then raising the cur's +head, still thinking that he was only in a fit, she perceived with horror +the bloody holes imprinted by five or six sharp fangs, which left no +doubt of the cause of his deplorable end. + +Her first impulse was one of grief and despair. "Dead!" she exclaimed; +"dead! and already cold! Oh, goodness!" And this woman burst into tears. + +The tears of the wicked are ominous. For a bad man to weep, he must have +suffered much; and, with him, the reaction of suffering, instead of +softening the soul, inflames it to a dangerous anger. + +Thus, after yielding to that first painful emotion, the mistress of My +Lord felt herself transported with rage and hate--yes, hate--violent hate +for the young girls, who had been the involuntary cause of the dog's +death. Her countenance so plainly betrayed her resentment, that Blanche +and Rose were frightened at the expression of her face, which had now +grown purple with fury, as with agitated voice and wrathful glance she +exclaimed: "It was your dog that killed him!" + +"Oh, madame!" said Rose; "we had nothing to do with it." + +"It was your dog that bit Spoil-sport first," added Blanche, in a +plaintive voice. + +The look of terror impressed on the features of the orphans recalled Mrs. +Grivois to herself. She saw the fatal consequences that might arise from +yielding imprudently to her anger. For the very sake of vengeance, she +had to restrain herself, in order not to awaken suspicion in the minds of +Marshal Simon's daughters. But not to appear to recover too soon from +her first impression, she continued for some minutes to cast irritated +glances at the young girls; then, little by little, her anger seemed to +give way to violent grief; she covered her face with her hands, heaved a +long sigh, and appeared to weep bitterly. + +"Poor lady!" whispered Rose to Blanche. "How she weeps!--No doubt, she +loved her dog as much as we love Spoil-sport." + +"Alas! yes," replied Blanche. "We also wept when our old Jovial was +killed." + +After a few minutes, Mrs. Grivois raised her head, dried her eyes +definitively, and said in a gentle, and almost affectionate voice: +"Forgive me, young ladies! I was unable to repress the first movement of +irritation, or rather of deep sorrow--for I was tenderly attached to this +poor dog he has never left me for six years." + +"We are very sorry for this misfortune, madame," resumed Rose; "and we +regret it the more, that it seems to be irreparable." + +"I was just saying to my sister, that we can the better fancy your grief, +as we have had to mourn the death of our old horse, that carried us all +the way from Siberia." + +"Well, my dear young ladies, let us think no more about it. It was my +fault; I should not have brought him with me; but he was always so +miserable, whenever I left him. You will make allowance for my weakness. +A good heart feels for animals as well as people; so I must trust to your +sensibility to excuse my hastiness." + +"Do not think of it, madame; it is only your grief that afflicts us." + +"I shall get over it, my dear young ladies--I shall get over it. The joy +of the meeting between you and your relation will help to console me. +She will be so happy. You are so charming! and then the singular +circumstance of your exact likeness to each other adds to the interest +you inspire." + +"You are too kind to us, madame." + +"Oh, no--I am sure you resemble each other as much in disposition as in +face." + +"That is quite natural, madame," said Rose, "for since our birth we have +never left each other a minute, whether by night or day. It would be +strange, if we were not like in character." + +"Really, my dear young ladies! you have never left each other a minute?" + +"Never, madame." The sisters joined hands with an expressive smile. + +"Then, how unhappy you would be, and how much to be pitied, if ever you +were separated." + +"Oh, madame! it is impossible," said Blanche, smiling. + +"How impossible?" + +"Who would have the heart to separate us?" + +"No doubt, my dear young ladies, it would be very cruel." + +"Oh, madame," resumed Blanche, "even very wicked people would not think +of separating us." + +"So much the better, my dear young ladies--pray, why?" + +"Because it would cause us too much grief." + +"Because it would kill us." + +"Poor little dears!" + +"Three months ago, we were shut up in prison. Well when the governor of +the prison saw us, though he looked a very stern man, he could not help +saying: "It would be killing these children to separate them;" and so we +remained together, and were as happy as one can be in prison." + +"It shows your excellent heart, and also that of the persons who knew how +to appreciate it." + +The carriage stopped, and they heard the coachman call out "Any one at +the gate there?" + +"Oh! here we are at your relation's," said Mrs. Grivois. Two wings of a +gate flew open, and the carriage rolled over the gravel of a court-yard. + +Mrs. Grivois having drawn up one of the blinds, they found themselves in +a vast court, across the centre of which ran a high wall, with a kind of +porch upon columns, under which was a little door. Behind this wall, +they could see the upper part of a very large building in freestone. +Compared with the house in the Rue Brise-Miche, this building appeared a +palace; so Blanche said to Mrs. Grivois, with an expression of artless +admiration: "Dear me, madame, what a fine residence!" + +"That is nothing," replied Madame Grivois; "wait till you see the +interior, which is much finer." + +When the coachman opened the door of the carriage, what was the rage of +Mrs. Grivois, and the surprise of the girls, to see Spoil-sport, who had +been clever enough to follow the coach. Pricking up his ears, and +wagging his tail, he seemed to have forgotten his late offences, and to +expect to be praised for his intelligent fidelity. + +"What!" cried Mrs. Grivois, whose sorrows were renewed at the sight; "has +that abominable dog followed the coach?" + +"A famous dog, mum," answered the coachman "he never once left the heels +of my horses. He must have been trained to it. He's a powerful beast, +and two men couldn't scare him. Look at the throat of him now!" + +The mistress of the deceased pug, enraged at the somewhat unseasonable +praises bestowed upon the Siberian, said to the orphans, "I will announce +your arrival, wait for me an instant in the coach." + +So saying, she went with a rapid step towards the porch, and rang the +bell. A woman, clad in a monastic garb, appeared at the door, and bowed +respectfully to Mrs. Grivois, who addressed her in these few words, "I +have brought you the two young girls; the orders of Abbe d'Aigrigny and +the princess are, that they be instantly separated, and kept apart in +solitary cells--you understand, sister--and subjected to the rule for +impenitents." + +"I will go and inform the superior, and it will be done," said the +portress, with another bend. + +"Now, will you come, my dear young ladies?" resumed Mrs. Grivois, +addressing the two girls, who had secretly bestowed a few caresses upon +Spoil sport, so deeply were they touched by his instinctive attachment; +"you will be introduced to your relation, and I will return and fetch you +in half an hour. Coachman keep that dog back." + +Rose and Blanche, in getting out of the coach, were so much occupied with +Spoil-sport, that they did not perceive the portress, who was half hidden +behind the little door. Neither did they remark, that the person who was +to introduce them was dressed as a nun, till, taking them by the hand, +she had led them across the threshold, when the door was immediately +closed behind them. + +As soon as Mrs. Grivois had seen the orphans safe into the convent, she +told the coachman to leave the court-yard, and wait for her at the outer- +gate. The coachman obeyed; but Spoil-sport, who had seen Rose and +Blanche enter by the little door, ran to it, and remained there. + +Mrs. Grivois then called the porter of the main entrance, a tall, +vigorous fellow and said to him: "Here are ten francs for you, Nicholas, +if you will beat out the brains of that great dog, who is crouching under +the porch." + +Nicholas shook his head, as he observed Spoil-sport's size and strength. +"Devil take me, madame!" said he; "'tis not so easy to tackle a dog of +that build." + +"I will give you twenty francs; only kill him before me." + +"One ought to have a gun, and I have only an iron hammer." + +"That will do; you can knock him down at a blow." + +"Well, madame--I will try--but I have my doubts." And Nicholas went to +fetch his mallet. + +"Oh! if I had the strength!" said Mrs. Grivois. + +The porter returned with his weapon, and advanced slowly and +treacherously towards Spoil-sport, who was still crouching beneath the +porch. "Here, old fellow! here, my good dog!" said Nicholas striking his +left hand on his thigh, and keeping his right behind him, with the +crowbar grasped in it. + +Spoil-sport rose, examined Nicholas attentively, and no doubt perceiving +by his manner that the porter meditated some evil design, bounded away +from him, outflanked the enemy, saw clearly what was intended, and kept +himself at a respectful distance. + +"He smells a rat," said Nicholas; "the rascal's on his guard. He will +not let me come near him. It's no go." + +"You are an awkward fellow," said Mrs. Grivois in a passion, as she threw +a five-franc piece to Nicholas: "at all events, drive him away." + +"That will be easier than to kill him, madame," said the porter. Indeed, +finding himself pursued, and conscious probably that it would be useless +to attempt an open resistance, Spoil-sport fled from the court-yard into +the street; but once there, he felt himself, as it were, upon neutral +ground, and notwithstanding all the threats of Nicholas, refused to +withdraw an inch further than just sufficient to keep out of reach of the +sledge-hammer. So that when Mrs. Grivois, pale with rage, again stepped +into her hackney-coach, in which were My Lord's lifeless remains, she saw +with the utmost vexation that Spoil-sport was lying at a few steps from +the gate, which Nicholas had just closed, having given up the chase in +despair. + +The Siberian dog, sure of finding his way back to the Rue Brise-Miche, +had determined, with the sagacity peculiar to his race, to wait for the +orphans on the spot where he then was. + +Thus were the two sisters confined in St. Mary's Convent, which, as we +have already said, was next door to the lunatic asylum in which Adrienne +de Cardoville was immured. + +We now conduct the reader to the dwelling of Dagobert's wife, who was +waiting with dreadful anxiety for the return of her husband, knowing that +he would call her to account for the disappearance of Marshal Simon's +daughters. + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + +THE INFLUENCE OF A CONFESSOR. + +Hardly had the orphans quitted Dagobert's wife, when the poor woman, +kneeling down, began to pray with fervor. Her tears, long restrained, +now flowed abundantly; notwithstanding her sincere conviction that she +had performed a religious duty in delivering up the girl's she waited +with extreme fear her husband's return. Though blinded by her pious +zeal, she could not hide from herself, that Dagobert would have good +reason to be angry; and then this poor mother had also, under these +untoward circumstances, to tell him of Agricola's arrest. + +Every noise upon the stairs made Frances start with trembling anxiety; +after which, she would resume her fervent prayers, supplicating strength +to support this new and arduous trial. At length, she heard a step upon +the landing-place below, and, feeling sure this time that it was +Dagobert, she hastily seated herself, dried her tears, and taking a sack +of coarse cloth upon her lap, appeared to be occupied with sewing--though +her aged hands trembled so much, that she could hardly hold the needle. + +After some minutes the door opened, and Dagobert appeared. The soldier's +rough countenance was stern and sad; as he entered, he flung his hat +violently upon the table, so full of painful thought, that he did not at +first perceive the absence of the orphans. + +"Poor girl!" cried he. "It is really terrible!" + +"Didst see Mother Bunch? didst claim her?" said Frances hastily, +forgetting for a moment her own fears. + +"Yes, I have seen her--but in what a state--twas enough to break one's +heart. I claimed her, and pretty loud too, I can tell you; but they said +to me, that the commissary must first come to our place in order--" here +Dagobert paused, threw a glance of surprise round the room, and exclaimed +abruptly: "Where are the children?" + +Frances felt herself seized with an icy shudder. "My dear," she began in +a feeble voice--but she was unable to continue. + +"Where are Rose and Blanche! Answer me then! And Spoil-sport, who is +not here either!" + +"Do not be angry." + +"Come," said Dagobert, abruptly, "I see you have let them go out with a +neighbor--why not have accompanied them yourself, or let them wait for +me, if they wished to take a walk; which is natural enough, this room +being so dull. But I am astonished that they should have gone out before +they had news of good Mother Bunch--they have such kind hearts. But how +pale you are?" added the soldier looking nearer at Frances; "what is the +matter, my poor wife? Are you ill?" + +Dagobert took Frances's hand affectionately in his own but the latter, +painfully agitated by these words, pronounced with touching goodness, +bowed her head and wept as she kissed her husband's hand. The soldier, +growing more and more uneasy as he felt the scalding tears of his wife, +exclaimed: "You weep, you do not answer--tell me, then, the cause of your +grief, poor wife! Is it because I spoke a little loud, in asking you how +you could let the dear children go out with a neighbor? Remember their +dying mother entrusted them to my care--'tis sacred, you see--and with +them, I am like an old hen after her chickens," added he, laughing to +enliven Frances. + +"Yes, you are right in loving them!" + +"Come, then--becalm--you know me of old. With my great, hoarse voice, I +am not so bad a fellow at bottom. As you can trust to this neighbor, +there is no great harm done; but, in future, my good Frances, do not take +any step with regard to the children without consulting me. They asked, +I suppose, to go out for a little stroll with Spoil-sport?" + +"No, my dear!" + +"No! Who is this neighbor, to whom you have entrusted them? Where has +she taken them? What time will she bring them back?" + +"I do not know," murmured Frances, in a failing voice. + +"You do not know!" cried Dagobert, with indignation; but restraining +himself, he added, in a tone of friendly reproach: "You do not know? You +cannot even fix an hour, or, better still, not entrust them to any one? +The children must have been very anxious to go out. They knew that I +should return at any moment, so why not wait for me--eh, Frances? I ask +you, why did they not wait for me? Answer me, will you!--Zounds! you +would make a saint swear!" cried Dagobert, stamping his foot; "answer me, +I say!" + +The courage of Frances was fast failing. These pressing and reiterated +questions, which might end by the discovery of the truth, made her endure +a thousand slow and poignant tortures. She preferred coming at once to +the point, and determined to bear the full weight of her husband's anger, +like a humble and resigned victim, obstinately faithful to the promise +she had sworn to her confessor. + +Not having the strength to rise, she bowed her head, allowed her arms to +fall on either side of the chair, and said to her husband in a tone of +the deepest despondency: "Do with me what you will--but do not ask what +is become of the children--I cannot answer you." + +If a thunderbolt had fallen at the feet of the soldier, he would not have +been more violently, more deeply moved; he became deadly pale; his bald +forehead was covered with cold sweat; with fixed and staring look, he +remained for some moments motionless, mute, and petrified. Then, as if +roused with a start from this momentary torpor, and filled with a +terrific energy, he seized his wife by the shoulders, lifted her like a +feather, placed her on her feet before him, and, leaning over her, +exclaimed in a tone of mingled fury and despair: "The children!" + +"Mercy! mercy!" gasped Frances, in a faint voice. + +"Where are the children?" repeated Dagobert, as he shook with his +powerful hands that poor frail body, and added in a voice of thunder: +"Will you answer? the children!" + +"Kill me, or forgive me, I cannot answer you," replied the unhappy woman, +with that inflexible, yet mild obstinacy, peculiar to timid characters, +when they act from convictions of doing right. + +"Wretch!" cried the soldier; wild with rage, grief, despair, he lifted up +his wife as if he would have dashed her upon the floor--but he was too +brave a man to commit such cowardly cruelty, and, after that first burst +of involuntary fury, he let her go. + +Overpowered, Frances sank upon her knees, clasped her hands, and, by the +faint motion of her lips, it was clear that she was praying. Dagobert +had then a moment of stunning giddiness; his thoughts wandered; what had +just happened was so sudden, so incomprehensible that it required some +minutes to convince himself that his wife (that angel of goodness, whose +life had been one course of heroic self-devotion, and who knew what the +daughters of Marshal Simon were to him) should say to him: "Do not ask me +about them--I cannot answer you." + +The firmest, the strongest mind would have been shaken by this +inexplicable fact. But, when the soldier had a little recovered himself, +he began to look coolly at the circumstances, and reasoned thus sensibly +with himself: "My wife alone can explain to me this inconceivable +mystery--I do not mean either to beat or kill her--let us try every +possibly method, therefore, to induce her to speak, and above all, let me +try to control myself." + +He took a chair, handed another to his wife, who was still on her knees, +and said to her: "Sit down." With an air of the utmost dejection, +Frances obeyed. + +"Listen to me, wife," resumed Dagobert in a broken voice, interrupted by +involuntary starts, which betrayed the boiling impatience he could hardly +restrain. "Understand me--this cannot pass over in this manner--you +know. I will never use violence towards you--just now, I gave way to a +first moment of hastiness--I am sorry for it. Be sure, I shall not do so +again: but, after all, I must know what has become of these children. +Their mother entrusted them to my care, and I did not bring them all the +way from Siberia, for you to say to me: 'Do not ask me--I cannot tell you +what I have done with them.' There is no reason in that. Suppose Marshal +Simon were to arrive, and say to me, 'Dagobert, my children?' what answer +am I to give him? See, I am calm--judge for yourself--I am calm--but +just put yourself in my place, and tell me--what answer am I to give to +the marshal? Well--what say you! Will you speak!" + +"Alas! my dear--" + +"It is of no use crying alas!" said the soldier wiping his forehead, on +which the veins were swollen as if they would burst; "what am I to answer +to the marshal?" + +"Accuse me to him--I will bear it all--I will say--" + +"What will you say?" + +"That, on going out, you entrusted the two girls to me, and that not +finding them on return you asked be about them--and that my answer was, +that I could not tell you what had become of them." + +"And you think the marshal will be satisfied with such reasons?" cried +Dagobert, clinching his fists convulsively upon his knees. + +"Unfortunately, I can give no other--either to him or you--no--not if I +were to die for it." + +Dagobert bounded from his chair at this answer, which was given with +hopeless resignation. His patience was exhausted; but determined not to +yield to new bursts of anger, or to spend his breath in useless menaces, +he abruptly opened one of the windows, and exposed his burning forehead +to the cool air. A little calmer, he walked up and down for a few +moments, and then returned to seat himself beside his wife. She, with +her eyes bathed in tears, fixed her gaze upon the crucifix, thinking that +she also had to bear a heavy cross. + +Dagobert resumed: "By the manner in which you speak, I see that no +accident has happened, which might endanger the health of the children." + +"No, oh no! thank God, they are quite well--that is all I can say to +you." + +"Did they go out alone?" + +"I cannot answer you." + +"Has any one taken them away?" + +"Alas, my dear! why ask me these questions? I cannot answer you." + +"Will they come back here?" + +"I do not know." + +Dagobert started up; his patience was once more exhausted. But, after +taking a few turns in the room, he again seated himself as before. + +"After all," said he to his wife, "you have no interest to conceal from +me what is become of the children. Why refuse to let me know?" + +"I cannot do otherwise." + +"I think you will change your opinion, when you know something that I am +now forced to tell you. Listen to me well!" added Dagobert, in an +agitated voice; "if these children are not restored to me before the 13th +of February--a day close at hand--I am in the position of a man that +would rob the daughters of Marshal Simon--rob them, d'ye understand?" +said the soldier, becoming more and more agitated. Then, with an accent +of despair which pierced Frances's heart, he continued: "And yet I have +done all that an honest man could do for those poor children--you cannot +tell what I have had to suffer on the road--my cares, my anxieties--I, a +soldier, with the charge of two girls. It was only by strength of heart, +by devotion, that I could go through with it--and when, for my reward, I +hoped to be able to say to their father: 'Here are your children!--'" +The soldier paused. To the violence of his first emotions had succeeded +a mournful tenderness; he wept. + +At sight of the tears rolling slowly down Dagobert's gray moustache, +Frances felt for a moment her resolution give way; but, recalling the +oath which she had made to her confessor, and reflecting that the eternal +salvation of the orphans was at stake, she reproached herself inwardly +with this evil temptation, which would no doubt be severely blamed by +Abbe Dubois. She answered, therefore, in a trembling voice: "How can +they accuse you of robbing these children?" + +"Know," resumed Dagobert, drawing his hand across his eyes, "that if +these young girls have braved so many dangers, to come hither, all the +way from Siberia, it is that great interests are concerned--perhaps an +immense fortune--and that, if they are not present on the 13th February-- +here, in Paris, Rue Saint Francois--all will be lost--and through my +fault--for I am responsible for your actions." + +"The 13th February? Rue Saint Francois?" cried Frances, looking at her +husband with surprise. "Like Gabriel!" + +"What do you say about Gabriel?" + +"When I took him in (poor deserted child!), he wore a bronze medal about +his neck." + +"A bronze medal!" cried the soldier, struck with amazement; "a bronze +medal with these words, 'At Paris you will be, the 13th of February, +1832, Rue Saint Francois?" + +"Yes--how do you know?" + +"Gabriel, too!" said the soldier speaking to himself. Then he added +hastily: "Does Gabriel know that this medal was found upon him?" + +"I spoke to him of it at some time. He had also about him a portfolio, +filled with papers in a foreign tongue. I gave them to Abbe Dubois, my +confessor, to look over. He told me afterwards, that they were of little +consequence; and, at a later period, when a charitable person named M. +Rodin, undertook the education of Gabriel, and to get him into the +seminary, Abbe Dubois handed both papers and medal to him. Since then, I +have heard nothing of them." + +When Frances spoke of her confessor a sudden light flashed across the +mind of the soldier, though he was far from suspecting the machinations +which had so long been at work with regard to Gabriel and the orphans. +But he had a vague feeling that his wife was acting in obedience to some +secret influence of the confessional--an influence of which he could not +understand the aim or object, but which explained, in part at least, +Frances's inconceivable obstinacy with regard to the disappearance of the +orphans. + +After a moment's reflection, he rose, and said sternly to his wife, +looking fixedly at her: "There is a priest at the bottom of all this." + +"What do you mean, my dear?" + +"You have no interest to conceal these children. You are one of the best +of women. You see that I suffer; if you only were concerned, you would +have pity upon me." + +"My dear--" + +"I tell you, all this smacks of the confessional," resumed Dagobert. +"You would sacrifice me and these children to your confessor; but take +care--I shall find out where he lives--and a thousand thunders! I will +go and ask him who is master in my house, he or I--and if he does not +answer," added the soldier, with a threatening expression of countenance, +"I shall know how to make him speak." + +"Gracious heaven!" cried Frances, clasping her hands in horror at these +sacrilegious words; "remember he is a priest!" + +"A priest, who causes discord, treachery, and misfortune in my house, is +as much of a wretch as any other; whom I have a right to call to account +for the evil he does to me and mine. Therefore, tell me immediately +where are the children--or else, I give you fair warning, I will go and +demand them of the confessor. Some crime is here hatching, of which you +are an accomplice without knowing it, unhappy woman! Well, I prefer +having to do with another than you." + +"My dear," said Frances, in a mild, firm voice, "you cannot think to +impose by violence on a venerable man, who for twenty years has had the +care of my soul. His age alone should be respected." + +"No age shall prevent me!" + +"Heavens! where are you going? You alarm me!" + +"I am going to your church. They must know you there--I will ask for +your confessor--and we shall see!" + +"I entreat you, my dear," cried Frances, throwing herself in a fright +before Dagobert, who was hastening towards the door; "only think, to what +you will expose yourself! Heavens! insult a priest? Why, it is one of +the reserved cases!" + +These last words, which appeared most alarming to the simplicity of +Dagobert's wife, did not make any impression upon the soldier. He +disengaged himself from her grasp, and was going to rush out bareheaded, +so high was his exasperation, when the door opened, and the commissary of +police entered, followed by Mother Bunch and a policeman, carrying the +bundle which he had taken from the young girl. + +"The commissary!" cried Dagobert, who recognized him by his official +scarf. "Ah! so much the better--he could not have come at a fitter +moment." + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + +THE EXAMINATION. + +"Mistress Frances Baudoin?" asked the magistrate. + +"Yes, sir--it is I," said Frances. Then, perceiving the pale and +trembling sewing-girl, who did not dare to come forward, she stretched +out her arms to her. "Oh, my poor child!" she exclaimed, bursting into +tears; "forgive--forgive us--since it is for our sake you have suffered +this humiliation!" + +When Dagobert's wife had tenderly embraced the young sempstress, the +latter, turning towards the commissary, said to him with an expression of +sad and touching dignity: 'You see, sir, that I am not a thief." + +"Madame," said the magistrate, addressing Frances, "am I to understand +that the silver mug, the shawl, the sheets contained in this bundle--" + +"Belong to me, sir. It was to render me a service that this dear girl, +who is the best and most honest creature in the world, undertook to carry +these articles to the pawnbroker's." + +"Sir," said the magistrate sternly to the policeman, "you have committed +a deplorable error. I shall take care to report you, and see that you +are punished. You may go, sir." Then, addressing Mother Bunch, with an +air of real regret, he added: "I can only express my sorrow for what has +happened. Believe me, I deeply feel for the cruel position in which you +have been placed." + +"I believe it, sir," said Mother Bunch, "and I thank you." Overcome by +so many emotions, she sank upon a chair. + +The magistrate was about to retire, when Dagobert, who had been seriously +reflecting for some minutes, said to him in a firm voice: "Please to hear +me, Sir; I have a deposition to make." + +"Speak, Sir." + +"What I am about to say is very important; it is to you, in your quality +of a magistrate, that I make this declaration." + +"And as a magistrate I will hear you, sir." + +"I arrived here two days ago, bringing with me from Russia two girls who +had been entrusted to me by their mother--the wife of Marshal Simon." + +"Of Marshal Simon, Duke de Ligny?" said the commissary, very much +surprised. + +"Yes, Sir. Well, I left them here, being obliged to get out on pressing +business. This morning, during my absence, they disappeared--and I am +certain I know the man who has been the cause of it." + +"Now, my dear," said Frances, much alarmed. + +"Sir," said the magistrate, "your declaration is a very serious one. +Disappearance of persons--sequestration, perhaps. But are you quite +sure?" + +"These young ladies were here an hour ago; I repeat, sir, that during my +absence, they have been taken away." + +"I do not doubt the sincerity of your declaration, sir; but still it is +difficult to explain so strange an abduction. Who tells you that these +young girls will not return? Besides, whom do you suspect? One word, +before you make your accusation. Remember, it is the magistrate who +hears you. On leaving this place, the law will take its course in this +affair." + +"That is what I wish, Sir; I am responsible for those young ladies to +their father. He may arrive at any moment, and I must be prepared to +justify myself." + +"I understand all these reasons, sir; but still have a care you are not +deceived by unfounded suspicions. Your denunciation once made, I may +have to act provisionally against the person accused. Now, if you should +be under a mistake, the consequences would be very serious for you; and, +without going further," said the magistrate, pointing to Mother Bunch, +with emotion, "you see what are the results of a false accusation." + +"You hear, my dear," cried Frances, terrified at the resolution of +Dagobert to accuse Abbe Dubois; "do not say a word more, I entreat you." + +But the more the soldier reflected, the more he felt convinced that +nothing but the influence of her confessor could have induced Frances to +act as she had done; so he resumed, with assurance: "I accuse my wife's +confessor of being the principal or the accomplice in the abduction of +Marshal Simon's daughters." + +Frances uttered a deep groan, and hid her face in her hands; while Mother +Bunch, who had drawn nigh, endeavored to console her. The magistrate had +listened to Dagobert with extreme astonishment, and he now said to him +with some severity: "Pray, sir, do not accuse unjustly a man whose +position is in the highest degree respectable--a priest, sir?--yes, a +priest? I warned you beforehand to reflect upon what you advanced. All +this becomes very serious, and, at your age, any levity in such matters +would be unpardonable." + +"Bless me, sir!" said Dagobert, with impatience; "at my age, one has +common sense. These are the facts. My wife is one of the best and most +honorable of human creatures--ask any one in the neighborhood, and they +will tell you so--but she is a devotee; and, for twenty years, she has +always seen with her confessor's eyes. She adores her son, she loves me +also; but she puts the confessor before us both." + +"Sir," said the commissary, "these family details--" + +"Are indispensable, as you shall see. I go out an hour ago, to look after +this poor girl here. When I come back, the young ladies have +disappeared. I ask my wife to whom she has entrusted them, and where +they are; she falls at my feet weeping, and says: 'Do what you will with +me, but do not ask me what has become of the children. I cannot answer +you.'" + +"Is thus true, madame?" cried the commissary, looking at Frances with +surprise. + +"Anger, threats, entreaties, had no effect," resumed Dagobert; "to +everything she answered as mildly as a saint: 'I can tell you nothing!' +Now, sir, I maintain that my wife has no interest to take away these +children; she is under the absolute dominion of her confessor; she has +acted by his orders and for his purposes; he is the guilty party." + +Whilst Dagobert spoke, the commissary looked more and more attentively at +Frances, who, supported by the hunchback, continued to weep bitterly. +After a moment's reflection, the magistrate advanced towards Dagobert's +wife, and said to her: "Madame, you have heard what your husband has just +declared." + +"Yes, sir." + +"What have you to say in your justification?" + +"But, sir," cried Dagobert, "it is not my wife that I accuse--I do not +mean that; it is her confessor." + +"Sir, you have applied to a magistrate; and the magistrate must act as he +thinks best for the discovery of the truth. Once more, madame," he +resumed, addressing Frances, "what have you to say in your +justification?" + +"Alas! nothing, sir." + +"Is it true that your husband left these young girls in your charge when +he went out?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Is it true that, on his return, they were no longer to be found?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Is it true that, when he asked you where they were, you told him that +you could give him no information on the subject?" + +The commissary appeared to wait for Frances' reply with kind of anxious +curiosity. + +"Yes, sir," said she, with the utmost simplicity, "that was the answer I +made my husband." + +"What, madame!" said the magistrate, with an air of painful astonishment; +"that was your only answer to all the prayers and commands of your +husband? What! you refused to give him the least information? It is +neither probable nor possible." + +"It is the truth, sir." + +"Well, but, after all, madame, what have you done with the young ladies +that were entrusted to your care?" + +"I can tell you nothing about it, sir. If I would not answer my poor +husband, I certainly will not answer any one else." + +"Well, sir," resumed Dagobert, "was I wrong? An honest, excellent woman +like that, who was always full of good sense and affection, to talk in +this way--is it natural? I repeat to you, sir that it is the work of her +confessor; act against him promptly and decidedly, we shall soon know +all, and my poor children will be restored to me." + +"Madame," continued the commissary, without being able to repress a +certain degree of emotion, "I am about to speak to you very severely. +My duty obliges me to do so. This affair becomes so serious and +complicated, that I must instantly commence judicial proceedings on the +subject. Yon acknowledge that these young ladies have been left in your +charge, and that you cannot produce them. Now, listen to me: if you +refuse to give any explanation in the matter, it is you alone that will +be accused of their disappearance. I shall be obliged, though with great +regret, to take you into custody." + +"Me!" cried Frances, with the utmost alarm. + +"Her!" exclaimed Dagobert; "never! It is her confessor that I accuse, not +my poor wife. Take her into custody, indeed!" He ran towards her, as if +he would protect her. + +"It is too late, sir," said the commissary. "You have made your charge +for the abduction of these two young ladies. According to your wife's +own declaration, she alone is compromised up to this point. I must take +her before the Public Prosecutor, who will decide what course to pursue." + +"And I say, sir," cried Dagobert, in a menacing tone, "that my wife shall +not stir from this room." + +"Sir," said the commissary coolly, "I can appreciate your feelings; but, +in the interest of justice, I would beg you not to oppose a necessary +measure--a measure which, moreover, in ten minutes it would be quite +impossible for you to prevent." + +These words, spoken with calmness, recalled the soldier to himself. +"But, sir," said he, "I do not accuse my wife."' + +"Never mind, my dear--do not think of me!" said Frances, with the +angelic resignation of a martyr. "The Lord is still pleased to try me +sorely; but I am His unworthy servant, and must gratefully resign myself +to His will. Let them arrest me, if they choose; I will say no more in +prison than I have said already on the subject of those poor children." + +"But, sir," cried Dagobert, "you see that my wife is out of her head. You +cannot arrest her." + +"There is no charge, proof, or indication against the other person whom +you accuse, and whose character should be his protection. If I take your +wife, she may perhaps be restored to you after a preliminary examination. +I regret," added the commissary, in a tone of pity, "to have to execute +such a mission, at the very moment when your son's arrest--" + +"What!" cried Dagobert, looking with speechless astonishment at his wife +and Mother Bunch; "what does he say? my son?" + +"You were not then aware of it? Oh, sir, a thousand pardons!" said the +magistrate, with painful emotion. "It is distressing to make you such a +communication." + +"My son!" repeated Dagobert, pressing his two hands to his forehead. +"My son! arrested!" + +"For a political offence of no great moment," said the commissary. + +"Oh! this is too much. All comes on me at once!" cried the soldier, +falling overpowered into a chair, and hiding his face with his hands. + +After a touching farewell, during which, in spite of her terror, Frances +remained faithful to the vow she had made to the Abbe Dubois--Dagobert, +who had refused to give evidence against his wife, was left leaning upon +a table, exhausted by contending emotions, and could not help explaining: +"Yesterday, I had with me my wife, my son, my two poor orphans--and now-- +I am alone--alone!" + +The moment he pronounced these words, in a despairing tone, a mild sad +voice was heard close behind him, saying timidly: "M. Dagobert, I am +here; if you will allow me, I will remain and wait upon you." + +It was Mother Bunch! + +Trusting that the reader's sympathy is with the old soldier thus left +desolate, with Agricola in his prison, Adrienne in hers, the madhouse, +and Rose and Blanche Simon in theirs, the nunnery; we hasten to assure +him (or her, as the case may be), that not only will their future steps +be traced, but the dark machinations of the Jesuits, and the thrilling +scenes in which new characters will perform their varied parts, pervaded +by the watching spirit of the Wandering Jew, will be revealed in Part +Second of this work, entitled: THE CHASTISEMENT. + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wandering Jew, v3 +by Eugene Sue diff --git a/old/es03v11.zip b/old/es03v11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3644146 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/es03v11.zip |